Abstract:
A method for delivering multimedia messages includes: submitting a multimedia message containing address information of a receiving party to an MMSC by an initiating party; sending a PUSH notification by the MMSC to a short message system with an interface protocol supported by the short message system; obtaining routing information of the receiving party from HLR of the receiving party by the short message system, and sending the PUSH notification to the receiving party according to the routing information; and retrieving the multimedia message from the MMSC according to addressing information of the multimedia message containing in the PUSH notification by the receiving party. The method improves the efficiency and success rate of multimedia message delivery and lowers the cost of multimedia message delivery.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2005/000424 filed on Mar. 31, 2005. This application claims the benefit of Chinese Application No. 200410034765.3 filed on May 12, 2004. The disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD  
       [0002]     The present disclosure relates to multimedia information communication technology, and more specifically to a method and system for delivering multimedia messages and a Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC).  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.  
         [0004]     Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC) serves to deliver multimedia messages of text, graphic, video, audio and other media formats on the networks. The MMSC activates the sending flow when it receives a multimedia message sent from a Multimedia Message Service (MMS) terminal, a Value-Added Service Provider (VASP), or an email server to the MMS. The sending flow includes two phases: PUSH notification flow and message retrieval flow. At present, the PUSH notification flow of MMS service mainly refers to that the MMSC sends one or more short messages containing PUSH notification to the receiving terminal. The PUSH notification includes the information of the multimedia messages, e.g., the addressing information required by the receiving terminal for retrieving the multimedia message, the sender ID, the subject of multimedia message and the address of the receiving terminal. The addressing information includes the MMSC address and the sole identification of multimedia message in the MMSC. The receiving terminal activates the message retrieval flow when it receives the PUSH notification, i.e., it initiates a message retrieval request to the MMSC that saves the multimedia message and retrieves the multimedia message according to the addressing information in the PUSH notification.  
         [0005]     The multimedia message delivery are very similar in GSM, GPRS, WCDMA, CDMA95, CDMA2000 and other networks, therefore, the multimedia message delivery in GSM network is taken as the example for a description of the multimedia message delivery solution in related art.  
         [0006]      FIG. 1  illustrates a whole procedure of delivering a multimedia message from the initiating party, e.g., an MMS terminal, a VASP or a mail server, to the receiving party, e.g., a MSC/MMS terminal in related art, which includes the following steps:  
         [0007]     Step  11 : The initiating party of multimedia message submits the multimedia message to the MMSC, with the address information of the receiving MMS terminal, e.g., a mobile phone number, carried in the multimedia message.  
         [0008]     Step  12 : Upon receiving the multimedia message, the MMSC activates the PUSH notification flow to send a PUSH notification to the receiving MMS terminal. Specifically, the PUSH notification flow includes the following steps:  
         [0009]     Step  1201 : The MMSC sends a PUSH information message (push_message) to the Wireless Application Gateway (WAPGW), and records the times of executing this step. The push_message carries the PUSH notification which contains the addressing information required by the receiving MMS terminal for retrieving the multimedia message, the sender ID, the subject of multimedia message, and address information of the receiving MMS terminal. The addressing information includes the MMSC address and the sole identification of the multimedia message in the MMSC.  
         [0010]     Step  1202 : the WAPGW returns a PUSH response message (push_response) to the MMSC when it receives the push_message.  
         [0011]     Step  1203 : The WAPGW adopts the interface protocol between the WAPGW and the Short Message Service Center (SMSC), i.e., the Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol (SMPP) to package up the PUSH notification in the push_message into a short message, and adopts SMPP to send the submit message (submit_sm) to the SMSC, with the short message containing the PUSH notification carried in the message, and records the times of executing this step. In an actual network of an operator, the interface protocol between the WAPGW and the SMSC may also be Universal Computer Protocol (UCP), Computer Interface Message Delivery (CIMD) protocol or other protocols of the same type.  
         [0012]     Step  1204 : Upon receiving the submit_sm, SMSC returns a submit response (submit_sm_resp) to the WAPGW, and executes Step  1205 .  
         [0013]     Steps  1205 ˜ 1208  are the flow of the SMSC sending short messages to the receiving MMS terminal. Specifically, the flow includes the following steps:  
         [0014]     Step  1205 : The SMSC determines the address of the receiving MMS terminal&#39;s Home Location Register (HLR) according to the address information of the receiving MMS terminal carried by the PUSH notification in submit_sm, sends a routing request message (map_sri_for_sm_req) to the HLR, and records the times of executing this step. If the network is a CDMA network, the routing request message is a SMSREQ message.  
         [0015]     Step  1206 : Upon receiving the map_sri_for_sm_req, the HLR returns a routing response message (map_sri_for_sm_resp) to the SMSC, with the address of the MSC in which the receiving MMS terminal currently locates carried in the message.  
         [0016]     If the network is a CDMA network, the routing response message may be a smsreq message. If the network is a GPRS or a WCDMA network, the routing information carried in the routing response message may be the address of the MSC or SGSN in which the receiving terminal currently locates.  
         [0017]     Step  1207 : SMSC reads the routing information from map_sri_for_sm_resp, and sends a short message forwarding request message (map_mt_fwd_sm_req) to the receiving MMS terminal via the receiving MSC according to the routing information, with the short message containing the PUSH notification carried in the short message forwarding request message.  
         [0018]     If the network is a CDMA network, the short message forwarding request message may be a Short Message Delivery Peer to Peer (SMDPP) request message.  
         [0019]     Step  1208 : The receiving MMS terminal returns a short message forwarding response message (map_mt_fwd_sm_resp) to the SMSC via the receiving MSC, with the information indicating that the PUSH notification carried in the short message forwarding response message has been successfully sent. The SMSC decides in a preset time whether it has received the map_mt_fwd_sm resp carrying the information indicating whether the PUSH notification is successfully sent, and if received, executes Step  1209 ; otherwise, the SMSC decides whether to resend the PUSH notification and the resending time according to the internal resend strategy. If the SMSC decides to resend the PUSH notification, it decides whether the times of executing Step  1205  exceeds the preset value, and if it exceeds, the SMSC decides that the sending of PUSH notification has failed and executes Step  1209 ; otherwise, the SMSC adopts the resend strategy and returns to Step  1205 .  
         [0020]     If the network is a CDMA network, the response message returned by the MSC to the SMSC may be smdpp.  
         [0021]     Step  1209 : The SMSC sends a delivery report message (deliver_sm) to the WAPGW, with the information indicating whether the PUSH notification has been successfully sent carried in the deliver_sm.  
         [0022]     Step  1210 : Upon receiving the deliver_sm, the WAPGW returns a delivery report response message (deliver_sm_resp) to the SMSC and decides whether the PUSH notification has been successfully sent according to the delivery report message, if successful, executes Step  1211 ; otherwise, the WAPGW decides whether to resend the PUSH notification according to the internal resend strategy. If the WAPGW decides to resend the PUSH notification, it decides whether the times of executing Step  1203  exceeds the preset value, and if exceeds, the WAPGW decides that the sending of PUSH notification has failed and executes Step  1211 ; otherwise, the WAPGW adopts the resend strategy and returns to Step  1203 .  
         [0023]     Step  1211 : WAPGW sends to the MMSC a result notification message (resultnotification_message), with the information indicating whether the PUSH notification has been successfully sent carried in the result notification message.  
         [0024]     Step  1212 : Upon receiving the resultnotification_message, the MMSC returns a result notification response message (resultnotification_response) to the WAPGW, and decides whether the PUSH notification has been successfully sent according to the resultnotification_message, if successful, the WAPGW terminates the PUSH notification flow; otherwise, the SMSC decides whether to resend the PUSH notification and the resending time according to the internal resend strategy. If the MMSC decides to resend the PUSH notification, it decides whether the times of executing Step  1201  exceeds the preset value, if it exceeds, the MMSC decides that the sending of PUSH notification has failed, terminates the multimedia message delivery flow, and then decides that the delivery of multimedia message has failed and executes Step  17 ; otherwise, the MMSC adopts the resend strategy and returns to Step  1201 .  
         [0025]     The steps of  13  to  17  are multimedia message retrieval flow. Specifically, the retrieval flow includes the following steps:  
         [0026]     Step  13 : Upon receiving the short message carrying the PUSH notification, the receiving MMS terminal processes according to its own selected mode. If the receiving MMS terminal selects delayed retrieval of multimedia message, it reports to the MMSC that it has received the PUSH notification via the notification response (MM1_notification.RES) according to the addressing information for retrieving multimedia message carried in the PUSH notification, and then executes Step  14 . If the receiving MMS terminal selects prompt retrieval of multimedia message, it executes Step  14  directly.  
         [0027]     Step  14 : When the multimedia retrieval time is reached, the receiving MMS terminal sends to the MMSC a multimedia message retrieval request (MM1_retrieve.REQ) according to the addressing information for retrieving multimedia message carried in the PUSH notification.  
         [0028]     Step  15 : The MMSC sends the multimedia message to the receiving MMS terminal via the multimedia message retrieval response message (MM1_retieve.RES).  
         [0029]     Step  16 : In the case of delayed retrieval, the receiving MMS terminal returns the receive status of the multimedia message to the MMSC via multimedia message acknowledgement message (MM1_acknowledgement.REQ). In the case of prompt retrieval, the receiving MMS terminal returns the receive status of the multimedia message to the MMSC via the MM1_notification.RES.  
         [0030]     Step  17 : If there is a requirement for the delivery status of multimedia message by the initiating party, the MMSC returns the delivery status report of the multimedia message to the initiating party, with the receiving party&#39;s receive status of the multimedia message carried in the delivery status report. If there is no requirement for the delivery status of multimedia message by the initiating party, the flow comes to an end.  
         [0031]     It can be seen from the above flow that the PUSH notification is critical to the entire MMS business, and is an essential requisite to ensure that the receiving party obtains messages normally.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0032]     An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for delivering multimedia messages. The method for delivering multimedia message includes:  
         [0033]     submitting, by an initiating party, a multimedia message containing address information of a receiving party to a Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC);  
         [0034]     sending, by the MMSC, a PUSH notification to a short message system through an interface protocol supported by the short message system; obtaining, by the short message system, routing information of the receiving party from HLR of the receiving party, and sending the PUSH notification to the receiving party according to the routing information;  
         [0035]     obtaining, by the receiving party, multimedia messages from the MMSC according to addressing information of the multimedia message contained in the PUSH notification.  
         [0036]     Another embodiment of the present invention provides A system for delivering multimedia message. The system includes:  
         [0037]     an initiating party, for submitting a multimedia message containing address information of a receiving party to a Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC);  
         [0038]     the MMSC, for sending a PUSH notification to a short message system with an interface protocol supported by the short message system;  
         [0039]     the short message system, for obtaining routing information of a receiving party from HLR of the receiving party, and sending the PUSH notification to the receiving party according to the routing information;  
         [0040]     the receiving party, for obtaining the multimedia message from the MMSC according to addressing information of the multimedia message contained in the PUSH notification.  
         [0041]     A third embodiment of the present invention provides a Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC). The MMSC includes an interface protocol module supported by a short message system. Upon receiving a multimedia message containing address information of a receiving party from an initiating party, the MMSC the MMSC instructing the interface protocol module to send the PUSH notification to the short message system.  
         [0042]     A fourth embodiment of the present invention provides a method for delivering multimedia message by MMSC. The method for delivering multimedia message by MMSC includes: upon receiving a multimedia message containing address information of a receiving party, the MMSC send a PUSH notification to a short message system.  
         [0043]     Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
     
    
     DRAWINGS  
       [0044]     The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.  
         [0045]      FIG. 1  is a flow chart illustrating the delivery of multimedia message in related art.  
         [0046]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrating the delivery of multimedia message in the case that the short message system is the short message center according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0047]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart illustrating the delivery of multimedia message in the case that the short message system includes the short message gateway and the short message center according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0048]     The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.  
         [0049]     A detailed description of the present invention is hereinafter given with reference to specific embodiments and the accompanying drawings.  
         [0050]     According to an embodiment of the method of the present invention, the PUSH notification is sent through direct communication between the MMSC and the short message system, without the involvement of the WAPGW. The short message system mentioned here includes the SMSC, or includes the short message gateway and the SMSC.  
         [0051]     According to an embodiment of the present invention, an interface protocol module supported by the short message system is added into the MMSC. If the short message system includes the SMSC, the interface protocol module for communicating with the SMSC directly is added in the MMSC, for instance, a SMPP module in the GSM network, and UCP module, CIMD protocol module or other protocol module in other networks. If the short message system includes the short message gateway and the SMSC, a short message gateway protocol module for communicating with the short message gateway is added in the MMSC, for instance, the China Mobile Peer to Peer (CMPP) protocol, China Union Short message Gateway Interface Protocol(SGIP) or other protocol modules of the same type.  
         [0052]     The delivery of multimedia messages are similar in GSM, GPRS, WCDMA, CDMA95, CDMA2000 and other networks, therefore, the delivery of multimedia messages in GSM is taken as an example for the description of the method provided by the present invention.  
         [0053]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , if the short message system of the present invention includes the SMSC, the whole process of the multimedia message initiating party, for instance, a MMS terminal, a VASP or a mail server, delivering a multimedia message to the receiving MMS terminal includes the following steps:  
         [0054]     Step  21 : The multimedia message initiating party submits the multimedia message to the MMSC, with the address information of the receiving MMS terminal, for instance, a mobile phone number, carried in the multimedia message.  
         [0055]     Step  22 : Upon receiving the multimedia message, the MMSC activates the PUSH notification flow to send a PUSH notification to the receiving MMS terminal, with the addressing information required by the receiving MMS terminal for retrieving the multimedia message, the sender ID, the subject of the multimedia message, and the address information of the receiving MMS terminal carried in the notification. The addressing information includes the MMSC address and the sole ID of the multimedia message in the MMSC. Specifically, the PUSH notification flow includes the following steps:  
         [0056]     Step  2201 : The MMSC adopts the interface protocol supported by the SMSC, e.g., the SMPP, to package up the PUSH notification into a short message, sends the submit message (submit_sm) to the SMSC by the interface protocol, with the short message carrying the PUSH notification carried in the submit_sm, and records the times of executing this step.  
         [0057]     If the network is another network, the UCP, CIMD or other protocols of the same type can be adopted as the interface protocol between the MMSC and the SMSC. The SMPP protocol involved in this method can be substituted by the above mentioned UCP, CIMD or other protocols of the same type.  
         [0058]     Step  2202 : Upon receiving the submit_sm, the SMSC returns a submit response message (submit_sm_resp) to the MMSC.  
         [0059]     Steps  2203 ˜ 2206  are the flow of the SMSC sending the short message to the receiving MMS terminal. The flow includes the following steps:  
         [0060]     Step  2203 : The SMSC determines the address of the receiving MMS terminal&#39;s Home Location Register (HLR) according to the address information of the receiving MMS terminal carried in the PUSH notification in submit_sm, sends a routing request message (map_sri_for_sm_req) to the HLR, and records the times of executing this step.  
         [0061]     If the network is a CDMA network, the routing request message is a SMSREQ message.  
         [0062]     Step  2204 : Upon receiving the map_sri_for_sm_req, the HLR returns a routing response message (map_sri_for_sm_resp) to the SMSC. The map_sri_for_sm_resp contains the routing information of the receiving MMS terminal. i.e., the address of the MSC in which the Receiving MMS terminal locates.  
         [0063]     If the network is a CDMA network, the routing response message is a smsreq message. If the network is a GPRS or WCDMA network, the routing information carried in the routing response message is the address of the Serving GPRS Service Node (SGSN).  
         [0064]     Step  2205 : The SMSC reads the routing information carried in the map_sri_for_resp, and sends the short message forwarding request message (map_mt_fwd_sm_req) to the receiving MMS terminal via the receiving MSC according to the routing information, with the short message including the PUSH notification to be sent to the receiving MMS terminal carried in the map_mt_fwd_sm_req. If the network is a CDMA network, the short message forwarding request message is a SMDPP message.  
         [0065]     Step  2206 : The receiving MMS terminal returns a short message forwarding response message (map_mt_fwd_sm_resp) to the SMSC via the MSC in which the Receiving MMS terminal locates. The map_mt_fwd_sm_resp contains the information indicating whether the PUSH notification has been successfully sent. The SMSC decides in a preset time whether it has received the map_mt_fwd_sm_resp carrying the information indicating that the PUSH notification has been successfully sent, if yes, proceeds to the next step; otherwise, the SMSC decides whether to resend the PUSH notification and the resending time according to the internal resend strategy. If the SMSC decides to resend the PUSH notification, It further decides whether the times of executing Step  2203  exceeds the preset times, and if it does, the SMSC decides that the PUSH notification sending has failed and proceeds to the next step; otherwise, the SMSC adopts the resend strategy and returns to Step  2203 .  
         [0066]     Additionally, if the network is a CDMA network, the response message returned by the MSC to the SMSC is smdpp.  
         [0067]     Step  2207 : The SMSC sends a delivery report message (deliver_sm) to the MMSC, with the information indicating whether the PUSH notification carried in the deliver_sm has been successfully sent.  
         [0068]     Step  2208 : Upon receiving the deliver_sm, the MMSC returns a delivery report response message (deliver_sm_resp) to the SMSC and decides whether the PUSH notification has been successfully sent according to the deliver_sm, and if it is successful, the PUSH notification flow ends; otherwise, the MMSC decides whether to resend the PUSH notification and the resending time according to the internal resend strategy. If the MMSC decides to resend the PUSH notification, it further decides whether the times of executing Step  2201  exceeds the preset times, and if it exceeds the preset times, the MMSC decides that the PUSH notification sending has failed, terminates the multimedia message delivery flow, decides that the delivery of multimedia message has failed and proceeds to Step  17 ; otherwise, the MMSC adopts the resend strategy and returns to Step  2201 .  
         [0069]     The steps of  23  to  27  are multimedia message retrieval flow. Specifically, the retrieval flow includes the following steps:  
         [0070]     Step  23 : Upon receiving the PUSH notification, the receiving MMS terminal processes according to its own selected mode. If the receiving MMS terminal selects delayed retrieval of multimedia message, it reports to the MMSC that it has received the PUSH notification via the notification response message (MM1_notification.RES) according to the addressing information for retrieving the multimedia message carried in the PUSH notification, and then proceeds to Step  24 . If the receiving MMS terminal selects prompt retrieval of multimedia message, it proceeds to Step  24  directly.  
         [0071]     Step  24 : When the multimedia retrieval time is reached, the receiving MMS terminal sends to the MMSC a multimedia message retrieval request message (MM1_retrieve.REQ) according to the addressing information for retrieving the multimedia message carried in the PUSH notification.  
         [0072]     Step  25 : The MMSC sends the multimedia message to the receiving MMS terminal via the retrieve response message (MM1_retieve.RES).  
         [0073]     Step  26 : In the case of delayed retrieval, the receiving MMS terminal returns the multimedia message receive status to the MMSC via the multimedia message acknowledgement message (MM1_acknowledgement.REQ). In the case of prompt retrieval, the receiving MMS terminal returns the multimedia message receive status to the MMSC via the MM1_notification.RES.  
         [0074]     Step  27 : If there is a requirement for the delivery status of multimedia message by the initiating party, the MMSC returns the delivery status report of the multimedia message to the initiating party, with the receiving party&#39;s receiving status of the multimedia message carried in the delivery status report. If there is no requirement for the delivery status of multimedia message by the imitating party, the flow comes to an end.  
         [0075]     The networking solution of the present invention can be adopted in GSM, GPRS, WCDMA, CDMA95, CDMA2000 or other mobile networks and fixed networks, i.e., the MMSC adopts the associated interface protocol to directly communicate with the short message systems of various mobile networks and fixed networks to deliver multimedia messages. For instance, in CDMA network, the MMSC can directly connect the CDMA short message center (MC) to deliver multimedia messages.  
         [0076]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , if the short message system of the present invention includes the short message gateway and the SMSC, the whole delivery process of multimedia message initiating party sending a multimedia message to the receiving MMS terminal is the same as that illustrated in  FIG. 2 , except the minor difference in the interactive process between the MMSC and the short message system. Therefore, the following description is just concentrated on the interactive process between the MMSC and the short message system.  
         [0077]     Upon receiving the multimedia message, the MMSC activates the PUSH notification flow which includes the following steps:  
         [0078]     Step  3201 : The MMSC adopts the interface protocol between the MMSC and the short message gateway, for instance, CMPP, to package up the PUSH notification into a short message, adopts the CMPP to send the PUSH information message (CMPP_SUBMIT) carrying the PUSH notification to the short message gateway, and records the times of executing this step.  
         [0079]     Step  3202 : Upon receiving the CMPP_SUBMIT, the short message gateway returns the PUSH response message (CMPP_SUBMIT_RESP) to the MMSC.  
         [0080]     Step  3203 : The short message gateway uses the interface protocol between the short message gateway and the SMSC, for instance, SMPP, to package up the PUSH notification into a short message carrying the PUSH notification, adopts the SMPP to send the submit message (submit_sm) carrying the PUSH notification to the SMSC, and records the times of executing this step. The interface protocol can be UCP, CIMD or other protocols of the same type.  
         [0081]     Step  3204 : Upon receiving the submit_sm, the SMSC returns the submit response message (submit_sm_resp) to the short message gateway, and proceeds to Step  2203 .  
         [0082]     Then Steps  2203  to  2206  are carried out successively, which are described in the explanation of  FIG. 2 . After Step  2206  is carried out, the following steps will be carried out:  
         [0083]     Step  3205 : The SMSC sends a deliver_sm to the short message gateway, with the information indicating whether the PUSH notification carried in the deliver_sm has been successfully sent.  
         [0084]     Step  3206 : Upon receiving the deliver_sm, the short message gateway returns a deliver_sm_resp to the SMSC, and decides whether the PUSH notification has been successfully sent according to the deliver_sm, and if it is successful, the SMSC proceeds to Step  3207 ; otherwise, the SMSC further decides whether the times of executing Step  3203  exceeds the preset times. If the times of executing Step  3203  exceeds the present times, the short message gateway decides that the PUSH notification sending has failed and proceeds to Step  3207 . If the times of executing Step  3203  doesn&#39;t exceed the present times, the short message gateway adopts the resend strategy and returns to Step  3203 .  
         [0085]     Step  3207 : The short message gateway sends a result notification message (CMPP_DELIVER) to the MMSC, with the information indicating the PUSH notification carried in the CMPP_DELIVER has been successfully sent.  
         [0086]     Step  3208 : Upon receiving the CMPP_DELIVER, the MMSC returns the result notification response message (CMPP_DELIVER_RESP) to the short message gateway, and decides whether the PUSH notification has been successfully sent according to the CMPP_DELIVER, and if it is successful, the PUSH notification flow ends; otherwise, the MMSC further decides whether the times of executing Step  3201  exceeds the preset times. If the times of executing Step  3201  exceeds the preset times, the MMSC decides that the PUSH notification sending has failed, and terminates the multimedia message delivery flow. If the times of executing Step  3201  exceeds the preset times, the MMSC adopts the resend strategy and returns to Step  3201 .  
         [0087]     The retrieval flow of multimedia message is described in the above mentioned Steps  23  to  27 .  
         [0088]     The foregoing description only relates to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the protection scope thereof. All variants and substitutions of the embodiments realizable by those skilled in the art should be covered by the protection scope of the present invention.