Master Thesis - Past Projects - Abstract

SIP-based Support for a Multimedia Mail Platform

ID: LiTH-IDA-Ex-02/106

Today there are many platforms for voice messaging. When a person is unavailable, the caller can leave him or her a message. In a near future videophones will be more commonly used, and the messaging platforms will then require support for video messages. SIP is a text-based protocol for initiating and controlling multimedia ses-sions. The protocol also offers many other functions such as presence and instant messaging. The fact that third generation mobile networks will use SIP for signalling will result in many devices with support for the protocol. With the SIP protocol, a multimedia mail platform with support for all kinds of messages can be created. The development of a multimedia mail platform generates a lot of ques-tions. This report analyses these questions and suggests solutions. The chosen solutions have been used in a design for a future multimedia mail platform composed of a SIP-based unit for signalling and an RTP/RTSP-based unit for media communication. A prototype of the multimedia mail platform has been developed to evaluate the design and to show the possibilities with a SIP-based multimedia mail platform. Although the prototype is not optimised, it performs surprisingly well with a better picture quality and less space for message storage than expected.

Keywords: SIP, multimedia, UM, presence, IP telephony, VoI

Author(s): Johanna Gustafsson, Daniel Hellström

Contact: Jörgen Hansson