Mobile Messaging Technologies and Services: SMS, EMS and MMS (Hardcover)

~ Gwenael Le Bodic (Author) "This chapter outlines the basic concepts of mobile communications systems and presents the required background information necessary for a clear understanding of this book..." (more)
Key Phrases: streamable content, centre time stamp, alternate reply address, Wireless Village, World Wide Web, Abbreviation Reference (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...an excellent introduction to the basic technologies of SMS and beyond...a valuable reference for those working in the field..." (IEE Review, February 2003)

"An in-depth description of existing and forthcoming messaging services and underlying technologies, as well as a look at 3G-based messaging." (Computing, 29th September 2005

Product Description

Mobile messaging is practically the first data communication service in the wireless domain. It is a major advance on the conventional practice of providing only voice communication service over the wireless interface. Thus, mobile messaging is the initial step to bring the Internet to wireless terminals and has considerable importance both for mobile communication and the Internet.

Mobile Messaging provides an in-depth description of messaging technologies supported by mobile networks. It covers the Short Message Service (SMS), Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS) through to the more complex and emerging Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).
The Short Message System (SMS) has proved to be incredibly popular and is supported by most GSM, TDMA and CDMA mobile networks. This volume focuses on the Short Message Service introduced by the European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) for GSM and GPRS networks. On the basis of ETSI standard, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is currently the organisation responsible for maintaining the SMS technical specifications. In its most basic form, the Short Messaging Service allows users to exchange short messages composed of a limited amount of text and it is expected that up to 100 Billion short messages could be exchanged monthly by the end of 2002.
The Enhanced Message Service (EMS), an application-level extension of SMS, supersedes basic SMS features by allowing elements such as images, animations, formatted text and monophonic melodies to be inserted in short or concatenated messages.
Recently, the 3GPP has been focusing on the development of the Multimedia Message Service (MMS). MMS features include the exchange of messages containing polyphonic melodies, large images, video elements sometimes organised with a multimedia presentation language such as SMIL or xHTML. MMS will be supported by 2.5 G and 3G networks. MMS specifications have reached a fairly mature stage and MMS commercial solutions are appearing on the market.
Unlike EMS, MMS has been specified by the 3GPP as a service independent from the underlying network technologies. In parallel to the 3GPP standardisation process, other organisations have specified network-specific implementations of MMS such as the WAP implementation defined by the WAP Forum.
In order to develop applications using Short, Enhanced and Multimedia messaging technologies, engineers have to become familiar with the use of technical specifications produced by various standard development organisations such as the 3GPP, the WAP Forum and the IETF and this is the first book to pull this vast array of material together.

• Provides an in depth description of the different messaging services and messaging technologies
• Presents an introduction to mobile networks
• Features numerous practical implementation examples
• Provides a unique easy-to-follow presentation of messaging services and mobile networks within a single publication

Essential reading for content providers, service providers, network operators and telecommunications manufacturers, researchers, postgraduate students, marketing and standardisation personnel.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (January 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470848766
• ISBN-13: 978-0470848760
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,692,711 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The reference book in mobile messaging technologies, February 7, 2003

By	FREDERIC VILLAIN (Paris, FRANCE) - See all my reviews

Don't know what mobile messaging is about ? Read the first chapter and you will feel more comfortable about it ! You're an engineer in mobile communications but you lack expertise in EMS and MMS ? Go for this book !

To put it shortly, Le Bodic's book is first an excellent introduction to mobile messaging and then turns into a great reference manual for all those who work in this promising field. It is a must have !

I particularly liked the way he turned the boring "standardization" stuff into clear figures and tables. Le Bodic made 3GPP litterature accessible and that was quite a challenge !!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a read..., July 15, 2007

By	T. Leland (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mobile Messaging Technologies and Services: SMS, EMS and MMS (Hardcover)

I would recommend this book to anybody who needs a survey level knowledge of MMS/SMS. I think it also has value for developers who want to better understand the whole ecosystem and not just their more narrow area of expertise. The quality of the descriptions were excellent, particulary when tables were used to simplify and contrast the relevant messaging profiles and specifications. If I had one complaint, it was that a bit too much detail was provided on the evolution of the standards, rather than using those pages to provide more use cases and detailed flow charts.

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent coverage of SMS and MMS technology, March 3, 2009

By	The Agnostic Sheep - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mobile Messaging Technologies and Services: SMS, EMS and MMS (Hardcover)

A really good technical introduction to SMS and MMS technology. Explains in easy to understand terms how SMS works, what protocols are involved etc... The author currently works for Airwide, one of the 2 main players in the SMSC space, so he knows his stuff.