Vehicle portable device and information communication system

• US 8,995,914 B2
• Filed: 11/20/2012
• Issued: 03/31/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omron Automotive Electronics Company Limited (Nidec Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Omron Automotive Electronics Company Limited (Nidec Corporation)
• Inventors: Nishidai, Tetsuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Trinh, Sonny
• Application Number:
  US13/681,962
• Publication Number:
  US 20130137372A1
• Time in Patent Office: 861 Days
• Field of Search: 340/5.61, 340/425.5, 340/5.64, 340/5.6, 340/426.16, 340/426.17, 340/438, 455/39, 455/41.2
• US Class Current: 455/41.2
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/102 a signal being sent to a remote location, e.g. a radio signal being transmitted to a police station, a security company or the owner
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/00 Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A vehicle portable device has a wireless communication part that conducts wireless communication with a vehicle, a short-range wireless communication part that conducts short-range wireless communication with a mobile terminal, a vehicle information acquisition part that acquires vehicle information on the vehicle, wherein the vehicle information is transmitted from the vehicle by wireless communication, a transmission intensity setting part that sets transmission intensity, with which the vehicle information is transmitted to the mobile terminal, according to a content of the vehicle information, and a transmission controller that performs control such that the vehicle information is transmitted to the mobile terminal with the set transmission intensity by short-range wireless communication.

Claims

1. A vehicle portable device comprising:

a wireless communication part that conducts wireless communication with a vehicle;

a short-range wireless communication part that conducts short-range wireless communication with a mobile terminal;

a vehicle information acquisition part that acquires vehicle information on the vehicle, wherein the vehicle information is transmitted from the vehicle by wireless communication;

a transmission intensity setting part that sets transmission intensity, with which the vehicle information is transmitted to the mobile terminal, according to a content of the vehicle information;

a transmission controller that performs control such that the vehicle information is transmitted to the mobile terminal with the set transmission intensity by short-range wireless communication; and

a storage in which the vehicle information is stored,

wherein, when the mobile terminal makes a request to transmit the vehicle information;

the vehicle information acquisition part determines whether the requested vehicle information requires an update, acquires the vehicle information that requires the update from the vehicle, and updates the vehicle information stored in the storage, and

the transmission controller transmits the vehicle information acquired from the vehicle by the vehicle information acquisition part to the mobile terminal with respect to the vehicle information that requires the update, and transmits the vehicle information stored in the storage to the mobile terminal with respect to the vehicle information that does not require the update.

2. The vehicle portable device according to claim 1, wherein

the vehicle information acquisition part stores the transmission intensity set to the vehicle information in the storage together with the vehicle information, and

the transmission controller transmits the vehicle information stored in the storage to the mobile terminal with the transmission intensity stored in the storage.

3. The vehicle portable device according to claim 2, wherein the transmission intensity setting part sets the transmission intensity based on a secret level of the vehicle information.

4. The vehicle portable device according to claim 2, wherein the transmission intensity setting part sets the transmission intensity of the vehicle information, which is transmitted from the vehicle irrespective of a request from the vehicle portable device, stronger than the transmission intensity of the vehicle information, which is transmitted from the vehicle by the request from the vehicle portable device.

5. The vehicle portable device according to claim 2, wherein the transmission intensity setting part sets transmission intensity of information on a position of the vehicle to the weakest.

6. The vehicle portable device according to claim 2, further comprising:

a command relay part that controls transmission of a command to the vehicle, the command being transmitted from the mobile terminal,

wherein the transmission intensity setting part sets transmission intensity of a check signal, which is transmitted to the mobile terminal in response to the command, according to a content of the command,

wherein the transmission controller transmits the check signal to the mobile terminal with the set transmission intensity, and

wherein the command relay part transmits the command to the vehicle when receiving a response signal, which is transmitted from the mobile terminal in response to the check signal.

7. The vehicle portable device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission intensity setting part sets the transmission intensity based on a secret level of the vehicle information.

8. The vehicle portable device according to claim 7, wherein the transmission controller transmits the plurality of pieces of vehicle information to the mobile terminal at different timing for each group that is classified by the secret level.

9. The vehicle portable device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission intensity setting part sets the transmission intensity of the vehicle information, which is transmitted from the vehicle irrespective of a request from the vehicle portable device, stronger than the transmission intensity of the vehicle information, which is transmitted from the vehicle by the request from the vehicle portable device.

10. The vehicle portable device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission intensity setting part sets transmission intensity of information on a position of the vehicle to the weakest.

11. The vehicle portable device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a command relay part that controls transmission of a command to the vehicle, the command being transmitted from the mobile terminal,

wherein the transmission intensity setting part sets transmission intensity of a check signal, which is transmitted to the mobile terminal in response to the command, according to a content of the command,

wherein the transmission controller transmits the check signal to the mobile terminal with the set transmission intensity, and

wherein the command relay part transmits the command to the vehicle when receiving a response signal, which is transmitted from the mobile terminal in response to the check signal.

14. The information communication system according to claim 8, wherein the information communication system is configured such that the transmission intensity of the command from the mobile terminal to the vehicle portable device are set by a user.

12. An information communication system comprising:

a vehicle portable device that conducts wireless communication with a vehicle; and

a mobile terminal that includes a display part and conducts near-field wireless communication with the vehicle portable device,

wherein the vehicle portable device includes;

a vehicle information acquisition part that acquires vehicle information on the vehicle, wherein the vehicle information is transmitted from the vehicle by wireless communication;

a transmission intensity setting part that sets transmission intensity, with which the vehicle information is transmitted to the mobile terminal, according to a content of the vehicle information; and

a transmission controller that performs control such that the vehicle information is transmitted to the mobile terminal with the set transmission intensity by short-range wireless communication, and

wherein the mobile terminal includes an execution controller that acquires the vehicle information transmitted from the vehicle portable device and controls execution of processing of displaying the vehicle information on the display part,

wherein the transmission intensity setting part sets the transmission intensity of the vehicle information based on a secret level of the vehicle information, and

wherein the secret level is transmitted from the vehicle together with the vehicle information.

13. The information communication system according to claim 12, wherein

the mobile terminal further includes an operation part that inputs a command to the vehicle, and

the execution controller sets the transmission intensity of the command transmitted to the vehicle portable device based on a content of the command, and transmits the command to the vehicle portable device with the set transmission intensity by short-range wireless communication.