VIRTUAL KEYFOB FOR VEHICLE SHARING

• US 20160203661A1
• Filed: 01/14/2015
• Published: 07/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Pudar, Nikola J., Hrabak, Robert A., Kalhous, Amanda J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,384,643 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/101 Bluetooth
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/108 Encryption
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/205 Mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/209 Remote starting of engine
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/24 using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/00 Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points handling coins or valuable papers, e.g. banknotes, G07D; apparatus for vending or hiring articles or services activated by coins, credit cards, paper currency or the like G07F7/00, G07F17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00571 operated by interacting with a central unit

Abstract

A system and method of managing virtual vehicle keys includes: receiving at a central facility a request to use a vehicle; receiving an identifier of a handheld wireless device at the central facility; generating at the central facility a virtual vehicle key that permits vehicle access using the handheld wireless device; and wirelessly transmitting the virtual vehicle key to the handheld wireless device and a vehicle the handheld wireless device has authorization to access.

Claims

1. A method of managing virtual vehicle keys, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving at a central facility a request to use a vehicle;

(b) receiving an identifier of a handheld wireless device at the central facility;

(c) generating at the central facility a virtual vehicle key that permits vehicle access using the handheld wireless device; and

(d) wirelessly transmitting the virtual vehicle key to the handheld wireless device and a vehicle the handheld wireless device has authorization to access.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is one of a plurality of vehicles included in a vehicle fleet.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the handheld wireless device further comprises a smart phone.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual vehicle key further comprises a nonce and a token.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual vehicle key uses advanced encryption standard (AES) encryption.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

encrypting the virtual vehicle key at the handheld wireless device;

initiating a short-range wireless communication session between the vehicle and the handheld wireless device; and

wirelessly transmitting the encrypted virtual vehicle key between the vehicle and the handheld wireless device.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:

initiating the short-range wireless communication session via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of authenticating the virtual vehicle key using a passive entry passive start (PEPS) module.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual vehicle key is a master key providing access to more than one vehicle that is also pre-stored at the vehicle.

10-16. -16. (canceled)

17. A method of managing virtual vehicle keys, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving at a central facility a request to operate a vehicle included in a vehicle fleet along with a time window of operation;

(b) identifying a vehicle in the vehicle fleet available during the time window of operation;

(c) generating at the central facility a virtual vehicle key that permits access to the identified vehicle during the time window of operation using a handheld wireless device associated with the request; and

(d) wirelessly transmitting the virtual vehicle key to the handheld wireless device and the identified vehicle.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

encrypting the virtual vehicle key at the handheld wireless device;

initiating a short-range wireless communication session between the vehicle and the handheld wireless device; and

wirelessly transmitting the encrypted virtual vehicle key between the vehicle and the handheld wireless device.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of:

initiating the short-range wireless communication session via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the virtual vehicle key uses advanced encryption standard (AES) encryption.

21. A method of managing virtual vehicle keys, comprising the steps of:

(a) generating a virtual vehicle key at a central facility that permits vehicle access using a handheld wireless device;

(b) wirelessly transmitting the virtual vehicle key from the central facility to a vehicle;

(c) associating the virtual vehicle key with the vehicle at the central facility;

(d) receiving at the central facility a request to use a vehicle after carrying out steps (a)-(c);

(e) receiving an identifier of a handheld wireless device at the central facility;

(f) generating at the central facility a copy of the virtual vehicle key; and

(g) wirelessly transmitting the copy of the virtual vehicle key to the handheld wireless device.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising generating a plurality of virtual vehicle keys and wirelessly transmitting the plurality of virtual vehicle keys to the vehicle.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising the steps of storing the plurality of virtual vehicle keys at the vehicle and periodically deleting the plurality of virtual vehicle keys.

24. A server for providing virtual vehicle keys, comprising at least one processor and memory storing programming that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the server to:

(a) receive a request to use a vehicle;

(b) receive an identifier of a handheld wireless device;

(c) determine whether the handheld device is authorized to access the vehicle based on the identifier;

(d) generate a virtual vehicle key that permits the handheld wireless device to access the vehicle; and

(e) wirelessly transmit the virtual vehicle key to the handheld wireless device and to the vehicle that the handheld wireless device has authorization to access.

25. The server of claim 24, wherein the virtual vehicle key further comprises a nonce and a token.

26. The server of claim 24, wherein the virtual vehicle key is a master key providing access to more than one vehicle.

27. The server of claim 24, wherein the processor is further programmed to identify an available subset of one or more vehicles from a fleet of vehicles and select one of the subset for access.

28. The server of claim 24, wherein the processor is further programmed to receive a global positioning system (GPS) location of the vehicle and wirelessly transmit the GPS location along with the virtual vehicle key to the handheld wireless device.

29. The server of claim 24, wherein:

step (a) further comprises a request to operate a vehicle included in a vehicle fleet and receiving a time window of operation for which the vehicle is being requested;

step (c) further comprises identifying a vehicle in the vehicle fleet available during the time window of operation; and

step (d) further comprises generating a virtual vehicle key that permits the handheld wireless device to access the identified vehicle only during the time window of operation.

30. The server of claim 29, further comprising, following step (e), the steps of detecting that the identified vehicle is being used by a user having the handheld wireless device past the time window of operation and, in response to the detection, extending the time window of operation so that the user is able to continue using the handheld wireless device to access the vehicle for an additional amount of time.