In-vehicle device, recording medium, and keyless entry system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10625713-B2
Application number	US-201916442720-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 17, 2019
Priority date	Jul 6, 2018
Publication date	Apr 21, 2020
Grant date	Apr 21, 2020

Abstract

An in-vehicle device includes transmitting antennas, an in-vehicle device transmitter configured to transmit request signals from the respective transmitting antennas, an in-vehicle device receiver configured to receive, from a portable device, an answer signal that includes received signal strengths of the respective request signals, and an in-vehicle device controller configured to calculate a distance from the portable device to each of a plurality of areas, based on both the received signal strengths of the respective request signals included in the answer signal and reference values for the request signals, and to identify an area to which the portable device belongs based on the distance. In a case where there is a request signal whose received signal strength is not included in the answer signal, the in-vehicle device controller calculates the distance by utilizing a corresponding reference value for the request signal as the received signal strength of the request signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An in-vehicle device associated with a vehicle, comprising:
a plurality of transmitting antennas;
an in-vehicle device transmitter to transmit request signals via the plurality of respective transmitting antennas;
an in-vehicle device receiver to receive, from a portable device, an answer signal that includes received signal strengths of the respective request signals that have been transmitted from the plurality of respective transmitting antennas; and
an in-vehicle device controller to calculate a distance from the portable device to each of a plurality of predetermined areas surrounding the vehicle, based on both the received signal strengths of the respective request signals included in the answer signal and reference values for the received signal strengths of the respective request signals, the reference values being preliminarily set for the plurality of respective predetermined areas, and to identify an area to which the portable device belongs from the plurality of predetermined areas based on the distance,
wherein, in a case where there is a request signal whose received signal strength is not included in the answer signal, the in-vehicle device controller calculates the distance by utilizing a corresponding reference value for the request signal as the received signal strength of the request signal, the corresponding reference value being from among the reference values.

2. The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 , wherein the distance is a Mahalanobis distance or a Euclidean distance.

3. The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 , wherein each of the reference values is an average value of a plurality of received signal strengths for a request signal as preliminarily measured by measuring instruments belonging to each predetermined area of the plurality of respective predetermined areas, the request signal being from among the respective request signals.

4. The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 , wherein the in-vehicle device transmitter includes one in-vehicle device transmitter connected to the plurality of transmitting antennas.

5. The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 , wherein the in-vehicle device transmitter includes a plurality of in-vehicle device transmitters each connected to a corresponding transmitting antenna of the plurality of transmitting antennas.

6. A non-transitory recording medium storing a program for causing an in-vehicle device controller of an in-vehicle device to execute a process comprising:
transmitting, by an in-vehicle transmitter of the in-vehicle device associated with a vehicle, request signals from a plurality of respective transmitting antennas;
receiving, from a portable device, an answer signal that includes received signal strengths of the respective request signals that have been transmitted from the plurality of respective transmitting antennas;
calculating, by the in-vehicle device controller, a distance from the portable device to each of a plurality of predetermined areas surrounding the vehicle, based on both the received signal strengths of the respective request signals included in the answer signal and reference values for the received signal strengths of the respective request signals, the reference values being preliminarily set for the plurality of respective predetermined areas, and identifying an area to which the portable device belongs from the plurality of predetermined areas based on the distance; and
in a case where there is a request signal whose received signal strength is not included in the answer signal, calculating the distance by utilizing a corresponding reference value for the request signal as the received signal strength of the request signal, the corresponding reference value being from among the reference values.

7. A keyless entry system including a portable device and an in-vehicle device associated with a vehicle, the keyless entry system comprising:
a received signal strength measuring unit, of the portable device, to measure received signal strengths of a plurality of request signals that have been transmitted from respective different transmitting antennas, connected to an in-vehicle device transmitter on the in-vehicle device, or that have been received at respective different receiving antennas of the portable device;
a portable device transmitter to transmit an answer signal that includes the received signal strengths of the respective request signals;
a distance calculating unit of the in-vehicle device, in response to receiving the answer signal from the portable device, to calculate a distance from the portable device to each of a plurality of predetermined areas surrounding the vehicle, based on both the received signal strengths of the respective request signals included in the answer signal and reference values for the received signal strengths of the request signals, the reference values being preliminarily set for the plurality of respective predetermined areas; and
an area identifying unit of the in-vehicle device to identify an area to which the portable device belongs from the plurality of predetermined areas based on the distance,
wherein, in a case where there is a request signal whose received signal strength has not been measured in the answer signal, the distance calculating unit calculates the distance by utilizing a corresponding reference value for the request signal as the received signal strength of the request signal, the corresponding reference value being from among the reference values.

Assignees

• Alps Alpine Co Ltd

Inventors

• Suzuki Yasuhiro
• Hayasaka Satoshi
• Nakajima Satoshi

Classifications

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• B60R25/01

  operating on vehicle systems or fittings, e.g. on doors, seats or windscreens · CPC title

• E05B49/00

  Electric permutation locks; Circuits therefor {; Mechanical aspects of electronic locks; Mechanical keys therefor (arrangements for sensing or reading record carriers G06K7/00; mechanisms including electronic locks actuated by nonmechanical keys such as passive and active electrical keys and other data carriers G07C9/00, G07F7/00; electronic switching H03K17/00)} · CPC title

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04W12/08

  Access security · CPC title