GPS location-based mobile blocking in

mosques at prayer times

PA L E S T I N E P O LY T E C H N I C U N I V E R S I T Y
H E B R O N , PA L E S T I N E

PROJECT TEAM:
A L A ' S . A L - J A A F R E H , TA G H R E E D H . Z A H E D A ,
A B E D - A L R A H M A N H . AYA SI , H A S S A N S . A L - J U N E DI ,
S AL I H I M A D A L - H AZ E E N
S O S A _ 3 7 9 @YA H O O . C O M ,
H E S H A M Z A H E D A @YA H O O . C O M ,
A B E D _ AYA SI @ H O T M A I L . C O M ,
H A S S A N AL J U N E I D I @ H OT M A I L . C O M ,
SALEH_88_2@HOTMAIL.COM

PR O J E C T S U P E R V IS O R S :
D R . R A D WA N TA H B O B & DR.MURAD ABU.SUBAIH
R A D WA N T @ P P U . E D U M U R A D S @ P P U .E D U
 Introduction
The overall objective of this project is to control the disturbance caused by the mobiles
ringing during praying times in mosques.

Many mosques are currently using Mobile Jammer systems. Jammers generate a signal
within the same frequency band of Global System for Mobile (GSM) system. Jammer's
signals cause GSM signals to diminish. Though jammer signal cancels GSM signals
coming to the mobile from base stations, this technique may not be efficient, especially
when jammer is in off state. Also the health issues of Jammer power signals are debatable
issue among different experts.
The main aim of this work is to develop a new system for call blocking in mosques
during prayer times. This objective has been achieved by changing mobile mode to
SALAH/Silent profile based on Global Positioning System (GPS) location
measurements.

In this project we will determine the user's mobile location to determine whether the user
is inside or outside a mosque. The mobile will automatically change its mode to
SALAH/Silent profile depending on its location and the time of praying. The mobile will
automatically switch back to General profile when praying time finishes. The localization
technique for the mobile will be developed using GPS technology.
This project is developed as a team work between computer and communication
engineering students and consulting with civil engineering students.

The IT Application including the databases

system main components :
The following figure show the main system components (Figure1).
31 ° 33.371N
35 ° 04.919E

Figure1: System main components

SCREEN SHOTS :
1. GPS software testing using carbide c++ simulator(Figure 2).

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Figure2: Carbide c++ Simulator

2. GPS software testing on real mobile phone (Figure 3).

Figure3: GPS software on real mobile

GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS):

Signals Information
GPS satellites Mobile station (MS) Developed Software

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 Figure4: GPS mobile blocking system general block diagram

The GPS satellites broadcast signals, and then the mobile receives these signals and
analyzes them using our developed software to give information about its current location
(Figure 4). Then, according to this information in addition to praying time stored in a
database (local or remote), the mobile decides whether to block (change to SALAH
profile) or not.

There are two options to determine the mosque location depending on GPS technology:

First option (depends on distance): Calculate the distance between current reading
and a reference points. The following flowchart describes this option (Figure 5).

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..
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.. Start
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Search for GPS

No
AGPS??

Yes

Establish a connection

Read GPS coordinates

Calculate distance (Dc)

Compare to the distance

and direction to the
reference point (Dr)

Dc=Dr
yes

No
Read current time
Pervious mode

No Current time ==prayer time

yes

Off line

End

Figure5: Flowchart for the first localization option

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Second option (compare specific GPS coordinates):
In this option the current readings will be compared to the stored coordinates. The
following flowchart describes the flow of operation (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Flowchart for the second localization option

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. project database:
The database of the project will contain three tables, as shown in the relational database
schema (Figure 7).

MOSQUE
MosqueID Point1 Point2 Point3 PrayerTime

COUNTRY
CountryID TimeZone longitude Latitude

PRAYERTIMES
CountryID PrayerTime

Figure 7: Relational database schema for blocking system database

Main Features

Functional requirements:

1. Develop a new profile for the mobile named SALAH.

2. Develop software that will determine if a mobile is inside the location of a

mosque using GPS technology.

3. Automatically block incoming calls by switching mobile to SALAH/Silent

profile during praying times.

4. Automatically switch back to General profile after prayer times end.

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 Non functional requirements:

1. Make the software scalable which mean new mosque coordinates could be
included in the database.

2. Give the user the ability to configure/choose whether to move to SALAH profile
or not.

3. Determine the time zone of a country depending on the GPS coordinates instead
of store this information in database

Design options
Global Positioning System (GPS):

In the GPS techniques, there is no hardware needed to be built from the original device.
Instead, we will use GSM tower signals to measure the signal strength, GPS satellites,
and the mobile phone itself as hardware for this project, according that the software will
be installed onto the mobile to block the calls depending on such measurements.

GPS satellite signals:

A GPS receiver must be locked on to the signal of at least three satellites to calculate a
2D position (latitude and longitude) and track movement. With four or more satellites in

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 ..
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.. can determine the user's 3D position (latitude, longitude and altitude).
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view, the receiver
We will primarily be interested in the 2D positioning information (longitude and
latitude).
by consulting civil department we got the following equations that will be implement in
our design and software

* Degrees Minutes Seconds (ddd° mm' ss.s")

This is the most common format that is used on maps. This format will be converted to
the degree decimal format to apply it on the equation of the distance. To convert from
degrees minutes seconds to degrees decimal minutes divide the seconds by 60 to get the
decimal minutes:
Decimal degree= degree ° M+(s/60)

* The equation of the distance:

D =R*cos-1(sin(X2)*sin(X1)+cos(X2)*cos(X1)*cos(Y2 – Y1)
Where: D: is the distance between two points
R: Earth radius = 6378 km.
X2: is the longitude of the first point.

X1: is the longitude of the second point.

Y1: is the latitude of the first point.

Y2: is the latitude of the second point.

Then we can calculate the distance between two points and determine
the location accordingly.

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 A reference point on the surface of the mosque is implemented, and the coordinates
of this point is taken by a GPS receiver. Additionally, other points will be taken around
the mosque, and to each of these points the measurements of the position will be taken
by the GPS device, according to the equation which is defined previously as the distance
between the reference point and each point of the surrounding points, and using a proper
software these distances will be stored on Mobile station or on the network itself.
After that, using a smart phone with software that measures the GPS coordinates of its
location, MS will estimate the distance between its GPS location and the reference points
above the mosque.

Then while the MS moving it reads its position readings, and it takes these readings
and compares them with the stored distances. If this reading is in the range of the testing
area or close to them, the MS will signal the network that it is in the target area, and the
network will block the incoming call for this MS.

As the surrounding points around the mosque increase, then more accuracy
localization will be achieved, and the percentage of error will be decreased.

Global System for Mobile (GSM):

To support our project there is another option for localization called Received Signal
Strength Indicator (RSSI)

Signals Information
Base Transceiver station (BTS) Mobile station (MS) Developed Software

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The mobile station (MS) takes the signals from the base transceiver stations (BTS), and
measures the received signals strength from each BTS. Then it analyzes them using
appropriate software to identify the mobile station's location. After that, the results of the
analysis are reported to the system by the mobile. Consequently, the system decides,
depending on the software, whether to block call or not.
However and for time limitation, this option will not be implemented in this project and
will be left for future work.

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