Mobile device control for powered door

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9813541-B2
Application number	US-201615056250-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 29, 2016
Priority date	Feb 29, 2016
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle door system is disclosed. The system comprises an actuator, at least one communication circuit, and a controller. The actuator is configured to adjust a position of a door. The controller is configured to receive a request for the vehicle to retrieve an occupant via the communication circuit. The controller is further configured to receive an authentication signal via the communication circuit authenticating an identity of the occupant. In response to the authentication, the controller is configured to control the actuator to make the vehicle accessible to the occupant.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle door system comprising:
an actuator configured to adjust a position of a door;
at least one communication circuit comprising a first communication circuit and a second communication circuit, the first communication circuit in communication with a mobile device configured to capture authentication information indicating an identity of an occupant; and
a controller configured to:
receive a request from the mobile device requesting the vehicle to retrieve the occupant via a first communication from the first communication circuit;
receive authentication information from the mobile device in the first communication from the first communication circuit;
receive the authentication information from the mobile device as a second communication from the second communication circuit;
authenticate the identity of the occupant by comparing the identity information from the first communication and the second communication, wherein the comparison identifies that the identity of the occupant in the first communication is the same as the identity in the second communication; and
control the actuator to make the vehicle accessible in response to the authentication.

2. The vehicle door system according to claim 1 , wherein the second communication circuit is configured to communicate via at least one of a Bluetooth™, a Near Field Communication (NFC), ZigBee, infrared, ultraband, and a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

3. The vehicle door system according to claim 1 , wherein the second communication circuit corresponds to a localized communication circuit configured to receive the authentication information within a limited range.

4. The vehicle door system according to claim 3 , wherein the limited range is approximately less than 150 meters.

5. The vehicle door system according to claim 1 , wherein the first communication circuit is configured to communicate over a long range greater than 10 kilometers.

6. A vehicle door system comprising:
an actuator configured to adjust a position of a door;
at least one identification apparatus;
at least one communication circuit in communication with a first identification apparatus comprising a mobile device configured to capture authentication information indicating an identity of an occupant;
a second identification apparatus configured to capture biometric data of the occupant; and
a controller configured to control the identification apparatus to:
receive the authentication information from the mobile device via the communication circuit;
detect an occupant;
capture the biometric data of the occupant with the second scanning device;
compare the biometric data with the authentication data;
authenticate the identity of the occupant based on the comparison; and
control the actuator to expose an interior of a vehicle in response to the authentication.

7. The vehicle door system according to claim 6 , wherein the at least one identification apparatus corresponds to at least one of an audio sensor, a video sensor, a capacitive sensor, and a thermal sensor.

8. The vehicle door system according to claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to detect the occupant by at least one of the first identification apparatus and the second identification apparatus.

9. A vehicle door system comprising:
an actuator configured to adjust a position of a door;
a communication circuit in communication with a first apparatus configured to capture identification data of a patron;
a second apparatus configured to capture occupant information of a potential occupant; and
a controller configured to:
receive the identification data from the first apparatus;
compare the identification data from the first apparatus with the occupant information from the second apparatus;
authenticate the potential occupant to be the patron in response to the comparison; and
control the actuator to grant access to the vehicle in response to authenticating an identity of the patron.

10. The vehicle door system according to claim 9 , wherein the second apparatus corresponds to a sensor configured to capture biometric data of the potential occupant.

11. The vehicle door system according to claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive a request for the vehicle to retrieve the patron via the communication circuit.

12. The vehicle door system according to claim 9 , wherein the vehicle corresponds to an autonomous vehicle configured to transport the patron.

13. The vehicle door system according to claim 1 , wherein the comparison identifies that the identity of the occupant requesting the vehicle in the first communication is the same as the identity of the occupant accessing the vehicle in the second communication.

14. The vehicle door system according to claim 6 , wherein the comparison of the biometric data with the authentication data by the controller ensures that the identity of the occupant is the same indicated by both the first identification apparatus and the second identification apparatus.

15. The vehicle door system according to claim 9 , wherein the authentication identifies that the potential occupant identified in the occupant information by the second scanning apparatus is the patron identified in the identification data.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Elie Larry Dean
• Azzouz Michael M
• Jaranson John Wayne
• Potter Timothy J
• Heath Gerald J
• Skoures Evangelos P

Classifications

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• B60R2325/103

  Near field communication [NFC] · CPC title

• H04L63/0861

  using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231) · CPC title

• B60R25/25

  using biometry · CPC title