Wireless communication system and communication method for wireless communication system

• US 8,891,505 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2011
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Murakami, Hiroko, Okada, Hiroki, Kimura, Arinobu, Nakashima, Kazuhiro
• Primary Examiner(s): CRUTCHFIELD, CHRISTOPHER M
• Application Number:
  US13/582,597
• Publication Number:
  US 20130089066A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,358 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/343
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00309 operated with bidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/713 using frequency hopping
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7136 Arrangements for generation of hop frequencies, e.g. using a bank of frequency sources, using continuous tuning or using a transform
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7143 Arrangements for generation of hop patterns

Abstract

A mobile device includes a transmitting unit that, each time an ON operation of a switch in a first mode is performed, transmits a wireless signal corresponding to the first mode ON operation by changing a frequency band among three or more frequency bands and that, when an ON operation of the switch in a second mode is performed, transmits a wireless signal, corresponding to the second mode ON operation, in the frequency band selected at that time. The transmitting unit includes a frequency band computing unit that selects one of the three or more frequency bands through a computation for changing a communication environment when the second mode ON operation of the switch is repeatedly performed. A receiver of the in-vehicle device receives a wireless signal transmitted from the transmitting unit and recognizes command information allocated in advance in correspondence with each ON operation mode of the switch.

Claims

1. A wireless communication system comprising:

a transmitter configured to have a manually operable switch, each time an ON operation of the switch in a predetermined first mode is performed, to change a frequency band among a plurality of predetermined frequency bands to transmit a wireless signal corresponding to the ON operation in the first mode, and, when an ON operation of the switch in a second mode that is different from the first mode is performed, to transmit a wireless signal corresponding to the ON operation in the second mode in one of the frequency bands selected at that time; and

a receiver configured to receive the transmitted wireless signal and to recognize command information allocated in advance in correspondence with each of the ON operations of the switch in the respective modes,

the transmitter is configured to when the ON operation of the switch in the second mode is repeatedly performed, select one of the plurality of predetermined frequency bands through a computation for changing a communication environment,

the number of the plurality of predetermined frequency bands being three or more,

the transmitter, as the computation for changing the communication environment, being configured to learn whether there is a successful communication of a wireless signal based on the ON operation of the switch in the first or second mode for each of the plurality of frequency bands and then to select the frequency band that is determined to have a high communication success rate through the learning as the frequency band when the ON operation of the switch in the second mode is repeatedly performed,

the transmitter including a storage device configured to accumulatively store the number of successful communications of a wireless signal based on the ON operation of the switch in the first or second mode for each of the plurality of frequency bands, and the transmitter, as the learning, and

the transmitter is configured to obtain the frequency band having the largest number of successful communications accumulatively stored in the storage device and to select the obtained frequency band as the frequency band when the ON operation of the switch in the second mode is repeatedly performed.

2. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the transmitter includes a storage device configured to store the frequency band in which communications of wireless signals based on the ON operations of the switch in the first and second modes are successful, and the transmitter, as the learning, the transmitter is configured to load the frequency band stored in the storage device, and the transmitter is configured to select the loaded frequency band as the frequency band when the ON operation of the switch in the second mode is repeatedly performed.

3. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

when the frequency band selected through the learning is the same as the frequency band when the ON operation of the switch in the second mode is repeatedly performed, the transmitter also executes second candidate learning in which the frequency band other than the selected frequency band is selected as a second candidate.

4. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

whether there is a successful communication of a wireless signal based on the ON operation of the switch in the first or second mode for each of the plurality of frequency bands is determined as whether command information allocated in advance in correspondence with each of the ON operations in the first and second modes is recognized by the receiver.

5. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

whether there is a successful communication of a wireless signal based on the ON operation of the switch in the first or second mode for each of the plurality of frequency bands is determined as whether no ON operation of the switch in the second mode is repeatedly performed.

6. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the number of the plurality of predetermined frequency bands is three or more, and the transmitter, as the computation for changing the communication environment, performs a shift operation starting from the frequency band selected at that time from among the three or more frequency bands and then selects the frequency band resulting from the shift operation as the frequency band when the ON operation of the switch in the second mode is repeatedly performed.

7. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the ON operation of the switch in the first mode is a single short-time ON operation of which a duration does not reach a predetermined period of time, and the ON operation of the switch in the second mode is at least one of multiple short-time ON operations within a predetermined period of time and a single long-time ON operation of which a duration exceeds a predetermined period of time.

8. The wireless communication system according to claim 7, wherein

when the ON operation of the switch in the first mode is performed, the transmitter also changes the frequency band after a lapse of the corresponding predetermined period of time, and transmits the wireless signal in the frequency band selected.

9. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the transmitter is part of a mobile device that constitutes a remote keyless entry system of a vehicle, and the receiver is part of an in-vehicle device that constitutes the remote keyless entry system of the vehicle.

10. A transmitting method for a wireless communication system, comprising:

each time an ON operation of a manually operable switch is performed in a predetermined first mode, transmitting a wireless signal corresponding to the ON operation in the first mode by changing a frequency band among a plurality of predetermined frequency bands;

when an ON operation of the switch in a second mode that is different from the first mode is performed, transmitting a wireless signal, corresponding to the ON operation in the second mode, in one of the frequency bands, selected at that time;

when the ON operation of the switch in the second mode is repeatedly performed, selecting one of the plurality of predetermined frequency bands through a computation for changing a communication environment; and

receiving the transmitted wireless signal and recognizing command information allocated in advance in correspondence with each of the ON operations of the switch in the respective modes.