Vehicle independent passive entry system
First Claim
1. A passive entry system for a vehicle of a particular model, said vehicle having an interior and an exterior, said system comprising:
- an internal antenna disposed in said interior;
an external antenna disposed in said exterior;
at least one amplifier driving at least one of said antennas and having a configurable gain; and
a controller coupled to said amplifier for transferring at least one of internal and external software-configured gain values to said amplifier for controlling a transmission power of interrogation signals broadcast by said internal and external antennas, respectively, said software-configured gain values being obtained in an advance calibration procedure with respect to said particular model of said vehicle.
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A passive entry system for a vehicle of a particular model communicates with a portable fob that may be located in either an interior and an exterior of the vehicle. An internal antenna is disposed in the interior and an external antenna is disposed in the exterior. At least one amplifier drives at least one of the antennas and has a configurable gain. A controller is coupled to the amplifier for transferring at least one of internal and external software-configured gain values to the amplifier for controlling a transmission power of interrogation signals broadcast by the internal and external antennas, respectively. The software-configured gain values are obtained in an advance calibration procedure with respect to the particular model of the vehicle.
77 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A passive entry system for a vehicle of a particular model, said vehicle having an interior and an exterior, said system comprising:
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an internal antenna disposed in said interior;
an external antenna disposed in said exterior;
at least one amplifier driving at least one of said antennas and having a configurable gain; and
a controller coupled to said amplifier for transferring at least one of internal and external software-configured gain values to said amplifier for controlling a transmission power of interrogation signals broadcast by said internal and external antennas, respectively, said software-configured gain values being obtained in an advance calibration procedure with respect to said particular model of said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of operating a passive entry system for a vehicle of a particular model, said vehicle having an interior and an exterior, an interior antenna disposed in said interior, an exterior antenna disposed in said exterior, at least one amplifier driving at least one of said antennas and having a configurable gain, and a controller coupled to said amplifier for controlling said configurable gain, said passive entry system further including a portable fob to be carried by a user, said method comprising the steps of:
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detecting a user request for a passive entry function;
transferring at least one of an interior software-configured gain value or an exterior software-configured gain value to said amplifier, said software-configured gain values being obtained in an advance calibration procedure with respect to said particular model of said vehicle;
transmitting first and second interrogation signals from said interior antenna and said exterior antenna, respectively, having a transmission power according to said software-configured gain values;
receiving said interrogation signals in said fob;
transmitting from said fob a response message including respective indications of a received signal strength;
receiving said response message in said controller;
determining whether said portable fob is located in said interior or said exterior in response to said indications of received signal strength; and
performing said requested passive entry function if said determined location matches an expected location corresponding to said requested passive entry function. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification