Short message peer-to-peer protocol
Encyclopedia
The Short Message Peer-to-Peer (SMPP) protocol is a telecommunications industry protocol for exchanging SMS
messages between SMS peer entities such as short message service center
s and/or External Short Messaging Entities
. It is often used to allow third parties (e.g. value-added service providers like news organizations) to submit messages, often in bulk.
SMPP was originally designed by Aldiscon
, a small Irish
company that was later acquired by Logica (now split off and known as Acision
). The protocol was originally created by a developer, Ian J Chambers, to test functionality of the SMSC without using SS7 test equipment to submit messages. In 1999, Logica formally handed over SMPP to the SMPP Developers Forum, later renamed as The SMS Forum and now disbanded. The SMPP protocol specifications are still available through the website which also carries a notice stating that it will be taken down at the end of 2007. As part of the original handover terms, SMPP ownership has now returned to Acision due to the disbanding of the SMS forum.
The protocol is based on pairs of request/response PDUs (protocol data unit
s, or packets) exchanged over OSI
layer 4 (TCP
session or X.25
SVC3) connections. PDUs are binary encoded
for efficiency.
The most commonly used versions of SMPP are v3.3, the most widely supported standard, and v3.4, which adds transceiver
support (single connections that can send and receive messages). Data exchange may be synchronous, where each peer must wait for a response for each PDU being sent, and asynchronous, where multiple requests can be issued in one go and acknowledged in a skew order by the other peer. The latest version of SMPP is v5.0.
To date SMPP development is suspended and SMS forum is disbanded. From SMS forum website:
A press release, attached to the news, also warns that site will be suspended soon. In spite of this the site is still mostly functioning and specifications can still be downloaded (as of 30 August 2011).
The data is shown in Hex octet
values as a single dump and followed by a header
and body break-down of that PDU.
This is best compared with the definition of the submit_sm PDU from the
SMPP specification in order to understand how the encoding matches
the field by field definition.
The value break-downs are shown with decimal in parentheses and Hex values
after that. Where you see one or several hex octets appended, this is because
the given field size uses 1 or more octets encoding.
Again, reading the definition of the submit_sm PDU from the spec will
make all this clearer.
35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0F 48 65 6C 6C 6F
20 77 69 6B 69 70 65 64 69 61
'command_id', (4) ... 00 00 00 04
'command_status', (0) ... 00 00 00 00
'sequence_number', (5) ... 00 00 00 05
'source_addr_ton', (2) ... 02
'source_addr_npi', (8) ... 08
'source_addr', (555) ... 35 35 35 00
'dest_addr_ton', (1) ... 01
'dest_addr_npi', (1) ... 01
'dest_addr', (555555555) ... 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 00
'esm_class', (0) ... 00
'protocol_id', (0) ... 00
'priority_flag', (0) ... 00
'schedule_delivery_time', (0) ... 00
'validity_period', (0) ... 00
'registered_delivery', (0) ... 00
'replace_if_present_flag', (0) ... 00
'data_coding', (0) ... 00
'sm_default_msg_id', (0) ... 00
'sm_length', (15) ... 0F
'short_message', (Hello wikipedia) ... 48 65 6C 6C 6F 20 77 69 6B 69 70 65 64 69 61'
http://www.smsforum.net is active as on 25th July 2011
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...
messages between SMS peer entities such as short message service center
Short message service center
A short message service center is a network element in the mobile telephone network which delivers SMS messages.-Operation:When a user sends a text message to another user, the message gets stored in the SMSC which delivers it to the destination user when they are available...
s and/or External Short Messaging Entities
ESME
External Short Messaging Entity is a term originally coined by Aldiscon to describe an external application that connects to an SMSC to engage in the sending and/or receiving of SMS messages....
. It is often used to allow third parties (e.g. value-added service providers like news organizations) to submit messages, often in bulk.
SMPP was originally designed by Aldiscon
Aldiscon
Aldiscon was a telecommunications software company founded in Dublin, Ireland in 1988. The company was an innovator in supplying software products to the mobile sector and became a market leader in the supply of Short Message Service Centre's to mobile operators globally.Aldiscon invented SMPP,...
, a small Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
company that was later acquired by Logica (now split off and known as Acision
Acision
Acision is a privately held mobile communications network infrastructure company specialising in messaging and charging systems that enable popular services such as Short message service , Multimedia Messaging Service , mobile internet browsing, Mobile Broadband and voicemail.-History:Acision's...
). The protocol was originally created by a developer, Ian J Chambers, to test functionality of the SMSC without using SS7 test equipment to submit messages. In 1999, Logica formally handed over SMPP to the SMPP Developers Forum, later renamed as The SMS Forum and now disbanded. The SMPP protocol specifications are still available through the website which also carries a notice stating that it will be taken down at the end of 2007. As part of the original handover terms, SMPP ownership has now returned to Acision due to the disbanding of the SMS forum.
The protocol is based on pairs of request/response PDUs (protocol data unit
Protocol data unit
In telecommunications, the term protocol data unit has the following meanings:#Information that is delivered as a unit among peer entities of a network and that may contain control information, address information, or data....
s, or packets) exchanged over OSI
Open Systems Interconnection
Open Systems Interconnection is an effort to standardize networking that was started in 1977 by the International Organization for Standardization , along with the ITU-T.-History:...
layer 4 (TCP
Transmission Control Protocol
The Transmission Control Protocol is one of the core protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite. TCP is one of the two original components of the suite, complementing the Internet Protocol , and therefore the entire suite is commonly referred to as TCP/IP...
session or X.25
X.25
X.25 is an ITU-T standard protocol suite for packet switched wide area network communication. An X.25 WAN consists of packet-switching exchange nodes as the networking hardware, and leased lines, Plain old telephone service connections or ISDN connections as physical links...
SVC3) connections. PDUs are binary encoded
Binary protocol
A binary protocol is a protocol which is intended or expected to be read by a machine rather than a human being, as opposed to a plain text protocol such as IRC, SMTP, or HTTP...
for efficiency.
The most commonly used versions of SMPP are v3.3, the most widely supported standard, and v3.4, which adds transceiver
Transceiver
A transceiver is a device comprising both a transmitter and a receiver which are combined and share common circuitry or a single housing. When no circuitry is common between transmit and receive functions, the device is a transmitter-receiver. The term originated in the early 1920s...
support (single connections that can send and receive messages). Data exchange may be synchronous, where each peer must wait for a response for each PDU being sent, and asynchronous, where multiple requests can be issued in one go and acknowledged in a skew order by the other peer. The latest version of SMPP is v5.0.
To date SMPP development is suspended and SMS forum is disbanded. From SMS forum website:
July 31, 2007 - The SMS Forum, a non-profit organization with a mission to develop, foster and promote SMS (short message service) to the benefit of the global wireless industry will disband by July 27, 2007
A press release, attached to the news, also warns that site will be suspended soon. In spite of this the site is still mostly functioning and specifications can still be downloaded (as of 30 August 2011).
Example
This is an example of the binary encoding of a 60-octet submit_sm PDU.The data is shown in Hex octet
Octet (computing)
An octet is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that consists of eight bits. The term is often used when the term byte might be ambiguous, as there is no standard for the size of the byte.-Overview:...
values as a single dump and followed by a header
and body break-down of that PDU.
This is best compared with the definition of the submit_sm PDU from the
SMPP specification in order to understand how the encoding matches
the field by field definition.
The value break-downs are shown with decimal in parentheses and Hex values
after that. Where you see one or several hex octets appended, this is because
the given field size uses 1 or more octets encoding.
Again, reading the definition of the submit_sm PDU from the spec will
make all this clearer.
Hexdump
00 00 00 3C 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 00 02 08 35 35 35 00 01 0135 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0F 48 65 6C 6C 6F
20 77 69 6B 69 70 65 64 69 61
PDU Header
'command_length', (60) ... 00 00 00 3C'command_id', (4) ... 00 00 00 04
'command_status', (0) ... 00 00 00 00
'sequence_number', (5) ... 00 00 00 05
PDU Body
'service_type', ... 00'source_addr_ton', (2) ... 02
'source_addr_npi', (8) ... 08
'source_addr', (555) ... 35 35 35 00
'dest_addr_ton', (1) ... 01
'dest_addr_npi', (1) ... 01
'dest_addr', (555555555) ... 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 00
'esm_class', (0) ... 00
'protocol_id', (0) ... 00
'priority_flag', (0) ... 00
'schedule_delivery_time', (0) ... 00
'validity_period', (0) ... 00
'registered_delivery', (0) ... 00
'replace_if_present_flag', (0) ... 00
'data_coding', (0) ... 00
'sm_default_msg_id', (0) ... 00
'sm_length', (15) ... 0F
'short_message', (Hello wikipedia) ... 48 65 6C 6C 6F 20 77 69 6B 69 70 65 64 69 61'
See also
- Universal Computer Protocol/External Machine Interface (UCP/EMI))EMI (protocol)External Machine Interface , an extension to Universal Computer Protocol , is a protocol primarily used to connect to short message service centres for mobile telephones...
- Computer Interface for Message Distribution (CIMD)CIMDComputer Interface to Message Distribution is a proprietary short message service centre protocol developed by Nokia for their SMSC .-Syntax:An example CIMD exchange looks like the following:...
http://www.smsforum.net is active as on 25th July 2011