Information Dissemination Through Mobile Devices

1. Broad Subject : -
With the advent of the Internet and the plurality and variety of fancy applications it brought with it, the demand for more advanced services on cellular phones is increasingly becoming urgent. With digitalization, the difference between telecommunication and computer networking is fading and the same technologies are used in both fields. However, the convergence does not progress as rapidly as expected. Moving applications and services from one field to the other has proven to be very difficult or in many cases impossible. The explanation is that although the technologies in use are rather similar there are crucial differences in architecture and concepts. The paper starts with a study of how wireless carriers can offer services that allow information to be “pushed “ to your phone or accessed from your phone such as travel , city guide , top hotels , top hospitals , top cinema halls, ATM centers etc . Using IP SMS technology we are planning to send or receive a larger number of SMS messages, it is worth to consider using the Internet. Over the Internet (or over a private IP network, such as a leased line), it is possible to connect directly to the GSM operator 's SMS Center (SMSC).Whenever our customers sends a message, it is first received by SMS gateway at service providers end. The service provider route all these messages through their gateway to the application. It could be SMPP, UCP or CIMD protocols. The server automatically response to the query & no manual intervention is required. In short an SMS gateway ‘SMS-enables’ systems, websites and applications. It immediately enables multicast messaging to any front end or legacy system, with direct connection into the gateway. In order to use this option, first we need to sign a contract with GSM service providers, to get direct access to its SMSC. The SMSC is responsible for receiving, storing and delivering the SMS messages in a GSM telephone network. The benefits of direct connection to this service are great.

2. Area of Specialization: - Mobile Networking.

3. Principal Investigator : -

Name : Poonam G. Kadam

Sex : Female

Date of Birth : 31st May 1984

Qualification : B.E. (Computer Sci.)

Designation : Lecturer

Mobile No. 9766146261

4. I) Project Title : -

Information Dissemination through Mobile Devices

II) Introduction
• Origin of Research problem : -

Although voice communication is a big success, there is still demand for services through SMS. Most wireless carriers now allow services such as weather, stock quotes, news, traffic and sport updates. But phones have more potential to actually consume useful services like providing information such as travel , city guide , top hotels , top hospitals , ATM centers etc in specific areas with inter-operatability and in more user-friendly way.
In today’s fast world everyone should be in touch with recent and accurate data. It would be highly tedious and hectic to use internet for proper information every time it is required. In addition to this search engines generally do not performs meaningful search.

• Review of Research & development in the subject

International Status
SMS has seen unprecedented growth in the last few years. In Europe SMS has already crossed three billion messages per month mark. The current figures and future projections in the European market below, clearly demonstrate the popularity of SMS in Europe. The international figures are not much different. The first short message was sent in December 1992 from a Personal Computer (PC) to a mobile phone on the Vodafone GSM network in the UK
In many parts of Europe people are spending more on SMS as compared to voice services. In Germany, UK, and Italy, SMS is very popular and the popularity especially among young people continues to rise. Developments like WAP and SIM toolkit are greatly helping to increase the message usage. SMS can be used as a bearer service for WAP and until 2.5G services like GPRS become common, SMS would be increasingly used as a bearer for WAP. These protocols are also making it much easier for the users to access messaging services.

Significance of Study

Companies that want to role out wireless technology ….need to stay up with changing standards as well as different technologies used in wireless networks.
Secondly the use of wireless services such as mobile can be used to make critical and valuable data available. To make this belief to action, we are using SMS feature that has provided its mark in today’s market. Using this feature, we can exchange information thus providing valuable and sensitive data instantaneously and accurately.

III) Objective: -

Users want wireless transactions that are available at any time, are easy-to -use , tailored specifically for their requirements, and executable in seconds. In order to deliver on user expectations, we are creating a comprehensive application specifically targeted for wireless devices, rather than just adding wireless accessibility to an existing website. Thus we are providing different services like travel information, city guide top hotels, top hospitals, ATM centers etc in specific areas with interoperatability and in more user-friendly way.

IV) Methodology: -

What is GSM?

GSM is an open, digital cellular technology used for transmitting mobile voice and data services. GSM differs from first generation wireless systems in that it uses digital technology and time division multiple access transmission methods. GSM is a circuit-switched system that divides each 200kHz channel into eight 25kHz time-slots. GSM operates in the 900MHz and 1.8GHz bands in Europe and the 1.9GHz PCS band in the US. GSM supports data transfer speeds of up to 9.6 kbit/s, allowing the transmission of basic data services such as SMS (Short Message Service). Another major benefit is its international roaming capability, allowing users to access the same services when traveling abroad as at home.
SMS
SMS (Short Messaging Service) allows users to send & receive text messages on a mobile phone, using the numbered keypad on the handset to input characters. Each message can be up to 160 characters long and sent to and from users of different operator networks. All mobile phones available today support SMS. Indeed, SMS has become a global phenomenon, with billions of text messages sent worldwide every week. It is estimated that a worldwide total of 1 trillion text messages were sent in 2005.
In addition to person-to-person SMS, a large variety of content-based texts messaging services are available. The majority of GSM operators offer users the ability to subscribe to services that send news, sport and entertainment content direct to a mobile phone in the form of an SMS.
SMS TECHNOLOGY
SMS is essentially similar to paging, but SMS messages do not require the mobile phone to be active and within range, as they will be held for a number of days until the phone is active and within range. SMS messages are transmitted within the same cell or to anyone with roaming capability. They can also be sent to digital phones from a web site equipped with a PC Link or from one digital phone to another. An SMS gateway is a web site that lets you enter an SMS message to someone within the cell served by that gateway or acts as an international gateway for users with roaming capability.
The SMS is a store and forward service. In other words, short messages are not sent directly from sender to recipient, but via an SMS Center. Each mobile telephone network that supports SMS has one or more messaging centers to handle and manage the short messages.
The SMS features confirmation of message delivery. This means that, unlike paging, users do not simply send a short message and trust and hope that it gets delivered. Instead the sender of the short message can receive a return message back notifying them whether the short message has been delivered or not.
Short messages can be sent and received simultaneously with GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) voice, data and fax calls. This is possible because whereas voice, data and fax calls take over a dedicated radio channel for the duration of the call, short messages travel over and above the radio channel using the signaling path. As such, users of SMS rarely, if ever, get a busy or engaged signal as they can do during peak network usage times.
Ways of sending multiple short messages are available. SMS concatenation (stringing several short messages together) and SMS compression (getting more than 160 characters of information within a single short message) have been defined and incorporated in the GSM SMS standards.
The network operator needs to purchase its first generation SMS Center as part of the network commissioning plan. The initial SMS Center may simply be a voice mail platform module or a stand-alone SMS Center. It is not possible to make the SMS available without an SMS Center since all short messages pass through the SMS Center.

RECENT SMS DEVELOPMENTS

Because simple person-to-person messaging is such an important component of total SMS traffic volumes, anything that simplifies message generation is an important enabler of SMS. Predictive text input algorithms significantly reduce the number of key strokes that need to be made to input a message. T9, from Tegic, anticipates which word the user is trying to generate. Widespread incorporation of such algorithms into the installed base of mobile phones will typically lead to an average uplift in SMS traffic of 25% per enabled user. These predictive text algorithms support multiple languages.

The introduction of standardized protocols such as SIM Application Toolkit and the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) contribute to an increase in messaging usage by providing a standard service development and deployment environment for application developers and business partners. These protocols also make it easier for users to reply to and otherwise access messaging services through custom menus on the phone. While these protocols are only a means to an end and not new messaging destinations or services, they are likely to lead to 10-15% uplift in total SMS volumes.
SMS STRUCTURE
Figure presents the network architecture for SMS deployment. The key element is the SMSC, which acts as a store-and-forward system for short messages. Upon receiving an SMS, the SMSC queries the HLR database for routing information for the addressee of the message. With this information, the SMSC determines the servicing MSC for the addressee. Finally, the appropriate MSC delivers the message to the terminal of the receiver. This includes finding the appropriate base station to reach.

The SMSC receives messages from two different parties. First, mobile terminals or SME (Short Messaging Entity).This is the case, when a user sends a message from his mobile terminal. The second source of messages is GMSC (Gateway mobile switching center). GMSC’s interconnect the wireless network to others, like other mobile operator’s network or TCP/IP networks. When the interconnected networks do not speak the same protocols, the gateway must perform protocol translations.
An SME can also be a computer equipped with messaging software, such as Server, that can communicate directly with the SMSC of the service provider. For this communication a mobile phone attached to the PC with a phone-to-pc data cable or a direct IP link can be used.
If we plan to send/receive less then 15 000 SMS messages per day a good option is to attach a GSM phone or GSM modem to your PC. The GSM phone must be equipped with a SIM card that has good tariff for SMS messages. The GSM phone can be attached with a data cable, with and Infrared port or with a Bluetooth connection.
If a message is sent by the application running on the computer it is first sent to the attached GSM phone, and as a second step the GSM phone transmits the messages to the SMSC of the GSM service provider through a wireless. When a message is received, the GSM phone stores the message in its memory or on the SIM card and sends a notification to the PC. When the program running on the PC receives this notification, it reads the appropriate memory cell and deletes the message from the phone to make room for the next incoming message.
As we are planning to send and receive large no. of SMS, we can use following technology

Technology
For large no. of SMS, it is worth to consider using the Internet (as shown in fig.). Over the Internet (or over a private IP network, such as a leased line), it is possible to connect directly to the GSM operator 's SMS Center (SMSC). The SMSC is responsible for receiving, storing and delivering the SMS messages in a GSM telephone network. The benefits of direct connection to this service are great.

A large number of messages can be sent or received in a short time, this solution is cheaper, faster and more reliable than the alternative solution of using a GSM handy connected to a computer. The sender phone number can be freely modified. The availability of the service can be monitored.

Server enables you to connect directly to your service provider 's SMSC through the Internet or a leased line using TCP/IP. In order to use this option, first we need to sign a contract with GSM service providers, to get direct access to its SMSC. If you have a contract you will receive their IP address, a port number and user name and password to access their service. Often they will ask to set up a VPN connection to their service. After a connection is available to the SMSC, an SMS protocol is required to be able to send and receive SMS messages. The most common protocols are UCP, SMPP and CIMD2.

We may require you to set up an IPSEC VPN tunnel when we wish to connect to the SMSC (Figure).

Common protocols UCP
This protocol is often used by GSM service providers for IP SMS connectivity. In order to use UCP to connect to an SMSC over the internet or other private TCP/IP network, a contract should be signed with the service provider. The TCP/IP link can be a leased line or the Internet.One advantage to using UCP connections is that the client is able to specify the sender address of the message. The sender address can be a custom phone number or a short word containing alphanumeric characters. Unfortunately some GSM service providers restrict the use of this option. Another advantage of UCP is that it makes it possible to send every message type the GSM network can carry. It can be used to send binary SMS messages (operator logos, ringtones), wap push messages and other messages as well. Concatenated SMS messages and various alphabets can also be used.
In order to use UCP to connect to service provider, we need to get the IP address of SMSC, Port no of SMSC, user name & password from the service provider.
SMPP
The Short Message Peer to Peer (SMPP) protocol is an open, industry standard protocol designed to provide a flexible data communications interface for the transfer of short message data between mobile devices and Message Centers. SMPP is capable to carry any message type just like UCP. SMPP can be used as a protocol that transfers messages between applications, and the Short Message Service Center (SMS Center) of the GSM Service provider over an IP link. This link can be a leased line or the Internet. The IP connection between your PC and the SMSC might be protected by VPN.
CIMD2
The Computer Interface Message Distribution (CIMD) protocol was introduced by Nokia. The Nokia SMS Center includes an CIMD2 interface, that transfers messages between applications and the Nokia Short Message Service Center (SMS Center). CIMD2 is version 2 of the Computer Interface to Message Distribution protocol. The CIMD2 interface is suitable for client applications that send and retrieve messages over TCP/IP sockets. An application is interconnected through the CIMD2 connection to a SMS Center. The main purpose of this interconnection is to transfer messages from the applications to the mobile stations (MS) and from the MSs to the applications. Other kind of information can also be conveyed over the interconnection, for example, status reports from the GSM/GPRS network to the applications.

Architecture How it Works?

Client send an SMS to the number given by service provider . When the SMS arrives into the Short Message Service Center (SMSC) of the service provider, the SMSC recognizes that the destination phone number belongs to a "server". As a next step, the message is transferred to a service provider 's server through a TCP/IP connection. The service provider 's server receives the SMS messages and generates a response SMS according to the implemented business logic. The response SMS travels back to the SMSC for transmission through TCP/IP just as the request SMS was transferred to the content server.
The business logic of the server can be simple or complex. One of the most common solutions is based on content interpretation. A simple algorithm compares the incoming message text to a set of keywords, and generates a response based on the keyword. Another common application collects the phone numbers of the received messages and uses these phone numbers to provide periodic information services, such as traffic report or weather report every morning. There are many other types of solutions as well. One thing they have in common, is that in every case an SMS must be sent back to acknowledge the service request within a limited response time (usually in 2 minutes).

GSM network Interface:-

The GSM network interface is needed for the interaction with users via SMS and WAP Push media. The common way is to connect to a mobile GSM operator’s Short Message Service Center (SMSC). Mobile operators usually have strictly defined underlying network connections, TCP/IP or X.25 (and Frame Relay) and various application protocols between the end-application and operators’ SMSC. The communication module’s primary protocol is Short Message Peer to Peer (SMPP). SMPP is an open message transfer protocol that Server use for communication with the SMSCs. The other protocols that are in use for this purpose are Universal Communication Protocol (UCP) , External Machine Interface (EMI) and Computer Interface to Message Distribution (CIMD) , which are the proprietary message transfer protocols. As they are in fact the application protocols, they do not offer transport functionality themselves, and as such they rely on underlying transport and network protocols to offer packet encoding, reliable point-to-point transfer of data, flow control and error handling. According to the specifications, the network connections between the ESME and the SMSC may be based on TCP/IP, X.25 [9] or Frame Relay connection.

The Server Administrator Interface

• The System Configuration interface
Using this interface, the System Administrator can easily define various working parameters of the System. Configuring the working parameters includes defining the service available Subscriber information media, i.e. the subset of the supported information media can be chosen, together with the specification of various parameters required for each network interface which is associated with the chosen communication media. It is through this interface that the Content Administrators can be added to the system, which means the publishing of information can commence.

• The System Maintenance interface

This interface allows the System Administrator to monitor the performance of the running System in real Also, this interface is used to upgrade the System. The System Maintenance interface also allows the System Administrator to define the alarm parameters, e.g. when something goes wrong he/she can receive the e-mail or the
SMS notification. Finally, this interface provides the means of collecting the various system-wise statistics.

Network Interoperability

Through extensive service agreements with mobile infrastructure operators both domestically and internationally, SMS gateways offered by wireless application service providers may aggregate many more SMCs through which message can be routed for delivery. Networks with otherwise no direct interoperatibility may still interconnect through third party networks with reciprocal service agreements. It will benefit from seamless access to more mobile networks over which to disseminate and receive service updates.

Premium rated SMS services
Mobile Service providers often allow 3rd party content providers to create mobile services using premium rate SMS messages. The services can be games for prizes, tests, data services. Premium rate SMS messages make it possible to collect money from the users of these value added services. Since the amount of money collected is very small, these services are often referred to as micro payment services.
Today 's most popular premium SMS services are downloaded games, logos, ring tones, background pictures and information services (e.g.: weather, news, programs).
These services work in the following way:
The person, who would like to use the premium rate service, sends an SMS to a premium rate phone number. When the SMS arrives into the Short Message Service Center (SMSC) of the service provider, the SMSC recognizes that the destination phone number belongs to a "content server". As a next step, the message is transferred to a content provider 's server through a TCP/IP connection. The content provider 's server receives the SMS messages and generates a response SMS according to the implemented business logic. The response SMS travels back to the SMSC for transmission through TCP/IP just as the request SMS was transferred to the content server.
The business logic of the content server can be simple or complex. One of the most common solutions is based on content interpretation. A simple algorithm compares the incoming message text to a set of keywords, and generates a response based on the keyword. Another common application collects the phone numbers of the received messages and uses these phone numbers to provide periodic information services, such as traffic report or weather report every morning. There are many other types of solutions as well. One thing they have in common, is that in every case an SMS must be sent back to acknowledge the service request within a limited response time (usually in 2 minutes). References
[1] Messerschmitt , D.G.(1996) “The converge of Telecommunication and computing . What are Implication Today?” proceedings of IEEE .
[2] 3GPP TS 23.040: "Technical Specification Group Terminals
Technical realization of the Short Message Service (SMS)
[3]Nokia, CIMD Interface Specification, 2002
[4] SMPP Developers Forum: “Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol Specification v3.4”,
[5]Professional WAP, Charles Arehart, Nirmal Chidambaram.
[6] Mobile Computing – John- Schiller

References: [1] Messerschmitt , D.G.(1996) “The converge of Telecommunication and computing . What are Implication Today?” proceedings of IEEE . [2] 3GPP TS 23.040: "Technical Specification Group Terminals Technical realization of the Short Message Service (SMS) [3]Nokia, CIMD Interface Specification, 2002 [4] SMPP Developers Forum: “Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol Specification v3.4”, [5]Professional WAP, Charles Arehart, Nirmal Chidambaram. [6] Mobile Computing – John- Schiller