Page 181 - DCAP311_DCAP607_WIRELESS_NETWORKS

Unit 11: Wireless WAN

SMS text messaging supports languages internationally. It works fine with all languages Notes
supported by Unicode, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Besides text, SMS
messages can also carry binary data. It is possible to send ringtones, pictures, operator logos,
wallpapers, animations, business cards (e.g. VCards) and WAP configurations to a mobile phone
with SMS messages.
There are many different kinds of SMS applications on the market today and many others are
being developed. Applications in which SMS messaging can be utilized are virtually unlimited.
We will describe some common examples of SMS applications below to give you some ideas of
what can be done with SMS messaging.
11.3.1 Person-to-Person Text Messaging

Person-to-person text messaging is the most commonly used SMS application and it is what the
SMS technology was originally designed for. In these kinds of text messaging applications, a
mobile user types an SMS text message using the keypad of his/her mobile phone, then he/she
inputs the mobile phone number of the recipient and clicks a certain option on the screen, such as
“Send” or “OK”, to send the text message out. When the recipient mobile phone receives the SMS
text message, it will notify the user by giving out a sound or vibrating. The user can read the SMS
text message some time later or immediately and can send a text message back if he/she wants.
A chat application is another kind of person-to-person text messaging application that allows
a group of people to exchange SMS text messages interactively. In a chat application, all SMS
text messages sent and received are displayed on the mobile phone’s screen in order of date and
time. SMS text messages written by different mobile users may be displayed in different colors
for better readability, like this:
11.3.2 Provision of Information

A popular application of the SMS technology other than person-to-person text messaging is the
provision of information to mobile users. Many content providers make use of SMS text messages
to send information such as news, weather report and financial data to their subscribers. Many
of these information services are not free. Reverse billing SMS is a common way used by content
providers to bill their users. The user is charged a certain fee for each reverse billing SMS message
received. The fee will either be included in the monthly mobile phone bill or be deducted from
prepaid card credits.

11.3.3 Downloading

SMS messages can carry binary data and so SMS can be used as the transport medium of wireless
downloads. Objects such as ringtones, wallpapers, pictures and operator logos can be encoded
in one or more SMS messages depending on the object’s size. Like information services, wireless
download services are usually not free and reverse billing SMS is a common way used by content
providers to bill their customers. The object to be downloaded is encoded in one or more reverse
billing SMS messages. The mobile user who requests the object will be charged a certain fee for
each reverse billing SMS message received. If the mobile user is using a monthly mobile phone
service plan, the download fee will be included in his/her next monthly bill; if the mobile user is
using a prepaid SIM card, the download fee will be deducted from the prepaid credits.
11.3.4 Alerts and Notifications

SMS is a very suitable technology for delivering alerts and notifications of important events. This
is because of two reasons:
A mobile phone is a device that is carried by its owner most of the time. Whenever an SMS text
message is received, the mobile phone will notify you by giving out a sound or by vibrating. You
can check what the SMS text message contains immediately.

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