Mobile Fob Bridge for Smart Keyless Access in Older Vehicles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Older vehicles lack cellular, BLE, and UWB capabilities, limiting their ability to offer advanced features like remote access, secure communication, and compatibility with modern smart devices, necessitating a system to enhance security and functionality for these vehicles.
Innovation Solution
Deployment of BLE and UWB-enabled devices, along with cellular-enabled components, to provide enhanced spatial and directional sensing, and a mobile fob bridge that communicates with smart devices to replicate the functions of modern key fobs, enabling remote access and control of vehicle systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If older vehicles are equipped with modern communication protocols (cellular, BLE, UWB), then advanced features like remote access and secure communication are enabled, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a bridge device that acts as an intermediary between older vehicles lacking modern communication protocols and smart devices equipped with cellular, BLE, or UWB capabilities. The bridge translates and relays communication between these incompatible systems, enabling remote access functionality without requiring complex modifications to the vehicle's original architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The bridge device is designed to support multiple communication protocols (cellular, BLE, UWB) simultaneously, making it a universal solution that can interface with various types of smart devices. This multi-functional approach allows a single device to provide adaptability across different technological platforms without increasing overall system complexity.
2Reliability
If a bridge device is deployed to enable remote access in older vehicles, then security and functionality are enhanced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bridge serves as a secure intermediary that implements authentication and encryption protocols between the vehicle and external devices. By concentrating security functions in this dedicated intermediary component, the system achieves enhanced reliability without distributing complexity across multiple vehicle systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The bridge device autonomously manages security credentials, authentication handshakes, and encrypted communication sessions without requiring complex external infrastructure. This self-service capability enhances security while keeping the system manageable and relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
A universal smart key (USK) provides advanced proximity, location, distance or ranging capabilities and communicates with vehicles and smart phones to perform a set of vehicle-related operations and replicates OEM key and may include one or more of Bluetooth, BLE, UWB, NFC and other communications capabilities for determining location, proximity, range, distance of a user possessing the USK relative to vehicle location.A mobile (key) fob bridge (MFB) connected with vehicle communications/immobilizer control system and provides proximity, location, distance or ranging capabilities and communicates with vehicle and smart phones to perform a set of operations and may be located within a vehicle and communicate with smart key to provide a passive keyless entry system. The MFB may include Bluetooth, BLE, UWB, NFC and other communications capabilities for determining one or more of location, proximity, range, distance of a user possessing a smart key relative to the MFB device and one or more vehicle location(s).