A location management protocol for hierarchically organized multihop mobile wireless networks

We consider the problem of location management in a large, hierarchically organized multihop mobile network, where the switches comprising the infrastructure as well as the endpoints (terminals) may be mobile. Such networks are common in applications such as battlefield networks, disaster management, law enforcement, etc. We present a novel network architecture and location management protocol that accommodates switch mobility and, using a new concept called "roaming level", allows the updating procedure to be controlled on a per endpoint basis. We discuss simulation results on the variation of performance with the speed, roaming level and call frequency of endpoints. Our results show that at high endpoint speeds or low call frequencies a significant decrease in the control overhead can be obtained in comparison to traditional schemes.