Interworking between the multimedia messaging service (MMS) and the 3G IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) instant messaging service

The multimedia messaging service (MMS) allows the asynchronous delivery of media-rich messages in GPRS networks and beyond, whereas the IMS instant messaging service allows almost real-time messaging interactions among users. Since both messaging services will coexist in 3G mobile networks, a natural interworking mechanism between these systems would be extremely convenient for the deployment of a common messaging framework, to ensure a smooth user migration, and to increase compatibility with legacy systems. This paper analyses the requirements and issues for interoperability between MMS and the IMS instant messaging service, in order to propose an interworking model and a translation gateway architecture for subsystem interconnection, finally, the most illustrative interworking use cases are analysed and the accomplished prototypes and validation experiences described