Location management for GPRS

Abstract

In cellular wireless networks, location management is an important mechanism that enables network to discover the current attachment point of a mobile so as to facilitate successful information delivery. Although the design of optimal location management has been studied extensively for GSM, it is surprising that little, or possibly no, attention has been given to the consideration of location management design for GPRS, given that it is fast becoming a de facto system. The objective of the thesis is to address this issue. Unlike GSM, the tracking of MS in GPRS is made through routing area (RA) and location area (LA). For the first time, the mode of operation of MS, mobility management of MS and the network operation mode are considered as part of the proposed location management design model, where they are expressed by using matrix/vectors. Two new algorithms based on the model are used to solve the GPRS RA/LA design problem.