multimedia messaging service (mobile communications) (MMS)
MultimediaMessaging Service (MMS) is a multimedia messaging service of mobile communication. This messaging service forms the extension of the Short Message Service( SMS) and can be used to send text, image and sound documents.
MMS is a service between people and between applications and people. Multimedia content can be exchanged between data terminals or between terminals and content servers via this service. The Wireless Application Protocol( WAP) is used as the transport protocol. To ensure fast transmission of MMS files, the packet-switched mobile networks General Packet Radio Service( GPRS) or UMTS should be used.
MMS works according to the store-and-forward method in which the message is stored in the Multimedia Messaging Service Center( MMSC) at the provider's site and transferred from there to the mobile device. However, the addressee can also retrieve his multimedia message from the server. The size of the MMS messages depends on the transmission rates of the mobile networks and the limited storage capacity of the smartphones.
An MMS message can consist of text, graphics, sound and voice documents, images and video sequences, and these documents can be combined with each other. For voice and audio documents, MP3 and Midi files are supported, as well as Waveform Audio Files(WAV) and voice signals. Image file formats include JPEG, Graphics Interchange Format( GIF) and Wireless Bitmap(WBMP), and video file formats include MPEG-4, Quicktime and H.263. Objects are linked using the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language( SMIL) script language.
To ensure the interoperability of the many multimedia formats, a consortium has been formed to which the most important providers belong. The aim is to ensure that MMS messages can be received in all mobile networks and via as many terminal devices as possible.