i
GSM REMOTE SENSING FOR TRANSMISSION LINE MONITORING SYSTEM
USING FPGA
ROSLIN BIN JAMALUDIN
A thesis submitted in
fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the
Degree of Master of Electrical Engineering
Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
DECEMBER 2013
iv
ABSTRACT
Copper cable is used as a medium of communication whether for a fixed telephone line
or internet services. Currently, the price of the copper increases due to a high demand of
global trading market. As consequences, telephone cable stealing activities in Malaysia
are also increased due to the copper inside the telephone cable. Therefore, this project
presents the works in designing and developing an innovative apparatus that will be able
to help the local telecommunication company to monitor and detect not only the area or
location of loss signal occur but also the distance of the telephone cable being cut. This
project applies the FPGA-based monitoring system using GSM (Global System for
Mobile) network. The project used 555 timer as a capacitance detector to detect the
frequency value of the copper cable. The Altera DE2-70 board is used to calculate the
cable distance, which influenced by the cable frequency. After detecting an occurrence
of a cable has been cut, this prototype will automatically activate alarm and send an
instant message (SMS) to alert the person in charge indicating the area and the distance
of the cable being cut.
v
ABSTRAK
Kabel tembaga digunakan sebagai medium komunikasi sama ada untuk talian telefon
tetap atau perkhidmatan internet. Pada masa ini, harga bagi tembaga meningkat
disebabkan permintaan yang tinggi oleh pasaran dagangan sedunia. Akibatnya, aktiviti
kecurian kabel telefon di Malaysia juga turut meningkat disebabkan tembaga yang
terdapat dalam kabel telefon. Oleh itu, projek ini mempersembahkan tugasan dalam
mereka bentuk dan membangunkan alatan yang inovatif yang berupaya membantu
syarikat telekomunikasi tempatan untuk mengawas dan mengesan bukan sahaja kawasan
berlakunya kehilangan isyarat tetapi juga jarak kabel telefon yang dipotong. Projek ini
mengaplikasikan sistem pengawasan berasaskan FPGA menggunakan rangkaian GSM
(Global System for Mobile). Projek ini menggunakan penentu masa 555 sebagai
pengesan kemuatan untuk mengesan nilai frekuensi bagi kabel tembaga. Papan Altera
DE2-70 digunakan untuk mengira jarak kabel, yang mana dipengaruhi oleh nilai
frekuensi kabel. Selepas kecurian kabel dikesan, prototaip ini akan mengaktifkan
penggera secara automatik dan menghantar pesanan ringkas (SMS) untuk mengingatkan
individu yang bertanggungjawab mengenai kawasan dan jarak berlakunya kecurian
kabel.
vi
CONTENTS
TITLE i
STUDENT’S DECLARATION ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii
ABSTRACT iv
CONTENTS vi
LIST OF TABLES ix
LIST OF FIGURES x
LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS xii
LIST OF APPENDICES xiv
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Project Background 1
1.2 Problem Statement 3
1.3 Project Objective 4
1.4 Thesis Outline 5
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 6
2.1 Paper Review 7
2.2 Summary of Literature Review 15
vii
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 22
3.1 Project Architecture 22
3.2 Input Devices 23
3.2.1 Twisted Pair Copper Cable 23
3.2.2 Reflectometer 24
3.3 Output Devices 25
3.3.1 GSM Development Board 25
3.3.2 LCD Module 26
3.3.3 7-Segment Display 27
3.4 System Processor 28
3.5 Project Phase 29
3.5.1 Project Planning and Preparation 29
3.5.2 Literature Review 29
3.5.3 Component and Hardware Selection 30
3.5.4 Design of Reflectometer Circuit 30
3.5.5 Construct and Testing Reflectometer 30
Circuit
3.5.6 Design the FPGA Architecture 30
3.5.7 Combining Hardware and Programming 31
3.5.8 Testing and Troubleshooting 31
3.5.9 Report Writing 31
3.6 System Development 32
3.6.1 Hardware Development 32
3.6.2 Software Development 34
viii
3.7 Final Assembly 34
3.8 Project Flowchart 35
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 37
4.1 Register-Transfer Level (RTL) Circuit 38
4.1.1 Counter Block 38
4.1.2 Nios II Block 39
4.1.3 Phase Lock Loop (PLL) Block 40
4.2 Results and Discussion 41
4.2.1 Practical Result 41
4.2.2 Simulation Result 44
4.2.3 Final Result 47
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 48
5.1 Conclusion 48
5.2 Future Recommendation 49
REFERENCES 50
APPENDIX 54
ix
LIST OF TABLES
2.1 Summary of paper review 16
3.1 16x2 LCD pins assignments 27
3.2 RS232 pin configuration 33
4.1 Error percentages of the copper cable frequency 43
and length
4.2 Length to capacitance value conversion 44
4.3 Simulation result 46
x
LIST OF FIGURES
1.1 Topology of copper cable transmission line 4
2.1 System architecture 7
2.2 System structure diagram 8
2.3 Structure of remote monitoring system 9
2.4 System block diagram 10
2.5 System architecture 11
2.6 Block diagram of simple remote station 12
2.7 System architecture 13
2.8 System Overview 14
3.1 Architecture diagram of GSM remote sensing 22
monitoring system
3.2 Twisted pair copper cable 23
3.3 Relation between capacitance values with the cable 23
length
3.4 Reflectometer circuit for open-circuited wire 25
detection
3.5 Siemens TC35 GSM Development board 25
3.6 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) 26
3.7 7-segment display 27
3.8 Altera DE2-70 Development board 28
3.9 Project development phases 29
3.10 Hardware development 32
3.11 Serial RS232 pin out 33
xi
3.12 Hardware development process flow 35
3.13 Software development process flow 36
4.1 Overall Register-Transfer Level (RTL) circuit 38
4.2 Counter block 39
4.3 Nios II block 40
4.4 Phase Lock Loop (PLL) block 41
4.5 Oscillloscope view of the Reflectometer output 42
for 12 meter copper cable
4.6 Length converting programming in Frequency 42
Counter program
4.7 Results on 7-segment display and LCD 43
4.8 Simulation circuit for Reflectometer circuit in 45
NI Multisim
4.9 Output signal viewed using NI Multisim simulator 45
4.10 Frequency comparison between Altera DE2-70 and 46
simulation result
4.11 The SMS received at user mobile phone 47
xii
LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS
f - Frequency
R - Resistor
C - Capacitor
Hz - Hertz
V - Voltage
L - Length
T - Period
E - Enable
CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access
CEO - Chief Executive Producer
DCE - Data Circuit Terminating Equipment
DB - Data Bus
DP - Distribution Panel
DTE - Data Terminal Equipment
ESD - Electrostatic Discharge
FPGA - Field Programmable Gate Array
GND - Ground
GSM - Global System for Mobile
GPS - Global System Positioning
GUI - Graphical User Interface
HEX - Hexadecimal
HDL - High Description Language
LCD - Liquid Crystal Display
xiii
LSB - Less Significant Bit
MDF - Main Distribution Frame
MSB - Most Significant Bit
MSC - Multimedia Super Corridor
PDU - Protocol Data Unit
PLL - Phase Lock Loop
RS - Register Select
RW - Read/Write
RILL - Radio in Local Loop
RTL - Register Transfer Level
SMS - Short Messaging System
SOPC - System on a Programmable Chip Builder
TM - Telekom Malaysia
UART - Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter
VHDL - VHSIC High Description Language
EXT_CLK - External Clock
UTHM - Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
xiv
LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX TITLE PAGE
A Overall Register Transfer Level (RTL) circuit 54
B1 Simulation result for 12 meter cable 55
B2 Simulation result for 10 meter cable 56
B3 Simulation result for 8 meter cable 57
B4 Simulation result for 6 meter cable 58
B5 Simulation result for 4 meter cable 59
B6 Simulation result for 2 meter cable 60
1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the introduction of the thesis including with a short overview of
transmission line. Furthermore, it details the problem statement of the project, as well as
the objective of the project and finishing with the outline of the thesis.
1.1 Project Background
In Malaysia, copper cable is used as a medium of communication network to connect
people around the world, whether as a fixed telephone line or internet services. To
facilitate the user can communicate with each other, the telecommunications provider
must ensure the connectivity in all the premises are in good condition without any
problems.
Currently, copper cables owned by telecommunications providers face the
problem of copper cable stealing activity. Many feedbacks and complaint received from
end users that there is no service on their premises. The technical team has been
investigating the case and found that the cable has been lost in certain areas. At this time,
many people are not satisfied with the provider of telecommunications services offered
in this country because if a fault occurs on transmission lines, telephone and internet
2
services will be disrupted. Therefore, the problem may be solved by creating a remote
sensing monitoring system to monitor the stealing activities of the copper cable. This
project will be presented an FPGA-based monitoring system for a copper cable
transmission line using GSM (Global System for Mobile) network. This system will
offer a powerful and user friendly way of 24 hours real-time remote monitoring system.
The control language will be using a Verilog Hardware Description Language
implemented in hardware using FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The
monitoring system will be designed to monitor and detect the location of loss signal of
the copper cable on the transmission line. A Reflectometer circuit or a sensing circuit is
used to detect an open circuit along the copper cable.
If there is no report regarding the state of the cable is not functioning properly,
the theft of cable cannot be resolved as soon as possible. In addition, this project is
considered using a low-cost component, raw materials and low-cost processing for
commercialization. Part of it, this project will enable the detection of the cutoff copper
cable distance where the device shall connected at the Main Distribution Frame (MDF).
When the copper cable in a failed state, it will shoot a signal using 555 timer
Reflectometer circuit to the Altera track DE2-70 board. Once the Altera track receives
the signal, it will display the distance and area of the cable being cut on the LCD screen
and at the same time it sends an instant message or alert through GSM wireless network
to the user mobile phone.
In facts, cable theft has taken place every year in our country caused the high
price copper cables. On the other hand, the main reasons causing copper cables are often
the target of thieves, is because of the quality of the copper content in high demand in
the market. In 2011, TM company has reported a total of 11,539 cases of cable theft and
a total of 6,759 cable theft cases were reported in the first eight months of 2012. Also,
the TM CEO Datuk Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa says that the cable theft not only
occur outside the city but the cases also increased in the city due to cable theft in the
Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in Cyberjaya increased by 71 cases compared to 52
cases in 2011, while cases increased by 58 cases from 30 cases in Kuala Lumpur [34].
3
1.2 Problem Statement
Copper can be sold as scrap items at RM30 per kg, resulting in cable owned provider of
telecommunications services in Malaysia to become easy targets of unscrupulous thieves.
In fact, theft is endemic, due to the market price of copper has increased because of
irresponsible people will take the opportunity to earn an easy profit, despite the fact that
it brings inconvenience to the public [27].
The telecommunication cable is very important and necessary to communicate
each other and ease people to do their daily works. Not everyone cares about the
importance of the use of communication cable because they feel it is not their
responsibility. This resulted in no reports of failure and if there is, the report is usually
delayed until the person in charge. Due to cost and management issue, there are no 24
hours routine patrols to ensure that all copper cables are in good condition and prevent
cable from stolen. At last, customers are complaining about their internet disconnected
or telephone not function.
For example in Pendang, Kedah, the area doesn’t have Streamyx services due to
the cable line always get stolen. Fiber optic cable is not installed due to the area don’t
have many users. On the other hand, the area’s telephone services uses a wireless
connection (RILL or CDMA) but the connection is not stable if compare with the cable
connection. Therefore, with this project, it might able to help the police or the
telecommunication company such as Telekom to detect not only the area of the stealing
activities occurs but also the distance of the line being cut. Figure 1.1 shows the
topology of the copper cable transmission line at user premise.
4
Monitoring System
(FPGA Controller)
GSM NetworkMDFCabinet
Copper
Cable
DP
Residential
Exchange
Figure 1.1: Topology of copper cable transmission line.
1.3 Project Objective
The main objectives of this project can be summarized in four points as stated below:
(i) To develop an anti-theft alert system to inform the authority or the
telecommunication provider regarding the copper cable stealing activities
by sending an instant SMS.
(ii) To develop a system that can detect not only the area of stealing occurs
but also indicate the distance of the copper cable being cut.
(iii) To demonstrate the FPGA as a controller using Altera track DE2-70
board.
(iv) To apply the GSM network as a remote sensing application.
5
1.4 Thesis Outline
This report is arranged and distributed into five chapters. Chapter 1 has presented a brief
introduction of the project mainly about transmission line and copper cable. It also
discusses the problem statements and the objectives of the project to be carried out.
Chapter 2 of the dissertation a includes a literature review related to this project
as per referred to previous studies and results obtained by past researchers. It also
contains some important findings from past researchers such as advantages and
disadvantages which are discussed.
Chapter 3 provides a methodology in how this project is conducted in sequence.
It also includes the development and progress of 555 timer circuit, GSM module and
FPGA design. Details of the overall project flow are explained and description is
provided in this chapter.
Chapter 4 contains the results and findings of the project. A simulation is run on
555 timer circuit to compare the results with real application. Simulation result is
analyzed and studied. Also the result of real application is shown in this chapter.
Lastly is chapter 5 where this chapter concludes the dissertation. It presents a
summary of research achievements together with a discussion of their significance.
Some recommended for future work are also presented in this chapter.
6
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter discusses the basic concept and technical knowledge about some significant
hardware devices and software before going into the developing process of the entire
project. Several projects and papers have been revised which are related to this project.
This associated work has been studied in detail to improve the quality and reliability of
this project. By analyzing the related projects done by other researchers, it is potential to
know what the lack of features in their projects. They also recommend certain future
work could be done to improve the project. In addition, there are some valuable ideas
that can be implemented in this project from other projects of similar. Thus, the
literature review process extended from beginning to end the project. By studying
previous works, a proper plan on how the project can be conducted and the
characteristics that must be added in order to make this project achieve.
7
2.1 Paper Review
W. M. El-Medany and M. R. El-Sabry [1] present a GSM-Based Remote Sensing and
Control System Using FPGA. In this paper, the authors present the design and
implementation of a remote sensing, control, and home security system based on GSM
(Global System for Mobile). The design has been described using VHDL (VHSIC
Hardware Description Language) and implemented in hardware using FPGA (Field
Programmable Gate Array). The system works as a remote sensing for the electrical
appliances at home to check whether it is on or off. At the same time the user can control
the electrical appliances at home by sending SMS (Short Messaging Service) message to
the system. The advantages of the system, it offers a complete, low cost, powerful and
user friendly way of 24 hours real-time monitoring and remote control of a home
security. The advantages of using FPGA as a controller is it can achieve multi inputs and
outputs. Figure 2.1 shows the implemented system architecture.
Figure 2.1: System architecture [1].
G. Cao, T. Xu, T. Liu, Y. Ye and G. Xu [2] present a GSM-Based Wireless
Remote Controller. The authors present the design and implementation of a wireless
remote power controller for home automation based on GSM network. They
implemented a controller with MCU (Microcontroller Unit) and GSM network. MCU
controls the GSM module to receive messages and send reply information to the user’s
8
mobile phone. It is composed of the mobile phone, MCU, GSM module and relays. The
smart wireless remote communication between user and homes is realized by GSM
network. The advantages of the system, the controller can remotely control the power in
our homes through GSM module at anytime and from anywhere. This operation is not
limited to a fixed mobile phone or phone number. On the other hand, text service
communications have been widely used, which is very cheap and convenient. An easy
usage, excellent reliability, wide coverage and low cost are reflected in this system.
Therefore, it will further promote the home environments more smart. In addition, it
could be used in other fields. Wireless remote controller will have a more application
prospect in the remote managing field. Figure 2.2 shows the implemented system
structure.
Figure 2.2: System structure diagram [2].
C. Peijiang and J. Xuehua [3] have also designed and implement a Remote
Monitoring System Based on GSM. The system is mainly composed of the central
monitoring station, remote monitoring station and GSM network. The central monitoring
station is divided of monitoring central server and GSM modem, and the remote
monitoring station is divided by MCU (Microcontroller Unit), peripheral circuit and
GSM modem. The system can on-line monitor the status of the remote monitored object,
and it can send setting commands to the remote monitoring station by the mode of
sending short messages. The advantages of the remote monitoring system, it is an
9
effective method to obtain, analyze, transmit, manage and feedback the remote goal
information, and it combines the most advanced science and technology field of satellite
positioning technology, communication technology, internet technology and other areas,
and it is the comprehensive use of instrumentation, electronic technology, modern
communications technology, computer software and so on. Wireless communication of
using GSM has some features such as two-way data transmission function, stable
performance and so on. Figure 2.3 shows the implemented structure of a remote
monitoring system.
Figure 2.3: Structure of the remote monitoring system [3].
X. Li, Q. Yuan, W. Wu, X. Peng and L. Hou [4] present an Implementation of
GSM SMS Remote Control System Based on FPGA. In this paper the authors present a
design of a GSM SMS (Short Message Service) remote appliance control system based
on FPGA. They mainly design a remote appliance control system using the GSM SMS
to finally achieve the dual-mode control of phone and SMS control. The main works
completed in this paper include hardware module design (GSM SMS module, RS232
interface module, and the temperature monitor module), FPGA logic design, and system
board-level verification. As advantages, GSM SMS for remote wireless communications
has various characteristics of lower communication cost, less limits of communication
lines and regions, high reliability and security, strong anti-interference, being easy to
10
use, flexible and efficient communication. It also has features of high reliability and is
worthy to be popularized. Figure 2.4 shows the implemented system block diagram.
Figure 2.4: System block diagram [4].
S. Jin, S. Jinglin, H. Qiuyan, W. Shengde and Y. Yan [5] introduce A Remote
Measurement and Control System for Greenhouse based on GSM-SMS. The whole
system consists of a central station and base stations. The central station is composed of
a PC (Personal Computer) server along with its application software, the GSM module,
and the database system. The base station consists of a microcontroller, sensors,
actuators, and GSM module. The base station receives and sends messages through
GSM module; it samples environment parameters and compares them with parameters
sent by the central station, and yields relevant control signals according to the
comparison result and sent these signals together with the sampled parameters to the
actuators. The advantages of the system, it is able to manipulate multiple environment
parameters of greenhouse according to feature of different crops. It has also conquered
the problems of excessive investigation in a wire transmission net of large greenhouse
group and inconvenience of maintenance. The implemented system architecture is
shown in Figure 2.5.
11
Figure 2.5: System architecture [5].
A. Alshamali [6] presents a GSM Based Remote Ionized Radiation Monitoring
System. In this paper the author present a monitoring system to continuously measure
ionizing radiation, store data locally and in case of abnormality where level of radiation
becomes greater than the preprogrammed alarm points, alarm messages will be
automatically transmitted to the central station. The connection of the remote monitoring
station with the central station is accomplished via the GSM (Global System for
Mobile). The system contains several remote sensing and measuring stations connected
to a central control station via GSM modems. This system works to act as an early
warning system for the safety of a region. As advantages, this system will save lives and
lower risks to human life and health on long-term bases. The selection of the existing
GSM network with full coverage for the entire country is a major source of cost
reduction. The proposed system has no boundary limitation with high reliability,
excellent performance and low cost; no need for new infrastructure to transfer the data
from the remote stations to the central station. The block diagram of the system is shown
in Figure 2.6.
12
Figure 2.6: Block diagram of simple remote station [6].
W. M. El-Medany [7] presents an FPGA Implementation for Humidity and
Temperature Remote Sensing System. The design based on using FPGA (Field
Programmable Gate Array) for the hardware implementation of the controller circuit and
GSM (Global System for Mobile) for remote monitoring. The controller circuit has been
described using VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language). The system is mainly
to solve the task of greenhouse climate control, i.e. inside temperature, relative humidity
and CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) level in order to improve crop production and soil status. It
consists of two units; the system board and the control centre. The control centre in turn
consists of two units; the PC (Personal Computer) and mobile phone connected together
through the serial communication port RS232. The system board consists of three units;
the controller unit which has been implemented in Spartan 3E FPGA, the sensor circuit,
and the GSM modem. The main function of system board continuously measures the
temperature and humidity ad compares the measured values with a threshold level, and
sends messages through GSM network to the control centre in case of high temperature
or humidity exceeds the threshold level. The system offers low cost and user friendly
way of 24 hours real-time remote monitoring for temperature and humidity using SMS
(Short Messaging Service) message. The system architecture is shown in Figure 2.7.
13
Figure 2.7: System architecture [7].
H. Huang, H. Bian and S. Zhu [8] present a Greenhouse Remote Monitoring
System based on GSM. This system is mainly comprised of eight modules; master
control module, detection module, keys set module, liquid crystal display module, data
storage module, GSM/GPRS module, site alarm module and power supply module.
In this system, STC89C51RC is used as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and SIM900B
is used as GSM/GPRS communication module. The temperature sensor, humidity sensor
and CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) concentration sensor constitute the detection module. The
system can show environmental parameters of liquid crystal screen, realize data remote
alarming through the GSM module. The advantages of the system, users can set the
standard values of the parameters by short text message. Users can also know the real-
time information about environmental parameters by making a phone call as well.
H. Kanma, N. Wakabayashi, R. Kanazawa and H. Ito [9] propose a Home
Appliance Control System over Bluetooth with a Cellular Phone, which enables remote-
control, fault-diagnosis and software-update for home appliances through Java
applications on a cellular phone. Bluetooth for a communication medium and a cellular
phone as the control terminal have been chosen in the proposed system. Attached a
communication adapter to the home appliances in order to add Bluetooth communication
functionality. The system consists of home appliances, a cellular phone, Bluetooth
communication adapters for the appliances, and a Bluetooth communication adapter for
the cellular phone. Also consists of hardware and software for those adapters, Java
applications running on the cellular phone and the interface software between the Java
applications and the adapter. Bluetooth is a low cost short- range wireless technology.
14
Bluetooth can connect the home appliances and the cellular phone without wire. The
overview of the system is shown in Figure 2.8.
Figure 2.8: System Overview [9].
Y. C. Chung, N. N. Amarnath and C. M. Furse [10] studies the Capacitance and
Inductance Sensor Circuits for Detecting the Lengths of Open- and Short-Circuited
Wires. In this paper the authors introduce several capacitance and inductance sensing
circuits to be tested and analyzed to find the best performance of the sensing circuit for
detecting the length of open- and closed-circuit. The sensing circuits presented in this
paper are Three-Gate Oscillator, Two-Inverter Oscillator, Schmitt Trigger Oscillator,
Differential Amplifier and 555 Timer Circuit. They discover that the 555 Timer Circuit
is able to give the best performance of sensing circuit that can locate both open- and
short-circuited wires with least error.
15
2.2 Summary of Literature Review
From the papers reviewed, all of the authors are introducing the GSM network as a
medium of remote sensing to remotely monitor or/and control various real time
parameters such as home appliances, greenhouse parameter, humidity, temperature, CO2
level, radiation and so on. They GSM module/modem is used to communicate between
the controller and the GSM network. The controller introduces are the Microcontroller
Unit (MCU) and FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) board. For this project, I will
combine the method of using the GSM module as a transmitter to send an alert message.
The controller selected for this project is the Altera DE2-70 FPGA board. The difference
of this project is the real time parameter to be monitored. The parameter selected is the
detection of the open-circuited wires in telecommunication system.
16
Table 2.1: Summary of paper review.
No. Researcher Title Method/Descriptions Advantages
1 Wael M El-
Medany and
Mahmoud R
El-Sabry
GSM-Based
Remote
Sensing and
Control System
Using FPGA
In this paper the authors present
the design and implementation
of a remote sensing, control, and
home security system based on
GSM (Global System for
Mobile).
Using VHDL (VHSIC
Hardware Description
Language) and implemented in
hardware using FPGA (Field
Programmable Gate Array).
The system works as a remote
sensing for the electrical
appliances at home to check
whether it is on or off, at the
same time the user can control
the electrical appliances at home
by sending SMS (Short
Messaging Service) message to
the system.
Offers a complete, low
cost, powerful and user
friendly way of 24 hours
real-time monitoring and
remote control of a home
security.
The advantages of using
FPGA as a controller is it
can achieve multi
inputs/outputs and low
cost.
2 Gang Cao,
Tiefeng Xu,
Taiun Liu
and Gaoming
Xu
A GSM-Based
Wireless
Remote
Controller
In this paper the authors present
the design and implementation
of a wireless remote power
controller for home automation
based on GSM network.
This paper presents a controller
with microcontroller (MCU) and
GSM network. MCU controls
the GSM module to receive
messages and send reply
information to the user’s mobile
phone.
It is composed of the mobile
phone, MCU, GSM module and
relays. The smart wireless
remote communication between
user and homes is realized by
GSM network.
The controller can
remotely control the power
in our homes through GSM
module at anytime and
from anywhere.
This operation is not
limited to a fixed mobile
phone or phone number.
Text service
communications have been
widely used, which is very
cheap and convenient.
Easy usage, excellent
reliability, wide coverage
and low cost, are reflected
in this system.
Therefore, it will further
promote the home
environments more smart.
In addition, it could be
used in other fields.
Wireless remote controller
will have more application
prospect in the remote
managing field.
17
No. Researcher Title Method/Descriptions Advantages
3 Chen Peijiang
and Jiang
Xuehua
Design and
Implementation
of Remote
Monitoring
System Based
on GSM
Design and implementation of
remote monitoring system based
on GSM network.
The system is mainly composed
of the central monitoring station,
remote monitoring station and
GSM network.
The central monitoring station is
divided of monitoring central
server and GSM modem, and
the remote monitoring station is
divided by MCU, peripheral
circuit and GSM modem.
The system can on-line monitor
the status of the remote
monitored object, and it can
send setting commands to the
remote monitoring station by the
mode of sending short
messages.
The remote monitoring
system is an effective
method to obtain, analyze,
transmit, manage and
feedback the remote goal
information, and it
combines the most
advanced science and
technology field of satellite
positioning technology,
communication
technology, Internet
technology and other areas,
and it is the comprehensive
use of instrumentation,
electronic technology,
modern communications
technology, computer
software and so on.
Wireless communication
of using GSM has some
features such as two-way
data transmission function,
stable performance and so
on.
4 Xuemei LI,
Qiuchen
Yuan,
Wuchen Wu,
Xiaohong
Peng and
Ligang Hou
Implementation
of GSM SMS
Remote
Control System
Based on
FPGA
In this paper the authors present
a design of a GSM SMS (Short
Message Service) remote
appliance control system based
on FPGA.
Mainly designs a remote
appliance control system using
the GSM SMS to finally achieve
the dual-mode control of phone
and SMS control.
The main works completed in
this paper include hardware
module design (GSM SMS
module, RS232 interface
module, and the temperature
monitor module), FPGA logic
design, and system board-level
verification.
GSM SMS for remote
wireless communications
has various characteristics
of lower communication
cost, less limits of
communication lines and
regions, high reliability
and security, strong anti-
interference, being easy to
use, flexible and efficient
communication.
It also has feature high
reliability and is worthy to
be popularized.
18
No. Researcher Title Method/Descriptions Advantages
5 Shen Jin,
Song
Jingling, Han
Qiuyan,
Wang
Shengde and
Yang Yan.
A Remote
Measurement
and Control
System for
Greenhouse
based on GSM-
SMS
The whole system consists of a
central station and base stations.
The central station is composed
of a PC server along with its
application software, the GSM
module, and the database
system.
The base station consists of a
microcontroller, sensors,
actuators, and GSM module.
The base station receives and
sends messages through GSM
module; it samples environment
parameters and compares them
with parameters sent by the
central station, and yields
relevant control signals
according to the comparison
result and sent these signals
together with the sampled
parameters to the actuators.
Can manipulate multiple
environment parameters of
greenhouse according to
feature of different crops.
Conquers the problems of
excessive investigation on
wire transmission net of
large greenhouse group
and inconvenience of
maintenance.
6 Ahmad
Alshamali
GSM Based
Remote
Ionized
Radiation
Monitoring
System
In this paper the author present
monitoring system to
continuously measure ionizing
radiation, store data locally and
in case of abnormal (level of
radiation becomes greater than
the preprogrammed alarm
points) alarm messages will be
automatically transmitted to the
central station.
The connection of the remote
monitoring station with the
central station is accomplished
via the Global System for
Mobile communication (GSM).
The system contains several
remote sensing and measuring
stations connected to a central
control station via GSM
modems.
To act as an early warning
system for the safety of a
region.
This system will save lives
and lower risks to human
life and health on long-
term bases.
The selection of the
existing GSM network
with full coverage for the
entire country is a major
source for cost reduction.
The proposed system has
no boundary limitation
with high reliability,
excellent performance and
low cost; no need for new
infrastructure to transfer
the data from the remote
stations to the central
station.
19
No. Researcher Title Method/Descriptions Advantages
7 Wael M El-
Medany
FPGA
Implementation
for Humidity
and
Temperature
Remote
Sensing
System.
The design is based on using
FPGA (Field Programmable
Gate Array) for the hardware
implementation of the controller
circuit and GSM (Global System
for Mobile) for remote
monitoring.
The controller circuit has been
described using VHDL (VHSIC
Hardware Description
Language).
Mainly to solve the task of
greenhouse climate control, i.e.
inside temperature, relative
humidity and CO2 level in order
to improve crop production and
soil status.
The system mainly consists of
two units; the system board and
the control centre.
The control centre in turn
consists of two units; the PC and
mobile phone connected
together through the serial
communication port RS232.
The system board consists of
three units; the controller unit
which has been implemented in
Spartan 3E FPGA, the sensor
circuit, and the GSM modem.
The main function of system
board continuously measures the
temperature and humidity ad
compares the measured values
with a threshold level, and sends
messages through GSM network
to the control centre in case of
high temperature or humidity
exceeds the threshold level.
The system offers low cost
and user friendly way of 24
hours real-time remote
monitoring for temperature
and humidity using SMS
(Short Messaging Service)
message.
8 Hesong
Huang and
Hongning
Bian
A Greenhouse
Remote
Monitoring
System based
on GSM
In this system, STC89C51RC is
used as the CPU and SIM900B
is used as GSM/GPRS
communication module.
Users can set the standard
values of the parameters of
short text message.
20
No. Researcher Title Method/Descriptions Advantages
The temperature sensor,
humidity sensor and CO2
concentration sensor constitute
the detection module.
The system can show
environmental parameters by
liquid crystal screen, realize data
remote alarming through the
GSM module.
This system is mainly
comprised of eight modules,
master control module, detection
module, keys set module, liquid
crystal display module, data
storage module, GSM/GPRS
module, site alarm module and
power supply module.
Detection module is mainly
comprised of a small CPU,
temperature sensors, humidity
sensors, CO2 concentration
sensors, serial communication
circuit etc.
Users can know the real-
time information about
environmental parameters
by making a phone call as
well.
9 Hiroshi
Kanma,
Noboru
Wakabayashi,
Ritsuko
Kanazawa,
Hiromichi Ito
Home
Appliance
Control System
over Bluetooth
with a Cellular
Phone
In this paper, the authors
propose a home appliance
control system over Bluetooth
with a cellular phone, which
enables remote-control, fault-
diagnosis and software-update
for home appliances through
Java applications on a cellular
phone.
Bluetooth for a communication
medium and a cellular phone as
the control terminal have been
chosen in the proposed system.
Attached a communication
adapter to the home appliances
in order to add Bluetooth
communication functionality.
The system consists of home
appliances, a cellular phone,
Bluetooth communication
adapters for the appliances, and
a Bluetooth communication
adapter for the cellular phone.
Bluetooth is a low cost
short- range wireless
technology.
Bluetooth can connect the
home appliances and the
cellular phone without
wire.
21
No. Researcher Title Method/Descriptions Advantages
Also consists of hardware and
software for those adapters, Java
applications running on the
cellular phone and the interface
software between the Java
applications and the adapter.
10 You Chung
Chung,
Nirmal N.
Amarnath
and Cynthia
M. Furse
Capacitance
and Inductance
Sensor Circuits
for Detecting
the lengths of
Open- and
Short-Circuited
Wires
In this paper the authors
introduce several capacitance
and inductance sensing circuits
to be tested and analyzed to find
the best performance of the
sensing circuit for detecting the
length of open- and closed-
circuit.
The sensing circuits presented in
this paper are:
1. Three-Gate Oscillator
2. Two-Inverter Oscillator
3. Schmitt Trigger
Oscillator
4. Differential Amplifier
5. 555 Timer Circuit
Able to find the best
performance of sensing
circuit that can locate both
open- and short-circuited
wires with least error.
22
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
This chapter explains the architecture of the project and the overall methods used from
the beginning to end of the implementation of this project. The method used can be
separate into several phases of implementation.
3.1 Project Architecture
Figure 3.1 shows the architecture diagram of the project showing the input and output
device connection involves in this project.
GSM ModuleRS232FPGA Board
(Altera DE2-70)
Mobile Phone
Sensing
Circuit
Twisted Pair
Copper Cable
7-Segment & LCD DisplayActivate/Reset
Figure 3.1: Architecture diagram of GSM remote sensing monitoring system.
23
3.2 Input Devices
From Figure 3.1, the input devices of the system are the twisted pair copper cable, the
Reflectometer sensing circuit, then activates and the reset button to activate and reset the
system.
3.2.1 Twisted Pair Copper Cable
Figure 3.2: Twisted pair copper cable.
Figure 3.2 shows the twisted pair cable. Twisted pair cable is an input to the
Refleftometer sensing circuit. When the twisted pair copper cable is in open circuit state
after being cut by theft, the capacitance or ESD effect will occur [35]. Figure 3.3 shows
the theory of the copper cable relating the cable length to the capacitance effect.
Cable length, L1
Cable length, L2
L1 > L2 => C1 > C2
Equivalent Capacitance, C1
Equivalent Capacitance, C2
C C C C C C C C
C C C C
Figure 3.3: Relation between capacitance values with the cable length.
24
From Figure 3.3, the capacitance value of a copper cable pair will increase as the
length of the cable increases and will decrease as the length of the cable decreases. In
this project, Equation 3.2 is used to calculate the distance or length of the telephone
cable being cut from the origin point. To calculate the distance or length of the telephone
cable being cut from the origin point, the formula is slightly different due to long cable
have the higher capacitance value but it’s frequency value will be lower or vice versa.
2
1
1
2
,
,
,
,
fFrequencyCableCut
fFrequencyCableOriginal
LLengthCableOriginal
LLengthCableCut (3.1)
From Equation 3.1, Equation 3.2 is formed to find the cut cable’s length from the origin
point.
1
2
12 ,
,
,, LLengthCableOriginal
fFrequencyCableCut
fFrequencyCableOriginalLLengthCableCut
(3.2)
3.2.2 Reflectometer
The Reflectometer sensing circuit will act as a sensor to detect the capacitance value of
the copper cable and convert it into equivalent frequency value and send it as an input to
the FPGA board. The output of the Reflectometer is an input to the FPGA board (Altera
DE2-70), connected via EXT_CLK input. Figure 3.4 shows a 555 timer set up as an
astable multivibrator to form a Reflectometer circuit to sense and locates faults on the
open-circuited wire. The frequency of the voltage output is;
CRR
HzfBA 2
443.1
(3.3)
By changing the resistor value of the RA or RB, the Reflectometer would be able
to detect the open circuit of twisted pair cable for a certain range of distance.
50
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