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Recorded fatalities as a result of road accidents place Romania at the top of the European countries with the most worrying statistics, situating the mobility management in a deficient position, often motivated by the vulnerability of the road infrastructure. The present paper, conducted with the statistics provided by the Romanian Police, analyzes the impact of road quality on the occurrence of accidents in determining the severity of injuries to participants. This study was carried out over a period of 5 years in Brasov County.

Although constituting one of the basic individual rights, mobility has been considered for long a given service users should adapt to. Nevertheless, increasing customization needs have recently emerged, so that user-centered paradigm has progressively gained relevance. Demand-Responsive-Transport, as well as Mobility-as-a-Service solutions are often introduced to meet specifical users’ groups and targets transport demand. Contemporary individual needs require to shape indeed mobility services and respective management strategies within a wider welfare perspective, in order to assure universal access to facilities and opportunities. Thus representing a quite critical challenge on a urban level, Universities may constitute an interesting case-study to develop integrated strategies addressing accessibility, inclusion and equality within a more limited, though comprehensive community. Present contribution will therefore provide an holistic methodological approach to support sustainable and inclusive mobility management planning and actions, starting from the University of Genoa experience, currently implementing dedicated tools and strategies, thus investigating potential extension to Genoese urban context.

The unique combination of the high data rates, ultra-low latency, and massive machine communication capability of 5G networks has facilitated the development of a diverse range of applications distinguished by varying connectivity needs. This has led to a surge in data traffic, driven by the ever-increasing number of connected devices, which poses challenges to the load distribution among the network cells and minimizes the wireless network performance. In this context, maintaining network balance during congestion periods necessitates effective interaction between various network components. This study emphasizes the crucial role that mobility management plays in mitigating the uneven load distribution across cells. This distribution is a significant factor impacting network performance, and effectively managing it is essential for ensuring optimal network performance in 5G and future networks. The study investigated the complexities associated with congested cells in wireless networks to address this challenge. It proposes a Dynamic Distance-based Load-Balancing (DDLB) algorithm designed to facilitate efficient traffic distribution among contiguous cells and utilize available resources more efficiently. The algorithm reacts with congested cells and redistributes traffic to its neighboring cells based on specific network conditions. As a result, it alleviates congestion and enhances overall network performance. The results demonstrate that the DDLB algorithm significantly improves key metrics, including load distribution and rates of handover and radio link failure, handover ping-pong, and failed attached requests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IP mobility support is based on terminal behavior, recognizing mobility and maintaining a continuous communication session. The existing mobile IP location registration sends a message to one or more routers during a handoff within a domain by using a multicast address to process messages continuously. This implementation requires persistent message processing among all routers to determine new multicast address assignments. To solve this problem, we propose a method that enables the mobile user to obtain a QoS guarantee when the mobile device moves to an overlapping area under the mobile IP. Therefore, dynamic mobility management includes location updates under the mobile IP, and transmission of packets from the expected access points. When a handoff occurs while the mobile device is connected, the mobile host dynamically adapts to the mobility characteristics of the mobile node and transmits missed packets. In addition, by first using a location router, handoff latency reduction and packet loss requirements between domains in the overlapping mobile network environment are resolved. Second, the proposed algorithm has low-control traffic in the mobile network, allowing quick handoffs. Although instantaneous throughput is reduced during handoffs, tunneling is reduced by 10-30%, even after a handoff, by retransmitting packets missed by the mobile host, while location-registration-update times are reduced by 20-80%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper represents the Reliable Mobility Management of RPL (RM-RPL) protocol, specifically developed to overcome the limitations of the Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) in mobile IoT environments. RM-RPL incorporates a sophisticated mechanism to prevent the formation of loops, enabling mobile nodes to operate as both routers and parents within the network. It introduces a novel objective function that optimizes the selection of parent nodes and includes a mechanism to adjust the protocol's behavior when nodes are stationary. Furthermore, an algorithm is devised to acknowledge critical packets properly. The proposed model provides superior support for mobility, efficient routing, and dependable data transmission, rendering it highly suitable for diverse IoT applications. Through comprehensive evaluations, RM-RPL demonstrates exceptional performance in challenging scenarios characterized by large-scale networks, high density, and dynamic conditions. Comparative analysis reveals that RM-RPL significantly enhances the packet delivery ratio and exhibits commendable power consumption, end-to-end delay, and handover delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of science has given rise to many technologies that have changed the world. The upcoming Six-Generation (6G) mobile network indicates a fundamental transformation in wireless technologies, enhancing connectivity and data transmission rates. In this circumstance, Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) is a paradigm technology that emerges as a key major supporter of enhancing mobility awareness. Edge computing offers improved efficiency for service migration from the edge node to the user. However, mobility management in MEC is a complex challenge as seamless handovers between edge nodes must be efficiently executed to ensure uninterrupted service for mobile devices, demanding intricate coordination and low-latency decision-making. To the best of the author's knowledge, there has been no comprehensive work on the most recent developments in mobility awareness using mobile edge computing in 6G. However, this paper aims to present a general overview of the intersection between mobility awareness and MEC over 6G networks. The general concept of MEC in 6G mobile networks is comprehensively introduced. This will highlight the integration between MEC and 6G for bringing more efficient network and service migration to the edge, reducing latency, and enhancing the user experience. Meanwhile, this survey discusses augmented reality with MEC applications. This survey discusses the integration of mobility awareness and mobile edge computing in upcoming mobile applications and emphasizes the need for 6G networks. This integration results in providing seamless communication during handovers between the serving base station and the target base station. This study contributes to understanding the upcoming trends that will enable the operation of mobility awareness and MEC operation in the 6G mobile communication. Furthermore, we delve into a comprehensive overview of the challenges and future research directions for mobility management with MEC in 6G mobile networks, underlining the complexities and potentials of integrating mobility awareness and mobile edge computing.

Car-sharing services i.e. short-term car rentals, are ideologically driven systems aimed at modernizing contemporary transportation towards sustainable development and encouraging society to abandon individual motorization. Despite their noble goals, car-sharing systems face numerous operational challenges, both in terms of societal acceptance and management issues related to operators. Among the key problems are inadequately tailored vehicle fleets that do not meet user needs, and the operators' reluctance to implement changes and embrace open innovations, such as mobility accelerators. This paper introduces a novel approach to car-sharing services by integrating open innovation through the concept of an adaptive vehicle fleet. In this approach, users specify their vehicle and travel preferences through an application, and the system recommends vehicles that best meet their needs, measured by a percentage-based fleet satisfaction index (stars rate). Methodologically, the system is built on Conjoint Analysis and the multi-criteria decision support method ELECTRE III, ensuring a more personalized and efficient matching process. The proposed adaptive fleet concept represents a breakthrough in the car-sharing sector, emphasizing the role of open innovation in enhancing service personalization and operational flexibility. This approach is validated through a real-world case study, showcasing its potential for both car-sharing system operators and mobility accelerators. By fostering greater adaptability and innovation, the model significantly improves user satisfaction, supports wider adoption of car-sharing systems, and contributes to the sustainable development goals within the framework of smart cities.

Although constituting one of the basic individual rights, mobility has been considered for long a given service users should adapt to. Nevertheless, increasing customization needs have recently emerged, so that usercentered paradigm has progressively gained relevance. Demand-Responsive-Transport, as well as Mobilityas-a-Service solutions are often introduced to meet specifical users' groups and targets transport demand. Contemporary individual needs require to shape indeed mobility services and respective management strategies within a wider welfare perspective, in order to assure universal access to facilities and opportunities. Thus representing a quite critical challenge on a urban level, Universities may constitute an interesting case-study to develop integrated strategies addressing accessibility, inclusion and equality within a more limited, though comprehensive community. Present contribution will therefore provide an holistic methodological approach to support sustainable and inclusive mobility management planning and actions, starting from the University of Genoa experience, currently implementing dedicated tools and strategies, thus investigating potential extension to Genoese urban context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bicycle parking requirements in building codes are an important tool for promoting cycling, as several studies have shown that the provision of secure parking increases cycling rates and contributes to sustainability. However, bicycle parking requirements are not comprehensive across the EU and vary widely within countries and between municipalities, which questions what aspects they should consider. This paper analyzes the literature and guidelines on parking requirements and compares their implementation in ten German and four international cities both qualitatively, examining specific requirements for parking facilities, and quantitatively, examining the number of spaces required. The results show that most guidelines set comparable standards in terms of quality and quantity. However, the quality standards defined in the actual building codes are heterogeneous. While most cities require features such as the ability to lock the bicycle frame, they do not adequately address different user groups and insufficiently consider e-bike charging infrastructure. Most cities meet the guidelines for the required number of bicycle parking spaces, but lack a clear rationale based on local conditions, which can lead to an unsustainable under- or oversupply. In summary, cities do not fully utilize the potential of parking requirements to promote cycling because of incomplete qualitative standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surge of data traffic in wireless networks necessitates the provision of high-quality data services to meet users’ satisfaction levels. However, the limited spectral resources of the current network infrastructures and inherent challenges of achieving reliable line-of-sight (LoS) probability for ground users (GUs) in urban environments often lead to disruption to communication services delivery. This paper aims to address the challenges of frequent handover (HO) failures and disrupted communication services for mobile GUs by deploying an unmanned aerial vehicle as a flying base station (UAV-BS) in heterogeneous networks (HetNets). A channel model is investigated that considers both LoS and non-line-of-sight (NLoS) paths in three-dimensional (3D) air-to-ground (A2G) links using a detailed mathematical model with urban infrastructure parameters like building density and heights. In addition, a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm is presented in this work to optimize UAV trajectories in response to the dynamic mobility of GUs for enhancing LoS connections. The proposed algorithm dynamically adjusts the UAV positions and enhances transmission channels by identifying both LoS and NLoS paths. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing benchmarks through learning-based adaptive control of UAVs’ mobility, ensuring ubiquitous network connectivity for GUs and reducing HO failures in HetNets.

Mobile networks are facing unprecedented challenges due to the traits of large scale, heterogeneity, and high mobility. Fortunately, the emergence of fog computing offers surprisingly perfect solutions considering the features of consumer proximity, wide-spread geographical distribution, and elastic resource sharing. In this paper, we propose a novel mobile networking framework based on fog computing which outperforms others in resilience. Our scheme is constituted of two parts: the personalized customization mobility management (MM) and the market-driven resource management (RM). The former provides a dynamically customized MM framework for any specific mobile node to optimize the handoff performance according to its traffic and mobility traits; the latter makes room for economic tussles to find out the competitive service providers offering a high level of service quality at sound prices. Synergistically, our proposed MM and RM schemes can holistically support a full-fledged resilient mobile network, which has been practically corroborated by numerical experiments.

In the context of next-generation mobile networks, mobility control mechanisms are anticipated to provide infrastructures that can adapt to a broad range of requirements enforced by heterogeneous devices and applications. A mechanism that is central to this adaptability is the handover. During this critical phase of mobility lifecycle management, an appropriate technique for selecting the most suitable Point of Attachment (PoA) must be employed to ensure that mobile devices maintain optimal connectivity. Among the various strategies used to tackle the handover decision problem, the Multiple Attribute Decision-Making (MADM) method is one of the most cost-effective, given the benefits provided by its decision-making approach. Despite its popularity, mobility management mechanisms often employ MADM methods without conducting a thorough performance analysis to justify the approach. One of the main reasons for such referenceless handover technique adoptions is the lack of studies that could inform researchers, developers, mobility managers, and operators about the primary differences among available MADM methods. To fill this knowledge gap, in this paper, we conduct a comprehensive review of the literature on MADM methods in the domain of handover decisions. In particular, our contribution includes providing a detailed summary of the step-wise mathematical implementation in addition to a broad discussion of the main MADM methods in the quality-oriented mobility decision domain, thoroughly classifying their characteristics, and analyzing strengths and limitations. We also compare different categories of MADM methods and discuss some open issues and research challenges in this area.

Mobility management is a critical and challenging requirement for 5G networks and their successors, as numerous highly mobile user equipment (UE), including massive Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, generate extreme traffic volumes. In the integration of non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) with 5G, mobility management is of utmost importance to track these highly mobile UE/IoT throughout the network coverage area for the purpose of data-packet delivery. In this context, we thoroughly discuss the integration of satellite-based NTNs with 5G technology, which has become increasingly active in recent years, and studies are still ongoing to develop innovative frameworks to provide seamless connections to the extremely increasing density of high-mobility UE/IoT. The goal of this integration is to extend coverage and improve reliability beyond current 5G networks, enabling ubiquitous connectivity in remote areas and delivering high-speed data to UE/IoT. However, this integration poses numerous challenges in terms of mobility management, especially concerning the power constraints and signaling overhead of UE/IoT, as these devices are limited in battery power and processing capabilities. Handling these challenges is crucial to ensure successful integration and provide seamless connectivity to UE/IoT. In this paper, we highlight recent research efforts and potential solutions in these areas, contributing to the ongoing development of non-terrestrial 5G networks and improving global connectivity. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first study to emphasize and critically assess different mobility management solutions for satellite-based 5G NTNs, evaluating their impact on UE/IoT battery power consumption and signaling overhead, with implications extending to 6G networks.

Modern wireless communication technologies are rapidly advancing to meet the evolving needs of the upcoming generation requirements, facilitating applications and services with enhanced Quality-of-Service (QoS) levels, characterized by high-speed broadband connectivity, enhanced reliability, and ultra-low latency. Recent reports anticipate that Fifth-Generation (5G) technology subscriptions are expected to surpass 5.3 billion by 2029. Notably, the majority of cellular network traffic originates from densely populated urban areas, where the urban environment poses numerous challenges for wireless signal quality, stemming from its densely packed infrastructures, such as high-rise buildings, narrow-congested roads/streets, metallic structures, vehicular traffic, and more. As a result, cellular operators face challenges in ensuring improved QoS for end users, along with a defined level of Quality-of-Experience (QoE). With this objective in mind, this research conducts a comparative evaluation of the User Equipment-Base Station (UE-BS) association, aiming to comprehend the throughput experiences of UEs during mobility and to evaluate the wireless services delivered with promised QoE levels. The findings of this research highlight a significant improvement in the throughput performance of priority UEs when served by BSs, with the highest Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) levels and lower UE loads. Additionally, it is demonstrated that a network characterized by low UE load at the BSs contributes to enhanced throughput performances of priority UEs, attributed to surplus bandwidth resources, thereby resulting in improved UE QoE.

In recent years, satellite networks have been proposed as an essential part of next-generation mobile communication systems. Software defined networking techniques are introduced in satellite networks to handle the growing challenges induced by time-varying topology, intermittent inter-satellite link and dramatically increased satellite constellation size. This survey covers the latest progress of software defined satellite networks, including key techniques, existing solutions, challenges, opportunities, and simulation tools. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the most comprehensive survey that covers the latest progress of software defined satellite networks. An open GitHub repository is further created where the latest papers on this topic will be tracked and updated periodically. Compared with these existing surveys, this survey contributes from three aspects: (1) an up-to-date SDN-oriented review for the latest progress of key techniques and solutions in software defined satellite networks; (2) an inspiring summary of existing challenges, new research opportunities and publicly available simulation tools for follow-up studies; (3) an effort of building a public repository to track new results.

Load balancing is a major challenge in heterogeneous networks (HetNets) consisting of 5G and 6G ultra-dense small cells with long-term evaluation advanced (LTE-A) networks. A key factor in achieving efficient load balancing during user mobility is creating appropriate optimisation for handover control parameters (HCP). This paper proposes a coordinated load balancing algorithm for LTE-A/fifth generation (5G) HetNets. The algorithm automatically optimises HCP settings for a given user based on three bounded functions (the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of the user equipment (UE), the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) per UE and the UE’s speed) as well as their automatic weight levels. A two-step target cell determination strategy is implemented according to the cell load level and RSRP criteria, ensuring that users are handed over to low-loaded target cells. A new HO procedure that considers the pilot signal power is also proposed, which includes the number of PRBs per UE and the RSRP. Cells with freer PRBs are prioritised in user association to provide load balance and enhanced throughput. The proposed load balancing algorithm is compared with five other load balancing algorithms selected from the literature. The simulation results reveal that under various mobile speed scenarios, the proposed load balancing scheme enhances network performance in terms of load level, throughput, spectral efficiency and call dropping ratio (CDR).

VNDN integrates the principles of Named Data Networking (NDN) into the VANET paradigm. NDN provides name-based and content-centric routing, which is better suited for vehicle mobility challenge compared to the traditional host-centric TCP/IP architecture. NDN names data instead of hosts and allows stateful forwarding based on content names, which eliminates the dependency on end-host locations and enhances reliability. This makes mobility management and content retrieval much simpler in VNDN compared to IP-based VANETs. High speed vehicle mobility in VNDN causes issues like network disconnections, and failed content delivery. Therefore, accurately tracking the real-time location of vehicles in VNDN is a crucial issue for seamless and reliable content retrieval during mobility. In this paper, we compare and analyze legacy vehicle tracking-based mobility management techniques in VNDN, in order to provide preliminary knowledge for future incoming researches on vehicle tracking-based mobility management in the VNDN environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of various interconnected objects capable of collecting and exchanging data without human interaction. These objects have limited processing power, storage space, memory, bandwidth and energy. Therefore, due to these limitations, data transmission and routing are challenging issues where data collection and analysis methods are essential. The Routing Protocol for Low-power and Lossy Networks (RPL) is one of the best alternatives to ensure routing in LoWPAN6 networks. However, RPL lacks scalability and basically designed for non-dynamic devices. Another drawback of the RPL protocol is the lack of load balancing support, leading to unfair distribution of traffic in the network that may decrease network efficiency. This study proposes a novel RPL-based routing protocol, QFS-RPL, using Q-learning algorithm policy and ideation from the Fisheye State Routing protocol. We have developed an algorithm for ease of data transfer in the IoT, which provides better performance than existing protocols, especially when dealing with a mobile network. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, the Contiki operating system and Cooja simulator have been used in scenarios with mobile and stationary nodes and random network topologies. The results have been compared with RPL and mRPL. We have developed an algorithm for ease of data transfer in the IoT, which provides better performance than existing protocols, especially when dealing with a mobile network. The simulation outputs revealed that our scheme performs more efficiently in load balancing, number of table entries, Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), End-to-End (E2E) latency, network throughput, convergence speed, control packet overhead and Remaining Useful Lifetime in designed scenarios compared to other methods. Moreover, the simulation results show an out-performance of rival schemes in terms of remaining energy and network lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's urban mobility scene, the increasing number of private cars trying to travel through the city centers is one of the most onerous problems facing urban transport. Knowing about the impact that different transport demand management models can have on the efficiency of the urban transport system may be of key importance for developing solutions in this area. This knowledge is the main goal of the considerations undertaken. The observations presented in this article took place during the formation of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) for the Bielsko-Biała agglomeration. The author of the article is a member of the working group that prepared the SUMP project for the city. The study examined the effectiveness of mobility planning activities. The scope of these activities included collecting the data necessary to create a mobility plan, analyzing this data, building scenarios in the area of transport demand management, and designing the assessment of the adopted solutions. The article shows the procedure for creating a model of a SUMP for urban areas, which may be a prerequisite for municipal governments for effective applications for funding projects related to transport. The most important part of the analysis is the evaluation using integration indicators of selected key elements of the urban transport system of the Bielsko-Biała agglomeration in the area of transfer accessibility. Such research allows us to answer the question of whether the locations of new railway stops proposed under the agglomeration SUMP contribute to increasing the integration of the urban transport system. The current research implements one of the dimensions of mobility management projects. Related goals are, among other things, to achieve more effective integration of the urban transport system. The analyses were carried out by measuring selected properties of the transport network and a survey questionnaire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have been conducted on wireless communication networks to reduce the costs associated with location registration and paging traffic caused by the movement of user equipment (UE). Among them, a zone-based registration scheme is commonly used due to its convenience of implementation. In a zone-based scheme, a set of non-overlapping cells are managed as a single zone called a registration area (RA). The UE requests registration each time it enters a new RA. The most significant drawback of the 1Z system (an RA consisting of one zone) is the degradation in the service quality due to the registration traffic that frequently occurs at the RA boundaries. To overcome this drawback, a 2Z system that can manage two zones with one RA has been proposed. However, in the 2Z system, the paging costs for the UE that has returned to the previous zone increase, which can significantly degrade the performance compared to the 1Z system if the call-to-mobility ratio (CMR) is large or if the probability of returning to the previous zone is small. In this study, a new 2Z_Timer scheme is proposed to enhance the performance of the 2Z system. This method involves initiating a Timer for the previously visited zone when the UE enters a new zone, making it possible to retain the information of the previous zone for a specified threshold period. Simulations were conducted using flowchart-based RAPTOR software to compare its performance to those of the 1Z and 2Z systems. The results showed that the 2Z_Timer system effectively reduced the paging costs, even when the CMR was high or the probability of returning to the previous zone was low. Numerical results for various Timer thresholds showed that the 2Z_Timer system could lead to cost reductions of 10.6% and 28.6% compared to the 1Z and 2Z systems, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective mobility management in heterogeneous networks is significant in ensuring seamless handovers (HOs) between diverse cell types, especially as users move between macrocells, small cells, and femtocells. The widespread and overlapping deployment of diverse cells raises the HO probability occurrence massively, particularly when users are on the move and connected to multiple cells simultaneously to ensure uninterrupted connectivity. This phenomenon leads to an increase in HO ping pong (HOPP) and HO failure (HOF) occurrences, ultimately degrading network performance. In this context, this paper proposes a self-optimization algorithm to address the contradiction in the optimization tasks of mobility robustness optimization (MRO) and load balancing optimization (LBO) functions. The algorithm aims to facilitate seamless user communication as individuals move across various deployment scenarios. The MRO function leverages two key parameters: the reference signal received power (RSRP) levels of serving and target cells, as well as user movement speed. On the other hand, the LBO function takes into account the traffic load of serving and target cells to determine the suitable values of HO control parameters. Moreover, our research contributes to the present network optimization challenges and positions itself as an enabler for the seamless integration of emerging technologies. As the wireless ecosystem continues to evolve, with the advent of edge computing and network slicing technologies, our self-optimization algorithm offers adaptability and scalability to meet the evolving demands of next-generation wireless networks. This forward-looking solution benefits network operators and end-users by providing robust and efficient mobility management. The proposed algorithm demonstrates its effectiveness through comprehensive simulations by significantly reducing HOPP and HOF compared to investigated methods selected from the literature, showcasing its potential to enhance network performance and user experience.

As radio access technologies, processing speeds, and multimode interfaces of low-powered portable devices continue to advance, the future of wireless communication is envisioned to offer pervasive network coverage, high data rates, and a wide spectrum of services while maintaining high mobility. High data rates, wide range of services, huge connectivity, capacity, and good geographic coverage are being provided by the ultra-dense deployment of small base stations (BSs) in heterogeneous wireless networks (HWN). But dense deployment of small BSs, high mobility, network heterogeneity, imbalanced traffic, and dynamic user preferences lead to frequent handover. Network overhead, excessive energy consumption, and a decrease in service quality and user satisfaction can be due to frequent handover. So, handover management is one of the crucial challenges in the implementation of 5G and beyond in HWNs for ensuring seamless connectivity, energy efficiency, and the required quality of services and experiences. The effectiveness of handover decisions in HWNs relies on the implementation of a suitable network selection mechanism. Multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) is being used to model and analyze appropriate network selection complexities by considering a broad spectrum of intricate and conflicting decision criteria for efficient handover decisions in HWN. This article extensively explores, compares, and analyzes vital MADM techniques utilized for modeling appropriate network selection strategies in terms of algorithmic strategies, cardinality, types and significance of decision attributes, and network utilities. This article also examines, analyzes, and recognizes the recent mobility management challenges and trends in utilizing MADM strategies to tackle network selection issues in high-speed HWNs.

The unique combination of the high data rates, ultra-low latency, and massive machine communication capability of 5G networks has facilitated the development of a diverse range of applications distinguished by varying connectivity needs. This has led to a surge in data traffic, driven by the ever-increasing number of connected devices, which poses challenges to the load distribution among the network cells and minimizes the wireless network performance. In this context, maintaining network balance during congestion periods necessitates effective interaction between various network components. This study emphasizes the crucial role that mobility management plays in mitigating the uneven load distribution across cells. This distribution is a significant factor impacting network performance, and effectively managing it is essential for ensuring optimal network performance in 5G and future networks. The study investigated the complexities associated with congested cells in wireless networks to address this challenge. It proposes a Dynamic Distance-based Load-Balancing (DDLB) algorithm designed to facilitate efficient traffic distribution among contiguous cells and utilize available resources more efficiently. The algorithm reacts with congested cells and redistributes traffic to its neighboring cells based on specific network conditions. As a result, it alleviates congestion and enhances overall network performance. The results demonstrate that the DDLB algorithm significantly improves key metrics, including load distribution and rates of handover and radio link failure, handover ping-pong, and failed attached requests.

Today’s roadways are subject to traffic congestion, the deterioration of surface-assets (often due to the overreliance on private vehicle traffic), increasing vehicle-operation and fuel costs, and pollutant emissions. In Abu Dhabi, private car traffic forms the major share on urban highways, as the infrastructure was built to a high quality and the public transport network needs expansion, resulting in traffic congestion on major highways. These issues are arguably addressable by appropriate decisions at the planning stage. Microsimulation modeling of driving behavior in Abu Dhabi is presented for empirical assessment of traffic management scenarios. This paper presents a technique for developing, calibrating, validating, and the scenario analysis of a detailed VISSIM-based microsimulation model of a 3.5 km section of a 5-lane divided highway in Abu Dhabi. Traffic-count data collected from two sources, i.e., the local transport department (year 2007) and municipality (2007 and 2015–2016) were used. Gaps in traffic-counts between ramps and the highway mainline were noted, which is a common occurrence in real-world data situations. A composite dataset for a representative week in 2015 was constructed, and the model was calibrated and validated with a 15% (

Mobility management is a regulatory framework designed to streamline systematic mobility and mitigate energy, environmental and economic impacts. In this work, we propose a flexible methodology for evaluating the sustainability of home-to-work travel, providing a comprehensive and detailed ex post cost–benefit assessment. Specifically, we analyzed the effectiveness of the shuttle service operating in the ENEA “Casaccia” Research Centre in pre-pandemic times. Initially, we conducted an online survey to collect data with the aim of characterizing the travel behavior of the staff and reconstructing the multi-modal individual mobility patterns. Over 70% of the recipients, which amounted to about 950 individuals, completed the survey. Subsequently, we studied two alternative scenarios—with and without the shuttle service—comparing their total mileage, energy consumption, and pollutant emissions and performing an economic analysis. Our findings suggest that operating the service has a significant impact on air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, with reductions of 97% for volatile organic compounds, 72% for particulate matter, and 60% for carbon dioxide. Moreover, the cost–benefit analysis reveals that both users and the community reaped benefits from the provision of the collective service. These benefits are estimated to be almost EUR 1.35 M per year.

Heterogeneous networks (HetNets) are a promising solution for managing the exponential increase in the number of mobile users while maintaining high data rates and coverage. HetNets consist of various cell types with different cell coverage and system capacities. However, the traffic load in HetNets is variable, uneven and random over time, leading to unequal cell loads. Some cells have excessive user presence where the competition for system resources is high, while other cells have low user presence where system resources are not fully utilised. This paper proposes a mobility load balancing algorithm that prioritises millimetre-wave (mmWave) cells in target cell selection and user association to provide load balancing in 5G HetNets and improve overall system performance. A two-step target cell selection method that considers the load level of cells and reference signal received power (RSRP) is proposed. This method prioritises mmWave cells that meet cell load level and RSRP conditions in target cell selection, taking full advantage of the unique properties of mmWave cells (enhanced network throughput, spectral efficiency and enormous bandwidth) to balance traffic loads. The HO triggering and decision-making process is independently performed for each user. In case the serving cell is overloaded, different HO procedures are applied for load balancing depending on the target cell type (macro base station (BS) or mmWave BS). The scope of the study is further expanded by applying different HO procedures according to the serving and target cell types to maintain mobility robustness in case the serving cell is not overloaded. This research proposes various system scenarios with fixed HO margin (HOM) values and fixed time-to-trigger (TTT) durations to examine the effects of HCP settings on the proposed algorithm’s performance in terms of average load level of the serving cell, throughput, spectral efficiency and call dropping ratio (CDR). The system that provides the highest overall performance is applied to the proposed algorithm. To further assess and validate the performance of the proposed algorithm, it is compared with other load balancing algorithms from the literature. The simulation results reveal that the proposed algorithm does provide noticeable enhancements in network performance in terms of load level, throughput, spectral efficiency and CDR for various mobile speed scenarios as compared to existing load balancing algorithms.

Summary The reliable surveillance of a large region typically needs a large number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which leads to high operational costs in flying ad hoc networks (FANETs). Therefore, the UAV mobility model plays an important role that affecting the performance of FANET. This research paper comes up with a novel UAV‐shuttle‐enabled mobility management model (US‐MMM) that is a crucial attribute for the large and highly sparse network. The proposed mobility model uses UAV shuttles. A relatively lesser number of UAVs are used than comparative approaches to enhance the connectivity among the UAVs in a sparse network. UAV shuttle is the special self‐governing node, which traverses the network and collects the data to deliver to the base station (BS). The main strength of the proposed mobility model is the self‐governing ability of the UAV shuttle, which leads to high connectivity in the network. The UAV shuttle executes the proposed dynamic path planning algorithm and uses the adaptive ranking algorithm to determine its target. The main contribution of this research work is to develop a subnet scan and Number of Neighbor and Distance‐based Adaptive Ranking of Targets (NN‐DART) algorithm for dynamic route planning of UAV shuttle. The proposed mobility model is used with various routing schemes to check the difference in the performance of various routing schemes. The proposed mobility model is simulated in NS‐2.35, and the results have shown an improvement in the packet delivery ratio, routing overhead, and end‐to‐end delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: New mobile devices offer multiple network interfaces to allow the users to connect to the best available network. The heterogeneous networks can provide better internet connectivity to the users by means of vertical handover. The handover must be triggered at a suitable point of time to avoid mobility issues such as unnecessary handovers and handover ping‐pongs. The network selection during handover is usually done using classical multi‐attribute decision making (MADM) methods. However, ranking abnormality is one of the prominent issues of the classical MADM methods. To address these challenges, a graph theory and matrix approach (GTMA) with Euclidean distance is proposed for vertical handover in wireless networks. GTMA is used for the selection of the appropriate network and Euclidean distance is utilized for the handover triggering. The simulation results reveal that the proposed method has eliminated the ranking abnormality issue. This proposed technique without triggering has also reduced the number of handovers up to 75.61%, 85.71%, and 66.67% as compared to the traditional MADM methods such as AHP, GRA, and TOPSIS respectively. The use of Euclidean distance for handover triggering has further reduced the number of handovers of the proposed technique as well as traditional techniques for all the traffic types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For wireless communication networks, researchers have proposed many schemes to reduce the cost of location registration and paging signals caused by the mobility of user equipment (UE). Among them, a zone-based method that designates one zone (1Z, group of cells) as a registration area (RA) and then performs registration whenever the UE leaves the RA is commonly adopted due to its convenient implementation. However, the performance of 1Z is known to be very poor when the UE frequently crosses the RA's boundary requesting location updates. Two or three zone-based schemes (2Z or 3Z) have since been recommended to overcome these limitations. In our previous work, we analyzed the performances of 1Z, 2Z, and 3Z systems while assuming a square-shaped zone. However, there is no reason why the shape of the zone is limited to a square. This paper analyzes the performance of 3Z while assuming a hexagonal-shaped rather than a square-shaped zone. Using a semi-Markov process theory, registration and paging costs are evaluated after defining states in 3Z operations and calculating the transition probability between states. Based on various realistic parameters, the numerical results showed that the 3Z outperformed 1Z and 2Z for most call-to-mobility ratio (CMR) values. The performance of 3Z was improved more when the registration cost decreased if the probability of returning to the previously registered zone increased or the time staying in the zone decreased. The 3Z system is easy to implement with simple software modifications. It can be dynamically applied as an efficient mobility management method in the future for various devices that will emerge in the 5G/6G environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective mobility management is crucial for efficient operation of next-generation cellular systems in the millimeter wave (mmWave) band. Massive multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) systems are seen as necessary to overcome the significant path losses in this band, but the highly directional beam makes the channels more susceptible to radio link failures due to blockages. To meet stringent capacity and reliability requirements, multi-connectivity has attracted significant attention. This paper proposes a multiagent distributed Q learning-based mobility management scheme for multi-connectivity in mmWave cellular systems. A hierarchical structure is adopted to address the model complexity and speed up the learning process. The performance is assessed using a realistic measurement data set collected from Wireless Insite in an urban area and compared with independent Q learning and a heuristic scheme in terms of handover probability and spectral efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's roadways are subject to traffic congestion, the deterioration of surface-assets (often due to the overreliance on private vehicle traffic), increasing vehicle-operation and fuel costs, and pollutant emissions. In Abu Dhabi, private car traffic forms the major share on urban highways, as the infrastructure was built to a high quality and the public transport network needs expansion, resulting in traffic congestion on major highways. These issues are arguably addressable by appropriate decisions at the planning stage. Microsimulation modeling of driving behavior in Abu Dhabi is presented for empirical assessment of traffic management scenarios. This paper presents a technique for developing, calibrating, validating, and the scenario analysis of a detailed VISSIM-based microsimulation model of a 3.5 km section of a 5-lane divided highway in Abu Dhabi. Traffic-count data collected from two sources, i.e., the local transport department (year 2007) and municipality (2007 and 2015–2016) were used. Gaps in traffic-counts between ramps and the highway mainline were noted, which is a common occurrence in real-world data situations. A composite dataset for a representative week in 2015 was constructed, and the model was calibrated and validated with a 15% (<100 vehicles per hour) margin of error. Scenario analysis of a potential public bus transport service operating at 15 min headway and 40% capacity was assessed against the base case, for a 2015–2020 projected period. The results showed a significant capacity enhancement and improvement in the traffic flow. A reduction in the variation between vehicle travel times was observed for the bus-based scenario, as less bottlenecking and congestion were noted for automobiles in the mainline segments. The developed model could be used for further scenario analyses, to find optimized traffic management strategies over the highway's lifecycle, whereas it could also be used for similar evaluations of other major roads in Abu Dhabi post-calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobility management is a regulatory framework designed to streamline systematic mobility and mitigate energy, environmental and economic impacts. In this work, we propose a flexible methodology for evaluating the sustainability of home-to-work travel, providing a comprehensive and detailed ex post cost–benefit assessment. Specifically, we analyzed the effectiveness of the shuttle service operating in the ENEA "Casaccia" Research Centre in pre-pandemic times. Initially, we conducted an online survey to collect data with the aim of characterizing the travel behavior of the staff and reconstructing the multi-modal individual mobility patterns. Over 70% of the recipients, which amounted to about 950 individuals, completed the survey. Subsequently, we studied two alternative scenarios—with and without the shuttle service—comparing their total mileage, energy consumption, and pollutant emissions and performing an economic analysis. Our findings suggest that operating the service has a significant impact on air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, with reductions of 97% for volatile organic compounds, 72% for particulate matter, and 60% for carbon dioxide. Moreover, the cost–benefit analysis reveals that both users and the community reaped benefits from the provision of the collective service. These benefits are estimated to be almost EUR 1.35 M per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shared mobility is developing at a very fast pace around the world, becoming an alternative to classic forms of travel and, according to the public, providing innovative services. In recent years, these innovative services have also gained wide interest among scientists from a multicriteria point of view. However, among the topics and reviews in the literature, no review paper considering shared mobility in terms of innovation was identified. This article’s research objective was to indicate the perception of innovation in shared mobility in scientific works. The results indicate that innovations in shared mobility are a niche topic considered in few scientific works. What is more, in most cases, shared mobility services are perceived as innovative in themselves without detailed service analysis. Moreover, the issues of open innovation, which are closely related to the concept of accessible Mobility as a Service system and smart cities, are often overlooked. In addition, there was no work identified that fully referred to all areas of innovative service. The article supports researchers in the determination of further research directions in the field of shared mobility and fills the research gap in the field of knowledge about open innovation, especially in the context of the development of shared mobility services in smart cities.

Car-sharing systems, i.e., short-term car rental services, are solutions indicated as an alternative to individual motorization; they can be used in an increasing number of cities around the world. These services, along with their intensive development, are becoming more and more complex. Due to their complexity, they involve not only an increasing number of stakeholders or infrastructure elements, but also indicate numerous links with the functioning of cities, especially smart cities. To properly implement or improve the car-sharing system, both in terms of operational issues regarding the system’s functioning or changes in the vehicle fleet, it is important to be familiar with the elements that make up car-sharing, as well as the factors that affect it. This work aims to present the factors affecting car-sharing, as well as the transport model of car-sharing services. This work fills the research gap stemming from the lack of comprehensive studies and knowledge on car-sharing. A detailed analysis of the literature shows that there are six main groups of factors affecting car-sharing: economic and technical, transport, social, environmental, organizational, and other issues; among these factors, more than 150 quantitative and qualitative criteria can be distinguished. Furthermore, the work also showed factors that are a niche in the literature and can be the basis for further research on car-sharing. Detailed familiarity with these factors could translate into increased profitability and, above all, success in the functioning of on-the-market services. This article supports the implementation and improvement of car-sharing services. In addition, it supports scientists in the preparation of scientific papers and mathematical models in the field of car-sharing and the factors that affect it.

Currently, short-term car rental services (car-sharing) are a solution that is an alternative to individual motorization, which can be used in cities. With the level of sophistication of the relevant systems, there are more and more problems with their proper functioning. However, to understand the essence of some of the problems or properly introduce a new system to the market, it is important to understand how the systems work and the main relationships between the factors affecting car-sharing. This work aims to comprehensively present the most important aspects related to the functioning of car-sharing in light of the current research, as a form of compendium of knowledge about car-sharing. A review of the literature indicates that the leading areas of research in the field of car-sharing are seven topics related to the origin and history of services, the analysis of the functioning of the services market and criteria affecting the development of the relevant systems, the management of vehicle systems and location, issues related to the sustainable development of transport, IT systems, electromobility in car-sharing, and service optimization and modeling. A detailed analysis of the work carried out in this area allowed for the identification of 15 leading factors influencing car-sharing. This article supports the implementation and improvement of car-sharing services. In addition, it supports researchers during literature reviews and the search for a coherent list of the factors influencing car-sharing.

Scooter-sharing services, that is, short-term rental of electric scooters, have been gaining popularity among last-mile transport solutions in recent years, winning both their supporters and opponents. Recognizing the different approaches of societies to scooters in the world, the objective of this work was to determine the perception of scooter-sharing services in Poland, that is, the fifth largest European market in terms of micromobility. The study was based on survey data conducted using the CAWI method among the points of active users of scooter-sharing systems. The article presents the results regarding the perception of electric scooters in terms of safety, use, operation, education, and elements of communication behavior. The results indicate that the respondents perceive the Polish market of sharing electric scooters well. They believe that riding a scooter is safe (despite pointing out numerous technical faults that may indicate insufficient technical knowledge about what they can mean for users), and they are against mobility hubs and disrupting free systems. Interestingly, respondents emphasize the need to modernize the regulations, the need for penalties for damage to vehicles, and the need to reduce fees. The results provide valuable clues on how to manage the new electric mobility. They also indicate a different approach of Polish users to the issue of perceiving scooters in relation to other European societies (such as France or Denmark), which is a valuable clue for modeling transport behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting human mobility and reducing inequality among countries are the Sustainable Development Goals' (SDGs) targets. However, measuring human mobility, assessing its heterogeneity and changes, and exploring associated mechanisms and context effects are still key challenges, especially for developing countries. This study attempts to review the concept of human mobility with complex thinking, assess human mobility across forty countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and examine the effect of climatic and socioeconomic factors. Based on the coined definition of human mobility, international migration and cross-border trips are taken to assess human mobility in terms of permanent migration and temporary moves. The forty SSA countries are hence classified into four mobility groups. Regression models are performed to identify key determinants and estimate their effects on mobility. The results reveal that seven of these forty countries had a high mobility, whereas most experienced a decline in permanent migration. Lesotho, Cabo Verde, and Namibia presented high temporary moves, while Eritrea, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, and Liberia had a high permanent migration. Climatic and socioeconomic conditions demonstrated significant effects on mobility but were different for temporary moves and permanent migration. Wet extremes reduced mobility, whereas extreme temperature variations had positive effects. Dry extremes promoted permanent migration but inhibited temporary moves. Economic wealth and political instability promoted permanent migration, while the young population counteracted temporary moves. Food insecurity and migrant networks stimulated human mobility. The analysis emphasises the interest in analysing human mobility for risk reduction and sustainability management at the multi-county level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructing charging infrastructure for e-bikes at home or in other locations is necessary to enable motor support while riding. This paper focuses on charging facilities at work and study locations. It analyzes the charging frequency preference of 281 e-bike commuters who work or study at RWTH Aachen University, using survey data with 1091 choices for hypothetical free charging, as well as the same conditions for hypothetical paid charging. We use a mixed logit model to estimate the factors influencing the charging frequency, focusing on the commuting distance, an e-bike's resale value, the age of the owner, student status, and employment group. One charging event per day can be expected for four e-bike commuters when free charging is available. In the case of paid charging, there is one charging event per 12 e-bike users. The magnitude of the reduction caused by a charging fee depends on group membership and, probably, on income. Commuting distance only has a statistically significant influence on the charging frequency when charging is free, raising the question of whether charging at work is necessary to cover trip chains that include stops at work. Owners of more expensive e-bikes charge less often, likely due to higher battery capacities, while the influence of age is inconclusive. However, providing charging infrastructure for employees and guests could be used as a low-cost measure to promote cycling among commuters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterogeneous networks (HetNets) are a promising solution for managing the exponential increase in the number of mobile users while maintaining high data rates and coverage. HetNets consist of various cell types with different cell coverage and system capacities. However, the traffic load in HetNets is variable, uneven and random over time, leading to unequal cell loads. Some cells have excessive user presence where the competition for system resources is high, while other cells have low user presence where system resources are not fully utilised. This paper proposes a mobility load balancing algorithm that prioritises millimetre-wave (mmWave) cells in target cell selection and user association to provide load balancing in 5G HetNets and improve overall system performance. A two-step target cell selection method that considers the load level of cells and reference signal received power (RSRP) is proposed. This method prioritises mmWave cells that meet cell load level and RSRP conditions in target cell selection, taking full advantage of the unique properties of mmWave cells (enhanced network throughput, spectral efficiency and enormous bandwidth) to balance traffic loads. The HO triggering and decision-making process is independently performed for each user. In case the serving cell is overloaded, different HO procedures are applied for load balancing depending on the target cell type (macro base station (BS) or mmWave BS). The scope of the study is further expanded by applying different HO procedures according to the serving and target cell types to maintain mobility robustness in case the serving cell is not overloaded. This research proposes various system scenarios with fixed HO margin (HOM) values and fixed time-to-trigger (TTT) durations to examine the effects of HCP settings on the proposed algorithm's performance in terms of average load level of the serving cell, throughput, spectral efficiency and call dropping ratio (CDR). The system that provides the highest overall performance is applied to the proposed algorithm. To further assess and validate the performance of the proposed algorithm, it is compared with other load balancing algorithms from the literature. The simulation results reveal that the proposed algorithm does provide noticeable enhancements in network performance in terms of load level, throughput, spectral efficiency and CDR for various mobile speed scenarios as compared to existing load balancing algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Handover (HO) management is essential in mobile cellular networks. It ensures seamless connectivity to the User Equipment (UE) while moving from one Base Station (BS) to another within the coverage area. HO optimization refers to the adoption of intelligent and automatic HO techniques in mobile networks. HO optimization is gaining more importance in Fifth-Generation (5G) and Beyond (B5G) systems because of the requirements and specifications that B5G targets. The requirements of B5G include global connectivity, ultra-low latency, big data analytics, extreme data rate transmissions, a massive number of devices in a small area, and new technologies that will support the B5G network, such as Millimeter Wave (mmWave), Terahertz (THz) communication, and Ultra-Dense Networks (UDNs). All these factors cause new HO optimization challenges and require new solutions for HO optimization techniques. This study comprehensively provides HO optimization challenges and solutions in B5G. First, it provides a research background and explanation of HO in legacy. It then investigates the HO optimization challenges in B5G, including future research directions. The paper then discusses the most prominent and recent techniques and technological solutions for HO optimization management in B5G. Finally, we highlight potential techniques for HO optimization in B5G.

Information-centric networking (ICN) and its fruition, the named data networking (NDN) is a paradigm shift from host-centric address-based communication architecture to the content-centric name-based one. ICN intends to resolve various major issues faced by today’s internet architecture such as privacy, security, consistent routing, and mobility, to name a few. With the massive increase of mobile data traffic in today’s era, mobility is one of the major concerns in networking. On the one hand, ICN realization i.e., the NDN follows a pull-based communication model and natively supports the consumer (end-user) mobility in wired networks by maintaining the forwarding states on intermediate nodes. Nevertheless, the mobile consumer nodes confront issues in wireless networking environments such as excessive energy consumption as a result of request flooding, content retrieval delays due to intermittent connectivity, and bandwidth consumption due to the broadcasting nature of the wireless medium, among others. The producer (content-generator) mobility, on the other hand, was not initially supported in the original architectural design of NDN for both wired and wireless networks. Therefore, to efficiently address the degradation issues incurred by mobile consumer/producer nodes, a plethora of mobility management schemes have been proposed over the recent few years. In this paper, we provided a detailed survey on the existing research efforts—in the context of producer, consumer, and hybrid mobility, that have been proposed in the literature. Moreover, we outlined various research directions considering the role of mobility in futuristic technologies such as artificial intelligence-enabled smart networks, software-defined networking, edge computing, vehicular-fog computing, autonomous driving, semantic communication, and resource-constrained Internet of Things.