Jain, R.; Lin, Y. & Mohan, S.

Location Strategies for Personal Communications Services

Mobile Communications Handbook
Ed. Suthan S. Suthersan
Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC, 1999
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
Location Strategies for Personal
Communications Services
Ravi Jain
Bell Communications Research
Yi-BingLin
Bell Communications Research
Seshadri Mohan
1
Bell Communications Research
20.1 Introduction
20.2 AnOverviewof PCS
Aspectsof MobilityExample20.1

AModel for PCS

20.3 IS-41Preliminaries
Terminal/LocationRegistration

Call Delivery
20.4 Global Systemfor MobileCommunications
Architecture

User LocationStrategy
20.5 Analysisof DatabaseTrafcRatefor IS-41andGSM
TheMobilityModel for PCSUsers

Additional Assumptions

Analysisof IS-41

Analysisof GSM
20.6 ReducingSignallingDuringCall Delivery
20.7 Per-User LocationCaching
20.8 CachingThresholdAnalysis
20.9 Techniquesfor EstimatingUsers LCMR
TheRunningAverageAlgorithm

TheReset-K Algorithm

Comparisonof theLCMREstimationAlgorithms
20.10Discussion
ConditionsWhenCachingIsBenecial

AlternativeNetwork
Architectures

LCMREstimationandCachingPolicy
20.11Conclusions
Acknowledgment
References
1
Address correspondenceto: Seshadri Mohan, MCC-1A216B, Bellcore, 445South St, Morristown, NJ 07960; Phone:
973-829-5160, Fax: 973-829-5888, e-mail: smohan@bellcore.com.+
c 1996 by Bell Communications Research, Inc. Used with permission. The material in
this chapter appeared originally in the following IEEE publications: S. Mohan and R. Jain. 1994. Two
user location strategies for personal communications services, IEEE Personal Communications: The Magazine of
Nomadic Communicationsand Computing, pp. 42--50, Feb., and R. Jain, C.N. Lo, and S. Mohan. 1994. A caching
strategy to reduce network impacts of PCS, J-SAC Special Issue on Wireless and Mobile Networks, Aug.
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
20.1 Introduction
Thevisionof nomadicpersonal communicationsistheubiquitousavailabilityof servicestofacilitate
exchangeof information(voice, data, video, image, etc.) betweennomadicendusersindependentof
time, location, or accessarrangements. Torealizethisvision, it isnecessarytolocateusersthat move
fromplacetoplace. Thestrategiescommonlyproposedaretwo-level hierarchical strategies, which
maintainasystemof mobilitydatabases, homelocationregisters(HLR) andvisitor locationresisters
(VLR), to keeptrack of user locations. Two standardsexist for carryingout two-level hierarchical
strategiesusingHLRsandVLRs. Thestandardcommonlyusedin NorthAmericaistheEIA/TIA
InterimStandard 41 (IS 41) [6] and in EuropetheGlobal Systemfor MobileCommunications
(GSM) [15, 18]. Inthischapter, werefer tothesetwostrategiesasbasiclocationstrategies.
Weintroducethesetwostrategiesfor locatingusersandprovideatutorial ontheir usage. Wethen
analyzeandcomparethesebasiclocationstrategieswithrespect toloadonmobilitydatabasesand
signallingnetwork. Next weproposeanauxiliarystrategy, calledtheper-user cachingor, simply, the
cachingstrategy, that augmentsthebasic location strategiesto reducethesignallingand database
loads.
Theoutlineof thischapter isasfollows. InSection20.2wediscussdifferent formsof mobilityin
thecontext of personal communicationsservices(PCS) and describeareferencemodel for aPCS
architecture. InSections20.3and20.4, wedescribetheuser locationstrategiesspeciedintheIS-41
andGSMstandards, respectively, andinSection20.5, usingasimpleexample, wepresentasimplied
analysisof thedatabaseloadsgeneratedbyeachstrategy. InSection20.6, webrieydiscusspossible
modications to theseprotocols that arelikely to result in signicant benets by either reducing
queryandupdateratetodatabasesor reducingthesignallingtrafcor both. Section20.7introduces
thecachingstrategyfollowedbyananalysisinthenext twosections. Thisideaattemptstoexploit
thespatial andtemporal localityincallsreceivedbyusers, similar totheideaof exploitinglocality
of leaccessincomputer systems[20]. A featureof thecachinglocationstrategyisthat it isuseful
onlyfor certainclassesof PCSusers, thosemeetingcertaincall andmobilitycriteria. Weencapsulate
thisnotioninthedenitionof theuserscall-to-mobilityratio(CMR), andlocal CMR(LCMR), in
Section 20.8. Wethen usethisdenition and our PCSnetwork referencearchitectureto quantify
thecosts and benets of caching and thethreshold LCMR for which caching is benecial, thus
characterizingtheclassesof usersfor whichcachingshouldbeapplied. InSection20.9wedescribe
two methodsfor estimatingusers LCMR and comparetheir effectivenesswhen call and mobility
patternsarefairlystable, aswell aswhentheymaybevariable. InSection 20.10, webrieydiscuss
alternativearchitectures and implementation issues of thestrategy proposed and mention other
auxiliarystrategiesthat canbedesigned. Section20.11providessomeconclusionsanddiscussionof
futurework.
Thechoiceof platforms on which to realizethetwo location strategies (IS-41and GSM) may
varyfromoneserviceprovider toanother. Inthispaper, wedescribeapossiblerealizationof these
protocolsbasedontheadvancedintelligent network (AIN) architecture(see[2, 5]), andsignalling
system7(SS7). It isalsoworthwhiletopoint out that several strategieshavebeenproposedinthe
literaturefor locatingusers, manyof whichattempttoreducethesignallingtrafcanddatabaseloads
imposedbytheneedtolocateusersinPCS.
20.2 AnOverviewof PCS
Thissection explainsdifferent aspectsof mobilityin PCSusingan exampleof two nomadicusers
whowishtocommunicatewitheachother. It alsodescribesareferencemodel for PCS.
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20.2.1 Aspectsof MobilityExample20.1
PCScan involvetwo possibletypesof mobility, terminal mobilityand personal mobility, that are
explainednext.
Terminal Mobility: Thistypeof mobilityallowsaterminal to beidentied byaunique
terminal identier independent of thepoint of attachment tothenetwork. Callsintendedfor that
terminal can thereforebedeliveredto that terminal regardlessof itsnetwork point of attachment.
Tofacilitateterminal mobility, anetwork must provideseveral functions, whichincludethosethat
locate, identify, andvalidateaterminal andprovideservices(e.g., deliver calls) totheterminal based
on thelocation information. Thisimpliesthat thenetwork must storeand maintain thelocation
informationof theterminal basedonauniqueidentier assignedtothat terminal. Anexampleof a
terminal identier istheIS-41EIA/TIAcellular industrytermmobileidenticationnumber (MIN),
whichisaNorthAmerican NumberingPlan (NANP) number that isstoredin theterminal at the
timeof manufactureandcannot bechanged. Asimilar notionexistsinGSM (seeSection20.4).
Personal Mobility: Thistypeof mobilityallowsaPCSuser to makeandreceivecallsin-
dependent of boththenetworkpoint of attachment andaspecicPCSterminal. Thisimpliesthat
theservicesthat auser hassubscribed to (stored in that usersserviceprole) areavailableto the
user evenif theuser movesor changesterminal equipment. Functionsneededtoprovidepersonal
mobilityincludethosethat identify(authenticate) theenduser andprovideservicestoanenduser
independent of boththeterminal andthelocationof theuser. Anexampleof afunctionalityneeded
toprovidepersonal mobilityforvoicecallsistheneedtomaintainauserslocationinformationbased
onauniquenumber, calledtheuniversal personal telecommunications(UPT) number, assignedto
that user. UPT numbersarealso NANP numbers. Another exampleisonethat allowsend users
to deneandmanagetheir serviceprolesto enableusersto tailor servicesto suit their needs. In
Section20.4, wedescribehowGSM caterstopersonal mobilityviasmart cards.
For thepurposesof theexamplethatfollows, theterminal identiers(TID) andUPT numbersare
NANP numbers, thedistinction beingTIDsaddressterminal mobilityandUPT numbersaddress
personal mobility. Thoughwehaveassignedtwodifferentnumberstoaddresspersonal andterminal
mobilityconcerns, thesameeffect couldbeachievedbyasingleidentier assignedtotheterminal
that variesdependingontheuser that iscurrentlyutilizingtheterminal. For simplicityweassume
that twodifferent numbersareassigned.
Figure20.1illustratestheterminal andpersonal mobilityaspectsof PCS, whichwill beexplained
viaanexample. Let usassumethat usersKateandAl have, respectively, subscribedtoPCSservices
fromPCSserviceprovider (PSP) A andPSP B. KatereceivestheUPT number, say, 5001114711,
fromPSP A. ShealsoownsaPCSterminal withTID2007779760. Al tooreceiveshisUPT number
5002224712 fromPSP B, and heowns aPCS terminal with TID 200 888 5760. Each has been
providedapersonal identicationnumber (PIN) bytheir respectivePSP whensubscriptionbegan.
WeassumethatthetwoPSPshavesubscribedtoPCSaccessservicesfromacertainnetworkprovider
suchas, for example, alocal exchangecarrier (LEC). (Dependingonthecapabilitiesof thePSPs, the
accessservicesprovidedmayvary. Examplesof accessservicesincludetranslationof UPT number
to aroutingnumber, terminal and personal registration, and call delivery. Refer to Bellcore, [3],
for further details). When Kateplugsin her terminal to thenetwork, or when sheactivatesit, the
terminal registersitself withthenetworkbyprovidingitsTIDtothenetwork. Thenetworkcreatesan
entryfor theterminal inanappropriatedatabase, which, inthisexample, isenteredintheterminal
mobilitydatabase(TMDB) A. Theentryprovidesamappingof her terminalsTID, 2007779760,
toaroutingnumber (RN), RN1. All of theseactivitieshappenwithout Katebeingawareof them.
After activatingher terminal, Kateregistersherself at that terminal byenteringher UPT number
(5001114711) to informthenetwork that all callsto her UPT number areto bedeliveredto her
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at theterminal. For securityreasons, thenetwork maywant to authenticateher and shemaybe
promptedtoenter her PINnumber intoher terminal. (Alternatively, if theterminal isequippedwith
asmart card reader, shemayenter her smart card into thereader. Other techniques, such as, for
example, voicerecognition, maybeemployed). Assumingthat sheisauthenticated, Katehasnow
registeredherself. Asaresult of personal registrationbyKate, thenetwork createsanentryfor her
inthepersonal mobilitydatabase(PMDB) Athat mapsher UPT number totheTIDof theterminal
at whichsheregistered. Similarly, whenAl activateshisterminal andregistershimself, appropriate
entriesarecreatedinTMDBBandPMDBB. NowAl wishestocall Kateand, hence, hedialsKates
UPT number (5001114711). Thenetworkcarriesout thefollowingtasks.
1. Theswitchanalyzesthedialeddigitsandrecognizestheneedfor AINservice, determines
that thedialedUPT number needstobetranslatedtoaRN byqueryingPMDBA and,
hence, it queriesPMDBA.
2. PMDB A searches its database and determines that the person with UPT number
5001114711iscurrentlyregisteredat terminal withTID2007779760.
3. PMDB A then queries TMDB A for theRN of theterminal with TID 200 777 9760.
TMDBAreturnstheRN(RN1).
4. PMDBAreturnstheRN(RN1) totheoriginatingswitch.
5. Theoriginatingswitchdirectsthecall totheswitchRN1,whichthenalertsKatesterminal.
Thecall iscompletedwhenKatepicksupher terminal.
Katemaytakeher terminal wherever shegoesandperformregistrationat her newlocation. From
thenon, thenetworkwill deliver all callsfor her UPT number toher terminal atthenewlocation. In
fact, shemayactuallyregister onsomeoneelsesterminal too. For example, supposethatKateandAl
agreetomeet at Alsplacetodiscussaschool project theyareworkingontogether. Katemayregister
herself onAlsterminal (TID2008889534). Thenetworkwill nowmodifytheentrycorresponding
to4711inPMDBAtopoint toB9534. Subsequent callstoKatewill bedeliveredtoAlsterminal.
Thescenariogivenhereisusedonlytoillustratethekeyaspectsof terminal andpersonal mobility;
anactual deployment of theseservicesmaybeimplementedinwaysdifferent fromthosesuggested
here. Wewill not discuss personal registration further. Theanalyses that followconsider only
terminal mobilitybut mayeasilybemodiedtoincludepersonal mobility.
20.2.2 A Model for PCS
Figure20.2illustratesthereferencemodel used for thecomparativeanalysis. Themodel assumes
that theHLRresidesin aservicecontrol point (SCP) connectedto aregional signal transfer point
(RSTP). TheSCP is astorehouseof theAIN servicelogic, i.e., functionality used to performthe
processingrequiredtoprovideadvancedservices, suchasspeedcalling, outgoingcall screening, etc.,
intheAIN architecture(seeBellcore, [2] andBermanandBrewster, [5]). TheRSTP andthelocal
STP (LSTP) arepacket switches, connectedtogether byvariouslinkssuch A linksor D links, that
performthesignallingfunctionsof theSS7network. Such functionsinclude, for example, global
titletranslationfor routingmessagesbetweentheAIN switchingsystem, whichisalsoreferredtoas
theserviceswitchingpoint (SSP), andSCP andIS-41messages[6]. Several SSPsmaybeconnected
toanLSTP.
Thereferencemodel inFig. 20.2introducesseveral termswhichareexplainednext. Wehavetried
tokeepthetermsanddiscussionsfairlygeneral. Wherever possible, however, wepoint toequivalent
cellular termsfromIS-41or GSM.
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FIGURE20.1: Illustratingterminal andpersonal mobility.
For our purposes, thegeographical areaservedbyaPCSsystemispartitionedintoanumber of
radio port coverageareas (or cells, in cellular terms) each of which is served by aradio port (or,
equivalently, basestation) that communicateswith PCSterminalsin that cell. A registration area
(alsoknowninthecellular worldaslocationarea) iscomposedof anumber of cells. Thebasestations
of all cellsinaregistrationareaareconnectedbywirelinelinkstoamobileswitchingcenter (MSC).
Weassumethat eachregistration areaisservedbyasingleVLR. TheMSC of aregistration areais
responsiblefor maintainingandaccessingtheVLRandfor switchingbetweenradioports. TheVLR
associated with aregistration areaisresponsiblefor maintainingasubset of theuser information
containedintheHLR.
Terminal registrationprocessisinitiatedbyterminalswhenever theymoveintoanewregistration
area. Thebasestationsof aregistrationareaperiodicallybroadcast anidentier associatedwiththat
area. Theterminalsperiodicallycomparean identier theyhavestored with theidentier to the
registration areabeingbroadcast. If thetwo identiers differ, theterminal recognizes that it has
movedfromoneregistrationareatoanother andwill, therefore, generatearegistrationmessage. It
alsoreplacesthepreviousregistrationareaidentierwiththatofthenewone. Movementofaterminal
withinthesameregistrationareawill notgenerateregistrationmessages. Registrationmessagesmay
alsobegeneratedwhentheterminalsareswitchedon. Similarly, messagesaregeneratedtoderegister
themwhentheyareswitchedoff.
PCSservices may beprovided by different types of commercial servicevendors. Bellcore, [3]
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FIGURE20.2: Exampleof areferencemodel for aPCS.
describesthreedifferent typesof PSPsandthedifferent accessservicesthat apublicnetwork may
providetothem. For example, aPSPmayhavefull networkcapabilitieswithitsownswitching, radio
management, andradio port capabilities. Certain othersmaynot haveswitchingcapabilities, and
othersmayhaveonlyradioport capabilities. Themodel inFig. 20.2assumesfull PSP capabilities.
Theanalysisin Section 20.5isbased on thismodel and modicationsmaybenecessaryfor other
typesof PSPs.
It isalsoquitepossiblethat oneor moreregistrationareasmaybeservedbyasinglePSP. ThePSP
mayhaveoneor moreHLRsfor servingitsservicearea. Insuchasituationusersthat movewithin
thePSPs servingareamay generatetrafc to thePSPs HLR (not shown in Fig. 20.2) but not to
thenetworksHLR(showninFig. 20.2). Intheinterest of keepingthediscussionssimple, wehave
assumedthat thereisone-to-onecorrespondencebetweenSSPsandMSCsandalsobetweenMSCs,
registration areas, andVLRs. Oneimpact of locatingtheSSP, MSC, andVLR in separatephysical
sitesconnectedbySS7signallinglinkswouldbetoincreasetherequiredsignallingmessagevolume
ontheSS7network. Our model assumesthat themessagesbetweentheSSPandtheassociatedMSC
andVLRdonotaddtosignallingloadonthepublicnetwork. Other congurationsandassumptions
couldbestudiedfor whichtheanalysismayneedtobesuitablymodied. Theunderlyinganalysis
techniqueswill not, however, differ signicantly.
20.3 IS-41Preliminaries
Wenowdescribethemessageowfor call origination, call delivery, andterminal registration, some-
timescalledlocationregistration, basedontheIS-41protocol. Thisprotocol isdescribedindetail in
EIA/TIA, [6]. Onlyanoutlineisprovidedhere.
20.3.1 Terminal/LocationRegistration
DuringIS-41registration, signallingisperformedbetweenthefollowingpairsof networkelements:
NewservingMSCandtheassociateddatabase(or VLR)
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Newdatabase(VLR) inthevisitedareaandtheHLRinthepublicnetwork
HLRandtheVLRinformer visitedregistrationareaor theoldMSCservingarea.
Figure20.3showsthesignallingmessageowdiagramfor IS-41registrationactivity, focusingonly
ontheessential elementsof themessageowrelatingtoregistration; for detailsof variationsfrom
thebasicregistrationprocedure, seeBellcore, [3].
FIGURE20.3: Signallingowdiagramfor registrationinIS-41.
Thefollowingstepsdescribetheactivitiesthat takeplaceduringregistration.
1. Onceaterminal entersanewregistrationarea, theterminal sendsaregistrationrequest
totheMSCof that area.
2. TheMSCsendsanauthenticationrequest(AUTHRQST) messagetoitsVLRtoauthenti-
catetheterminal, whichinturnsendstherequesttotheHLR.TheHLRsendsitsresponse
intheauthrqst message.
3. Assumingtheterminal isauthenticated, theMSCsendsaregistrationnotication(REG-
NOT) messagetoitsVLR.
4. TheVLRinturnsendsaREGNOT messagetotheHLRservingtheterminal. TheHLR
updates thelocation entry correspondingto theterminal to point to thenewserving
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MSC/VLR. TheHLRsendsaresponsebacktotheVLR, whichmaycontainrelevantparts
of theusersserviceprole. TheVLR storestheserviceprolein itsdatabaseandalso
respondstotheservingMSC.
5. If theuser/terminal wasregistered previouslyin adifferent registration area, theHLR
sendsaregistrationcancellation(REGCANC) messagetothepreviouslyvisitedVLR. On
receivingthismessage, theVLR erasesall entriesfor theterminal fromtherecordand
sendsaREGCANCmessagetothepreviouslyvisitedMSC, whichthenerasesall entries
for theterminal fromitsmemory.
Theprotocol showsauthenticationrequest andregistrationnoticationasseparatemessages. If
thetwomessagescanbepackagedintoonemessage, thentherateof queriestoHLRmaybecut in
half. Thisdoesnot necessarilymeanthat thetotal number of messagesarecut inhalf.
20.3.2 Call Delivery
Thesignallingmessageowdiagramfor IS-41call deliveryisshowninFig. 20.4. Thefollowingsteps
describetheactivitiesthat takeplaceduringcall delivery.
1. Acall originationisdetectedandthenumber of thecalledterminal (for example, MIN)
isreceivedbytheservingMSC. Observethat thecall couldhaveoriginatedfromwithin
thepublicnetwork fromawirelinephoneor fromawirelessterminal inanMSC/VLR
servingarea. (If thecall originatedwithinthepublicnetwork, theAIN SSP analyzesthe
dialeddigitsandsendsaquerytotheSCP.)
2. TheMSCdeterminestheassociatedHLRservingthecalledterminal andsendsalocation
request (LOCREQ) messagetotheHLR.
3. TheHLRdeterminestheservingVLRfor thatcalledterminal andsendsaroutingaddress
request (ROUTEREQ) totheVLR, whichforwardsit totheMSC currentlyservingthe
terminal.
4. Assumingthattheterminal isidle,theservingMSCallocatesatemporaryidentier,called
atemporarylocal directorynumber(TLDN),totheterminal andreturnsaresponsetothe
HLRcontainingthisinformation. TheHLRforwardsthisinformationtotheoriginating
SSP/MSCinresponsetoitsLOCREQmessage.
5. TheoriginatingSSP requestscall setuptotheservingMSCof thecalledterminal viathe
SS7signallingnetworkusingtheusual call setupprotocols.
Similar to theconsiderationsfor reducingsignallingtrafc for location registration, theVLR and
HLRfunctionscouldbeunitedinasinglelogical databasefor agivenservingareaandcollocated;
further, thedatabaseandswitchcanbeintegratedintothesamepieceof physical equipment or be
collocated. Inthismanner, asignicantportionof themessagesexchangedbetweentheswitch, HLR
andVLRasshowninFig. 20.4will not contributetosignallingtrafc.
20.4 Global Systemfor MobileCommunications
In thissection wedescribetheuser location strategyproposedin theEuropean Global Systemfor
MobileCommunications(GSM) standardanditsoffshoot, digital cellular system1800(DCS1800).
Therehasrecentlybeen increasedinterest in GSM in NorthAmerica, sinceit ispossiblethat early
deploymentof PCSwill befacilitatedbyusingthecommunicationequipmentalreadyavailablefrom
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FIGURE20.4: Signallingowdiagramfor call deliveryinIS-41.
EuropeanmanufacturerswhousetheGSMstandard. SincetheGSMstandardisrelativelyunfamiliar
toNorthAmericanreaders, werst givesomebackgroundandintroducethevariousabbreviations.
Thereader will ndadditional detailsinMouleyandPautet, [18]. For anoverviewonGSM, refer to
Lycksell, [15].
Theabbreviation GSM originallystoodfor GroupeSpecial Mobile, acommitteecreatedwithin
thepan-European standardization bodyConferenceEuropeennedesPostset Telecommunications
(CEPT) in1982. Therewerenumerousnational cellular communicationsystemsandstandardsin
Europeatthetime, andtheaimof GSMwastospecifyauniformstandardaroundthenewlyreserved
900-MHz frequencyband with abandwidth of twice25MHz. Thephase1specicationsof this
standardwerefrozenin1990. Alsoin1990, at therequest of theUnitedKingdom, specicationof a
versionof GSM adaptedtothe1800-MHzfrequency, withbandwidthof twice75MHz, wasbegun.
Thisvariant isreferredtoasDCS1800; theabbreviationGSM900issometimesusedtodistinguish
betweenthetwovariations, withtheabbreviationGSMbeingusedtoencompassbothGSM900and
DSC1800. Themotivationfor DCS1800istoprovidehigher capacitiesindenselypopulatedurban
areas, particularlyfor PCS. TheDCS1800specicationswerefrozenin1991, andby1992all major
GSM900Europeanoperatorsbeganoperation.
At theend of 1991, activities concerningthepost-GSM generation of mobilecommunications
werebegunbythestandardizationcommittee, usingthenameuniversal mobiletelecommunications
system(UMTS) for thiseffort. In 1992, thenameof thestandardization committeewaschanged
fromGSMtospecial mobilegroup(SMG) todistinguishit fromthe900-MHzsystemitself, andthe
termGSM waschosenasthecommercial trademarkof theEuropean900-MHzsystem, whereGSM
nowstandsfor global systemfor mobilecommunications.
TheGSM standardhasnowbeenwidelyadoptedinEuropeandisunder considerationinseveral
other non-Europeancountries, includingtheUnitedArabEmirates, HongKong, andNewZealand.
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FIGURE20.5: Flowdiagramfor registrationinGSM.
In1992, AustralianoperatorsofciallyadoptedGSM.
20.4.1 Architecture
In this section wedescribetheGSM architecture, focusingon thoseaspects that differ fromthe
architectureassumedintheIS-41standard.
Amajor goal of theGSMstandardwastoenableuserstomoveacrossnational boundariesandstill
beabletocommunicate. It wasconsidereddesirable, however, that theoperational networkwithin
each countrybeoperatedindependently. Each of theoperational networksiscalledapublicland
mobilenetwork(PLMN) anditscommercial coverageareaisconnedtothebordersof onecountry
(althoughsomeradio coverageoverlapat national boundariesmayoccur), andeachcountrymay
haveseveral competingPLMNs.
AGSMcustomer subscribestoasinglePLMNcalledthehomePLMN, andsubscriptioninforma-
tionincludestheservicesthecustomer subscribesto. Duringnormal operation, auser mayelect to
chooseother PLMNsastheir servicebecomesavailable(either astheuser movesor asnewoperators
enter themarketplace). Theusersterminal [GSM callstheterminal amobilestation(MS)] assists
theuser inchoosingaPLMNinthiscase, either presentingalistof possiblePLMNstotheuser using
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explicit names(e.g., DK Sonofonfor theDanishPLMN) or choosingautomaticallybasedonalist
of preferredPLMNsstoredintheterminalsmemory. ThisPLMN selectionprocessallowsusersto
choosebetweentheservicesandtariffsof several competingPLMNs. Notethat thePLMNselection
processdiffersfromthecell selectionandhandoff processthat aterminal carriesout automatically
without anypossibilityof user intervention, typicallybasedonreceivedradiosignal strengthsand,
thus, requiresadditional intelligenceandfunctionalityintheterminal.
Thegeographical areacoveredbyaPLMNispartitionedintoMSCservingareas, andaregistration
areaisconstrainedtobeasubset of asingleMSC servingarea. ThePLMN operator hascomplete
freedomto allocatecellsto registration areas. Each PLMN has, logicallyspeaking, asingleHLR,
although thismaybeimplemented asseveral physicallydistributed databases, asfor IS-41. Each
MSC also hasaVLR, and aVLR mayserveoneor several MSCs. Asfor IS-41, it isinterestingto
consider howtheVLRshouldbeviewedinthiscontext. TheVLRcanbeviewedassimplyadatabase
off loadingthequeryandsignallingloadontheHLRand, hence, logicallytightlycoupledtotheHLR
or asanancillaryprocessor totheMSC. Thisdistinctionisnot academic; intherst view, it would
benatural to implement aVLR asservingseveral MSCs, whereasin thesecond each VLR would
serveoneMSC andbephysicallycloselycoupledtoit. For GSM, theMSC implementsmost of the
signallingprotocols, andat present all switchmanufacturersimplement acombinedMSCandVLR,
withoneVLRper MSC[18].
A GSM mobilestation is split in two parts, onecontainingthehardwareand softwarefor the
radio interfaceand theother containingsubscribers-specic and location information, called the
subscriber identitymodule(SIM), whichcanberemovedfromtheterminal andisthesizeof acredit
cardorsmaller. TheSIMisassignedauniqueidentitywithintheGSMsystem,calledtheinternational
mobilesubscriber identity(IMSI), whichisusedbytheuser locationstrategyasdescribedthenext
subsection. TheSIMalsostoresauthenticationinformation, serviceslists, PLMNselectionlists, etc.,
andcanitself beprotectedbypasswordor PIN.
TheSIM canbeusedtoimplement aformof large-scalemobilitycalledSIM roaming. TheGSM
specicationsstandardizetheinterfacebetween theSIM and theterminal, so that auser carrying
hisor her SIM canmovebetweendifferent terminalsandusetheSIM topersonalizetheterminal.
Thiscapabilityisparticularlyuseful for userswhomovebetweenPLMNswhichhavedifferent radio
interfaces. Theuser canusetheappropriateterminal for eachPLMN coverageareawhileobtaining
thepersonalizedfacilitiesspeciedinhisor her SIM. Thus, SIMsaddresspersonal mobility. Inthe
Europeancontext,theusageoftwocloselyrelatedstandardsatdifferentfrequencies,namely,GSM900
andDCS1800, makesthiscapabilityanespeciallyimportantoneandfacilitatesinterworkingbetween
thetwosystems.
20.4.2 User LocationStrategy
Wepresent asynopsisof theuser locationstrategyinGSM usingcall owdiagramssimilar tothose
usedtodescribethestrategyinIS-41.
Inorder todescribetheregistrationprocedure, it isrst useful toclarifythedifferent identiers
usedin thisprocedure. TheSIM of theterminal isassignedauniqueidentity, calledtheIMSI, as
alreadymentioned. Toincreasecondentialityandmakemoreefcient useof theradiobandwidth,
however, theIMSI isnot normallytransmittedover theradiolink. Instead, theterminal isassigned
atemporarymobilesubscriber identity(TMSI) bytheVLRwhenit entersanewregistrationarea.
TheTMSI isvalidonlywithinagivenregistrationareaandisshorter thantheIMSI. TheIMSI and
TMSI areidentiersthat areinternal tothesystemandassignedtoaterminal or SIMandshouldnot
beconfusedwiththeusersnumber that wouldbedialedbyacallingparty; thelatter isaseparate
number calledthemobilesubscriber integratedservicedigital network(ISDN) number (MSISDN),
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andissimilar totheusual telephonenumber inaxednetwork.
Wenowdescribetheprocedureduringregistration. Theterminal candetect whenit hasmoved
intothecell of anewregistrationareafromthesysteminformationbroadcast bythebasestationin
thenewcell. Theterminal initiatesaregistrationupdaterequest tothenewbasestation; thisrequest
includestheidentityof theoldregistrationareaandtheTMSI of theterminal intheoldarea. The
request isforwardedto theMSC, which, in turn, forwardsit to thenewVLR. SincethenewVLR
cannot translatetheTMSI to theIMSI of theterminal, it sendsarequest to theold VLR to send
theIMSI of theterminal correspondingto that TMSI. In itsresponse, theold VLR also provides
therequired authentication information. ThenewVLR then initiatesproceduresto authenticate
theterminal. If theauthenticationsucceeds, theVLRusestheIMSI todeterminetheaddressof the
terminalsHLR.
Theensuingprotocol isthen verysimilar to that in IS-41, except for thefollowingdifferences.
WhenthenewVLRreceivestheregistrationafrmation(similar toregnotinIS-41) fromtheHLR, it
assignsanewTMSI totheterminal forthenewregistrationarea. TheHLRalsoprovidesthenewVLR
withall relevant subscriber proleinformation requiredfor call handling(e.g., call screeninglists,
etc.) aspart of theafrmationmessage. Thus, incontrast withIS-41, authenticationandsubscriber
proleinformationareobtainedfromboththeHLRandoldVLRandnot just theHLR.
Theprocedurefor deliveringcallsto mobileusersin GSM isverysimilar to that in IS-41. The
sequenceof messagesbetweenthecaller andcalledpartysMSC/VLRsandtheHLRisidentical to
thatshowninthecall owdiagramsfor IS-41, althoughthenames, contentsandlengthsof messages
maybedifferent and, hence, thedetailsareleft out. Theinterestedreader isreferredtoMoulyand
Pautet, [18], or Lycksell, [15], for further details.
20.5 Analysisof DatabaseTrafc Ratefor IS-41andGSM
Inthetwosubsectionsthat follow, westatethecommonset of assumptionsonwhichwebaseour
comparisonof thetwostrategies.
20.5.1 TheMobilityModel for PCSUsers
Intheanalysisthat followsintheIS-41analysissubsection, weassumeasimplemobilitymodel for
thePCSusers. Themodel, which isdescribedin [23], assumesthat PCSuserscarryingterminals
aremovingat anaveragevelocityof v andtheir directionof movement isuniformlydistributedover
[0, 2]. AssumingthatthePCSusersareuniformlypopulatedwithadensityof andtheregistration
areaboundaryisof lengthL, it hasbeenshownthat therateof registrationareacrossingR isgiven
by
R =
v L

(20.1)
UsingEq. (20.1), wecan calculatethesignallingtrafc dueto registration, call origination, and
delivery. Wenowneedaset of assumptionssothat wemayproceedtoderivethetrafcratetothe
databasesusingthemodel inFig. 20.2.
20.5.2 Additional Assumptions
Thefollowingassumptionsaremadeinperformingtheanalysis.
128total registrationareas
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
Squareregistrationareasize: (7.575km)
2
= 57.5 km
2
, withborder lengthL = 30.3 km
Averagecall originationrate=averagecall termination(delivery) rate=1.4/h/terminal
Meandensityof mobileterminals= = 390/km
2
Total number of mobileterminals= 128 57.4 390 = 2.87 10
6
Averagecall originationrate=averagecall termination(delivery) rate=1.4/h/terminal
Averagespeedof amobile, v = 5.6 km/h
Fluidowmobilitymodel
Theassumptionsregardingthetotal number of terminalsmayalsobeobtainedbyassumingthat a
certainpublicnetworkprovider serves19.15 10
6
usersandthat 15%(or 2.87 10
6
) of theusers
alsosubscribetoPCSservicesfromvariousPSPs.
Notethat wehaveadoptedasimpliedmodel that ignoressituationswherePCSusersmayturn
their handsetson and off that will generateadditional registration and deregistration trafc. The
model alsoignoreswirelineregistrations. Theseactivitieswill increasethetotal number of queries
andupdatestoHLRandVLRs.
20.5.3 Analysisof IS-41
UsingEq. (20.1) andtheparameter valuesassumedintheprecedingsubsection, wecancomputethe
trafcdueto registration. Theregistration trafcisgeneratedbymobileterminalsmovinginto a
newregistrationarea, andthismust equal themobileterminalsmovingout of theregistrationarea,
whichper secondis
R
reg, VLR
=
390 30.3 5.6
3600
= 5.85
Thismust alsobeequal tothenumber of deregistrations(registrationcancellations),
R
dereg, VLR
= 5.85
Thetotal number of registrationmessagesper secondarrivingat theHLRwill be
R
reg, HLR
= R
reg, VLR
total No. of registrationareas= 749
TheHLR should, therefore, beableto handle, roughly, 750updatesper second. Weobservefrom
Fig. 20.3that authenticatingterminalsgenerateasmanyqueriestoVLRandHLRastherespective
number of updatesgeneratedduetoregistrationnoticationmessages.
Thenumber of queries that theHLR must handleduringcall origination and delivery can be
similarlycalculated. QueriestoHLRaregeneratedwhenacall ismadetoaPCSuser. TheSSP that
receivestherequest for acall, generatesalocationrequest (LOCREQ) querytotheSCP controlling
theHLR. Therateper secondof suchqueriesmust beequal totherateof callsmadetoPCSusers.
Thisiscalculatedas
R
CallDeliv, HLR
= call rateper user total number of users
=
1.4 2.87 10
5
3600
= 1116
For callsoriginatedfromamobileterminal byPCSusers, theswitchauthenticatestheterminal by
queryingtheVLR. Therateper secondof suchqueriesisdeterminedbytherateof callsoriginating
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
inanSSP servingarea, whichisalsoaregistrationarea(RA). Thisisgivenby
R
CallOrig, VLR
=
1116
128
= 8.7
Thisisalsothenumber of queriesper secondneededtoauthenticateterminalsof PCSuserstowhich
callsaredelivered:
R
CallDeliv, VLR
= 8.7
Table20.1summarizesthecalculations.
TABLE20.1 IS-41QueryandUpdateRatestoHLRandVLR
Activity HLRUpdates/s VLRUpdates/s HLRQueries/s VLRqueries/s
Mobility-related 749 5.85 749 5.85
activitiesat
registration
Mobility-related 5.85
activitiesat
deregistration
Call origination 8.7
Call delivery 1116 8.7
Total (per RA) 5.85 11.7 14.57 23.25
Total (Network) 749 1497.6 1865 2976
20.5.4 Analysisof GSM
Calculationsfor queryandupdateratesfor GSMmaybeperformedinthesamemanner asfor IS-41,
andtheyaresummarizedinTable20.2. ThedifferencebetweenthistableandTable20.1isthat in
GSM thenewservingVLRdoesnot querytheHLRseparatelyinorder toauthenticatetheterminal
duringregistrationand, hence, therearenoHLRqueriesduringregistration. Instead, theentry(749
queries) under HLRqueriesinTable20.1, correspondingtomobility-relatedauthenticationactivity
at registration, getsequallydivided between the128VLRs. Observethat with either protocol the
total databasetrafc ratesareconserved, wherethetotal databasetrafc for theentirenetwork is
givenbythesumof all of theentriesinthelast rowtotal (Network), i.e.,
HLRupdates+VLRupdates+HLRqueries+VLRqueries
FromTables20.1and20.2weseethat thisquantityequals7087.
Theconclusionisindependent of anyvariationswemayprovidetotheassumptionsinearlier in
thesection. For example, if thePCSpenetration(thepercentageof thetotal userssubscribingtoPCS
services) weretoincreasefrom15to30%, all of theentriesinthetwotableswill doubleand, hence,
thetotal databasetrafcgeneratedbythetwoprotocolswill still beequal.
20.6 ReducingSignallingDuringCall Delivery
In theprecedingsection, weprovidedasimpliedanalysisof somescenariosassociatedwith user
locationstrategiesandtheassociateddatabasequeriesandupdatesrequired. Previousstudies[13,16]
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
TABLE20.2 GSM QueryandUpdateRatestoHLRandVLR
Activity HLRUpdates/s VLRUpdates/s HLRQueries/s VLRQueries/s
Mobility-related 749 5.85 11.7
activitiesat
registration
Mobility-related 5.85
activitiesat
deregistration
Call origination 8.7
Call delivery 1116 8.7
Total (per VLR) 749 11.7 1116 29.1
Total (Network) 749 1497.6 1116 3724.8
indicatethat thesignallingtrafcanddatabasequeriesassociatedwithPCSduetouser mobilityare
likely to growto levels well in excess of that associated with aconventional call. It is, therefore,
desirableto study modications to thetwo protocols that would result in reduced signallingand
databasetrafc. Wenowprovidesomesuggestions.
For bothGSMandIS-41, deliveryof callstoamobileuser involvesfour messages: fromthecallers
VLRtothecalledpartysHLR, fromtheHLRtothecalledpartysVLR, fromthecalledpartysVLRto
theHLR,andfromtheHLRtothecallersVLR.ThelasttwoofthesemessagesinvolvetheHLR,whose
roleistosimplyrelaytheroutinginformationprovidedbythecalledpartysVLRtothecallersVLR.
Anobviousmodicationtotheprotocol wouldbetohavethecalledVLRdirectlysendtherouting
information to thecallingVLR. This would reducethetotal load on theHLR and on signalling
networklinkssubstantially. Suchamodicationtotheprotocol maynot beeasy, of course, dueto
administrative, billing, legal, or securityconcerns. Besides, thiswouldviolatethequery/response
model adoptedinIS-41, requiringfurther analysis.
Arelatedquestionwhicharisesiswhether theroutinginformationobtainedfromthecalledpartys
VLRcouldinsteadbestoredintheHLR. ThisroutinginformationcouldbeprovidedtotheHLR,
for example, whenever aterminal registersin anewregistration area. If thiswerepossible, two of
thefour messagesinvolvedincall deliverycouldbeeliminated. Thispoint wasdiscussedat length
bytheGSM standardsbody, and thepresent strategywasarrived at. Thereason for thisdecision
wasto reducethenumber of temporaryroutingnumbersallocated byVLRsto terminalsin their
registrationarea. If atemporaryroutingnumber (TLDNinIS-41or MSRNinGSM) isallocatedto
aterminal for thewholedurationof itsstayinaregistrationarea, thequantityof numbersrequired
ismuchgreater thanif anumber isassignedonaper-call basis. Other strategiesmaybeemployedto
reducesignallinganddatabasetrafcviaintelligent pagingor bystoringusersmobilitybehavior in
user proles(see, for example, Tabbane, [22]). Adiscussionof thesetechniquesisbeyondthescope
of thepaper.
20.7 Per-User LocationCaching
Thebasicideabehindper-userlocationcachingisthatthevolumeof SS7messagetrafcanddatabase
accessesrequiredinlocatingacalledsubscribercanbereducedbymaintaininglocal storage, orcache,
of user locationinformationat aswitch. At anyswitch, locationcachingfor agivenuser shouldbe
employedonlyif alargenumber of callsoriginatefor that user fromthat switch, relativetotheusers
mobility. Notethat thecachedinformationiskept at theswitchfromwhichcallsoriginate, which
mayor maynot betheswitchwheretheuser iscurrentlyregistered.
Locationcachinginvolvesthestorageof locationpointersat theoriginatingswitch; thesepoint to
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
theVLR(andtheassociatedswitch) wheretheuser iscurrentlyregistered. Werefer totheprocedure
of locatingaPCSuser aFINDoperation, borrowingtheterminologyfromAwerbuchandPeleg, [1].
WedeneabasicFIND, or BasicFIND( ), asonewherethefollowingsequenceof stepstakesplace.
1. Theincomingcall toaPCSuser isdirectedtothenearest switch.
2. AssumingthatthecalledpartyisnotlocatedwithintheimmediateRA, theswitchqueries
theHLRfor routinginformation.
3. TheHLRcontainsapointer totheVLRinwhoseassociatedRAthesubscriber iscurrently
situatedandlaunchesaquerytothat VLR.
4. TheVLR, inturn, queriestheMSCtodeterminewhether theuser terminal iscapableof
receivingthecall (i.e., isidle) and, if so, theMSC returnsaroutableaddress(TLDN in
IS-41) totheVLR.
5. TheVLRrelaystheroutingaddressbacktotheoriginatingswitchviatheHLR.
At thispoint, theoriginatingswitch can routethecall to thedestination switch. Alternately, Ba-
sicFIND( ) canbedescribedbypseudocodeasfollows. (Weobservethat amoreformal methodof
specifyingPCSprotocolsmaybedesirable).
BasicFIND( ){
Call toPCSuser isdetectedat local switch;
if calledpartyisinsameRAthenreturn;
SwitchqueriescalledpartysHLR;
CalledpartysHLRqueriescalledpartyscurrent VLR, V;
V returnscalledpartyslocationtoHLR;
HLRreturnslocationtocallingswitch;
}
IntheFINDprocedureinvolvingtheuseof locationcaching, or CacheFIND( ), eachswitchcontains
alocal memory(cache) that storeslocationinformationfor subscribers. Whentheswitchreceivesa
call origination(fromeither awire-lineor wirelesscaller) directedtoaPCSsubscriber, it rst checks
itscachetoseeif locationinformationfor thecalledpartyismaintained. If so, aqueryislaunched
to thepointedVLR; if not, BasicFIND( ), asjust described, isfollowed. If acacheentryexistsand
thepointedVLRisqueried, twosituationsarepossible. If theuser isstill registeredat theRAof the
pointedVLR(i.e.,wehaveacachehit),thepointedVLRreturnstheusersroutingaddress. Otherwise,
thepointedVLRreturnsacachemiss.
CacheFIND( ){
Call toPCSuser isdetectedat local switch;
if calledisinsameRAthenreturn;
if thereisnocacheentryfor calleduser
theninvokeBasicFIND( ) andreturn;
SwitchqueriestheVLR, V, speciedinthecacheentry;
if calledisat V, then
V returnscalledpartyslocationtocallingswitch;
else{
V returnsmisstocallingswitch;
CallingswitchinvokesBasicFIND( );
}
}
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
WhenacachehitoccurswesaveonequerytotheHLR[aVLRqueryisinvolvedinbothCacheFIND( )
andBasicFIND( )], andwealsosavetrafcalongsomeof thesignallinglinks; insteadof four message
transmissions, asinBasicFIND( ), onlytwoareneeded. Insteady-stateoperation, thecachedpointer
for anygivenuser isupdatedonlyuponamiss.
Notethat theBasicFIND( ) procedurediffersfromthat speciedfor roamingsubscribersin the
IS-41standardEIA/TIA, [6]. IntheIS-41standard, thesecondlineintheBasicFIND( ) procedure
isomitted, i.e., everycall resultsin aqueryof thecalled usersHLR. Thus, in fact, theprocedure
speciedinthestandardwill result inanevenhigher networkloadthantheBasicFIND( ) procedure
speciedhere. TomakeafairassessmentofthebenetsofCacheFIND( ),however,wehavecompared
it against BasicFIND( ). Thus, thebenetsof CacheFIND( ) investigatedheredependspecicallyon
theuseof cachingandnot simplyontheavailabilityof user locationinformationat thelocal VLR.
20.8 CachingThresholdAnalysis
Inthissectionweinvestigatetheclassesof usersfor whichthecachingstrategyyieldsnet reductions
insignallingtrafcanddatabaseloads. Wecharacterizeclassesof usersbytheir CMR. TheCMRof a
user istheaveragenumber of callstoauser per unittime, dividedbytheaveragenumber of timesthe
user changesregistrationareasper unit time. WealsodeneaLCMR, whichistheaveragenumber
of callsto auser fromagiven originatingswitch per unit time, dividedbytheaveragenumber of
timestheuser changesregistrationareasper unit time.
For eachuser, theamountof savingsduetocachingisafunctionof theprobabilitythatthecached
pointer correctlypointsto theuserslocation and increaseswith theusersLCMR. In thissection
wequantifytheminimumvalueof LCMRfor cachingtobeworthwhile. Thiscachingthresholdis
parameterizedwithrespecttocostsof traversingsignallingnetworkelementsandnetworkdatabases
andcanbeusedasaguidetoselectthesubsetofuserstowhomcachingshouldbeapplied. Theanalysis
inthissectionshowsthatestimatingusersLCMRs, preferablydynamically, isveryimportantinorder
toapplythecachingstrategy. Thenext sectionwill discussmethodsfor obtainingthisestimate.
Fromthepseudocodefor BasicFIND( ), thesignallingnetwork cost incurred in locatingaPCS
user intheevent of anincomingcall isthesumof thecost of queryingtheHLR(andreceivingthe
response), andthecost of queryingtheVLRwhichtheHLRpointsto(andreceivingtheresponse).
Let
= cost of queryingtheHLRandreceivingaresponse
= cost of queryingthepointedVLRandreceivingaresponse
Then, thecost of BasicFIND( ) operationis
C
B
= + (20.2)
Toquantifythisfurther, assumecostsfor traversingvariousnetworkelementsasfollows.
A
l
= costof transmittingalocationrequestor responsemessageonAlinkbetweenSSPandLSTP
D = cost of transmittingalocationrequest onresponsemessageor Dlink
A
r
= cost of transmittingalocation request or responsemessageon A link between RSTP and
SCP
L = cost of processingandroutingalocationrequest or responsemessagebyLSTP
R = cost of processingandroutingalocationrequest or responsemessagebyRSTP
H
Q
= cost of aquerytotheHLRtoobtainthecurrent VLRlocation
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
V
Q
= cost of aquerytotheVLRtoobtaintheroutingaddress
Then, usingthePCSreferencenetworkarchitecture(Fig. 80.2),
= 2 (A
l
+D +A
r
+L +R) +H
Q
(20.3)
= 2 (A
l
+D +A
r
+L +R) +V
Q
(20.4)
FromEqs. (20.2)(20.4)
C
B
= 4 (A
l
+D +A
r
+L +R) +H
Q
+V
Q
(20.5)
Wenowcalculatethecost of CacheFIND( ). Wedenethehit ratioastherelativefrequencywith
whichthecachedpointer correctlypointstotheuserslocationwhenit isconsulted. Let
p = cachehit ratio
C
H
= cost of theCacheFIND( ) procedurewhenthereisahit
C
M
= cost of theCacheFIND( ) procedurewhenthereisamiss
Thenthecost of CacheFIND( ) is
C
C
= p C
H
+(1 p)C
M
(20.6)
ForCacheFIND( ), thesignallingnetworkcostsincurredinlocatingauserintheeventof anincoming
call dependonthehit ratioaswell asthecost of queryingtheVLR, whichisstoredinthecache; this
VLRquerymayor maynotinvolvetraversingtheRSTP. Inthefollowing, wesayaVLRisalocal VLR
if it isservedbythesameLSTP astheoriginatingswitch, andaremoteVLRotherwise. Let
q = Prob(VLRinoriginatingswitchscacheisalocal VLR)
= cost of queryingalocal VLR
= cost of queryingaremoteVLR
= cost of updatingthecacheuponamiss
Then,
= 4A
l
+2L +V
Q
(20.7)
= 4 (A
l
+D +L) +2R +V
Q
(20.8)
C
H
= q +(1 q) (20.9)
Sinceupdatingthecacheinvolvesanoperationtoafastlocal memoryratherthanadatabaseoperation,
weshall assumeinthefollowingthat = 0. Then,
C
M
= C
H
+C
B
= q +(1 q) + + (20.10)
FromEqs. (20.6), (20.9) and(20.10) wehave
C
C
= + + p( +) +q( ) (20.11)
For netcostsavingswerequireC
C
< C
B
, or thatthehitratioexceedsahitratiothresholdp
T
, derived
usingEqs. (20.6), (20.9), and(20.2),
p > p
T
=
C
H
C
B
=
+q( )
+
(20.12)
=
4A
l
+4D +4L +2R +V
Q
q(4D +2L +2R)
4A
l
+4D +4A
r
+4L +4R +H
Q
+V
Q
(20.13)
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
Equation (20.13) speciesthehit ratio thresholdfor auser, evaluatedat agiven switch, for which
local maintenanceof acachedlocationentryproducescost savings. Aspointedout earlier, agiven
usershit ratio maybelocation dependent, sincetheratesof callsdestined for that user mayvary
widelyacrossswitches.
Thehit ratiothresholdinEq. (20.13) iscomprisedof heterogeneouscost terms, i.e., transmission
linkutilization, packetswitchprocessing, anddatabaseaccesscosts. Therefore, numerical evaluation
of thehit ratiothresholdrequireseither detailedknowledgeof theseindividual quantitiesor some
formof simplifyingassumptions. Basedonthelatter approach, thefollowingtwopossiblemethods
of evaluationmaybeemployed.
1. Assumeoneor morecosttermsdominate, andsimplifyEq.(20.13) bysettingtheremain-
ingtermstozero.
2. Establishacommonunit of measurefor all cost terms, for example, timedelay. Inthis
case, A
l
, A
r
, andD mayrepresent transmissiondelaysof xedtransmissionspeed(e.g.,
56kb/s) signallinglinks, L andR mayconstitutethesumof queueingandservicedelays
ofpacketswitches(i.e.,STPs),andH
Q
andV
Q
thetransactiondelaysfordatabasequeries.
InthissectionweadopttherstmethodandevaluateEq.(20.13) assumingasingletermdominates.
(InSection20.9wepresentresultsusingthesecondmethod). Table20.3showsthehitratiothreshold
requiredtoobtainnet cost savings, for eachcaseinwhichoneof thecost termsisdominant.
TABLE20.3 MinimumHit RatiosandLCMRsfor Various
Individual Dominant SignallingNetworkCost Terms
Hit ratio LCMR LCMR LCMR
Dominant Threshold, Threshold, Threshold Threshold
Cost Term p
T
LCMR
T
(q = 0.043) (q = 0.25)
A
l
1
A
r
0 0 0 0
D 1 q 1/q 1 22 3
L 1 q/2 2/q 1 45 7
R 1 q/2 2/q 1 45 7
H
Q
0 0 0 0
V
Q
1
InTable20.3weseethatif thecostof queryingaVLRor of traversingalocal Alinkisthedominant
cost, cachingfor userswho maymoveisnever worthwhile, regardlessof users call reception and
mobilitypatterns. Thisisbecausethecachingstrategyessentiallydistributesthefunctionalityof the
HLRtotheVLRs. Thus, theloadontheVLRandthelocal Alinkisalwaysincreased, sinceanymove
byauser resultsinacachemiss. Ontheother hand, for axeduser (or telephone), cachingisalways
worthwhile. Wealsoobservethat if theremoteAlinksor HLRqueryingarethebottlenecks, caching
isworthwhileevenfor userswithverylowhit ratios.
Asasimpleaverage-casecalculation, consider thenetnetworkbenetof cachingwhenHLRaccess
andupdateistheperformancebottleneck. Consider ascenariowhereu = 50%of PCSusersreceive
c = 80% of their callsfroms = 5 RAswheretheir hit ratiop > 0, ands

= 4 of theSSPsat those
RAscontainsufcientlylargecaches. Assumethat cachingisappliedonlytothissubset of usersand
tonoother users. Supposethat theaveragehit ratiofor theseusersisp = 80%, sothat 80%of the
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HLRaccessesfor callstotheseusersfromtheseRAareavoided. Thenthenet savingintheaccesses
tothesystemsHLRisH = (u c s

p)/s = 25%.
Wediscussother quantitiesinTable20.3next. It isrst useful torelatethecachehit ratiotousers
callingandmobilitypatternsdirectlyviatheLCMR. Doingsorequiresmakingassumptionsabout
thedistributionof theuserscallsandmoves. Weconsider thesteadystatewheretheincomingcall
streamfromanSSPtoauser isaPoissonprocesswitharrival rate, andthetimethattheuser resides
inanRAhasageneral distributionF(t ) withmean1/. Thus,
LCMR=

(20.14)
Let t bethetimeinterval betweentwoconsecutivecallsfromtheSSP totheuser andt
1
bethetime
interval between therst call and thetimewhen theuser movesto anewRA. Fromtherandom
observer propertyof thearrival call stream[7], thehit ratiois
p = Pr[t < t
1
] =
_

t =0
e
t
_

t
1
=t
[1 F (t
1
)] dt
1
dt
If F(t ) isanexponential distribution, then
p =

+
(20.15)
andwecan derivetheLCMRthreshold, theminimumLCMR requiredfor cachingto bebenecial
assumingincomingcallsareaPoissonprocessandintermovetimesareexponentiallydistributed,
LCMR
T
=
p
T
1 p
T
(20.16)
Equation (20.16) is used to deriveLCMR thresholds assumingvarious dominant costs terms, as
showninTable20.3.
Several valuesfor LCMR
T
inTable20.3involvethetermq, i.e., theprobabilitythat thepointed
VLR isalocal VLR. Thesevaluesmaybenumericallyevaluated bysimplifyingassumptions. For
example, assumethat all of theSSPs in thenetwork areuniformly distributed amongst l LSTPs.
Also, assumethat all of thePCSsubscribersareuniformlydistributedinlocationacrossall SSPsand
that eachsubscriber exhibitsthesameincomingcall rateat everySSP. Under thoseconditions, q is
simply1/l. Consider thecaseof thepublicswitchedtelephonenetwork. Giventhat thereareatotal
of 160local accesstransport area(LATA) acrossthe7Regional Bell OperatingCompany(RBOC)
regions[4], theaveragenumber of LATAs, or l, is160/7or 23. Table20.3showstheresultswith
q = 1/l inthiscase.
Weobservethat theassumption that all users receivecalls uniformly fromall switches in the
network isextremelyconservative. In practice, weexpect that user call reception patternswould
displaysignicantlymorelocality, sothat q wouldbelarger andtheLCMRthresholdsrequiredto
makecachingworthwhilewouldbesmaller. It isalso worthwhileto consider thecaseof aRBOC
regionwithPCSdeployedinafewLATA only, alikelyinitial scenario, say, 4LATAs. Ineither case
thevalueof q wouldbesignicantlyhigher; Table20.3showstheLCMRthresholdwhenq = 0.25.
Itispossibletoquantifythenetcostsandbenetsof cachingintermsof signallingnetworkimpacts
inthiswayandtodeterminethehit ratioandLCMRthresholdabovewhichusersshouldhavethe
cachingstrategyapplied. ApplyingcachingtouserswhosehitratioandLCMRisbelowthisthreshold
resultsinnetincreasesinnetworkimpacts. Itis, thus, importanttoestimateusersLCMRsaccurately.
Thenext sectiondiscusseshowtodoso.
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
20.9 Techniquesfor EstimatingUsers LCMR
Herewesketchsomemethodsof estimatingusers LCMR. A simpleandattractivepolicyisto not
estimatethesequantitiesonaper-user basisatall. For instance, if theaverageLCMRover all usersin
aPCSsystemishighenough(andfromTable20.3, it neednot behighdependingonwhichnetwork
elementsarethedominant costs), thencachingcouldbeusedat everySSP toyieldnet system-wide
benets. Alternatively, if it isknownthat at anygivenSSP theaverageLCMRover all usersishigh
enough, acachecanbeinstalledat that SSP. Other variationscanbedesigned.
Onepossibilityfor decidingabout cachingonaper-user basisistomaintaininformationabout a
userscallingandmobilitypatternattheHLRandtodownloaditperiodicallytoselectedSSPsduring
off-peakhours. It iseasytoenvisionnumerousvariationsonthisidea.
InthissectionweinvestigatetwopossibletechniquesforestimatingLCMRonaper-userbasiswhen
cachingistobedeployed. Therstalgorithm, calledtherunningaveragealgorithm, simplymaintains
arunningaverageof thehit ratiofor eachuser. Thesecondalgorithm, calledthereset-K algorithm,
attemptsto obtain ameasureof thehit ratio over therecent historyof theusersmovements. We
describethetwo algorithmsnext andevaluatetheir effectivenessusingastochasticanalysistaking
intoaccount user callingandmobilitypatterns.
20.9.1 TheRunningAverageAlgorithm
Therunningaveragealgorithmmaintains, for everyuser that hasacacheentry, therunningaverage
of thehit ratio. Arunningcount iskept of thenumber of callstoagivenuser, and, regardlessof the
FINDprocedureusedtolocatetheuser, arunningcount of thenumber of timesthat theuser was
at thesamelocationfor anytwoconsecutivecalls; theratioof thesenumbersprovidesthemeasured
runningaverageof thehit ratio. Wedenotethemeasuredrunningaverageof thehit ratio byp
M
;
insteadystate, weexpect that p
M
= p. Theuserspreviouslocationasstoredinthecacheentryis
usedonlyif therunningaverageof thehit ratiop
M
isgreater thanthecachehit thresholdp
T
. Recall
that thecacheschemeoutperformsthebasicschemeif p > p
T
= C
H
/C
B
. Thus, insteadystate,
therunningaveragealgorithmwill outperformthebasicschemewhenp
M
> p
T
.
Weconsider, asbefore, thesteadystatewheretheincomingcall streamfromanSSP toauser isa
Poissonprocesswitharrival rate, andthetimethat theuser residesinanRA hasanexponential
distribution with mean 1/. ThusLCMR = / [Eq. (20.14)] and thelocation trackingcost at
steadystateis
C
C
=
_
p
M
C
H
+(1 p
M
) C
B
, p
M
> p
T
C
B
, otherwise
(20.17)
Figure20.6plotsthecostratioC
C
/C
B
fromEq.(20.17) againstLCMR.(Thiscorrespondstoassigning
uniformunits to all cost terms in Eq. (20.13), i.e., thesecond evaluation method as discussed in
Section20.8. Thus, theratioC
C
/C
B
mayrepresent thepercentagereductioninuser locationtime
with thecachingstrategycompared to thebasic strategy.) Thegureindicatesthat in thesteady
state, thecachingstrategywiththerunningaveragealgorithmfor estimatingLCMRcansignicantly
outperformthebasicschemeif LCMRissufcientlylarge. For instancewith LCMR 5, caching
canleadtocost savingsof 2060%over thebasicstrategy.
Equation(20.17) (cf.,solidcurvesinFig.20.6) isvalidatedagainstasimpleMonteCarlosimulation
(cf., dashedcurvesinFig. 20.6). Inthesimulation, thecondenceinterval for the95%condence
level of theoutput measureC
C
/C
B
iswithin 3%of themean value. Thissimulation model will
later beusedtostudytherunningaveragealgorithmwhenthemeanof themovement distribution
changesfromtimetotime[whichcannot bemodeledbyusingEq. (20.17)].
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
FIGURE20.6: Thelocationtrackingcost for therunningaveragealgorithm.
Oneproblemwiththerunningaveragealgorithmisthat theparameter p ismeasuredfromthe
entirepast historyof theusersmovement, and thealgorithmmaynot besufcientlydynamic to
adequatelyreect therecent historyof theusersmobilitypatterns.
20.9.2 TheReset-K Algorithm
Wemay modify therunningaveragealgorithmsuch that p is measured fromtherecent history.
Dene every K incoming calls as a cycle. The modied algorithm, which is referred to as the
reset-K algorithm, countsthenumber of cachehitsn inacycle. If themeasuredhit ratiofor auser,
p
M
= n/K p
T
, thenthecacheisenabledfor that user, andthecachedinformationisalwaysused
tolocatetheuser inthenextcycle. Otherwise, thecacheisdisabledfor thatuser, andthebasicscheme
isused. At thebeginningof acycle, thecachehit count isreset, andanewp
M
valueismeasured
duringthecycle.
To studytheperformanceof thereset-K algorithm, wemodel thenumber of cachemissesin a
cyclebyaMarkovprocess. Assumeasbeforethat thecall arrivalsareaPoissonprocesswitharrival
rate andthetimeperiodtheuser residesinanRAhasanexponential distributionwithmean1/.
Apair (i, j), wherei > j, representsthestatethattherearej cachemissesbeforethersti incoming
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
FIGURE20.7: Statetransitions.
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
phonecallsinacycle. Apair (i, j)

, wherei j 1, representsthestatethat therearej 1 cache

missesbeforetherst i incomingphonecallsinacycle, andtheuser movesbetweentheithandthe
i + 1 phonecalls. Thedifferencebetween (i, j) and(i, j)

isthat if theMarkovprocessisin the

state(i, j) andtheuser moves, thentheprocessmovesintothestate(i, j +1)

. Ontheother hand,
if theprocessisinstate(i, j)

whentheuser moves, theprocessremainsin(i, j)

becauseat most
onecachemissoccursbetweentwoconsecutivephonecalls.
Figure20.7(a) illustratesthetransitionsfor state(i, 0) where2 < i < K+1. TheMarkovprocess
movesfrom(i 1, 0) to(i, 0) if aphonecall arrivesbeforetheuser movesout. Therateis. The
processmovesfrom(i, 0) to(i, 1)

if theuser movestoanother RAbeforethei +1 call arrival. Let

(i, j) denotetheprobabilityof theprocessbeinginstate(i, j). Thenthetransitionequationis
(i, 0) =

+
(i 1, 0), 2 < i < K +1 (20.18)
Figure20.7(b) illustratesthetransitionsfor state(i, i 1) where1 < i < K+1. Theonlytransition
intothestate(i, i 1) isfrom(i 1, i 1)

, whichmeansthat theuser alwaysmovestoanother

RA after aphonecall. [Notethat therecan benostate(i 1, i 1) bydenition and, hence, no
transitionfromsuchastate.] Thetransitionrateis. Theprocessmovesfrom(i, i 1) to(i, i)

withrate, andmovesto(i +1, i 1) withrate. Let

(i, j) denotetheprobabilityof theprocess

beinginstate(i, j)

. Thenthetransitionequationis
(i, i 1) =

+

(i 1, i 1), 1 < i < K +1 (20.19)

Figure20.7(c) illustratesthetransitionsfor state(i, j) where2 < i < K + 1, 0 < j < i 1. The
processmaymoveintostate(i, j) fromtwostates(i 1, j) and(i 1, j)

withrate, respectively.
Theprocess moves from(i, j) to (i, j + 1)

or (i + 1, j) with rates and , respectively. The

transitionequationis
(i, j) =

+
_
(i 1, j) +

(i 1, j)
_
,
2 < i < K +1, 0 < j < i 1 (20.20)
Figure20.7(d) illustratesthetransitionsfor state(K + 1, j) where0 < j < K + 1. Notethat if a
phonecall arriveswhentheprocessisin(K, j) or (K, j)

, thesystementersanewcycle(withrate
), andwecouldrepresent thenewstateas(1, 0). Inour model, weintroducethestate(K + 1, j)
insteadof (1, 0), where

0jK
(K +1, j) = (1, 0)
sothatthehitratio, andthusthelocationtrackingcost, canbederived[seeEq. (20.25)]. Theprocess
movesfrom(K+1, j) [i.e., (1, 0)] to(1, 1)

withrateif theuser movesbeforethenextcall arrives.

Otherwise, theprocessmovesto(2, 0) withrate. Thetransitionequationis
(K +1, j) =

+
_
(K, j) +

(K, j)
_
, 0 < j < K +1 (20.21)
For j = 0, thetransition from(K, j)

to (K + 1, 0) should beremoved in Fig. 20.7(d) because

thestate(K, 0)

does not exist. Thetransition equation for (K + 1, 0) is given in Eq. (20.18).

Figure20.7(e) illustratesthetransitionsfor state(i, j)

where0 < j < i, 1 < i < K + 1. The

c 1999byCRCPressLLC
processcanonlymoveto(i, j)

from(i, j 1) (withrate). Fromthedenitionof (i, j)

, if the
user moveswhen theprocessisin (i, j)

, theprocessremainsin (i, j)

(withrate). Otherwise,
theprocessmovesto(i +1, j) withrate. Thetransitionequationis

(i, j) =

(i, j 1), 0 < j i, 1 < i < K +1, i 2 (20.22)

Thetransitionsfor (2, 0) aresimilar tothetransitionsfor (i, 0) except that thetransitionfrom(1, 0)
isreplacedby(K +1, 0), . . . , (K +1, K) [cf., Fig. 20.7(f)]. Thetransitionequationis
(2, 0) =

+
_
_

0jK
(K +1, j)
_
_
(20.23)
Finally, thetransitionsfor (1, 1)

issimilar to thetransitionsfor (i, j)

except that thetransition

from(1, 0) isreplacedby(K +1, 0), . . . , (K +1, K) [cf., Fig. 20.7(g)]. Thetransitionequationis

(1, 1) =

_
_

0jK
(K +1, j)
_
_
(20.24)
Supposethat at thebeginningof acycle, theprocessisinstate(K +1, j), thenit impliesthat there
arej cachemissesinthepreviouscycle. Thecacheisenabledif andonlyif
p
M
p
T
=
C
H
C
B
1
j
K

C
H
C
B
0 j
_
K
_
1
C
H
C
B
__
Thus, theprobabilitythat themeasuredhit ratiop
M
< p
T
inthepreviouscycleis
Pr [p
M
< p
T
] =

k[1(C
H
/C
B
)]<jK
(K +1, j)

0jK
(K +1, j)
andthelocationtrackingcost for thereset-K algorithmis
C
C
= C
B
Pr [p
M
< p
T
] +(1 Pr [p
M
< p
T
])

0jK
_
(K j)C
H
K
+
j (C
H
+C
B
)
K
_
_
_
_
_
_
(K +1, j)

0iK
(K +1, i)
_

_
_

_
(20.25)
Therst termEq. (20.25) representsthecost incurredwhencachingisdisabledbecausethehit ratio
thresholdexceedsthehit ratiomeasuredinthepreviouscycle. Thesecondtermisthecost whenthe
cacheisenabledandconsistsof twoparts, correspondingtocallsduringwhichhitsoccur andcalls
duringwhichmissesoccur. Theratio in squarebracketsistheconditional probabilityof beingin
state(K +1, j) duringthecurrent cycle.
Thenumerical computation of (K + 1, j) can bedoneas follows. First, computea
i,j
and
b
i,j
where(i, j) = a
i,j

(1, 1) and

(i, j) = b
i,j

(1, 1). Notethat a

i,j
= 0(b
i,j
= 0) if
(i, j)[

(i, j)] isnot denedinEqs. (20.18)(20.24). Since

i,j
_
(i, j) +

(i, j)
_
= 1
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
wehave

(1, 1) =
1

i,j
_
a
i,j
+b
i,j
_
and(K+1, j) canbecomputedandthelocationtrackingcostforthereset-K algorithmisobtained
usingEq. (20.25).
TheanalysisisvalidatedbyaMonteCarlosimulation. Inthesimulation,thecondenceinterval for
the98%condencelevel of theoutput measureC
C
/C
B
iswithin3%of themeanvalue. Figure20.8
plotscurvesfor Eq. (20.25) (thesolidcurves) againstthesimulationexperiments(thedashedcurves)
for K = 20 and C
H
= 0.5C
B
and 0.3C
B
, respectively. Thegureindicates that theanalysis is
consistent withthesimulationmodel.
FIGURE20.8: Thelocationtrackingcostsfor thereset-K algorithm; K = 20.
20.9.3 Comparisonof theLCMREstimationAlgorithms
If thedistributionsfor theincomingcall processandtheuser movement processnever change, then
wewould expect therunningaveragealgorithmto outperformthereset-K algorithm(especially
whenK issmall) becausethemeasuredhit ratiop
M
intherunningaveragealgorithmapproaches
thetruehit ratiovaluep inthesteadystate. Surprisingly, theperformancefor thereset-K algorithm
isroughlythesameastherunningaveragealgorithmevenif K isassmall as10. Figure20.9plotsthe
locationtrackingcostsfor therunningaveragealgorithmandthereset-K algorithmwithdifferent
K values.
Thegureindicatesthat insteadystate, whenthedistributionsfor theincomingcall processand
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
FIGURE20.9: Thelocationtrackingcostsfor therunningaveragealgorithmandthereset-K algo-
rithm; C
H
= 0.5C
B
.
theuser movement processnever change, therunningaveragealgorithmoutperformsreset K, and
alargevalueof K outperformsasmall K but thedifferencesareinsignicant.
If thedistributionsfor theincomingcall processor theuser movement processchangefromtime
totime, weexpect that thereset-K algorithmoutperformstherunningaveragealgorithm. Wehave
examinedthispropositionexperimentally. Intheexperiments, 4000incomingcallsaresimulated.
Thecall arrival ratechangesfrom0.1to1.0, 0.3, andthen5.0for every1000calls(other sequences
havebeentestedandsimilar resultsareobserved). For everydatapoint, thesimulationisrepeated
1000timestoensurethat thecondenceinterval for the98%condencelevel of theoutput measure
C
C
/C
B
iswithin3%of themeanvalue. Figure20.10plotsthelocationtrackingcostsfor thetwo
algorithmsfor theseexperiments. Bychangingthedistributionsof theincomingcall process, we
observethatthereset-Kalgorithmisbetterthantherunningaveragealgorithmforall C
H
/C
B
values.
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
FIGURE20.10: Comparingtherunningaveragealgorithmandthereset-K algorithmunderunstable
call trafc.
20.10 Discussion
In thissection wediscussaspectsof thecachingstrategypresented here. Cachingin PCSsystems
raisesanumber of issuesnot encounteredintraditional computer systems, particularlywithrespect
toarchitectureandlocalityinuser call andmobilitypatterns. Inaddition, several variationsinour
referenceassumptionsarepossiblefor investigatingtheimplementation of thecachingstrategies.
Herewesketchsomeof theissuesinvolved.
20.10.1 ConditionsWhenCachingIsBenecial
Wesummarizetheconditionsforwhichtheauxiliarystrategiesareworthwhile,undertheassumptions
of our analysis.
ThecachingstrategyisverypromisingwhentheHLRupdate(or queryload) or theremoteAlink
istheperformancebottleneck, sincealowLCMR(LCMR > 0) isrequired. For caching, thetotal
databaseloadandsignallingnetworktrafcisreducedwheneverthereisacachehit. Inaddition, load
andtrafcisredistributedfromtheHLRandhigher level SS7networkelements(RSTP, Dlinks) to
theVLRsandlower levelswhereexcessnetworkcapacitymaybemorelikelytoexist. If theVLRisthe
performancebottleneck, thecachingstrategyisnot promising, unlesstheVLRcapacityisupgraded.
Thebenetsof thecachingstrategydependon user call andmobilitypatternswhen theD link,
RSTP, and LSTP aretheperformancebottlenecks. Wehaveused aPoisson call arrival model and
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
exponential intermovetimeto estimatethis dependence. Under very conservativeassumptions,
for cachingto bebenecial requiresrelativelyhigh LCMR (2550); weexpect that in practicethis
thresholdcouldbeloweredsignicantly(say, LCMR> 7). Further experimental studyisrequiredto
estimatetheamount of localityinuser movementsfor different user populationstoinvestigatethis
issuefurther. It ispossiblethat for someclassesof usersdataobtainedfromactivebadgelocation
systemstudies(e.g., Fishman and Mazer, [8]) could beuseful. In general, it appearsthat caching
couldalsopotentiallyprovidebenetstosomeclassesof usersevenwhentheD link, theRSTP, or
theLSTP arethebottlenecks.
Weobservethat moreaccuratemodelsof user callingandmobilitypatternsarerequiredtohelp
resolvetheissuesraisedinthissection. Wearecurrentlyengagedindevelopingtheoretical models
for user mobilityandestimatingtheir effect onstudiesof variousaspectsof PCSperformance[10].
20.10.2 AlternativeNetwork Architectures
Thereferencearchitecturewehaveassumed(Fig. 20.2) isonlyoneof several possiblearchitectures.
Itispossibletoconsider variationsintheplacementof theHLRandVLRfunctionality, (e.g., placing
theVLRat alocal SCPassociatedwiththeLSTPinsteadof at theSSP), thenumber of SSPsservedby
anLSTP, thenumber of HLRsdeployed, etc. Itisquiteconceivablethatdifferentregional PCSservice
providersandtelecommunicationscompanieswill deploydifferentsignallingnetworkarchitectures,
aswell asplacement of databasesfor supportingPCSwithin their servingregions[19]. It isalso
possiblethat thenumber and placement of databases in anetwork will changeover timeas the
number of PCSusersincreases.
Rather than consider manypossiblevariationsof thearchitecture, wehaveselected areference
architecturetoillustratethenewauxiliarystrategiesandour methodof calculatingtheir costsand
benets. Changesin thearchitecturemayresult in minor variationsin our analysisbut maynot
signicantlyaffect our qualitativeconclusions.
20.10.3 LCMREstimationandCachingPolicy
It ispossiblethat for someuser populationsestimatingtheLCMRmaynot benecessary, sincethey
displayarelativelyhigh-averageLCMR. For somepopulations, aswehaveshown in Section 20.9,
obtainingaccurateestimatesof user LCMRinorder todecidewhether or not tousecachingcanbe
important indeterminingthenet benetsof caching.
Ingeneral, schemesfor estimatingtheLCMRrangefromstatictodynamicandfromdistributed
tocentralized. Wehavepresentedtwosimpledistributedalgorithmsfor estimatingLCMR, basedon
along-rangeandshort-rangerunningcalculation; theformer ispreferableif thecall andmobility
pattern of usersisfairlyTuningtheamount of historythat isused to determinewhether caching
shouldbeemployedfor aparticular user isanobviousareafor further studybut isoutsidethescope
of thischapter.
Analternativeapproachistoutilizesomeuser-suppliedinformation, byrequestingprolesof user
movements(e.g., seeTabbane, [22] andtointegratethiswiththecachingstrategy. Avariationof this
approachistousesomedomainknowledgeabout user populationsandtheir characteristics.
A related issueisthat of cachesizeand management. In practiceit islikelythat themonetary
cost of deployingacachemaylimit itssize. In that case, cacheentriesmaynot bemaintainedfor
someusers; selectingtheseuserscarefullyisimportant to maximizethebenetsof caching. Note
that thecachehit ratio threshold cannot necessarilybeused to determinewhich usershavecache
entries, sinceit maybeuseful tomaintaincacheentriesfor someuserseventhoughtheir hit ratios
havetemporarilyfallenbelowthethreshold. A simplepolicythat hasbeenfoundtobeeffectivein
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
computer systemsintheleast recentlyused(LRU) policy[20] inwhichcacheentriesthat havebeen
least recentlyusedarediscarded; LRU mayoffer someguidanceinthiscontext.
20.11 Conclusions
WebeganthischapterwithanoverviewofthenuancesofPCS,suchaspersonal andterminal mobility,
registration, deregistration, call delivery, etc. Atutorial wasthenprovidedonthetwomostcommon
strategiesfor locatingusersinPCS,inNorthAmericaninterimstandardIS-41andthePan-European
standardGSM. Asimpliedanalysisof thetwostandardswasthenprovidedtoshowthereader the
extent towhichdatabaseandsignallingtrafcislikelytobegeneratedbyPCSservices. Suggestions
werethenmadethat arelikelytoresult inreducedtrafc.
Previousstudies[12, 13, 14, 16] of PCS-relatednetwork signallinganddatamanagement func-
tionalitiessuggest ahighlevel of utilizationof thesignallingnetworkinsupportingcall andmobility
managementactivitiesfor PCSsystems. Motivatedbytheneedtoevolvelocationstrategiestoreduce
signallingand databaseloads, wethen presented an auxiliarystrategy, called per-user caching, to
augment thebasicuser locationstrategyproposedinstandards[6, 18].
Usingareferencesystemarchitecturefor PCS, wequantiedthecriteriaunder whichthecaching
strategyproducesreductionsinthenetworksignallinganddatabaseloadsintermsof users LCMRs.
Wehaveshown that, if theHLR or theremoteA link in an SS7architectureis theperformance
bottleneck, cachingisuseful regardlessof user call andmobilitypatterns. If theDlinkor STPsare
theperformancebottlenecks, cachingispotentiallybenecial for largeclassesof users, particularly
if theydisplayadegreeof localityin their call reception patterns. Dependingon thenumbersof
PCSuserswhomeet thesecriteria, thesystem-wideimpactsof thesestrategiescouldbesignicant.
For instance, for userswithLCMR 5 andstablecall andmovepatterns, cachingcanresult incost
reduction of 2060%over thebasic user location strategy BasicFIND( ) under our analysis. Our
resultsareconservativein that theBasicFIND( ) procedurewehaveusedfor comparison purposes
alreadyreducesthenetworkimpactscomparedtotheuserlocationstrategyspeciedinPCSstandards
suchasIS-41.
Wehavealso investigated in detail two simpleon-linealgorithms for estimatingusers LCMRs
andexaminedthecall andmobilitypatternsfor whicheachwouldbeuseful. Thealgorithmsallow
asystemdesigner to tunetheamount of history used to estimateausers LCMR and, hence, to
attempt tooptimizethebenetsduetocaching. Theparticular valuesof cachehit ratiosandLCMR
thresholds will changewith variations in theway thePCS architectureand thecachingstrategy
isimplemented, but our general approach can still beapplied. Thereareseveral issuesdeserving
further studywithrespecttodeploymentof thecachingstrategy, suchastheeffectof alternativePCS
architectures, integrationwithother auxiliarystrategiessuchastheuseof user proles, andeffective
cachemanagement policies.
Recently, wehaveaugmentedtheworkreportedinthispaper byasimulationstudyinwhichwe
havecomparedthecachingandbasicuser locationstrategies[9]. Theeffect of usingatime-based
criterionfor enablinguseof thecachehasalsobeenconsidered[11]. Wehaveproposedelsewhere,
foruserswithlowCMRs, anauxiliarystrategyinvolvingasystemof forwardingpointerstoreducethe
signallingtrafcanddatabaseloads[10], adescriptionof whichisbeyondthescopeof thischapter.
Acknowledgment
Weacknowledgeanumber of our colleaguesinBellcorewhohavereviewedseveral previouspapers
bytheauthorsandcontributedtoimprovingtheclarityandreadabilityof thiswork.
c 1999byCRCPressLLC
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