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)
Posted on 31 March 2010
SMS Text Messaging is very popular, and new technology that increases mobile bandwidth will make Multimedia Messages the new preferred communications method.
Exchanging SMS text messages, technically identified as Short Message System (SMS), but more commonly referred to as “texting”, is a straightforward, effortless, and handy means to communicate between mobiles. In addition to being a very good way for people to keep in touch, text messages can be a handy system for software programs to exchange simple messages, and even settings instructions, to and from smartphones. SMS does not require a direct connection between mobiles; the communications infrastructure for the system is already prepared, and it functions across most mobile networks. One facet of SMS messaging that makes it especially sensible for mobile software applications is that it relies on cell phone fixed identity, the phone number. This facet gives a distinct benefit over other technologies that use IP addresses because a mobile device IP address will 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 the exchange of short text messages between smartphones. SMS texting is the most commonly used data application on earth, with almost two and a half billion active users, or three quarters of all cellular phone subscribers.
SMS texting as used on modern cell phones was at first defined as part of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) series of protocols in 1985 as a manner of exchanging texts of up to 160 characters, between GSM mobile handsets. Since the mid-eighties service support has extended to include other mobile technology such as ANSI CDMA networks and Digital AMPS, as well as satellite and landline networks. Most SMS messages are mobile-to-mobile text messages, though the standard supports other types of broadcast messaging as well. Computer to mobile SMS texting capabilities are also growing rapidly.
Global System for Mobile Communications was originally known as Groupe Spécial Mobile. It is the most accepted standard for mobile telephone systems on earth. The GSM Association, the promoting industry association of mobile phone operators and manufacturers, estimates that about 80% of the world mobile market uses it. GSM is utilized by over 3 billion people across more than two hundred countries and territories. Its ubiquity allows international roaming agreements between mobile phone carriers, offering subscribers the use of their mobile devices in many parts of the world. GSM differs from its forerunner technologies demonstrated by the fact that both signaling and speech channels are digital. This means GSM is thought of as a second generation (2G) mobile phone system. Additionally, this eases the wide-spread deployment of data communication applications.
The ubiquity of GSM deployment has been a benefit for consumers that are given the ability to roam and switch carriers without needing to replace their cell phones, and also to carriers, who can select equipment from a variety of equipment vendors. GSM pioneered low-cost deployment of SMS texting, which is now supported on other mobile phone standards.
Recent versions of the standard are backward-compatible with the initial GSM system. Release ’97 of the standard upgraded to packet data capabilities using General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). Release ’99 introduced higher 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 typically billed per megabyte of datatransferred, while data communication via traditional circuit switching is charged per minute of connection time, without regard to whether or not the user actually is transmitting or if it is idle. GPRS is a best-effort packet switched service, as opposed to circuit switching, that has guaranteed quality of service during the connection for non-mobile users.
2G cellular systems combined with GPRS are regularly described as 2.5G. 2.5G is a technology bridge between the second (2G) and third (3G) generations of mobile phone telephony. It provides moderate-speed data transfer, by using unused time division multiple access (TDMA) channels. Initially it was intended to extend 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 response to the earlier CDPD and i-mode packet switched cellular technology. 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 in conjunction with the discontinuation of the parent AMPS service.
CDPD was developed in the early 1990’s, with anticipation it would be a future technology. However, it had competition from existing slower but cheaper Mobitex and DataTac systems. CDPD never gained general acceptance before newer, faster standards such as GPRS gained widespread acceptance and became predominant.
For consumers CDPD had little to offer. AT&T Wireless initially offered the technology in the United States 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 used by a number of enterprise and government networks. It was especially successful 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 referred to as Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), or IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC), and Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) is a backward-compatible digital mobile phone technology that provides improved data transmission rates on top of standard GSM. EDGE is referred to as a 3G radio technology. EDGE supplies more than three-fold boost in both the capacity and performance of GSM/GPRS networks by using sophisticated techniques of coding and transmitting data, that produce 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 application that uses the connectivity between the cell phone 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   Cell Phone Monitoring Software that works with 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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