ETSI ETS 300 901 ed.2 (1997-09)

Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+) (GSM); Technical realization of Short Message Service (SMS) Point-to-Point (PP) (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1)

RE/SMG-040340QR4

Digitalni celični telekomunikacijski sistem (faza 2+) – Tehnična realizacija storitve kratkih sporočil (SMS) – Izvedba točka-točka (PP) (GSM 03.40, različica 5.5.1)

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 14-Sep-1997
• Technical Committee: SMG 4 - Data Services
• Current Stage: 12 - Completion
• Due Date: 26-Sep-1997
• Completion Date: 15-Sep-1997
• Ref Project: SIST ETS 300 901 E2:2003 - Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+) (GSM); Technical realization of Short Message Service (SMS) Point-to-Point (PP) (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1)

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-december-2003
'LJLWDOQLFHOLþQLWHOHNRPXQLNDFLMVNLVLVWHPID]D±7HKQLþQDUHDOL]DFLMDVWRULWYH
NUDWNLKVSRURþLO606±,]YHGEDWRþNDWRþND33*60UD]OLþLFD
Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+) (GSM); Technical realization of
Short Message Service (SMS) Point-to-Point (PP) (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: ETS 300 901 Edition 2
ICS:
33.070.50 Globalni sistem za mobilno Global System for Mobile
telekomunikacijo (GSM) Communication (GSM)
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EUROPEAN ETS 300 901
TELECOMMUNICATION September 1997
STANDARD Second Edition
Source: ETSI SMG Reference: RE/SMG-040340QR4
ICS: 33.020
Key words: Digital cellular telecommunications system, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM)
R
GLOBAL SYSTEM FOR
MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS
Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+);
Technical realization of the Short Message Service (SMS);
Point-to-Point (PP)
(GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1)
ETSI
European Telecommunications Standards Institute
ETSI Secretariat
Postal address: F-06921 Sophia Antipolis CEDEX - FRANCE
Office address: 650 Route des Lucioles - Sophia Antipolis - Valbonne - FRANCE
X.400: c=fr, a=atlas, p=etsi, s=secretariat - Internet: [e-mail]
Tel.: [phone] - Fax: [phone]
Copyright Notification: No part may be reproduced except as authorized by written permission. The copyright and the
foregoing restriction extend to reproduction in all media.
© European Telecommunications Standards Institute 1997. All rights reserved.

Page 2
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
Whilst every care has been taken in the preparation and publication of this document, errors in content,
typographical or otherwise, may occur. If you have comments concerning its accuracy, please write to
"ETSI Editing and Committee Support Dept." at the address shown on the title page.

Page 3
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
Contents
Foreword .7
Introduction.7
1 Scope .9
2 Normative references.9
2.1 Definitions and abbreviations.11
2.1.1 Definitions.11
2.2.2 Abbreviations.13
3 Services and service elements .13
3.1 Basic services.13
3.2 Short Message Service elements .14
3.2.1 Validity-Period .15
3.2.2 Service-Centre-Time-Stamp .15
3.2.3 Protocol-Identifier .15
3.2.4 More-Messages-to-Send.15
3.2.5 Delivery of Priority and non-Priority Messages.15
3.2.6 Messages-Waiting.15
3.2.7 Alert-SC.17
3.2.8 Options concerning MNRF, MNRR, MCEF and MWD.18
3.2.9 Status report capabilities .19
3.2.10 Reply Path.19
3.3 Unsuccessful short message TPDU transfer SC -> MS.19
3.3.1 Errors occurring during transfer of TPDU to MS .19
3.3.2 Errors occurring after TPDU arrives at MS .19
3.4 Unsuccessful short message TPDU transfer MS -> SC.21
3.4.1 Errors occurring during transfer of TPDU to SC.21
3.4.2 Errors occurring after TPDU arrives at SC.21
3.5 Use of Supplementary Services in combination with the Short Message Service.21
3.6 Applicability of Operator Determined Barring to the Short Message Service .21
3.7 Multiple short message transfer.21
3.8 SMS and Internet Electronic Mail interworking .22
3.8.1 Basic Format .22
3.8.2 Optional Fields .22
3.8.2.1 Subject.23
3.8.2.2 Real Name.23
3.8.2.3 Optional Control Flag.23
3.8.3 Text concatenation.23
3.8.4 Alternative characters for Internet email addresses in MO SMS .23
3.9 SMS Compression.24
4 Network architecture .25
4.1 Basic network structure .25
4.2 Transfer on link 3.25
5 Service Centre and PLMN interconnection .26
5.1 Service centre connection.26
5.2 Routing requirements .26
5.2.1 Mobile terminated short message .26
5.2.2 Mobile originated short message .26
6 Service Centre functionality.27
6.1 Service Centre capabilities .27
6.2 SC functional requirements .27

Page 4
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
7 MS functionality. 28
7.1 MS capabilities . 28
7.2 MS configuration . 28
8 MSC functionality. 29
8.1 MSC functionality related to SM MT. 29
8.1.1 Functionality of the SMS-GMSC. 29
8.1.2 Functionality of the MSC. 30
8.2 MSC functionality related to SM MO . 30
8.2.1 Functionality of the MSC. 30
8.2.2 Functionality of the SMS-IWMSC . 31
8.3 SMS-IWMSC functionality related to alerting . 31
9 Protocols and protocol architecture . 32
9.1 Protocol element features . 32
9.1.1 Octet and Bit transmission order . 32
9.1.2 Numeric and alphanumeric representation. 32
9.1.2.1 Integer representation. 32
9.1.2.2 Octet representation . 33
9.1.2.3 Semi-octet representation. 33
9.1.2.4 Alphanumeric representation . 34
9.1.2.5 Address fields . 34
9.2 Service provided by the SM-TL . 36
9.2.1 General . 36
9.2.2 PDU Type repertoire at SM-TL . 36
9.2.2.1 SMS-DELIVER type . 37
9.2.2.1a SMS-DELIVER-REPORT type. 38
9.2.2.2 SMS-SUBMIT type. 40
9.2.2.2a SMS-SUBMIT-REPORT type. 41
9.2.2.3 SMS-STATUS-REPORT type. 44
9.2.2.4 SMS-COMMAND type . 46
9.2.3 Definition of the TPDU parameters. 47
9.2.3.1 TP-Message-Type-Indicator (TP-MTI). 47
9.2.3.2 TP-More-Messages-to-Send (TP-MMS). 47
9.2.3.3 TP-Validity-Period-Format (TP-VPF) . 48
9.2.3.4 TP-Status-Report-Indication (TP-SRI) . 48
9.2.3.5 TP-Status-Report-Request (TP-SRR) . 48
9.2.3.6 TP-Message-Reference (TP-MR). 48
9.2.3.7 TP-Originating-Address (TP-OA). 49
9.2.3.8 TP-Destination-Address (TP-DA). 49
9.2.3.9 TP-Protocol-Identifier (TP-PID). 49
9.2.3.10 TP-Data-Coding-Scheme (TP-DCS). 51
9.2.3.11 TP-Service-Centre-Time-Stamp (TP-SCTS) . 51
9.2.3.12 TP-Validity-Period . 51
9.2.3.13 TP-Discharge-Time (TP-DT). 52
9.2.3.14 TP-Recipient-Address (TP-RA). 52
9.2.3.15 TP-Status (TP-ST) . 52
9.2.3.16 TP-User-Data-Length (TP-UDL) . 53
9.2.3.17 TP-Reply-Path (TP-RP) . 54
9.2.3.18 TP-Message-Number (TP-MN). 54
9.2.3.19 TP-Command-Type (TP-CT) . 54
9.2.3.20 TP-Command-Data-Length (TP-CDL). 54
9.2.3.21 TP-Command-Data (TP-CD) . 55
9.2.3.22 TP-Failure-Cause (TP-FCS) . 55
9.2.3.23 TP-User-Data-Header-Indicator (TP-UDHI). 56
9.2.3.24 TP-User Data (TP-UD). 56
9.2.3.24.1 Concatenated Short Messages. 58
9.2.3.24.2 Special SMS Message Indication. 60
9.2.3.24.3 Application Port Addressing 8 bit
address . 61
9.2.3.24.4 Application Port Addressing 16 bit
address . 61
9.2.3.25 TP-Reject-Duplicates (TP-RD) . 62

Page 5
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
9.2.3.26 TP-Status-Report-Qualifier (TP-SRQ).62
9.2.3.27 TP-Parameter-Indicator (TP-PI) .62
9.3 Service provided by the SM-RL .63
9.3.1 General.63
9.3.2 Protocol element repertoire at SM-RL.63
9.3.2.1 RP-MO-DATA.64
9.3.2.2 RP-MT-DATA .64
9.3.2.3 RP-ACK .64
9.3.2.4 RP-ERROR.65
9.3.2.5 RP-ALERT-SC.65
9.3.2.6 RP-SM-MEMORY-AVAILABLE .65
10 Fundamental procedures within the point-to-point SMS .66
10.1 Short message mobile terminated.66
10.2 Short message mobile originated .77
10.3 Alert transfer .82
11 Mapping of error causes between RP layers .86
11.1 Mobile Terminated short message transfer.86
11.2 Memory available notification.86
11.3 Mobile Originated short message transfer.87
Annex A (informative): Protocol stacks for interconnecting SCs and MSCs.88
Annex B (informative): Information now contained in GSM 03.38 .89
Annex C (informative): Short message information flow.90
Annex D (informative): Mobile Station reply procedures .107
D.1 Introduction.107
D.2 The scope of applicability .107
D.3 Terminology.107
D.4 The reply path requesting procedure .107
D.5 The reception of an original MT SM .108
D.6 The submission of the reply MO SM .108
D.7 Usage of SCs for replying .108
D.8 Replying possibilities for Phase 1 mobile stations.109
D.9 The resulting service for originating SMEs.109
History.110

Page 6
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
Blank page
Page 7
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
Foreword
This European Telecommunication Standard (ETS) has been produced by the Special Mobile Group
(SMG) of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
This ETS describes the point-to-point Short Message Service (SMS) of the digital cellular
telecommunications system (Phase 2/Phase 2+).
The contents of this ETS is subject to continuing work within SMG and may change following formal SMG
approval. Should SMG modify the contents of this ETS it will then be resubmitted for OAP by ETSI with an
identifying change of release date and an increase in version number as follows:
Version 5.x.y
where:
y the third digit is incremented when editorial only changes have been incorporated in the
specification;
x the second digit is incremented for all other types of changes, i.e. technical enhancements,
corrections, updates, etc.
Introduction
The Point-to-Point Short Message Service (SMS) provides a means of sending messages of limited size
to and from GSM mobiles. The provision of SMS makes use of a Service Centre, which acts as a store
and forward centre for short messages. Thus a GSM PLMN needs to support the transfer of short
messages between Service Centres and mobiles.
Two different point-to-point services have been defined: mobile originated and mobile terminated. Mobile
originated messages will be transported from an MS to a Service Centre. These may be destined for other
mobile users, or for subscribers on a fixed network. Mobile terminated messages will be transported from
a Service Centre to an MS. These may be input to the Service Centre by other mobile users (via a mobile
originated short message) or by a variety of other sources, e.g. speech, telex, or facsimile.
Transposition dates
Date of adoption: 5 September 1997
Date of latest announcement of this ETS (doa): 31 December 1997
Date of latest publication of new National Standard
or endorsement of this ETS (dop/e): 30 June 1998
Date of withdrawal of any conflicting National Standard (dow): 30 June 1998

Page 8
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
Blank page
Page 9
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
1 Scope
This European Telecommunication Standard (ETS) describes the point-to-point Short Message Service
(SMS) of the GSM PLMN system. It defines:
- the services and service elements;
- the network architecture;
- the Service Centre functionality;
- the MSC functionality (with regard to the SMS);
- the routing requirements;
- the protocols and protocol layering;
for the Teleservices 21 and 22, as specified in the GSM 02.03 (ETS 300 905).
The use of radio resources for the transfer of short messages between the MS and the MSC is described
in GSM 04.11 (ETS 300 942) "Point-to-Point Short Message Service Support on Mobile Radio Interface",
and is dealt with in that specification.
The network aspects of Short Message Service provision are outside the scope of this specification (i.e.
the provision of network connectivity between the PLMN subsystems). There is no technical restriction
within this specification for the transfer of short messages between different PLMN's. Any such restriction
is likely to be subject to commercial arrangements and PLMN operators must make their own provision for
interworking or for preventing interworking with other PLMN’s as they see fit.
The required and assumed network service offered to the higher layers is defined in this specification.
The Cell Broadcast Short Message Service (Teleservice 23) is a separate service, and is described in
GSM 03.41 (ETS 300 902) "Technical Realization of the Short Message Service - Cell Broadcast".
2 Normative references
This ETS incorporates by dated and undated references, provisions from other publications. These
normative references are cited at the appropriate places in the text and the publications are listed
hereafter. For dated references, subsequent amendments to or revisions of any of these publications
apply to this ETS only when incorporated in it by amendment or revision. For undated references, the
latest edition of the publication referred to applies.
[1] GSM 01.04 (ETR 350): "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+);
Abbreviations and acronyms".
[2] GSM 02.03 (ETS 300 905): "Digital cellular telecommunications system
(Phase 2+); Teleservices supported by a GSM Public Land Mobile Network
(PLMN)".
[3] GSM 02.04 (ETS 300 918): "Digital cellular telecommunications system
(Phase 2+); General on supplementary services".
[4] GSM 02.41: "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Operator
determined barring".
[5] GSM 03.02: "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Network
architecture".
[6] GSM 03.08: "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+);
Organization of subscriber data".
[7] GSM 03.11 (ETS 300 928): "Digital cellular telecommunications system;
Technical realization of supplementary services".
[8] GSM 03.15: "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Technical
realization of operator determined barring".

Page 10
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
[9] GSM 03.38 (ETS 300 900): "Digital cellular telecommunications system
(Phase 2+); Alphabets and language-specific information".
[10] GSM 03.41 (ETS 300 902): "Digital cellular telecommunications system
(Phase 2+); Technical realization of Short Message Service Cell Broadcast
(SMSCB)".
[11] GSM 03.47 (ETR 354): "Digital cellular telecommunications system; Example
protocol stacks for interconnecting Service Centre(s) (SC) and Mobile-services
Switching Centre(s) (MSC)".
[12] GSM 04.08 (ETS 300 557): "Digital cellular telecommunications system
(Phase 2); Mobile radio interface layer 3 specification".
[13] GSM 04.11 (ETS 300 942): "Digital cellular telecommunications system
(Phase 2+); Point-to-Point (PP) Short Message Service (SMS) support on
mobile radio interface".
[14] GSM 07.05: "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Use of
Data Terminal Equipment - Data Circuit terminating Equipment (DTE - DCE)
interface for Short Message Service (SMS) and Cell Broadcast Service (CBS)".
[15] GSM 09.02 (ETS 300 974): "Digital cellular telecommunications system
(Phase 2+); Mobile Application Part (MAP) specification".
[16] GSM 11.11 (ETS 300 977): "Digital cellular telecommunications system
(Phase 2+); Specification of the Subscriber Identity Module - Mobile Equipment
(SIM - ME) interface".
[17] CCITT Recommendation E.164 (Blue Book): "Numbering plan for the
ISDN era".
[18] CCITT Recommendation E.163 (Blue Book): "Numbering plan for the
international telephone service".
[19] CCITT Recommendation Q.771: "Functional description of transaction
capabilities".
[20] CCITT Recommendation T.100 (Blue Book): "International information
exchange for interactive videotex".
[21] CCITT Recommendation T.101 (Blue Book): "International interworking for
videotex services".
[22] CCITT Recommendation X.121 (Blue Book): "International numbering plan for
public data networks".
[23] CCITT Recommendation X.400 (Blue Book): "Message handling system and
service overview".
[24] ISO/IEC10646: "Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (USC); UCS2,
16 bit coding".
[25] GSM 02.22: "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+);
Personalization of GSM Mobile Equipment (ME); Mobile functionality
specification".
[26] GSM 03.42 (TS 101 032): "Digital cellular telecommunications system
(Phase 2+); Compression Algorithm for Text Messaging Services".

Page 11
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
2.1 Definitions and abbreviations
NOTE: Use of hyphens and full stops:
Care is needed when reading this specification as names containing words separated
by hyphens have different meaning than when separated with full stops. E.g.
TS-Status-Report-Request is a parameter within a TS-Submit primitive, whilst
TS-Status-Report. Request is a primitive in its own right.
2.1.1 Definitions
active MS: A switched-on Mobile Station with a SIM module attached.
alert-SC: Service element provided by a GSM PLMN to inform an SC which has previously initiated
unsuccessful short message delivery attempt(s) to a specific MS, that the MS is now recognized by the
PLMN to have recovered operation.
Gateway MSC For Short Message Service (SMS-GMSC): A function of an MSC capable of receiving a
short message from an SC, interrogating an HLR for routing information and SMS info, and delivering the
short message to the VMSC of the recipient MS.
Interworking MSC For Short Message Service (SMS-IWMSC): A function of an MSC capable of
receiving a short message from within the PLMN and submitting it to the recipient SC.
Messages-Waiting (MW): Service element that makes a PLMN store information
(Messages-Waiting-Indication), listing those SCs that have made unsuccessful short message delivery
attempts to MSs in that PLMN.
Messages-Waiting-Data (MWD): A part of the MWI to be stored in the HLR. MWD consists of an
address list of the SCs which have messages waiting to be delivered to the MS.
Messages-Waiting-Indication (MWI): Data to be stored in the HLR and VLR with which an MS is
associated, indicating that there is one or more messages waiting in a set of SCs to be delivered to the
MS (due to unsuccessful delivery attempt(s)).
Mobile-Station-Memory-Capacity-Exceeded-Flag (MCEF): A part of the MWI to be stored in the HLR.
MCEF is a Boolean parameter indicating if the address list of MWD contains one or more entries because
an attempt to deliver a short message to an MS has failed with a cause of MS Memory Capacity
Exceeded.
Mobile-Station-Not-Reachable-Flag (MNRF): The part of the MWI to be stored in the VLR and the HLR.
MNRF is a Boolean parameter indicating if the address list of MWD contains one or more entries because
an attempt to deliver a short message to an MS has failed with a cause of Absent Subscriber.
Mobile-Station-Not-Reachable-Reason (MNRR): The part of the MWI in the HLR which stores the
reason for an MS being absent when an attempt to deliver a short message to an MS fails at the MSC with
a cause of Absent Subscriber.
More-Messages-To-Send (MMS): Information element offering an MS receiving a short message from
an SC the information whether there are still more messages waiting to be sent from that SC to the MS.
The TP-MMS element (conveyed in the Transfer layer) is copied into the RP-MMS element (conveyed in
the Relay layer). It is possible with Phase 2 and later versions of MAP (GSM 09.02) for the RP-MMS
element to keep an SM transaction open between the GMSC and the MS in the case where there are
more-messages-to-send. Earlier versions of MAP will support the transport of the TP-MMS element.
priority: Service element enabling the SC or SME to request a short message delivery attempt to an MS
irrespective of whether or not the MS has been identified as temporarily absent.
protocol-identifier: Information element by which the originator of a short message (either an SC or an
MS) may refer to a higher layer protocol.

Page 12
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
reply path procedure: A mechanism which allows an SME to request that an SC should be permitted to
handle a reply sent in response to a message previously sent from that SME to another SME. This may
happen even though the SC may be unknown to the SME which received the initial message.
report: Response from either the network or the recipient upon a short message being sent from either an
SC or an MS. A report may be a delivery report, which confirms the delivery of the short message to the
recipient, or it may be a failure report, which informs the originator that the short message was never
delivered and the reason why.
When issued by the Service Centre, the delivery report confirms the reception of the Short Message
by the SC, and not the delivery of the Short Message to the SME.
When issued by the Mobile Station, the delivery report confirms the reception of the Short Message
by the Mobile Station, and not the delivery of the Short Message to the user.
replace short message type: A range of values in the Protocol Identifier which allows an indication to be
sent with a short message (MT or MO) that the short message is of a particular type allowing the receiving
MS or the SC to replace an existing message of the same type held in the SC, the ME or on the SIM,
provided it comes:
- in MT cases: from the same SC and originating address;
- in MO cases: from the same MS.
Service Centre (SC): Function responsible for the relaying and store-and-forwarding of a short message
between an SME and an MS. The SC is not a part of the GSM PLMN, however MSC and SC may be
integrated.
Service-Centre-Time-Stamp (SCTS): Information element offering the recipient of a short message the
information of when the message arrived at the SM-TL entity of the SC. The time of arrival comprises the
year, month, day, hour, minute, second and time zone.
short message: Information that may be conveyed by means of the Short Message Service described in
this specification.
Short Message Entity (SME): An entity which may send or receive Short Messages. The SME may be
located in a fixed network, an MS, or an SC.
SMS-COMMAND: Short message transfer protocol data unit which enables an MS to invoke an operation
at the SC. An MS may then, for example, delete a short message, cancel a Status Report Request,
enquire about the status of a short message or request another function to be performed by the SC.
The type of operation is indicated by the TP-Command-Type and the particular SM to operate on is
indicated by the TP-Message-Number and the TP-Destination-Address. Receipt of an SMS-COMMAND is
confirmed by an RP-ACK or RP-ERROR. In the case of certain SMS-COMMANDs, an
SMS-STATUS-REPORT may be sent, where the outcome of the SMS-COMMAND is passed in its
TP-Status field.
SMS-DELIVER: Short message transfer protocol data unit containing user data (the short message),
being sent from an SC to an MS.
SMS-STATUS-REPORT: Short message transfer protocol data unit informing the receiving MS of the
status of a mobile originated short message previously submitted by the MS, i.e. whether the SC was able
to forward the message or not, or whether the message was stored in the SC for later delivery.
SMS-SUBMIT: Short message transfer protocol data unit containing user data (the short message), being
sent from an MS to an SC.
status report: SC informing the originating MS of the outcome of a short message submitted to an SME.
Validity-Period (VP): Information element enabling the originator MS to indicate the time period during
which the originator considers the short message to be valid.

Page 13
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
2.2.2 Abbreviations
For the purposes of this ETS, the following abbreviations apply:
E.163 CCITT Recommendation E.163 (Blue Book)
E.164 CCITT Recommendation E.164 (Blue Book)
ACSE Association Control Service Element
SM MT Short Message Mobile Terminated Point-to-Point
SM MO Short Message Mobile Originated Point-to-Point
SM-AL Short Message Application Layer
SM-TL Short Message Transfer Layer
SM-RL Short Message Relay Layer
SM-LL Short Message Lower Layers
SM-TP Short Message Transfer Layer Protocol
SM-RP Short Message Relay Layer Protocol
SM-TS Short Message Transfer Service
SM-RS Short Message Relay Service
T.100 CCITT Recommendation T.100 (Blue Book)
T.101 CCITT Recommendation T.101 (Blue Book)
TPDU Transfer protocol data unit
X.121 CCITT Recommendation X.121 (Blue Book)
X.400 CCITT Recommendation X.400 (Blue Book)
In addition to those above, definitions used in this ETS are listed in GSM 01.04.
3 Services and service elements
The SMS provides a means to transfer short messages between a GSM MS and an SME via an SC. The
SC serves as an interworking and relaying function of the message transfer between the MS and the
SME.
This specification describes only the short message point-to-point services between the MS and SC. It
may, however, refer to possible higher layer applications.
3.1 Basic services
The short message point-to-point services comprise two basic services:
SM MT (Short Message Mobile Terminated Point-to-Point);
SM MO (Short Message Mobile Originated Point-to-Point).
SM MT denotes the capability of the GSM system to transfer a short message submitted from the SC to
one MS, and to provide information about the delivery of the short message either by a delivery report or a
failure report with a specific mechanism for later delivery; see figure 03.40/1.
SM MO denotes the capability of the GSM system to transfer a short message submitted by the MS to one
SME via an SC, and to provide information about the delivery of the short message either by a delivery
report or a failure report. The message must include the address of that SME to which the SC shall
eventually attempt to relay the short message; see figure 03.40/2.
The text messages to be transferred by means of the SM MT or SM MO contain up to 140 octets.

Page 14
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
Short message delivery
>
SC
MS
<
Report
Figure 03.40/1: The Short Message Service mobile terminated, point-to-point
Short message submission
<
SC
MS
>
Report
Figure 03.40/2: The Short Message Service mobile originated, point-to-point
An active MS shall be able to receive a short message TPDU (SMS-DELIVER) at any time, independently
of whether or not there is a speech or data call in progress. A report will always be returned to the SC;
either confirming that the MS has received the short message, or informing the SC that it was impossible
to deliver the short message TPDU to the MS, including the reason why.
An active MS shall be able to submit a short message TPDU (SMS-SUBMIT) at any time, independently
of whether or not there is a speech or data call in progress. A report will always be returned to the MS;
either confirming that the SC has received the short message TPDU, or informing the MS that it was
impossible to deliver the short message TPDU to the SC, including the reason why.
NOTE: When the transmission or reception of a short message coincide with a change of
state in the MS, i.e. from busy to idle or from idle to busy, or during a handover, the
short message transfer might be aborted.
It is also possible for two short messages to be received in sequence having the same
originating address and identification, i.e. message reference number (MO) or SC
Timestamp (MT). Such a situation may be due to errors at the RP or CP layers (e.g.
during inter MSC handover) where it may be a duplicated message or otherwise it may
be a valid new message.
The receiving entity should therefore make provision to check other parameters
contained in the short message to decide whether the second short message is to be
discarded.
3.2 Short Message Service elements
The SMS comprises 7 elements particular to the submission and reception of messages:
Validity-Period;
Service-Centre-Time-Stamp;
Protocol-Identifier;
More-Messages-to-Send;
Priority;
Messages-Waiting;
Alert-SC.
Page 15
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
3.2.1 Validity-Period
The Validity-Period is the information element which gives an MS submitting an SMS-SUBMIT to the SC
the possibility to include a specific time period value in the short message (TP-Validity-Period field, see
clause 9). The TP-Validity-Period parameter value indicates the time period for which the short message
is valid, i.e. for how long the SC shall guarantee its existence in the SC memory before delivery to the
recipient has been carried out.
3.2.2 Service-Centre-Time-Stamp
The Service-Centre-Time-Stamp is the information element by which the SC informs the recipient MS
about the time of arrival of the short message at the SM-TL entity of the SC. The time value is included in
every SMS-DELIVER (TP-Service-Centre-Time-Stamp field, see clause 9) being delivered to the MS.
3.2.3 Protocol-Identifier
The Protocol-Identifier is the information element by which the SM-TL either refers to the higher layer
protocol being used, or indicates interworking with a certain type of telematic device.
The Protocol-Identifier information element makes use of a particular field in the message types
SMS-SUBMIT, SMS-DELIVER and SMS-COMMAND TP-Protocol-Identifier (TP-PID).
3.2.4 More-Messages-to-Send
The More-Messages-to-Send is the information element by which the SC informs the MS that there is one
or more messages waiting in that SC to be delivered to the MS. The More-Messages-to-Send information
element makes use of a Boolean parameter in the message SMS-DELIVER, TP-More-Messages-to-Send
(TP-MMS).
3.2.5 Delivery of Priority and non-Priority Messages
Priority is the information element provided by an SC or SME to indicate to the PLMN whether or not a
message is a priority message.
Delivery of a non-priority message will not be attempted if the MS has been identified as temporarily
absent (see subclause 3.2.6).
Delivery of a non-priority message will be attempted if the MS has not been identified as temporarily
absent irrespective of whether the MS has been identified as having no free memory capacity (see
subclause 3.2.6).
Delivery of a priority message will be attempted irrespective of whether or not the MS has been identified
as temporarily absent, or having no free memory capacity.
3.2.6 Messages-Waiting
The Messages-Waiting is the service element that enables the PLMN to provide the HLR and VLR with
which the recipient MS is associated with the information that there is a message in the originating SC
waiting to be delivered to the MS. The service element is only used in case of previous unsuccessful
delivery attempt(s) due to temporarily absent mobile or MS memory capacity exceeded. This information,
denoted the Messages-Waiting-Indication (MWI), consists of Messages-Waiting-Data (MWD), the
Mobile-Station-Not-Reachable-Flag (MNRF), the Mobile-Not-Reachable-Reason (MNRR) and the
Mobile-Station-Memory-Capacity-Exceeded-Flag (MCEF) located in the HLR, and the
Mobile-Station-Not-Reachable-Flag (MNRF) located in the VLR. Figure 03.40/3 shows an example.

Page 16
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
HLR;
MW D:
...
SC address
SC address SC address
M SIsdn-Alert
1 n
...
MNRF
M CEF
VLR;
MNRF
Figure 03.40/3: Example of how information on one MS can be put in relation to SC(s)
in order to fulfil the requirement of Alert-SC mechanism
The MWD shall contain a list of addresses (SC-Addr) of SCs which have made previous unsuccessful
delivery attempts of a message (see clause 5). In order to be able to send alert messages to every SC
which has made unsuccessful delivery attempts to an MS, the HLR shall store the MSIsdn-Alert (see
subclause 3.2.7) together with references to the SC addresses. The requirements placed upon the HLR
are specified in GSM 03.08. The description of how the HLR is provided with SC and MS address
information is given in GSM 09.02.
The Mobile-Station-Memory-Capacity-Exceeded-Flag (MCEF) within the HLR is a Boolean parameter with
the value TRUE when the list MWD contains one or more list elements because an attempt to deliver a
short message to an MS has failed with a cause of MS Memory Capacity Exceeded, and with the value
FALSE otherwise.
The Mobile-Station-Not-Reachable-Flag (MNRF) within the HLR and the VLR is a Boolean parameter with
the value TRUE when the list MWD contains one or more list elements because an attempt to deliver a
short message to an MS has failed with a cause of Absent Subscriber, and with the value FALSE
otherwise.
The Mobile-Station-Not-Reachable-Reason (MNRR) within the HLR stores the reason for the MS being
absent when an attempt to deliver a short message to an MS fails at the MSC with the cause Absent
Subscriber. The HLR updates the MNRR with the reason for absence when an absent subscriber
diagnostic information is received from the GMSC and the MNRF is set. The HLR clears the MNRR when
the MNRF is cleared. If the MNRF is set due to a failure at the MSC with cause Absent Subscriber and
information pertaining to the absence of the MS is not available from the GMSC, the MNRR will remain in
a cleared state. The MNRR shall either be in a cleared state or contain one of the following reasons:
No Paging Response;
IMSI Detached.
NOTE: When a short message delivery attempt fails at the HLR due to Roaming being
Restricted, the MS being Deregistered in HLR or the MS being Purged the absent
subscriber diagnostic reason is returned to the SC, however the reason is not stored in
the MNRR.
The MWD, MCEF, MNRR and MNRF are updated in the following way:
1a) When a mobile terminated short message delivery fails due to the MS being temporarily absent (i.e.
either IMSI DETACH flag is set or there is no response from the MS to a paging request), the SC
address is inserted into the MWD list (if it is not already present), the MNRF is set (if it is not already
set) and the MNRR is updated (if the information is available), as described in clause 10.

Page 17
ETS 300 901 (GSM 03.40 version 5.5.1): September 1997
1b) When a mobile terminated short message delivery fails due to the MS memory capacity being
exceeded, the SC address is inserted into the MWD list (if it is not already present) and the MCEF
is set (if it is not already set), as described in clause 10.
1c) If the MSIsdn used by the SC to address the recipient MS for alerting purposes is different from the
MSIsdn-Alert of the MS (see subclause 3.2.7), the HLR returns the MSIsdn-Alert to the SC within
the failure report, see "1c F
...