Co-operative location update algorithm for mobiles in next generation cellular networks

In cellular networks, occasional location updates to the base station by a mobile terminal are critical in order to route incoming calls successfully and also to maintain ongoing communication uninterrupted. In current cellular systems, the location update algorithm is implemented on a one-to-one basis, i.e. each mobile updates its location information directly with the base station following a specific set of rules. For next generation systems, a highly dense network in terms of total number of mobile users in a particular base station area is anticipated. The one-to-one location update method could prove to be very costly in terms of total traffic generated between mobiles and base stations due to the location update messages. The average battery energy used by each mobile is another aspect of the cost associated with location updates. In this work, we propose a new location update algorithm called co-operative location updates. In this scheme, a mobile terminal collects location information from its neighbors who are ready to update their locations and transmits all information to the base station along with its own location information. Such collective updating on the part of a single mobile terminal results in significant reduction in the signaling traffic to the base station. Our results also show that the mobile terminal survives a larger number of location updates, implying more efficient usage of battery energy under the proposed cooperative updating scheme.