SMS-Based Power Supply Monitoring Device for Telecommunications’ BTS Site

This project was conducted to develop a monitoring system to monitor the power supply condition of the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) sites of Telecommunications companies. Specifically, it aimed to design a system that monitors the power supply condition of the site, make a prototype model of this device using Arduino Microcontroller and GSM Shield module, and develop a source code that commands the monitoring device to send SMS messages automatically to the caretaker of the site when power is interrupted. The monitoring system consists of two primary elements which are the GSM monitoring device as the transmitter and the cell phone of the caretaker as the receiver. The transmitter consists two primary components (i.e. Arduino Board and GSM Shield). The Arduino Board is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328, programmed capable with C - based programming language, and it is designed to work together with other devices and has a number of facilities for communicating with a computer, another Arduino, or other microcontrollers. The Arduino GSM Shield allows an Arduino board to connect to the internet, make/receive voice calls and send/receive SMS messages. The shield uses a radio modem M10 by Quectel. It is possible to communicate with the board using AT commands. Hence, this monitoring system provides a parallel monitoring system for the designated caretaker of the BTS site since BSC has existing monitoring system and notifies the caretaker manually through phone call. The monitoring device is designed to send text messages to the caretaker when brownout occurred and continuously sends every five minutes interval unless the main supply is back or the generator set is switched-on to power the BTS site. The implementation of this monitoring device could guarantee a more efficient and simplified monitoring operation.

Keywords - base transceiver station (BTS), monitoring system, Arduino Board, GSM shield.