Method for determining the relative position of a mobile electronic device with respect to a vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for determining the relative position of a mobile electronic device with respect to a vehicle by evaluating communication signals transmitted between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle. According to the invention, when evaluating the communication signals by means of an evaluation unit (1), the spatial orientation of the mobile electronic device is also used as an input variable (3) of the evaluation unit (1).

Description

[0001] Description

[0002] Method for determining the relative position of a mobile electronic device with respect to a vehicle

[0003] The invention relates to a method for determining the relative position of a mobile electronic device relative to a vehicle according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0004] In vehicles with keyless entry systems, mobile electronic devices or so-called smart devices, such as smartphones, tablet PCs, or smart glasses, equipped with various sensors, can be used to lock or unlock vehicle doors. For this function to function reliably and securely, it is necessary to determine the relative position of the mobile device in relation to the vehicle.

[0005] The invention is based on the objective of providing a method for determining the relative position of a mobile electronic device relative to a vehicle according to the preamble of claim 1, in which a determination of this relative position is made possible in a simple and reliable manner with high accuracy.

[0006] This problem is solved by a method for determining the relative position of a mobile electronic device to a vehicle with the features of claim 1.

[0007] Advantageous further developments of the invention are part of the additional patent claims.

[0008] According to the invention, in the method for determining the relative position of a mobile electronic device relative to a vehicle, in order to achieve a reliable and highly accurate determination of this relative position and in particular to locate the mobile electronic device in relation to the interior of the vehicle, the spatial orientation of the mobile electronic device is also used in the evaluation of the communication signals transmitted between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle.

[0009] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the communication signals between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle are transmitted using ultra-wideband communication technology. Ultra-wideband communication technology (UWB) enables the determination of the distance between two objects with high precision. In particular, ultra-wideband communication technology can also be used to determine the location of another device equipped with ultra-wideband communication technology with centimeter accuracy.

[0010] In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the roll angle and pitch angle of the mobile electronic device are used to evaluate its spatial orientation. The roll angle is a measure of the device's rotation about its longitudinal axis, while the pitch angle is a measure of its rotation about its transverse axis.

[0011] The roll angle and pitch angle values ​​of the mobile electronic device are transmitted using a suitable RF technology, for example, ultra-wideband communication technology or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication technology. These transmitted roll angle and pitch angle values ​​are used in the evaluation of the communication signals transmitted between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle. In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the evaluation of the communication signals between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle is based on the time of flight (TOF) and the signal strength of the communication signals.

[0012] Furthermore, an electronic component is claimed as an evaluation unit for carrying out the method according to the invention, wherein the electronic component as an evaluation unit is designed, in particular, as a control unit of a vehicle. Thus, for carrying out the described process steps of the method according to the invention, a processor circuit can be provided which has programming or software comprising program instructions that, upon execution of the program instructions, cause the processor circuit to carry out an embodiment of the method. For this purpose, the processor circuit can comprise at least one microprocessor and / or microcontroller. The program instructions can be stored in a data memory of the processor circuit.

[0013] Advantageously, in the method according to the invention, by using information about the spatial orientation of the mobile electronic device when evaluating the communication signals between the electronic device and the vehicle, a reliable and accurate determination of the relative position between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle is provided in a simple way.

[0014] Furthermore, the invention also includes combinations of the features of the described embodiments.

[0015] An embodiment of the invention is described in more detail below with reference to the drawing. The drawing shows:

[0016] Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of the process of the inventive method for determining the relative position of a mobile electronic device with respect to a vehicle; Fig. 2 shows a schematic representation of the error achievable with the inventive method in determining the relative position between a mobile electronic device and a vehicle.

[0017] The embodiment described below is a preferred embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the described components each represent individual features of the invention that can be considered independently of one another. Each of these features further develops the invention independently and can therefore be considered part of the invention individually or in a combination other than that shown. Furthermore, the described embodiment can also be supplemented by other features of the invention already described.

[0018] In the figures, functionally identical elements are each provided with the same reference symbols.

[0019] As shown in Figure 1, the electronic component intended for determining the relative position of a mobile electronic device with respect to a vehicle is supplied with various input signals or input variables 2, 3 as an evaluation unit 1. The input variables 2 include, in particular, the time of flight (TOF) and the signal strength of the communication signals transmitted between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle, for example, using ultra-wideband communication technology (UWB communication technology).Furthermore, the spatial orientation of the mobile electronic device is also provided as input variable 3. This is therefore also used in the evaluation of input variables 2, namely time of flight (TOF) and signal strength of the communication signals transmitted between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle, for example, using ultra-wideband communication technology (UWB). In determining the spatial orientation of the mobile electronic device, the roll angle and pitch angle of the mobile electronic device are used in particular; that is, the measure of the rotation of the mobile electronic device around its longitudinal axis and the measure of the rotation of the mobile electronic device around its transverse axis.As output variable 4 of evaluation unit 1, a specific value for the distance between the electronic device and the vehicle is then output by evaluation unit 1.

[0020] Figure 2 shows the output variable 4 of the evaluation unit 1 as the distance between the electronic device and the vehicle, as a function of the input variable 3, the spatial orientation of the mobile electronic device, and thus as a function of the roll angle and pitch angle of the mobile electronic device. In particular, Figure 2 also shows that when determining the output variable 4 of the evaluation unit 1, and thus determining the relative position of the mobile electronic device with respect to the vehicle, a correct value for the current distance between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle is output when the mobile electronic device is directly aligned with the vehicle, and thus when the roll angle and pitch angle of the mobile electronic device are both 0°.In other orientations of the mobile electronic device relative to the vehicle, and thus with a roll angle and pitch angle of the mobile electronic device that are both other than 0°, an erroneous value for the current distance between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle is output. However, by taking the orientation of the mobile electronic device relative to the vehicle into account, and thus by considering the roll angle and pitch angle of the mobile electronic device, the error in determining the current distance between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle can be kept very small or even minimized.

[0021] Overall, the example shows how an inventive method can be used to

[0022] Determining the relative position of a mobile electronic device to a vehicle by evaluating communication signals transmitted between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle can be provided with advantageous properties.

[0023] Reference symbol list

[0024] 1 evaluation unit

[0025] 2 Input parameters: TOF, signal strength; 3 Input parameters: roll, pitch

[0026] 4. Initial variable: Relative position

Claims

Patent claims 1. Method for determining the relative position of a mobile electronic device to a vehicle by evaluating communication signals transmitted between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle, characterized in that the spatial orientation of the mobile electronic device is used as an input variable (3) of the evaluation unit (1) when evaluating the communication signals by means of an evaluation unit (1).

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the communication signals between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle are transmitted using ultra-wideband communication technology.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the roll angle and the pitch angle of the mobile electronic device are used as input variables (3) to the evaluation unit (1) for evaluating the spatial orientation of the mobile electronic device.

4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that the angle values ​​of the roll angle and the pitch angle of the mobile electronic device are transmitted to the evaluation unit (1) by means of a suitable RF communication technology.

5. Method according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the propagation time and signal strength of the communication signals are used as input variables (2) of the evaluation unit (1) for evaluating the communication signals between the mobile electronic device and the vehicle.

6. Electronic component as evaluation unit (1) for carrying out a Method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the evaluation unit (1) is configured as is trained as a vehicle control unit.

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