Vehicle and method of controlling the vehicle

• US 10,272,875 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2016
• Issued: 04/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Inventors: Lee, Jongyoung, Lee, Jihye, Kim, Sinjung
• Primary Examiner(s): Weber, Tamara L
• Application Number:
  US15/181,089
• Publication Number:
  US 20170217404A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,051 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/10 Communication protocols, communication systems of vehicle anti-theft devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/24 using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/245 where the antenna reception area plays a role
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

A vehicle includes a communicator for performing a radio frequency communication and another radio frequency communication with a smart key, and a controller for setting a plurality of vehicle controlled regions each having a preset range from a vehicle, estimating a position of a driver by using the radio frequency communication and the other radio frequency communication with the smart key, and setting a detection period of a Radio Frequency (RF) signal to be transmitted to the smart key based on a vehicle controlled region in which the driver is positioned, among the plurality of vehicle controlled regions.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

a communicator configured to perform a radio frequency communication and another radio frequency communication with a smart key; and

a controller configured to set a plurality of vehicle controlled regions each having a preset range from a vehicle, estimate a position of a driver by using the radio frequency communication and the other radio frequency communication with the smart key and estimate a speed of the driver by using information about a previous position of the driver measured at a previous detection point of time and a current position of the driver measured at a present point of time, and set a detection period of a Radio Frequency (RF) signal to be transmitted to the smart key based on a vehicle controlled region in which the driver is positioned, among the plurality of vehicle controlled regions and set the detection period of the RF signal based on the estimated speed,

wherein the plurality of vehicle controlled regions includes a first region and a second region that is farther than the first region from the vehicle, and

the controller predicts a next position of the driver, and when the driver is predicted to move from the first region to the second region, locks a door lock of the vehicle and changes the detection period of the RF signal based on the number of occurrences of no reception of other RF signals from the smart key.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller increases the detection period of the RF signal as the vehicle controlled region in which the driver is positioned among the plurality of vehicle controlled regions is farther from the vehicle.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller calculates a next prediction position of the driver based on the estimated speed, determines a vehicle controlled region corresponding to the next prediction position among the plurality of vehicle controlled regions, and sets the detection period of the RF signal based on the determined vehicle controlled region.

4. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the controller sets a motion delay zone based on the next prediction position and the current position of the driver, and sets the detection period of the RF signal based on whether the driver is separated from the motion delay zone.

5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the controller locks a door lock of the vehicle based on the number of occurrences of no reception of other RF signals from the smart key and based on whether the driver is separated from the motion delay zone.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller estimates the position of the driver based on RF signal intensity information received by the communicator from the smart key.

7. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the position of the driver corresponds to the position of the smart key.

8. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller sets a motion delay zone based on a current position and the next prediction position of the driver, and when the driver is predicted to be separated from the motion delay zone and to move to the second region, the controller locks the door lock of the vehicle.

9. A method of controlling a vehicle, the method comprising:

performing a radio frequency communication and another radio frequency communication with a smart key;

estimating a position of a driver using the radio frequency communication and the other radio frequency communication with the smart key;

estimating a speed of the driver by using information about a previous position of the driver measured at a previous detection point of time and a current position of the driver measured at a present point of time; and

setting a detection period of an Radio Frequency (RF) signal to be transmitted to the smart key by determining a vehicle control region in which the driver is positioned among a plurality of vehicle control region each having a preset range from the vehicle, and by using a result of the determination, and setting the detection period of the RF signal based on the estimated speed,

wherein the plurality of vehicle controlled regions includes a first region and a second region that is farther than the first region from the vehicle,

the method further comprising predicting a next position of the driver, and when the driver is predicted to move from the first region to the second region, locking a door lock of the vehicle and changes the detection period of the RF signal based on the number of occurrences of no reception of other RF signals from the smart key.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of setting the detection period of the RF signal comprises increasing the detection period of the RF signal as the vehicle controlled region in which the driver is positioned among the plurality of vehicle controlled regions is farther from the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of estimating the position further comprises calculating a next prediction position of the driver based on the estimated speed, and determining a vehicle controlled region corresponding to the next prediction position among the plurality of vehicle controlled regions, and

the step of setting the detection period of the RF signal further comprises setting the detection period of the RF signal based on the determined vehicle controlled region.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of estimating the position further comprises setting a motion delay zone based on the next prediction position and the current position of the driver, and

the step of setting the detection period of the RF signal further comprises setting the detection period of the RF signal based on whether the driver is separated from the motion delay zone.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising locking a door lock of the vehicle based on the number of occurrences of no reception of other RF signals from the smart key and based on whether the driver is separated from the motion delay zone.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of estimating the position of the driver comprises estimating the position of the driver based on RF signal intensity information received from the smart key.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the position of the driver corresponds to the position of the smart key.