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Multimedia Messaging Service

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Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a standard for a telephony messaging systems that allow sending messages that includes multimedia objects (images, audio, video, rich text) and not just text messages as in Short message service (SMS). It is mainly deployed in cellular networks along with other messaging systems like SMS, Mobile Instant Messaging and Mobile E-Mail. Its main standardization effort is done by 3GPP, 3GPP2 and Open Mobile Alliance (OMA).

Basics

MMS is the evolution of Short Message Service (SMS) (SMS is a text-only messaging technology for mobile networks). With MMS, a mobile device is no longer confined to text-only messages. It can send and receive multimedia messages such as graphics, video and audio clips, and so on. It has been designed to work with mobile packet data services such as GPRS and 1x.

Operation

The MMS data flow starts with a subscriber using an MMS client on the mobile phone to compose, address, and send an MMS message to one or more recipients. MMS addresses can be either E.164 phone numbers (e.g., "+18005551212") or RFC 2822 e-mail addresses (e.g., "you@yourdomain.com").

The initial submission by an MMS client to the home MMS Center (MMSC) is accomplished using HTTP with specialized commands and encodings (which are defined in a technical standard specified by the Open Mobile Alliance). Upon reception of the MMS message, the recipient MMSC (MMS Center) sends a notification to the recipient's mobile phone using either an SMS notification, HTTP Push or WAP Push.

Methods of delivery

There are two modes of delivery in MMS: immediate or deferred:

  • Immediate delivery: When the MMS client on the mobile phone receives the MMS notification, it then immediately (without user intervention or knowledge) retrieves the MMS message from the MMSC that sent the notification. After retrieval, the subscriber is alerted to the presence of a newly arrived MMS message.
  • Deferred delivery: The MMS client alerts the subscriber that an MMS message is available, and allows the subscriber to choose if and when to retrieve the MMS message.

As with the MMS submission, the MMS retrieval request, whether immediate or deferred, occurs with an HTTP request. The MMSC responds by transmitting the MMS message in an HTTP response to the MMS client, after which the subscriber is finally alerted that the MMS message is available.

The essential difference between immediate and deferred delivery is that the former hides the network latencies from the subscriber, while the latter does not. Immediate or differred delivery are handset dependant modes, which means that the handset manufacturer can provide the handset in one mode or the other or let the user decide his preference.

Application

  • MMS-enabled mobile phones enable subscribers to compose and send messages with one or more multimedia parts. Multimedia parts may include text,image,audio and video. These content types should conform to the MMS Standards. For example your phone can send a video of DivX format, but the other party who is receiving the MMS may not be able to interpret it. To avoid this, all mobiles should follow the standards defined by OMA. Mobile phones with built-in or attached cameras, or with built-in MP3 players are very likely to also have an MMS messaging client -- a software program that interacts with the mobile subscriber to compose, address, send, receive, and view MMS messages.

History

MMS was originally developed within the Third-Generation Partnership Program (3GPP), a standards organization focused on standards for the UMTS/GSM networks.

Since then, MMS has been deployed world-wide and across both GSM/GPRS and CDMA networks.

MMS has also been standardized within the Third-Generation Partnership Program 2 (3GPP2), a standards organization focused on specifications for the CDMA networks.

As with most 3GPP standards, the MMS standards have three stages:

  • Stage 1 - Requirements
  • Stage 2 - System Functions
  • Stage 3 - Technical Realizations

Both 3GPP and 3GPP2 have delegated the development of the Stage 3 Technical Realizations to the OMA, a standards organization focused on specifications for the mobile wireless networks.

Challenges faced by MMS

There are some interesting challenges with MMS that do not exist with SMS:

  • Content adaptation: Multimedia content created by one brand of MMS phone may not be entirely compatible with the capabilities of the recipients' MMS phone. In the MMS architecture, the recipient MMSC is responsible for providing for content adaptation (e.g., image resizing, audio codec transcoding, etc.), if this feature is enabled by the mobile network operator. When content adaptation is supported by a network operator, its MMS subscribers enjoy compatibility with a larger network of MMS users than would otherwise be available.
  • Distribution lists: Current MMS specifications do not include distribution lists nor methods by which large numbers of recipients can be conveniently addressed, particularly by content providers, called Value Added Service Providers (VASPs) in 3GPP. Since most SMSC vendors have adopted FTP as an ad-hoc method by which large distribution lists are transferred to the SMSC prior to being used in a bulk-messaging SMS submission, it is expected that MMSC vendors will also likely adopt FTP similarly.
  • Bulk messaging: The flow of peer-to-peer MMS messaging involves several over-the-air transactions that become inefficient when MMS is used to send messages to large numbers of subscribers, as is typically the case for VASPs. For example, when one MMS message is submitted to a very large number of recipients, it is possible to receive a delivery report and read-reply report for each and every recipient. Future MMS specification work is likely to optimize and reduce the transactional overhead for the bulk-messaging case.
  • Handset Configuration: Unlike SMS, MMS requires a number of handset parameters to be set. Poor handset configuration is often blamed as the first point of failure for many users. Service settings are sometimes preconfigured on the handset, but mobile operators are now looking at new device management technologies as a means of delivering the necessary settings for data services (MMS, WAP, etc.) via over-the-air programming (OTA).
  • WAP Push: Few mobile network operators offer direct connectivity to their MMSCs for content providers. This has resulted in many content providers using WAP push as the only method available to deliver 'rich content' to mobile handsets. WAP push enables 'rich content' to be delivered to a handset by specifying the URL (via binary SMS) of a pre-compiled MMS hosted on a content provider's web server. A downside of WAP push is that from a billing perspective this content is typically billed at data rates rather than as an MMS. These charges can be significant and result in 'bill shock' for consumers.

MMS should not be confused with Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS), which is simply Short Message Service (SMS) with additional payload capabilities, allowing a mobile phone to send and receive messages that have special text formatting (such as bold or color), animations, pictures, icons, sound effects, and special ring tones.

See also

Protocols

  • EAIF — Nokia's External Application Interface
  • MM1 — the 3GPP interface between MMS User Agent and MMS Center
  • MM4 — the 3GPP interface between MMS Centers
  • MM7 — the 3GPP standard for MMS applications
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