Chapter 3

Wireless Mobile Networks and Mobility

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 Mobility

• Mobility is the quality of being capable of

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 PCS (Personal Communication Service) system
•
architecture
The mobile service area is covered by a set of base stations
(BSs), which are responsible for relaying the calls to and from
the mobile stations (MSs) located in their coverage areas (or
cells).
• The BSs are connected to mobile switching centers (MSCs)
by land links.
• MSC
– a telephone exchange configured specifically for mobile
applications.
• Databases are used for roaming management:
– Home location register (HLR)
– Visitor location register (VLR)
• There are two aspects of mobility in a PCS network:
– Handoff
– Roaming
 Handoff
• When a mobile user is engaged in conversation, the MS is
connected to a BS via a radio link.
• If the mobile user moves to the coverage area of another
BS, the radio link to the old BS is eventually disconnected,
and a radio link to the new BS should be established to
continue the conversation.
• This process is variously referred to as automatic link
transfer, handover, or handoff.
• Handoff/ handover is the process of transferring an
ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to
the core network to the other channel.
 Roaming
• Roaming is make and receive voice calls, send and
receive data or access other services while outside
your primary network coverage.
• When a mobile user moves from one PCS system
(e.g., the system in Addis Ababa City) to another
(e.g., the system in Wolkite), the system should be
informed of the current location of the user.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to deliver the
services to the mobile user.
 2.1 Handoff
• Three strategies have been proposed to detect
the need for handoff:
– mobile‑controlled handoff (MCHO)
– network‑controlled handoff (NCHO)
– mobile‑assisted handoff (MAHO)
 Mobile‑Controlled Handoff
(MCHO)
• The MS continuously monitors the signals of
the surrounding BSs and initiates the handoff
process when some handoff criteria are met.
 Network‑Controlled Handoff
(NCHO)
• The surrounding BSs measure the signal from
the MS, and the network initiates the handoff
process when some handoff criteria are met.
 mobile‑assisted handoff (MAHO)
• The network asks the MS to measure the
signal from the surrounding BSs. The network
makes the handoff decision based on reports
from the MS.
 Two types of handoff
• The BSs involved in the handoff may be
connected to the same MSC (inter‑cell
handoff or inter‑BS handoff)
• The BSs involved in the handoff may be
connected to two different MSCs (inter­system
handoff or inter‑MSC handoff ).
 2.1.1 Inter‑BS Handoff
• The new and the old BSs are connected to the same MSC.
• Assume that the need for handoff is detected by the MS; the following
actions are taken:
– 1. The MS momentarily suspends conversation and initiates the handoff
procedure by signaling on an idle (currently free) channel in the new BS.
Then it resumes the conversation on the old BS.
– 2. Upon receipt of the signal, the MSC transfers the encryption
information to the selected idle channel of the new BS and sets up the
new conversation path to the MS through that channel. The switch
bridges the new path with the old path and informs the MS to transfer
from the old channel to the new channel.
– 3. After the MS has been transferred to the new BS, it signals the
network, and resumes conversation using the new channel.
– 4. Upon receipt of the handoff completion signal, the network removes
the bridge from the path and releases resources associated with the old
channel.
• This handoff procedure is used with the mobile‑controlled handoff strategy.
Inter-BS link transfer
 2.1.1 Inter‑BS Handoff
• For the network‑controlled handoff strategy,
all handoff signaling messages are exchanged
between the MS and the old BS though the
failing link.
• The whole process must be completed as
quickly as possible, to ensure that the new link
is established before the old link fails.
 2.1.1 Inter‑BS Handoff
• If the new BS does not have an idle channel, the handoff
call may be dropped (or forced to terminate).
• The forced termination probability is an important criterion
in the performance evaluation of a PCS network.
• Forced termination of an ongoing call is considered less
desirable than blocking a new call attempt.
• Most PCS networks handle a handoff in the same manner as
a new call attempt. That is, if no channel is available, the
handoff is blocked and the call is held on the current
channel in the old cell until the call is completed or when
the failing link is no longer available.
• This is referred to as the non-prioritized scheme.
 2.1.1 Inter‑BS Handoff
• These handoff schemes can significantly
reduce the probability of forced termination as
well as the probability of call incompletion
(new call blocking plus handoff call forced
termination).
 2.1.2 Intersystem Handoff
• In intersystem handoff, the new and old BSs
are connected to two different MSCs.
• In this figure, a communicating mobile user
moves out of the BS served by MSC A and
enters the area covered by MSC B.
MSC MSC MSC MSC
 2.1.2 Intersystem Handoff
• Intersystem handoff requires the following
steps:
• Step 1. MSC A requests MSC B to perform
handoff measurements on the call in progress.
MSC B then selects a candidate BS2, BS2, and
interrogates it for signal quality parameters on
the call in progress. MSC B returns the signal
quality parameter values, along with other
relevant information, to MSC A.
 2.1.2 Intersystem Handoff
• Step 2. MSC A checks if the MS has made too
many handoffs recently (this is to avoid, for
example, numerous handoffs between BS1 and
BS2 a where the MS is moving within the
overlapped area) or if intersystem trunks are
not available. If so, MSC A exits the
procedure. Otherwise, MSC A asks MSC B to
set up a voice channel. Assuming that a voice
channel is available in BS2, MSC B instructs
MSC A to start the radio link transfer.
 2.1.2 Intersystem Handoff
• Step 3. MSC A sends the MS a handoff order.
The MS synchronizes to BS2. After the MS is
connected to BS2, MSC B informs MSC A
that the handoff is successful. MSC A then
connects the call path (trunk) to MSC B and
completes the handoff procedure.
 2.1.2 Intersystem Handoff
• If the MS moves back to MSC A again, the connection
between MSC A and MSC B is removed (handoff backward).
• If the MS moves to the third MSC C, then MSC B will be in
the call path (handoff to third).
• Note that when the MS moves to the third MSC, the second
MSC may be removed from the call path.
• That is, the link between MSC B and MSC A is disconnected,
and MSC C connects to MSC A directly.
• This process is called path minimization.
 2.2 Roaming Management
• Two basic operations in roaming management
are
– registration (or location update), the process
whereby an MS informs the system of its current
location, and
– location tracking, the process during which the
system locates the MS. Location tracking is
required when the network attempts to deliver a
call to the mobile user.
 Home Location Register (HLR)
• When a user subscribes to the services of a PCS
network, a record is created in the system's
database, called the home location register (HLR).
• This is referred to as the home system of the mobile
user.
• The HLR is a network database that stores and
manages all mobile subscriptions of a specific
operator.
• Specifically, the HLR is the location register to which
an MS identity is assigned for record purposes, such
as directory number, profile information, current
location, and validation period.
 Visitor Location Register (VLR)
• When the mobile user visits a PCS network other than the
home system, a temporary record for the mobile user is
created in the visitor location register (VLR) of the visited
system.
• The VLR temporarily stores subscription information for the
visiting subscribers so that the corresponding MSC can
provide service.
• In other words, the VLR is the "other" location register used to
retrieve information for handling calls to or from a visiting
mobile user.
Registration Procedure
 Registration Procedure
• Step 1. Suppose that the home system of a mobile user is in
Morristown. When the mobile user moves from one visited
system (e.g., New York City) to another (e.g., Los Angeles), it
must register in the VLR of the new visited system.
• Step 2. The new VLR informs the mobile user's HLR of the
person's current location‑the address of the new VLR. The
HLR sends an acknowledgment, which includes the MS's
profile, to the new VLR.
• Step 3. The new VLR informs the MS of the successful
registration.
• Step 4. After step 2, the HLR also sends a deregistration
message to cancel the obsolete location record of the MS in
the old VLR. The old VLR acknowledges the deregistration.
 Call delivery procedure
• To originate a call, the MS first contacts the
MSC in the visited PCS network.
• The call request is forwarded to the VLR for
approval.
• If the call is accepted, the MSC sets up the call
to the called party following the standard
PSTN call setup procedure.
 Call delivery procedure
• Step 1. If a wireline phone attempts to call a mobile
subscriber, the call is forwarded to a switch, called the
originating switch in the PSTN (public switched telephone
network), which queries the HLR to find the current VLR of
the MS. (1) The HLR queries the VLR in which the MS
resides to get a routable address. (2) If the originating switch
is not capable of querying the HLR (i.e., it is not equipped to
support mobility), the call is routed through the PSTN to the
subscriber's gateway MSC, which queries the HLR to
determine the current VLR serving the MS.
• Step 2. The VLR returns the routable address to the
originating switch through the HLR.
• Step 3. Based on the routable address, a trunk (voice circuit) is
set up from the originating switch to the MS through the
visited MSC.
Call delivery procedure

MSC
 Assignment II (5%)

1. Explains in detail about Mobile

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