WO2014182299A1

WO2014182299A1 - Multimedia messaging service (mms) file size adjustment based on network condition

Info

Publication number: WO2014182299A1
Application number: PCT/US2013/040207
Authority: WO
Inventors: Janne Kyllonen; Kirsi Maansaari
Original assignee: Nokia Corporation; Nokia, Inc.
Priority date: 2013-05-08
Filing date: 2013-05-08
Publication date: 2014-11-13

Abstract

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for adjusting payloads on multimedia messaging service messages based on network conditions. In one aspect there is provided a method. The method may include receiving an indication representative of a network condition; adjusting, based on at least the received indication representative of the network condition, a file size of a payload; and sending a multimedia messaging service message carrying the adjusted file size payload. Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described.

Description

MULTIMEDIA MESSAGING SERVICE (MMS) FILE SIZE ADJUSTMENT BASED ON

NETWORK CONDITION

FIELD

[001] The subject matter described herein relates to wireless communications including MMS messaging.

BACKGROUND

[002] Messages may be formatted as a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages. Like short message service (SMS) messages carrying text, MMS messages may be used to carry multimedia data/files between wireless devices, such as smartphones and the like. In MMS, a client application is provided at a device to allow the device to send and receive MMS messages. The MMS client application sends and receives messages via an MMS gateway. The MMS gateway switches MMS messages to other devices having MMS clients and acts as an interface to other networks including the Internet. Additional aspects of MMS have been specified by in standards, such as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Functional description, Stage 2, (Release 6), 3GPP TS 23.140 V6.16.0 (2009-03), (herein after 3GPP TS 23.140).

SUMMARY

[003] Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for adjusting payloads on multimedia messaging service messages based on network conditions.

[004] In some example, embodiments, there may be provided a method. The method may include receiving an indication representative of a network condition; adjusting, based on at least the received indication representative of the network condition, a file size of a payload; and sending a multimedia messaging service message carrying the adjusted file size payload.

[005] In some variations of some of the embodiments disclosed herein, one or more of the features disclosed herein including following may be included. The network condition may represent a condition of a radio access network carrying one or more multimedia messaging service messages. The network condition may represent the condition of an internet protocol network carrying the one or more multimedia messaging service messages. The indication may represent the network, condition at a gateway handling the one or more multimedia messaging service messages. The indication may represent a timeout indication received from the gateway. The sending may further include sending to the gateway the multimedia messaging service message carrying the adjusted file size payload. The gateway may include a multimedia messaging service gateway. The one or more multimedia messaging service messages may include the multimedia messaging service message carrying the adjusted file size payload.

[006] The above-noted aspects and features may be implemented in systems, apparatus, methods, and/or articles depending on the desired configuration. The details of one or more variations of the subject matter described herein are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Features and advantages of the subject matter described herein will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[007] In the drawings, [008] FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a system in which file size adjustment based on network condition may be performed, in accordance with some example embodiments;

[009] FIGs. 2-3 depict examples of processes for adjusting file size based on network condition, in accordance with some example embodiments;

[010] FIG. 4 depicts an example of a system, in accordance with some example embodiments; and

[011] FIG. 5 depicts an example of user equipment, in accordance with some example embodiments.

[012] Like labels are used to refer to same or similar items in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[013] Because network conditions are not known, multimedia message service

(MMS) messages are often sent repeatedly and/or using a lower quality than would typically desired by an end-user. However, if MMS messages are sent using too high a quality (which may result in a large file size), overall network capacity may be impacted, causing slow transmission of the MMS message. Furthermore, different networks, regions, and network operators may have varying constraints with respect to capacity, file size, and the like.

[014] In some example embodiments, the subject matter disclosed herein relates to using network condition information to adjust the file size of an MMS message. For example, a user equipment, such as a cellular phone, a smart phone, and the like, may send one or more MMS messages via an MMS gateway in the network. The user equipment may then monitor aspects of the network including the

MMS gateway and determine whether network conditions warrant reducing the MMS message file size. If a reduction is decided at the user equipment, the user equipment may then change, based on network conditions, the encoding of the MMS message. For example, the user equipment may encode the media content, such as video, image, audio, or a combination thereof, using a lower quality encoding scheme (for example, using a lower resolution encoder and/or de-samp!ing the MMS message) to reduce the file size. However, if a reduction is not warranted, the user equipment may maintain the MMS message file size or increase the MMS message file size using a higher quality encoding scheme, resulting in larger MMS file sizes.

[015] FIG. 1 depicts a system 100 including a user equipment 114 and a network 150, in accordance with some example embodiments. The user equipment 114 may further include sources of content encoded by, for example, a video codec 122, and an image codec 124, and/or an audio codec 124. For example, a picture taken at user equipment 1 14 may be coded using image codec 124, an audio file may be encoded by audio codec 124, and a video may be encoded by video codec 122.

[016] Once encoded, the encoded content is provided as a file to MMS application 132. The MMS application 132 may format the encoded content into a format suitable for MMS messaging. Next, the MMS messages output by MMS application 132 may be processed by a modem 136, which generates a wireless carrier for the MMS messages. A radio access network 150 including a base station and other nodes including an MMS gateway 152 may then handle the MMS message, at which point the MMS message is forwarded by MMS gateway 152 to a destination (for example, a destination may be notified of the MMS message and get the MMS message stored at a server).

[017] In some example embodiments, the user equipment 114 may monitor network conditions by, for example, monitoring the speed or rate at which MMS messages are being handled by MMS gateway 152. For example, user equipment 114 may monitor whether MMS messages 152 are being transmitted at a rate less than a threshold, such as a predetermined threshold. If the MMS messages 152 are being transmitted at a rate less than the threshold, user equipment 114 may then determine that network conditions dictate a smaller MMS message size, in which case MMS application 132 may instruct one of the codecs to adapt coding to provide smaller sized file for MMS messages. For example, if the MMS gateway 152 is sending large MMS messages at a rate of 5 MMS messages per second and the threshold is 8 MMS messages per second, the user equipment may adapt the file size of the MMS messages by reconfiguring the encoding to provide MMS messages that are smaller to facilitate increased transmission rate (for example, a reduction in file size by a half may result in this example in 10 MMS messages per second being sent by the MMS gateway 152, which in this example exceeds the threshold).

[018] In some example embodiments, the network conditions may represent a condition of the network including the radio access network carrying the MMS messages sent or received by the user equipment. For example, the network conditions may include congestion, available data rates, and the like between the user equipment and a wireless access point or base station. In some example embodiments, the network conditions may represent a condition of the Internet Protocol (IP) carrying the MMS messages sent or received by the user equipment. For example, the network conditions may include congestion, available data rates, and the like, of an IP network carrying the MMS messages.

[019] In some example embodiments, network condition information may be determined iteratively. For example, MMS application 132 may send a larger, first size

MMS message to MMS gateway 152 and then monitor the gateway connection at the

MMS gateway to see if the sending by the MMS gateway 152 is below a given threshold, in which case the MMS gateway 152 may be sending the MMS messages too slowly due to network conditions. For example, when a user equipment sends a MMS message over a connection, such as a hyper text transfer protocol connection, and the MMS transmission rate is relatively slow (due to for example network conditions), the MMS gateway may release the connection and send a timeout message to the user equipment.

[020] If the network conditions determined from monitoring of MMS gateway 152 indicate that MMS messages are being sent too slowly, then MMS application 132 may then re-configure the encoding performed by the codec(s) to create smaller files to be carried by MMS messages. The smaller files/messages may result in an increase in the rate at which the individual messages are sent. For example, if the MMS gateway 152 is sending large MMS messages having a file size of 1 Kilobyte, the codec 122, 124, and/or 126 may adapt and then output MMS messages having a file size of ½ Kilobyte, which would likely increase the message transmission rate at the MMS gateway 52.

[021] In some example embodiments, MMS application 132 may continue to monitor the MMS gateway 152 with the re-configured MMS message size, and if the sending by MMS gateway 152 continues to proceed too slowly due to network conditions (for example, MMS messages per unit time interval is below a given threshold), then MMS application 132 may again re-configure the encoding performed by the codec(s) to create even smaller files, which may result in the rate at which the individual messages are sent to increase. This process may repeat until the MMS gateway sends MMS messages to the network at, or above, the threshold rate.

[022] FIG. 2 depicts an example process 200 for adjusting MMS message file size based on network conditions, in accordance with some example embodiments.

[023] At 202, MMS application 132 may send a command to encoder 122, 124, and/or 124, in accordance with some example embodiments. This command may instruct the codec(s) to encode data using a first encoding scheme, which results in a first size file (for example, a relatively large size and/or high quality) at 204A, which is then formatted by MMS application 132 and sent at 204AB-C to MMS gateway 152 via modem 136.

[024] At 2 0, MMS application 132 and/or MMS gateway 52 may monitor the processing, such as the transmission of the MMS message received at 204C, in accordance with some example embodiments. If the transmission exceeds a first threshold, then MMS gateway 152 may timeout and send an indication, such as a timeout at 212A-B, to MMS application 132. This indication may represent that processing including transmission is below a first threshold and, as such, transmission is proceeding at a relatively slow rate. In some implementations, the user equipment may include a measurement device which generates the indication received at 210.

[025] At 220, MMS application 132 may, in response to the timeout indication received at 212B, instruct a codec (labeled encoder) 122, 124, and/or 126 to adapt the files size output by the codec to provide a smaller size, in accordance with some example embodiments. At 222A, the encoder provides data having a smaller size, when compared to 204A. MMS application 132 may then format the smaller sized media file into MMS messages, which are sent at 224-226 to MMS gateway 152 via modem 136, in accordance with some example embodiments.

[026] If the MMS message processing including transmission at 228 at or above the given first threshold (which represents that network conditions are such that transmission of the re-sized MMS message can occur at or above the given first threshold, such as a rate of message transmission), MMS gateway 152 may then send to MMS application an acknowledgement that the MMS message has been sent 230- 232 and no further file size adjustment is required unless network conditions being monitored by MMS application 132 and/or MMS gateway 152 change. [027] However, if the MMS message processing including transmission at 228 is below the given first threshold (which represents that network conditions are such that further re-sizing and reduction of the MMS message should be performed), MMS gateway 152 may send an indication, such as timeout 212A to signal the MMS application 132 to adjust the file size as disclosed above and herein. Indeed, the process at 200 may, in some example embodiments, be iterative in the sense that it is repeated until the threshold, message transmission rate, and/or network conditions change.

[028] In some example embodiments, historical information, such as statistics of previously successful MMS message transmission by the same (or different) MMS gateway, network, and/or location, may be used to determine an initial message size at 202 and/or 204 for the MMS message, which may reduce the iterations used at FIG. 2 to achieve an MMS message file size that is transmitted in a timely manner (for example, within the first threshold).

[029] FIG. 3 depicts another process 300 in which the MMS application 132 queries the MMS gateway 152 for a network parameter representative of network conditions, in accordance with some example embodiments.

[030] At 302-304, MMS application 132 may send a message to MMS gateway 152 to query the MMS gateway 152 to provide a network parameter representative of a network condition, in accordance with some example embodiments. For example, the network parameter may represent an average or a current message per second transmission rate, an indication of congestion, an indication of available bandwidth, an indication of a maximum file size for MMS messages, an indication of an available file size for MMS messages, proposed size of the entire MMS message, and/or the like. [031] At 306-308, MMS gateway 152 may send the requested parameter to MMS application 132, in accordance with some example embodiments. Based on the received network parameter, MMS application 132 may, at 310, send a command to a codec 22, 24, and/or 126 to instruct the codec to adjust the output file size provided at 312. For example, the MMS application 132 may select a coding scheme and/or file size, and then request a codec to output a file in accordance with the encoding scheme, size, and/or an available rate at MMS gateway 152.

[032] At 314-316, the file output by a codec 122, 124, and/or 126 may be formatted by the MMS application 132 into an MMS message, which is sent to MMS gateway 152 via modem 136.

[033] At 318, MMS gateway 152 may process/transmit the MMS message. If the MMS message is sent successfully within a threshold (for example, within a threshold time period, at or above a threshold message rate, and/or the like), MMS gateway 152 may send an acknowledgement at 320-322. However, if the MMS message is not sent in accordance with the threshold, MMS gateway 152 may send a timeout as noted above with respect to 212A-B, in which case the MMS application 132 may instruct the encoder to reduce further the file size.

[034] Before providing additional details, an exemplary system environment 400 is described in connection with FIG. 4.

[035] In some example embodiments, user equipment 114 may include an MMS application 132, which forwards MMS messages to the network including base station 41 OA and MMS gateway 152. The wireless communication system 400 may further include other user equipment, such as user equipment 416 and 499A-N (which may server as sources and/or destinations for the MMS messages), and backhaul links and/or networks 150, such as the Internet and/or other networks and links. Moreover, the wireless communication system 400 may further include other wireless access points, such as base station 41 OB, and service or coverage areas, such as coverage areas 412A-B (also referred to as cells). The base stations 4 0A-B may be capable of communicating with wireless devices, such as user equipment 114 and 416, within the coverage areas.

[036] Base stations 410A-B may, in some example embodiments, be implemented as an evolved Node B (eNB) type base station consistent with standards, including the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standards, such as 3GPP TS 36.201 , Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Long Term Evolution (LTE) physical layer; General description, 3GPP TS 36.211 , Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical channels and modulation, 3GPP TS 36.212, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Multiplexing and channel coding, 3GPP TS 36.213, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical layer procedures, 3GPP TS 36.214, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical layer - Measurements, and any subsequent additions or revisions to these and other 3GPP series of standards (collectively referred to as LTE standards). The base station may also be configured as a femtocell base station, home evolved node B base station, a picocell base station, a WiFi access point, and/or a wireless access point configured in accordance with other radio access technologies as well.

[037] The user equipment, such as user equipment 114 and/or the like, may be implemented as a mobile device and/or a stationary device. The user equipment are often referred to as, for example, mobile stations, mobile units, subscriber stations, wireless terminals, tablets, smart phones, or the like. A user equipment may be implemented as, for example, a wireless handheld device, a wireless plug-in accessory, a wireless transceiver configured in a stationary device, a wireless transceiver configured in a mobile device and/or the like. In some cases, user equipment may include a processor, a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., memory, storage, and the like), a radio interface(s), and/or a user interface. In some example embodiments, the user equipment may comprise a multi-mode radio include a plurality of radio access including, for example, one or more of the following: a cellular radio interface (e.g., LTE, LTE-Advanced, and the like), a WiFi radio interface, a Bluetooth radio interface, and/or the like.

[038] Although FIG. 1 depicts two base stations 410A-B, two cells 412A-B, five user equipment 114, 416, and 499A-499N, a single MMS gateway 152, the wireless communication system 400 may include other quantities and configurations of these devices as well.

[039] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 10, which can be configured as user equipment in accordance with some example embodiments. The apparatus 10 may include an MMS application 132 as disclosed herein.

[040] The apparatus 10 may include at least one antenna 12 in communication with a transmitter 14 and a receiver 16. Alternatively transmit and receive antennas may be separate. In some example embodiments, the apparatus 10 may be implemented as a multi-mode radio including a plurality of radio access technologies.

[041] The apparatus 10 may also include a processor 20 configured to provide signals to and receive signals from the transmitter and receiver, respectively, and to control the functioning of the apparatus. Processor 20 may be configured to control the functioning of the transmitter and receiver by effecting control signaling via electrical leads to the transmitter and receiver. Likewise processor 20 may be configured to control other elements of apparatus 10 by effecting control signaling via electrical leads connecting processor 20 to the other elements, such as for example, a display or a memory. The processor 20 may, for example, be embodied in a variety of ways including circuitry, at least one processing core, one or more microprocessors with accompanying digital signal processor(s), one or more processor(s) without an accompanying digital signal processor, one or more coprocessors, one or more multi- core processors, one or more controllers, processing circuitry, one or more computers, various other processing elements including integrated circuits (for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or the like), or some combination thereof. Accordingly, although illustrated in FIG. 5 as a single processor, in some example embodiments the processor 20 may comprise a plurality of processors or processing cores.

[042] Signals sent and received by the processor 20 may include signaling information in accordance with an air interface standard of an applicable cellular system, and/or any number of different wireline or wireless networking techniques, comprising but not limited to Wi-Fi, wireless local access network (WLAN) techniques, such as for example, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, 802.16, and/or the like, or their combinations. In addition, these signals may include speech data, user generated data, user requested data, and/or the like.

[043] The apparatus 10 may be capable of operating with one or more air interface standards, communication protocols, modulation types, access types, and/or the like. For example, the apparatus 10 and/or a cellular modem therein may be capable of operating in accordance with various first generation (1 G) communication protocols, second generation (2G or 2.5G) communication protocols such as GERAN, GPRS or alike, third-generation (3G) communication protocols such as WCDMA, HSPA, cdma2000, TD-SCDMA or alike, fourth-generation (4G) communication protocols such as LTE, EUTRA, TD-LTE or alike, or evolved packet systems such as Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) communication protocols (for example, session initiation protocol (SIP) and/or the like. For example, the apparatus 10 may be capable of operating in accordance with 2G wireless communication protocols IS-136, Time Division Multiple Access TDMA, Global System for Mobile communications, GSM, IS-95, Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA, and/or the like. In addition, for example, the apparatus 10 may be capable of operating in accordance with 2.5G wireless communication protocols General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM

Environment (EDGE), and/or the like. Further, for example, the apparatus 10 may be capable of operating in accordance with 3G wireless communication protocols, such as for example, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Code Division

Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

(WCDMA), Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and/or the like. The apparatus 10 may be additionally capable of operating in accordance with 3.9G wireless communication protocols, such as for example, Long

Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-

UTRAN), and/or white space frequencies, and/or the like. Additionally, for example, the apparatus 10 may be capable of operating in accordance with 4G wireless communication protocols, such as for example, LTE Advanced and/or the like as well as similar wireless communication protocols that may be subsequently developed.

And, for example, the apparatus 10 may be capable of adapting file sizes of media files based on monitored network conditions, generate MMS message, and/or any other operation disclose herein with respect to a user equipment.

[044] It is understood that the processor 20 may include circuitry for implementing audio/video and logic functions of apparatus 10. For example, the processor 20 may comprise a digital signal processor device, a microprocessor device, an analog-to-digital converter, a digital-to-analog converter, and/or the like. Control and signal processing functions of the apparatus 10 may be allocated between these devices according to their respective capabilities. The processor 20 may additionally comprise an internal voice coder (VC) 20a, an internal data modem (DM) 20b, and/or the like. Further, the processor 20 may include functionality to operate one or more software programs, which may be stored in memory. In general, processor 20 and stored software instructions may be configured to cause apparatus 10 to perform actions. For example, processor 20 may be capable of operating a connectivity program, such as for example, a web browser, and/or an M S application 132. The connectivity program may allow the apparatus 10 to transmit and web content, such as for example, location-based content, according to a protocol, such as for example, wireless application protocol, WAP, hypertext transfer protocol, HTTP, and/or the like.

[045] Apparatus 10 may also comprise a user interface including, for example, an earphone or speaker 24, a ringer 22, a microphone 26, a display 28, a user input interface, and/or the like, which may be operationally coupled to the processor 20. The display 28 may, as noted above, include a touch sensitive display, where a user may touch and/or gesture to make selections, enter values, and/or the like. The processor 20 may also include user interface circuitry configured to control at least some functions of one or more elements of the user interface, such as for example, the speaker 24, the ringer 22, the microphone 26, the display 28, and/or the like. The processor 20 and/or user interface circuitry comprising the processor 20 may be configured to control one or more functions of one or more elements of the user interface through computer program instructions, for example, software and/or firmware, stored on a memory accessible to the processor 20, for example, volatile memory 40, non-volatile memory 42, and/or the like. The apparatus 10 may include a battery for powering various circuits related to the mobile terminal, for example, a circuit to provide mechanical vibration as a detectable output. The user input interface may comprise devices allowing the apparatus 20 to receive data, such as for example, a keypad 30 (which can be a virtual keyboard presented on display 28 or an externally coupled keyboard) and/or other input devices. [046] As shown in FIG. 5, apparatus 10 may also include one or more mechanisms for sharing and/or obtaining data. For example, the apparatus 10 may include a modem including a short-range radio frequency (RF) transceiver and/or interrogator 64, so data may be shared with and/or obtained from electronic devices in accordance with RF techniques. The apparatus 10 may include other short-range modems/transceivers, such as for example, an infrared (IR) transceiver 66, a Bluetooth (BT) transceiver 68 operating using Bluetooth wireless technology, a wireless universal serial bus (USB) transceiver 70, and/or the like. The Bluetooth transceiver 68 may be capable of operating according to low power or ultra-low power Bluetooth technology, for example, Wibree, radio standards. In this regard, the apparatus 10 and, in particular, the short-range transceiver may be capable of transmitting data to and/or receiving data from electronic devices within a proximity of the apparatus, such as for example, within 10 meters, for example. The apparatus 10 including the WiFi or wireless local area networking modem may also be capable of transmitting and/or receiving data from electronic devices according to various wireless networking techniques, including 6LoWpan, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi low power, WLAN techniques such as for example, IEEE 802.1 1 techniques, IEEE 802.15 techniques, IEEE 802.16 techniques, and/or the like.

[047] The apparatus 10 may comprise memory, such as for example, a subscriber identity module (SIM) 38, a removable user identity module (R-UIM), a soft- SIM software module and/or the like, which may store information elements related to a mobile subscriber. In addition to the SIM, the apparatus 10 may include other removable and/or fixed memory. The apparatus 10 may include volatile memory 40 and/or non-volatile memory 42. For example, volatile memory 40 may include Random Access Memory (RAM) including dynamic and/or static RAM, on-chip or off-chip cache memory, and/or the like. Non-volatile memory 42, which may be embedded and/or removable, may include, for example, read-only memory, flash memory, magnetic storage devices, for example, hard disks, floppy disk drives, magnetic tape, optical disc drives and/or media, non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), and/or the like. Like volatile memory 40, non-volatile memory 42 may include a cache area for temporary storage of data. At least part of the volatile and/or non-volatile memory may be embedded in processor 20. The memories may store one or more software programs, instructions, pieces of information, data, and/or the like which may be used by the apparatus for performing functions of the user equipment/mobile terminal. The memories may comprise an identifier, such as for example, an international mobile equipment identification (IMEI) code, capable of uniquely identifying apparatus 10. The functions may include one or more of the operations disclosed herein with respect to the user equipment, such as for example, the functions disclosed at FIGs. 1-3. The memories may comprise an identifier, such as for example, an international mobile equipment identification (IMEI) code, capable of uniquely identifying apparatus 10. In the example embodiment, the processor 20 may be configured using computer code stored at memory 40 and/or 42 to enable the user equipment to, for example, monitor network conditions, adjust file media sizes used in MMS messages and/or the like.

[048] Some of the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in software, hardware, application logic, or a combination of software, hardware, and application logic. The software, application logic, and/or hardware may reside on memory 40, the control apparatus 20, or electronic components, for example. In some example embodiment, the application logic, software or an instruction set is maintained on any one of various conventional computer-readable media. In the context of this document, a "computer-readable medium" may be any non-transitory media that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as for example, a computer or data processor, with examples depicted at FIG. 5. A computer- readable medium may comprise a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that may be any media that can contain or store the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as for example, a computer. Moreover, some of the embodiments disclosed herein include computer programs configured to cause methods as disclosed herein (see, for example, FIGs. 1-4 and/or the like).

[049] Without in any way limiting the scope, interpretation, or application of the claims appearing below, a technical effect of one or more of the example embodiments disclosed herein may enhance the delivery of MMS messages.

[050] If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be performed in a different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the above-described functions may be optional or may be combined. Although various aspects of the invention are set out in the independent claims, other aspects of the invention comprise other combinations of features from the described embodiments and/or the dependent claims with the features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinations explicitly set out in the claims. It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments, these descriptions should not be viewed in a limiting sense. Rather, there are several variations and modifications that may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. Other embodiments may be within the scope of the following claims. The term "based on" includes "based on at least."

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED.

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a user equipment, an indication representative of a network condition;

adjusting, based on at least the received indication representative of the network condition, a file size of a payload; and

sending a multimedia messaging service message carrying the adjusted file size payload.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network condition represents a condition of a radio access network carrying one or more multimedia messaging service messages.

3. A message as in claims 1-2, wherein the network condition represents the condition of an internet protocol network carrying the one or more multimedia messaging service messages.

4. A message as in claims 1-3, wherein the indication represents the

network, condition at a gateway handling the one or more multimedia messaging service messages.

5. A method as in claims 1-4, wherein the indication represents a timeout indication received from the gateway.

6. A method as in claims 1-5, wherein the sending further comprises:

sending to the gateway the multimedia messaging service message carrying the adjusted file size payload.

7. A method as in claims 1-6, wherein the gateway comprises a multimedia messaging service gateway.

8. A method as in claims 1-7, wherein the one or more multimedia messaging service messages include the multimedia messaging service message carrying the adjusted file size payload.

9. A method as in claims 1-8, wherein the indication is received from at least one of a gateway or a measurement unit within the user equipment.

10. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:

receive, at the apparatus, an indication representative of a network condition;

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the network condition represents a condition of a radio access network carrying one or more multimedia messaging service messages.

12. An apparatus as in claims 10-1 1 , wherein the network condition

represents the condition of an internet protocol network carrying the one or more multimedia messaging service messages.

13. An apparatus as in claims 10-12, wherein the indication represents the network, condition at a gateway handling the one or more multimedia messaging service messages.

14. An apparatus as in claims 10-13, wherein the indication represents a timeout indication received from the gateway.

15. An apparatus as in claims 10-14, wherein apparatus is further configured to at least send to the gateway the multimedia messaging service message carrying the adjusted file size payload.

16. An apparatus as in claims 10-15, wherein the gateway comprises a

multimedia messaging service gateway.

17. An apparatus as in claims 10-16, wherein the one or more multimedia messaging service messages include the multimedia messaging service message carrying the adjusted file size payload.

18. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving an indication representative of a network condition; means for adjusting, based on at least the received indication

representative of the network condition, a file size of a payload; and

means for sending a multimedia messaging service message carrying the adjusted file size payload.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including computer program code which when executed by at least one processor provides operations comprising:

receiving an indication representative of a network condition;