Integrating SIP, presence and FTP to provide wireless multimedia messaging

Building on the success of short message service (SMS), the use of multimedia messaging service (MMS), is taking off on global system for mobile (GSM) communications, General packet radio service (GPRS) and universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) networks. Multimedia messages for person-to-person communication greatly enhance the messages users now routinely exchange via SMS and provide operators with new opportunities to offer new appealing services and generate additional revenue. However, MMS uses a proprietary implementation by the mobile phone vendors, e.g. Nokia, Logica CMG. At the same time, internet protocol (IP) technology has provided an effective nonproprietary infrastructure for internet multimedia services. With the adoption of IP protocols into the wireless network and convergence with fixed line networks, e.g. in GPRS and UMTS, the challenge becomes to deliver multimedia messages in a nonpropriety manner to wireless users. This paper will examine the session initiation protocol (SIP), presence and FTP through a nonproprietary open technology architecture to deliver multimedia messages wirelessly.