Development of a GSM-RC Automated Device for Measuring Mobile Communication Signal Strength and Meteorological Parameters

Abstract

The automated Global System for Mobile Communication Signal Strength and Radio Climatological (GSM-RC) measuring device is an integration of different electronic sensors in a box for an in-situ measuring system. The sensor, data logging, and communication subsystems are integrated for transmitting information on meteorological parameters (MPs) and GSM signal strength level (SSL). The goal is to develop a device that could simultaneously measure MP and SSL of GSM communication systems in any location of interest. This is to reduce significant errors due to a lack of synchronization among multiple devices. To accomplish this objective, we designed an atmospheric sensing system with GSM SSL, temperature, relative humidity, and pressure sensors integrated as a GSM-RC unit. An Arduino microcontroller unit was used to wirelessly transmit the data collected by various sensors in each subsystem and stored on a micro-SD card. A statistical analysis of the SSL between the GSM-RC and the Samsung Galaxy A10s mobile reveals a correlation of roughly 0.99. The ANOVA analysis of variance demonstrates no noticeable distinction between the SSL from developed and conventional devices. The P-value is about 0.93, with α-value of 0.05. The MPs were validated with a standard Vintage Pro weather station, and the data were statistically correlated with accuracies close to unity. A field test was carried out with the device to measure the SSL through the GSM and the selected MP in Akure from January to December 2022. The findings indicate a weak and poor correlation between temperature and signal strength, while relative humidity and pressure have a positive and weak correlations with the signal strength. This implies that an increase in SSL leads to a slight decrease in temperature while the relative humidity and pressure increase slightly. Other than being affordable in terms of production and deployment, the device has also solved the problem of labour-intensiveness arising from bulkiness.