Digital key management system, digital key management method, user terminal, control terminal, and server cloud

Abstract

Provided are a digital key management system and method in which entry or exit of a user terminal (101) into or out of an area set with respect to a control terminal (102) as a starting point is determined on the basis of at least one from among the position of the user terminal (101), the position of the control terminal (102), and the distance between the terminals, and the control terminal (102) is then controlled on the basis of the determination.

Description

Digital key management system, digital key management method, user terminal, control terminal, and server cloud

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a digital key management system, a digital key management method, a user terminal, a control terminal, and a server cloud.

[0002] In recent years, technologies related to digital keys that enable unlocking or locking of vehicles and starting of engines using smartphones as user terminals have become widespread, and standardization by industry organizations is also underway. Unlike conventional smart keys, in digital keys, the electronic data constituting the digital key is stored in a secure area of the user terminal, and the user needs to operate the user terminal to use the digital key.

[0003] When a user performs a predetermined operation on the user terminal, the control terminal mounted on the vehicle measures the distance between the user terminal and the vehicle. If the distance is within an allowable range, the vehicle can be unlocked and the engine can be started. If the aforementioned measured distance is outside the allowable range, the vehicle cannot be unlocked and the engine cannot be started, thereby realizing vehicle anti-theft. In addition, the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) of a vehicle adopting a digital key is configured in an energy-saving mode that sleeps when not in use, so as to achieve power saving of the vehicle.

[0004] The problems generally required for the aforementioned digital key are to reduce the number of operation steps of the user terminal by the user, enable unlocking of the vehicle and starting of the engine, and smoothly realize answerback from the vehicle to the user terminal based on the distance between the user terminal held by the user and the vehicle. In addition, in order to achieve power saving of vehicles adopting digital keys, it is desirable to adopt a configuration in which the ECU of the vehicle is set to the energy-saving mode when the vehicle is stopped, and the ECU is woken up triggered by the user terminal held by the user approaching the vehicle.

[0005] As a technology related to digital keys, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system for vehicle passive entry and passive start that uses BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy™ registered trademark) communication and UWB (Ultra Wide Band™ registered trademark) communication, and triggers UWB communication by establishing a BLE communication connection between a user terminal and a vehicle, thereby enabling vehicle unlocking and engine starting based on the location of the user terminal.

[0006] Patent No. 6806169

[0007] According to the conventional digital key technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, two types of communication, BLE communication and UWB communication, are used, and BLE communication remains in standby mode until pairing with the user terminal is completed. This results in high costs and high power consumption for implementing the digital key system.

[0008] This disclosure aims to provide technologies to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to offer a digital key management system, a digital key management method, a user terminal, a control terminal, and a server / cloud that achieve cost reduction and power consumption reduction.

[0009] The digital key management system disclosed herein comprises a user terminal held by a vehicle user and a control terminal mounted on the vehicle, and is capable of at least unlocking and locking the vehicle based on communication between the user terminal and the control terminal, wherein the user terminal comprises: a communication unit for communicating with the control terminal; a distance measuring unit for measuring the distance between the user terminal and the control terminal; a positioning unit for determining the location of the user terminal; a terminal information management unit for managing terminal location information including the determined location of the user terminal and the location of the control terminal, and distance information including the measured distance; an area determination unit for determining whether the user terminal enters or exits an area set starting from the control terminal and for generating a control request to the control terminal based on the determination; and a remote control unit for generating a control command based on the control request and for transmitting the control command to the control terminal via the communication unit, wherein the control terminal is configured to execute the control request based on the control command transmitted from the remote control unit. It is characterized by the following:

[0010] Furthermore, the digital key management method disclosed in this application comprises a user terminal held by a vehicle user and a control terminal mounted on the vehicle, and is capable of at least unlocking and locking the vehicle based on communication between the user terminal and the control terminal, and is characterized by measuring the distance between the user terminal and the control terminal, determining the position of the user terminal and the position of the control terminal, determining whether the user terminal has entered or exited an area set with the control terminal as the starting point based on at least one of terminal position information including the determined positions of the user terminal and the control terminal and distance information including the measured distance, generating a control request to the control terminal based on the determination, transmitting a control command corresponding to the control request from the user terminal to the control terminal, and controlling the control terminal with the transmitted control command.

[0011] Furthermore, the user terminal disclosed in this application is a user terminal that constitutes a part of the digital key management system described above.

[0012] Furthermore, the control terminal disclosed in this application is a control terminal that constitutes a part of the above-mentioned digital key management system.

[0013] Furthermore, the server cloud disclosed in this application is a server cloud that constitutes a part of the above-mentioned digital key management system.

[0014] The digital key management system described herein provides a digital key management system that achieves cost reduction and power consumption reduction.

[0015] Furthermore, the digital key management method described herein provides a digital key management method that achieves cost reduction and power consumption reduction.

[0016] Furthermore, the user terminal, control terminal, and server cloud of this disclosure enable the configuration of a digital key management system that achieves cost reduction and power consumption reduction.

[0017] This is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a digital key management system according to Embodiment 1. This is an explanatory diagram illustrating the area determination when a user terminal approaches a control terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1. This is an explanatory diagram illustrating the area determination when a user terminal moves away from a control terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1. This is an explanatory diagram illustrating the area and distance determination method and an example of the actions required of the control terminal when entering and exiting an area in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1. This is yet another explanatory diagram illustrating the area determination of the user terminal and control terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1. This is a flowchart illustrating the processing of the user terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1. This is a flowchart illustrating the processing of the control terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1. This is a system configuration diagram of a digital key management system according to Embodiment 2. This is a flowchart illustrating the server and cloud processing of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 2. This is a system configuration diagram of a digital key management system according to Embodiment 3. This is a flowchart illustrating the processing of the control terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 3. This is a system configuration diagram of a digital key management system according to Embodiment 4. This is a flowchart illustrating the processing of the user abnormality estimation unit in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 4. This is a system configuration diagram of a digital key management system according to Embodiment 5.

[0018] The digital key management system, digital key management method, user terminal, control terminal, and server / cloud described herein will be explained in detail below with reference to the figures. In each figure, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

[0019] Embodiment 1. Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a digital key management system according to Embodiment 1. In Figure 1, the digital key management system 100 consists of a user terminal 101, such as a smartphone, held by the vehicle user, and a control terminal 102 mounted on the vehicle. The user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102 are connected by a communication network. The user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102 may communicate, for example, via the internet cloud or a server, or they may communicate via roadside infrastructure and a server.

[0020] In Embodiment 1, the vehicle may be, but is not limited to, a four-wheeled vehicle including passenger cars, commercial vehicles, trucks, buses, etc., a two-wheeled vehicle including motorcycles, mopeds, three-wheeled motorcycles, bicycles, or kick scooters, etc. Also, in Embodiment 1, the user terminal 101 may be held by a pedestrian as the user, or mounted on an electric kick scooter, personal mobility device, etc., driven by the user, but is not limited to these cases. However, in this explanation, including these cases, the user terminal 101 will be described as being held by the user.

[0021] The user terminal 101 is comprised of a mobile device such as a smartphone and includes a processor 11 which includes an area determination unit 111 and a remote control unit 112, a sensor interface 12 which includes a positioning unit 121 which is configured as a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), an external interface 13 which includes a distance measurement unit 131 and a communication unit 132, and a terminal information management unit 14.

[0022] The control terminal 102 includes a vehicle interface 24 including a vehicle ECU 241 mounted on the vehicle, a sensor interface 22 including a positioning unit 221 configured with GNSS, an external interface 23 including a distance measuring unit 231 and a communication unit 232, and a processor 21 having a terminal authentication unit 211 and a vehicle control determination unit 212.

[0023] In the user terminal 101's processor 11, the area determination unit 111 and the remote control unit 112 execute predetermined processes, which in turn causes the control terminal 102's processor 21 to execute predetermined processes, specifically the terminal authentication unit 211 and the vehicle control determination unit 212. Further details will be described later.

[0024] Furthermore, the communication unit 132 on the external interface 13 of the user terminal 101 transmits and receives data via wireless communication C2 with the communication unit 232 on the external interface 23 of the control terminal 102.

[0025] The distance measuring unit 131 on the external interface 13 of the user terminal 101 and the distance measuring unit 231 on the external interface 23 of the control terminal 102 communicate with each other via wireless communication C1 to measure the distance between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102 based on the propagation speed of radio waves. Further details will be described later.

[0026] The positioning unit 121 in the sensor interface 12 of the user terminal 101 determines the position of the user terminal 101 based on GNSS. Similarly, the positioning unit 221 in the sensor interface 22 of the control terminal 102 determines the position of the control terminal 102 based on GNSS.

[0027] The processor 11 in the user terminal 101 is connected via signal lines to the positioning unit 121 of the sensor interface 12, the terminal information management unit 14, and the external interface 13, and controls this hardware. The processor 11 is also composed of an IC (Integrated Circuit) that executes instructions written in a program to perform processes such as data transfer, calculation, processing, control, and management. The processor 11 has an arithmetic circuit and registers and cache memory in which instructions and information are stored.

[0028] Furthermore, the processor 11 is specifically composed of one or a combination of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

[0029] The external interface 13 in the user terminal 101 is a device that includes a receiver for receiving data from a vehicle, which is a mobile object in the vicinity, and a transmitter for transmitting data.

[0030] In Figure 1, the user terminal 101 shows only one processor 11, one external interface 13, and one sensor interface 12. However, at least one of the processors 11, external interface 13, and sensor interface 12 may be provided in multiples. For example, multiple processors may work together to execute programs that implement each function. Alternatively, multiple external interfaces may be provided, and the external interface for sending and receiving data may be selected and switched from among the multiple external interfaces depending on the type of data being handled.

[0031] The area determination unit 111 in the processor 11 determines the type of area in which the user terminal 101 is located, based on the distance between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102, which is determined by the distance between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102 based on the location of the user terminal 101 and the location of the control terminal 102, or the distance between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102 measured by the distance measuring unit 131 and distance measuring unit 231 of the external interface 13, as well as the difference between these distances and distance change information, and notifies the remote control unit 112 of the determination result.

[0032] Figure 2A is an explanatory diagram illustrating the determination of the area when a user terminal approaches the control terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1, and Figure 2B is an explanatory diagram illustrating the determination of the area when a user terminal moves away from the control terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1. Figures 2A and 2B show a case where the user terminal 101 is held by the user 50 and the control terminal 102 is mounted on the motorcycle 60, which is a mobile vehicle.

[0033] In Figure 2A, as indicated by the dashed arrow A, when the user terminal 101 approaches the control terminal 102, three zones of different sizes are set up, with the control terminal 102 mounted on the motorcycle 60 as the starting point (center): Zone #1, Zone #2 located inside Zone #1, and Zone #3 located inside Zone #2. The area outside Zone #1 is considered outside the area.

[0034] Furthermore, in Figure 2B, as indicated by the dashed arrow B, when the user terminal 101 moves away from the control terminal 102, two zones with different area sizes are set up, with the control terminal 102 mounted on the motorcycle 60 as the starting point (center): Zone #5 and Zone #4, which is located inside Zone #5. The area outside Zone #5 is considered outside the service area.

[0035] While "area" and "zone" are essentially synonymous, in this disclosure, an area refers to a region that includes multiple zones.

[0036] The area determination unit 111 shown in Figure 1 makes a determination of either (1) or (2) below, or both of (1) and (2). (1) The latest position (lon, lat) of the control terminal 102 notified from the control terminal 102 and the position (lon) of the user terminal 101 determined by the positioning unit 121 of the user terminal 101. １ , lat １ (2) Based on the above, a determination is made as to whether the user terminal 101 is located outside the area, in zone #1, zone #2, zone #3, zone #4, or zone #5. (2) Based on the distance between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102 measured by wireless communication C2 between the distance measuring unit 131 of the user terminal 101 and the distance measuring unit 231 of the control terminal 102, a determination is made as to whether the user terminal 101 is located outside the area, in zone #1, zone #2, zone #3, zone #4, or zone #5.

[0037] Herein, in this disclosure, "entry" means when the user terminal 101 approaches the control terminal 102, as shown in Figure 2A, and the user terminal 101 enters zone #1, zone #2, and zone #3 of the area, and "exit" means when the user terminal 101 moves away from the control terminal 102, as shown in Figure 2B, and the user terminal 101 enters zone #4 and zone #5 of the area.

[0038] The determination of which zone the user terminal 101 has entered and which zone it has exited is made by comparing it with past determination results. For example, in the case of Figure 2A, based on the distance between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102 measured by wireless communication C1 between the distance measuring unit 131 and the distance measuring unit 231, if it can be determined that the user terminal 101 is in the position closest to the control terminal 102, then it can be determined that the user terminal 101 has entered zone #3.

[0039] Furthermore, in the case of Figure 2B, based on the distance between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102 measured by wireless communication C1 between the distance measuring unit 131 and the distance measuring unit 231, if it can be determined that the user terminal 101 is in the position closest to the control terminal 102, then it can be determined that the user terminal 101 has exited to zone #4.

[0040] As shown in Figure 2A, when the user terminal 101 approaches the control terminal 102, if the user terminal 101 enters zone #1 from outside the area, the area determination unit 111 of the processor 11 generates an answer-back request R1 to the control terminal 102. When the user terminal 101 enters zone #2 from zone #1, the area determination unit 111 generates a lock release request R2 to the control terminal 102.

[0041] Furthermore, when the user terminal 101 enters zone #3 from zone #2, the area determination unit 111 generates an engine start request R3 to the control terminal 102. If the vehicle is an electric vehicle such as an EV (Electric Vehicle), a motor start request R4 is generated.

[0042] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the user terminal 101 moves away from the control terminal 102, if the user terminal 101 exits into zone #4, the area determination unit 111 generates an engine stop request R5 for the control terminal 102. In the case of an EV, a motor stop request R6 is generated. Further, when the user terminal 101 exits from zone #4 to zone #5, the area determination unit 111 generates a lock request R7 for the control terminal 102.

[0043] Note that in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, each zone of the area is illustrated as having an elliptical shape, but these zones may also be circular, rectangular, triangular, or other polygonal shapes. Moreover, these zones may be set in consideration of road shapes, building shapes, and the like.

[0044] FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a zone and distance determination method, and operations requested of the control terminal upon entry into and exit from zones, in the digital key management system according to the first embodiment, showing the zone and distance determination method, and the operations requested of the control terminal upon zone entry and exit, for each of zone #1, zone #2, zone #3, zone #4, zone #5, and outside the area.

[0045] In FIG. 3, first, the operations requested of the control terminal upon area entry and exit for each zone will be described. When the user terminal 101 is located outside the area, the area determination unit 111 of the user terminal 101 performs no action, and there is no requested operation to the control terminal 102. When the user terminal 101 enters zone #1, the area determination unit 111 of the user terminal 101 generates a communication connection start request R0 for starting the connection of wireless communication C2 between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102, and an answerback request R1.

[0046] When the user terminal 101 enters zone #2, the area determination unit 111 of the user terminal 101 generates an unlock request R2 for the control terminal 102. When the user terminal 101 enters zone #3, the area determination unit 111 of the user terminal 101 generates an engine start request R3 or a motor start request R4 for the control terminal 102.

[0047] Further, when the user terminal 101 exits from the motorcycle 60 to the zone #4, the area determination unit 111 of the user terminal 101 generates an engine stop request R5 or a motor stop request R6 to the control terminal 102. Next, when the user terminal 101 exits to the zone #5, the area determination unit 111 of the user terminal 101 generates a lock request R7 and a communication disconnection request R8 to the control terminal 102.

[0048] Next, the zone and distance determination method will be described. In FIG. 3, the determination of whether the user terminal 101 is outside the area or in the zone #1 is performed based on the position of the user terminal 101 obtained by GNSS. The determination of whether the user terminal 101 has entered the zone #2 is performed based on the position of the user terminal 101 obtained by GNSS, and the distance between the control terminal 102 and the user terminal 101 measured based on the wireless communication C1 between the ranging unit 131 and the ranging unit 231.

[0049] The determination of whether the user terminal 101 has entered the zone #3 or exited to the zone #4 is performed based on the distance between the control terminal 102 and the user terminal 101 measured by the wireless communication C1 as the communication between the ranging unit 131 and the ranging unit 231.

[0050] The determination of whether the user terminal 101 has exited to the zone #5 is performed based on the distance between the control terminal 102 and the user terminal 101 measured based on BLE communication between the ranging unit 131 and the ranging unit 231, and the position of the user terminal 101 obtained by GNSS.

[0051] Indoors where GNSS cannot perform positioning, instead of the position itself from GNSS, an estimated position obtained by estimating the movement of the user terminal 101 through dead reckoning or the like may be used. Further, the determination may be made by combining indoor positioning information such as WiFi (Wireless Fidelity).

[0052] Furthermore, if the area determination result does not match between the position of the user terminal 101 determined by GNSS and the distance between the control terminal 102 and the user terminal 101 measured by BLE communication between the distance measuring unit 131 and the distance measuring unit 231, the area determination may be performed prioritizing the measured distance.

[0053] Furthermore, the results of the previous assessment may be utilized. The contents of the list shown in Figure 3 may be managed separately for each location where the list is frequently used, such as the user's home or workplace. Furthermore, the valid locations of the user terminal 101 may be defined in detail.

[0054] Figure 4 is another explanatory diagram illustrating the determination of the area when a user terminal approaches a control terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1. In Figures 2A and 2B mentioned above, the control terminal 102 is located in the center of each zone, whereas in Figure 4, the control terminal 102 is located to the right of the center of each zone.

[0055] When the mobile vehicle equipped with the control terminal 102 is a motorcycle, the user often boards the motorcycle 60 from the left side relative to the motorcycle's forward direction. Therefore, as shown in Figure 4, by widening the zone on the left side of the motorcycle 60 relative to its forward direction, the communication connection start request R0, answer back request R1, lock release request R2, engine start request R3, or motor start request R4 can be generated smoothly.

[0056] Furthermore, although not shown in the diagram, even when the user moves away from the motorcycle 60, by widening the zone on the left side relative to the forward direction of the motorcycle 60, the engine stop request R5 or motor stop request R6, the locking request R7, and the communication disconnection request R8 can be carried out smoothly.

[0057] In the previous explanation, an example was given in which the zone to the left of the motorcycle 60 in the direction of forward movement is made wider, that is, the right side of each zone is used as the reference point. However, this is not the only option, and each zone can be set considering the parking location, road shape, relative building positions, etc.

[0058] The remote control unit 112, configured by the processor 11 of the user terminal 101, receives zone information from the area determination unit 111. If the zone has changed from the previous zone, it generates a control command based on the control request from the area determination unit 111 corresponding to the zone entered or exited, and transmits it to the communication unit 232 of the control terminal 102 via wireless communication C2 through the communication unit 132.

[0059] As shown in Figure 3, when the user terminal 101 approaches the motorcycle 60 as a moving object, each time the user terminal 101 enters zone #1, zone #2, and zone #3, the area determination unit 111 generates a communication connection start request R0, an answer back request R1, a lock release request R2, an engine start request R3, or a motor start request R4 corresponding to each zone.

[0060] Furthermore, when the user terminal 101 moves away from the motorcycle 60, each time the user terminal 101 exits zone #4 or zone #5, the area determination unit 111 generates an engine stop request R5 or motor stop request R6, a lock request R7, and a communication disconnection request R8 corresponding to each zone.

[0061] The distance measuring unit 131 in the user terminal 101 and the distance measuring unit 231 in the control terminal 102 have the function of measuring the distance between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102, and the direction between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102, using radio waves. The distance between the two terminals can be calculated using the received power RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), the radio wave arrival time difference TDoA (Time Difference of Arrival), the radio wave arrival angle AoA (Angle of Arrival), etc., when the two terminals communicate with each other.

[0062] While an example of distance measurement using radio waves has been shown here, the system is not limited to this. The functions of the distance measuring unit 131 of the user terminal 101 and the distance measuring unit 231 of the control terminal 102 may also be realized by distance measurement using other means such as video, laser, or ultrasound.

[0063] The communication unit 132 in the user terminal 101 and the communication unit 232 in the control terminal 102 are configured to perform data communication using radio waves via wireless communication C2. Specifically, wireless communication C2 can utilize, but is not limited to, short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth, BLE, UWB, and Wi-Fi, or cellular networks such as LTE (Long Term Evolution; registered trademark) communication and 5G, or communication methods such as DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) and Cellular-V2X (Vehicle-to-X) specifically for vehicle communication.

[0064] The positioning unit 121 of the user terminal 101 consists of a GNSS receiver and a receiving antenna, and detects the latitude, longitude, altitude, positional accuracy, etc., of the user terminal 101. Positioning is possible using GNSS outdoors, but indoors, relative positioning can be detected using Wi-Fi, beacons, etc.

[0065] The terminal information management unit 14 in the user terminal 101 manages the location of the user terminal 101, the location information and authentication information of the control terminal 102 received from the control terminal 102, and the distance information measured between the control terminal 102 and the user terminal 101. The terminal information management unit 14 is a database that stores information and is specifically composed of an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), SD (Secure Digital) card, RAM (Random Access memory), etc.

[0066] The terminal authentication unit 211 in the control terminal 102 receives authentication information from the user terminal 101 to identify a user that the control terminal 102 has registered in advance, and determines that the user is indeed the user in question.

[0067] Authentication methods include, but are not limited to, username and password, authentication number, security question, and fingerprint. Furthermore, the control terminal 102 may transmit the stopping location information, driving history, or an authentication number generated by the control terminal 102 to the user terminal 101 for use during the next authentication. If the authentication information received from the user terminal 101 is incorrect, the terminal authentication unit 211 will either not respond or notify the user terminal 101 of the authentication failure.

[0068] The vehicle control determination unit 212 in the control terminal 102 receives control command data from the user terminal 101 via the terminal authentication unit 211, identifies which of the following control request information the received control command is: communication connection start request R0, answer back request R1, lock release request R2, engine start request R3, motor start request R4, engine stop request R5, motor stop request R6, lock request R7, or communication disconnection request R8, and instructs the vehicle ECU 241 to perform the control corresponding to the identified request. Note that the control command as control request information is not limited to the above control requests, and may also include information regarding the control of equipment mounted on the vehicle.

[0069] Furthermore, when the vehicle control determination unit 212 detects that the engine or motor has stopped or the lock has been released due to the operation of the control terminal 102, it generates information on the stopping position of the control terminal 102 and the next authentication information, and transmits this generated information to the communication unit 132 of the user terminal 101 via the communication unit 232.

[0070] The authentication information may include the stopping position of the control terminal 102, an authentication code, user information, vehicle information, etc., and this information may be encrypted. Digital signatures using a common key or public key may also be used, but are not limited to these.

[0071] The vehicle ECU 241 includes an ECU for starting or stopping the engine or motor, an ECU for unlocking and locking the doors, and an ECU for controlling the turn signals to provide an answer-back function.

[0072] Next, the operation of the digital key control system according to Embodiment 1 will be described. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the processing of a user terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1, and Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the processing of a control terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1.

[0073] The operation of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1 described below corresponds to the operation of the digital key management system and the digital key management method according to Embodiment 1. Furthermore, the operation of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1 described below also corresponds to the processing of the digital key management program according to Embodiment 1.

[0074] First, an overview of the processing sequence of the user terminal 101 of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1 will be described based on Figure 5. In Figure 5, in step S100, the user terminal 101 waits to receive updates from the positioning unit 121 or data from the communication unit 132 and the distance measuring unit 131.

[0075] In step S100, if an update occurs in the positioning unit 121 (Y1), the process proceeds to step S101; if data is received from the distance measuring unit 131 (Y2), the process proceeds to step S111; and if data is received from the communication unit 232 of the control terminal 102 (Y3), the process proceeds to step S109. In all other cases, the process remains in standby mode in step S100.

[0076] When an update occurs in the positioning unit 121 of the user terminal 101, and the process proceeds from step S100 to step S101, in step S101, the area determination unit 111 of the user terminal 101 receives updated current location information from the positioning unit 121, and the process proceeds to step S102. In step S102, the area determination unit 111 of the user terminal 101 obtains the final stopping position information of the control terminal 102 from the terminal information management unit 14, and the process proceeds to step S103.

[0077] In step S103, the area determination unit 111 of the user terminal 101 calculates the distance between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102 from the current position of the user terminal 101 and the final stopping position of the control terminal 102, or identifies the area in which the user terminal 101 is currently located using the distance measurement result between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102.

[0078] Here, as shown in Figure 3, the area determination unit 111 makes a determination using location information from the positioning unit 121, or using distance measurement information from the distance measurement unit 131, or using both of these, taking into consideration the information of the zone in which the user terminal 101 is located, and identifies the area.

[0079] Next, in step S104, the area determination unit 111 of the user terminal 101 determines whether the user terminal 101 is outside or inside the area in relation to the control terminal 102, and obtains information on whether the user terminal 101 is approaching or away from the center of the area. Here, the center of the area is equal to the position where the control terminal 102 is located.

[0080] In step S104, if it is determined that the user terminal 101 is within the area (Y4), the process proceeds to step S105. If it is determined that the user terminal 101 is outside the area (Y5), the process proceeds to step S108.

[0081] When the process proceeds from step S104 to step S105, the area determination unit 111 determines which zone the user terminal 101 has entered or exited, and determines the zone before and after the movement due to the entry or exit. Note that these determinations may be performed by the remote control unit 112 instead of the area determination unit 111.

[0082] Next, in step S106, the area determination unit 111 notifies the remote control unit of the zone determined in step S105, retains the latest determination result, and proceeds to step S107. In step S107, the remote control unit 112 transmits information containing commands to be requested according to the type of area to the control terminal 102 via the communication unit 132, and waits until the next process.

[0083] On the other hand, if, in step S104 described above, it is determined that the user terminal 101 is outside the area (Y5), and the process proceeds to step S108, the area determination unit 111 determines that the user terminal 101 has entered the zone if it has entered the area from outside. If the user terminal 101 remains outside the area, it determines that it remains outside the area and waits until the next process.

[0084] Furthermore, if in step S100 the user terminal 101 receives data from the communication unit 232 of the control terminal 102 (Y3), in step S109 the communication unit 132 of the user terminal 101 receives the location information and authentication information of the control terminal 102 from the communication unit 232 of the control terminal 102. Although an example of receiving location information from the control terminal 102 is shown here, the user terminal 101's location may also be treated as the control terminal 102's location by receiving stop event information.

[0085] Next, in step S110, the communication unit 132 of the user terminal 101 notifies the terminal information management unit 14 of the received location information and authentication information of the control terminal 102 and registers it. The terminal information management unit 14 detects that the location information and authentication information of the control terminal 102 have been updated, notifies the area determination unit 111, and waits until the next process.

[0086] Furthermore, if the user terminal 101 receives data from the distance measuring unit 131 in step S100 (Y2), the process proceeds to step S111, where the distance measuring unit 131 of the user terminal 101 measures the distance between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102 through radio communication with the distance measuring unit 231 of the control terminal 102, and the process proceeds to step S112.

[0087] In step S112, the distance measuring unit 131 of the user terminal 101 registers the distance between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102, measured in step S111, with the terminal information management unit 14. The terminal information management unit 14 detects that the distance measurement information has been updated and notifies the area determination unit 111, and proceeds to step S103. The operation from step S103 onward is as described above.

[0088] Figure 5 shows an example in which the process from step S100 to step S112 is repeated each time the positioning unit 121 updates the position of the user terminal 101 and data is received from the distance measuring unit 131 and the communication unit 132. Although Figure 5 shows an example in which the user terminal 101 processes data for one control terminal 102, the user terminal 101 may process data for multiple control terminals 102.

[0089] Next, the operation of the control terminal 102 will be described. Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the processing of the control terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1. In Figure 6, in step S401, the control terminal 102 determines whether the engine or motor is running based on the vehicle ECU 241. If it is running (Yes), the process proceeds to step S402; if it is stopped (No), the process proceeds to step S404.

[0090] In the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1, the engine or motor is described as the vehicle's power source, but other power sources such as a hybrid drive system may also be used. Furthermore, the transition from operation to stop may be determined by the vehicle's key switch changing from the ON state to the OFF state, by using the motorcycle's side stand to be deployed, or by any other method.

[0091] In step S402, the control terminal 102 determines from the vehicle ECU 241 whether the operating engine or motor has stopped. If the engine or motor continues to operate without stopping (No), it remains in standby mode. If it detects that the engine or motor has stopped (Yes), it proceeds to step S403.

[0092] In the next step S403, the vehicle control determination unit 212 transmits the stopping position information of the control terminal 102 to the communication unit 132 of the user terminal 101 via the communication unit 232. The vehicle control determination unit 212 also generates authentication information for the control terminal 102 and transmits it to the communication unit 132 of the user terminal 101 via the communication unit 232, and waits until the next process.

[0093] In this example, the stopping position information of the control terminal 102 is generated based on the information from the positioning unit 221 of the control terminal 102. However, in step S403, the stopping event information of the engine or motor may be notified to the user terminal 101, and the location information of the user terminal 101 that received the stopping event may be determined to be the stopping position of the control terminal 102. Alternatively, the stopping position of the control terminal 102 may be recognized by other methods.

[0094] In step S401 described above, if the engine or motor is stopped (No), and the process proceeds to step s404, the vehicle control determination unit 212 of the control terminal 102 waits to receive data from the user terminal 101.

[0095] In step S405, the terminal authentication unit 211 of the control terminal 102 receives data from the user terminal 101 and performs user authentication. If user authentication is confirmed (Y6), the process proceeds to step S406. If user authentication cannot be confirmed (Y7), the process returns to step S404 and waits to receive the next data.

[0096] Furthermore, if user authentication of user terminal 101 cannot be confirmed (Y7), the system may notify user terminal 101 of the user authentication failure. In addition, the terminal authentication unit 211 may store and manage information about user terminal 101 that has requested user authentication.

[0097] If user authentication is confirmed in step S405 (Y6), and the process proceeds to step S406, the vehicle control determination unit 212 of the control terminal 102 determines whether or not it has received data from the user terminal 101. If data is received (Yes), the process proceeds to step S407; otherwise, the process returns to step S404. Here, if no information is received from the user terminal 101 (No), the process returns to step S404, but it may also be configured to return to step S405 and wait to receive the next data.

[0098] When the process proceeds to step S407, the system obtains from the data received from the terminal authentication unit 211 whether it is an answer-back request R1, a lock release request R2, an engine start request R3, or a motor start request R4, and instructs the vehicle ECU 241 to perform the action corresponding to the request obtained from the user terminal 101.

[0099] Next, in step S408, the vehicle control determination unit 212 receives a response from the vehicle ECU 241, transmits it to the user terminal 101, and terminates the process.

[0100] The digital key management system according to Embodiment 1 described above uses either or both of GNSS-based positioning and / or ranging to calculate the positional relationship and distance between the user terminal 101 (smartphone) and the control terminal 102 (vehicle). However, both may always be used for determination, or only one may be used. Furthermore, while the system uses the results of GNSS-based positioning and ranging, it may also use additional information from radar, beacons, etc., for determination, and is not limited to these methods.

[0101] The digital key management system according to Embodiment 1 describes an example in which the stopping position of the control terminal 102 is acquired using the positioning unit 221 of the control terminal 102. However, the control terminal 102 may also notify the user terminal 101 of a stopping event, and the location information of the user terminal 101 may be processed as the stopping position of the control terminal 102. The system is not limited to this.

[0102] As described above, according to the digital key management system of this embodiment 1, requests such as a communication connection start request R0, an answer back request R1, and a lock release request R2 are made from the user terminal 101 to the control terminal 102 based on the position of the user terminal 101 and the stopping position of the control terminal 102. Therefore, smooth vehicle control can be achieved using only the position of the user terminal 101 and the stopping position of the control terminal 102.

[0103] Furthermore, the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1 uses location information and distance measurement information to determine the area, thus enabling high-precision area determination.

[0104] Next, a digital key management system according to Embodiment 2 will be described. Embodiment 2. Figure 7 is a system configuration diagram of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 2, in which the same or equivalent parts as those in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

[0105] In the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1, a terminal information management unit was provided on the user terminal. However, in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 2, a server cloud is provided, and the terminal information management unit is provided on the server cloud. This is the main difference from the case of Embodiment 1.

[0106] In Figure 7, the digital key management system 100 according to Embodiment 2 includes a user terminal 101, a control terminal 102, and a server cloud 103. The server cloud 103 consists of a processor and other components that provide data to the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102 via the internet using wireless communication C3.

[0107] More specifically, as shown in Figure 7, the server cloud 103 is composed of an external interface 31 having a communication unit 311, a processor 32 having a location information processing unit 321, and a terminal information management unit 33.

[0108] The location information processing unit 321 in the processor 32 of the server cloud 103 receives location information and authentication information from the control terminal 102 via wireless communication C3 through the communication unit 311 in the external interface 31 and the communication unit 232 in the control terminal 102, and stores the received location information and authentication information in the terminal information management unit 33.

[0109] Furthermore, the location information processing unit 321 transmits the location information of the control terminal 102 and the latest authentication information to the user terminal 101, which holds the authentication information of the control terminal 102, via wireless communication C3 through the communication unit 311 and the communication unit 132.

[0110] Alternatively, instead of the server cloud 103 transmitting location information and authentication information related to the control terminal 102 to the user terminal 101, the user terminal 101 may retrieve the location information and authentication information related to the control terminal 102 from the server cloud 103 via wireless communication C3 through the communication unit 132 and the communication unit 311.

[0111] In the user terminal 101, the area determination unit 111 of the processor 11 performs the area determination described in Embodiment 1 based on data directly acquired from the communication unit 132 and the distance measurement unit 131.

[0112] The other configurations are the same as those of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1.

[0113] Next, the operation of the server cloud 103 will be described. Figure 8 is a flowchart showing the processing of the server cloud of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 2. In Figure 8, in step S501, the communication unit 311 of the server cloud 103 receives location information and authentication information of the control terminal 102 from the communication unit 232 of the control terminal 102 via wireless communication C3.

[0114] When the process proceeds to step S502, the communication unit 311 of the server cloud 103 notifies the location information processing unit 321 of the processor 32 of the location information information and authentication information of the control terminal 102 that it received from the control terminal 102, and the process proceeds to step S503.

[0115] In step S503, the location information processing unit 321 registers the received data with the terminal information management unit 33 and proceeds to step S504. In step S504, the location information processing unit 321 obtains information on user terminals 101 that correspond to the control terminal 102, that is, that are connected to the control terminal 102. Here, if there are multiple user terminals 101 that are connected to (linked to) the control terminal 102, the unit may obtain information on all user terminals 101, or it may obtain information only on user terminals 101 that have recently accessed the control terminal 102.

[0116] Next, in step S505, the location information processing unit 321 notifies the target user terminal 101 of the location information of the control terminal 102 and the latest authentication information, and then terminates the process. After the user terminal 101 receives the location information of the control terminal 102 from the server cloud 103, it communicates directly with the control terminal 102 and performs processes such as making an unlock request.

[0117] Here, we will explain the differences between the processing at the user terminal 101 of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 2 and the processing shown in Figure 5 of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1.

[0118] In the processing at the user terminal 101 of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 2, in step S102 of Figure 5, the area determination unit 111 of the user terminal 101 obtains the final stopping position information of the control terminal 102 from the terminal information management unit 33 of the server cloud 103, and proceeds to step S103.

[0119] Furthermore, in step S110 of Figure 5, the communication unit 132 of the user terminal 101 notifies the terminal information management unit 33 of the server cloud 103 of the location information and authentication information received from the control terminal 102 and registers it. The terminal information management unit 33 detects that the location information and authentication information of the control terminal 102 have been updated and notifies the area determination unit 111 via wireless communication C3 through the communication unit 132 of the user terminal 101, and waits until the next process.

[0120] Furthermore, in step S112 of Figure 5, the distance measuring unit 131 of the user terminal 101 registers the distance between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102, measured in step S111, with the terminal information management unit 33 of the server cloud 103 via wireless communication C3. The terminal information management unit 33 detects that the distance measurement information has been updated and notifies the area determination unit 111 of the user terminal 101 via wireless communication C3, and proceeds to step S103.

[0121] Other processing on the user terminal 101 and processing on the control terminal 102 are the same as in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1.

[0122] The digital key management system according to Embodiment 2 described above shows an example where the user terminal 101 directly communicates with the control terminal 102 and measures the distance after the control terminal 102 has been delivered to the user terminal 101 via the server / cloud 103. However, it may also be configured so that communication is always performed via the server / cloud 103, and communication between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102, answer-back, unlocking, and engine or motor starting are performed.

[0123] Furthermore, while Embodiment 2 shows an example in which the control terminal 102 acquires location information from the positioning unit 221 when the engine or motor stops and transmits it to the server / cloud 103, the control terminal 102 may also notify the user terminal 101 of the engine stop or motor stop event via the server / cloud 103, and the location information of the user terminal 101 may be registered in the server / cloud 103 as the stopping position of the control terminal 102.

[0124] As described above, with the digital key management system according to Embodiment 2, the location of the control terminal 102 can be managed by the server cloud 103, so even if there are multiple user terminals 101, the location of the control terminal 102 can be distributed to each user terminal.

[0125] Next, a digital key management system according to Embodiment 3 will be described. Embodiment 3. Figure 9 is a system configuration diagram of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 3. In the digital key management system according to Embodiment 3 shown in Figure 9, the same or equivalent parts as those in the digital key management systems according to Embodiments 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

[0126] The digital key management system according to Embodiment 3 differs from the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1 in that the control terminal 102 is equipped with a vehicle behavior sensor 222 and a display unit 242.

[0127] In Figure 9, the sensor interface 22 of the control terminal 102 includes a vehicle behavior sensor 222 in addition to the positioning unit 221. The vehicle behavior sensor 222 is composed of an IMU (Internal Measurement Unit), a vehicle speed sensor, a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, etc., and detects the attitude, tilt angle, speed M, etc. of the motorcycle.

[0128] The display unit 242 in the vehicle interface 24 of the control terminal 102 displays information received from the vehicle control judgment unit 212 to the user. The display unit 242 can be an instrument panel of the vehicle, an LCD panel, a navigation system, a smartphone, a smartwatch, a smart helmet, a tablet, a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, or the like.

[0129] Figure 10 is a flowchart showing the processing of a control terminal in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 3, and shows the processing sequence of the vehicle control determination unit 212 in the control terminal 102.

[0130] In Figure 10, in step S601, the vehicle control determination unit 212 obtains the lean angle of the motorcycle vehicle from the vehicle behavior sensor 222 and proceeds to step S602. In step S602, the vehicle control determination unit 212 determines whether the lean angle has changed from the lean angle when the vehicle is stopped to the lean angle when the vehicle is starting.

[0131] If the result of this determination indicates that the lean angle has changed from the stationary lean angle to the starting lean angle (Yes), the process proceeds to step S603. If the lean angle has not changed from the stationary lean angle to the starting lean angle (No), the process ends and the system waits in preparation for the next process. The lean angle of a vehicle in a stationary state is either recognized and learned in advance for each vehicle, or the lean angle of a vehicle when the engine or motor is stopped is managed and stored along with the vehicle's position information.

[0132] Next, in step S603, the vehicle control determination unit 212 determines whether the user terminal 101 is in the zone closest to the control terminal 102. If the user terminal 101 is in the zone closest to the control terminal 102 (Yes), the process ends and the unit waits in preparation for the next process. On the other hand, if the determination in step S603 determines that the user terminal 101 is not in the zone closest to the control terminal 102 (No), the process proceeds to step S604.

[0133] When the process proceeds to step S604, the vehicle control determination unit 212 requests confirmation from the user terminal 101 and displays a confirmation of the user terminal 101's location on the display unit 242.

[0134] Next, in step S605, the vehicle control determination unit 212 determines whether the lean angle returns to the lean angle of the vehicle when it is stopped within a predetermined time. If the lean angle returns to the lean angle of the vehicle when it is stopped (Yes), the process ends; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S606.

[0135] In step S606, the vehicle control determination unit 212 requests the vehicle ECU 241 to stop the engine or motor, and terminates the process.

[0136] Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1.

[0137] In the digital key management system according to Embodiment 3, the lean angle is used to determine when the vehicle transitions from a stopped state to a starting state. However, the system is not limited to this, and changes in the side stand position and center stand position of the motorcycle may also be used, or the change in the transmission gear from neutral to first gear may be used.

[0138] As described above, the digital key management system according to Embodiment 3 prevents the vehicle from starting while the user terminal constituting the digital key is located away from the control terminal. Therefore, it is possible to prevent theft when operating the user terminal remotely and to prevent users from forgetting their user terminal.

[0139] Next, a digital key management system according to Embodiment 4 will be described. Embodiment 4. Figure 11 is a system configuration diagram of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 4. In the digital key management system according to Embodiment 4 shown in Figure 11, the same reference numerals are used for parts that are the same as or equivalent to those in the digital key management systems according to Embodiments 1, 2, and 3.

[0140] The digital key management system according to Embodiment 4 differs from the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1 in that the user terminal 101 is equipped with a vehicle behavior sensor 122, a biosensor 123, and a user abnormality estimation unit 113, and also includes a wearable terminal 104 in addition to the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102. The wearable terminal 104 may have the same configuration as the user terminal 101, or it may be configured to provide only some of the functions of the user terminal 101.

[0141] In Figure 11, the sensor interface 12 in the user terminal 101 includes a positioning unit 121, a vehicle behavior sensor 122, and a biosensor 123. The vehicle behavior sensor 122 consists of an IMU, a vehicle speed sensor, a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, etc., and detects the attitude, tilt angle, speed, etc., of the motorcycle. The biosensor 123 consists of a sensor attached to the user's body, a smartwatch, a smart helmet, a smart ring, etc., and detects biometric information such as pulse, heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, brain waves, gaze, etc., of the rider or driver as the user.

[0142] The processor 11 in the user terminal 101 includes an area determination unit 111, a remote control unit 112, and a user abnormality estimation unit 113. The user abnormality estimation unit 113 detects unusual user behavior, such as staggering, intoxication, or poor health, from data acquired from the vehicle behavior sensor 122 or biometric information acquired from the biosensor 123.

[0143] Figure 12 is a flowchart showing the processing of the user abnormality estimation unit in the digital key management system according to Embodiment 4. In Figure 12, in step S701, the user abnormality estimation unit 113 acquires information from the vehicle behavior sensor 122 or the biosensor 123.

[0144] Next, in step S702, the user abnormality estimation unit 113 estimates whether or not abnormal behavior is occurring in the user from the time-series data of the vehicle behavior sensor 122. As a method for estimating user abnormality by extracting abnormal values ​​from normal values ​​among the sensor information from the vehicle behavior sensor 122 or biosensor 123, algorithms such as Isolation Forest and OCSVM (One-Class SVM) may be used, or statistical methods, rule-based methods, etc. may be used.

[0145] Next, in step S703, it is determined whether or not there is a possibility that abnormal behavior is occurring in the user. If it is normal (Y7), the process proceeds to step S704; if there is a suspicion of abnormality (Y8), the process proceeds to step S707.

[0146] When the process proceeds to step S704, the user abnormality estimation unit 113 estimates whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the user based on the time-series data from the biosensor 123. This estimation method may be the same as the estimation method from the time-series data of the vehicle behavior sensor 122 described above, or it may be a different method.

[0147] Next, proceeding to step S705, the user abnormality estimation unit 113 determines whether or not there is a possibility that abnormal behavior is occurring in the user. If it is normal (Y9), proceed to step S706; if there is a suspicion of abnormality (Y10), proceed to step S707.

[0148] When the process proceeds to step S706, the user abnormality estimation unit 113 terminates processing without taking any action with respect to the remote control unit 112.

[0149] On the other hand, if the process proceeds from step S703 or step S705 to step S707, there is a suspicion that an abnormality has occurred with the user, so the user abnormality estimation unit 113 requests the remote control unit 112 not to perform control on the control terminal 102 and terminates the process.

[0150] Here, the process of requesting the control terminal 102 not to perform control may be limited to a process that requests the suppression or stopping of the engine or motor startup, or it may be a process that requests that some or all of the processes of the control terminal 102 not be performed.

[0151] The area determination unit 111 in the user terminal 101 determines the area by comparing the positional relationship between the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102, as well as considering the positional relationship with the wearable terminal 104. This allows for redundant determination and enables high-precision area determination.

[0152] In addition to determining the area based on distance measurement or positioning determined by wireless communication C1 between the control terminal 102 and the user terminal 101, the remote control unit 112 can also restrict requests to the control terminal 102, such as unlock requests or engine or motor start requests, by considering the distance between the wearable terminal 104 and the user terminal 101, and between the wearable terminal 104 and the control terminal 102.

[0153] Specifically, when the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102 are close together, and the user terminal 101 and the wearable terminal 104 are also close together, the system performs normal processing as a digital key management system. However, when any one of the control terminal 102, user terminal 101, or wearable terminal 104 is further away from the others, the system suppresses the engine or motor start request.

[0154] Furthermore, the engine or motor start request may be suppressed only when the user terminal 101 is located farther away from the control terminal 102 and the wearable terminal 104, or when the wearable terminal 104 is located farther away from the user terminal 101 and the control terminal 102.

[0155] Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1.

[0156] In the digital key management system of Embodiment 4, as a response to user abnormalities, when a user abnormality is detected, the system requests that the unlocking of the control terminal 102 be stopped and that the starting of the engine or motor be suppressed or stopped. However, as in the digital key management system of Embodiment 3, the control terminal 102 may be equipped with a display unit to notify the user of the abnormality, and if there is no problem with the user's response to the notification, the process of requesting the unlocking of the control terminal 102 and the starting of the engine or motor to be suppressed or stopped may be canceled.

[0157] In the digital key management system of Embodiment 4 described above, the user abnormality estimation unit 113 is shown as suppressing unlocking and starting the engine or motor. However, the system may be configured to allow unlocking and starting the engine or motor through user operation, or it may be configured to prohibit unlocking and starting the engine or motor through user operation.

[0158] As described above, with the digital key management system according to Embodiment 4, if a user abnormality is suspected, the digital key management system will not unlock the system, and will instead request user operation, thereby preventing operation in an abnormal state of the user.

[0159] Next, a digital key management system according to Embodiment 5 will be described. Embodiment 5. Figure 13 is a system configuration diagram of the digital key management system according to Embodiment 5. In the digital key management system according to Embodiment 5 shown in Figure 13, the same or equivalent parts as those in the digital key management systems according to Embodiments 1, 2, 3, and 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

[0160] The digital key management system according to Embodiment 5 differs from the digital key management system according to Embodiment 1 in that the user terminal 101 is equipped with a user operation learning unit 114 and a user operation recognition unit 124. Alternatively, the user terminal 101 in Embodiment 5 may be replaced with the wearable terminal 104 described in Embodiment 4.

[0161] In Figure 13, the user operation recognition unit 124 may be a physical user interface such as a keyboard, touch panel, or button, or a user interface that uses voice input.

[0162] The user operation learning unit 114 learns, when the user operation recognition unit 124 makes a request to the control terminal 102, the distance between the control terminal 102 and the user terminal 101 at the time the request was made, the positional relationship between the control terminal 102 and the user terminal 101, and the request processing. The user operation learning unit 114 updates the zone and area entry / exit processing shown in Figure 3 based on the processing content requested by the user, the distance between the control terminal 102 and the user terminal 101, and the positional relationship between the control terminal 102 and the user terminal 101. This makes it possible for the user to automatically request processing from the control terminal 102 from a distance of their choice.

[0163] In the digital key management system according to Embodiment 5 described above, the user operation learning unit 114 is shown as updating an existing list of areas, distances, and requested actions. However, lists like the one shown in Figure 3 may be managed for each frequently used location, such as the user's home or workplace. Furthermore, the effective location of the user terminal 101 relative to the control terminal 102 may be defined in detail.

[0164] As described above, the digital key management system according to Embodiment 5 can learn the user's actions and timing, and automatically request the next process at the timing preferred by the user, thereby eliminating user dissatisfaction.

[0165] While this disclosure describes various exemplary embodiments, the various features, aspects, and functions described in one or more embodiments are not limited to the application of a particular embodiment, but are applicable individually or in various combinations to the embodiments. Accordingly, countless variations not illustrated are conceivable within the scope of the art disclosed herein. For example, these include modifying, adding or omitting at least one component, or even extracting at least one component and combining it with a component from another embodiment.

[0166] 100 Digital key management system, 101 User terminal, 102 Control terminal, 103 Server / cloud, 104 Wearable terminal, 11, 21, 32 Processor, 111 Area determination unit, 112 Remote control unit, 113 User anomaly estimation unit, 114 User operation learning unit, 12, 22 Sensor interface, 121, 221 Positioning unit, 122, 222 Vehicle behavior sensor, 123 Biometric sensor, 124 User operation recognition unit, 13, 23, 31 External interface, 131, 231 Distance measurement unit, 132, 232, 311 Communication unit, 14, 33 Terminal information management unit, 211 Terminal authentication unit, 212 Vehicle control judgment unit, 24 Vehicle interface, 241 Vehicle ECU, 242 Display unit, 50 User, 60 Motorcycle, 321 Location information processing unit, #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 Zone, C1, C2, C3 Wireless communication, R0 Communication connection start request, R1 Answer back request, R2 Lock release request, R3 Engine start request, R4 Motor start request, R5 Engine stop request, R6 Motor stop request, R7 Lock request, R8 Communication disconnection request

Claims

1. A digital key management system comprising a user terminal owned by a vehicle user and a control terminal mounted on the vehicle, wherein the system can perform at least unlocking and locking the vehicle based on communication between the user terminal and the control terminal, wherein the user terminal comprises: a communication unit for communicating with the control terminal; a distance measuring unit for measuring the distance between the user terminal and the control terminal; a positioning unit for determining the location of the user terminal; a terminal information management unit for managing terminal location information including the determined location of the user terminal and the location of the control terminal, and distance information including the measured distance; an area determination unit for determining whether the user terminal enters or exits an area set starting from the control terminal and for generating a control request to the control terminal based on the determination; and a remote control unit for generating a control command based on the control request and for transmitting the control command to the control terminal via the communication unit, wherein the control terminal is configured to execute the control request based on the control command transmitted from the remote control unit.

2. The digital key management system according to claim 1, characterized in that the area is composed of a plurality of zones having different regions, and the area determination unit determines whether the user terminal enters or exits the plurality of zones.

3. The digital key management system according to claim 2, characterized in that the area determination unit generates a pre-set control request for each of the plurality of zones.

4. The digital key management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the area determination unit performs the determination based on at least one of the terminal location information and the distance information.

5. The control terminal comprises a communication unit for communicating with the user terminal, a distance measuring unit for measuring distance, a terminal authentication unit for identifying whether the user terminal is a user terminal that has been registered in advance, and a vehicle control determination unit for executing the control command from the remote control unit, wherein the vehicle control determination unit notifies the user terminal of the vehicle's position when it is stopped, and the user terminal transmits authentication information, including the notified position when it is stopped, to the control terminal when it is identified the next time the user terminal is identified, characterized in that the digital key management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The digital key management system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the area determination unit generates a control request to the control terminal for communication connection start, answer back, unlock, engine start or motor start when the user terminal approaches the control terminal, and generates a control request to the control terminal for engine stop or motor stop, lock, or communication disconnection when the user terminal moves away from the control terminal.

7. The vehicle control determination unit determines whether the lean angle of the vehicle changes from a stopped state to a state in which the vehicle can start moving, and if the vehicle is in the state in which it can start moving, the unit suppresses the starting of the vehicle if the user terminal is in an area far from the control terminal, as described in claim 5.

8. The digital key management system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the user terminal comprises a vehicle behavior sensor for detecting the behavior of the vehicle, a biosensor for detecting the user's biometric information, and a user abnormality estimation unit for estimating the user's operational abnormality from at least one of the output from the vehicle behavior sensor and the output from the biosensor, and the remote control unit suppresses a control request to the control terminal when the user abnormality estimation unit has estimated the user's operational abnormality.

9. The digital key management system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the user terminal comprises: a user operation recognition unit that detects the user's input operation for a request to the control terminal; and a user operation learning unit that learns the distance between the control terminal and the user terminal, the positional relationship between the control terminal and the user terminal, and the request processing at the time the user performs an input operation for request processing to the control terminal, wherein the user operation learning unit updates information for the area determination unit to identify the area in which the user terminal is located, based on the learning.

10. The digital key management system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the area is formed so that the area is wider in a specific direction of the vehicle than in other directions, and the area determination unit determines whether the user terminal enters or exits the area in the specific direction.

11. The digital key management system according to claim 5 or 7, characterized in that the vehicle control determination unit detects that the control terminal has stopped the engine or motor and transmits a stop event to the user terminal, and the area determination unit of the user terminal receives the stop event and stores the position of the user terminal as the stop position of the control terminal.

12. The digital key management system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the digital key management system comprises a wearable terminal having the same functions as the user terminal, and the area determination unit suppresses control requests to be made to the control terminal by taking into consideration at least one of the distance between the wearable terminal and the user terminal and the distance between the wearable terminal and the control terminal.

13. A digital key management method comprising a user terminal owned by a vehicle user and a control terminal mounted on the vehicle, wherein the method can perform at least unlocking and locking of the vehicle based on communication between the user terminal and the control terminal, the method comprising: measuring the distance between the user terminal and the control terminal; determining the position of the user terminal and the position of the control terminal; determining whether the user terminal has entered or exited an area set with respect to the control terminal based on at least one of terminal position information including the determined positions of the user terminal and the control terminal, and distance information including the measured distance; generating a control request to the control terminal based on the determination; transmitting a control command corresponding to the control request from the user terminal to the control terminal; and controlling the control terminal with the transmitted control command.

14. A user terminal that constitutes part of a digital key management system according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

15. A control terminal constituting a part of the digital key management system according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

16. A server cloud constituting a part of the digital key management system described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

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