Thanks to FvM, dizgah and xpress+enbedo.
I was left with three options:
1. Learn Chinese to understand the only AT datasheet for SIM900A which is in Chinese.
2. Learn Urdu/Farsi to understand the web page shared by "dizgah" above.
3. Map the AT Commands from Chinese SIM900A AT document to English SIM900 AT document and give it a try.
I tried 3rd option and that worked. Here are the sequence of AT commands with a little explanation that worked for me. Hope it this detail will help anyone who is interfacing this module for the first time.
AT+CGATT? [To check if GPRS is enabled or not]
[Response "+CGATT: 1" indicates it is attached, else try sending "AT+CGATT=1" ]
AT+CIPSHUT [Close the IP session if any]
[Response should be "SHUT OK"]
AT+CIPSTATUS [Check if the IP stack is initialized]
[Response "STATE: IP INITIAL"indicates IP stack is initialized]
AT+CIPMUX=0 [Setting up a single connection mode]
[Response "OK" indicates single connection mode set successfully]
---This should be done one time to save the access point------------------------
AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","airtelgprs.com";
[Response should be "OK", you can verify the entry by sending "AT+CGDCONT?"]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AT+CSTT="airtelgprs.com"; [Select the accesspoint, append 2 more params if needed-> ,"username", "password" ]
[Response should be "OK"]
AT+CIICR [ Connects to the service provider. Response might take some time]
[Response should be "OK"]
AT+CIFSR [Get the local IP address]
[Response should be "IP address" assigned to the module]
AT+CIPSTART="TCP","180.152.200.105","80" [Start the connection, TCP, domain name, port]
[Response should be "OK" and after sometime "CONNECT OK"]
AT+CIPSEND [Request initiation of data entry which you want to send]
[Response should be the string “>” to indicate that you can send the data]
[You need to send a byte with value 0x1a to let the module know that is the
end of the data you want to send]
[Module should reply with "SEND OK"]
AT+CIPSHUT [Request shutting down of the current connections]
[Response should be "SHUT OK"]
Thanks,
Mrinal