Smart key emulation for vehicles

• US 10,308,219 B2
• Filed: 05/01/2017
• Issued: 06/04/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Crawford Group Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Original Assignee: The Crawford Group Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Inventors: Reiser, Derik
• Primary Examiner(s): Jiang, Yong Hang
• Application Number:
  US15/583,288
• Publication Number:
  US 20170294114A1
• Time in Patent Office: 764 Days
• Field of Search: 340 572
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/101 Bluetooth
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/103 Near field communication [NFC]
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/105 Radio frequency identification data [RFID]
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/205 Mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/24 using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/245 where the antenna reception area plays a role
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/51 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/47 using near field communication [NFC] or radio frequency identification [RFID] modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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 88/02 : Terminal devices

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for permitting a person to keylessly start a vehicle using a machine-sensible item such as his/her mobile device without requiring the person to possess a smart key.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

sensing a machine-sensible item to generate data indicative of a request to access a vehicle;

comparing the generated data with an authorization record for the vehicle;

based on the comparing, determining whether a user associated with the item is authorized to access the vehicle;

determining a current relative positioning between the vehicle and a wireless device associated with the authorization record;

in response to (1) the comparing resulting in a determination that the user associated with the item is authorized to access the vehicle, and (2) a determination that the wireless device associated with the authorization record is near the vehicle based on the determined relative positioning, emulating a smart key for the vehicle to permit the user to keylessly start the vehicle without requiring the user to possess a smart key for the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the item is the wireless device associated with the authorization record.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the wireless device associated with the authorization record is a smart phone.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the sensing step comprises sensing the wireless device via a reader attached to the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the current relative positioning determining step comprises determining the current relative positioning independently of the sensing step.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the item is different than the wireless device associated with the authorization record.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the current relative positioning determining step comprises:

determining a current position for the wireless device;

determining a current position for the vehicle; and

determining the current relative positioning based on the determined current position for the wireless device and the determined current position for the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of determining a current position for the wireless device comprises determining a current global positioning system (GPS) location for the wireless device.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of determining a current position for the vehicle comprises determining a current global positioning system (GPS) location for the vehicle.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the emulating step comprises wirelessly communicating with a smart key presence sensor resident in the vehicle to emulate a presence of a smart key in proximity to the smart key presence sensor.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the emulating step is performed by hardware installed in the vehicle.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the emulating step is performed by the wireless device associated with the authorization record.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

communicating an enable signal to a smart key emulator in response to (1) the comparing resulting in a determination that the user associated with the item is authorized to access the vehicle, and (2) a determination that the wireless device associated with the authorization record is near the vehicle based on the determined relative positioning; and

wherein the emulating step is performed by the smart key emulator in response to the communicated enable signal.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the enable signal comprises a multi-bit code.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the enable signal comprises an encrypted enable signal.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the vehicle is a rental vehicle.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

accessing vehicle data through a port of the rental vehicle in response to the user picking up the rental vehicle; and

wirelessly communicating the accessed vehicle data to a remote computer system.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the accessed vehicle data comprises at least one member of a fuel level for the rental vehicle, an odometer reading for the rental vehicle, a current location for the rental vehicle, and a vehicle identification number (VIN) for the rental vehicle.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the sensing step comprises sensing the machine-sensible item via at least one of (1) a near field communication (NFC) sensor, (2) an RFID sensor, and (3) a BlueTooth sensor.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the comparing step is performed by at least one of (1) a server remote from the vehicle, (2) a processor resident in the vehicle, and (3) a processor resident in the wireless device.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the current relative positioning determining step is performed by at least one of (1) a server remote from the vehicle, (2) a processor resident in the vehicle, and (3) a processor resident in the wireless device.

22. A system for control of vehicle access without a need for delivering keys to a user of a vehicle, the system comprising:

a sensor configured to sense a machine-sensible item to generate data indicative of a request to access a vehicle;

a processor configured to (1) compare the generated data with an authorization record for the vehicle, (2) based on the comparison, determine whether a user associated with the item is authorized to access the vehicle, (3) determine a current relative positioning between the vehicle and a wireless device associated with the authorization record; and

a smart key emulator configured to, in response to (1) the comparison resulting in a determination that the user associated with the item is authorized to access the vehicle, and (2) a determination that the wireless device associated with the authorization record is near the vehicle based on the determined relative positioning, emulate a smart key for the vehicle to permit the user to keylessly start the vehicle without requiring the user to possess a smart key for the vehicle.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the processor comprises a processor resident in the vehicle.

24. The system of claim 22 wherein the processor comprises a processor resident in a server remote from the vehicle.

25. The system of claim 22 wherein the processor comprises a processor resident in the wireless device.

26. The system of claim 22 wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors that cooperate with each other to (1) compare the generated data with the authorization record for the vehicle, (2) based on the comparison, determine whether the user associated with the item is authorized to access the vehicle, (3) determine the current relative positioning between the vehicle and the wireless device associated with the authorization record;

and

wherein the processors are resident in at least two of (1) the vehicle, (2) a server remote from the vehicle, and (3) the wireless device.

27. The system of claim 22 wherein the smart key emulator is resident in hardware installed in the vehicle.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the hardware includes circuitry configured to provide an enable signal to the smart key emulator in response to (1) the comparison resulting in a determination that the user associated with the item is authorized to access the vehicle, and (2) a determination that the wireless device associated with the authorization record is near the vehicle based on the determined relative positioning;

and

wherein the smart key emulator is configured to emulate the smart key in response to the enable signal.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein the enable signal comprises a multi-bit code.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein the enable signal comprises an encrypted enable signal.

31. The system of claim 27 wherein the hardware is further configured to:

access vehicle data through a port of the vehicle in response to the user accessing the vehicle; and

wirelessly communicate the accessed vehicle data to a remote computer system.

32. The system of claim 31 wherein the accessed vehicle data comprises at least one member of a fuel level for the vehicle, an odometer reading for the vehicle, a current location for the vehicle, and a vehicle identification number (VIN) for the vehicle.

33. The system of claim 22 wherein the smart key emulator is resident in the wireless device.

34. The system of claim 22 wherein the item is the wireless device associated with the authorization record.

35. The system of claim 34 wherein the sensor is attached to the vehicle.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein the processor is further configured to determine the current relative positioning independently of the sensor and the generated data.

37. The system of claim 22 wherein processor is further configured to:

determine a current position for the wireless device;

determine a current position for the vehicle; and

determine the current relative positioning based on the determined current position for the wireless device and the determined current position for the vehicle.

38. The system of claim 37 wherein the determined current wireless device position comprises a current global positioning system (GPS) location for the wireless device.

39. The system of claim 37 wherein the determined current vehicle position comprises a current global positioning system (GPS) location for the vehicle.

40. The system of claim 22 wherein the sensor comprises at least one of (1) a near field communication (NFC) sensor, (2) an RFID sensor, and (3) a BlueTooth sensor.