Mobile device for communicating and ranging with access control system for automatic functionality

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10759389-B2
Application number	US-201916666838-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 29, 2019
Priority date	Sep 29, 2017
Publication date	Sep 1, 2020
Grant date	Sep 1, 2020

Abstract

Two different wireless protocols can be used for ranging between a mobile device and an access control system (e.g., a vehicle). The first wireless protocol (e.g., Bluetooth®) can be used to perform authentication of the vehicle and exchange ranging capabilities between a mobile device (e.g., a phone or watch) and the vehicle. The second wireless protocol (e.g., ultra-wideband, UWB) can use a pulse width that is less than a pulse width used by the first wireless protocol (e.g., 1 ns v. 1 μs). The narrower pulse width can provide greater accuracy for distance (ranging) measurements.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for performing communications between a mobile device and an access control system, the method comprising performing, by the mobile device:
creating a communication channel between the mobile device and the access control system using a shared secret, the communication channel using a first wireless protocol;
communicating, using the communication channel, one or more ranging capabilities with the access control system for ranging to be performed using a second wireless protocol;
transmitting, using the second wireless protocol, a first set of pulses in a ranging request message to the access control system, wherein the second wireless protocol uses a pulse width that is less than a pulse width used by the first wireless protocol;
receiving, using the second wireless protocol, a second set of pulses in one or more ranging response messages from the access control system;
determining a transmission time(s) of the first set of pulses and a reception time(s) of the second set of pulses; and
sending the transmission time(s) and the reception time(s) to the access control system, thereby enabling the access control system to perform an operation.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, before creating the communication channel, authenticating the access control system using the first wireless protocol.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein authenticating the access control system includes:
sending a challenge to the access control system, the challenge to be operated on by a control unit of the access control system using an encryption key to provide a response;
receiving the response from the access control system; and
comparing the response to an expected result to authenticate the control unit of the access control system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more ranging response messages include a plurality of ranging response messages from a plurality of antenna units of the access control system, each ranging response message from a respective antenna unit of the plurality of antenna units and including identifying information specific to the respective antenna unit.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the ranging request message is broadcast to the plurality of antenna units.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a distance of the mobile device from the access control system using the transmission time(s) of the first set of pulses and the reception time(s) of the second set of pulses.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending, to the access control system, timestamps corresponding to the first set of pulses in the ranging request message and the second set of pulses in the one or more ranging response messages, the timestamps configurable to be used by a control unit of the access control system to determine a distance of the mobile device from the access control system.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the operation is to unlock a door of the access control system.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more ranging capabilities specify a format for ranging messages between the mobile device and the access control system using the second wireless protocol.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless protocol is Bluetooth® and the second wireless protocol is ultra-wideband (UWB), wherein the first wireless protocol uses a first antenna and the second wireless protocol uses a second antenna, and wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the access control system is a vehicle.

12. A computer product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a plurality of instructions, that when executed, control a computing device to perform:
creating a communication channel between the computing device and an access control system using a shared secret, the communication channel using a first wireless protocol;
communicating, using the communication channel, one or more ranging capabilities with the access control system for ranging to be performed using a second wireless protocol;
transmitting, using the second wireless protocol, a first set of pulses in a ranging request message to the access control system, wherein the second wireless protocol uses a pulse width that is less than a pulse width used by the first wireless protocol;
receiving, using the second wireless protocol, a second set of pulses in one or more ranging response messages from the access control system;
determining a transmission time(s) of the first set of pulses and a reception time(s) of the second set of pulses; and
sending the transmission time(s) and the reception time(s) to the access control system, thereby enabling the access control system to perform an operation.

13. The computer product of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of instructions further control the computing device to perform:
before creating the communication channel, authenticating the access control system using the first wireless protocol.

14. The computer product of claim 13 , wherein authenticating the access control system includes:
sending a challenge to the access control system, the challenge to be operated on by a control unit of the access control system using an encryption key to provide a response;
receiving the response from the access control system; and
comparing the response to an expected result to authenticate the control unit of the access control system.

15. The computer product of claim 12 , wherein the one or more ranging response messages include a plurality of ranging response messages from a plurality of antenna units of the access control system, each ranging response message from a respective antenna unit of the plurality of antenna units and including identifying information specific to the respective antenna unit.

16. The computer product of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of instructions further control the computing device to perform:
determining a distance of the computing device from the access control system using the transmission time(s) of the first set of pulses and the reception time(s) of the second set of pulses.

17. A mobile device comprising one or more processors configured to perform:
creating a communication channel between the mobile device and an access control system using a shared secret, the communication channel using a first wireless protocol;
communicating, using the communication channel, one or more ranging capabilities with the access control system for ranging to be performed using a second wireless protocol;
transmitting, using the second wireless protocol, a first set of pulses in a ranging request message to the access control system, wherein the second wireless protocol uses a pulse width that is less than a pulse width used by the first wireless protocol;
receiving, using the second wireless protocol, a second set of pulses in one or more ranging response messages from the access control system;
determining a transmission time(s) of the first set of pulses and a reception time(s) of the second set of pulses; and
sending the transmission time(s) and the reception time(s) to the access control system, thereby enabling the access control system to perform an operation.

18. The mobile device of claim 17 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to perform:
before creating the communication channel, authenticating the access control system using the first wireless protocol.

19. The mobile device of claim 18 , wherein authenticating the access

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Ledvina Brent M
• Brumley Robert W
• Hariharan Sriram

Classifications

• H04L2209/84

  Vehicles · CPC title

• H04L9/40

  Network security protocols · CPC title

• H04L9/3297

  involving time stamps, e.g. generation of time stamps · CPC title

• H04L9/3271

  using challenge-response · CPC title

• G07C2209/63

  Comprising locating means for detecting the position of the data carrier, i.e. within the vehicle or within a certain distance from the vehicle · CPC title