6 Immediate messaging requirements

22.3403GPPIP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) messagingStage 1TS

6.1 General requirements

Network operators have different network configuration and commercial requirements. IMS Messaging shall be supported in a manner that meets the operator’s IMS requirements. Thus, an identified set of functionalities and formats shall be standardized to ensure interoperability across networks and terminals to support IMS Messaging.

The following general requirements shall be supported by Immediate messaging.

a) It shall be possible for the UE and the network to differentiate between immediate messages from other messaging types.

b) Within the capabilities of networks and terminals, the user shall have a consistent experience regardless of the access network e.g. 3GPP systems, fixed networks, the Internet.

c) Immediate messaging shall support a minimum set of functionality for message delivery, management and filtering to ensure interoperability between different terminals and networks.

d) Immediate messaging shall be able to support the ability of the recipient’s network to take into account the recipient’s terminal capabilities. In addition, the originating network/terminal may also be able to take into account recipient’s terminal capabilities. Specifically the recipient’s terminal capabilities that may be taken into account at a minimum include:

1) Display capabilities (including screen size, number of colours, number of lines of text, etc);

2) Media content types supported (Audio, Video etc);

3) Media content formats supported (JPEG, GIF, etc);

4) Media Storage capacity;

5) Encryption/Security mechanisms supported

The capabilities of the user’s terminal may be reflected in the message filtering and corresponding actions as identified in clause 6.7.

e) Immediate messaging should be able to take into account the availability and changes of the state of availability of the terminal. Immediate messaging shall be able to make use of the Presence Service, if provided by the network.

f) It shall be possible to store in the ISIM a number of sets of configuration information to allow access to Immediate messaging services. One of these sets of configuration information is preset by the issuer of the ISIM. Such preset configuration information set shall only be configurable by issuer of the ISIM. The preset configuration information is selected unless otherwise specified by the user. It shall be possible to retain the configuration information when the UICC is used in different terminals.

g) It shall be possible to send and receive immediate messages without prior establishing a messaging session.

h) It shall be possible for the network operator providing the Immediate messaging service to choose, wherever possible, the most suitable transport mechanism for carrying messages (e.g. signalling network, dedicated PDP context, other access technologies and so on…) both for UE originated and UE terminated messages.

i) It shall be possible for the network operator providing the Immediate messaging service to choose, wherever possible, the parameters used (i.e. QoS) both for UE originated and UE terminated messages.

6.2 Message content requirements

Following requirements are specific to content delivered with immediate messaging.

a) Content size shall not be limited by technology.

b) It shall be possible to carry different media including text, images, video and audio within a single message. Media types shall be MIME encoded.

c) Immediate messaging shall provide a minimum set of supported formats to ensure full interoperability between different terminals and networks (e.g. JPEG for pictures, AMR for speech, H.263 for video). The minimum set of supported formats shall be common to all IMS Messaging types. The minimum set of supported formats should be aligned with formats used in other 3GPP-defined services 3GPP TS 26.140 [5], 3GPP TS 26.234 [6].

d) Content formats shall be defined so that interworking with 3GPP and Internet messaging solutions is facilitated.

e) It shall be possible to compose message of either a single medium (e.g. voice) or multi-media (e.g. voice and video). The IMS Messaging service shall be able to support a request for media sequencing.

6.3 Management requirements

The following management requirements shall be supported.

a) The IMS service provider shall be able to enable/disable message delivery and submission.

b) Immediate messaging shall be able to support a request from the user to enable/disable message delivery.

c) Immediate messaging shall be able to support the user to manage his user service profile related to Immediate messaging (e.g. customize his messaging environment within the capabilities of the terminal, network and messaging application). This could be unconditional or conditional e.g. depending on roaming conditions or operator restrictions.

d) Immediate messaging shall allow an IMS service provider to configure Immediate messaging environment e.g. in such a way that submitted and/or incoming Immediate messages of a particular user are stored in a network based repository.

6.4 Message delivery requirements

Following requirements define the message delivery.

a) Message delivery shall be immediate i.e. messages are transported by the IMS system to the recipient’s terminal (without notifications) subject to message filtering settings defined by the recipient or by the recipient’s IMS service provider.

b) Messages shall not be stored by the network. If supported by the recipient’s network as an application option messages may be stored in the recipients network.

c) It shall be possible for the sender to receive delivery acknowledgements (success/failure) for sent messages.

6.5 Storage requirements

The following storage requirements shall be supported.

a) It shall be possible for a sender to request to persistently store a sent Immediate message in a network based repository at the time of sending if the IMS service provider provides such application level service.

b) Immediate messaging shall be able to support a request from a user to retrieve messages that are stored in a network based repository.

c) Immediate messaging shall be able to support a request from a user to delete messages that are stored in a network based repository.

d) Immediate messaging shall be able to support a request from a user to forward one or more messages that are stored in a network based repository to another destination.

e) Immediate messaging shall be able to support a request from a user to view the list of messages and message related attributes, such as sender, recipient, subject and date/time, in a network based repository.

f) Immediate messaging shall be able to support a request from a user to upload one or more Immediate messages into a network based repository for persistent storage.

6.6 User privacy requirements

Following requirements define user privacy.

a) It shall be possible for the recipient to see the public ID of the sender of the message unless the sender has requested to hide it.

b) It shall be possible for the sender of the message to request to hide its public ID from the recipient (anonymous sender).
The sender’s public ID shall not be delivered to the recipient. The capability of public ID hiding is an IMS service provider and legislation issue and it may or may not be available. If the service is not available the message shall not be delivered to the recipient.

6.7 Message Filtering

It shall be possible for a subscriber to set up, modify, and delete filters in the network of the subscriber’s IMS service provider, in order to control the treatment of a message by the network when an immediate message is received when the subscriber is either unavailable or when the subscriber does not currently want to receive messages. The filters shall also support the ability of the subscriber to specify the maximum size and type of message content etc that they are or are not willing to accept. The filters shall also support the ability of the subscriber to block (and unblock) messages from specific senders or anonymous senders.

Following specific requirements define the message filtering capabilities of the recipient.

a) It shall be possible to define specific message treatment based on following criteria

1) sender address (including anonymous senders);

2) message size;

3) message class (e.g. advertisement, private….);

4) message priority;

5) message content type (e.g. video, audio….);

6) message content format (e.g. mpeg, jpeg….);

7) message type (e.g. immediate message);

8) message subject;

9) availability of the recipient; and

10) additional criteria maybe possible but are outside the scope of this document..

b) It shall be possible to specify the following message treatments in a filter:

1) Block the delivery of the message content.

2) Store the message content and notify recipient.

3) Store the message content for a specific time or until the recipient requests delivery.

4) Store and push the message content to recipient when available.

  1. Redirect the message to another address.

6) Additional treatments maybe possible but are outside the scope of this document.

The IMS service provider shall also be able to set and control the filter settings either on behalf of the subscriber or based on policy.