Solving a Realistic Location Area Problem Using SUMATRA Networks with the Scatter Search Algorithm

This paper presents a new approach based on the scatter search (SS) algorithm applied to the location management problem using the location area (LA) scheme. The LA scheme is used to achieve the best configuration of the network partitioning, into groups of cells (location areas), that minimizes the costs involved. In this work we execute five distinct experiments with the aim of setting the best values for the scatter search parameters, using test networks generated with realistic data. We also want to compare the results obtained by this new approach with those achieved through classical strategies, other algorithms from our previous work and also by other authors. The simulation results show that this SS based approach is very encouraging.