Mobile Video will Be the Rage. The Connection between Short Message System (SMS) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the Evolution Toward Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)

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SMS Text Messaging is very popular, and new technology that increases mobile bandwidth will make Multimedia Messages the new preferred communications method.

Exchanging text messages, technically defined as Short Message System (SMS), but typically acknowledged as “texting”, is a straightforward, easy, and convenient way to correspond between mobile phones. Not just a very good system for people to keep in touch, SMS can be a practical manner for software programs to exchange simple messages, and even settings instructions, to and from cell phones. SMS does not need a direct connection between mobile phones; the communications infrastructure for the system is already in place, and it works across most mobile service providers. One feature of SMS text messaging that makes it particularly practical for mobile software applications is that it utilizes mobile fixed identity, the phone number. This functionality makes available a unique benefit over other technologies that use IP addresses because a smartphone IP address can vary depending on current network.

Short Message Service (SMS) is a communication service component of the GSM mobile communication system. It relies on standardized communications rules that allow incoming and outgoing short text messages between smartphones. SMS texting is the most widely used data application around the globe, with about 2.4 billion active users, or three quarters of all mobile phone subscribers.

SMS texting as used on modern cell phones was originally included as part of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) series of standards in 1985 as a manner of transferring messages of up to 160 characters, to and from GSM mobile handsets. Since then service support has extended to comprise other mobile technologies such as ANSI CDMA networks and Digital AMPS, as well as satellite and landline networks. The largest number of SMS messages are mobile-to-mobile text messages, though the standard supports other types of broadcast messaging as well. Computer to mobile SMS capabilities are also expanding rapidly.

GSM was initially referred to Groupe Spécial Mobile. It is the most popular standard for mobile telephone systems in the world. The GSM Association, the promoting industry organization of mobile phone carriers and manufacturers, estimates that close to 80% of the global mobile market uses the standard. GSM is enjoyed by over 3 billion people across more than two hundred countries and territories. Its pervasiveness enables international roaming agreements between mobile phone network providers, providing subscribers the benefit of their mobiles all over the world. GSM differs from its forerunner technologies in that both signaling and speech channels are digital. This means GSM is considered a second generation (2G) mobile phone system. Additionally, this eases the wide-spread deployment of data communication programs.

The pervasiveness of GSM implementation can be seen as a benefit for consumers that are given the ability to roam and switch carriers without needing to replace their smartphones, and also to operators, who can choose equipment from a variety of equipment suppliers. GSM is credited with pioneering low-cost deployment of SMS text messaging, which subsequently has been supported on other mobile phone standards.

Newer versions of the standard work with the initial GSM system. Release ‘97 of the standard upgraded to packet data capabilities using General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). Release ‘99 introduced high speed data transmission using Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE).

General packet radio service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data service available to users of the 2G and 3G GSM. In 2G systems. GPRS data communication is usually billed per megabyte of datatransferred, while data communication using traditional circuit switching is charged per unit of connection time, without regard to whether or not the user actually is using it or if it is in an idle state. GPRS is a best-effort packet switched service, as opposed to circuit switching, that has assured quality of service during the connection for non-mobile users.

2G cellular systems combined with GPRS are frequently described as 2.5G. 2.5G is a technology bridge transitioning between the second (2G) and third (3G) generations of cell phone telephony. It delivers moderate-speed data transfer, by using unused time division multiple access (TDMA) channels. Initially it was intended to broaden GPRS to cover other standards, but these networks are converting to the GSM standard. GPRS is integrated into GSM Release 97 and newer releases.

GPRS was developed as a GSM reaction to the earlier CDPD and i-mode packet switched cellular technologies. Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) was a wide-area mobile data service which used unused bandwidth normally used by AMPS mobile phones. The service was discontinued along with with the discontinuation of the parent AMPS service.
CDPD was developed in the early 1990’s, with anticipation it would be a future technology. But, it had competition from existing slower but cheaper Mobitex and DataTac systems. CDPD never earned widespread acceptance before newer, faster standards such as GPRS earned widespread acceptance and became predominant.

For consumer markets CDPD had very limited appeal. AT&T Wireless first sold the technology in the America under the brandname PocketNet, one of the very first consumer wireless web service offers. Cingular Wireless later offered CDPD under the Wireless Internet brand (as opposed to Wireless Internet Express, Cingular Wireless GPRS/EDGE data). AT&T Wireless PocketNet failed as a product launch. But, CDPD was adopted into several enterprise and government networks. It was particularly popular as a first-generation wireless data solution for telemetry devices (machine to machine communications) and for public safety mobile data terminals.

Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) (also called Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), or IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC), and Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) is a backward-compatible digital cell phone technology that delivers superior data transmission rates on top of standard GSM. EDGE is considered a 3G radio technology. EDGE delivers more than three-fold increase in both the capacity and performance of GSM/GPRS networks by incorporating advanced methods of coding and transmitting data, that deliver higher bit-rates per radio channel. EDGE delivers broadband performance and supports high bandwidth data applications such as Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).

A very interesting software program that uses the connectivity between the mobile device and the internet to capture and archive MMS Multi-Media Messages, GPS location, SMS messages, and Call Event Logs is PhoneBeagle Mobile Monitoring. Follow this link if you are interested in Mobile Monitoring Software that is compatible with BlackBerry and Android Smartphones,. Visit this link for more information regarding the latest software for Parental Monitoring and Employee Monitoring of Mobile Phones .

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