Mobile Jammer
Mobile Jammer
Mobile Jammer
uk
Provided by International Institute for Science, Technology and Education (IISTE): E-Journals
Abstract
Dissimilar cellular-systems process signals differently, and yet, all cell-phone-networks use radio-signals that
can be interrupted or, even, blocked, completely. This project highlights the design of a simple, low-cost mobile-
phone-jammer and aims to present a solution for the problem of inappropriate-use of the cell-phones in restricted
and prohibited-areas. The main concept of jamming is the releasing of signal (noise) of the same-frequency
which is using by mobile-service-provider to overpower and destruct the user-signal. The fabrication of the
jammer involved uncomplicated discrete components, resistors, capacitors, inductors and transistors to generate
the required frequency (noise) and then amplifies the frequency generated to range of 800 MHZ to 1.4 GHZ in
order to match the frequency of the mobile-phone being transmitted by the base-station. Relatively-satisfactory-
jamming of a mobile-signal was confirmed by the blocking of the signals of the mobile-phones in 2G and 3G-
networks (UMTS / WCDMA) operated via Safaricom, Airtell, Orange, and YU service-providers, when the
phone indicated “no network”, thereby allowing no call to go through, with no-interference to other
communication-means observed. Overall recommendation is that further and more deeper-research is needed to
produce more-sophisticated and better jamming devices, as not to affect the other base-station-transmission-
systems.
Keywords: mobile, phone, jammer, design, signal.
1. Introduction
Relevant and important-background-topics will be highlighted in this-section.
Figure 1: Cell-arrangement
When a cell-phone is turned-on, it reaches the nearest base-station and establishes a communication-
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link and this process is called ‘Registration’. The three-main-technologies used by cellular-phone providers are
2G, 3G, and 4G. Each-generation of technology uses a different-transmission-protocol. The transmission
protocols dictate how a cellular-phone communicates with the tower. Some examples are: Frequency division
multiple access (FDMA); Time division multiple access (TDMA); Code division multiple-access (CDMA);
Global system for mobile communications (GSM) CDMA2000; Wideband code division multiple-access
(WCDMA), and Time-division synchronous-code-division-multiple-access (TD-SCDMA) among others (Miao,
2016).
A cell-phone is a full-duplex-device, meaning that it operates on two frequencies; one-frequency is used
for talking and a second, separate-frequency, is for listening, enabling both-people on the call to talk at once
(Gralla, 2002).
A single-cell in an analog-cell-phone-system uses one-seventh of the available-duplex-voice-channels.
That is, each-cell is using one-seventh of the available-channels so it has a unique set of frequencies and there
are no collisions; a cell-phone-carrier typically gets 832 radio-frequencies (56 channels) to use. Analog-cellular-
systems are considered first-generation-mobile-technology, or 1G. With digital transmission methods (2G), the
number of available-channels increases. For example, a TDMA based digital system (more on TDMA later) can
carry three-times as many-calls as an analog-system, so each cell has about 168 channels-available. Cell-phones
have low-power-transmitters in them. Many cell-phones have two-signal-strengths: 0.6 watts and 3 watts. The
base-station is also transmitting at low-power. Low-power transmitters have two advantages: The transmissions
of a base-station and the phones within its cell do not make it very far outside that cell. Therefore, 2 different-
neighboring-cells can reuse the same-frequencies extensively across their limited-area (Prensky, 2001).
The power-consumption of the cell-phone, which is normally battery-operated, is relatively-low. Low-
power means small-batteries, and this is what has made hand-held cellular-phones possible. Mobile-phones have
an internal-memory called Number Assignment Module (NAM). Each NAM has its-own Mobile Identification
Number (MIN) programmed into it, which is a wireless-phone-number. The phone also contains an Electronic
Serial Number (ESN), which acts as recognition for the phone and helps as a security against cell-phone fraud. A
number identifying the cell phone with which it works is called the System ID (SID) (Gralla, 2002).
Cell-phones provide an incredible array of functions. Depending on the cell-phone model, one can:
Store contacts-information, Make task or to-do lists, Keep track of appointments and set reminders, Use the
built-in calculator for simple math, Send or receive e-mails, Get information (news, entertainment, and business-
updates) from the internet, record and view a video or an audio-data, Play games, Watch TV, Send and receive
text messages, and Integrate other devices such as PDAs, MP3 players and GPS receivers among others (Fielden
& Malcolm, 2008). It is evident that the positive purposes of mobile-phones have added tremendous-comforts
and conveniences to our-living.
1.1.1 Analog-cell-phones (first- generation)
In 1983, the analog-cell-phone standard called AMPS (Advanced-Mobile-Phone-System) was approved by the
Federal Communication Commission, USA and first used in Chicago. AMPS use a range of frequencies between
824 megahertz (MHz) and 894 MHz for analog-cell-phones. In order to encourage competition and keep prices
low, governments required the presence of two-carriers in every-market, known as A- and B-carriers. One of the
carriers was normally the local-exchange carrier (LEC)-a local-phone-company. Carriers A and B are each
assigned 832 frequencies: 790 for voice and 42 for data. A pair of frequencies (one for transmit and one for
receive) is used to create one channel. The frequencies used in analog-voice-channels are typically 30 kHz wide;
30 kHz was chosen as the standard-size because it gives voice- quality comparable to a wired-telephone. The
transmitting and receiving-frequencies of each-voice-channel are separated by 45 MHz to keep them from
interfering with each-other. Each carrier has 395 voice-channels, as well as 21 data channels to use for house-
keeping-activities like registration and paging. AMPS and NAMPS only operate in the 800-MHz-band and do
not offer many of the features common in digital- cellular-service, such as e-mail and Web-browsing (Campbell
& Park, 2008).
1.1.2 Digital- cell-phones (second- generation)
Digital- cell-phones use the same-radio-technology as analog-phones, but they use it in a different-way; Analog-
systems do not fully-utilize the signal between the phone and the cellular-network; analog-signals cannot be
compressed and manipulated as easily as a true digital-signal. Digital-phones convert a voice into binary-
information (1s and 0s) and then compress it. This compression allows between three and 10 digital cell-phone-
calls to occupy the space of a single-analog-call. Many digital-cellular-systems rely on frequency-shift-keying
(FSK) to send data back and forth over AMPS. FSK uses two-frequencies, one for 1s and the other for 0s,
alternating rapidly between the two to send digital-information between the cell-tower and the phone. Clever-
modulation and encoding-schemes are required to convert the analog-information to digital, compress it and
convert it back again while maintaining an acceptable-level of voice-quality; hence, digital-cell-phones have to
contain a lot of processing power (Fielden & Malcolm, 2008). Old-fashioned-analog-cell-phones and today's
digital devices are equally susceptible to jamming, therefore mobile-phones of both generations are to be used in
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mobile-phones. Students would make calls to fellow-students, send short message service (sms) or send images
of question-papers via the internet (Nation, 2016). Referring to the idea of embodiment of mobile-phones in
every-day-life and learning-process of our youths, Prensky (2005) cites the direct-words of a Japanese student
who said, “if you lose your mobile-phone you lose part of your- brain”. Some-students, being-crafty, have
always found ways to cheat, but the tools they have today, in the 24/7-media-world, are more-powerful than
ever; therefore new and more-advanced-solutions should be discovered to keep in touch with the reality. The
cheating exams and other inappropriate use of the mobile-devises could be avoided if radio-frequency-jammers
were used. These-factors have motivated the researches to make a simple-mobile-signal-jammer. The objectives
of this study is: to design a jammer-system that prevents mobile-phones use in a particular radius (jamming
signals), and to block mobile-phone use by sending radio-waves along the same-frequencies that mobile-phones
use thereby causing interference with the communication-towers.
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Where:
λ = the signal wavelength (in meters),
f = the signal frequency (in hertz),
d= the distance from the transmitter (in meters),
c= the speed of light in a vacuum, 2.99792458 × 108 meters per second.
The maximum-free-space- loss (worst-case F) happens when the maximum-frequency is used in the
above-equation. Using 1880 MHz gives: F (dB) =32.44+20 log 0.01 + 20 log 1880 which gives F =58 dB.
Power calculations: The power that is needed to be transmitted to jam any-cell-phone within a distance
of around 10 meters for DCS should be determined. From the above considerations, the required-output-power
from the device, as follows: Using SNR=9 dB and the maximum-power-signal for mobile-receiver = -15 dBm,
gives J = - 24 dBm. But, our goal is to find the output power from the device, so when we add the free space loss
to the amount of power at the mobile receiver we get our target: Output power = -24dBm+58dB = 34 dBm
2.1 4. Components of Jamming Device
Main components are: Power Supply, Circuitry, and an Antenna. In addition, the jammer must have an on/off
switch and a light that indicates it is on or off.
2.1 4. 1. Power Supply
The power supply consists of the following main parts as shown in Figure 3, followed by brief description of the
same.
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2.2. Materials
The components used for the jammer, including their- relevant- details are shown in Table 1.
In addition, transmitting-antenna is necessary, as most-important-part of any-transmitter. In order to
have optima-power-transfer, the antenna-system must be matched to the transmission-system. The main-
characteristic of antenna is VSWR (Voltage-Standing-Wave-Ratio). The antenna should have VSWR of 3 or
lower, because the return-loss of this antenna is minimal. The antenna used in the project is λ/4 wave monopole-
antenna and it has 50 Ohm impedance so that the antenna is matched to the transmission system. Also this
antenna has low VSWR of 1.7, and a bandwidth of 150MHz around 916 MHz center- frequencies which cover
the mobile-jammer-frequency-range. The antenna gain is 2dBi.
Table1: Parts list
Component No
and name Value Usage
R1 resistor 100R Emitter loading
R2 resistor 39k Base Biasing
C1 capacitor 15 pf Frequency Generating
C2 capacitor 4.7pf Feedback
C3 capacitor 4.7pf Feedback
C4 capacitor 102pf Noise Reduce
C5 capacitor 1MF Coupling
C6 capacitor 2.2pf Coupling
C7 capacitor 103pf Decoupling
Q1 transistor BF 494 Amplification
L1 inductor 22nH Frequency Generating
Before linking all to the antenna, power-supply shall not be switched-on at first; also the antenna should
not be taking-off when the mainframe is in the working-condition. The jammer shall be installed in the position
with good-ventilation, and large-scale-things shall be avoided to ensure to the-shielding-effect. When use the
jammer outdoors, preventing water shall be taken into consideration.
The GSM mobile-phones-used for testing of the jammer are: Samsung- GT-E1080T; Blackberry-7290;
Motorolla, C118; Nokia-1100, 1661, 6300; Tecno-T570, T780; TV22i; and iPhonei9+. These-phones were fully-
charged so as to avoid the risk of switching-off during the testing-process.
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signal, there are no rules against passive cell-phone blocking. Many-Electronics-design-companies are now
working on devices that control a cell-phone, but do not “jam the signal”, so called” hybrid systems”. In our
busy-life most of people do use their mobile-phone while driving, which arise accidental-possibility, thus in
future to reduce accidents the jamming system will operate whenever the driver turns on the ignition. The
jamming-device receives radiation emitted by the phone and also will be able to tell whether the mobile-phone is
being used by the driver or the passenger.
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jammed-area until the phone is “reset” (e.g. by turning-it-off and on-again). The user may be unaware that this
has occurred and of the need to reset the phone (ACA, 2003).
Other-countries are dealing with the issue of whether mobile-phone-jamming should be allowed. There
have been a number of positions taken by these countries; such as in United Kingdom (UK), Ireland, United
States of America (USA), and Europe it is legally-forbidden. Canada: With respect to the use of jamming-
devices in connection with federal-security and law-enforcement-functions for national-security-purposes, an
alternative-authorization-process is, currently, under review. In Jamaica mobile-phone-jammers are used (with
specified-restrictions) in prisons. There is, however, a media-report which suggests that legitimate-services
outside the prison boundaries are affected. It has also been reported that universities in Italy have adopted the
jamming-technology to prevent overwhelming-cheating, as the students were openly-taking photos of tests with
their camera-phones and sending them to classmates (ACA, 2003).
From the above it can be ironically-perceived, that cell-phone-jamming-technology is, simply, an
illegal-technology, which causes more-problems than it solves. In the local-context, however, Safaricom
Company (the largest-mobile-service-provider in Kenya) of Vodafone group and Kenya-Prisons-Services
recently announced (after several-pilot-studies) that they will install phone-jamming-equipment in all the major-
prisons (CCK, 2014). This was termed as a response to the runaway-crime involving mobile-phones that is
perpetuated by prisoners.
The strategy of jamming-mobile-phone-signals in prison compounds is a logical-technical-response. By
creating islands of non-connectivity in these-jails, it is possible to mitigate the economic and social-risk posed by
these incarcerated-criminals. CellAntenna states that jammers provide the-best and most-economical-way to
prevent cell- phone use in prisons, require very-little-staff-time, and that the cost of the system depends on a
number of factors such as the size and shape of prison, the area to be covered, and incoming tower signal levels
(One News, 2007). Cell-phones, especially smart-phones, enable prison inmates’ access internet and social-
media-sites as well as receiving and sending short-messages, and videos which poses challenges to public-safety
and rehabilitation (Norris, 2016). According to survey on inappropriate use and possession of mobile-phones in
prisons of Kenya by Ochola (2015), 34% of inmates reported to have owned mobile-phones at one-given-time,
100% of the respondents agreed to have used mobile-phones and 78% have paid to acquire mobile-phone-usage
from those inmates owning mobile-phones. On mobile phone usage different-reasons emerged: Criminal acts
(swindling the public, threatening potential-witnesses and extortion, Maintaining contacts with family, Private-
communication with minimal-oversight by authorities, Facilitation of escapes and Arrangement and co-
ordination of contraband supply among others). Statistics from Safaricom indicate that most of the phone-
related-fraud-cases originate from prisons; with Kamiti- prison taking the lead with about 1,500 fraudulent SMS
and calls during one month only, which translates to 65 % of the total-incidents during the month. Other than
Kamiti the practice is also ripe in other-prisons across the country including, Nakuru, Meru, Kibos and Shimola
Tewa. Some-jailbirds arrange for their friends to throw mobile- phones across the wall of the prison after
packing them in plastic-bags, which is considered as contraband. In another instance, a prisoner staged a ‘nude
protest’ after the jail-authorities examined him following suspicion that he was hiding a mobile SIM card in the
private-areas of his-body. Also, the jammers at the Kannur central prison (one of the pilot-projects) were
recently switched off after the nearby residents seriously-complained that it was affecting their mobile-
communication. No need to say that this delighted the Kannur prisoners.
5. Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the technical-staff of the Electrical Laboratory of ECE, SOE for
providing necessary-facilities for this study, and to Morris Mwirigi and Andrew Macharia for the valuable-
assistance in the conducting of the experiments and validation of the system.
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