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Wireless smoke detection system
Conference Paper · June 2008
DOI: 10.1109/ICCCE.2008.4580637 · Source: IEEE Xplore
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Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer and Communication Engineering 2008
May 13-15, 2008 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Wireless Smoke Detection System
Othman O. Khalifa1, A. Albagul2, Sheroz Khan1, Mohd Rafiqul Islam1, Noruzaihan Mod Usman1
1
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kulliyyah of Engineering,
International Islamic University Malaysia, P.O Box 10, 50728
2
High Electronics Institute, Beniwalid, Libya
area or by its own temperature. This leads to effects
like back draft and flashover [3]. In order to detect the
presence of the smoke, smoke detection system is
created. Every single electronic device in the building
may have possibility to produce ignition whether
through short circuit or any other ways. Even the
charging mobile phone might contribute to the flame.
Thus, awareness and consciousness of the importance
of smoke detection system must be planted on people
mind. In addition, fires are more dangerous at night.
For an instance, when the occupants of the house are
asleep, the smoke and deadly gases that produce
during burning might kill them silently. Furthermore,
it becomes worst with the fact that the dense smoke
reduces visibility. Most of fire victims died because of
smoke and gas inhalation rather than burns.
Therefore, smoke detector must be placed at the major
area inclusive every rooms. Number of lives can be
saved by placing the smoke detection system at the
right place. A smoke detector is a very inexpensive
safety tool. So, there is no reason for not having
smoke detection system in the house or office
building.
Abstract
This paper attempts to integrate RF technology into
smoke detector circuitry. In the proposed system, a
smoke detector upon senses smoke activates its alarm,
sends a low voltage signal to all other smoke detectors
in the vicinity. This low voltage signal activates the
individual relays in the other smoke detectors causing
them to emit a tone that alerts residents that one of the
smoke detectors senses smoke. In this system the
transmitter and receiver are installed in a unit and the
need for a base is eliminated. The individual smoke
detectors are equipped with all the electronics
required to both send and receive signals. They are
battery operated and therefore they require no
external connections. They can be installed by a
homeowner just as they would a normal smoke
detector. The proposed design is aiming to have Cost
efficient system, Compact design, easily expandable,
Simple to install, Replaceable components. The system
was tested indoor and outdoor with different distance
and with the presence of noise.
Keywords: Smoke Detection, RF technology, AM
I.
II.
INTRODUCTION
Smoke detection system being an important safety
device nowadays. In 1902, an electrical engineer from
England, George Andrew Darby has patented the
electrical Heat-Indicator and Fire Alarm [5]. This
system operated by indicating an increase temperature
above the safe limit in the room where it was fixed.
Before scientists knew how to capture ionizing
molecules in a small enclosed space, they actually
used an open and close electrical system along with a
wedge of butter to detect fires and heat. It consists of
two plates or electrical circuits with a wedge of butter
between them. When the heat of the room became
overwhelming and the temperature is over the safe
limit, the butter would melt. Both circuits collapse
onto one another and then initiating the alarm. The
first battery-operated home smoke detector was
Smoke is a visible suspension of carbon or other
particles in the air which emitted from a burning
substance [1]. It is commonly an unwanted by-product
of fires and fireplaces but may also be used for pest
control, communication as smoke signals, defense as
smoke-screen and inhalation of tobacco or other drugs.
Smoke inhalation is the primary cause of death in
victims of indoor fires. Many compounds of smoke
from fires are highly toxic and poisoning. The most
dangerous is the carbon monoxide which leading to
carbon monoxide poisoning. Those who inhale large
amount of smoke quickly lead to incapacitation and
loss of consciousness. Furthermore, a cloud of smoke
in contact with atmospheric oxygen has the potential
of being ignited either by another open flame in the
978-1-4244-1692-9/08/$25.00 ©2008 IEEE
RELATED WORK
409
patented in 1969 by two Americans, Randolph Smith
and Kenneth House. Since then, technology has
evolved and found efficient techniques to capture light
and molecules in order to save millions of lives every
year [6]. Smoke detection system is becomes a basic
requirement for a building whether a house or office
building. It warns the nearby people during dangerous
situation. It consists of two basic parts which are
sensor to sense the smoke and a sounder or alarm to
warn people. Smoke detectors can run off of a 9V
battery. There are two types of smoke detectors
common to today’s world which are ionization and
photoelectric smoke detectors. These smoke detectors
are both used to detect fire but for the different type of
fire.
III.
there is another technique used to detect smoke which
is gas-sensing fire detectors. Many changes occur in
the gas content of the environment during a fire. In
large-scale fire tests, it has been observed that
detectable levels of gases are reached after detectable
smoke levels and before detectable heat levels. One of
two operating principles such as semiconductor and
catalytic principle may be used in a gas-sensing fire
detector. Fire-gas detectors of the semiconductor type
respond to either oxidizing or reducing gases by
creating electrical changes in the semiconductor. The
subsequent conductivity changes of the semiconductor
trigger the detector. Meanwhile, fire-gas detectors of
the catalytic kind contain a material which remains
unchanged but accelerates the oxidation of
combustible gases. The resulting temperature rise in
the element causes detector actuation. The current
models of wireless smoke detection system are listed
in Table in Appendix.
CURRENT TECHNOLOGY OF WIRELESS SMOKE
DETECTION
Currently, there are number of smoke detection
systems in the market. They use different model of
matched transmitter and receiver to achieve excellent
stability of frequency for signal transmission. Whether
using photoelectric or ionization chamber, the vital
element is sensitivity to detect the presence of the
smoke. Some of them have built-in fixed and rate-ofrise heat detector. Straight-down and side-view
configuration of video camera are also available
beside glass-break detectors and panic transmitters.
Furthermore, low standby current on sleep mode will
save power. There is a new model which operates at
very high sensitivity. The system adopts ‘artificial
intelligence’ patent known as ClassiFire. It ensures
that the system operates at maximum safe sensitivity
to give warning of problems earlier than previously
considered possible. ClassiFire also controls dust
filter monitoring to stop partial clogging which
reducing system performance. The system can be
connect to the computer and detail chart recordings of
historical smoke levels showing date, time and alarm
thresholds can be viewed.
Apart from that,
technological improvements in microprocessor use in
fire alarm systems have led to the development of new
smoke detector concepts. These new sensors use
analog technology to measure the conditions in the
area or space protected and transmits that information
to the computer-based fire alarm control unit. This
new sensor can report when it is too dirty to function
properly or it is getting too sensitive due to any
number of conditions in the protected space. Analog
sensors provide an essentially false-alarm-free system
from conditions normally found in buildings. This
sensor technology also allows the system designer to
adjust the sensor's sensitivity to accommodate the
environment or use an extra-sensitive setting to protect
a high-value or mission-sensitive area. In addition,
IV. FUTURE TECHNOLOGY CURRENT TECHNOLOGY OF
WIRELESS SMOKE DETECTION
The smoke detection system evolved alongside the
great development of modern technology. The latest
issue in smoke detection system is about
interconnected systems. In other word, if an alarm
goes off in one room, all the alarms in the house join
in. The system connects a group of alarms using RF
transmitters and includes battery and AC-powered
alarms, as well as a smoke sounder. The battery is not
required to be replacing frequently in the future.
Moreover, after the 9th September tragedy, the
American start to build new technology which
sounding an alarm when a bomb-porting person enters
a train station. A detection system device can
potentially detect pathogens, chemicals and
explosives. The function of wireless smoke detection
system will be multiple in the near future. There will
be a combination between biometric sensor and smoke
sensor. With a low cost, it will then attract and ease
the people to install wireless smoke detection system
in their house or working place.
V.
TRANSMISSION MEDIUM
In order to propagate waves or energy, transmission
media is required. For telecommunication purposes, it
is classified as guided and unguided transmission
media. Waves are guided along a solid medium such
as a transmission line for guided transmission media
while for unguided, transmission and reception are
achieved by means of an antenna [8]. In this project,
unguided or wireless communication system is
adopted. Wireless is defined as broadcasting or
telegraphy using radio signals and something that is
lacking or not requiring wires. Wireless
410
communication is an unbounded network and
unguided system. It was begun in 1873, when the
British physicist, James Clerk-Maxwell announced the
theory of electromagnetic waves. Then, Heinrich
Hertz produced the first electromagnetic waves by
short-circuiting a charged capacitor in 1888.
According to Joseph J. Carr, “This unique means of
transmission has evolved greatly since Guglielmo
Marconi successfully initiated the first wireless
telegraph transmission in 1895, but the concept has not
changed”. Then, it is followed by Jean Antoine de
Nollet who was successfully sending electric
discharge without conducting wires [9]. Since then,
wireless communication has evolved and power of
wireless technology continues to increase. Wireless
communication has several advantages and
disadvantages. This communication system reduces
installation time since it is easy to relocate a
communicating device. It is similar to plug and play
devices. Besides wiring reduction, it is simple matter
to add in a communication device to the system or
remove one from the system without any disruption to
the remainder of the system. No additional cost of
rewiring is needed and the cost of running and
maintaining a radio based communications solution is
minimal. The vital advantage is its speed. Although it
only covered limited areas, it is more reliable than the
traditional smoke detection system.
VI.
amplitude, delayed slightly in time or corrupted and
modified. There is an external noise such as madmade, atmospheric and space noise. The examples for
an internal noise are thermal and transistor noise.
Besides, there is a frequency noise effect. It is called
excess noise and occurs at frequency below about 1
kHz. Therefore, dedicated frequency is decided to be
used in this project.
VIII.
The system consists of several stages. In this
section a brief description for each stage will be
presented. Figure 1 shows the block diagram of
wireless smoke detection system.
RADIO FREQUENCY
Figure 1: Block Diagram of Wireless Smoke Detection System
RF is a frequency or rate of oscillation within the
range of about 3 Hz and 30 GHz. This range
corresponds to frequency of alternating current
electrical signals used to produce and detect radio
waves. In addition, infrared or IR is another type of
communication that can be used instead of RF. It is an
electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than
that of visible light but shorter than that of radio waves
[11]. In general, IR is utilized in single-room
applications while RF is the common choice in multiroom settings. For example, a TV remote control uses
IR communication because it is needed in one room
only and cannot pass through walls as well. In
contrast, a portable home phone employs RF
communication so that it can be used throughout the
house. Since wireless smoke detection system is not
going to be placed in a single room, RF
communication is the best option.
VII.
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
A.
Smoke Detector
Smoke Detector is a sensitive device against the
smoke. Whether using ionization or photoelectric
technique, the presence of the smoke is detected. The
components used in this project are a photoelectric
smoke detector, encoder, decoder, transmitter, receiver
and siren. The relay is built in the smoke detector.
When the smoke is detected, the relay is triggered. The
relay then connects the transmit enable (TE) pin of the
HT-12E encoder to ground causing the encoder to
send a digital output to the transmitter. Apart from
that, number of smoke detector is one of the important
things in placing them in the building. In fact, the
smallest building needs more than one smoke
detection system. The exact number depends on two
things which are the number of levels in the building
and the number of rooms. As an example for new
home, the standard requires a smoke alarm in each
bedroom, one outside the bedroom area that is close
enough to be heard through closed doors and a
minimum of one on each level of the home. The
objective of having a smoke alarm outside the
bedroom area is to alert sleeping occupants of a fire
NOISE
Electrical noise may be defined as any undesired
voltages or currents that ultimately end up appearing
in the receiver output. It may cause the original signal
to be distorted in shape, increased or decreased in
411
that starts outside of the bedrooms. For this reason, if
the bedrooms in a home are located in different areas,
then each area should have its own smoke alarm. If a
home is large, it is better to use more than one on each
level. The closer the smoke alarm is to the fire source
the faster it will work. Moreover, smoke detector
should not be placed in garages for two reasons. First,
garages are usually not heated or cooled. Sometimes,
it is above or below the temperature range. Second, the
smoke from engine exhaust fumes will cause nuisance
alarms and activate the smoke alarm. Figures 2 shows
the smoke detector. The HT12E is build for remote
control system application. It able to encode N address
bits and 12-N data bits information.
transmitter, it sends to the decoder. Its 5V output
activates the relay and turn on the alarm. The
operating voltage for the transmitter and receiver are
3V to 12VDC and 3V to 6VDC accordingly. RTFQ2
is available at 433.92MHz. The maximum output
current is typically 950μA and the discharge current is
lower that 2μA. The transmitter and receiver pair
enables the simple implementation of a data link
distance up to 75 meters in-building about 250 meters
open ground [15]. In designing a smoke detector,
MC145010 is used. It is an advance smoke detector
component containing very-low-power analog and
digital circuitry. The IC is used with an infrared
photoelectric chamber. Detection is accomplished by
sensing scattered light from minute smoke particles.
When detection occurs, the MC145010 triggers the
relay. The variable-gain photo amplifier allows direct
interface to IR detectors (photodiodes). During
standby, the special monitor circuit which periodically
checks for degraded chamber sensitivity uses high
gain. The supply for the MC145010 can be a 9 V
battery. The operating voltage range is between 6 to
12 V and average supply current is 12 μA [27].
However, the smoke detector has 5 second delay. The
current consumption is 1A. The maximum current is
2A and the LED blinking once per 22 sec during
standby mode.
B.
Transmitter
Figure 3 shows the transmitter circuit. There are
RTFQ2 transmitter, switch, reset button, two resistors,
eight diodes, an encoder and capacitor. The switch
carries an address by which I use 00000000 for this
project. The relay will activates any input pin AD8,
AD9, AD10 and AD11 of HT12E. AD10 is selected to
be used in this project. Then the encoder encodes the
analog signal to digital signal. At the same time,
transmit enable (TE) is in standby mode. From output
pin of HT12E, the digital signal is send to pin 5 of the
transmitter. It then transmitted through pin 2 using RF
signal.
Figure 2: Smoke Detector
The programmed addresses are transmitted together
with the header bits via an RF or an infrared
transmission medium upon receipt of a trigger signal.
It requires low power and high noise immunity CMOS
technology. The minimum transmission word is for
words. It is pair with Holtek’s 212 series of encoders.
For supply voltage, -0.3V to 13V is required [21]. In
this work, HT12D is selected since it has same number
of addresses and data format. This factor leads to
proper operation. HT12D receives serial addresses
and data from a programmed 212 series of decoder
through FM modulation. It then compares the serial
input data with their local address for three times
continuously. If there is no error, the input data codes
are decoded and transferred to the output pins. The VT
pin also goes high to indicate a valid transmission.
Similar to HT12E, HT12D capable of decoding N
address bits and 12-N data bits information. It
operating voltage is between 2.4V to 12V [20]. In this
work, RTFQ2 transmitter and RRFQ2 receiver been
used. These 433MHz transmitter and receiver use
frequency modulation (FM) as a transmission medium.
The transmitter transmit digital signal to the receiver.
When the receiver receives the signal from the
C.
Receiver
The receiver circuit is shown in Figure 4. The digital
signal will be the input for pin 1 of the receiver. Then
it sends a digital signal from pin 18 to the digital input
pin of the HT-12D decoder. In this project, the output
pin D10 is activated. The encoder will compare the
address bits between the signal received and the
previous stored data which is 00000000. Since the
address bits matched, D10 on. It triggers the transistor
to on the relay and LED. The alarm turns on as the
relay is on. In addition, two 9V batteries are used in
412
this circuit in
performance.
order
to
have
longer
battery
buildings. In addition, the materials and the
construction of a building as wall and ceiling are
decisive for the achievable range. The waves
propagate to the destination and they will be reflected
on walls and conducted to the destination... Depend on
the features of the walls, a part of the wave is
attenuated and the other part accesses to other rooms
in the building.
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
M.
Brain,
How
Smoke
Detectors
Work,
http://home.howstuffworks.com/smoke.htm.
Sukri, N.A, Kesedaran Elak Kebakaran dan Kehilangan
Nyawa, http://www.penerbit.utm.my.
Sinclair, Ian, Lindgren, Danielle, Kim, Minzee, Oskoui, Babak
and Windseth, David, Smoke Detectors: A Savior Invention.
http://dopamine.chem.umn.edu/chempedia/index.
[4]
Smoke
Detector
in
Wikipedia.
Retrieved
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/smoke on January 10,
Figure 3: Transmitter circuit
[5]
2007.
Smoke Detectors and Radiations in US Environmental
Protection
Agency,
http://www.epa.gov/radiation/sources/smoke_ion.
htm.
[6]
[7]
[8]
Carr, Joseph J. Microwave & Wireless Communication
Technology Boston: Newnes, 1997.
Radio
Frequency
retrieved
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_frequency.
Electromagnetic
Spectrum
retrieved
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spe
ctrum.
[9]
AM,
Fm
Waves
and
Sound
retrieved
from
http://www.cybercollege.com/frtv/frtv017.htm.
[10] Frequency
modulation
in
Wikipedia.
Retrieved
fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/frequency_modul
ation on January 4, 2007.
[11] FM Transmitter and Receiver Hybrid Modules. Retrieved from
Figure 4: Receiver Circuit
IX.
DISCUSSION
[12]
The wireless smoke detection system is tested
indoor and outdoor with smoke, noise, heat and flame
itself. For indoor test, it gives positive response for the
first 70 meters. By means, the signal fails to transmit
over 80 meters onward. For second experiment, the
distance between transmitter and receiver are tested in
the building with the smoke and presence of noise.
Positive respond is recoded for the first 70meters. This
result indirectly indicates that the noise is considered
as small interruption for signal transmission. While the
system is tested with heat and flame, negative results
are recorded for all over the range of distance. It is due
to the sensitivity of the smoke detector towards flame
and heat. While for outdoor testing, same procedures
are used as in indoor experiments. In contrast with
indoor testing results, the signal can transmit over 250
meters. This is due to the reflection, diffraction and
attenuation dominate the propagation of radio waves
between the transmitter and the receiver inside
on January 7, 2007
[13] Wireless
Smoke
Detector
Manufacture,
http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/I/Smokedetector/p/sm/8801626444.htm.
[14] Bukowski, Richard W., Peacock, Richard D., Averill, Jason
D., Cleary, Thomas G., Bryner, Nelson P., Walton, William
D., Reneke, Paul A. and Kuligowski, Erica D. Performance of
Home Smoke Detector. Washington. July 2004.
[15] Derbel, Faouzi. Reliable Wireless Communication for Fire
Detection Systems in Commercial and Residential Areas.
Munich, Germany
[16] Photoelectric
Smoke
Detector
IC
with
I/O
http://www.datasheetarchive.com/preview/225618
6.html.
[17] Tse, David and Viswanath, Pramod, Fundamental of Wireless
Communication, Cambridge University Press. 2005.
[18] Derbel, Faouzi, Design and Realization of Wireless
Technologies for Alarm Systems, Siemens Building
Technologies FSP DE GmbH & Co. OHG, German.
413
View publication stats
http://www.rfsolutions.co.uk/acatalog/DS0698.pdf on May 5, 2007.
Thomson Gale. Wireless covert smoke detector video
camera. retrieved from http://galegroup.com/ips/