Logging SMS Messages

Last updated: January 15, 2009

This section is only applicable to the lab applications.

You can use the Wireless Protocol Advisor (WPA) to log SMS messages.

SMS Logging Control

The test set gives you access to the protocol layers necessary to allow you to observe the SMS cell broadcast and point-to-point messages. You can capture all the messages exchanged between either the GMM or MM and these protocol layers:

CM - Connection Management
SMRL - Short Message Relay Layer
SMTL - Short Message Transport Layer

SMS Message Support

The messages in the following tables are examples of messages related to SMS. The table indicates whether each is supported in the test set. There may be more messages supported by the test set or by the Wireless Protocol Advisor. In addition, certain parameters in these messages may not be supported.

SMS Point-to-Point Messages
Messages	Supported
SMS_CP_DATA	Yes
SMS_CP_ERROR	Yes
SMS_CP_ACK	Yes
SMS_RL_MS2N_DATA	Yes
SMS_RL_N2MS_DATA	Yes
SMS_RL_MS2N_ERROR	Yes
SMS_RL_N2MS_ERROR	Yes
SMS_RL_MS2N_ACK	Yes
SMS_RL_N2MS_ACK	Yes
SMS_RL_MS2N_SMMA	Yes
SMS_TP_DELIVER	Yes
SMS_TP_SUBMIT_RPT	Yes
SMS_TP_STATUS_RPT	Yes
SMS_TP_DELIVER_RPT	Yes
SMS_TP_SUBMIT	Yes
SMS_TP_COMMAND	No

User Configurable SMS Message Parameters
Mobile-Terminated SMS Parameters on Test Set	Parameters in 3GPP TS 23.040	Message Types
Content	TP-User Data (TP-UD) - 9.2.3.24	Deliver, Submit Report, Status Report
Message Type	TP-Message Type Indicator (TP-MTI) - 9.2.3.1	Deliver, Submit Report, Status Report
Data Coding Scheme	TP-Data Coding Scheme (TP-DCS) - 9.2.3.10 (Defined in 3GPP TS 23.038)	Deliver, Submit Report, Status Report
Failure Cause	TP-Failure Cause (TP-FCS) - 9.2.3.22	Submit Report if RP type is set to RP-ERR
Message Reference	TP-Message Reference (TP-MR) - 9.2.3.6	Status Report
More Messages to Send	TP-More Messages to Send (TP-MMS) - 9.2.3.2	Deliver, Status Report
Parameter Indicator	TP-Parameter Indicator (TP-PI) - 9.2.3.27	Submit Report, Status Report
Protocol Identifier	TP-Protocol Identifier (TP-PID) - 9.2.3.9	Deliver, Submit Report
Reply Path	TP-Reply Path (TP-RP) - 9.2.3.17	Deliver
Status	TP-Status (TP-ST) - 9.2.3.15	Status Report
Status Report Indication	TP-Status Report Indication (TP-SRI) - 9.2.3.4	Deliver
User Data Header Indicator	TP-User Data Header Indication (TP-UDHI) - 9.2.3.23	Deliver, Submit Report, Status Report
Originating Address	TP-Originating Address (TP-OA) - 9.2.3.7	Deliver
Recipient Address	TP-Recipient Address (TP-RA) - 9.2.3.14	Status Report

Mobile Originated Parameters
Mobile-Originated SMS Parameters available for query from the test set	Parameters in 3GPP TS 23.040
Coding Scheme	TP-Data Coding Scheme (TP-DCS) - 9.2.3.10 (Defined in 3GPP TS 23.038)
User Data Length	TP-User Data Length (TP-UDL) - 9.2.3.24
Destination	TP- Destination Address (TP-DA) - 9.2.3.8
Content	TP-User Data (TP-UD) - 9.2.3.24
Reference No.	TP-Message Reference (TP-MR) - 9.2.3.6
UDHI	TP-User Data Header Indication (TP-UDHI) - 9.2.3.23
Protocol Identifier	TP-Protocol Identifier (TP-PID) - 9.2.3.9
Status	TP-Status Report Request (TP-SRR) - 9.2.3.5

Setting Up the Wireless Protocol Advisor (WPA)

You can use the Wireless Protocol Advisor (WPA) to log the messages exchanged between the test set and the mobile station during SMS procedures. This tool provides a means to evaluate the mobile station's performance and to troubleshoot problems.

You can set up the WPA to capture and display as much or little information as you want. For this example, the logging filter is defined to capture only SMS protocol messages. The view filter is configured to only display the CP-Data messages. This allows you to view only the messages that contain the SMS message contents being exchanged between the mobile station and the test set.

Test Set Message Filter Setup

The test set filter is useful for limiting the amount of data sent over the LAN connecting the test set and the WPA. In the example below, all messages are sent from the test set to the WPA.

All filters are accessed from the Measurement Setup view. This can be accessed from the menu bar by clicking:

WPA Logging Filter Setup

The logging filter is useful for limiting what messages get captured in your log. Using this filter, you can choose to only log certain types of messages from certain protocol layers. In this example, we are using the logging filter to limit the captured log to SMS protocol messages.

WPA View Filter Setup

The view filter has no effect on what messages are captured. It simply limits the messages that are visible on the WPA's traffic overview. The view filter can easily be enabled and disabled by right clicking your mouse in the traffic overview and selecting View Filter Enabled from the menu that appears.

In the following view filter example, the messages in the traffic overview are limited to the CP-Data messages.

SMS Message Log

For the step-by-step procedure for setting up the test set to capture this log, refer to Mobile Originated Point-to-Point Message Transfer .

The captured log allows you to determine exactly what is being exchanged between the test set and the mobile station. In this example, an SMS message was sent from the test set to the mobile station. You can look in the decode of the captured message to verify all the parameters associated with that message. The following data is only a portion of the decode belonging to the captured message. In this data, you can see the text message that was sent to the mobile station.

Cell Broadcast Message Log

Keysight's Wireless Protocol Advisor (WPA) allows you to capture the cell broadcast messages sent from the test set to the mobile station, and can be used to troubleshoot the handling of received messages. The figure below is a protocol log captured from WPA when the Cell Broadcast Service has been started and the repetition period is set to 15 seconds. The test set sends the message in segments governed by the size of the RLC block. The message decode of the selected portion of a message (dark blue) is shown in the bottom portion of the figure. The message decode shows several parameters, including the number of pages, message ID, geographical scope, and the content of the message, which is a three page text message. The following data is only shows a portion of the decode belonging to the captured message. These portions show the 3-page text message divided into pages. Piecing these pages together combines to make the following message:

This instrument provides functional testing of cell broadcast SMS by sending up to three broadcast messages to the device under test. Two fixed text messages and user defined text or binary/UCS2 messages are available for selection. The second fixed message spans multiple pages.