How does SMPP fit in the SMS architecture

How does SMPP fit in the SMS architecture SearchSearch
Author Message
Mo Panov
New member
Username: Sms_guy

Post Number: 1
Registered: 05-2007
Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 - 06:32 pm:   

Hello,

I am a noob and am trying to understand the SMS archatecture.
I am not sure hwo does SMPP fit in the SMS world.
Is SMPP just a layer 4 (transport protocol) which sets up a session between an ESME and a SMSC and the regular SMS PDU (as defined by 23.040) is transmitted between the, the format of the SMS being the same which is received by the SMS client.

or is the format of the SMS between the ESME and SMSC & the SMSC and the MS different. with the format of the PDU between SMSC and MS being defined by 23.040 and a different format between SMSC and the ESME?

i was trying to figure out where SMPP fit and came across this article
http://expertanswercenter.techtarget.com/eac/knowledgebaseAnswer/0,295199,sid63_ gci984255,00.html

which states "The SMS Forum has recently released an XML variant of SMPP called Mobile Messaging Access Protocol (MMAP). It essentially provides a mechanism to package the SMPP commands as SOAP messages and send them over SMS."

now i am confused how can SMPP be sent over SMS? i thought SMS is sent using SMPP between the ESME and the SMSC
Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Bryce

Post Number: 7276
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Monday, June 25, 2007 - 07:48 pm:   

Hi,

Personally, I think you might be thinking about it all too hard.

SMPP is a TCP/IP based protocol that allows an application program to interface with an SMSC for sending and receiving messages.

It was originally a protocol defined by a particular vendor (Logica) for interfacing with their SMSC. And over time, it became a defacto standard.

The format of the SMS message being transmitted over SMPP is defined by the SMPP protocol. The format of the SMS message being transmitted over the air from SMSC to mobile station is defined by ETSI GSM 03.40. These formats are different.

Regarding the article that you quote ... well,
don't believe every word of every article that you read on the internet. I think I understand what the author was trying to say ... and I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they did not mean to imply that SMPP commands were actually being sent over SMS.