Enhanced automotive passive entry

• US 10,285,013 B2
• Filed: 02/12/2018
• Issued: 05/07/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Ledvina, Brent M., Brumley, Robert W., Mayor, Robert William, Bencze, William J., Marquez, Alejandro J., Yang, Shang-Te, Chen, Xu, Narang, Mohit, Sen, Indranil S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Schwartz, Joshua L
• Application Number:
  US15/894,774
• Publication Number:
  US 20180234797A1
• Time in Patent Office: 449 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-4566
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/205 Mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/24 using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/29 the pass containing active electronic elements, e.g. smartcards
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

Methods and devices are provided for allowing a mobile device (e.g., a key fob or a consumer electronic device, such as a mobile phone, watch, or other wearable device) to interact with a vehicle such that a location of the mobile device can be determined by the vehicle, thereby enabling certain functionality of the vehicle. A device may include both RF antenna(s) and magnetic antenna(s) for determining a location of a mobile device relative to the vehicle. Such a hybrid approach can provide various advantages. Existing magnetic coils on a mobile device (e.g., for charging or communication) may be re-used for distance measurements that are supplemented by the RF measurements. Any device antenna may provide measurements to a machine learning model that determines a region in which the mobile device resides, based on training measurements in the regions.

Claims

1. A method of enabling an operation by a vehicle involving a mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving a first set of signal values measured using one or more device radiofrequency (RF) antennas of the mobile device, the first set of signal values providing one or more first signal properties of signals in a first frequency range emitted from one or more vehicle RF antennas of the vehicle, wherein the one or more first signal properties of a signal change with respect to a distance between a device RF antenna that received the signal and a vehicle RF antenna that emitted the signal;

receiving a second set of signal values measured using one or more device magnetic antennas of the mobile device, the second set of signal values providing one or more second signal properties of signals in a second frequency range lower than the first frequency range emitted from one or more vehicle magnetic antennas of the vehicle, wherein the one or more second signal properties of a signal change with respect to a distance between a device magnetic antenna that received the signal and a vehicle magnetic antenna that emitted the signal;

determining a location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle using the one or more first signal properties of the first set of signal values and the one or more second signal properties of the second set of signal values that change with respect to a relative distance between the mobile device and the vehicle; and

providing the location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle to a control unit of the vehicle, thereby enabling the control unit to perform a prescribed operation of the vehicle based on the location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an orientation measured using a sensor of the mobile device; and

using the orientation to determine a correspondence of distance between a respective device magnetic antenna and a respective vehicle magnetic antenna.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the mobile device is determined using the first set of signal values measured using the one or more device RF antennas at a first time when the mobile device is outside of the vehicle, and wherein the location of the mobile device is determined using the second set of signal values measured using the one or more device magnetic antennas at a second time when the mobile device is inside of the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle includes:

storing a model that determines the location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle based on the one or more first signal properties and the one or more second signal properties; and

providing the first set of signal values and the second set of signal values to the model to obtain the location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the model is a machine learning model that classifies a location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle as being within a region of a set of pre-defined regions based on the one or more first signal properties and the one or more second signal properties, the set of pre-defined regions including a first subset of one or more regions outside the vehicle and a second subset of one or more regions outside the vehicle, the machine learning model being trained using various sets of signal values measured at locations across the set of pre-defined regions;

and

wherein the location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle corresponds to a current classification of a particular region within which the mobile device is currently located.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle comprises:

determining a respective first distance between a respective device RF antenna and a respective vehicle RF antenna using the one or more first signal properties of the first set of signal values;

determining a respective second distance between a respective magnetic antenna and a respective vehicle magnetic antenna using the one or more second signal properties of the second set of signal values; and

determining the location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle based on the first distances and the second distances.

6. A method for enabling an operation by a vehicle involving a mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving a set of signal values measured using one or more device antennas of the mobile device, the set of signal values providing one or more signal properties of signals from a plurality of vehicle antennas having various locations in the vehicle, wherein the one or more signal properties of a signal change with respect to a distance between a device antenna of the mobile device that received the signal and a vehicle antenna that emitted the signal;

storing a machine learning model that classifies a location of the mobile device as being within a region of a set of pre-defined regions in a vicinity of the vehicle based on the one or more signal properties of the signals from the plurality of vehicle antennas, the set of pre-defined regions including a first subset of one or more regions outside the vehicle and a second subset of one or more regions outside the vehicle, the machine learning model being trained using various sets of signal values measured at various locations across the set of pre-defined regions;

providing the set of signal values to the machine learning model to obtain a current classification of a particular region of the set of pre-defined regions within which the mobile device is currently located; and

providing the particular region to a control unit of the vehicle, thereby enabling the control unit to perform a prescribed operation of the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving one or more other values measured by the mobile device, the one or more other values providing one or more physical properties of the mobile device, wherein the machine learning model is trained using the one or more physical properties; and

providing the one or more other values to the machine learning model to obtain the current classification of the particular region within which the mobile device is currently located.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the method is performed by the mobile device, the method further comprising:

measuring the signal values using the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the method is performed by a computer of the vehicle.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more signal properties include a signal strength, a time-of-flight value, or both.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining the location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle at a plurality of times, thereby obtaining a plurality of locations of the mobile device outside the vehicle; and

providing the plurality of locations or a difference in the plurality of locations to the control unit of the vehicle, thereby enabling the control unit to perform a preparatory operation of the vehicle based on a motion of the mobile device toward the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more device antennas of the mobile device include one or more radiofrequency (RF) antennas, include one or more magnetic antennas, or include one or more RF antennas and one or more magnetic antennas.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more device antennas of the mobile device include one or more RF antennas and one or more magnetic antennas, wherein the one or more RF antennas operate within a range of 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz, and wherein the one or more magnetic antennas operate within a range of 100 kHz to 900 kHz.

15. A mobile device comprising:

one or more radiofrequency (RF) reception antennas;

an RF ranging circuit coupled with the one or more RF reception antennas, the RF ranging circuit configured to;

analyze signals in a first frequency range from the one or more RF reception antennas; and

provide one or more first signal values related to a distance or an orientation of the mobile device relative to one or more RF source antennas in a vehicle;

one or more magnetic antennas; and

a magnetic measurement circuit coupled with the one or more magnetic antennas, the magnetic measurement circuit configured to;

analyze signals in a second frequency range lower than the first frequency range from the one or more magnetic antennas; and

provide one or more second signal values related to a distance of the mobile device relative to one or more magnetic source antennas in the vehicle.

16. The mobile device of claim 15, further comprising:

collection circuitry configured to provide the one or more first signal values and the one or more second signal values to a location circuitry for determining a location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle.

17. The mobile device of claim 16, wherein the location circuitry is located in a device external to the mobile device.

18. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the external device is in the vehicle.

19. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the location circuitry is configured to:

store a machine learning model that classifies a location of the mobile device relative to the vehicle as being within a region of a set of pre-defined regions based on the one or more first signal values, the one or more second signal values, or both, wherein the set of pre-defined regions including a first subset of one or more regions outside the vehicle and a second subset of one or more regions outside the vehicle, the machine learning model being trained using various sets of signal values measured at locations across the set of pre-defined regions; and

provide the set of signal values to the machine learning model to obtain a current classification of a particular region within which the mobile device is currently located.

20. The mobile device of claim 19, further comprising:

data communication circuitry configured to provide the particular region to a control unit of the vehicle, thereby enabling the control unit to perform a prescribed operation of the vehicle.

21. The mobile device of claim 16, wherein the collection circuitry is further configured to:

identify any outliers among the one or more first signal values and the one or more second signal values; and

exclude the outliers from providing to the location circuitry.