ARDUINO

Send Receive SMS & Call with SIM800L GSM Module & Arduino

Whether you want to monitor your home from afar or activate the sprinkler system in your
garden with a missed call; then the SIM800L GSM/GPRS module can serve as a solid
launching point!

···
The SIM800L GSM/GPRS module is a miniature GSM modem that can be used in a variety
of IoT projects. You can use this module to do almost anything a normal cell phone can
do, such as sending SMS messages, making phone calls, connecting to the Internet via
GPRS, and much more.

To top it all off, the module supports quad‐band GSM/GPRS networks, which means it will
work almost anywhere in the world.

Hardware Overview

At the heart of the module is a SIM800L GSM cellular chip from Simcom.

The operating voltage of the chip ranges from 3.4V to 4.4V, making it an ideal candidate
for direct LiPo battery supply. This makes it an excellent choice for embedding in projects
with limited space.

All the necessary data pins of the SIM800L GSM chip are broken out to a 0.1″ pitch
headers, including the pins required for communication with the microcontroller over the
UART. The module supports baud rates ranging from 1200 bps to 115200 bps and features
automatic baud rate detection.

···
The module requires an external antenna in order to connect to the network. So the
module usually comes with a helical antenna that can be soldered to it. The board also has
a U.FL connector If you wish to keep the antenna at a distance from the board.

There’s a SIM socket on the back! Any 2G Micro SIM card will work perfectly. The proper
way to insert the SIM card is typically engraved on the surface of the SIM socket.

Features

Even though this module is incredibly small—only 1 square inch—it contains a surprising
number of features. Some of them are as follows:

···
Supports Quad‐band: GSM850, EGSM900, DCS1800 and PCS1900

Connect onto any global GSM network with any 2G SIM

Make and receive voice calls using an external 8Ω speaker & electret microphone

···

Send and receive SMS messages

Send and receive GPRS data ﴾TCP/IP, HTTP, etc.﴿

Scan and receive FM radio broadcasts

···
 ···

Transmit Power:

Class 4 ﴾2W﴿ for GSM850

Class 1 ﴾1W﴿ for DCS1800

···

Serial‐based AT Command Set

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 FL connectors for cell antennae

Accepts Micro SIM Card

LED Status Indicators

The SIM800L module has an LED that indicates the status of your cellular network. It will
blink at different rates depending on the state it is in.

Blink every 1s Blink every 2s Blink every 3s

The chip is running but hasn’t The GPRS data connection The module has made contact
made a connection to the you requested is active. with the cellular network and
cellular network yet. can send/receive voice and
SMS.

Choosing an Antenna

The SIM800L module requires an external antenna in order to connect to the network, so
choosing the right antenna is very important. There are two options available.

The first is a helical antenna that comes with the module and can be soldered directly to
the PCB. This antenna is very useful for space‐constrained projects. However, be aware
that you may face difficulties establishing a connection, particularly if your project is
that you may face difficulties establishing a connection, particularly if your project is
indoors.

Another option is a 3dBi GSM antenna with a U.FL to SMA adapter, which can be found
online for less than $3. You can snap‐fit this antenna into the small u.fl connector located
on the top‐left corner of the module. This type of antenna provides better performance
and even allows your module to be placed inside a metal box as long as the antenna is
outside.

Power Consumption

One of the most important parts of getting the SIM800L module working is supplying it
with enough power.

The SIM800L, depending on its state, can be a relatively power‐hungry device. The
module’s maximum current draw is around 2A ﴾especially during a transmission burst﴿. It
won’t usually draw that much, but it may need around 216mA during phone calls or 80mA
during network transmissions. This chart from the datasheet summarizes what you can
expect:
 Modes Frequency Current Consumption

Power down 60 uA

Sleep mode 1 mA

Stand by 18 mA

GSM850 199 mA

EGSM900 216 mA
Call
DCS1800 146 mA

PCS1900 131 mA

GPRS 453 mA

Transmission burst 2A

Selecting a Power Supply

Because the SIM800L module lacks an onboard voltage regulator, you must select a power
supply capable of supplying the SIM800L module within its 3.4V to 4.4V range ﴾preferably
4.0V﴿. Also the power supply must be capable of supplying at least 2A of surge current;
otherwise, the chip will repeatedly reset.

Here are some options you can consider.

Li‐Po Battery

One of the advantages of Li‐Po batteries is that they have a voltage range of 3.7V to 4.2V –
perfect for a SIM800L module. Any Li‐Po battery with a capacity of 1200 mAh or higher
should work, as these batteries can withstand current spikes up to 2 A while maintaining
usable voltage.

···
DC‐DC Buck Converter

We recommend using a 2A‐rated DC‐DC buck converter, such as the LM2596, with the
output voltage set to 4.0V ﴾ideal voltage﴿. These are far superior to linear voltage regulator
modules in terms of efficiency.

SIM800L GSM Module Pinout

The SIM800L module has 12 pins in total. The following is the pinout:
NET pin is where you can solder the helical antenna that comes with the module.

···

VCC is the power supply pin. Keep in mind that the SIM800L chip has an operating
voltage range of 3.4 V to 4.4 V, so connecting this module to the Arduino’s 5V output is
probably going to cause damage to the module. It doesn’t even run on 3.3 V! Use a Li‐Po
battery or a DC‐DC buck converter instead.

RST ﴾Reset﴿ is the reset pin. If you got the module in an absolutely bad space, pull this pin
LOW for 100ms to perform a hard reset.

RxD ﴾Receiver﴿ pin is used to send commands to the module. This pin is auto‐baud so the
baud rate at which you send the “AT” command after reset is the baud rate used.

···
TxD ﴾Transmitter﴿ pin transmits data from the module to the microcontroller.

GND is the ground pin.

RING pin is the Ring Indicator. This is basically the ‘interrupt‐out’ pin from the module. It
is by default HIGH and can be configured to go LOW when a call or SMS is received.

DTR pin controls the sleep mode. Pulling it HIGH causes the module to enter sleep
mode, disabling serial communication. Pulling it LOW for approximately 50 ms will wake
up the module.

MIC± is a differential microphone input. You can connect an external electret

microphone to these two pins directly.

SPK± is a differential speaker interface. You can connect a speaker to these two pins
directly.

···
Wiring a SIM800L GSM Module to an Arduino

Now that you are familiar with the SIM800L module, it is time to connect it to Arduino!

To begin, connect the antenna to the module and insert a micro SIM card into the socket.

Next, connect the module’s Tx pin to the Arduino’s digital pin #3, as we will be
communicating with the module via software UART.

···

We cannot connect the module’s Rx pin directly to the Arduino’s digital pin because
Arduino UNO has a 5V logic level and the SIM800L module has a 3.3V logic level. Simply
put, the SIM800L module’s Rx pin is not 5V tolerant. Therefore, the Tx signal from the
Arduino must be stepped down to 3.3V.

There are numerous ways to accomplish this, but the simplest is to use a resistor divider. A
10K resistor between SIM800L’s Rx and Arduino’s D2, and a 20K resistor between
SIM800L’s Rx and GND, will work just fine.

The only thing left to do is connect the power supply to the module. We’ve included two
different wiring diagrams to show you how it’s done.

···

In the first diagram, a 1200mAh Li‐Po battery is connected.

And in the second diagram, an LM2596 DC‐DC buck converter is connected.

 Warnings:

You must be very careful not to disconnect GND before VCC and to always
connect GND before VCC. Otherwise, the module may use the low voltage
serial pins as ground, causing damage to the module.

Also, ensure that your circuit and Arduino share a common ground.

Arduino Code – Testing AT Commands

To send AT commands and communicate with the SIM800L module, we will be using the
Serial Monitor. The sketch below will enable the Arduino to communicate with the
SIM800L module over the serial monitor. Before we proceed with the detailed analysis of
the code, connect your Arduino to PC, compile the below code and upload it to Arduino.

···

Once you open the Serial Monitor, make sure the ‘Both NL and CR‘ option is selected!
 #include <SoftwareSerial.h>

//Create software serial object to communicate with SIM800L

SoftwareSerial mySerial(3, 2); //SIM800L Tx & Rx is connected to Arduino #3 & #2

void setup()
{
//Begin serial communication with Arduino and Arduino IDE (Serial Monitor)
Serial.begin(9600);

//Begin serial communication with Arduino and SIM800L

mySerial.begin(9600);

Serial.println("Initializing...");
delay(1000);

mySerial.println("AT"); //Once the handshake test is successful, it will back to OK

updateSerial();
mySerial.println("AT+CSQ"); //Signal quality test, value range is 0‐31 , 31 is the be
updateSerial();
mySerial.println("AT+CCID"); //Read SIM information to confirm whether the SIM is plu
updateSerial();
mySerial.println("AT+CREG?"); //Check whether it has registered in the network
updateSerial();
}

Once you have uploaded the sketch, open the serial monitor at baud rate 9600. You
should see the output below on the serial monitor.
Code Explanation:

The sketch begins by including the SoftwareSerial.h library and initializing the
SoftwareSerial object with the Arduino pins to which the Tx and Rx of the SIM800L
module are connected.

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

//Create software serial object to communicate with SIM800L

SoftwareSerial mySerial(3, 2); //SIM800L Tx & Rx is connected to Arduino #3 & #2

In the setup function, we initiate a serial communication link between the Arduino, the
Arduino IDE and the SIM800L module at a baud rate of 9600.

//Begin serial communication with Arduino and Arduino IDE (Serial Monitor)
Serial.begin(9600);

//Begin serial communication with Arduino and SIM800L

mySerial.begin(9600);

Now that we have established a basic connection, we will try to communicate with the
SIM800L module by sending AT commands.

AT – This is the most basic AT command. It also initializes the Auto‐bauder. If all is well, it
sends the OK message, telling you that it is understanding you correctly. You can then
send some commands to query the module and get information about it.

···
AT+CSQ – It checks ‘Signal Strength’. The first number in the output response is the signal
strength in dB. It should be more than about 5. Higher is better. Note that this signal
strength depends on your antenna and location!

AT+CCID – It checks whether the SIM card is valid or not and sends the SIM card number.

AT+CREG? – It checks whether you are registered to the network or not. The second
number in the output response should be 1 or 5. 1 indicates that you are registered to a
home network and 5 indicates a roaming network. Any number other than these two
indicates that you are not registered to any network.

mySerial.println("AT"); //Once the handshake test is successful, it will back to OK

updateSerial();
mySerial.println("AT+CSQ"); //Signal quality test, value range is 0‐31 , 31 is the best
updateSerial();
mySerial.println("AT+CCID"); //Read SIM information to confirm whether the SIM is plugg
updateSerial();
mySerial.println("AT+CREG?"); //Check whether it has registered in the network
updateSerial();

In the loop, we call a custom function called updateSerial() which continuously waits
for any input from the serial monitor and sends it to the SIM800L module via the D2 pin
﴾the module’s RX﴿. It also continuously reads the D3 pin ﴾the module’s TX﴿ to see if there is
a response from the SIM800L module.

void updateSerial()
{
delay(500);
while (Serial.available())
{
mySerial.write(Serial.read());//Forward what Serial received to Software Serial Por
}
while(mySerial.available())
{
Serial.write(mySerial.read());//Forward what Software Serial received to Serial Por
}
 }

Try Sending Different AT Commands

You can now send commands like the ones below through the Serial Monitor to get more
information about your network connection and battery status:

ATI – Returns the module name and revision.

···

AT+COPS? – Checks which network you are connected to.

AT+COPS=? – Returns the list of operators present in the network.

AT+CBC – Returns Li‐Po battery status. The second number is the battery level ﴾in our case
it is 93%﴿ and the third number is the actual voltage in mV ﴾in our case 3.877 V﴿
Arduino Code – Sending an SMS

Let’s move on to the interesting stuff. Let’s program our Arduino to send an SMS.

Before trying out the sketch, you’ll need to enter the phone number to which you want to
send an SMS. Look for the highlighted string ZZxxxxxxxxxx and replace ZZ with the
county code and xxxxxxxxxx with the 10 digit phone number.

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

//Create software serial object to communicate with SIM800L

SoftwareSerial mySerial(3, 2); //SIM800L Tx & Rx is connected to Arduino #3 & #2

void setup()
{
//Begin serial communication with Arduino and Arduino IDE (Serial Monitor)
Serial.begin(9600);

//Begin serial communication with Arduino and SIM800L

mySerial.begin(9600);

Serial.println("Initializing...");
delay(1000);

mySerial.println("AT"); //Once the handshake test is successful, it will back to OK

updateSerial();

mySerial.println("AT+CMGF=1"); // Configuring TEXT mode

updateSerial();
mySerial.println("AT+CMGS=\"+ZZxxxxxxxxxx\"");//change ZZ with country code and xxxxx
updateSerial();
mySerial.print("Last Minute Engineers | lastminuteengineers.com"); //text content
updateSerial();
mySerial.write(26);

The screenshot below shows the SMS sent from the SIM800L GSM module.
···
Code Explanation:

The sketch is almost the same as the first sketch except for the code snippet below. Once
the connection is established, we send the following AT commands:

AT+CMGF=1 – Selects the SMS message format as text. The default format is Protocol
Data Unit ﴾PDU﴿.

AT+CMGS=+ZZxxxxxxxxxx – Sends SMS to the specified phone number. After this AT

command any text message followed by ‘Ctrl+z’ character is treated as SMS. ‘Ctrl+z’ is
actually a 26th non‐printing character that is described as ‘substitute’ in the ASCII table.
Therefore, we need to send 26 ﴾0x1A﴿ at the end of the command.

mySerial.println("AT+CMGF=1"); // Configuring TEXT mode

updateSerial();
mySerial.println("AT+CMGS=\"+ZZxxxxxxxxxx\"");//change ZZ with country code and xxxxxxx
updateSerial();
mySerial.print("Last Minute Engineers | lastminuteengineers.com"); //text content
updateSerial();
mySerial.write(26);

The loop is kept empty because we want to send SMS only once. If you want to send SMS
one more time, just press the RESET key on your Arduino.

Arduino Code – Reading an SMS

Now let’s program our Arduino to read incoming messages. This sketch can be very useful
when you need to perform an action like turn ON/OFF lights, enable fan, enable sprinkler
system when you receive a specific SMS.

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

//Create software serial object to communicate with SIM800L

SoftwareSerial mySerial(3, 2); //SIM800L Tx & Rx is connected to Arduino #3 & #2
 void setup()
{
//Begin serial communication with Arduino and Arduino IDE (Serial Monitor)
Serial.begin(9600);

//Begin serial communication with Arduino and SIM800L

mySerial.begin(9600);

Serial.println("Initializing...");
delay(1000);

mySerial.println("AT"); //Once the handshake test is successful, it will back to OK

updateSerial();

mySerial.println("AT+CMGF=1"); // Configuring TEXT mode

updateSerial();
mySerial.println("AT+CNMI=1,2,0,0,0"); // Decides how newly arrived SMS messages shou
updateSerial();
}

void loop()

Once you send SMS to the SIM800L GSM module, you will see the following output on the
serial monitor.

···
As you can see the output response starts with +CMT: All the fields in the response are
comma separated where the first field is the phone number and the second field is the
name of the person sending the SMS. The third field is a timestamp while the fourth field
is the actual message.

Code Explanation:

The sketch is almost the same as the first sketch except for the code snippet below. Once
the connection is established, we send the following AT commands:
AT+CMGF=1 – Selects the SMS message format as text. The default format is Protocol
Data Unit ﴾PDU﴿

AT+CNMI=1,2,0,0,0 – Specifies how incoming SMS messages should be handled. This way
you can tell the SIM800L module to either forward incoming SMS messages directly to the
PC, or save them to the message storage and then inform the PC about their locations in
the message storage.

mySerial.println("AT+CMGF=1"); // Configuring TEXT mode

updateSerial();
mySerial.println("AT+CNMI=1,2,0,0,0"); // Decides how newly arrived SMS messages should
updateSerial();

Note that this time we have not kept the loop empty as we are polling incoming SMS
messages.

Expanding Arduino SoftwareSerial Buffer Size

If your message is sufficiently lengthy as the one above, you’ll probably receive it with
some missing characters. This is not because of a faulty code, but because the ‘Software
Serial Receive Buffer’ is filling up completely, discarding the remaining characters.

···
The simplest solution is to increase the size of the SoftwareSerial buffer to 256 bytes from
the default size of 64 bytes.

On a Windows PC, go to C:\Program Files ﴾x86﴿ > Arduino > hardware > Arduino > avr >
libraries > SoftwareSerial ﴾> src for newer version of Arduino IDE﴿. Open SoftwareSerial.h
and change this line:

// RX buffer size
#define _SS_MAX_RX_BUFF 64

to

// RX buffer size
#define _SS_MAX_RX_BUFF 256

Save the file and try the sketch again.

Arduino Code – Making a Call

Now let’s program our Arduino to make a call. This sketch can be very useful when you
want your Arduino to make a SOS/distress call in case of an emergency like the
temperature is exceeded or someone breaks into your house.

Before trying out the sketch, you’ll need to enter the phone number you want to call. Look
for the highlighted string ZZxxxxxxxxxx and replace ZZ with the county code and
xxxxxxxxxx with the 10 digit phone number.

···

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

//Create software serial object to communicate with SIM800L

SoftwareSerial mySerial(3, 2); //SIM800L Tx & Rx is connected to Arduino #3 & #2

void setup()
{
//Begin serial communication with Arduino and Arduino IDE (Serial Monitor)
Serial.begin(9600);

//Begin serial communication with Arduino and SIM800L

mySerial.begin(9600);

Serial.println("Initializing...");
delay(1000);

mySerial.println("AT"); //Once the handshake test is successful, i t will back to OK

updateSerial();
 mySerial.println("ATD+ +ZZxxxxxxxxxx;"); // change ZZ with country code and xxxxxxxx
updateSerial();
delay(20000); // wait for 20 seconds...
mySerial.println("ATH"); //hang up
updateSerial();
}

The following screenshot shows a call made from the SIM800L GSM module.

Code Explanation:

The following AT commands are used to make a call:

The following AT commands are used to make a call:

ATD+ +ZZxxxxxxxxxx; – Dials a specified number. Don’t forget the semicolon ; at the
end of the command.

ATH – Hangs up the call.

mySerial.println("ATD+ +ZZxxxxxxxxxx;"); // change ZZ with country code and xxxxxxxxxx

updateSerial();
delay(20000); // wait for 20 seconds...
mySerial.println("ATH"); //hang up
updateSerial();

Arduino Code – Receiving a Call

No special code is required to receive calls; You just have to keep listening to the SIM800L
module. You may find this sketch very useful when you need to perform an action when a
call is received from a specific phone number.

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

//Create software serial object to communicate with SIM800L

SoftwareSerial mySerial(3, 2); //SIM800L Tx & Rx is connected to Arduino #3 & #2

void setup()
{
//Begin serial communication with Arduino and Arduino IDE (Serial Monitor)
Serial.begin(9600);

//Begin serial communication with Arduino and SIM800L

mySerial.begin(9600);

Serial.println("Initializing...");
}

void loop()
{
updateSerial();
}

void updateSerial()
{
delay(500);
while (Serial.available())
 while (Serial.available())
{

The following output on the serial monitor shows the calls received by the SIM800L GSM
module.

···
As you can see incoming calls are usually represented by ‘RING’ on the serial monitor,
followed by the phone number and caller ID. The following AT commands can be used to
accept or hang up the call:

ATA – Accepts an incoming call.

ATH – Hangs up the call. On hanging up the incoming call, we get NO CARRIER on the
serial monitor indicating that the call could not be connected.

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