Distributed subscriber data management in wireless networks from a remote perspective

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the broadest sense, our invention is directed to a system and method for increasing capacity of a cellular system by reducing call overhead processing and transmission congestion previously required in updating a subscriber's mobile station data position as the subscriber moves among cells within a geographic area served by a network service provider.
After a mobile station is switched on, it scans the GSM frequency band with a scanning algorithm in order to detect the presence of the network in the least amount of time.
When the network is detected, the mobile station reads the system information on the base channel.
With this information, the mobile station is able to determine its position in the network to within a predetermined local area.
If the current location has changed since the mobile station was last switched off, a registration procedure takes place.
A predetermined N number of copies of mobile station subscriber data is distributed among multiple Visiting Location Registers (VLRs) within the area served by a cellular system.
Unlike previous systems, when mobile stations traverse location boundaries, the current VLR corresponding to the current location does not need to update the subscriber data if that data has not changed since the subscriber was last in that location.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a system and method for increasing capacity in a cellular communication system is provided including a central switching center operably connected to a public switched telephone network, a plurality of transceiver stations connected to the central switching center for communicating with a mobile station, and a registration processor connected to the central switching center including first and second registers with the method including receiving a location update request at the first register, if mobile station data has been stored in the first register then updating mobile station data stored in the second register to reflect current mobile station status, sorting the data stored in the second register based on most recent time of arrival, and returning an update location request successful acknowledgment to the first register