Anti-Theft Tracking System for Automobiles

(AutoGSM)

G.S.Prasanth Ganesh, B.Balaji , T.A.Srinivasa Varadhan

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

Abstract——Technology achieves success only when it meets every devices. Once the two devices are connected, a constant stream
stratum of people. Apart from the various GPS tracking devices of digital data is relayed. This allows the receiving end to hear
this paper introduces a first of its kind vehicle tracking system the data being sent before the whole message or data was finished.
that works only using GSM technology, which would be the The advantage to this is there's no wait time.
cheapest source of vehicle tracking anti-theft system. It is a small
kit that consists of a GSM module and several other components. A. Mobile Station:
The sys- tem can be switched ON by an SMS from the owner, Mobile stations consist of a mobile unit and a smartcard, also
which in turn instructs the microcontroller to turn OFF the vehicle, referred to in the trade as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)
receive in- formation about the vehicle’s current location or more. card. This card sits inside the cell phone right under the battery.
Once this is done, the microcontroller stimulates the GSM The SIM gives the user more personal mobility by providing and
module to forward the details of the nearest Base Station to the storing many functions that the user many not normally get or use
owner’s mobile via text message. The microcontroller which
with a cell phone. The equipment itself is identified by a unique
number known as the International Mobile Equipment Identity
receives the delivery messages through the GSM module evaluates
(IMEI).
the time gap between succes- sive messages to determine the
exact location of the vehicle in a given area. The enviable
B. Base station:
advantage of this system is that it helps the owner in tracking the
vehicle at a greater pace, and reduces the complexities comparing
The base station is composed of the Base Transceiver Station
(BTS) and the Base Station Controller (BSC). Communication is
other system, besides being a cheapest alternative for anti-theft
established across the standardized Abis interface. The BTS
system as well. contains the radio transceiver, which is in reality the cell, and
takes care of the radio-link protocols of the station. It is here that
Keywords- CBM, Code conversion, Microcontroller, GPS, GSM. signals from and to cell phones are established.

C. Network Stations:
I. INTRODUCTION:
The network station consists of the Mobile Services
There are various GPS (Global Positioning System) based Switching Center (MSC). This system is what handles all the
tracking systems prevailing today. Still in the Indian scenario mobile subscribers including registration, authentication, location
they are not in much of use because of economy. Similarly, all of user and cell, and call routing. The MSC in cooperation with
over the world the systems installed are predominantly for the the Home Location register (HLR) and the Visitor Location
Register (VLR), take care of mobile calls and routing of phone
four wheelers; but for a country like India where majority of the calls.
population thrives using two wheelers, here is the cheapest source
of an anti-theft tracking system. This system works purely on III. SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE (SMS):
GSM (Global System for Mobiles) and proves to be enormously
One of the key features of GSM systems, besides connecting
effective.
user's cell phones, is by using roaming and Short Message
II. GLOBAL SYSTEM FOR MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS (GSM): Service (SMS). Both these services give you a lot of
GSM uses a process called circuit switching. This method of functionality because you can reach and communicate with
communication allows a path to be established between two others at anytime of the day or night no matter where you may
___________________________________ be.
978-1-61284-632-3/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE


 IV. MICROCONTROLLER: TABLE I. THE EXACT PICTURE OF THE CBM

The microcontroller is the interface between the GSM module

and the vehicle. It is a combination of microprocessor, data Octet No. Field
memory, A/D converters and other peripherals. It stimu- lates the
module in message forwarding and it is programmed in such a 1-2 Serial number
way that it switches OFF the engine once it receives a message
3-4 Message identifier
from the user, thus emphasizing its significance in preventing
vehicle hi-jack. The process happens in a short period of time, 5 Data Coding Scheme
and hence proves to be vital for theft control. They are much
smaller and simplified so that they can include all the functions 6 Page parameter
required on a single chip. Having the micro- controller is of great
7-88 content of message
use, as it has low design cost and adds intelligence to the system.

V. HOW GPS SYSTEMS WORK: Ignoring the first six bytes saves time and it does not take
A tracking device that employs the GPS utilizes the following much time to decode the data in the message into valuable
as its major components: A GPS Tracking device, a GPS server information. This distinguishes the system’s working from other
and a user interface. Actually what is done here is that, the tracking devices as we do not present a picture of the vehicle
tracking device is placed in the vehicle which is acti- vated when being tracked, but still determine its exact location and time.
the user desires to switch ON and with the help of the global Thus the capabilities are even more enhanced as we can
positioning satellite, the data is transmitted and is available online. determine the distance travelled from the information that we
Using suitable ‘map’ software, the user can determine the exact obtain, and the same is also calculated by the system. The exact
location of the tracked system. This uses the GPS server and the picture of the CBM is provided in Table I.
user interface during transmission and reception of valid data. Hence the decoding process carried out by a decoder affixed
The major drawback here is the cost, owing to the ‘specific’ use separately in the system or as programmed in the micro controller
of positioning satellites and the internet access that is required. is required for the raw content from 7-88. The rest of it is
neglected thus saving our time. The entire process is carried out
VI. HOW THIS SYSTEM WORKS: in a short time, as soon as the broadcast message is received. The
The working is simple and just similar to carrying a mobile information is converted into a 7-bit ASCII data which contains
phone along with you and connecting to it from another device. the essentials for tracking. The notable feature of this system is
Here we vary the working from that of the GPS which connects the programming that can be made different for different users.
through the internet and then a user interface, by just displaying Thus the system is flexible from the user’s perspective as it can
the information containing the location and other essential details determine the time duration of sending and receiving the
through an SMS. messages and eventually the time during which the vehicle is
First, the GSM anti-theft tracking system is put to task when misused. Not alone the timing, but also many other features like
it receives a message from the user, which is during a vehicle hi- automatic door lock, vehicle condition evaluation and much more.
jack. This triggers the microcontroller in switching OFF the
engine or it stimulates the module in forwarding the location or VII. ADVANTAGES OF GSM:
both. The message forwarding is explained as given below: If you have a cell phone you know how easy it is to pick up
The Cell Broadcast Message (CBM) is common for an area your cell and make a call. The GSM system allows this to happen.
having a particular Base Station (BS). This message passes on the This makes communications around the world possible. You
information that contains the location as well to the mobiles that never have to worry about not being able to get in touch with
pass by a given area around that BS. It is known that a Cell is a your friends or loved ones again when travel- ling.
region having the BS at its center. So a mobile gets registered to A. No additional Costs Involved:
the BS when it enters that particular cell and acquires the There aren't any side costs involved other than maintaining
message as soon as it enters the vicinity. network connection which is lifetime these days. There are also
no infrastructure establishment costs.


B. Low Operating Cost: VIII. CONCLUSION:
Using GSM keeps your operating costs down because GSM We strongly believe that the development of a nation could
uses Short Message Service, which keeps band- width and time be done only through progressive development of all class of
down.
people. Hence this vehicle tracking system which not only
C. Reliability: proves to be effective but also cheap would definitely help a
GSM is a very reliable system. There is hardly any down time great deal in bringing down expenses ,ensuring the safety of
unless a severe electrical storm was to damage a transceiver or the vehicle be it 2 or 3 or 4 or even higher wheeled vehicles.
cell somewhere.

D. Global Coverage: REFERENCES:

GSM covers the entire globe. So your chances of using your [1]. Kaveh Pahlavan and Prashanth Krishnamurthy, “Principles of wireless
cell phone to make a call and the call going through are 100% at networks: A unified approach 1st,” Prentice Hall PTR Upper Saddle
best. You won't need to worry about that aspect of the service. River, NJ, USA.2001.
Just travel with confidence knowing you are only a phone call [2]. Mazidi; Muhammad Ali, Mazidi; Janice gillspie, Mckinlay, Rolin
away from reaching your friends and family. D.,“The 8051 microcontroller in embedded systems: Using Assembly
and C,” 2ndedition published by Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as
Prentice Hall
E. Low Power Consumption: [3]. ma xim-ic.com - For Microcontrollers.
GSM systems do not use a large amount of power. They rely [4]. beginnersguide.com - For GSM.
on so little energy to operate that you can actually you a solar or
wind system as backup power and you wouldn't have enough [5]. howstuffworks.com - For GSM.
power to operate the system.