National Taiwan University

Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering

GSM Short Message Service

Phone Lin

Ph.D.
Email: plin@csie.ntu.edu.tw

National Taiwan University

Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering

Outlines
Introduction Short Message Service Architecture Mobile-Terminated Mobile-Originated SMS Protocol Hierarchy The DTE-DCE Interface Summary

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Introduction (1/2)
The GSM SMS provides a connectionless transfer of messages with low-capacity and low-time performance. In Dec. 1992, the short message, sent from PC to MS, was delivered in Vodafone GSM in UK. Every GSM SMS can contain up to 140 octets, 160 char. To accommodate longer than 160 char.,
SMS concatenation SMS compression

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Introduction (2/2)
The SMS operates like a paging service, with the added capability that messages can pass in both directions. The SMS are transported on the GSM SDCCH signaling channel. Two types of GSM short message services have been defined:
Cell Broadcast Service, which periodically delivers short messages to all subscribers in a given area. Point-to-Point Service sends short messages to a specific user. This GSM feature can be considered as an enhanced two-way paging service.

GSM SMS Network Architecture. (Reference P.12-2 Fig. 12.1)

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SMS Architecture: MobileTerminated (1/2)

Step 1. The short message is first delivered from the message sender (e.g., GSM MS or a paging input device) to a Short Message Service Center (SM-SC). (SM- SC) Step 2. The SM-SC is connected to the GSM network through a GSM MSC, SMS GMSC. GMSC Step 3. Following the GSM roaming protocol, the SMS protocol GMSC locates the current MSC of the message receiver and forwards the message to the MSC.

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SMS Architecture: MobileTerminated (2/2)

Step 4. The MSC broadcasts the message to BSS, and BTS page the destination MS. Step 5. The MS used for short message services must contain special software to enable the messages to be decoded and stored. The logical message path is SM-SC -> GMSC -> SMterminating MSC -> MS. MS Short messages can be stored either in the SIM or in the memory of ME for display on the standard screen of the MS.
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SMS Architecture: MobileOriginated (1/2)

Step 1. An MS may send or reply a short message by delivering to a short message service Inter-working InterMSC (IWMSC) and then to the SM-SC. SM- SC Step 2. The recipient of the short message can be an MS, a fax machine, or a PC connected to the Internet. MS machine The logical message path is MS -> IWMSC -> SM-SC Experience indicates that mobile-originating traffic mobileis around 20 percent of mobile-terminating traffic. mobileNote that
SMS is a store-and-forwarded service. Short message cannot be sent directly from the sender to the receipt without passing through the SM-SC.
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SMS Architecture: MobileOriginated (2/2)

To simplify the generation of a short message in an MS, several technologies have been proposed.
Predictive Text Input Algorithms reduce the number of input keystrokes by predicting the next word the user will generate. New features, e,g., QWERTY keyboard, can be built in the MS to keyboard provide simpler access to messaging services.

Three types of short messages:

User-Specific messages are displayed to the users. UserME-Specific messages are processed by the ME instead of MEshowing to the users. SIM-Specific messages are processed at the SIM card. SIM-

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The Role of SM-SC

For supporting high-quality SMS service An SM-SC should be scalable, with high availability and reliability. reliability The SM-SCs are typically implemented on high-speed server platforms. Exiting SM-SC products support TCP/IP access, and many of them can accommodate new data protocols, e.g., Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). SMS MS-MSC Protocol Hierarchy (Mobile Origination) (Reference P.12.4 Fig. 12.2)
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SMS Protocol Hierarchy for MobileOriginated Messaging

The architecture for mobile-originated messaging and mobileterminated messaging are similar, with the exception that the IWMSC is replaced by the GMSC. GMSC The SMS protocol hierarchy consists of 4 layers: SM-AL, SM-TL, SM- AL SM- TL SM-RL, CM-sub. SM- RL CM- sub In this hierarchy, the protocol between the IWMSC and the SM-SC below the transfer layer is not specified in GSM. The protocol between the MSC and IWMSC is GSM MAP, utilizing SS7 TCAP. The layers below the CM-sublayer are the mobility management (MM) and radio resource (RR) management sublayer. At the RR management layer the short message service is supported by control channels (e.g., SDCCH or SACCH).
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Short Message Transfer Layer

These SM-TL-supported service primitives generate a reference number called Short Message Identifier (SMI) for every short message associated with the primitives. This SMI at the MS is not carried between the peer entity at the SM-SC (i.e., a short message may have different SMIs at the MS and the SMSC sides).

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Four Types of Transfer Protocol Data Units (TPDUs) (1/2)

SMS-SUBMIT (MS -> SM-SC). SMSSMConveys a short message (referred to as transfer protocol user data or TP-UD) from MS to the SM-SC. TPTP-UD optionally specifies the validity period that the short message can be buffered in the SM-SC if it cannot be delivered to the recipient immediately.

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SMS-DELIVER (SM-SC -> MS). SMS(SMConveys a short message from the SM-SC to the MS. This TPDU includes a service center timestamp. The SM-SC uses timestamp this timestamp to inform the recipient MS about the arrival time of the short message at the SM-TL of the SM-SC. A boolean parameter, More-To-Send, is used to indicate if one or More- To- Send more messages are waiting in the SM-SC for delivery to the recipient MS.
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Four Types of Transfer Protocol Data Units (TPDUs) (2/2)

SMS-STATUS-REPORT (SM-SC -> MS). SMS- STATUS(SMMS)
This report describes the status of the previously sent mobileoriginated short message. If the previous short message is not delivered successfully, this TPDU may report permanent errors, e.g.,
Validity Period Expiration Incompatible Destination Temporary Errors, e.g., Congestion

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This TPDU is optionally initiated by SMS-SUBMIT.

SMS-Command (MS -> SM-SC). SMSSMCan be a Query about the previous submitted short message Cancellation of the status report Deletion of the submitted message
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Short Message Relay Layer (1/2)

The short message relay layer (SM-RL) provides services to transfer TPDUs and the corresponding delivery reports for SM-TL. These SM-RL-supported service primitives generate SM-RL SMI for the messages to be delivered. For a message, the SM-RL SMI at mobile side and SM-RL SMI at the SM-SC are the same.
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Short Message Relay Layer (SMRL) (2/2)

The SMR entity at the MS communicates with the peer SMR at MSC by using the Short Message Relay Protocol (SM-RP). RP) SM-RP provides the networking functions between MS and SM-SC, which interworks with TCAP/MAP in the MSC.

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Four Types of Relay Protocol Data Units (RPDUs) (1/2)

RP-DATA (MS <-> SM-SC). RP<- SMInvoked by the SM-RL-DATA service primitives. RP-DATA contains the originating address, the terminating address, and the user data containing TPDU. A mobile-terminated RP-DATA may indicate if more waiting message in SM-SC.

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RP-SM-MEMORY-AVAILABLE (MS -> Network). RP- SM- MEMORYInvoked by the SM-RL-MEMORY-AVAILABLE primitive. SM-RL-MEMORY-AVAILABLE passes the necessary control information to indicate that the MS has memory available to receive one or more messages).

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Four Types of Relay Protocol Data Units (RPDUs) (2/2)

RP-ACK.
Invoked by the SM-RL-REPORT primitives to acknowledge the corresponding RP-DATA or RP-SM-MEMORY-AVAILABLE data units.

RP-ERROR.
Invoked by the SM-RL-REPORT primitive to report any error of a corresponding RP-DATA. An error may occur if (1) the message is too short to contain the complete message type, (2) the message reference is known, (3) the message type is unknown, or (4) the message content is semantically incorrect.
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Connection Management Sublayer (CM-Sub) (1/2)

The CM-Sub for SMS provides services to support the SM-RL. In this layer, the Short Message Control (SMC) entity at the MS communicates with the peer SMC at the MSC by using the Short-Message-Control-Protocol (SMShort- Message- Control(SMCP). CP) The MS has two SMC entities.
One handles the MS-Originated (MO) short message and The other handles the MS-Terminated (MT) short message service.

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Note that the SMC entities cannot simultaneously perform messaging in both directions.
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The Protocol Elements for SMCP

CP-DATA. CPInvoked by the SM-CP service primitives MNSMS-DATA or MNSMS-ESTablish. These two primitives deliver RP-DU between the MS and the MSC.

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CP-ACK. CPAcknowledges the corresponding CP-DATA. CP-ACK does not contain any specific information elements.

CP-ERROR. CPInvoked by the SM-CP service primitives MNSMS-ABORT or MNSMS-ERROR, which provide the cause of the messaging procedure error.
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Connection Management Sublayer (CM-Sub) (2/2)

Before any CP message is delivered, an MMconnection must be established.
The SMC uses the MNSMS-ESTablish primitive to establish MNSMSan MM-connection and then transfer an RPDU on that MM-Connection.

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The DTE-DCE Interface

An MS includes two parts:
Mobile Terminal (MT), which consists of SIM and ME. Terminal Equipment (TE), which may be a PDA or PC.

The MT and TE are connected either by

An RS232 port, port An Interface Port (e.g., IrDA), or IrDA) A PCMCIA interface through the Data Terminal Equipment (DTE)(DTE)Data Circuit Terminating Equipment (DCE) protocol. protocol

The DTE-DCE Interface defines a set of AT commands. commands

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Communication between MT and TE (1/2)

The TE can instruct the MT to send a short message by issuing
AT Command + CMGS = <Length><CR><pdu> <Length><CR><pdu> <length>: the length of the actual data unit in octets <length> <pdu>: the SMS-SUBMIT TPDU <pdu>

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If the MT transmits the packet successfully, it will reply to the TE with the following command.
+CMGS:<ref-no><CR><LF><CR><LF>OK<CR><LF> +CMGS:<ref<ref-no>: the message reference sent from the SM-SC <ref- no>
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Communication between MT and TE (2/2)

When the MT receives a short message, it will notify the TE with the SMS message received command
+CMT:,<length><CR><LF><pdu><CR><LF> +CMT:,<length><CR><LF><pdu><CR><LF> <length>: the number of octets of the TPDU <pdu>: the SMS-DELIVER TPDU <pdu>:

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An Example Given in GSM 07.05 (1/2)

This example illustrates a session to restore the message parameters from the MS to the TE, and set up the cell broadcast TE number (CBN) identifies that TE would like to receive. receive
Line 1. AT + CRES Line 2. OK Line 3. AT + CSMP?; +CSCA? Line 4. +CSMP: 17, 167, 0, 0 Line 5. +CSCA: 358501234567 358501234567 Line 6. OK Line 7. AT + CSDH = 1 Line 8. OK Line 9. AT + CSCB = 0 Line 10. OK
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An Example Given in GSM 07.05 (2/2)

At line 1, the TE restores setting from nonvolatile memory to volatile memory. At line 3, the TE queries short message parameters. At lines 4 and 5, the MT returns the default values for SMS-SUBMIT and the SM-SC address. At lines 7 and 9,
the TE specifies to show all message headers in text mode. (Code 0: do not show message headers; Code 1 show message headers) and To accept all cell broadcasting messages (CBMs) (Code 0: accept CBMs; code 1: reject CBMs)
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Summary
Short Message Service Architecture Mobile-Terminated Mobile-Originated SMS Protocol Hierarchy The DTE-DCE Interface

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