UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM

COLLEGE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

TE 498: FINAL YEAR PROJECT I

PROJECT TITLE: HOME APPLIANCES CONTROL SYSTEM USING MOBILE PHONE
SMS

A Project Report in Partial Fulfillment for the Award of

BSc IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING

NAME: KILINDU ATUPELE

REG#: 2009-04-01997

PROGRAMME: BSc IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING

SUPERVISOR: Dr. MASSAWE L.V

SIGNATURE:

SUBMISSION DATE: 10TH JANUARY, 2013

i

DECLARATION

Certification

Statement of Authorship and Originality.

I declare that this report and the work described in it are my own work, with any
contributions from others expressly acknowledged and/or cited.
I declare that the work in this report was carried out in accordance with the Regulations of
the University of Dar es Salaam and has not been presented to any other
University for examination either in Tanzania or overseas. Any views expressed in the
report are those of the author and in no way represent those of the University of Dar es
Salaam.

SIGNED:........................................................

DATE:..........................

This report may proceed for submission for assessment for the award of

B.Sc. in Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Dar es Salaam.

Review Committee Signature:..........................

Date:..........................

Supervisor Signature: ........................

Date:..........................

ii

ABSTRACT
This project is designed to make home appliances easy to control when a user is not at home.
The need for being physically present to control these appliances is eliminated by
application of this project. A project design and implement home appliances control system.
Using a mobile phone the development of the control system will be carried out using SMS.
This will communicate with a GSM modem, which in turn controls the devices attached to
microcontroller modules. When the action has been carried out then a response is sent back
to the user to give feedback about the status of the appliances.
I have achieved to specify requirements of the system, designing and analyses several parts
of the system.
This report consists of four chapters; Chapter 1 explaining Introduction about the project,
Chapter 2 explaining Literature review, Chapter 3 explaining Requirement capture, analysis
and designing and Chapter 4 explaining Conclusion and Recommendation.

iii

ACKNOWLDGEMENTS
First of all I would like to thank the almighty God for keeping me strong both mentally
and physically during the development of my project from the early stages up to this
point when I am completing this report.

I would like to sincerely extend my heartfelt appreciation to my project supervisor

Dr. Massawe for being extremely supportive to me in carrying out my project. His advices
and recommendations have been vitally significant for the progress of my project.

A lot of thanks should also go to all the instructors from the College of Information and
communications Technologies for the knowledge obtained from them has been helpful
and greatly applicable in my project.

I also thank my fellow students, friends and family. Their material and moral
support is hugely appreciated as it has played a major role in my project.

For anyone who has played part in helping me in my project to this point but has not been
mentioned in this page, it does not mean your assistance is not appreciated; you are
all honored for your contribution. Blessed be you all for your assistance.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM ................................................................................................. i
DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... iv
LIST OF SYMBOLS, ABBREVIATION AND NOMENCLATURE ............................................... vii
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................................. ix
LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................................. x
CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 MOTIVATION ............................................................................................................................ 1
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT.......................................................................................................... 1
1.4 OBJECTIVES.............................................................................................................................. 2
1.4.1 Main objective ...................................................................................................................... 2
1.4.2 Specific objectives ................................................................................................................ 2
1.5 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................... 3
1.5.1 Literature reviews ................................................................................................................. 3
1.5.2 Problem analysis and requirement specifications ................................................................ 3
1.5.3 System design and analysis .................................................................................................. 3
1.5.4 Implementation ..................................................................................................................... 3
1.5.5 Testing of the system............................................................................................................ 3
CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................................... 4
2.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 4
2.2 EXISTING SYSTEM .................................................................................................................. 4
2.3 GSM TECHNOLOGY AND SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE ................................................... 5
2.3.1 GSM technology .................................................................................................................. 5
2.3.2 Basic Specification in GSM ................................................................................................ 7
2.3.3 Short Message Service .......................................................................................................... 8
2.3.4 What makes SMS messaging so successful worldwide? ..................................................... 9
2.3.5 Short Message Service Center (SMSC) ............................................................................. 10
CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................................. 12
3.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 12
v

3.2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS ......................................................... 12

3.2.1 Functional requirements and Specifications ....................................................................... 12
3.2.2 Hardware and Software requirements ................................................................................ 13
3.3 SYSTEM ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................... 14
3.3.1 Block diagram analysis ....................................................................................................... 14
3.4 DESIGN AND DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS ............................................................................... 17
HARDWARE PART ....................................................................................................................... 17
3.4.1 Power supply module: ........................................................................................................ 17
3.4.2 Notification module: The Buzzer ....................................................................................... 18
3.4.3 Appliance module: .............................................................................................................. 20
3.4.4 Control module ................................................................................................................... 20
CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................................... 22
4.1

WORK DONE SO FAR ...................................................................................................... 22

4.2

FUTURE WORK ................................................................................................................ 22

4.3

CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 22

4.4

RECOMMENDATION ....................................................................................................... 22

REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................... 23
APPENDICES: .................................................................................................................................... 24
APPENDIX A: PROJECT TIME SCHEDULE .............................................................................. 24
APPENDIX B: PROJECT TIME SCHEDULE .............................................................................. 25
APPENDIX C: COST ESTIMATIONS .......................................................................................... 26

vi

LIST OF SYMBOLS, ABBREVIATION AND NOMENCLATURE

AC - Alternating Current.

BTS-Base Transceiver Station

DC - Direct Current.

ETSI- European Standard Telecommunication standard.

GSM - Global System for Mobile communication.

HLR- Home Location Register

ISDN- Integrated Switched Digital Network

I/O - Input/output.

LCD - Liquid Crystal Display.

MODEM - Modulator/Demodulator.

MSC- Mobile Switching Center.

OMC- Operation and Maintenance

Center
PC - Personal Computer

PIC - Programmable Interrupt Controller.

PSTN- Public Switched Telephone Network.

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Rx-Receiver

SIM - Subscriber Identity Memory.

SMS - Short message Services.

UART-Universal asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter

Tx- Transmitter

VLR- Visitor Location Register.

viii

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure2.1: GSM Architecture.6
Figure 3.1: Block diagram showing the hardware components arrangement14
Figure 3.2: Block diagram of a linear power supply..17
Figure 3.3: Power supply circuit..18
Figure 3.4: buzzer simulation circuit19
Figure 3.5: Specifications of the buzzer20
Figure 3.6: Appliance interface circuit..20
Figure 3.7: The microcontroller PIC 16F876A..21

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 GSM Air Interface Specifications..7
Table 3.1: Hardware requirements and their specifications..13
Table 4: Project schedule for semester 1...24
Table 4.2: Project schedule for semester 225
Table 4.2: Cost estimates for the project26

xi

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
Home appliances are necessities to help us survive in our busy lifestyles and also to enjoy
more time with our family and friends. A desire to improve lifestyle a system can be
formulated to control these household utilities. The motivation is to facilitate the users to
automate their homes having ubiquitous access. Now a days most of the systems are
automated in order to face new challenges and achieve present day requirements. Automated
systems have less manual operations so that the flexibility, reliabilities are high and accurate.
Everyone will find these items making their lives easier and be more appreciated.
This project is about designing a control system to make home appliances easy to control
when a user is not at home. The system is a GSM based control system, using a mobile
phone the development of control system will be carried out using SMS.
1.2 MOTIVATION
I take this project as challenge case study but also home appliances users should no longer
worry about the state of the appliances to whether to switch ON/OFF or do other functions
when they leave the house as this project come with a scientific solution of controlling home
appliances remotely.
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT
Home appliances have become unavoidable appendages in our lives in the present day hectic
lifestyle. Super energy efficient models of every appliance out there use less energy, and
therefore enable the customers to save money. People are willing to pay more for these
particular appliances, because in the long run, they're actually saving a lot more money than
they're spending [1].
With the technological advances of today's appliances, people are obviously drawn to these
products. As we are using them every day to simplify our daily chore, a user may forget to
manually switch off when he/she left at home. Excessive electrical power is going to be
consumed with no purpose. With the development of this project those bills from excessive
1

electrical power consumption are going to be reduced by developing an automatic system for
controlling home appliances using mobile phone messages and this will ultimately save a lot
of time because dont have to come back for simple things such as to turn OFF/ON switches
at their home once they go to their respective work.
In addition, a user can take advantage of that in such a way that a person getting off the
office does not get melted with the hot climate as he/she can be able to control different
states of appliances.
1.4 OBJECTIVES
1.4.1 Main objective
The project is aimed at designing and implementing the use of mobile phone messages to
remotely control home appliances.
1.4.2 Specific objectives
The specific objectives are:

Designing a microcontroller based system that will be programmed to receive

instructions and commands from a mobile phone over the GSM network and execute
them accordingly to control home appliances; a microcontroller will communicate
the status of an appliance back to a mobile device lighting system.

Interfacing GSM Module with a microcontroller.

Interfacing Microcontroller and Home appliances.

1.5 METHODOLOGY
There are several known control system development approaches and methodologies, but
my project will rely on decomposition down into modules and examining them how they
relate to each other.
The following basic steps or approaches will be applied:
1.5.1 Literature reviews

In this approach, I will be reviewing some of the literatures like GSM and SMS
TECHNOLOGY books. I will also consult with my supervisor hand to hand in order to get
the necessary corrections and guidance on the project progress. In addition to that I will also
consult other lectures and experts in the best way possible.
1.5.2 Problem analysis and requirement specifications

In analyzing the problem I will be looking on the current existing system and understand its
limitations and knowing what should be added to improve the system or develop a new
system and meet my objectives.
1.5.3 System design and analysis
Designing block diagram of the system and analyze it block by block called modules.
1.5.4 Implementation
Implementation of a design into a proper working system-this will involve hardware
interconnections and software simulations as appear in a design part to form a well working
system.
1.5.5 Testing of the system

This is to check if the system is properly working and meet the objectives and retesting will
be done if the functionality and performance requirements have not been full filled.

CHAPTER TWO
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
This part explains the original existing systems, their features, working principles,
limitations and advantages and disadvantages of it, it also explains GSM and SMS
technology.
2.2 EXISTING SYSTEM
A manual control exists where a user has to be near the appliances to switch ON/OFF
appliances for the usage and to keep track of the status of the appliances a user also has to
come from where he/she is to switch ON/OFF the intended appliance, its advantages is that
a user is assure of total control regardless of any conditions such as network problems,
disadvantage is that this may be wastage of time and uneasy lifestyle as a user will find
having these appliances as a burden.
Infrared remote control system. The use of electronic controllers for controlling electrical
home appliances can be found widely around the world especially in the developed
countries. By time, wireless technology such as infrared light communication. This wireless
technology is widely commercialized and can be found almost anywhere. Though appealing,
it still has a weakness due to the use of infrared light as data transmission medium. When
there are objects blocking the infrared receiver, the process of communication. Nowadays,
almost every equipment and controlling those electrical appliances becomes difficult due to
the point-to-point or line-of-sight communication mode [2]. From this situation, came the
idea to create a wireless electronics control system utilizing Bluetooth technology for data
transfer and control of electrical appliances [2].
Home appliances control system with cellular phone via Bluetooth, in this project, a system
that uses the application of wireless Bluetooth as data transfer medium was built. Bluetooth
technology operates over unlicensed, universally available frequency of 2.4 GHz, it can link
digital devices within a range of 10m at the speed of 1Mbps[3], the process of controlling
these appliances became easy and more automatic compared to use of infrared and manual
control due to the advantage of no need of the point-to-point or line-of-sight communication

mode. But this system was limited to a Personal Area Network due to a small available
range for Bluetooth wireless device to communicate (10m-15m maximum).
2.3 GSM TECHNOLOGY AND SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE
2.3.1 GSM technology
GSM is a global system for mobile communication GSM is an international digital
cellular telecommunication. The GSM standard was released by ETSI (European Standard
Telecommunication Standard) back in 1989. The first commercial services were launched
in 1991 and after its early introduction in Europe; the standard went global in 1992.
Since then, GSM has become the most widely adopted and fastest-growing digital cellular
standard, and it is positioned to become the worlds dominant cellular standard.
Todays second-generation GSM networks deliver high quality and secure mobile voice
and data services (such as SMS/ Text Messaging) with full roaming capabilities across
the world.
GSM platform is a hugely successful technology and as unprecedented story of global
achievement. In less than ten years since the first GSM network was commercially
launched, it become, the worlds leading and fastest growing mobile standard, spanning
over 173 countries. Today, GSM technology is in use by more than one in ten of the
worlds population and growth continues to sour with the number of subscriber
worldwide expected to surpass one billion by through end of 2003.
Todays GSM platform is living, growing and evolving and already offers an expanded
and feature-rich family of voice and enabling services
The Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network is a cellular
telecommunication network with a versatile architecture complying with the ETSI GSM
900/GSM 1800 standard. Siemens implementation is the digital cellular mobile
communication system D900/1800/1900 that uses the very latest technology to meet
every equipment of the standard.

Figure2.1:GSMArchitecture

2.3.2 Basic Specification in GSM

S.N.

Parameter

Specifications

Reverse Channel frequency 890-915MHz

Forward Channel frequency 935-960 MHz

Tx/Rx Frequency Spacing

45 MHz

Tx/Rx Time Slot Spacing

3 Time slots

Modulation Data Rate

270.833333kbps

Frame Period

4.615ms

Users per Frame

Time Slot Period

576.9microsec

Bit Period

3.692 microsecond

10

Modulation

0.3 GMSK

11

ARFCN Number

0 to 124 & 975 to 1023

12

ARFCN Channel Spacing

200 kHz

13

Interleaving

40 ms

14

Voice Coder Bit Rate

13.4kbps

Table 2.1 GSM Air Interface Specifications.

2.3.3 GSM Services
GSM services follow ISDN guidelines and classified as either tele services or data
services. Tele services may be divided into three major categories:
Telephone services, include emergency calling and facsimile. GSM also
supports
Videotex and Teletex, though they are not integral parts of the GSM standard.
Bearer services or Data services, which are limited to layers 1, 2 and 3 of the
OSI reference model. Data may be transmitted using either a transparent
7

mode or nontransparent mode.

Supplementary ISDN services, are digital in nature, and include call diversion,
closed user group, and caller identification. Supplementary services also
include the short message service (SMS).[4]
2.3.3 Short Message Service
SMS stands for Short Message Service. It is a technology that enables the sending and
receiving of message between mobile phones. SMS first appeared in Europe in 1992. It
was included in the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) standards right at
the beginning. Later it was ported to wireless technologies like CDMA and TDMA. The
GSM and SMS standards were originally developed by ETSI. ETSI is the abbreviation
for European Telecommunication Standard Institute. Now the 3GPP (Third Generation
Partnership Project) is responsible for the development and maintenance of the GSM and
SMS standards.
One SMS message can contain at most 140 bytes (1120 bits) of data, so one SMS
message can contain up to:
160 characters if 7-bit character encoding is used. (7-bit character encoding
is suitable for encoding Latin characters like English alphabets).
70 characters if 16-bit Unicode UCS2 character encoding is used. (SMS text
messages containing non-Latin characters like Chinese character should use
16- bit character encoding).
Once the message is sent the message is received by SMSC, which must then get it to the
appropriate mobile device. To do this the SMSC sends a SMS request to Home Location
Register (HLR) to find the roaming customer. Once HLR receives the request, it responds
to the SMSC with the subscribers status:
1. Inactive or active
2. Where subscriber is roaming.
If the response is inactive, then the SMSC will hold onto the message for a period of
time. When the subscriber access his device, the HLR sends a SMS notification to the
SMSC and the SMSC will attempt delivery.
8

The SMSC transfer the message in a Short Message Delivery Point to Point format to the
serving system. The system pages the device, and if it responds, the message gets
delivered. The SMSC receives verification that the message was received by the end user,
then categorizes the message as sent and will not attempt to send again.

SMS provides a mechanism for transmitting short message to and from wireless devices.
The service makes use of an SMSC, which acts as a store and forward system for short
messages.
One major advantage of SMS is that it is supported by 100% GSM mobile phones.
Almost all subscription plans provided by wireless carriers include inexpensive SMS
messaging service.
2.3.4 What makes SMS messaging so successful worldwide?
SMS is so success all over the world. SMS messaging is now one of the most important
revenue sources of wireless carriers. Some of the reasons are discussed below.
SMS Messages can be sent and read at any time
SMS Message can be sent to an offline Mobile Phone.
SMS Messaging is less disturbing while you can still stay in touch.
SMS are supported by 100% GSM Mobile Phones and they can be
Exchanged between different wireless carriers

2.3.5 SMS S e r v i c e Providers ( SMS G a t e w a y P r o v i d e r s , S M S R e s e l l e r s ,

S M S Brokers)
There is a demand for SMS connectivity from applications that does not require the
sending or receiving of large amount of SMS messages. One example is a remote
monitoring system. If the remote monitoring system finds that a certain server is not
responding, it will send an SMS alert to the system administrator mobile phone. This
remote monitoring system will have a very small amount of SMS traffic per month since
the servers being monitored should be working fine most of the time.
Since a wireless carrier usually doesnt provide direct SMSC or SMS gateway access to
user without a large amount of SMS traffic, some companies come out to fill the gap.
9

These companies are called SMS service providers.

SMS service providers are also known as SMS gateway providers, SMS resellers and
SMS brokers because of the following reasons:

SMS gateway providers-: An SMS service provider provides an SMS

gateway for its user to send SMS message to. This SMS gateway will then
route the SMS message to another SMS gateway or SMSC.

SMS reseller and SMS broker-: SMS service provider buy a large amount
of SMS message from a lot of wireless carrier at low price per SMS
message. They then sell the SMS message at a price higher than the cost.

Another advantage of using the SMS connectivity services of SMS service providers is
that their network coverage is very good. They work hard to cover as many wireless
networks as possible so as to make their services attractive.[5]
2.3.5 Short Message Service Center (SMSC)
SMSC is a combination of hardware and software responsible for the relaying and storing
and forwarding of short message between an SME and mobile device.
The SMSC must have high reliability, subscriber capacity, and message throughput. In
addition, the system should be easily scalable to accommodate growing demand for SMS
in the network.
Normally, an IN-based solution will allow for a lower entry cost compared pointing
solutions because it can support other applications on single hardware platform and share
resources, thereby spreading the deployment cost over several services and applications.
Another factor to be considered is the ease of operation and maintenance of the
application, as well as the flexibility to activate new services and upgrade to new
software releases.
Nepal has two mobile companies

Nepal telecommunication

Spice Nepal Pvt.Ltd.

Both companies have their own SMSC. Nepal telecommunication has +9779851028801.
Similarly Spice Nepal Pvt. Ltd. has +9779800009000

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4.1.4 Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol

The short message peer to peer protocol (SMPP) is a protocol for exchanging SMS
messages between SMS peer entities such as message service centers. It is often used to
allow third parties (e.g. content suppliers like news organizations) to submit messages,
often in bulk.
The protocol is based on complimentary pairs of request / response PDUs exchanged
over OSI layer 4 (TCP/IP session or X.25 SVC3) connections. PDUs are binary encoded
for efficiency.

11

CHAPTER THREE
3. REQUIREMENT CAPTURE, SYSTEM DESIGN AND SPECIFICATIONS
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter will describe how the features and functions of SMS based control system will
be developed. The stated problem will be decomposed into smaller modules and working on
individual modules one after another and at the end, this chapter will responsible to answer
the following important questions:
What are the general system requirements?
What are the general specifications for the system?
Which features and functions are to be developed?
How will be the flow chart of the control unit system?
What are the design specifications for the modules?
3.2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS
3.2.1 Functional requirements and Specifications
The system should meet the following specifications and functional requirements for the
user to avail the great advantage of this system:

The system will consist of three parts (sub systems) which are Cellular phonesends and receives text messages from control unit, control unit-communicate
with a network sends instructions to the appliances and response back to the
cellular phone and appliances-a controlled part.

There will be two operating environments .The cellular phone will operate indoors
and outdoors whereas the control unit will operate indoors within the temperature
and humidity limits for proper operation of the hardware.

The system will be multi-function appliance control, means appliance which

needs other functions rather than ON and OFF, example bulb control for home
uses can be ON, OFF or DIMMED.

The system will control two home bulb appliances by switching them ON and
OFF and change intensity of light.
12

The control unit will have the ability to connect to the cellular network
automatically.

The control unit will control the electrical appliances by issue commands
to the electrical appliances through a simple control circuit.

The microcontroller within the control unit should be able to detect the status of
the appliances and send status messages back to the cellular phone through the
cellular network.

The system should provide user authentication through cell phone number
identification and/or password verification contained within the (SMS) text
message.

The system should have useful features such as notification of signal strength
of the network used by modem and power status of the system to make it reliable.

3.2.2 Hardware and Software requirements

The control system will require a minimum of the following hardware and software
requirements:
Hardware:
Hardware Required
1.

Microcontroller

2.

GSM Modem

Specifications
PIC 16F876A
Siemens GSM/GPRS
Smart Modem

3.

Mobile phone

4.

Resistor

Nokia phone
MINRES6K2,MINRES7K5,
MINRES9K1

5.

Transistor

6.

LCD

7.

Diodes

8.

Thyristor and Relays

9.

Bulbs

240 V AC bulb
13

Table 3.1: Hardware requirement and their specifications.

Software:
i.

KEIL VISION Software

This is the software which will be used for writing the application program
software of the microcontroller.

ii.

ATMEL programmer.
This is the software used to load the program to the microcontroller.

iii.

Proteus schematic software:

Is used for designing the circuit diagram for this project which will further be
simulated.

3.3 SYSTEM ANALYSIS

3.3.1 Block diagram analysis

LCD DISPLAY

GSM NETWORK

GSM MODEM

MICROCONTROLLER

CELLULAR PHONE
RELAY AND
TRIAC
CONNECTIONS

APPLIANCE 2
( BULB 2 )

APPLIANCE 1
( BULB 1 )

BUZZER

POWER
SUPPLY

Figure 3.1: Block diagram showing the hardware components arrangement.

14

Power Supply:
Power supply provides regulated (step-down rectified) DC power supply from AC mains to
circuit components (ICs, relays, microcontroller and other components of the system).
The buzzer:
The buzzer is a device which when activated it produces an audible tone. It will be used in
this system to produce notifications about signal strength of the mobile of the system in
audible sound form.
It will be connected to one of microcontroller output pin. So microcontroller will give high
or low signal to switch on/off buzzer. For example, the buzzer will sound every time the
signal strength of the network used by modem is low or there is power cut to the system
from power supply due to the electric failure.
GSM modem
In the proposed system, modem is used to made communication between the microcontroller
and the user mobile (cellular) phone via GSM network. It will be connected to
microcontroller pins and has a SIM card in it so as to act as a GSM node. GSM modem
receives the SMS sent by the user who wishes to operate any of the connected appliances
and then forwards it to the microcontroller. The microcontroller will initiate messages every
time a change is done in the appliances by providing their status, and then the modem will
forward this message to the mobile phone of the user.
Mobile phone:
In this system the mobile phone will be used by user of the system to remotely communicate
with the GSM modem. It will be used for sending the text message to ask for the status
and/or to do the controlling actions such as switching ON/OFF the bulb or controlling
intensity of the bulb. Also the mobile phone will receive various status messages from the
controller side to indicate any change of the appliances status.

15

LCD display:
It will be used to display the status of the operation performed by microcontroller (status of
the appliances) and makes overall system user friendly.
Microcontroller:
The microcontroller is the central brain of the system, and it acts as the controller of all
actions in the system. The microcontroller will be connected to other blocks through its pins
and reads various signals from those parts, interprets them and perform the required action
by sending an appropriate signal to the respective device through output pins.
To enable communications with remote mobile phone, the microcontroller is connected to a
GSM modem in one of its pin. Whenever a user wants to change the status of the appliances
he/she sends a message to the GSM modem using a mobile phone, a microcontroller decodes
the received messages and sends the appropriate instructions to appliances to control them
by either switching ON/OFF or change intensity of light for bulb or speed of the fan.
Microcontroller also monitor completion of actions controlled and send the status of the
appliances back to the mobile phone of a user.
Relay and TRIAC connections:
Relay is used to isolate one electrical circuit from another. It allows low current control
circuit to make or break an electrically isolated high current circuit path; this will enable it to
act as a switch in our system to switch ON/OFF appliances.
TRIAC is a semiconductor device which has ability of changing conductivity through the
two terminals depending on the triggering levels of the gate. It starts conducting when there
is enough voltage passing through the gate, by utilizing that ability digital switching between
speeds can be implemented and variation of intensity of the bulb can be achieved.
Relay and TRIAC connections will enable our system to be able to switch ON/OFF
appliances and perform another control such as change intensity of bulb, speed of the fan.

16

Appliances:
Are the controlled household utilities, can be switched ON/FF or changed to any status
depending on the user requirements.

3.4 DESIGN AND DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

The designing of the system begins hardware design followed by the software design in
order to optimize design result and still satisfy requirements. Hardware and software
integration is done after hardware and software detail design. Finally system testing is
carried out. In this first project I will do hardware design.
HARDWARE PART
This section deals with the physical components and their specifications that will be used in
SMS Remote controller. This section divided into five subsections which are:

Power supply module

Notification module

Appliance module

Control module

Display module

GSM modem module

3.4.1 Power supply module:

The maximum and minimum voltage ratings are taken into consideration while designing
power supply.

A 0-12V/500 mA transformer is used for this purpose

The 7805/7812 voltage regulators which are used to provide 5V/12V output
respectively.

This should provide DC voltage of +5V and +12V to the components

AC power
output

Rectifier, Filter
(AC TO DC
ADAPTER)

Regulator

Filter

DC

(7805/7812)

17

Figure 3.2: Block diagram of a linear power supply

The following is the simulated schematic of the power supply that produces a regulated 5V
and 12V DC using IC voltage regulator 7805 and 7812.

Figure 3.3: Power supply circuit.

The primary of the transformer is connected in to main supply through on/off switch& fuse
for protecting from overload and short circuit protection. The secondary is connected to the
bridge rectifier to convert 12V AC to 12V DC voltage. And filtered by the capacitors, which
is further regulated to +5v, by using IC 7805 and 12V by using IC 7812 voltage regulator.
3.4.2 Notification module: The Buzzer
The buzzer needs much voltage that microcontroller pin cannot provide, so there is a need of
an amplifier in order to be driven, a transistor can be used for this purpose. Thus the buzzer
is connected in between the supply and collector of the transistor. The base of the transistor
is connected to the pin of the microcontroller and for simulation purpose 5V dc source will
be used since the microcontroller also provides 5V dc on its pins.

18

Figure 3.4: buzzer simulation circuit

The above circuit will be used to interface the buzzer to the microcontroller and whenever
the pin is made high the buzzer will sound and get off when that pin is low.
The 10k resistor at the base will act as the pull up resistor for the microcontroller port and
transistor BC238BP is used. This is a low power, cheap and easily available transistor.
The buzzer specified above, have the following features:

Part Code: LGBUZZER4

Voltage: 3 - 28 Vdc
King state Buzzer - KPE-260
The operation current of 4mA at voltage of 12v
Dimensions: 31mm Diameter, 13mm High, 38mm between mounting
holes

Figure 3.5: Specifications of the buzzer

19

The internal resistance of the buzzer will then be (12V)/(4mA) = 3k

3.4.3 Appliance module:
Home appliances cannot be directly connected to microcontrollers; this is because they are
AC operated devices while microcontrollers are low voltage DC operated devices. Therefore
to control AC operated devices from DC voltage, a relay or a triac or a combination of relay
and triac is used depending on mechanism of controlling.
Due to availability of appliances, two bulbs which have three states ON,OFF and DIM for a
fixed low brightness will be used, the aim is to control appliances remotely and one of the
commonest appliance used at home is a bulb(240V) the states can be applied using two
relays for a single bulb and triac connections. The triacs are triggered to give varied output
AC power for the bulbs. When using a relay to control AC operated devices a relay driver is
required this is because the voltage ratings for most relays are between 6V to 24V which is
the higher than output from most microcontrollers.
Figure 3.6: Appliance interface circuit
3.4.4 Control module
This module is a brain of the system. Its main component is a microcontroller. The
microcontroller should be able of receiving data from GSM module and processes it to
produce the desired output. Furthermore it should be able of showing the status of data if
received or ready to be read. The microcontroller should have enough outputs for appliances.
To implement all these functions I chose PIC 16F876A microcontroller manufactured by
Microchip as the processing unit. The reasons for choosing the PIC are:

The availability of the programmer.

It supports simple instructions defined by the MikroC compilers like MikroC

and MPLAB.

Has unused 20 pins which can be used to attach outputs for appliances.

The PIC has UART interface for serial communication.[6]

20

Figure 3.7: The microcontroller PIC 16F876A

21

CHAPTER FOUR
4.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

4.1 WORK DONE SO FAR
Up to now the following have been accomplished:
Literature review based on GSM and SMS technology and current existing systems.
Requirement gathering (hardware and software requirements) for the control system.
Requirements capture (functional) for the control system.
System analysis and initial design done block by block called modules.

4.2 FUTURE WORK

The remaining task is the continuation of designing and implementation part of the system
which includes:
GSM module design.
LCD module design.
Control module detail design
Software development for the required part including microcontroller.

Interfacing other modules with the control module.

4.3 CONCLUSION
This project I have undertaken has helped us gain a better perspective on various aspects
related to our course of study as well as practical knowledge of Telecommunication
Engineering. I have become familiar with problem analysis and designing steps.
The end product will have a simplistic design making it easy for users to interact with. This
will be essential because of the wide range of technical knowledge that homeowners have.
4.4 RECOMMENDATION
This project so far is a small implication of our concept in automating and monitoring a
system. The detail design and practical application are immense and can have a vast level of
implementation which will be done in the second semester of the final year. So it is not the
end of the project but rather a step towards accomplishment of the objectives. This control
system is recommended for every homes, offices, laboratories, hospitals and industries to aid
22

those working or living in those places when it comes to controlling their appliances,
equipment. This control system has to be perceived by the society and the world at large as a
necessary and vital technological upgrade.

REFERENCES
1. ETimes.(2008) Home appliances [Online]. Available from: http://www.realtorindian.
com/?&action=tips&sec=General%20Information&sub=Home%20Appliances
[Accessed 22nd October 2012].
2. Shafanizam, M., Arief Y. Z. & Adzis Z. (2012) Development of electrical appliance
Controlling System using Bluetooth Technology. International Journal of
Engineering and Innovative Technology, 1(4), 1-2.
3. Sriskanthan, N., Tan, F., & Karande, A. (2002). Bluetooth based home automation
system. School of Computer Engineering, Nan yang Technological University.
Report number: 3.
4. Peersman,C.,Cvethovic,S.,Grif-ths,P.,Spear,H.,2000.Theglobalsystemformobilecom
municationshortmessageservice.IEEEPers.Commun. 7, 1523.
5. Collesei,S.,Tria,P.,Morena,G.,2005.Short message service based applications in the
GSM network. In: Proceedings of Fifth IEEE International Symposium on Personal,
Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications,vol.3,pp.939943.
6. Freescale Semiconductor.(2007).Selecting the wright Microcontroller unit[PDFtype]. http: //www.freescale.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/app_note/AN1057.pdf

23

APPENDICES:
APPENDIX A: PROJECT TIME SCHEDULE
This is the schedule activity that indicate the starting of first semester to the end of first
semester

ACTIVITY 1
ACTIVITY 2
ACTIVITY 3
ACTIVITY 4
ACTIVITY 5
ACTIVITY 6
ACTIVITY 7
ACTIVITY 8

Table 4: Project schedule for semester 1

ACTIVITY 1- Confirmation of project title and submission
ACTIVITY 2- Feasibility study and Literature Review
ACTIVITY 3- Specify requirements and specifications for the system and do analysis
ACTIVITY 4- Preliminary designing of the system
ACTIVITY 5- Progress report Submission
ACTIVITY 6- First Oral presentation
ACTIVITY 7- Compiling final report and submission
ACTIVITY 8- Final oral presentation

24

WEEK 15

WEEK 14

WEEK 13

WEEK 12

WEEK 11

WEEK 10

WEEK 9

WEEK 8

WEEK 7

WEEK 6

WEEK 5

WEEK 4

WEEK 3

ACTIVITY

WEEK 2

TIME IN
WEEKS

WEEK 1

PROJECT SCHEDULE(SEMESTER 1)

APPENDIX B: PROJECT TIME SCHEDULE

This is the schedule activity that indicate the starting of second semester to the end of
second semester

WEEK 15

WEEK 14

WEEK 13

WEEK 12

WEEK 11

WEEK 10

WEEK 9

WEEK 8

WEEK 7

WEEK 6

WEEK 5

WEEK 4

WEEK 3

ACTIVITY

WEEK 2

TIME IN
WEEKS

WEEK 1

PROJECT SCHEDULE(SEMESTER 2)

ACTIVITY 1
ACTIVITY 2
ACTIVITY 3
ACTIVITY 4
ACTIVITY 5
ACTIVITY 6
ACTIVITY 7
ACTIVITY 8

Table 4.2: Project schedule for semester 2

ACTIVITY 1- Continuing with literature review
ACTIVITY 2- A detailed design of the system-schematic and simulations
ACTIVITY 3- Building prototype and implementation
ACTIVITY 4- Preparation and submission of progress report
ACTIVITY 5- Mid semester presentation
ACTIVITY 6- Testing and redesigning of the system
ACTIVITY 7- Compiling and submission of project final report
ACTIVITY 8- Final project presentation

25

APPENDIX C: COST ESTIMATIONS

The following table describes the estimated costs for the project

No

Component/Material

Cost/Price

1.

Microcontroller

30,000/=

2.

GSM cellular phones/modules

120,000/=

4.

Relays and Triacs

10,000/=

5.

LCD

40,000/=

6.

Diodes, Resistors and Capacitors

25,000/=

7.

Connectors

8.

Stationary

20,000/=

9.

Miscellaneous Electronic components

20,000/=

5000/=

and other materials

Total

270,000/=

Table 4.2: Cost estimates for the project

26

27