MMS FAQ v1.1

Version 1.1 / 16 September 2004

Table of contents

1. MMS Concept Related Questions

• 1.1 What Is MMS?
• 1.2 Is MMS a Nokia Proprietary Service or a Standardized Service?
• 1.3 What Is an MMSC?
• 1.4 Why Is an MMSC Needed?
• 1.5 What Kind of Services Can Be Created with MMS?
• 1.6 What Can I Do with the MMSC API?
• 1.7 Can an MMS Message Be Sent to Several Recipients at Once?
• 1.8 Why Can't E-mail Be Used for Sending MMS Messages?
• 1.9 How Is MMS Different from E-mail?
• 1.9.1 Presentation
• 1.9.2 Delivery
• 1.9.3 Storage
• 1.9.4 Content
• 1.10 Can an MMS Message Be Sent to an E-mail Address?
• 11.11 Can an MMS Message Be Sent from E-mail to an MMS Capable Mobile Device?

2 Technology-related Questions

• 2.1 How Can You Transmit MMS Using an SMS Channel?
• 2.2 What Bearer Does MMS Use?
• 2.3 Why Does MMS Not Use the WAP Browser?
• 2.4 What Addressing Modes Are Supported in MMS?
• 2.5 What Content Types Does MMS Support?
• 2.6 How Big Can an MMS Message Be?
• 2.7 What Is SMIL?
• 2.8 What Is a Store and Automatic Forward Service?
• 2.9 Which WAP Release Does MMS Require?
• 2.10 How Can an MMS Service Be Created?

3 Product-related Questions

• 3.1 Which Nokia Mobile Devices Support MMS and SMIL?

1. MMS Concept Related Questions

• 1.1 What Is MMS?

• Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a messaging service for the mobile environment standardized by the WAP Forum and 3GPP. To the end-user MMS is very similar to the Short Message Service (SMS): it provides automatic immediate delivery for user-created content from device to device. MMS messages are primarily delivered from device to device, but also value-added services can be created by developing applications that send/receive MMS messages to/from devices. MMS also supports e-mail addressing, so that messages can be sent directly to an e-mail address.

  In addition to the content type familiar from SMS text, MMS messages can contain still images, text, voice- or audioclips, videoclips, and presentation information. The presentation information contains a "recipe" for presentation of the message content, for example, in which order the images are to appear on the screen, how long they will be displayed, when should the soundclip be started. A multimedia message is a multimedia presentation created by the sender using, for example, predefined templates. Alternatively the content can be obtained readymade from a third-party content provider. The message is delivered to the recipient's device using Push and the recipient is notified only after the whole message has been received. Upon acknowledging receipt of the message, the presentation starts running. It may look like a slideshow or be a combination of slideshow and audio, etc. An MMS message is a multimedia presentation in one entity; it is not a text file with attachments.

  MMS transport is done using WAP transport and any bearer with WAP capabilities can be used. Thus, MMS is bearer-independent, for example, MMS is not limited to only GSM or WCDMA. WAP Wireless Session Protocol (WSP) is used for message transport from device to MMSC and from MMSC to device. In addition, WAP Push features are used to deliver the message from server to receiving device.

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• 1.2 Is MMS a Nokia Proprietary Service or a Standardized Service?

• The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and 3GPP standardize MMS and it is an open standard. The 3GPP specification defines the network architecture and general functions. The OMA MMS specification defines message encapsulation and application protocols. Existing transport protocols are used for delivery.

  The 3GPP specifications are 22.140:Requirements and 23.140:Architecture and functionality. The OMA specifications are Multimedia Messaging Service Architecture Overview (WAP-205-MMSArchOverview-20010425-a), Multimedia Messaging Service Client Transaction Specification (WAP-206-MMSCTR-20010612-a), and Multimedia Messaging Service Encapsulation Specification (WAP-209-MMSEncapsulation-20010601-a). An MMS terminal interoperability document can be found in the Forum Nokia MMS documents.

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• 1.3 What Is an MMSC?

• The Multimedia Messaging Service Center (MMSC) is the store and forward network element that delivers the MMS messages from the sender to the recipient. The MMSC concept is similar to an SMSC, that is, the server stores the message only for the time required to find the receiving device. After the receiving device is found, the MMSC immediately forwards the MMS message to the recipient and the message is deleted from the MMSC. Thus, the MMSC is not a mailbox server, because it does not store the message if the message can be delivered to the recipient device.

  The MMSC uses an integrated WAP interface to interconnect to the wireless data network. An MMSC may also have an e-mail interface. The Nokia MMSC also provides interfaces for the billing system, other operator's networks, operation & maintenance, network management, and an Application Programming Interface (API) for MMS applications.

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• 1.4 Why Is an MMSC Needed?

• MMS is primarily targeted at device to device traffic. There is always the possibility that the receiving device is not reachable due to being switched off, having an empty battery or poor network coverage. The MMSC is needed for storing the MMS messages until the receiving device is capable of receiving the message. In addition, the MMSC hosts a number of interfaces to connecting networks and an API to enable MMS value-added services to be offered to the subscribers and network interconnection to, for example, e-mail.

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• 1.5 What Kind of Services Can Be Created with MMS?

• MMS services can be seen as an enhancement of the current SMS services, but MMS also enables new service concepts to be introduced. For example, a typical SMS-based information service could become more informative when stock quotes can be viewed as diagrams and a weather forecast service is presented with typical weather symbols and maps.

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• 1.6 What Can I Do with the MMSC API?

• Via the MMSC API, the application developers can connect their value-added services to the MMSC and deliver MMS messages with rich content to mobile devices. It is also possible to send MMS messages from mobile devices to applications.

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• 1.7 Can an MMS Message Be Sent to Several Recipients at Once?

• The functionality is similar to SMS: The sender can define several recipients while composing the message. When the message is sent, only one copy of the message is sent to the MMSC. The MMSC then makes copies of the original message and sends messages to all recipients.

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• 1.8 Why Can't E-mail Be Used for Sending MMS Messages?

• MMS presentation is different than e-mail presentation. MMS presentation provides layout and timing for multimedia content in the messages. This is not provided while opening an e-mail message as there is no inbox in MMS and the messages are not stored in a network mailbox. Therefore, the e-mail presentation cannot be used as such.

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• 1.9 How Is MMS Different from E-mail?

• There are some points that deserve to be highlighted when comparing MMS and e-mail:

  1.9.1 Presentation

  MMS presentation is based upon an existing presentation or synchronization language, for example, SMIL. The presentation information is coded into the presentation file in such a way that the message components are displayed in a certain order with predefined intervals. MMS does not support the concept of attachments - there are no attachments in an MMS message - the message is one entity. When the message is received the receiver gets a notification of an incoming message and can then open and view the message.

  E-mail presentation is predominantly based upon the concept of ASCII text and a list of attachments. The receiver gets a text message with a number of attached files. The attachments are opened manually by the receiver. In cases where the e-mail message includes presentation information, for example, HTML code, the presentation is similar to an MMS message. However, HTML does not provide timing for multimedia presentations. Not all e-mail clients support HTML, while it is the aim that all MMS clients will support SMIL.

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  1.9.2 Delivery

  MMS message delivery is a Store and Forward (S&F) service. The network element responsible for the message routing and storing is the Multimedia Messaging Service Center (MMSC). The store and forward message delivery service means that the messages are stored in the MMSC until the recipient is capable of receiving the message. If the recipient is capable of receiving the message immediately after the message has arrived in the MMSC, it will be forwarded to the recipient and the message is then deleted from the MMSC. If the subscriber is not capable of receiving the message immediately (for example, the device is out of the coverage area or the memory is full), the message is stored in the MMSC. Once the recipient is available, the message is forwarded to the device and deleted from the MMSC.

  E-mail delivery is based on a Store and user Retrieve (S&R) service. There is a mailbox in the e-mail server, and only e-mail headers are delivered to the recipient. The recipient selects which e-mails she/he wants to read and then fetches those messages from the server. In the Store and Retrieve service, the message is not deleted from the e-mail server after the message is fetched from the server.

  In message delivery, the difference between MMS (S&F) and e-mail (S&R) service from the end-user point of view is that in MMS the message delivery is taking place in the background whereas in the e-mail service the subscriber fetches each message. In mobile networks the difference is that in MMS the subscriber does not notice the delivery delay, because the subscriber is notified of the message after it has been totally received by the mobile device. If the subscriber is fetching the e-mail from an e-mail server over a mobile network, the subscriber notices the download delay. The delay the subscriber notices in the case of the Store and Retrieve service is dependent on the message size, bearer data speed, and bearer type (packet data/circuit switched data). In the Store and Forward service, the subscriber does not notice the delay, because the subscriber is not informed when the message delivery begins, he/she is only notified when the message has arrived to the mobile device.

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  1.9.3 Storage

  Basically MMS messages can be stored in three places.

  1. Before the message can be delivered to the recipient device, it is stored in the MMSC. After the receiving device receives the message, it is deleted from the MMSC.
  2. After the device has received the MMS message, it is stored in the memory of the device. It is stored there until the subscriber deletes the message or
  3. Moves the message from the device memory to a permanent storage place (for example, to a separate storage server in the network).

  The MMS messages are normally deleted from the memory of the mobile device. There may also be messages that the subscriber wants to store for later use, for example, a message containing a special picture. The messages can be uploaded to a storage area and downloaded from the storage area to the device when needed.

  E-mail messages are usually stored for some time, if they are perceived as having high value. The e-mail messages are stored on the e-mail server until the user deletes the message from the server. In some cases the e-mail messages can also be stored in the e-mail client. Each time the user reads an e-mail message, it is retrieved from the e-mail server to the e-mail client.

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  1.9.4 Content

  MMS is meant for transferring multimedia content with presentation information. E-mail can be used to transfer any kind of content. MMS is specifically intended for delivery of text, images, audio, and other multimedia content.

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• 1.10 Can an MMS Message Be Sent to an E-mail Address?

• Yes, the MMS standard includes support for e-mail addressing. In addition, MMS encapsulation is easily converted to e-mail. If the e-mail client is SMIL compliant, for example, supports the presentation information, the message will also be shown correctly in the e-mail message. If the e-mail client does not support the presentation information provided in the MMS message, the message will be shown as an e-mail with attachments, where the attachments are the components of the original message.

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• 1.11 Can an MMS Message Be Sent from E-mail to an MMS Capable Mobile Device?

• Technically it is possible but the networks operators have yet to make the decision as to whether to provide this kind of service or not and to decide how charging is performed in Internet-originated messages.

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2 Technology-related Questions

• 2.1 How Can You Transmit MMS Using an SMS Channel?

• Although the MMS user experience is similar to SMS, MMS is not transmitted via the SMS transmission channel. The SMS transmission channel is too narrow band for transmitting multimedia content. The data speed in the networks must be at least 14.4 kbit/s for carrying MMS messages.

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• 2.2 What Bearer Does MMS Use?

• MMS is transported using the WAP Wireless Service Protocol (WSP). The WAP browser is not involved in MMS - only the WAP transport protocols are used for MMS. The network bearer can be any wireless network capable of carrying data at a speed of at least 14.4 kbit/s.

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• 2.3 Why Does MMS Not Use the WAP Browser?

• WAP is used only as a message bearer for MMS, that is why the WAP browser is not needed. There is a separate MMS application in the MMS supporting devices for MMS.

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• 2.4 What Addressing Modes Are Supported in MMS?

• The MMS standard includes support for phone number addressing and e-mail addressing.

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• 2.5 What Content Types Does MMS Support?

• The standard recommends the following supported media types: JPEG, GIF, text, AMR voice, and some other formats. The MMS interoperability document, which can be found in the Forum Nokia MMS documents, describes the minimum set of supported formats in more detail.

  In the future, a limited set of mandated content formats may be standardized.

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• 2.6 How Big Can an MMS Message Be?

• The standard does not specify a maximum size for an MMS message. This is done to ensure future interoperability, to avoid the SMS dilemma, where the 160-character limit has been problematic because the message length has usually been limited to 160 characters.

  The message size is, therefore, an implementation issue. It is also dependent on operator preferences, if they want to have a standardized message size for charging purposes. Nokia foresees that initially the MMS messages will be between 30 kb and 100 kb in size.

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• 2.7 What Is SMIL?

• Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) is a proposed specification of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for a powerful way of choreographing rich, interactive multimedia content for real-time delivery over the World Wide Web, even over low bandwidth connections. SMIL was developed by a group representing the CD-ROM, interactive television, Web, and audio- and video-streaming industries. The companies involved include Digital Equipment, Lucent, Microsoft, Netscape, Philips, and RealNetworks, as well as research organizations such as Columbia University, CWI, and INRIA.

  SMIL is a layout language that allows easy creation of multimedia presentations consisting of multiple elements of compelling music, voice, images, text, video, and graphics in a common, synchronized timeline. As a simple but powerful markup language, SMIL is easy to learn because it does not require a programming language and can be authored using a simple text editor. Visually, SMIL is strikingly similar to HTML in its syntax and constructs. An example of an SMIL multimedia layout file consists of a news video, emphasizing specific news stories with text headlines, and displaying, for example, a stock ticker at the bottom of the screen.

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• 2.8 What Is a Store and Automatic Forward Service?

• If your MMS device is on-line and active, the MMSC immediately transfers the MMS message to your device. If your device is not on-line, the MMSC will store your messages for you and when your device comes on-line will automatically send you all the stored messages. The store function is there to cover for the time when the receiving client is unreachable.

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• 2.9 Which WAP Release Does MMS Require?

• MMS requires WAP 1.2.1 specification for the transmission protocols. From WAP 2.0, the following specifications are directly related to the MMS: Multimedia Messaging Service Architecture Overview (WAP-205-MMSArchOverview-20010425-a), Multimedia Messaging Service Client Transaction Specification (WAP-206-MMSCTR-20010612-a) and Multimedia Messaging Service Encapsulation Specification (WAP-209-MMSEncapsulation-20010601-a). Also, WAP 2.0 must provide the WAP Push specifications that are needed to define the MMS notification functionality.

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• 2.10 How Can an MMS Service Be Created?

• Nokia will provide several tools and emulators so that content providers and developers will be able to create MMS content and applications. Tools and emulators will enable simulation of Nokia products before they are actually shipped to the market place and they will be available during the first half of 2002. The degree of tool sophistication will vary depending on different development needs and application purposes. Consumers will be able to create their personal messages with a simple Web-based tool allowing combination of different media types into one message entity. A more advanced tool including an emulator will be available for service developers. The third tool is seamlessly integrated into leading publishing and design tools for creating rich messaging content and it is targeted at media houses and content providers.

3 Product-related Questions

• 3.1 Which Nokia Mobile Devices Support MMS and SMIL?

• See the documents Messaging Characteristics In Nokia Phones and Messaging Characteristics In Nokia CDMA Devices to find out which devices support MMS and SMIL.

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