Tracking areas planning based on spectral clustering in small cell networks

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In future small cell networks, tracking areas (TAs) that are defined for location management will be updated frequently to cope with the massive signalling overhead. In this study, a TA planning method based on spectral clustering is proposed to minimise the network signalling overhead. Firstly, handover and paging statistics are simulated to construct a series of graphs showing user mobility and traffic. Then, the TA planning problem is formulated as a classical graph partitioning problem. Finally, a new TA planning method based on spectral clustering is used to build the new TA plan. Simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively reduce the system location update rate and signalling overhead, and improve the system performance.