16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II

Unified interfaces for messaging service

Dan Silfvastdsilfvas@cc.hut.fi

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Introduction

• Messaging service– also known as Value Added Service (VAS)– provides content or information on a mobile network

• The problem of connecting a VAS to the mobile network

MessagingCentre

GSM/SS7

VAS

VAS

VAS

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Agenda

• Technology– Message types– Message centre connectivity

• Business• Problems• Solutions• Future trends

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Message types - SMS

• Short message service• currently the most popular message type• up to 160 characters of 7bit text• utilizes the SS7 signalling channel for delivery• Non realtime

• Binary SMS– Smart messaging

• an open standard developed by Nokia• supports picture messages, ring tones, business cards etc.• Not fully compatible with SMS

– Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS)• open standard developed by 3GPP• supported by Alcatel, Siemens, Motorola and Sony Ericsson• provides text formatting, picture messages, sounds and animations• backwards compatible with SMS

– stores binary data in SMS headers

Operator #2

SMSC

GSM/SS7 VAS

GSM/SS7

SMSC

Operator #1

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

Operator #2

SMSCSMSC

GSM/SS7GSM/SS7 VAS

GSM/SS7GSM/SS7

SMSCSMSC

Operator #1

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Message types – WAP Push

• For pushing WAP content to terminals– session initiated by content provider– allows interactive services

• Session initiation request sent over SMS– normal WAP access used for data transfer

• Part of WAP 1.2 spec. – supported by most new terminals

GSMSMSC

Push

Initiator

(PI)

Push Proxy Gateway

(PPG)

Push Access Protocol (PAP)

Session Intiation Request

Push OTA / WAP traffic

GSMGSMSMSCSMSC

Push

Initiator

(PI)

Push Proxy Gateway

(PPG)

Push Access Protocol (PAP)

Session Intiation Request

Push OTA / WAP traffic

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Message types – MMS

• Multimedia Messaging Service– the latest and ”most beautiful” messaging standard by 3GPP– supports rich multimedia content with presentation features– utilizes the data channel for transport

• allows large content size• wide variety of content formats

– uses WAP for transfer and WAP push over SMS for notifications

WAP

Push Proxy

Gateway MMS Relay/Server (MMSC)SMSC

GPRSGGSN

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

Value Added Services

WAP

Push Proxy

Gateway MMS Relay/Server (MMSC)SMSC

GPRSGGSN

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

Value Added Services

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Message centre connectivity

• The connection between a VAS application and the message centre

• No standard for SMS– Four protocols approved by ETSI

• SMPP by Logica• UCP/EMI by CMG• CIMD by Nokia• OIS by Sema

• PAP for Wap Push• MM7 for MMS

– implementation details not until release 6– uses web service, i.e. SOAP over HTTP for message transfer– proprietary protocols implemented before rel 6

• Nokia EAIF • Ericsson SMTP

• Other protocols– operator specific wrappers, to increase management

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Messaging business - VAS

• Value Added Service– external service providing information or content on request– for example, logos, ring tones, train timetables– usually accessed by sending a message containing a keyword to a

specific short number – also push service (e.g. news)

• Important business– 8% of total traffic but 25% of total value of messaging in 2001 in

Finland – expected to grow with advent of MMS services

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Messagin business – VAS operation models

• Three basic models for providing value added service – Operator developed service– Third party service providers with direct connection– Service aggregators

SMSC VASVAS

VASVAS

VAS

Operator #2

SMSC

Service aggregator

VASVAS

VASVAS

VAS

SMSC

VAS

VAS

VAS

Operator #2

SMSC

Operator #1

MessgingMiddleware

SMSC

Operator #2

SMSC

Operator #1

VASVAS

VASVAS

VAS

Operator #1

Operator developed VAS Inter-operator VAS

SMSCSMSC VASVAS

VASVAS

VAS

VASVAS

VASVAS

VAS

VASVAS

VASVAS

VAS

Operator #2

SMSCSMSC

Service aggregator

VASVAS

VASVAS

VAS

VASVAS

VASVAS

VAS

VASVAS

VASVAS

VAS

SMSCSMSC

VAS

VAS

VAS

Operator #2

SMSCSMSC

Operator #1

MessgingMiddleware

SMSCSMSC

Operator #2

SMSCSMSC

Operator #1

VASVAS

VASVAS

VAS

VASVAS

VASVAS

VAS

VASVAS

VASVAS

VAS

Operator #1

Operator developed VAS Inter-operator VAS

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Problems – the VASP viewpoint

• Focus on– a large as possible user base– easy service deployment

• Problem areas– protocol incompatibility

• a large number of different protocols to support

– billing• every network operator has its own way for billing

– content conversion• different terminal capabilities

– traffic management• routing, load balancing etc.?

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Problems – the network operator viewpoint• Focus on

– traffic management– authentication and access control– billing based on content– billing on receiver pays basis

• Problems– the message centres and protocol do not provide enough

management features– no way to secure network from buggy services– messaging centres not designed for receiver-pays billing

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Solutions – protocol standardization

• Solves the interconnectivity problem• MMAP

– Mobile Message Access Protocol by SMS Forum– a web services based approach extended to SMS (and others)– currently at draft stage

• SMS over MM7– MIME type for SMS content– no current standardization work done

• Proprietary APIs– a lot of messaging middleware provide unified interfaces– no standardization work done

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Solutions – message gateways

• Middleware for network operator– management features– protocol conversion– billing– reliability and high availablity– message routing– content conversion and fetching– no multi-network functionality

• Available products• Content Gateway by CCC• Nokia Messaging Gateway

MessageCenter

Message gateway

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

Mobile Network Operator Value AddedServices

MessageCenterMessageCenter

Message gateway

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

Mobile Network Operator Value AddedServices

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Solutions – message routers

• Middleware for service aggregators or operators with wide installations– same features as gateways– support for multi-network operation– advanced protocol conversion– load balancing– advanced message routing– billing interoperability

• Available products– Logica Open Messaging

Gateway– First Hop Message Router– Empower Interactive

Messaging Service Platform– UniqMinds PEAKm Platform

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

Value AddedServices

MessageRouter

Operator #3

MessageCenter

Operator #2

MessageCenter

Operator #1

MessageCenter

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

VAS

Value AddedServices

MessageRouterMessageRouter

Operator #3

MessageCenter

Operator #3

MessageCenterMessageCenterMessageCenterMessageCenter

Operator #2

MessageCenter

Operator #2

MessageCenterMessageCenterMessageCenterMessageCenter

Operator #1

MessageCenter

Operator #1

MessageCenterMessageCenterMessageCenterMessageCenter

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Future trends

• Protocol standardization– web services based standards– does not solve the management issues

• The role of messgaing middleware– focus on service and content management

• The future role of the network operator– the risk of becoming ”bit-pipe-provider”– focus on adding value to the services

• billing• access to user data• content conversion• trust services

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Conclusions

• Mobile network interconnectivity goes beyond protocol incompatibility– need for management and content conversion

• Protocol standardization will solve only part of the problem

• The role of messaging middleware will increase as the operators have to rethink their offerings

16.4.2003 T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services

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Thanks!