CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1

Introduction of Chapter

A Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Mobile Phone Jammer is a device that transmits the signal on the same frequency at which the GSM system operates (890MHz- 915MHz). The jamming success when the mobile phone in the area where the jammer located is disabled.

1.2

Project Background

Communication jamming devices were first developed and used by military whereas tactical commanders use Radio Frequency (RF) communication to exercise control of their forces an enemy has interest in those communications. This interest comes from the fundamental area of denying the
1

successful transport of the information from the sender to the receiver. Nowadays, the mobile phone jammer devices are becoming civilian product rather than electronic warfare device. With the increasing number of the mobile phone users, the need of disable mobile phones in the specific places where the ringing of the mobile phones would be disruptive has increased. These places include worship places, university lecturer rooms, libraries, schools, classes, meeting room and other places where silence is appreciated. Mosques are one of good example for the places where mobile phone jammer would be operated, although mosques ask politely from prayers to disable their mobile phone while in the mosques. Some people forget and the ringing of their mobile phones becomes very annoying especially during prayer time. Here, in our country Malaysia with a rather low population, three main mobile phone operators are available such Maxis, Celcom and Digi. These three operators use GSM 900 and GSM 1800 system. The device which jammed these Maxis, Celcom and Digi are known as Mobile Phone Jammer or GSM Jammer. The technology behind the mobile phone jamming is very simple. The jamming broadcast an RF signal in the frequency range reserved for mobile phones that interferes with the cell phone signals, which results in a no network available display on the mobile phone screen. In most countries, Mobile Phone Jammers or GSM Jammers is illegal. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the USA: "The manufacture, importation, sale, or offer for sale, of devices designed to block or
2

jam wireless transmissions is prohibited". However, recently, there has been an increasing demand for portable mobile phone jammers. I should mention that this project, presented in this report, is solely done for educational purposes. There is no intention to manufacture or sell such devices in Malaysia, or elsewhere. In this project, a device that will jam both GSM 900 and GSM 1800 services will be designed, built, and tested.

Figure 1.0: No Phone at This Area

The goal was to develop a Mobile Jammer with an emphasis on the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) frequency band. The UHF frequency band is around 900MHz to 1800MHz. Mobile Phone Jammer is a transmitter used to broadcast electromagnetic signals capable of blocking frequencies used by Radio Frequency (RF) transmitter. When active in a certain area, the Mobile Phone Jammer will prevent any RF transmission signal from communicating with RF receiver. The main objective of this project is to design, develop and implement
3

a Mobile Phone Jammer which can disrupt and prevent the RF transmission signal. The Mobile Phone Jammer will disrupt a frequency approximately GSM frequency that will be transmitted by the UHF RF transmitter.

1.3

Problem Statement

Since the increasing number of the mobile phone users, the need of disable mobile phone in the specific places where the ringing of mobile phone would be disruptive has increased. Mobile Phone Jammer can provides the ultimate solution in any area where cellular communications frequently cause irritation either by loud incoming call rings or loud telephone conversations. So, Mobile Phone Jammer is suitable in executive offices, board meetings, conferences, seminars, libraries, cinemas, religious places, concert halls, and schools.

1.4

Main Objectives

The aim of Final Year Project (FYP) is to provide the opportunity for students to apply and integrate the theoretical knowledge and principles taught in the course in solving technical problems. It also provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate independence and originality, as well as to plan and organize a project over a certain period of time. Throughout this course, student should also be able to: Document all findings and problems encountered during the implementation. Apply practical hands-on techniques in process, quality control and related analysis in their specialized program. Demonstrate the procedures and methods of project implementation. Execute the sequence in various steps required to produce / manufacture / test / solve / improve the real life industrial projects problems. Analyze findings and results of the project. Produce a technical report and make a presentation

1.5

Project Scope

The scope of this project after completely success is to achieve these objectives: To analyze the concept of Mobile Phone Jammer with GSM system. To study all possible ways to interrupt the signal. To design and analyze the Intermediate Frequency (IF) section. To design and analyze the RF section. To design and analyze the power supply section.

1.6

Project Plan

1.6.1

Semester 1 January February

Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9

March
Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13

April
Week 14 Week 15

Activity/ Weeks Topic Selection Literature Review Methodology Proposal Component research Circuit Design Project Progress Implementation & Testing Discussion & Conclusion Final Report

Week 1

Week 2

Table 1.0: Project Plan Semester 1

1.6.2

Semester 2

July
Activity/ Weeks Topic Selection Literature Review Methodology Proposal Component research Circuit Design Project Progress Implementation & Testing Discussion & Conclusion Final Report Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5

August
Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9

September
Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13

October
Week 14 Week 15

Table 1.1: Project Plan Semester 2

1.7

Project Costing

No. 1.

Component Resistors: 1. 220 , 1% 2. 6k, 1% 3. 10k, 1% 4. 6.8k, 1% 5. 82k, 1%

Quantity

Price (RM)

1 1 1 1 1

0.20 0.20 0.40 0.20 0.50

2.

Capacitors: 1. 30pF, 30% 2. 1pF, 2% 3. 50pF, 2% 4. 50F, 2% 5. 5pF, 2% 6. 1pF, 2% 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.30 0.30 0.40 0.35 0.30 0.30

3.

Inductors: 1. 2. 1nH, 1% 2.2nH, 1% 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.40 0.45 10.00 158.00 5.00 100.00 30.00 15.00 322.30 Table 1.2: Project Costing for Hardware Component

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

9V battery Transistor (2N5108) Timer 555 (8pin) Handphone Nokia 1100 Antenna (short telescopic antenna) Circuit board Total

No. 1. 2.

Equipment Printing Binding Total Table 1.3: Project Costing (Other Cost)

Price (RM) 100.00 100.00 200.00

Total Cost

= Hardware Cost + Other Cost = RM 322.30 + RM 200.00 = RM 522.30

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1.8

Project Significance

This project will benefit many parties. Implement the mobile detector for smart mobile phone jammer can offer additional advantages for teachers. So, people who are praying in the mosque will not disruptive. This project also gives benefit to the school children and parents. This project helps to ease worries among the parents by avoiding students break into school rules and regulations. It will overcome limitations of current safety that provided by school. Another advantage, not bringing the mobile phone to school will avoid the loss of mobile phone. Instead of mosque and school, this project significant to many more places such as, meeting rooms, libraries and hospitals. With this project, anyone who is entering these places, the mobile phones will be jammed automatically.

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1.9

Summary of Chapter

This project is mainly intended to prevent the usage of mobile phones in places inside it coverage without interfering communication channels outside it range, thus providing a cheap and reliable method for blocking mobile communication in the required restricted area only. Although we must be aware of the fact that nowadays lot of mobile phones can easily negotiate the jammer effect are available and therefore advance measures should be taken to jam such type of devices. The main disadvantage of the mobile phone jammer is that the transmission of the jamming signal which is prohibited by law in many countries. These disadvantages will constrain the use of mobile phone jammer.

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CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0

Introduction of Chapter

The literature is a valuable resources and an important storehouse of knowledge and thinking about a topic area. This chapter will discuss more about all of the information related to the project. It is structured in subtopics of Mobile Phone, Mobile Phone Jammer, Jamming Techniques, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), antenna and other related applications. The literature review in this paper is based on Internet, journal, books, and articles.

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2.1

History

2.1.1

Previous Work

The rapid proliferation of mobile phones at the beginning of the 21st century to near ubiquitous status eventually raised problems such as their potential use to invade privacy or contribute to rampant and egregious academic cheating. In addition public backlash was growing against the intrusive disruption cell phones introduced in daily life. While older analog mobile phones often suffered from chronically poor reception and could even be disconnected by simple interference such as high frequency noise, increasingly sophisticated digital phones have led to more elaborate counters. Mobile phone jamming devices are an alternative to more expensive measures against mobile phones, such as Faraday cages, which are mostly suitable as built in protection for structures. They were originally developed for law enforcement and the military to interrupt communications by criminals and terrorists. Some were also designed to foil the use of certain remotely detonated explosives. The civilian applications were apparent, so over time many companies originally contracted to design jammers for government use switched over to sell these devices to private entities. Since then, there has been a slow but steady increase in their purchase and use, especially in major metropolitan areas.[1]

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Mobile Telephone Service (1946- 1984). This system was introduced in 6-17-1946. Also known as Mobile RadioTelephone Service. This was the founding father of the mobile phone. This system required operator assistance in order to complete a call. These units do not have direct dial capabilities.

Improved Mobile Telephone System (1964-present). This system was introduced in 1969 to replace MTS. IMTS is best known for direct dial capabilities. A user was not required to connect to an operator to complete a call. IMTS units will have a keypad or dial similar to what you will find on a home phone.

Advanced Mobile Phone System (1983-2010). This system was introduced in 1983 by Bell Systems, the phone introduced by Motorola in 1973 and released for public use in 1983 with the Motorola 8000. AMPS also known as 1G and cellular should not be confused with its European counterparts such as NMT, ETACS/TACS or JTACS.

15

2.1.2

Present Work

The previous research that related to Mobile Phone Jammer is widely used in United Kingdom. There is no company in Malaysia provide this mobile phone jammers. This project implemented in the mosque whereas this project will avoid any disruptive while in the mosques. People who are bringing the mobile phone inside the mosque will be jammed whereas no signal was detected. This Mobile Phone Jammer is using GSM to jam the frequencies. So, this Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Phone Jammer with GSM will commercialize in Malaysia. Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) GSM is an acronym for Global System for Mobile communications. It accounts for about 70% of the global mobile market. GSM uses a variation of time division multiple access (TDMA) and is the most widely used of the three digital wireless telephone technologies (TDMA, GSM, and CDMA). [2]

2.2

Summary This chapter is about the literature review on how I review and reveal the information based on Internet, journal, books, articles, and from newspapers. Through the internet research and references, it fulfills the requirement of the research. Chapter III will explain more regarding the methods used to gain information before achieving the goals.

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CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

3.1

Introduction

This chapter will discuss on the methodology use in gaining information, analyzed the equipment and plan the technique. In this section, the technical aspect regarding to the project will be listed.

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3.2

Definition of Methodology

The word methodology is defined as a system which comprises the principles, practices and procedures which are applied to a specific branch of knowledge. Methodology refers to the way in which information is found or the way something is done. Methodology includes the methods, techniques and procedures which are used to collect and analyse information. A methodology is defined as something that represents a package comprising practical ideas and proven practices for a given area of activity. Methodology includes the planning, the development of the design and the management of the systems which are based on information technology. The word methodology also refers to a documented approach which is used to perform activities in a manner which is coherent, consistent, accountable and repeatable. Methodology is a process that mainly consists of intellectual activities. Usually only the end goal of the methodological process is manifested as the product or result of the physical work. In software, the term methodology is used to a specific series of steps or a procedure which governs the activities of analysis and design.

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3.3

Project Overview

This section briefly discusses the overall project design including the block diagram of the activities, device design and program development. In this stage, only hardware will work as a complete system.

3.3.1

THE FREQUENCY BANDS It is important to select the frequency that needs to jam by the jammer. Basically

the Mobile Jammer transmits the same frequency with GSM and it will jam the GSM phone and not the Base Station. The GSM Mobile Phone Jammer is design to jam the downlink of The GSM frequency because it did need high power to jam. The frequency that had been designed for the Mobile Phone Jammer will be as follow:
GSM 900 935-960 MHz GSM 1800 1805-1880 MHz

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3.4

Project Block Diagram

Figure 3.0: Project Block Diagram

3.4.1

Power Supply

From Figure 3.0, power supply is needed to supply the other sections with the required voltages. Any power supply consists of the following main parts: Transformer: - is used to transform the 220VAC to other levels of voltages.[3]

Figure 3.1: Transformer 9V

20

Rectification: - this part is to convert the AC voltage to a DC one. The Filter: - used to eliminate the fluctuations in the output of the full wave rectifier eliminate the noise so that a constant DC voltage is produced. This filter is just a large capacitor used to minimize the ripple in the output.

Regulator: this is used to provide a desired DC-voltage.

Figure 3.2: Power Supply Schematic Diagram

Figure 3.3: Power Supply Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Layout

21

3.4.2

IF Section

The tuning section of the jammer sweeps the Voltage Control Oscillator (VCO) through the desired range of frequencies. Basically, it is just a triangle or sawtooth-wave generator; offset at a proper amount so as to sweep the VCO from the minimum desired frequency to a maximum.
[4]

The tuning signal is generated by a triangular wave mixed

with noise. The IF section consists of three main parts: 1. Triangle wave Generator (to tune VCO in the RF section) 2. Noise generator (provides the output noise) 3. Mixer (to mix triangle and the noise waves)

3.4.2.1

Triangle wave Generator

The main use of the triangle wave is to sweep the VCO through the desired frequency range to cover the downlink through our VCO such 935-960 MHz for VCO66CL, and 1805-1880MHz for VCO55BE. 555timer IC were used and operates in the a-stable mode to generate the sweeping signal. The output frequency depends on the charging and discharging of the capacitor, resistors values and the power supply for the IC.

Figure 3.4 :A Stable 555timer

22

Figure 3.5: Triangular Wave Generator

The charging time for the capacitor can be found as follows:

For discharging time, the following equation can be used:

The output frequency can be calculated as follows:

The Mobile Phone Jammer is designed to get the duty cycle (D.C.) equal to 50% which means the time needed for charging equals the discharging time. This can be done by using Ra=Rb and placing a diode across Rb. The following equation shows the output frequency:

23

Figure 3.6: Triangular Wave Generator Circuit

24

3.4.2.2

Noise Generator

Without noise, the output of the VCO is just an un-modulated sweeping RF carrier. Therefore, it is required to mix the triangular signal with noise (Frequency Modulation [FM] modulating the RF carrier with noise). To generate noise signal, the GSM Mobile jammer is designed to use the Zener Diode operated in reverse mode. Operating in the reverse mode causes what is called avalanche effect, which causes wide band noise. This noise is then amplified and used in my system. The design of this project use two amplification stages: in the first stage, use NPN transistor as common emitter, and in the second stage, use the LM386 IC {Audio amplifier}.

Figure 3.7: Noise Generator Circuit

25

3.4.2.3

Mixer

The mixer here is just an amplifier that operates as a summer. So, the noise and triangular wave will add together before entering the VCO. The LM741 IC was used to achieve this.

Figure 3.8: Op- Amp Summer Circuit Using Rnoise =1 K, we amplify the noise signal by 2. In this case, the ratio of the noise to the sweep signal is 2:1.

26

3.4.2.4

Clamper

The input of the VCO must be bounded from 0 to 3.5 V to get the needed frequency range. So, we need to add a clamper to get our goal. The clamper consists of a capacitor connected in series with a resistor and diode.

Figure 3.9: Positive- Diode Clamper

27

Figure 3.10: IF Schematic Circuit

Figure 3.11: IF PCB Layout

28

3.4.2.5

LM117

The LM117 is a series of low dropout voltage regulators with a dropout of 1.2V at 800mA of load current. The LM117 that has design in power supply is an adjustable version, which can set the output voltage from 1.25V to 13.8V with only two external resistors. In addition, it is also available in three fixed voltage 2.85V, 3.3V and 5V. This voltage is fulfilling the design for the power supply for the Mobile Phone Jammer.

Figure 3.12: LM117 Connection Diagram (Top View)

29

3.4.2.6

LM386

The LM386 is a power amplifier designed for use in low voltage consumer applications. The gain is internally set to 20 to keep external part count low, but the addition of an external resistor and capacitor between pins 1 and 8 will increase the gain to any value from 20 to 200.The inputs are ground referenced while the output automatically biases to one-half the supply voltage.

Figure 3.13: LM386 Outline

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3.4.3

RF Section

This is the most important part of the jammer, since the output of this section will be interface with the mobile. The RF-section consists of three main parts: voltage controlled oscillator VCO, power amplifier and antenna. The voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) is the important part of the RF-section. The device generates the RF signal which will interfere with the cell phone. The output of the VCO has a frequency which is proportional to the input voltage, thus, we can control the output frequency by changing the input voltage. When the input voltage is DC, the output is a specific frequency, while if the input is a triangular waveform and the output will span a specific frequency range. In my design, I need to find a VCO for GSM 900 and GSM 1800.

There are three selection criteria for selecting a VCO for this application: 1. It should cover the bands that needed 2. It should be readily available at low cost 3. It should run at low power consumption.

Moreover, Mobile Phone Jammer needs to minimize the size of GSM-jammer. So, a lot of research through the internet for VCO's that work for GSM 900 & GSM 1800 bands characteristics. Finally, the suitable oscillator is CVCO55BE for GSM 1800. The output frequency is 1785-1900 MHz and the output power is up to 5 dBm. The Mobile Jammer also use CVCO55CL for GSM 900. The output frequency is 925-970 MHz and the output power is up to 8 dBm. The system is using these ICs for the following reasons: Surface mount, which reduces the size of product. Having large output power that reduces the number of amplification stages that we need. Having same value of power supply which is typically equal to 5 volt.
31

 Having same noise properties.

Figure 3.14: CVCO55BE

Figure 3.15: CVCO55CL

3.4.3.1

Power Amplifier

To achieve the desired output power, a gain stages was needed and about searching for a suitable power amplifier, I found that it is difficult and expensive to look for power amplifier from mobile phones. The PF08103B Hitachi power amplifier module from NOKIA mobile phone was sufficient to amplify an input signal in the range 800MHz to 1GHz by 34dB. But its recommend in the data sheet that the power at the input should be 1dBm.

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Figure 3.16: The Power Amplifier

3.4.3.2

Antenna

A proper antenna is necessary to transmit the jamming signal. In order to have optimal power transfer, the antenna system must be matched to the transmission system.

Antenna Specifications: Frequency 1700-1900 MHz Input impedance 50 VSWR <2

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3.5

Summary

There are three parts in Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Phone Jammer which is power supply, IF Section and RF section. The power supply is designed to supply 12V, 3.3V and 5V to the IF and RF Section. At IF sections the mixer mix the generated noise and the triangle wave that will connect to RF section. The RF section will produces RF signal that will interfere the phone signal.

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CHAPTER 4

RESULT AND ANALYSIS

4.1

Introduction

This section will be discussed on the testing result. The Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Phone Jammer has been tested against three testing which is testing between operators, distance testing and duration jammed testing.

35

4.2

Result

The circuit has been constructing in PCB board. The jammer has designed into three section which are power supply, IF section and RF section. The reason why the jammer designed into three parts is because to get easy when doing troubleshooting. Picture below show the three parts of Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Phone Jammer.

Figure 4.0: Power Supply circuit on PCB Board

36

Figure 4.1: IF circuit on PCB Board

Figure 4.2: RF section

37

Since 5 dBm output powers from the VCO do not achieve the desired output power of the GSM jammer, an amplifier with a suitable gain must be added to increase the VCO output to 34 dBm. The PF08109B has high gain of 35 dB. As datasheets illustrated that this IC is designed to work in dual band GSM & DCS, the first designed of the circuit is using only one power amplifier IC. Upon testing, the jammer didnt work properly. It was concluded that amplifier IC does not work at the two bands simultaneously. Such a fact was not indicated in the datasheets. This result was really a big shock, but easily solved by changing the whole RF design.

Figure 4.3: Hardware of project

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4.3

Analysis

Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Phone jammer was successfully jammed 3 operators in Malaysia. Which are Maxis, Celcom and Digi. When the jammer is on it will give no coverage for the phone in that range that using GSM system which use in 2G.This jammer did not function in 3G mobile phone because 3G use high frequency which is 2100MHz frequency while 2G only cover 815MHz to 925MHz.[5] Pictures below show the result after testing this jammer on the 3operators in Malaysia; Maxis, Celcom and Digi.

MAXIS

JAMMER OFF

JAMMER ON

CELCOM

JAMMER OFF

JAMMER ON

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DIGI

JAMMER OFF

JAMMER ON

The results show that this project was function well. This testing is to see the duration of time that takes by the jammer to jam the GSM phone between the operators. The testing has been done using three major operators in Malaysia which is Maxis, Celcom and Digi. From the testing, the time that take for the jammer to jam the phone between the operator is different. For the Maxis it takes 55 second, Celcom is 87 seconds and Digi takes 37 seconds to jammed after the Mobile Jammer is on. The different between these three operators is because the threshold of the operator at that cell is different. The closest threshold from the jammer will be jammed first compared to other.

40

4.4

Summary

Based on the result and testing for the Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Phone Jammer, the objective of this project has achieved. The Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Phone Jammer successfully jammed all the three operators (Maxis, Celcom and Digi) but the radius of the range did not get as expected in the designed. For the duration take to jam the phone between the operators testing shows that there is the different duration time take to jam the GSM system phone when the jammer is ON. The different between these three operators is because the threshold of the operator at that cell is different and with a lot of research the jammer will improve by time to time.

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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

In this project, which turned out to be a full success, Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Jammer has been designed to stop phone ringing and avoids loud phone conversation. This device could be used in places where ringing is not desired at specific times, as these ringing may disturb people in such places. The designed device works in dual band. It jams both the GSM 800 and GSM 900 bands. The device was able to jam the three main cell phone carriers in Malaysia (Maxis, Celcom and Digi). The radius that covers by the Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Phone Jammer is too small due to power supply variation with load current, so to improve the jammer a more stable power supply should be designed for robust operation of the device. The power supply was not capable to deliver the needed current for the power amplifier and this reason for the actual coverage range of the device was not the same as designed. Even though the range of the jamming is not applicable as in theory, the project has met its objectives where it jammed 3 mobile operators in Malaysia. The Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Phone Jammer will give benefit to community and the solution for the place that not allowed the loud ringtone and loud phone conversation especially in mosque, hospital, petrol station, and cinema.

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5.1

Project Limitation

1)

Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Phone Jammer is an illegal in Malaysia to be

used the frequency that has been used by the operator. This will affect the profit of the operator. 2) The component that been used in the GSM mobile jammer is hard to find

especially the oscillator. 3) This project has a problem with the radius of the range that covered by Mobile

Detector for Smart Mobile Phone Jammer which did not get as expected. 4) Need to improve the frequency and power of Mobile Phone Jammer, so the 3G

and 4G phone will be jammed also.

5.2

Project Recommendation

In future, it is recommended that this Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Phone Jammer would have improvement to disrupt not only specific GSM frequency but in the range of 3G system. Last but not least, in future, it should implement the decrypted algorithm to decrypt the signal that has encrypted code before it can disrupt the signal. Hopefully the Mobile Detector for Smart Mobile Jammer will be useful to the community where such jamming devices are needed and this project can be commercialized.

43

5.3

Summary

The project was implemented according to the following plan:

Started by studying the jamming techniques, and GSM system to find the best jamming method. The system block diagram was also specified in this stage. Searched for components that are needed for building this device, and specified the main components which were : For RF section, two VCO needed that operate at the needed bands, power amplifier, and antenna. For the IF section, 555timer used, Zener diode, mixer, PC power supply and some discrete components (resistors and capacitors).

Hopefully this project will be useful for the community where such jamming devices are needed.

44

REFERENCES

[1] http://www.wirelessmuseum.org/history [2] http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/keyword/gsm [3] http://www.ace4parts.com/Products/9V-500mA-TR034--Power-Transformer__TR034.aspx [4] http://www.just.edu.jo/~nihad/files/mat/591/Jammer%20Final%20Report.pdf [5] Rappaport, Wireless Communication, Prentice, 2nd Edition

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APPENDICES

Appendix A: Poster

46

Appendix B: Datasheet

47