Autonomic group location update for mobile networks

This paper presents an autonomic group location update (GLU) scheme for next-generation mobile networks. The GLU scheme takes account of the cooperative ability of the Mobile Terminals(MTs) in next-generation mobile networks, thus employs an autonomic group formation method to report location update in groups. A Leader Mobile Terminal(LMT) is elected out of all Group Members(GMs) to perform the location update and administration tasks for the whole group. Not only the bandwidth is saved for the efficiency of group operation, but also the whole system energy consumption of location update is significantly reduced in respect that communication range is much shorter in group than to base station. A leader rotation algorithm based on a variable called prestige is also exploited to make it fair. Both analysis and simulation show that the GLU scheme greatly saves energy for MTs and with our leader rotation algorithm, fairness can be also achieved.