Vehicle, apparatus, computer program and method for controlling connection between user equipment and bluetooth low energy (BLE) node of vehicle

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a vehicle (220), an apparatus (300), a computer program and a method (100) for controlling a connection between a user equipment (210) and a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) node of the vehicle (220). The method (100) comprises establishing (110) a first connection (241) between a first BLE node of the vehicle (220) and the user equipment (210), and obtaining (120) information about a location of the user equipment (220). Furthermore, the method (100) comprises causing (130) termination of the first connection (241) based on the information about the location of the user equipment (210), and establishing a second connection (242) between the user equipment (210) and a second BLE node of the vehicle (220).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to vehicles, apparatus, computer programs and methods for controlling a connection between a user device and a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) node of a vehicle. In particular, but not exclusively, embodiments relate to concepts for location-based handover of a communication session for a vehicle and a user device. Background Art

[0002] In vehicles, communication plays an increasingly important role. Therefore, vehicles can be equipped with various communication devices, in particular BLE nodes, to communicate with user devices. In some applications, vehicles can be equipped with multiple BLE nodes for discovery and (data) communication and UWB nodes for (high-precision) positioning. One or more BLE nodes can be installed inside the vehicle, while other BLE nodes are installed outside the vehicle (outside). In such applications, a user device can establish a connection with one of the BLE nodes. When a user carrying a user device approaches the vehicle, the user device, for example, connects to one of the BLE nodes to unlock the vehicle. However, when the user approaches the vehicle or sits in the vehicle, there may be a problem that the user device maintains a connection with the connected BLE node, even though the connection quality of the connection has become worse and / or is insufficient to meet the desired use. Summary of the invention

[0003] Therefore, a solution to the above problems may be needed.

[0004] This need may be met by the subject matter of the attached independent and dependent claims.

[0005] Embodiments are based on the finding that the quality of the connection provided by a BLE node depends, in particular, on the position of the user device relative to the BLE node. In practice, the quality of the connection may deteriorate as the distance between the BLE node and the user device increases. Therefore, the present disclosure proposes a control mechanism for vehicle control for controlling the connection between a BLE node and a user device based on the position of the user device. In particular, embodiments of the present disclosure provide for switching from a first BLE node to a second BLE node based on the relative position of the user device relative to the first BLE node and the second BLE node. To this end, for example, the corresponding UWB nodes merged with the first BLE node and the second BLE node in the corresponding BLE / UWB combination node can measure the relative position of the user device and provide their measurement results for the proposed location-based control of the connection between the user device and the BLE node of the vehicle.

[0006] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for a vehicle and for controlling a connection between a user device and a low-power Bluetooth (BLE) node of the vehicle. The method includes establishing a first connection between a first BLE node of the vehicle and the user device, and obtaining information about the location of the user device. In addition, the method includes causing the first connection to be terminated based on the information about the location of the user device, and establishing a second connection between the user device and a second BLE node of the vehicle. Information about the location of the user device allows checking whether a (second) BLE node that is more preferred than the first BLE node in terms of our respective connection quality is available for the user device. Thus, controlling the connection between the user device and the vehicle based on information about the location particularly allows checking whether a more preferred connection is available, and if so, switching the BLE node to improve the connection quality.

[0007] Optionally, obtaining information about the location includes determining the location of the user device based on one or more ultra-wideband (UWB) measurements of at least one UWB node of the vehicle. The UWB measurements can provide a more accurate location of the user device than, for example, a Bluetooth-based positioning method, thereby providing more reliable and accurate connection control.

[0008] In some embodiments, the information about the location of the user device includes information about the relative location of the user device relative to a first BLE node and a second BLE node, and wherein causing the first connection to be terminated and the second connection to be established includes causing the first connection to be terminated and the second connection to be established based on a comparison of the relative locations relative to the first BLE node and the second BLE node.

[0009] In automotive applications, the vehicle may also include one or more UWB nodes, such as for presence detection and / or positioning of digital car key features. In such applications, a first BLE node and a second BLE node, and in practice, may be incorporated into a BLE / UWB combination node together with a UWB node. Optionally, obtaining information about the location of the user device includes obtaining the relative position of the user device relative to the first BLE node according to one or more UWB measurement results from a first UWB node incorporated into the first BLE / UWB combination node together with the first BLE node. Thus, obtaining information about the location of the user device may also include obtaining the relative position of the user device relative to the second BLE node according to one or more UWB measurement results from a second UWB node incorporated into the second BLE / UWB combination node together with the second BLE node. In this way, the technical effort for determining the relative position of the user device relative to the first BLE node and the second BLE node can be reduced. Due to the combination of the BLE node and the UWB node, the UWB measurement result indicating the relative position to the corresponding UWB node can approximately indicate the relative position to the corresponding BLE node. These UWB measurements can therefore be used directly for the relative position of the user equipment (without requiring or requiring less detailed further processing of the measurements than when using separate UWB nodes).

[0010] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the quality of the connection provided by the BLE node may depend in particular on the distance of the user device to the BLE node. Therefore, in practice, the information about the relative position of the user device relative to the first BLE node and the second BLE node may include information about the distance to the first BLE node and the second BLE node (i.e., between the user device and the first / second BLE node). Thus, causing the first connection to be terminated and the second connection to be established may include causing the first connection to be terminated and the second connection to be established based on a comparison of the distances to the first BLE node and the second BLE node.

[0011] In practice, the vehicle may be configured so that it can terminate the connection with the user device by itself (e.g., by a disconnect request / message) so that the user device reconnects to the vehicle's BLE node in response to the corresponding advertising signal of the BLE node. Thus, causing the first connection to be terminated and the second connection to be established may include the vehicle terminating the first connection and sending the advertising signal of the second BLE node to the user device so that the user device establishes the second connection in response to the advertising signal.

[0012] In some embodiments, the first connection is used for a communication session between a user device and a vehicle. In such cases, it may be desirable to "seamlessly" transition the communication session to the second connection. To this end, causing the first connection to be terminated and the second connection to be established may include causing the communication session to be handed over from the first BLE node to the second BLE node. In this way, termination of the communication session when switching from the first BLE node to the second BLE node may be avoided. Those skilled in the art who benefit from the present disclosure will appreciate that this may avoid the need to reestablish a communication session, thereby saving communication resources.

[0013] For the handover, causing the first connection to be terminated and the second connection to be established may include instructing the user device to control the handover or for the vehicle to control the handover. Thus, a device-controlled or vehicle-controlled handover is initiated as required.

[0014] An embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a computer program having a program code for executing an embodiment of the method proposed herein when the computer program is executed on a computer, a processor or a programmable hardware component.

[0015] In addition, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a device, which includes one or more interfaces for communication and a data processing circuit, wherein the data processing circuit is configured to control the one or more interfaces and use the one or more interfaces to execute an embodiment of the method proposed in this document.

[0016] Other embodiments of the present disclosure provide a vehicle including the apparatus proposed herein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Some examples of apparatus, methods and / or computer programs will be described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

[0018] Figure 1 A flow chart schematically illustrating an embodiment of a method for a vehicle and for controlling a connection between a user device and a BLE node of the vehicle is shown;

[0019] Figure 2 schematically illustrate exemplary use cases of the proposed concept; and

[0020] Figure 3 Shown is a block diagram schematically illustrating an arrangement according to the proposed concept. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] Various example embodiments are now described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some example embodiments are illustrated. In the drawings, the thickness of lines, layers, or regions may be exaggerated for clarity. Optional components may be illustrated using dashed, dashed, or dotted lines.

[0022] Thus, although the example embodiments are capable of various modifications and alternative forms, embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings by way of example and will be described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the example embodiments are not intended to be limited to the specific forms disclosed, but rather, the example embodiments should encompass all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the present invention. Throughout the description of the drawings, the same reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements.

[0023] As used herein, the term "or" refers to a non-exclusive or unless otherwise specified (e.g., "otherwise" or "or as an alternative"). In addition, unless otherwise specified, words used herein to describe relationships between elements should be broadly interpreted to include direct relationships or the presence of intervening elements. For example, when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to other elements, the element may be directly connected or coupled to the other elements, or there may be intervening elements. Conversely, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly coupled" to other elements, there are no intervening elements. Similarly, terms such as "between," "adjacent," and the like should also be interpreted in a similar manner.

[0024] The terms used herein are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" used herein are intended to also include plural forms. It should also be understood that the terms "comprise" or "include" when used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components or groups thereof.

[0025] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the example embodiments belong. It should also be understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless explicitly defined as such herein.

[0026] As described above, a vehicle may be equipped with multiple BLE nodes, in particular for communication with user devices, such as for digital car key (DCK) applications. Such a vehicle may have one or more BLE nodes outside the vehicle and one or more other BLE nodes inside the vehicle. When approaching the vehicle, the user device may connect to one of the external nodes. However, after the user carrying the user device enters the vehicle, the quality of the connection to the connected BLE node may degrade and may become worse and / or even insufficient for the desired use, such as a digital car key application. This problem particularly occurs if the windows of the vehicle contain metal, which may then shield the signals of the BLE communication between the user device and the vehicle.

[0027] The subject matter of the present disclosure provides a method to solve this problem. Various features and aspects of the method are described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0028] Figure 1 A flow chart schematically illustrating an embodiment of a method 100 for a vehicle and for controlling a connection between a user device and a BLE node of the vehicle is shown.

[0029] The user device may be or include any user device, such as a mobile phone, a laptop, a tablet computer, a smart watch, etc. The vehicle may be any ground vehicle (e.g., a car, a truck, a bus, a motorcycle, etc.), an aircraft, or a ship. In the context of the present disclosure, a BLE node may include or correspond to any device installed on a vehicle and serving as a local access point or interface for the BLE network of the vehicle for other (supported) BLE devices. In the field, the BLE nodes of the vehicle may be installed at different locations of the vehicle to provide sufficient connection for the user device at different locations inside the vehicle and / or in the environment of the vehicle. For example, one or more BLE nodes may be installed inside the vehicle, while other BLE nodes may be installed outside the vehicle. Similarly, one or more of them may be installed at the front of the vehicle, and one or more other BLE nodes may be installed at the rear of the vehicle. One or more of them may be installed on the left side of the vehicle, and one or more other BLE nodes may be installed on the right side of the vehicle.

[0030] Method 100 includes establishing 110 a first connection between a first BLE node of a vehicle and a user device. To this end, the vehicle (and the user device) may be equipped with appropriate means (e.g., a BLE interface, an antenna, software) for connecting to a (BLE-enabled) user device, and data may be exchanged in accordance with a BLE communication protocol to establish a first connection and communication. In practice, to this end, the first BLE node may send one or more advertising signals / messages for the user device to discover the first BLE node by receiving an advertising message / signal from the first BLE node, and send a connection request in response to the advertising message to connect to the first BLE node. The first connection established can then be used for various applications. In practice, the first connection is used, for example, to unlock the vehicle using a user device combined with a DCK system of the vehicle. Additionally or alternatively, the first connection may also be used to operate the vehicle, such as remote parking, parking heater, anti-theft, etc.

[0031] In the field, the user device can compare the signal strengths of the BLE nodes of the vehicle in order to connect to one of them based on their signal strength. The user device can then establish a first connection to a preferred (first) BLE node that provides sufficient and / or the highest signal strength. BLE nodes that are closer to the user device can provide higher signal strengths, and therefore, provide higher signal strengths than BLE nodes that are farther away from the user device. Thus, the first BLE node can be the BLE node that is closest to the user device among the multiple BLE nodes of the vehicle.

[0032] In addition, the vehicle may shield the signal of the BLE node from the user device. Therefore, the BLE node outside the vehicle may provide a higher signal strength outside the vehicle than the BLE node installed inside the vehicle, and vice versa. Therefore, for example, when a user carrying a user device approaches the vehicle from a distance, a first connection with the BLE node outside the vehicle may be established.

[0033] In this way, it can be stipulated that the first BLE node to which the user device is connected provides sufficient and / or the highest signal strength, thereby providing the highest connection quality at this time (when connected to the first BLE node). However, once the first connection is established, the user device or the user carrying the user device can move, thereby changing the position of the user device. Therefore, the signal strength provided by the first BLE node may change. In particular, the signal strength may deteriorate and may therefore become lower than the signal strength provided by other BLE nodes. In an exemplary scenario, for example, a user carrying a user device connected to a (first) BLE node outside a vehicle may enter the vehicle, and the signal strength of the first connection may become insufficient. Therefore, the present disclosure provides a method for controlling a connection between a vehicle and a user device to enhance the connection between the user device and the vehicle. To this end, the present invention proposes a location-based control method that enables a vehicle to change the BLE node to which the user device is connected to improve the connection between the user device and the vehicle.

[0034] To this end, the method 100 provides for obtaining 120 information about the location of the user device and, based on the information about the location of the user device, causing 130 the first connection to be terminated and a second connection between the user device and a second BLE node of the vehicle to be established. In this way, the method 100 may provide that if the user device is located where the first BLE node may not provide sufficient signal strength, the BLE node used for the connection between the user device and the vehicle is switched. Otherwise, if the information about the location indicates that the user device is located where the first BLE node provides sufficient signal strength and / or no other BLE node may have a higher signal strength, the vehicle may provide for maintaining the first connection, so that establishing the second connection may be avoided.

[0035] The information about the location may be or include any information indicating the location of the user device. In practice, the information about the location may indicate, for example, the relative position or distance between the user device and the vehicle, the geographical location of the user device, and whether the user device is inside, outside, on the left, on the right, behind or in front of the vehicle. In order to obtain the information about the location, the user device may determine its location, for example, using a positioning technology based on GPS or GNSS, and transmit its location to the vehicle, and / or the vehicle may measure the location of the user device, for example, using a positioning technology based on time of flight.

[0036] The information about the location may at least approximately indicate the expected signal strength and / or connection quality provided by the first BLE node. Thus, the information about the location may enable the vehicle to determine whether the first BLE node is still suitable for connection to the vehicle, and therefore whether it is reasonable to switch to another BLE node of the vehicle.

[0037] In this way, based on the information about the location, if the first BLE node is not suitable (no longer suitable) according to the information about the location, the vehicle can, for example, only cause the first connection to be terminated and establish a second connection ("switching" the BLE node). For example, if the user device moves away from the first BLE node so that the signal strength may become insufficient according to the information about the location, the connection is transferred from the first BLE node to the second BLE node to facilitate an improved connection.

[0038] In practice, the user device may be configured so that it cannot be connected to more than one BLE node at the same time. Therefore, before establishing the second connection, the first connection may be terminated first, and the second connection may be established only after the first connection is terminated. In order to cause the first connection to be terminated, the vehicle, for example, sends a disconnect request / message to the user device so that the user device stops communicating via the first connection. In order to establish a second connection with a second BLE node, in practice, the user device may (by itself or automatically) try to reestablish a connection with the vehicle (establish a second connection). Thus, the user device may be configured to select a preferred BLE node for connection. To this end, the user device, for example, receives one or more advertising signals from one or more BLE nodes, and determines the corresponding signal strength provided by the BLE node based on the advertising signal, so as to select a favorable BLE node based on the signal strength, or preferably selects a node with the highest signal strength as the second BLE node for the second connection. Subsequently, the user device may connect to the second BLE node in response to an advertising signal from the second BLE node.

[0039] In some embodiments, the information about the location can also be used to determine the signal strength of one or more other BLE nodes so as to switch the BLE node based on a comparison of the signal strength of the first BLE node and the other BLE nodes. In this way, the vehicle can ensure that the second BLE node provides a higher signal strength than the first BLE node.

[0040] A technician who benefits from the present disclosure will not only appreciate that the proposed location-based connection control technology provides a better connection between the user device and the vehicle, but also allows the direct measurement of signal strength at the user device to be omitted, which can reduce technical complexity compared to the signal strength-based connection control technology.

[0041] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information about the location can be determined, for example, based on one or more UWB measurement results of at least one UWB node of the vehicle. In doing so, the distance from the user device to the vehicle can be determined once or multiple times, such as periodically. According to the proposed location-based connection control technology, the connection can be controlled based on the distance. In an exemplary scenario, the first BLE node connected to the user device can be installed on the outside of the vehicle, and the distance can indicate that the user device has entered the vehicle since the first connection with the first BLE node was established. In this scenario, the vehicle can shield the signal of the first BLE node from the user device located inside the vehicle, and one or more BLE nodes installed inside the vehicle can provide higher signal strength. According to the present disclosure, the vehicle can then provide for termination of the first connection according to the proposed location-based connection control technology, and the user device is connected to the second BLE node. In this scenario, the second BLE node can, for example, be a BLE node installed inside the vehicle.

[0042] In the field, multiple UWB nodes can also be used to more accurately determine the location of the user device, for example, using triangulation technology. In this way, the direction in which the user device is located can also be determined. The direction indicates, for example, whether the user device is located on the left side, right side, front or back of the car. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the direction can allow a more accurate positioning of the user device relative to the BLE node of the vehicle. Thus, more accurate positioning can allow more accurate location-based control of the connection, for example, it allows more accurate determination of whether switching BLE nodes is reasonable and / or identification of the most favorable BLE node to be switched to by the user device. In a scenario where the first BLE node is installed on the left side of the vehicle and the user device moves from the left side of the vehicle to the right side, the vehicle can provide for termination of the first connection with the first BLE node, thereby establishing a second connection with the second BLE node that may be located on the right side of the vehicle.

[0043] In some embodiments, the information about the location of the user device includes information about the relative location of the user device relative to the first BLE node and the second BLE node, so as to compare the relative location of the user device relative to the first BLE node and the second BLE node. Then, the vehicle can specify to switch the BLE node based on the comparison of the relative location relative to the first BLE node and the second BLE node. In practice, the relative location to the first BLE node and the second BLE node, for example, indicates the corresponding distances to the first BLE node and the second BLE node, that is, the first distance to the first BLE node and the second distance to the second BLE node, the direction in which the user device is located, and / or whether the vehicle shields the user device from the signals of the first BLE node and / or the second BLE node. Then, the comparison of these distances indicates whether the first BLE node or the second BLE node is more favorable for the connection, and if the comparison indicates that the second BLE node is more favorable, then according to the proposed technology, the vehicle can specify that the user device switches to the second BLE node.

[0044] In practice, the first BLE node and the second BLE node may be incorporated into an inter-node (also referred to herein as a "BLE / UWB combination node") together with the corresponding UWB node. In doing so, for the benefit of higher functional density and reduced resource requirements, the corresponding BLE node and the UWB node implemented together in the corresponding BLE / UWB combination node may at least partially share hardware with each other, such as processing circuits and / or one or more antennas. In the field, the combined BLE node and the UWB node may be (considered to be) located at the same location or adjacent to each other. Therefore, the UWB measurement results of the corresponding UWB node combined with one of the BLE nodes can be "directly" used to determine the relative position, such as the distance, of the user device relative to the corresponding BLE node. Therefore, the UWB measurement results of the UWB node combined with the first BLE node can be used to determine the relative position relative to the first BLE node, and the UWB measurement results of the UWB node combined with the second BLE node can be used to determine the relative position with the second BLE node.

[0045] Thus, obtaining information about the location of the user device may include obtaining the relative location of the user device relative to the first BLE node based on one or more UWB measurement results from a first UWB node incorporated into a first BLE / UWB combination node together with the first BLE node, and obtaining the relative location of the user device relative to a second BLE node based on one or more UWB measurement results from a second UWB node incorporated into a second BLE / UWB combination node together with the second BLE node.

[0046] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in this way, the UWB measurement results have a separate corresponding spatial reference point at or near the corresponding first or second BLE node. Therefore, there is no need to process the UWB measurement results or their results for the proposed location-based connection control as with the UWB measurement results of one or more separate UWB nodes remote from the first BLE node and the second BLE node. Therefore, the use of the proposed BLE / UWB combination node may require less computational and / or technical effort than a separate UWB node.

[0047] In practice, the information about the relative position of the user device relative to the first BLE node and the second BLE node includes information about the distance to the first BLE node and the second BLE node. In other words, the information about the relative position (relative to) the first BLE node indicates the distance between the user device and the first BLE node, and the information about the relative position (relative to) the second BLE node indicates the distance between the user device and the second BLE node.

[0048] Thus, the vehicle may decide whether to switch the BLE node used for connection with the user device based on a comparison of the distances to the first BLE node and the second BLE node. For example, the comparison indicates that the second BLE node is closer to the user device than the first BLE node, so the vehicle may specify that the user device switches to the second BLE node. Otherwise, if the first BLE node is closer to the user device, the vehicle may specify that the first connection is maintained.

[0049] In some applications, the first connection is used for a communication session between a user device and a vehicle. In this case, the method 100 may provide for handing over the communication session from the first BLE node to the second BLE node.

[0050] The handover may be controlled by the user device or the vehicle. Thus, the proposed method may provide for instructing the user device to control the handover or for the vehicle to control the handover. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments, alternatively, the handover may be alternatively controlled by the user device and by the vehicle.

[0051] Reference below Figure 2 Other aspects and details of the proposed concept are described.

[0052] Figure 2An exemplary use case of the proposed concept is schematically shown. The use case provides that a user device 210 and a vehicle 220 are connected, for example, for operating the vehicle 220 using the user device. To this end, the vehicle 220 is equipped with a first BLE node that is incorporated into a first BLE / UWB combination node 231 together with a first UWB node, and a second BLE node that is incorporated into a second BLE / UWB combination node 232 together with a second UWB node. The second BLE / UWB combination node 232 is installed inside the vehicle, while the first BLE / UWB combination node 231 is installed outside the vehicle. Therefore, when a user carrying the user device 210 approaches the vehicle 220, the user device can establish a first connection 241 with the first BLE node because it is the only BLE node discovered by the user device 210, and / or because it provides sufficient, preferred and / or highest connection quality among the BLE nodes of the vehicle 220, and therefore may have priority over the second BLE node (inside the vehicle). Once the first connection 241 is established, it can serve a communication session between the user device and the vehicle 220, i.e., an interrelated exchange or communication of signals or messages for a (same) predefined function or a series of functions. In practice, the communication session is used, for example, to unlock the door when the user approaches the vehicle 220, and can later be used for presence detection and / or for starting the vehicle 220. In this way, the user can unlock the vehicle 220 so that the user can open the door and sit in the vehicle 220 using the user device 210. However, when the user sits in the vehicle and / or after closing the door, the signal of the first BLE node may be shielded by the vehicle 220, so that the connection quality of the first connection 241 may decrease (deteriorate), and may even become insufficient, for example, for presence detection. In turn, the user device may be closer to the second BLE node, and the signal from the second BLE node may be less shielded or not shielded to the user device 210 in the vehicle 220.

[0053] The first UWB node and the second UWB node may periodically perform UWB measurements indicating relative positions relative to the first BLE node and the second BLE node. In doing so, the UWB measurement results may indicate that the user device has entered the vehicle 220, where the vehicle may shield the signal of the first BLE node from the user device. In this way, considering that the signal strength of the first BLE node may be insufficient at the user device 210, the vehicle 220 may decide based on the UWB measurement results that it is reasonable to switch the BLE node used for connection with the user device 210. To this end, the vehicle 220 sends a disconnect request / message to the user device 210. Therefore, the user device 210 abandons the first connection and can automatically search for other BLE nodes to reestablish a connection with the vehicle 220. In doing so, the user device 210 can preferably select the BLE node that provides the highest signal strength measured at the user device 210 according to the corresponding advertising signals of one or more BLE nodes from the vehicle 220. Since the second BLE node is installed in the vehicle 220, it can provide the highest signal strength and can therefore be selected for reconnection to the vehicle 220. As a result, the user device 210 abandons the first connection and establishes a better second connection 242 with the vehicle 220 .

[0054] In some applications, when switching to the second BLE node, it may be desirable to transfer the ongoing communication session from the first BLE node to the second BLE node. Thus, a technician who benefits from the present disclosure will appreciate that when the first connection 241 is terminated and the second connection 242 is established, a handover (also referred to as a "handover") of the communication session from the first connection to the second connection can be performed. In this way, the communication session is maintained and interruption of the communication session is avoided. In practice, the handover can be an active handover, in which the vehicle actively terminates the first connection 241 to switch to the second BLE node before "self-terminating" the first BLE connection due to a weak signal, such as when the user device 210 or the vehicle 220 does not receive any signal within a predefined timeout period.

[0055] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the proposed concept can also be implemented in corresponding devices, as shown below. Figure 3 Described in more detail.

[0056] Figure 3 Shown is a block diagram schematically illustrating an embodiment of an apparatus 300 implementing the proposed concept.

[0057] from Figure 3 As can be seen in FIG. 3 , the apparatus 300 includes one or more interfaces 310 for communication and a data processing circuit 320 configured to control the one or more interfaces 310. The data processing circuit 320 is also configured to control the one or more interfaces 310 and use the one or more interfaces 310 to perform an embodiment of the method 100.

[0058] In an embodiment, one or more interfaces 310 may include a device for communicating with a vehicle or other server. To this end, one or more interfaces 310 may include or correspond to any device for obtaining, receiving, sending or providing analog or digital signals or information, for example, any connector, contact, pin, register, input port, output port, conductor, channel, etc. that allows providing or obtaining signals or information. The interface may be wireless or wired, and it may be configured to communicate with other internal or external components, that is, to send or receive signals, information. One or more interfaces 310 may include additional components for implementing corresponding communications, such components may include transceiver (transmitter and / or receiver) components, such as one or more low noise amplifiers (LNA), one or more power amplifiers (PA), one or more duplexers, one or more antenna duplexers, one or more filters or filtering circuits, one or more converters, one or more mixers, correspondingly adapted radio frequency components, etc. One or more interfaces 310 may be coupled to one or more antennas, which may correspond to any transmitting and / or receiving antennas, such as horn antennas, dipole antennas, patch antennas, sector antennas and / or the like. The antennas may be arranged in defined geometric configurations, such as uniform arrays, linear arrays, circular arrays, triangular arrays, uniform field antennas, field arrays, combinations thereof, and / or the like.

[0059] like Figure 3 As shown in , one or more interfaces 310 are coupled to a data processing circuit 320. In an embodiment, the data processing circuit 320 may include any means for processing information according to the proposed method. The data processing circuit 320 may be implemented using one or more processing units, one or more processing devices, any means for processing, such as a processor, a computer, or a programmable hardware component that can operate with corresponding adapted software. In other words, the functions of the data processing circuit 320 may also be implemented with software that is then executed on one or more programmable hardware components. Such hardware components may include a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, and / or the like.

[0060] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the steps of various above methods can be performed by a program-controlled computer. In some embodiments, the apparatus may also include a program storage device, such as a digital data storage medium, which is machine or computer readable, and encodes a machine executable or computer executable program of an instruction, wherein the instruction performs some or all of the steps of the method described herein. The program storage device may be, for example, a digital memory, a magnetic storage medium such as a disk and a tape, a hard drive, or an optically readable digital data storage medium. Embodiments are also intended to encompass a computer programmed to perform the steps of the method described herein, or a (field) programmable logic array ((F) PLA) or a (field) programmable gate array ((F) PGA) programmed to perform the steps of the above method.

[0061] The description and drawings merely illustrate the principles of the present invention. Therefore, it should be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to design various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present invention and are included in its spirit and scope. In addition, all examples listed herein are primarily intended to be clearly used for teaching purposes only to help the reader understand the principles of the present invention and the concepts contributed by the inventors to further develop the art, and should be interpreted as not being limited to such specifically listed examples and conditions. In addition, all statements describing the principles, aspects and embodiments of the present invention herein, and their specific examples are intended to cover their equivalents.

[0062] When provided by a processor, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated processor, a single shared processor, or multiple separate processors, some of which may be shared. In addition, the explicit use of the term "processor" or "controller" should not be interpreted as referring only to hardware capable of executing software, but may implicitly include, but not limited to, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, network processors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), and non-volatile storage devices for storing software. Other hardware, conventional or customized, may also be included. Their functions may be implemented by the operation of program logic, by dedicated logic, by the interaction of program control and dedicated logic, or even manually, and the specific technology may be selected by the implementer based on a more specific understanding of the context.

[0063] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuits embodying the principles of the present invention. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudocodes, etc. represent various processes that can be substantially represented in a computer-readable medium and thus executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

[0064] In addition, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description section, where each claim can stand on its own as a separate embodiment. Although each claim can stand on its own as a separate embodiment, it is noted that - although in the claims, a dependent claim may refer to a specific combination with one or more other claims - other embodiments may also include a combination of the subject matter of the dependent claim with each other dependent claim. Unless it is stated that a specific combination is not intended to be used, such combinations are proposed herein. In addition, it is intended to also include features of a claim into any other independent claim, even if the claim is not directly dependent on the independent claim.

[0065] It should also be noted that the methods disclosed in the specification or claims may be implemented by a device having means for performing each of the respective steps.

[0066] In practice, the apparatus 300 may be implemented in a user device (eg, the user device 210 ) or a vehicle (eg, the vehicle 220 ). Reference numerals

[0067] 100 Method for use in a vehicle and for controlling a connection

[0068] 110 Establishing the first connection

[0069] 120 Obtain information about the location of the user's device

[0070] 130 causes the first connection to be terminated and the second connection to be established

[0071] 210 User equipment

[0072] 220 Vehicles

[0073] 231 First BLE / UWB combination node

[0074] 231 Second BLE / UWB combination node

[0075] 241 First Connection

[0076] 242 Second Connection

[0077] 300 Devices

[0078] 310 One or more interfaces

[0079] 320 Data Processing Circuit

Claims

1. A method (100) for controlling a connection between a user device (210) and a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) node of the vehicle (220) in a vehicle (220), the method (100) comprising: Establishing (110) a first connection (241) between a first BLE node of a vehicle (220) and a user device (210); obtaining (120) information about a location of a user device (210); as well as The information about the location of the user device (210) causes (130) the first connection (241) to be terminated and a second connection (242) between the user device (210) and a second BLE node of the vehicle (220) to be established.

2. The method (100) according to claim 1, wherein: Obtaining (120) information about a location includes determining a location of a user device (210) based on one or more ultra-wideband (UWB) measurements of at least one UWB node of a vehicle (220).

3. The method (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The information about the location of the user device (210) includes information about the relative location of the user device (210) relative to the first BLE node and the second BLE node, and wherein causing (130) terminating the first connection (241) and establishing the second connection (242) includes causing the first connection (241) to be terminated and the second connection (242) to be established based on a comparison of the relative locations relative to the first BLE node and the second BLE node.

4. The method (100) according to claim 3, wherein: Obtaining (120) information about the location of the user device includes: Obtaining a relative position of the user device (210) relative to the first BLE node based on one or more UWB measurement results from a first UWB node incorporated into a first BLE / UWB combination node (231) together with the first BLE node; and A relative position of the user device relative to the second BLE node is obtained based on one or more UWB measurements from a second UWB node incorporated into a second BLE / UWB combination node (232) along with the second BLE node.

5. The method (100) according to claim 3 or 4, wherein: The information about the relative position of the user device (210) relative to the first BLE node and the second BLE node includes information about the distance to the first BLE node and the second BLE node, and wherein causing (130) terminating the first connection (241) and establishing the second connection (242) includes causing the first connection (241) to be terminated and the second connection (242) to be established based on a comparison of the distance to the first BLE node and the second BLE node.

6. The method (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: Causing (130) the termination of the first connection (241) and the establishment of the second connection (242) includes the vehicle terminating the first connection (241) and sending an advertising signal of a second BLE node to the user device (210) so that the user device (210) establishes the second connection (241) in response to the advertising signal.

7. The method (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The first connection (241) is used for a communication session between the user equipment (210) and the vehicle (220), and wherein causing (130) the first connection (241) to be terminated and the second connection (242) to be established includes causing the communication session to be handed over from the first BLE node to the second BLE node.

8. The method (100) according to claim 7, wherein: Causing the first connection (241) to be terminated and the second connection (242) to be established includes instructing the user equipment (210) to control the handover or the vehicle (220) to control the handover.

9. A computer program having a program code for carrying out the method (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, when the computer program is executed on a computer, a processor or a programmable hardware component.

10. An apparatus (300), comprising: one or more interfaces (310) for communication; and A data processing circuit (320), wherein the data processing circuit (320) is configured to: controlling the one or more interfaces (310); and The method (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 8 is performed using the one or more interfaces (310).

11. A vehicle (220) comprising the device (300) according to claim 9.

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