Sending text messages, technically identified as Short Message System (SMS), but typically known as “texting”, is a simple, effortless, and convenient manner to keep in touch between cell phones.  Not just a very good manner for people to communicate, SMS texting can be a sensible manner for software programs to exchange simple messages, and even setup instructions, between  cell phones.  SMS texting doesn’t require a direct connection between cell phones; the communications infrastructure for the process is already in place, and it works across most cell service providers. One characteristic of SMS text messaging that makes it particularly sensible for mobile software applications is that it relies on cell phone fixed identity, the phone number. This feature provide a unique benefit over other technologies that use IP addresses because a mobile phone IP address will vary depending on current network.

Short Message Service (SMS) is a communication service component of the GSM mobile communication system.  It relies on standardized communications rules that allow the exchange of short text messages between mobile phones. SMS texting is the most commonly used data application on earth, with almost two and a half billion active users, or three quarters of all cell phone subscribers.

SMS text messaging as used on modern mobile devices was originally defined as part of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) series of protocols in 1985  as a system of exchanging texts of up to 160 characters, between GSM mobile handsets.  Since the mid-eighties service support has expanded to include other mobile technologies such as ANSI CDMA networks and Digital AMPS, as well as satellite and landline networks.  The majority of SMS messages are mobile-to-mobile text messages, though the standard supports other kinds of broadcast messaging as well.  Computer to mobile device SMS capabilities are also expanding rapidly.

GSM was originally named Groupe Spécial Mobile.  It is the most accepted standard for mobile telephone systems in the world. The GSM Association, the promoting industry organization of mobile phone carriers and manufacturers, estimates that approximately 80% of the world mobile market uses it.  GSM is used by over 3 billion people across more than two hundred countries and territories.  Its ubiquity  enables international roaming arrangements between mobile phone network providers, providing subscribers the use of their mobile devices all over the world.  GSM has evolved from its forerunner technologies demonstrated by the fact that both signaling and speech channels are digital.  Thus GSM is considered a second generation (2G) mobile phone system.  Additionally, this  eases the extensive deployment of data communication applications.

The ubiquity of GSM implementation can be seen as a benefit for consumers that are given the ability to roam and switch carriers without needing to replace their cell phones, and also to network providers, who can choose equipment from many equipment suppliers. GSM is credited with pioneering affordable deployment of SMS text messaging, which subsequently has been supported on other mobile phone standards.

General packet radio service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data service available to users of the 2G and 3G GSM. In 2G systems.  GPRS data communication is usually billed per megabyte of trafficsent and received, while data communication using traditional circuit switching is charged per minute of connection time, without regard to whether or not the user actually is using it or if it is idle. GPRS is a best-effort packet switched service, as opposed to circuit switching, that has guaranteed quality of service during the connection for non-mobile users.

2G cellular systems in combination with GPRS are often described as 2.5G.  2.5G is a technology bridge between the second (2G) and third (3G) generations of smartphone telephony. It delivers moderate-speed data transfer, by using unused time division multiple access (TDMA) channels. Initially it was intended to broaden GPRS to cover other standards, but these networks are converting to the GSM standard.   GPRS is integrated into GSM Release 97 and newer releases.

GPRS was developed as a GSM response to the earlier CDPD and i-mode packet switched cellular technologies.  Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) was a wide-area mobile data service which used unused bandwidth normally used by AMPS mobile phones.  It was discontinued in conjunction with the discontinuation of the parent AMPS service.

CDPD was developed in the early 1990’s, with anticipation it would be a future technology. However, it had competition from then current slower but less expensive Mobitex and DataTac systems.  CDPD never gained general acceptance before newer, faster standards such as GPRS earned widespread acceptance and became predominant.

For consumer markets CDPD had very limited appeal.  AT&T Wireless initially offered the technology in the US under the brandname PocketNet, one of the very first consumer wireless web service offers. Cingular Wireless later offered CDPD under the Wireless Internet brand (as opposed to Wireless Internet Express, Cingular Wireless GPRS/EDGE data). AT&T Wireless PocketNet failed as a product launch.  However, CDPD was adopted into several enterprise and government networks.  It was especially successful as a first-generation wireless data solution for telemetry devices (machine to machine communications) and for public safety mobile data terminals.

Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) (also referred to as Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), or IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC), and Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution) is a backward-compatible digital cell phone technology that delivers superior data transmission rates on top of standard GSM.  EDGE is considered a 3G radio technology.  EDGE allows  more than three-fold increase in both the capacity and performance of GSM/GPRS networks by using advanced systems of coding and transmitting data, that produce higher bit-rates per radio channel.  EDGE delivers broadband performance and can be used for high bandwidth data applications such as Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).

A very interesting software application that uses the connectivity between the mobile device  and the internet to capture and archive MMS Multi-Media Messages, GPS location,  SMS messages, and Call Event Logs is PhoneBeagle Mobile Monitoring.  Follow this link if you are interested in    Mobile Monitoring Software that works with with BlackBerry  and  Android  Smartphones,.    Visit this link for more information regarding the latest software for  Parental Monitoring and Employee Monitoring of Mobile Phones .

 

 

 

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