Group location management for mobile subscribers on transportation systems in mobile communication networks

We propose a new location tracking scheme for subscribers on transportation systems (TSs) in which a large number of fast-moving users have the same location as the TS. The group location tracking (GLT) scheme in which a group location update is performed instead of the IS-41's individual location update has been proposed. We propose a distributed GLT (DGLT) scheme based on several virtual visitor location registers (VVLRs) and representative identities. We analyze the GLT and DGLT schemes in view of the database (DB) access cost as well as the signaling cost under one-dimensional network architecture. Compared with the IS-41 scheme, the schemes based on group management generally have a lower signaling cost and a lower DB access cost due to a significant reduction in the number of location updates. As user mobility increases or the number of users on a TS increases, the performance of the group management schemes improves. The DGLT scheme, in which a corresponding home location register selects a closest VVLR among several possible VVLRs, generally has a lower signaling cost although a DB access cost is increased slightly compared with the GLT scheme. We also obtain the regions in which the DGLT is more efficient than the IS-41 and the GLT scheme. The DGLT scheme is an appropriate solution for high signaling cost systems and the GLT scheme is useful for high DB access cost systems.