SHORT RANGE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR A VEHICLE

• US 20170318612A1
• Filed: 05/02/2016
• Published: 11/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: GU, Wen, POP, David P., KALHOUS, Amanda J., HRABAK, Robert A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,949,303 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/245 where the antenna reception area plays a role
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/48 for in-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0206 in access points, e.g. base stations access point devices per se H04W88/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/28 Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 Moving wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A short range wireless communication (SRWC) system for a vehicle and a method of using the SRWC system. The system includes a first SRWC node in the vehicle having a SRWC receiver and a SRWC transmitter, and a second SRWC node in the vehicle adapted to send and receive SRWC data. The first and second SRWC nodes are configured so that when the first and second SRWC nodes are operable, an SRWC object device perceives the first and second SRWC nodes as a single SRWC device.

Claims

1. A short range wireless communication (SRWC) system for a vehicle, comprising:

a plurality of SRWC end nodes in the vehicle having a SRWC receiver and a SRWC transmitter; and

an SRWC wired node in the vehicle adapted to send and receive SRWC data,

wherein the plurality of SRWC end nodes and the SRWC wired node are configured so that, when the plurality of SRWC end nodes and the SRWC wired node are operable, an SRWC object device perceives the plurality of SRWC end nodes and the SRWC wired node as a single SRWC device, wherein the SRWC wired node is hardwired to a communications bus of the vehicle so that the SRWC wired node can send and receive messages over the communications bus, wherein the SRWC wired node and the plurality of SRWC end nodes are configured such that only the SRWC wired node is hardwired to the communications bus, wherein each of the plurality of SRWC end nodes is configured to receive a SRWC signal from the SRWC object device and is configured to send SRWC data pertaining to the SRWC object device to the SRWC wired node, wherein the SRWC system is configured to determine a location of the SRWC object device based on the SRWC data pertaining to the SRWC object device.

2. The SRWC system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of SRWC end nodes and the SRWC wired node each transmit and/or receive one or more communications with the SRWC object device, and wherein the SRWC object device is an SRWC-enabled mobile device or an SRWC-enabled infrastructure.

3. The SRWC system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of SRWC end nodes is configured to remain powered when the vehicle ignition is powered OFF, wherein the second SRWC node is configured to enter a sleep mode when the vehicle ignition is powered OFF and to wake-up when triggered in the sleep mode by the first SRWC node.

4. The SRWC system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of SRWC end nodes is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) end node and the SRWC wired node is a BLE gateway node.

5. The SRWC system of claim 4, wherein the SRWC data associated with the location of the SRWC object device comprises signal-strength data, angle of arrival data, time-of-flight data, or any combination thereof.

6. The SRWC system of claim 4, wherein, when the vehicle ignition is powered OFF:

the BLE gateway node enters a sleep mode and the at least one of the BLE end nodes is configured to trigger a wake-up of the BLE gateway node when the at least one BLE end node receives the SRWC signal from the SRWC object device.

7. The SRWC system of claim 1, wherein the second SRWC node further comprises memory storing instructions executable by a processor in the SRWC wired node, wherein the instructions when executed by the processor cause the SRWC wired node to carry out the following steps after receiving at the SRWC wired node a wake-up signal from at least one of the plurality of the SRWC end nodes that was sent in response to a detection of the SRWC signal from the SRWC object device at the at least one of the plurality of the SRWC end nodes when the vehicle is powered off:

exiting a sleep mode of the SRWC wired node in response to the wake-up signal received from the at least one of the plurality of the SRWC end nodes; and

thereafter

receiving SRWC data at the SRWC wired node from the SRWC object device via the at least one of the plurality of the SRWC end nodes.

8. The SRWC system of claim 7, wherein the each of the plurality of SRWC end nodes is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) end node and the SRWC wired node is a BLE gateway node.

9. The SRWC system of claim 8, wherein the instructions when executed by the processor further cause the BLE gateway node to:

in response to the wake-up signal from at least one of the plurality of SRWC end nodes, receive additional SRWC data at the BLE gateway node from each of the plurality of BLE end nodes; and

determine a location of the SRWC object device based on the additional SRWC data,

wherein the additional SRWC data comprises signal-strength data, angle of arrival data, time-of-flight data, or any combination thereof.

10. A short range wireless communication (SRWC) system for a vehicle, comprising:

one or more SRWC end nodes in the vehicle; and

a SRWC gateway node in the vehicle, the gateway node comprising memory having instructions stored thereon and a processor adapted to read and carry-out the instructions, the instructions comprising;

communicating with an SRWC object device via the gateway node using a SRWC protocol;

receiving SRWC parameter data associated with the object device at the gateway node from the one or more end nodes; and

based on the communication and based on the SRWC parameter data, performing a vehicle function,

wherein, during the communicating step, the one or more end nodes and the gateway node present as a single SRWC device to the object device.

11. The SRWC system of claim 10, wherein the communicating step comprises identifying the object device using an object device identifier, wherein the receiving step comprises receiving from the object device at least one of:

signal-strength data, angle of arrival data, or time-of-flight data.

12. The SRWC system of claim 10, the instructions further comprising:

providing from the gateway node to a first end node an identifier associated with the object device;

entering a sleep mode at the gateway node;

receiving a wake-up signal from the first end node, wherein the wake-up signal is received in response to the first end node receiving a wireless transmission from the object device that includes the identifier;

in response to the wake-up signal, exiting the sleep mode; and

then communicating with the object device via at the gateway node.

13. The SRWC system of claim 10, further comprising providing software updates from the gateway node to the one or more end nodes so that software in the end nodes is up-to-date.

14. A method of communicating with a short range wireless communication (SRWC) object device using a SRWC system in a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

receiving a SRWC signal from the object device at a SRWC first node in the vehicle;

periodically listening for data from the SRWC first node at a SRWC second node in the vehicle;

in response to receiving the SRWC signal at the first node, sending the data to a SRWC second node thereby causing the SRWC second node to wake up; and

establishing a SRWC link between the second node and the object device based on a previous identification of the object device at the vehicle, wherein the first and second nodes present as a single SRWC device to the object device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein one of the first node or the second node is a gateway node, wherein the other of the first node or the second node is an end node, further comprising identifying the object device at the first node, and once the object device is identified by the first node, establishing the SRWC link based on the identification.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the object device is one of an SRWC-enabled mobile device or SRWC-enabled infrastructure.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

providing position data from the first node to the second node, wherein the position data is derived from the SRWC signal;

determining at the second node identification data via the SRWC link between the second node and the object device;

providing the position and identification data to a vehicle system module (VSM) in the vehicle; and

providing a vehicle service to a vehicle user based on the position and identification data.