Monday, December 16, 2002		Feature

SMS transits to MMS
Vibhor Sood

WHEN mobile service providers introduced SMS as an additional service they had no idea that SMS would provide them with a major revenue source. Seeing the potential of mobile messaging SMS was followed with picture messaging which allowed pictures to be transmitted over mobile networks. To make it more attractive, mobile operators are now introducing the new era of messaging called multimedia messaging (MMS). MMS offers full content versatility, including images, audio, video, data and text. Not only will MMS enhance the content transmission but will also allow mobile phone users to send content from the mobiles to the Internet and eventually vice-versa. MMS marks the logical shift of mobile operators from the 2G technology to 3G technology.

Working

Multimedia messaging service is a system application by which a WAP client is able to provide messaging operations with a variety of media types.

Though MMS is an extension of SMS yet they work entirely differently. The MMS message resides on the server. The recipient receives a notification that there is a message for him and whether he wants to download or not. If the recipient does not download the message, the message is discarded after certain amount of time

Step 1: An MMS message originates from the sender’s mobile handset or other application.

Step 2: The MMS message gets sent to the MMS proxy relay that interacts with the MMS server

Step 3: A notification is sent to the recipient that a message is waiting. This notification is sent using SMS protocols.

Step 4: The recipient initiates a WAP connection and then downloads the message; a message from the MMS client pushes a message to the originator’s terminal to let them know the message has been delivered.

Various components are

MMS client: This is the system element that interacts with the user. It can be a mobile or any other device that can send MMS messages.

MMS proxy relay: This is the system element that interacts with the MMS client. It provides access to components that provide message storage service and is responsible for messaging activities with other available messaging system.

MMS server: This element provides storage services for the messages.

Uses

The transition from Short Message Service (SMS) to Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is as important on mobile phones as the transition from DOS to Windows was for the PC. It represents a revolution.

The Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is the key business case driver for GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and is also the central driver of the 3G-business case (Third Generation) and will contribute a huge amount to earning a return on 3G investments. MMS is more important than oft-mentioned buzzwords such as mobile commerce and mobile location, which are both secondary enablers of MMS transactions.

Indeed, location with MMS will be about one person telling another that they are in a certain place by sending them a photo of that place taken with the digital camera on their MMS terminal.

The Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) introduces new messaging platforms to mobile networks in order to enable MMS. These new platforms have been designed to interact with legacy mobile platforms such as SMS centres. MMS will require not only new network infrastructure but also new MMS compliant terminals. MMS will not be compatible with the old terminals, which means, that before it can be widely used, MMS terminals must reach a certain penetration, and that will take at least a couple of years. The Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is designed to be future proof. As mobile networks evolve and new media becomes available, the aim will be to make the standards as backwards and forwards compatible as possible.

Access to MMS services should be independent of access point. Multimedia messages should be accessible through 3G and 2G mobile networks, fixed networks, the Internet etc. This is where common message stores will be an important enabling technology. To facilitate interoperability and universal messaging access, MMS will comply with Virtual Home Environment (VHE). VHE is a 3G service that simply lets customers have seamless access with a common look and feel to their services from home, office or on the move and in any city as if they were at home. The Virtual Home Environment (VHE) permits the user to manage his services (including non-real time multimedia messaging handling) via a user profile.

Future

Currently the support for MMS has been limited to only a few providers. This will change in the next two years with the MMS becoming popular and more and more users wanting this service. This will also boost up the revenues for mobile operators who are already earning major revenues from SMS itself.