Building Security System Project Proposal

Presented By Syed A. Ali

George Kutsaftis Zachary J. Maura Chuong Nguyen Jonathan Vanase

Advisors

Dr. John Chandy Dr. Rajeev Bansal

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Background Due to missing equipment from the Design & Computer Labs the Administration has

decided that they would like to secure these locations by using a card swipe and

surveillance type security system. All Labs will have the card access system installed as

part of the project. .University of Connecticut currently uses a decentralized card access

security system called “Husky One Card”, the card contains students school’s identity

number and social security number. We have been assigned the task of designing a Card

Swipe based security and surveillance interface based on the “Husky One Card” system.

The security system shall be a completely operational “Door Access System” based on

authentication. It will also monitor the flow of equipment in the room.

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Overview

The Building Security System is being designed to reduce the amount of stolen

equipment from the Senior Design Labs in the Information Technologies Engineering

building. It makes use of card swipes for user authentication along with a locking system

on the doors to allow entry only to authorized students. The doors open from the inside

without authentication for compliance with fire codes and for an acceptable level of

usability. For ease of application the authentication is transmitted wirelessly throughout

the building from door unit to authentication unit. This main authentication unit is

capable of allowing entry to designated labs, logging traffic, and is easily programmable.

Residing on a Windows based PC the program to control authentication and access

logging is easily portable to most of today’s PC market.

The Building Security System also protects units in the room from thief by means of

radio frequency tracking. Small transmitter devices concealed within units trigger an

alarm when removed from the room.

The combination of these two subsystems composes the Building Security System. The

ability to track user access and protect devices at the same time should allow the labs to

operate under normal conditions while preventing the theft of expensive devices used

within the labs.

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Competitive Analysis Door Access Interface

During our research period we looked into a complete system used by many large hotel

chains from the company “vingcard”. This product seemed to be an appropriate solution

to the project’s chief dilemma. This system included an all in one door lock, handle and

card reader. It also had a manual override (in case of power outage and emergency).

This full system also incorporated a card encoder, which would program the cards with

access to the appropriate doors. This system seemed to be a great resolution, yet it still

had several drawbacks. First, the system would not utilize the “Husky one-card” system

that the university already uses. This would force the administrators to key many cards

and attempt to distribute them to the appropriate students and cause this process to be

repeated once a card was reported stolen or lost. The other chief shortcoming was that

the cost of this system would be approximately ten thousand dollars, which does not

satisfy our prescribed budget.

The group through countless hours of research and deliberation decided to use an

independent card reader and built up the rest of the system around this card reader. A

little research revealed a myriad of card readers to choose from. Anything over the price

of two hundred dollars was removed from the running. Also only RS-232 based readers

were considered for the project. Another qualification the card readers must meet was

versatility. A card reader must read tracks 1, 2 and 3 of almost any card. Another

prerequisite for the card reader is that it must be sturdy enough to handle frequent use

while still being reasonably compact. After all was said and done we found our card

reader. Its price was only one hundred and sixty dollars, slightly under our price ceiling.

It was also a RS-232 reader that read all three tracks of the standard swipe card. It also

appears is of sturdy build and moderate proportions. Of all the card readers that were

found this was the only one to meet or exceed all of demands, hence it being our pick.

Product Security Interface One of the goals of this project was to design a system that would protect equipment from

the lab, something that will trigger an alarm if lab equipment (such as a computer or

signal generators) was taken outside the designated area. To this point this has proven

difficult but a few possible solutions have been considered. The first was the EAS towers,

which are commonly employed in most stores. A small magnetic strip would be hidden

securely on an item; this strip can be deactivated to allow passage through the towers. If

the strip is not deactivated and one tries to pass through the towers an alarm would sound.

At first look this is a good solution; the magnetic strips are very cheap and disposable.

The system is very simple to use and effective, hence its use in stores. In retrospect this

is not a feasible due to the fact the towers themselves cost upwards of two thousand

dollars; which would not satisfy budget limitation for this project.

Another solution to this problem came by way of a company whose products seemed to

be a reasonable solution. The company claimed to equip their customer with sensors that

would create “containment fields”, and transmitters that would trigger an alarm if a piece

of equipment breeched on of these “containment fields”. The system would then transmit

an automated message to a pager or walkie-talkie telling the administrators which piece

of equipment was being stolen and from where. A very novel idea, however a minimum

purchase and a high starting price made this an impractical solution. To this date, no

affective solution has been found, but the group is confident that an affordable and

effective solution shall be found.

The most acceptable solution we found was from Texas Instruments. They make a

system call TI-Tags that operates on the principle of passive transmitters. These tags can

store a small amount of information about the device it is attached to and then transmit

this information to a reader. This system also includes an interface to communicate with

a PC, so it might be possible to incorporate the TI-Tag system into our project.

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Component Level Module

Figure 2

Card Reader (MSR200-33R) Reads dual and triple track cards. Conforms to ISO 7811, ANSI x4.16. RS-232 port interface.

Microcontroller (PIC 16F87x) Mounted on PIC QIK-START board. RS-232 port interface Free MPLAB Software interface.

Wireless Units (1) Receives Data from Microcontroller. Connected to via RS-232 Port Interface. Sends Data Wirelessly to Wireless Unit (2)

Electric Lock (S-Home 190S) Mounted on the Door. Receives Lock-Unlock Instruction from the Microcontroller.

Wireless Units (2) Receives Data Wirelessly from Wireless Unit (1). Connected to the Control System (PC) via RS-232 Port Interface

Control System (PC – Windows) Receives Data from Wireless Unit (2). And Control decisions are made by this unit.

RF Tag Detection Poles The Poles Detects the Flow of Equipment. If a Tagged Equipment leaves the room it informs the Microcontroller which activates the Alarm sequence. Also the Microcontroller sends log of such activity to the Control System

Alarm Is Controlled by the Microcontroller. And is activated if an unregulated flow of Equipment is made.

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Design Components Microcontroller The microcontroller serves a dual purpose in this project. It will both bridge the gap

between the card reader and the wireless unit along with controlling the door lock. The

card reader is transmitting its signals to the controlling security system. However, the

RS232 output of the card reader needs a way to interface with the wireless transmitter.

The microcontroller has been chosen to bridge this gap. The RS232 communication

standard is common on many microcontrollers or is easily integrated. This will allow us

to parse the output stream of the card reader and determine which action to take. This

RS232 I/O will also allow us to communicate with the wireless transmitter/receiver. This

will ensure that the only data sent via the wireless channels are valid authentication

information.

Coming from the systems control center, the microcontroller will control the data flow in

the opposite direction. In this case the data is being taken from the wireless receiver and

needs to be communicated to the door lock. The connections between the wireless

receiver and the microcontroller will still use RS232, while the microcontroller will

communicate with the door lock through whatever type of signal the door lock receives.

If the microcontroller receives a signal from the wireless receiver designated to allow the

door to unlock, then the microcontroller will relay this information into whatever

circuitry will unlock the door. This completes the full loop of needed communications

handled by the microcontroller. Qik Start PIC education board /w CAN

Card Reader The Card Reader is part of the front end user interface in our design, so the challenge was

to get something rugged, reliable, compact and presentable, but at the same time

compatible with the Back-End design. We recommended the MSR200-33R Card Reader,

manufactured by Semicron Corporation. Some of the features this reader provides are

• Decoded Magnetic Stripe Reader

• Low power CMOS design

• Keyboard emulation

• Reads dual and triple track cards

• Bi-directional read capability

• Conforms to ISO 7811, ANSI x4.16 &

• AAMVA (Driver Licenses) standards

• May be mounted on a keyboard or a flat surface.

• Provides feedback by LED and buzz

• Interfaces Available are PC XT/AT, PS/2, and RS232

For our design we needed a card reader which would have a RS232 port interface

because the PIC Microcontroller we will be using as a bridge between Card Reader and

the Wireless Transmitter, is mounted on a Diversified Engineering Kit which provides

RS232 port interface. Another feature which triggered us to choose this particular card

reader was the fact that it can read dual and triple track cards and Conforms to ISO 7811

and ANSI x4.16 standards. Since we are using the Husky One Card as an Access

Interface card, these features are very flexible in that respect.

MSR200-33R Card Reader

Electric Door Strike

The electric door strike is the electro-mechanical release mechanism that unlocks the

door when it receives a 12V signal. When no power is sent to the door strike it remains

locked. It is used in conjunction with a Schlage Lock as shown in the picture below. The

electric door strike is used in place of the strike that comes with the Schlage Lock. This

strike is reversible for left or right-handed doors. Once installed, the door can still be

operated using a key. To power the door strike we will use a 12-volt DC 500mA power

supply that can be bought with the door strike. When operating off the DC power supply

a gentle 'click' is heard when unlocked. We will also place a push button on the inside of

the room so that people can easily leave with out unlocking the Schalage Lock.

Face dimensions: 1 5/8" x 3 1/2". Case dimensions: 1" x 1 7/8" x 3".

Schlage Lock This Schlage Lock has a keyed exterior and it has a turn button on the interior that will

lock or unlock both levers. This Schlage Lock is used the same way as the locks on your

home. Therefore, in the case of power outages the door could still be unlocked using a

key. Schalage locks work for doors between (35 mm - 48 mm) thick. A schematic of a

Schalage Lock and how it put together is given below.

Wireless Units

Wireless connectivity is quickly becoming recognized as a flexible and reliable medium

for data communications across a broad range of applications. A wireless solution in our

system eliminates the need for cabling from the central PC to the access point.

Advantages:

• Wireless interrogation speeds data collection.

• Equipments (computer, card reader, etc.) can be moved without

regard to location of network.

• Effective communication over distances of up to 500 feet indoors or several miles

line-of-sight.

• High frequency 2.4GHz or 900MHz, employing frequency hopping spread spectrum

technology, providing resistance to interference and highly reliable data

communication.

• Lowers cost, time and effort of installation.

• Ideal for retrofits in buildings not wired for electronic access.

• Proprietary protocol & FHSS for security & interference rejection.

• 2.4GHz, 900MHz and 868MHz for virtually worldwide suitability.

• Isolated collocated networks.

• Small enough to fit into virtually any enclosure.

• Low power consumption.

• Industry standard interfaces.

• Seamless integration as direct cable replacement

For low data rate applications, such as remote keyboard or mag-stripe readers, the

transceivers are ideal. They transmit up to 500 feet indoors through walls or a couple of

miles line-of-sight. Key benefits for access control are long ranges achievable from

900MHz, and incredible cost efficiency for a radio with the protocol RS232.

Wireless ConnexLink

For our design, a wireless system consisting of two wireless transceivers will be used to

communicate between computer and card reader. Physically, one transceiver is connected

to a serial port (COM port) on the central computer, while the other will link to card

reader.

The RS232 interface is a key protocol in communication. The interface program running

on the central computer will scan and detect the signal from card reader through

transceivers.

ConnnexLink Unit

Texas Instruments TI-Tags

The TI-Tag system has just 2 major components. The first is the tags themselves. These

tags each contain a small amount of information that can catalogue the device they are

attached to. The tags act as passive wireless transmitters, and when run through a field

produced by the receiver, they transmit the data that they store. The range, orientation of

Card ReadeCentral

Computer

Transceiver Transceiver

Block Diagram of transceiver arrangement in the wireless security system

transitions and amount of data stored vary depending on the model of the tag, but there

are a variety of different tags available. The 2nd component is a receiver that produces

the read field. This system stick reader can have its range extended with additional

antennas placed around the original receiver. The default range of 1 meter should work

for our evaluation purposes. The key part of the receiver is the RS232 interface that

allows it to hook into the rest of our system. Using this, we will be able to track the

devices and compare the data received with our database to take appropriate action.

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Timeline

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Budget Hardware Card Reader $ 169 PIC Kit $ 200 Wireless Units $ 225 Door Lock $ 102 Door Lock – Electrical Interface $ 60 RF Surveillance Kit from TI $ 800 Product Display Interface $ 100 Software RS-232 Port Data Reader $ 50 Total $ 1706 ]

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Summary

• Swipe Card Box: Two and three track card reader. Reads the information of

the card found on the magnetic strip.

• Microcontroller: Both microcontrollers convert between functional data and

transmittable data. Also the first microcontroller when given the signal sends

12V to the door strike unlocking the door.

• Door Strike: Unlocks the door when given a 12V signal.

• Wireless Transmitter and Receiver: The two wireless transmitter and

receiver units are used to transmit and receive signals wirelessly between the

devices.

• PC and Processor: Computer that has a database saved on it. It receives the

data from the card swipe then processes it. It sends back a signal if the card swipe

data is in the database.

User Swipes his card. The first microcontroller then converts the data so that it can be

transmitted. Next the first transmitter and receiver transmit the data to the second

transmitter and receiver. The second microcontroller then converts the data to functional

data and sends it to the PC. The PC then processes the data and checks if that data is in

the database. If the data is not in the database then it does not send anything back. But if

the data is on the database it sends back a signal to the second microcontroller. Then the

second microcontroller converts the functional data back to transmittable data and sends

it to the second transmitter and receiver. Next the second wireless transmitter and

receiver then send the data to the first wireless transmitter and receiver. The data then

goes in to the microcontroller and is converted to functional data. The microcontroller

then sends the 12V signal to the door strike to unlock the door. If a person is in the room

already he can exit the room by pressing a button. That button in turn sends the 12V to

the Door strike unlocking the door.

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Conclusion In conclusion, we were very successful at finding devices that will fit the needs of

this project. In addition, we were able to provide sufficient evidence that our project is of

valid consideration. The cost involved in our project makes it much more affordable than

comparable products, but ours also allows for the exact type of security that we wish to

provide. By staying well within budget on our parts estimations, and selecting many

devices that use universal communications standards, we are confident that our project

will be a success in the coming semester as our preparation was this semester.