Paging and location update algorithms for cellular systems

Several alternative strategies for reducing paging and location update costs have been proposed lately. This paper initially compares four well-known strategies, that differ in the manner they approach that problem. The same mobility model and performance evaluation criteria were used for all strategies analyzed. Users are classified utilizing the call-to-mobility-ratio (CMR) metric. Results are given weighting in different ways the signaling cost in the radio interface and in the fixed network part. Based on the results obtained, this paper also introduces an alternative paging and location update algorithm. The subscriber call patterns and its mobility profile are used to define the size and shape of the location areas. Further analysis showed that this technique yields a significant signaling load reduction.