Location uncertainty in mobile networks: a theoretical framework

As users, services, databases, and computers become increasingly mobile, so fades the era of the fixed network. Modern networks are becoming mobile networks which must accommodate a broad range services with differing mobility characteristics. Consequently, there is an impetus to understand mobility and its effect on communications systems. Of particular interest are the unique stresses imposed by mobile computing and especially mobile computer programs (agents). As an aid to greater understanding, we propose a theoretical framework for the study of mobility tracking based on user/service/host location probability distributions. We show how this methodology, using stochastic ordering and information theory, can enable quantitative comparison of various mobility management schemes as well as insight into the mobility tracking problem over a wide range of mobility characteristics. This general approach should aid both applications and future research.