Location and Handoff Management
Vijay Kumar · 2013
This chapter discusses the handoff process in detail with reference to transaction management in mobile database systems. The topic of location management is closely related to the handoff process, so the chapter also covers this topic in detail. A handoff may happen within or outside a registration area. If it happens within a registration area, then it is referred to as an intrasystem handoff where the same mobile switching center (MSC) manages the entire process. An intersystem handoff occurs between two separate registration areas where two MSCs are involved in handoff processing. In each of these cases, the handoff processing is completed in three steps: handoff detection, assignment of channels, and transfer of radio link. The chapter describes the special role that visitor location register (VLR) plays in speeding up the process of location identification. It also discusses about the technology necessary to build a mobile database system. Controlled Vocabulary Terms distributed databases; mobile communication; mobility management (mobile radio); transaction processing