GSM Jammer

Proposal
Final Year Project
Fall 2006

Project Advisor

_________________
Dr. Pervaiz Akhtar

Group Members
Syed Absar Ahmed Shah
Sohaib Zafar
Syed Ali Wajahat Jafri
Overview

GSM Communication – Basic Structure

The GSM communication network works on airwave frequency band 890-960MHz,

with two banks – the uplink band (935-960MHz), and the downlink band (890-
915MHz). Each band is 200kHz wide. Each uplink frequency is coupled with a
downlink frequency. Together, this pair of frequencies is known as an ARFCN
(Absolute Radio Frequency Number). By using TDMA (Time Division Multiple
Access) technology, each ARFCS accommodates eight timeslots, which can be (at
a very basic level), seen as a separate channel (although this is not the case). This
binding of eight timeslots on a single ARFCN is also known as a TDMA frame.

The MS (Mobile Set) is a dumb device, which only communicates with the BTS
(Base Transceiver Station), which carries out the rest of the operations necessary for
proper communication. The MS-BTS communication is carried out over two types of
channels:

1. TCH (Transmission Channels)

2. And three control channels:
a. BCCH (Broadcast control channel)
b. CCCH (Common control channel)
c. DCCH (Dedicated control channel)

Each channel is assigned a fixed timeslot on a TDMA frame.

Approach

The basic approach to prohibiting the use of cell phones in an area is to add
interference to the frequencies that accommodate GSM communications. If this
interference signal is produced on the uplink frequencies, the results can be
disastrous.

Consider a BTS, serving a radius of 2km. If a GSM device lies in that radius, it will
tend to communicate with the BTS at all times at the assigned frequencies,
completely consuming the limited capacity of the BTS. Therefore, no other cell phone
in the service area of the BTS will be able to make or receive a call. This is unfair to
people outside the intended, legal area of jamming (such as banks, which are PTA
authorized to use jammers for security purposes).

A more civilized, and technically feasible approach would be to produce interference

only on downlink frequencies. In this manner, only phones in the service area of the
Jammer will be disrupted, since their incoming transmission would be junk, because
of the interference. Phones outside the power range of the jammer will be able to
make and receive calls as usual.
Project Breakup

Equipment Required
To test the equipment during development stages, a CRO (Cathode Ray
Oscilloscope) and a frequency generator, capable of recording and producing,
respectively, frequencies of up to 450MHz would be required. A spectrum analyzer
capable of measuring GSM frequencies would suffice.

Proposal
We propose a device that would disrupt downlink frequencies only in the GSM band,
due to testing limitations for the higher DCS and PCS frequencies. The power level
would be fixed at a nominal value.

Device
The, according to our understanding at this point, will consist of three major, definitive
parts:

1. The Power Section

2. The RF Section
3. The Transmission Section

A basic analysis of each section follows.

Basic Analysis

The Power Section of the device will make the device wall-socket-pluggable in a
220V environment. It will transform input power into the form preferred by the RF
Section. It will make sure that the output power of the device only affects the desired
area, and does not contain overshoots. The RF Section will generate the waveform
necessary to disrupt the GSM communication service in the uplink frequency range.
The Transmission Section will consist of a suitable antenna, and an
amplifier/attenuator, to control the region of interference, and to effectuate suitable
jamming.

Expansion
If need may arise in the future, the device would be modified to incorporate jamming
capabilities for DCS and PCS bands, employing the same principle as in the project.
The power levels may also be made adjustable by the use of appropriate
amplifiers/attenuators.

However, this shall not be under the scope of our current proposed project.