A Graphical Study of the Timer Based Method for Location Management with the Blocking Probability

Due to the increase in the number of users in mobile communications networks, the minimization of the signaling costs associated with the roaming of the users throughout the coverage area has become a key research topic. In this sense, several algorithms have been proposed in recent years for location management, with the timer-based method achieving an excellent trade-off in terms of performance and ease of implementation. Within this field, an accurate modeling of the users´ behavior in terms of location management parameters is still a pending task. In this article, in order to gain a deep understanding of some of the parameters associated with the mobile users´ behavior and involved in the timer-based method, we analyze the variability of the blocking probability to a Location Area (LA) with the service rate, timeout period, and expected and actual numbers of mobile terminals in the LAs.