JOURNAL OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES, VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2, FEBURARY 2013 1

DESIGN OF SMS-ENABLED CAR SECURITY SYSTEM

Kamoli A. Amusa, Olubusola O. Nuga and Adewale A. Adetomi
Abstract This paper presents a car security system that based on short message service message for its activation and deactivation. The whole setup is easy to realize and the cost is within the reach of common man. The proposed car security system can be installed in any automobile of interest. Sony Ericsson GSM modem (GM47) and microcontroller ATtiny 2113 plays vital role in realization of the design. When deployed the problem of car theft can be greatly minimized. The connectivity was provided using GSM based wireless communication, to provide a global, practical and cost-effective solution for wide-area monitoring. The device during testing was able to execute command issued via text messages from mobile phone. Index Terms Car security system, GM47, Microcontroller, MikroBasic, USBPICPROG

1. INTRODUCTION
Statistics has shown that there is an increase in yearly world production of cars as well as cases of car theft attempts. More than 1000 cars have been stolen between years 2008 and 2011.1 Many international and local organizations have expended good resources to combat the menace of car theft but with little or transient relieve. There are many alternatives to prevent the car theft, common one is car alarm system which nearly all cars have installed; car tracking system which is based on Global Positioning System (GPS) where the whereabouts of the car can be traced. Other alternatives include steering and gear lock, tire lock, hidden kill switches which incapacitate fuel flow and many others. The most popular existing car security system is alarm car and has a lot disadvantages due to the following reasons.2 These include distance of coverage; the siren cannot be heard over a long distance; same sound (siren) for most of the cars; false alarm; not 100% secure. Jiwa Abdullah3 developed car alarm security system. This system basically comes with motion sensors. These sensors will act as the heart of the system; it will trigger alarm if any intrusion is detected. This type of security system is less effective if the car is far away from the owner as the alarm cannot be heard by the owner. Along with the system attach to the car, it is advised to have other safety devices such as lock to be attached with steering, while others attach to gear stick, handbrake or pedals, and some drivers even use wheel clamp, or a

O.O. Nuga is with the Electrical Electronic Engineering Dept., Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta K.A. Amusa is with the Electrical Electronic Engineering Dept., Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta A.A. Adetomi is with the Electrical Electronic Engineering Dept., Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

combination of all these devices. This is fine as prevention, but it is worth noting that in security tests many of these kinds of car security devices can be unlocked or removed in seconds. The existing vehicle alarm systems are of no match to the well-equipped thieves. In United States, there are already many transportation companies and vehicle manufacturers that employ Global Positioning System (GPS) based location and tracking system combined with conventional cellular communication for stolen vehicle recovery as well as for constant monitoring of vehicle fleet management.3 However, there are situations where the GPS system cannot perform well such as at underpasses and indoor parking. Most cars still use the conventional alarm system which is easily handled by car thieves. One major problem in those car alarms is tuning and adjustment. There may be so many car alarms that are too sensitive, while the rest can withstand a major earthquake without a single beep. Consequently, the public lost interest in the car alarms since they could be falsely triggered. 1 Another weak point is that, it has limited capability to interact with its owner. In addition, the conventional alarm systems did not provide any means in assisting the recovery of stolen vehicle. The thieves are devising smarter stealing methods which require more powerful security systems to counter. On the other hand most cars use traditional alerts systems (with no mobility or multimedia facilities). Costs of advanced car security systems are exorbitant and are mainly used in expensive cars. To overcome these problems; this paper proposes a car security based on the GSM mobile device to secure the car. The proposed car security system with intelligence calling is a great development to the car security systems as any stolen car can be tracked down by calling the device. The calling process can be done via any

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mobile phone to activate the installed device. The reliability of this car security system depends on the reliability of the network provider used. Therefore, it is necessary to use the major network provider that has its network widely spread all over the geographical location.

2. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

This paper proposes the design and development of an advanced vehicle locking system in the real time environment. The user can dial a number from his cell phone and as soon as the GSM module receives the call, it will check for the users authentication through AT (ATtention) commands. The device was made of the following components: Modem (GM47), Microcontroller (ATtinny2313), Crystal oscillator, Transistors, Resistors, Capacitors, Diodes, Relay and Voltage regulator (LM1117). The GSM Modem, GM47 from Sony-Ericsson, is GSM/GPRS terminal equipment which is a powerful, compact and self-contained unit with standard connector interfaces and has an integral SIM card reader. It is used for receiving the SMS and call from the mobile device and then to transmit to the microcontroller via output pins.4 Microcontroller (ATtinny2313) features typically include processing unit, 68 bytes of RAM, 64 bytes of EPROM/PROM/ROM, Timers, Interrupt controller, 1K of Flash EEPROM PROM/ROM, 68 bytes of RAM, 64 bytes of EEPROM data, operates at up to 10MHz, 15 I/O (input/output) pins- serial and parallel.5 The power supply unit consists of voltage regulator (LM1117 IC) which supplies 3.3V to modem and microcontroller. This IC is used because the mobile phone modem used requires 3.3V for its effective operation. The power supply unit has a jack for easy connection to 12V Dc sources from the car battery. Voltage regulator (LM1117) is a series of low dropout voltage regulators with a dropout of 1.2V at 800mA of load current. It has the same pin-out as National Semiconductors industry standard LM317. The LM1117 is available in an adjustable version, which can set the output voltage from 1.25V to 13.8V with only two external resistors.6 In addition, it is also available in five fixed voltages, 1.8V, 2.5V, 2.85V, 3.3V, and 5V. The design is simulated via use of Proteus software. After completion of the circuit, the microcontroller used was programmed using mikrobasic software and then run to generate hexadecimal codes. This hexadecimal file was then transferred to the PIC through the USBPICPROG software. Different makes of phones are existing in the market with different brand names, the choice of the phone used in this work is based on the type of phone that could easily communicate with the external peripherals. AT commands are general commands through which modems communicate with mobile phones. Some phones under-

stand AT commands directly while some understands it through indirect methods. Hence, the choice is further limited to the easiest way to communicate with the mobile phones. From so many testing and findings, it was discovered that the Ericsson phones are the easiest that a peripheral device could communicate with. This justifies the reason the Ericsson phone was used in this work. The block diagram of the developed car security device is shown in Fig.1.

Fig. 1. Block diagram of car security device

3. ASSEMBLING AND TESTING

The components were connected together and soldered on a Vero board according to the description of the circuit diagram of Fig. 2. Figure 3 shows the picture of the assemblage and Fig. 4 shows the complete packaged device. The finished device is placed in an already built plastic box of dimension 14.5cm by 8.5cm by 4.5cm for proper packaging and portability. Holes were made on the box with the aid of drilling machine to display LEDs when it lights, and expose the modems antenna so that it could receive available network. Moreover, switches positions are provided for connection to the ignition system of car.

Fig. 2. Car security circuit diagram

JOURNAL OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES, VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2, FEBURARY 2013 3

After the construction, tests were carried out from the input stage to the final output stage. Each of the individual circuits making up the totality of the car security system was tested one after the other after the construction and they were found to be working as expected before they were assembled. The device was tested with many phones, and it was discovered that the system can accept calls from any mobile user and will execute the command as long as the code is correct. Fig. 4. Car security device

CONCLUSION
The designed car security system is easy to realize and costs less when compared with similar products in the market. Thus it can easily be adopted and installed in any automobile of interest. When deployed the problem of car theft can be greatly minimized. Since GSM based wireless is widely adopted now in many countries of the world, connectivity will be a problem. It will therefore provide a global, practical and costeffective solution for wide-area monitoring.
Fig. 3. Hardware Assemblage

4. WORKING PRINCIPLE
When the device is connected to the voltage source of 12V, the red LED will be ON and then search for available network due to the AT command sent by the microcontroller. If the network is found the LED will be blinking and this is indicating that the modem is ready to receive any call from mobile phones, but if the LED is not blinking that means there is no network in that area. During the blinking period, the microcontroller will be sending AT command to the modem frequently to check if there is command to be executed. If the modem receives call, the caller must allow it to ring three or four times before microcontroller could execute any command and this will cause the green LED to be lit. Ringing three times means microcontroller will open the ignition system of the car, but ringing four times means to close the system. If the call is less than three or more than four times, it will not execute the command. The flow chat of the principle is shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5. Flow chat of the operation

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REFERENCES
[1] [2] [3] Atmel Corporation, 8-bit AVR with 2K Bytes In-System Programmable Flash (ATtiny2313). (2004), pp. 1224. J. Abdullah, Design of mobile control car security system, Int. J. Engineering and Technology, 3(3) (2011) 12. M. A. Al-khedher, Hybrid GPS-GSM Localization of Automobile Tracking System, Int. J. Comput. Sci. and Infor. Tech., 3(6) (2011) 1317. M. Sikander, H. Khiyah, A. Khan and E. Shehzadi, SMS based wireless home appliance control system (HACS) for automating appliances and security, Issues in Informing Sci. and Infor. Tech. 6(2009) 887894. National Semiconductor LM1117/LM1117I 800mA LowDropout Linear Regulator, (2004). pp. 122. Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications International (2003) http://www.sonyericsson.com.

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Kamoli A. Amusa is a graduate of University of Ilorin (B.Eng.) Nigeria in Electrical Electronics Engineering and received his M.Sc. from University of Lagos. Curretly running his P.hD programme at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta in Nigeria. He is a lecturer at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, his interest is in commucation. Olubusola O. Nuga is a graduate of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomoso (B.Tech.), Nigeria in Electrical Electronics Engineering and received her M.Sc. from University of Lagos. She is a lecturer at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta; her interest is in control systems. She is member of IET. Adewale A. Adetomi is a graduate of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and currently running his Masters in Electrial Electronic Engineering in the same University. He is a Research Fellow at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta; his interest is in power electronics