JP2010039776A - Authentication system and authentication method for article with location-indicating function - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an authentication system and an authentication method for an article with a location-indicating function can enhance security for theft of the article even when a mobile terminal includes the location-indicating function. <P>SOLUTION: A vehicle 1 includes a car finder system 33 for indicating a location of a vehicle to a user by displaying the location of the vehicle on an electronic key 3 through communication between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 when a car finder button 38 of the electronic key 3 is operated. The vehicle 1 also includes an authentication level change system 42 for changing an authentication level of personal authentication given to a vehicle user in using the vehicle according to whether the car finder system 33 (the car finder function) is being used. The authentication level change system 42 sets the level of the personal authentication at a lower level when the car finder function is not used, and sets the level of the personal authentication at a higher level when the car finder function is used. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is used for an article having a position teaching function for teaching a position of an object by a portable terminal to a user who has lost sight of the position of the article, for example. The present invention relates to a system and a personal authentication method.

  In recent years, many suburban large-scale shopping facilities have been built in various places, and many of these suburban large-scale shopping facilities are equipped with parking lots with a very large site area because many customers visit. . Therefore, some customers who visit this shopping facility by vehicle forget the position of the vehicle parked in the parking lot when they finish their shopping and go home. Therefore, in order to easily find a vehicle even in such a situation, a car finder system has been developed today as a system for assisting in finding the position of a parked vehicle. An example of this car finder system is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example.

In a general car finder system disclosed in these documents, a vehicle key, a mobile phone, or the like is used as a mobile terminal possessed by a user. When a request operation for operating the car finder system is performed on the mobile terminal, an operation signal corresponding to the operation is wirelessly transmitted from the mobile terminal to the vehicle, and when the vehicle receives the operation signal, the vehicle and the mobile terminal The positional relationship between them is determined, and the parking position of the vehicle is displayed on the portable terminal. Therefore, since the user can confirm the parking position of the vehicle by looking at the display position of the mobile terminal, even if the position of the own vehicle is not known in a parking lot with a large site area, It will be possible to discover.
JP 2006-347291 A JP 2007-241472 A

  However, it may be assumed that the user drops the mobile terminal having the car finder function without being aware of it, and the dropped mobile terminal is picked up by a third party. At this time, if the third party who picked up the mobile terminal uses the car finder function, it is possible to easily determine which vehicle the picked-up mobile terminal belongs to. Therefore, a third party who picks up the mobile terminal searches for the vehicle, and this third party cannot deny the possibility of the vehicle being stolen. Therefore, this kind of car finder system is installed between the vehicle and the vehicle key. However, there has been a demand for technology development with high security against vehicle theft.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an authentication system and an authentication method for an article equipped with a position teaching function, which can increase the security against theft of the article even if the position teaching function is installed in a portable terminal.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, when a request operation for requesting position teaching of an article is executed on the portable terminal, the positional relationship between the portable terminal and the article is determined, and In the article having the position teaching function for teaching the user the position of the article, when the article user uses the article, the user authenticates with the article user and if the authorization is established, In an authentication system for an article equipped with a position teaching function that permits the use of an article, a monitoring unit that monitors whether the position teaching function is used or not, and a switching that switches the level of the authentication depending on whether the position teaching function is used And a means.

  According to this configuration, when using an article, authentication with the article by the portable terminal is necessary, and use of the article is permitted or executed upon establishment of this authentication. The portable terminal is also provided with a position teaching function for teaching the user the position of the article. Therefore, even if the user forgets the position of the article, if the position teaching function is used, the position of the article is taught to the user by the mobile terminal, so that the user cannot know the position. It is possible to easily know the position of.

  By the way, when an authentication action is performed by a mobile terminal without using the position teaching function, the authentication person at this time can know the position of the article without using the position teaching function, so there is a possibility that the user is an authorized user. high. On the other hand, when an authentication act is performed by a mobile terminal after using the position teaching function, the authenticator at this time cannot know the position of the article unless the position teaching function is used. For example, the article is stolen by picking up the mobile terminal. There is no denying the possibility that a third party is trying to find an item to work on.

  However, in the case of this configuration, whether or not the position teaching function is used when the article is used is monitored by the monitoring means, and the level of authentication is switched by the switching means according to whether or not the position teaching function is used. For this reason, for example, when the position teaching function is used, if the authentication level imposed on the user is set higher than when the position teaching function is not used, the portable terminal is picked up and the position of the article is known by the position teaching function. It is difficult for the obtained third party to use the article without permission. Therefore, even if the position teaching function is installed in the portable terminal, it is possible to ensure high security against theft of goods.

  In the present invention, in the case of authentication after the use of the position teaching function, the switching means imposes a plurality of authentications on the article user, and in the case of authentication after not using the position teaching function, The gist of the invention is to switch the strength level of the authentication by making the number of authentications imposed on the article user less than that after authentication after using the position teaching function.

According to this configuration, it is possible to switch between high and low authentication levels by a simple method of changing the number of authentications imposed on the user of the article.
In the present invention, the authentication includes key authentication that performs authentication by comparing a key code of a key with that of an article, and other authentication that does not use the key in the authentication, and the switching unit includes: In the case of authentication after using the position teaching function, both the key authentication and the other authentication are considered as the authentication, and in the case of authentication after not using the position teaching function, the key authentication and The gist is that only one of the other authentications is given as the authentication.

  According to this configuration, for example, even if a key that has been inadvertently dropped by a user is picked up by a third party and the third party locates an article position using the position teaching function provided with the key, In order to use an article, not only key authentication in which the key code of the key is compared with that of the article but also other authentication is required as authentication other than key authentication. For this reason, even if the user inadvertently drops the key and is picked up by a third party, and the position of the article is specified by the third party, it is difficult to cause a situation in which the article is illegally used. It becomes possible to do.

  In the present invention, the authentication includes key authentication that performs authentication by comparing a key code of a key with that of an article, and other authentication that does not use the key in the authentication, and the switching unit includes: In the case of authentication after the use of the position teaching function, both the key authentication and the other authentication are considered as the authentication. In the case of authentication after the use of the position teaching function, only the key authentication is performed. Is taken as the certification.

  According to this configuration, when the position teaching function is not used, the authentication given to the user is only the key authentication. Therefore, when the user uses the article without using the position teaching function, the other authentication component group is selected. There is no need to switch from the standby state until then to the active state. Therefore, when the article is used, it is not necessary to activate other parts groups related to the authentication every time, so that it is possible to achieve an energy saving effect of the power source related to the article. Moreover, since only one operation (authentication action: for example, wireless verification or smart verification) is required for a regular user, it is possible to ensure high convenience for the user.

The gist of the present invention is that the other authentication is biometric authentication in which the article user performs the authentication using biometric information on the body.
According to this configuration, since the other authentication is biometric authentication, it is possible to perform other authentication at a high authentication level.

  In the present invention, when a request operation for requesting position teaching for an article is executed on a portable terminal, the positional relationship between the portable terminal and the article is determined, and the position on which the article position is taught to the user on the portable terminal A position teaching function that is used for an article having a teaching function and authenticates the user with the article user when the article user uses the article and permits the use of the article if the authentication is established. The gist of the method for authenticating an installed article is to monitor whether or not the position teaching function is used by monitoring means, and to switch the strength level of the authentication according to whether or not the position teaching function is used by switching means.

  According to the present invention, even if a position teaching function is installed in a portable terminal, security against article theft can be enhanced.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an authentication system and authentication method for an article equipped with a position teaching function embodying the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic key system 4 that uses an electronic key 3 as a vehicle key is mounted on the vehicle 1 as one system of a personal authentication system 2 imposed on a user of the vehicle 1. The electronic key system 4 is equipped with a key operation free system 5 capable of performing vehicle operations such as door locking / unlocking and engine start / stop without actual key operations. The key operation free system 5 automatically transmits a code of an ID code (key code) from the electronic key 3 which is an electronic key of the system 5 regardless of the user's intention, and between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3. The ID verification is performed by checking the ID code, and if the two ID codes match and the key authentication is established, door lock locking / unlocking and engine start are permitted or executed. The vehicle 1 corresponds to an article, and the electronic key 3 corresponds to a portable terminal (key).

  The key operation free system 5 includes a smart entry system as a function that does not require a key operation when the door is locked and unlocked. In such a smart entry system, the vehicle 1 is provided with a verification ECU 6 as a controller for performing ID verification with the electronic key 3. Further, the vehicle 1 has an out-of-vehicle LF transmitter 7 capable of transmitting an LF band (about 130 kHz) signal outside the vehicle, an in-vehicle LF transmitter 8 capable of transmitting the same LF band signal inside the vehicle, and an electronic key 3. An RF receiver 9 capable of receiving a signal in a low RF band (about 312 MHz) to be transmitted is provided. In addition, a door ECU 10 that controls door locking / unlocking / unlocking is connected to the verification ECU 6 via an in-vehicle LAN 11. A door lock motor 12 is connected to the door ECU 10 as a drive source at the time of locking and unlocking the door lock.

  Further, the electronic key 3 is provided with a communication control unit 13 that performs overall control of various operations of the electronic key 3. The communication control unit 13 has various devices such as a CPU 14 and a memory 15, and an ID code is registered in the memory 15 as a unique key code of the electronic key 3. The communication control unit 13 is connected to an LF receiver 16 capable of receiving an LF band radio signal and an RF transmitter 17 capable of transmitting a low RF band (about 312 MHz) radio signal. The communication control unit 13 sequentially monitors which type of radio signal is received by the LF receiver 16 and manages the operation of signal transmission from the RF transmitter 17.

  When the vehicle 1 is parked (the engine is stopped and the door lock is locked), the verification ECU 6 intermittently transmits the LF band request signal Srq from the outside LF transmitter 7, and the outside communication area of the request signal Srq around the vehicle. To establish wireless communication (hereinafter referred to as smart communication). When the electronic key 3 enters the outside communication area and receives the request signal Srq, the electronic key 3 responds to the request signal Srq, and the ID signal Sid carrying the ID code registered in its own memory 15 is low RF. Reply with a band signal. When smart communication is established by receiving the ID signal Sid by the RF receiver 9, the verification ECU 6 compares the ID code registered in its own memory 18 with the ID code of the electronic key 3, so-called smart verification. (External vehicle verification) is performed. When the verification ECU 6 recognizes that this outside verification has been established, the verification flag is set in the memory 18 for a certain period of time, and the touch sensor 20 embedded in the outside door handle knob 19 is activated during that period. . The verification ECU 6 outputs a door lock unlocking request to the door ECU 10 when detecting that the outside door handle knob 19 is touched by the activated touch sensor 20 when the door lock is locked. When the door ECU 10 receives this door lock unlocking request when the door lock is locked, the door ECU 10 drives the door lock motor 12 to unlock the door lock in the locked state.

  On the other hand, when the vehicle 1 is in a stopped state (engine stop and door lock unlocked state), the verification ECU 6 detects that the lock button 21 provided on the vehicle exterior door handle knob 19 has been pressed, and detects the vehicle outside LF transmitter. 7 sends a request signal Srq. When the verification ECU 6 receives the request signal Srq and recognizes that the external verification is established in the ID signal Sid returned from the electronic key 3, it outputs a door lock locking request to the door ECU 10. When the door ECU 10 receives this door lock locking request when unlocking the door lock, the door ECU 10 drives the door lock motor 12 to lock the unlocked door lock.

  Further, the key operation free system 5 has a one-push engine start function as a function capable of performing the start / stop operation of the engine 22 only by a simple switch operation without requiring an actual vehicle key operation at the time of engine start / stop operation. There is a system. In such a one-push engine start system, a push momentary engine switch 23 is provided in the driver's seat of the vehicle 1 as an operation system for switching the power state (power position) of the vehicle 1. The vehicle 1 is provided with an engine ECU 24 that performs ignition control and fuel injection control of the engine 22, and a power supply ECU 25 that performs power management of in-vehicle electrical components. These ECUs 24 and 25 are connected to various ECUs such as the verification ECU 6 through the in-vehicle LAN 11. Connected to the power supply ECU 25 are an ACC relay 26 connected to various on-vehicle accessories, an IG relay 27 connected to the engine ECU 24, and a starter relay 28 connected to the starter motor of the engine 22.

  The verification ECU 6 transmits a request signal Srq from the in-vehicle LF transmitter 8 when it recognizes that, for example, the door is opened by the courtesy switch 29 and the driver gets on after the vehicle outside verification is established and the door lock is unlocked. Thus, an in-vehicle communication area is formed throughout the vehicle. When the ID signal Sid returned by the electronic key 3 entering the in-vehicle communication area is received by the RF receiver 9, the verification ECU 6 compares the ID code registered in the electronic key 3 with the ID code of the electronic key 3. Verification, so-called smart verification (in-vehicle verification) is performed. When the in-vehicle collation is established, the collation ECU 6 sets an in-vehicle collation establishment flag in the memory 18 and recognizes that the in-vehicle collation is established.

  When the power supply ECU 25 detects that the engine switch 23 is pressed while the brake pedal is depressed while the engine 22 is stopped, the power supply ECU 25 starts the stopped engine 22 on condition that the vehicle interior verification is established. Accordingly, an activation signal is output to the engine ECU 24 while turning on the three relays 26 to 28. If this is not established when the in-vehicle collation is confirmed, the power supply ECU 25 causes the collation ECU 6 to re-execute in-vehicle collation and confirms once again whether or not the in-vehicle collation has been established. The engine ECU 24 that has received the activation signal performs confirmation of the in-vehicle collation result and pairing for confirming whether the collation ECU 6 is paired with itself by encrypted communication. After confirming both of these conditions, the engine ECU 24 starts ignition control and fuel injection control and starts the engine 22. On the other hand, when the power supply ECU 25 detects that the engine switch 23 is pressed while the engine 22 is in operation, the three relays 26 to 28 are provided on the condition that the vehicle 1 is stopped (vehicle speed “0”). Are turned off and the engine 22 is stopped.

  On the other hand, when the power supply ECU 25 detects that the engine pedal 23 is not depressed and only the engine switch 23 is pressed when the engine 22 is stopped, the shift lever is set to P while the vehicle collation is established. If it is in the range position, every time the engine switch 23 is pressed, the power supply state is sequentially switched between the off state, the ACC on state, and the IG on state during one operation.

  The electronic key system 4 includes a wireless key system 30 that transmits a door lock locking / unlocking request by operating the buttons of the electronic key 3. In the wireless key system 30, when the unlock button 31 of the electronic key 3 is operated while the vehicle 1 is parked, the unlocking request Sul is transmitted from the electronic key 3 as a low RF band signal. When the verification ECU 6 receives the unlock request Sul by the RF receiver 9, if the ID code in the unlock request Sul is correct, the verification ECU 6 unlocks the door lock along the unlock request Sul. Further, when the lock button 32 of the electronic key 3 is operated while the vehicle 1 is stopped, the lock request Slk is transmitted from the electronic key 3 as a low RF band signal. When the verification ECU 6 receives this locking request Slk by the RF receiver 9, if the ID code in the locking request Slk is correct, the verification ECU 6 locks the door lock by this locking request Slk.

  The vehicle 1 is provided with a car finder system 33 as a system for teaching a vehicle user having the electronic key 3 to the position (parking position) of the vehicle 1. In this car finder system 33, the vehicle 1 is provided with a car finder ECU 34 as a control unit of the car finder system 33. The car finder ECU 34 is connected to other ECUs such as the verification ECU 6 via the in-vehicle LAN 11 and can exchange data with these ECUs. The car finder ECU 34 is connected to an RF receiver 35 capable of receiving a high RF band (about several GHz) signal and an RF transmitter 36 capable of transmitting a high RF band (about several GHz) signal. ing. A vehicle compass 37 for determining the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 is mounted on the vehicle 1. The vehicle compass 37 outputs compass information to the car finder ECU 34 as information related to the direction that the vehicle 1 takes each time.

  On the other hand, the electronic key 3 is provided with a car finder button 38 that is operated when operating the car finder function of the car finder system 33. Further, the electronic key 3 is provided with an RF transceiver 39 capable of transmitting and receiving a signal in a high RF band (about several GHz) in a state connected to the communication control unit 13. The car finder button 38 is a push momentary button, and is connected to the communication control unit 13 via an electrical wiring. In addition, the electronic key 3 is equipped with a key compass 40 that detects the orientation of the electronic key 3. The key compass 40 outputs information related to the orientation taken by the electronic key 3 each time to the communication control unit 13 as compass information. The electronic key 3 is provided with a display unit 41 as a display system for notifying the user of the position of the vehicle 1. The display unit 41 manages the display by the communication control unit 13 and displays the position (direction and distance) of the vehicle 1 viewed from the electronic key 3 on the screen. The car finder function corresponds to the position teaching function, the execution of the car finder function corresponds to the position teaching, and the operation of the car finder button 38 corresponds to the request operation.

  When the communication control unit 13 detects that the car finder button 38 has been operated, the communication control unit 13 sends a car finder function trigger radio wave Scf from the RF transceiver 39 as a notification to notify the vehicle 1 that the car finder button 38 has been operated. Send with the signal. The RF transceiver 39 includes both a high frequency radio wave transmission circuit capable of transmitting high RF radio waves for the car finder system 33 and a high frequency radio wave reception circuit capable of receiving high RF radio waves for the car finder system 33. Is incorporated, and one operation of transmission / reception can be selectively performed by a command from the communication control unit 13. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf includes an ID code of the electronic key 3, a car finder function execution request as a function code for requesting execution of the car finder function, and the vehicle 1 electronically. The position estimation signal used when estimating the position of the key 3 is included. Note that the position estimation signal does not have a specific data content, but is a radio wave used when the vehicle 1 estimates the position of the electronic key 3. The communication area of the wireless communication network between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 used in the car finder function is narrow area communication of, for example, several tens of meters, which is wider than smart communication or wireless communication.

  In the vehicle 1, since the receiver of the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf is the RF receiver 35 of the car finder ECU 34, the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf is received by the RF receiver 35. When the car finder ECU 34 receives the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf with the RF receiver 35, first, the car finder ECU 34 transfers the ID code included in the trigger radio wave Scf to the verification ECU 6 via the in-vehicle LAN 11. When the verification ECU 6 receives the ID code from the car finder ECU 34, the verification ECU 6 performs ID verification on the ID code. When the ID verification is confirmed, the verification result of the ID verification is confirmed via the in-vehicle LAN 11. Output to.

  When the car finder ECU 34 receives the confirmation result of the ID collation establishment from the collation ECU 6, the car finder ECU 34 starts executing the car finder function using the car finder function execution request included in the same position estimation request as a command. At this time, the car finder ECU 34 enters a position estimation signal capturing operation in the trigger radio wave Scf received by the RF receiver 35 and starts key position calculation for determining the position of the electronic key 3 as viewed from the vehicle 1.

  For this key position calculation, first, the car finder ECU 34 is associated with the direction of arrival of the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf based on the position estimation signal received by the RF receiver 35, that is, the east, west, north and south as viewed from the vehicle 1. The direction (relative direction) of the electronic key 3 that is not present is calculated. This absolute position direction calculation employs a method (adaptive array antenna method) in which an adaptive array antenna is used as the RF receiver 35 which is a radio wave receiver of the car finder system 33. The adaptive array antenna system is a system that uses an array antenna in which a plurality of antenna elements are arranged, and determines the arrival direction of the received radio wave based on the difference between the amplitude and phase of the received radio wave received by each antenna element. Examples of this calculation include a beamformer method, a Capon method, a linear prediction method, a minimum norm method, a MUSIC method, and an ESPRIT method.

  When the car finder ECU 34 determines the relative direction of the electronic key 3 in this way, the east, west, south, and north as viewed from the vehicle 1 are determined based on the relative direction information of the electronic key 3 and the direction information acquired from the vehicle compass 37. The direction (absolute direction) of the associated electronic key 3 is calculated. The car finder ECU 34 also calculates a distance between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 based on the position estimation signal received by the RF receiver 35. This distance calculation employs a calculation method in which a received radio wave received by an adaptive array antenna is calculated by inverse Fourier transform. The car finder ECU 34 performs the calculation of the absolute direction of the electronic key 3 and the distance between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 in this way as the previous key position calculation.

  When the car finder ECU 34 determines the absolute direction of the electronic key 3 and the distance between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 in this way, the estimation result notification Sps is transmitted to the electronic key 3 as a notification to notify the absolute direction and distance to the electronic key 3. A transmission is made from the transmitter 36 toward the vehicle 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the estimation result notification Sps includes an ID code corresponding to the electronic key 3 registered in the vehicle 1 and key position related information as information related to the absolute direction and distance. This estimation result notification Sps is transmitted from the RF transmitter 36 toward the electronic key 3 by a high RF band signal of about several GHz, for example. The key position related information includes absolute direction information as information related to the absolute direction and distance information as information related to the distance.

  When the communication control unit 13 receives the estimation result notification Sps transmitted from the RF transmitter 36 of the vehicle 1 by the RF transmitter / receiver 39, the communication control unit 13 first performs ID verification on the ID code included in the estimation result notification Sps. When the communication control unit 13 recognizes that the ID collation is established, the communication control unit 13 proceeds to reading the key position related information included in the estimation result notification Sps. At this time, based on the absolute direction information included in the key position related information of the estimation result notification Sps, the communication control unit 13 determines the direction (relative direction) of the vehicle 1 associated with east, west, south, and north as viewed from the electronic key 3. calculate. The direction of the vehicle 1 viewed from the electronic key 3 is calculated as a value that is 180 degrees opposite to the absolute direction of the electronic key 3 viewed from the vehicle 1.

  When the communication control unit 13 calculates the relative direction of the vehicle 1 as viewed from the electronic key 3, the communication control unit 13 displays the relative direction on the display unit 41 with an arrow. Further, when reading the key position related information, the communication control unit 13 confirms the distance between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 based on the distance information included in the key position related information of the estimation result notification Sps. The distance is also displayed as a number on the display unit 41. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 1, the direction of the vehicle 1 viewed from the electronic key 3 and the distance between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 are displayed on the display unit 41. Even if the position of the vehicle is lost, the owner vehicle 1 can be easily found by the guidance of the display unit 41.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the vehicle 1 is charged to the vehicle user (article user) at the time of using the vehicle depending on whether or not the car finder system 33 (car finder function) is used. An authentication level changing system 42 for switching the authentication level of personal authentication is provided. In this case, the vehicle 1 is provided with a biometric authentication system 44 that performs personal authentication based on biometric information such as a fingerprint of a human body or a voiceprint. Further, the vehicle 1 is provided with a biological information detection sensor 45 as a sensor for detecting a fingerprint or a voiceprint of a human body. The biological information detection sensor 45 is provided on the door handle knob 19 outside the vehicle, for example, and outputs the acquired biological information to the verification ECU 6 and makes the verification ECU 6 verify whether or not it is legitimate. When the biometric information acquired from the biometric information detection sensor 45 matches that registered in itself, the verification ECU 6 recognizes that personal authentication (biometric authentication) by the biometric authentication system 44 has been established.

  Further, the car finder ECU 34 is provided with a car finder usage monitoring unit 46 that monitors the presence or absence of the use of the car finder function and notifies the verification ECU 6 of the monitoring result. The car finder usage monitoring unit 46 of this example monitors whether the car finder function is used by monitoring whether the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf is received. When the vehicle 1 receives the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf, When it is recognized that the finder function is used and the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf is not received, it is recognized that the car finder function is not used. For example, when the car finder function is not used, the car finder usage monitoring unit 46 does not send any notification to the verification ECU 6, and outputs the car finder function usage notification Dsc to the verification ECU 6 when the car finder function is used. . The car finder usage monitoring unit 46 corresponds to the monitoring means.

  The verification ECU 6 is provided with an authentication level setting unit 47 that sets the authentication level of the electronic key system 4 based on various notifications acquired from the car finder usage monitoring unit 46. When the authentication level setting unit 47 of this example does not receive the car finder function use notification from the car finder usage monitoring unit 46 and recognizes that the car finder function is not used, the authentication level setting unit 47 sets the authentication level to a low level. The authentication establishment condition is set so that only one of key authentication and biometric authentication is required. On the other hand, when the authentication level setting unit 47 receives a car finder function use notification from the car finder usage monitoring unit 46 and recognizes that the car finder function is used, the authentication level setting unit 47 sets the authentication level to a high level and Set the approach condition for both key authentication and biometric authentication. The authentication level setting unit 47 corresponds to switching means.

Next, the operation of the personal authentication system 2 of this example will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, as shown in FIG. 4, it is assumed that the car finder function is not used when the key holder gets on the parked vehicle 1. In this case, the fact that the parking position of the vehicle 1 can be known without using the car finder function is highly likely that the key holder at this time is an authorized vehicle user. In other words, it can be said that there is no problem even if the authentication level assigned to the user in the personal authentication system 2 is set to a low level, that is, only one personal authentication is assigned to the user.

  When the key holder approaches the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 enters the outside communication area of the request signal Srq of the vehicle outside LF transmitter 7, the electronic key 3 takes a state of receiving the request signal Srq, and the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 Enters the authentication operation by the personal authentication system 2. At this time, the communication control unit 13 of the electronic key 3 returns an ID signal Sid from the RF transmitter 17 to execute key authentication in response to the request signal Srq received by the LF receiver 16. When the ID signal Sid is received by the RF receiver 9, the verification ECU 6 of the vehicle 1 executes external verification as key authentication using the ID signal Sid, and if the ID code in the ID signal Sid matches that of the vehicle 1. It recognizes that the verification outside the vehicle has been established.

  By the way, when the car finder function is not used, the verification ECU 6 has not received the car finder function use notification Dsc from the car finder ECU 34. Accordingly, the verification ECU 6 sets the authentication level of the personal authentication system 2 to a low level, and the condition for establishing the personal authentication is that one of key authentication and biometric authentication is established. Therefore, if the vehicle verification (key authentication) is established, the verification ECU 6 recognizes the establishment of the personal authentication only by satisfying this condition. For this reason, when the key holder touches the door handle knob 19 outside the vehicle, the door lock of the vehicle 1 is unlocked by this touch operation.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that the car finder function is used when the key holder finds the parked vehicle and gets on the vehicle. This type of car finder function is premised on the use of a legitimate vehicle user who knows the parking position of the vehicle 1 and wants to know the vehicle position. For example, when the electronic key 3 is dropped, The possibility that a third party who picks up the electronic key 3 finds and steals the vehicle 1 for the purpose of vehicle theft cannot be denied. Therefore, even if the vehicle 1 is specified by the car finder function with the picked-up electronic key 3 and the vehicle 1 falls into a situation where the vehicle 1 is stolen, the technical content of this example is to make the vehicle 1 difficult to be stolen.

  When the user presses the car finder button 38 of the electronic key 3, the electronic key 3 transmits a car finder function trigger radio wave Scf from the RF transmitter 17. If the ID collation of the ID code included in the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf is established, the car finder ECU 34 uses the position estimation signal included in the same car finder function trigger radio wave Scf and uses the position estimation signal of the electronic key 3 along the array antenna system. While calculating the radio wave arrival direction, the absolute direction of the electronic key 3 is calculated based on the radio wave arrival direction determined by this calculation and the compass information acquired from the vehicle compass 37. When the car finder ECU 34 calculates the absolute direction of the electronic key 3, the car finder ECU 34 transmits an estimation result notification Sps from the RF transmitter 36 to the electronic key 3 as information related to the absolute direction.

  When receiving the estimation result notification Sps by the RF transceiver 39, the electronic key 3 calculates the parking direction of the vehicle 1 based on the accepted estimation result notification Sps and the compass information acquired from the key compass 40. Moreover, the electronic key 3 confirms the distance between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 from the distance information included in the estimation result notification Sps received by the RF transceiver 39 along with the calculation of the parking direction of the vehicle 1. And the electronic key 3 displays the parking direction of the vehicle 1 and the distance between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 on the display unit 41, and the parking position of the vehicle 1 is shown to the user who has lost sight of the parked vehicle 1. Teach by direction and distance.

  Further, when the car finder usage monitoring unit 46 recognizes that the car finder function is used, it outputs a car finder function usage notification Dsc to the verification ECU 6 via the in-vehicle LAN 11 to verify that the car finder function is used. The ECU 6 is notified. When the verification ECU 6 receives the car finder function usage notification Dsc from the car finder usage monitoring unit 46, the verification ECU 6 sets the authentication level of the personal authentication system 2 to a high level by setting a high level setting flag in its own memory 18, for example. . Therefore, the establishment condition of the personal authentication of the personal authentication system 2 at this time is a condition that both the key authentication and the biometric authentication are established. The verification ECU 6 maintains the high level setting state by setting the high level setting flag until the vehicle operation (door lock unlocking or the like) based on the personal authentication is executed.

  When the user who finds the vehicle 1 by the guidance of the car finder function enters the vehicle outside communication area of the vehicle outside LF transmitter 7, vehicle outside verification is executed between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3. And if the key holder at this time is a regular user and the ID code transmitted from the electronic key 3 matches that of the vehicle 1, the verification outside the vehicle is established. However, since the authentication level of the personal authentication system 2 when the car finder function is used is set to a high level, the verification ECU 6 does not permit the unlocking of the door lock of the vehicle 1 only under the condition that the vehicle verification is established. Therefore, the door lock of the vehicle 1 is not unlocked even if the vehicle outside door handle knob 19 is touched only in a situation where vehicle outside verification is established.

  The key holder who has come to the side of the parked vehicle 1 inputs biological information to the biological information detection sensor 45 provided in the door handle knob 19 outside the vehicle. Here, if the biological information detection sensor 45 is a fingerprint sensor, for example, the sensor is touched. When biometric information is input, the biometric information detection sensor 45 outputs this biometric information to the verification ECU 6. When the verification ECU 6 acquires biometric information from the biometric information detection sensor 45, the verification ECU 6 performs biometric authentication to check whether the biometric information is correct. When the verification ECU 6 confirms that the biometric information acquired from the biometric information detection sensor 45 matches the biometric information registered in its own memory 18, the verification ECU 6 recognizes that biometric authentication has been established.

  When the verification ECU 6 takes the operation state of the high-level setting state, the verification ECU 6 determines whether or not the key authentication and the biometric authentication are both established, so that both the key authentication and the biometric authentication are performed as in this example. If it is confirmed that the authentication is established, it is recognized that the personal authentication is established. When the verification ECU 6 confirms that the personal authentication has been established, the verification ECU 6 outputs a door lock unlock request to the door ECU 10. When the door ECU 10 receives this door lock unlocking request when the door lock is in the locked state, the door ECU 10 drives the door lock motor 12 to unlock the locked door lock. As a result, the key holder can open the vehicle door and get in the vehicle. When the verification ECU 6 receives the door lock unlocking completion notification from the door ECU 10, the verification ECU 6 clears the high level setting flag set in its own memory 18 and cancels the high level setting state of the personal authentication system 2.

  Also, if the electronic key 3 dropped by the user is picked up by a third party, the third party uses the car finder function to identify the corresponding vehicle of the picked-up electronic key 3 for the purpose of vehicle theft. Assume a case. At this time, when the third party specifies the vehicle 1 by the car finder function, the personal authentication system 2 of the vehicle 1 is set to the high level setting state. Therefore, since the personal authentication imposed on the third party at this time requires not only the key authentication but also the biometric authentication, the third party can establish the biometric authentication even if the vehicle 1 can be identified. Since it is not possible to do so, personal authentication cannot be established. Therefore, even if a third party tries to unlock the vehicle door lock with the electronic key 3, the door lock maintains the locked state, so that it is not necessary for the third party to illegally unlock the vehicle door. For this reason, since it is not necessary for a third party to enter the vehicle without permission, the possibility that the vehicle 1 will be stolen can be kept low.

  Note that the key authentication is not necessarily limited to key verification according to the key operation free system 5, but may be key verification according to the wireless key system 30, for example. In this case, when the key verification by the wireless key system 30 is established, the recognition of the establishment is held for a certain period of time, or when biometric authentication is performed prior to the wireless key operation, biometric authentication is performed. It is necessary to maintain the establishment of for a certain time. Even in this case, when the car finder is used, since a plurality of authentications are established for the user, it is possible to improve security against vehicle theft.

  Now, when the vehicle user does not use the car finder function, the personal authentication issued when the vehicle user uses the vehicle 1 is that the authentication establishment condition is one of key authentication and biometric authentication, and the authentication level is When the car finder function is used when set to a low level, the authentication establishment condition is established for both key authentication and biometric authentication, and the authentication level is set to a high level. Therefore, even if the electronic key 3 dropped by the user is picked up by a third party and the third party attempts to steal the vehicle and finds the vehicle 1 by the car finder function of the electronic key 3, Since authentication cannot be established, identity authentication is not established. Therefore, since it is not necessary for a third party to unlock the vehicle door lock without permission, it is possible to improve the security against vehicle theft.

According to the configuration of the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Since the authentication level of the personal authentication system 2 is switched depending on whether or not the car finder function is used, the vehicle 1 is picked up by a third party who picks up the electronic key 3 and finds the vehicle 1 by the car finder function. Can be avoided. Therefore, even if the electronic key 3 is equipped with a car finder function, the security level against vehicle theft can be increased.

  (2) The authentication level switching of the personal authentication system 2 is set to a low level on condition that one of key authentication and biometric authentication is established, and high on condition that both key authentication and biometric authentication are established. It is executed by switching the number of authentications that are established as set to the level. Therefore, the authentication level of the personal authentication system 2 can be switched between a high level and a low level by a simple method of changing the number of authentications for establishing authentication.

  (3) Since the biometric authentication is used as another authentication imposed on the vehicle user in addition to the key authentication, the authentication other than the key can be executed in a form with a very high authentication level called biometric authentication.

(4) For an authorized user, only a single authentication operation of wireless verification or smart verification is required, so high convenience for the user can be ensured.
(5) When door system authentication (authentication related to vehicle door locking / unlocking) is adopted as an authentication function to be added at the time of high-level authentication, it is not permitted to allow anyone other than authorized users to enter the vehicle. The situation where it is used without permission by a third party can be made difficult to occur. In addition, when engine-based authentication (authentication related to engine start) is adopted as an authentication function to be added at the time of high-level authentication, an additional authentication function is provided in the vehicle, so it is necessary to take measures against waterproofing such as rain. Therefore, the apparatus does not become multi-part and complicated in implementation.

  (6) The car finder function uses the adaptive array antenna type RF receiver 35, the vehicle compass 37, and the key compass 40, and the vehicle 1 as viewed from the electronic key 3 based on various information acquired from these parts groups. This is a method for determining the direction and distance. By the way, it is possible to calculate the position of the vehicle 1 or the electronic key 3 using, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System), but GPS has a drawback that it is easily affected by a large building such as a building. There is a problem that fine position calculation accuracy cannot be secured. However, if an indexing method such as this example is used, this type of compass type has characteristics that have higher position calculation accuracy than the GPS type, so the direction and distance of the vehicle 1 viewed from the electronic key 3 can be accurately determined. Can be calculated.

  (7) Since the car finder function trigger radio wave Scf and the estimation result notification Sps are transmitted by signals of the same frequency of about several GHz, for example, although the vehicle 1 has been able to perform position estimation, the estimation result is sent to the electronic key 3 It is possible to make it difficult to create a situation where it cannot be communicated to.

Note that the embodiment is not limited to the configuration described so far, and may be modified as follows.
The personal authentication system 2 when the car finder function is not used is not necessarily limited to the condition for establishing authentication as one of key authentication and biometric authentication. For example, when the car finder function is not used, biometric authentication may be invalidated between key authentication and biometric authentication, and personal authentication may be performed only by key authentication. In this case, since it is not necessary to always start the biological information detection sensor 45, it is possible to save energy for the power source of the vehicle 1 correspondingly.

When the authentication level of the personal authentication system 2 is set to a high level, the number of authentication establishments given to the user at this time is not necessarily limited to two, and may be three or more.
The authentication level switching of the personal authentication system 2 is not limited to a method in which the number of authentications established for the vehicle user is changed to one or more. For example, using a single fingerprint sensor, when the authentication level is low, collation is performed by simply looking at the fingerprint, and when the authentication level is high, collation is performed by looking closely at the fingerprint. A method of switching the execution level using one authentication means may be used.

Other authentications are not necessarily limited to biometric authentication, but may be authentication using RFID using, for example, an IC card.
The vehicle operation is not necessarily limited to unlocking the vehicle door lock, and may be applied to unlocking the vehicle door lock or starting the engine, for example.

  The car finder function uses an adaptive array antenna type RF receiver 35, a vehicle compass 37, and a key compass 40, and based on various information acquired from these parts group, the direction of the vehicle 1 viewed from the electronic key 3 and It is not limited to the method for determining the distance. For example, if the vehicle 1 is equipped with a GPS, the positional relationship between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 may be determined based on vehicle position information acquired from the GPS.

  In the case of the vehicle finder function using the vehicle GPS, for example, the vehicle GPS information (vehicle position information) is registered in the electronic key 3 when getting off (for example, when the engine is off), and the position teaching request operation is performed with the key 3. In this case, a method of displaying this information on the key may be used.

  -The position display of the vehicle 1 of the electronic key 3 is not necessarily limited to the arrow. For example, the vehicle 1 calculates the position (direction and distance) of the electronic key 3 and creates map data representing the positional relationship between the vehicle 1 and the electronic key 3 while calculating the current position of the vehicle 1 from an in-vehicle GPS or the like. To do. The vehicle 1 may transmit the map data to the electronic key 3 and a map based on the map data may be displayed on the display unit 41 of the electronic key 3.

  -When the car finder function is not being used, the car finder ECU 34 may notify the verification ECU 6 by, for example, outputting a car finder function non-use notification to the verification ECU 6.

The electronic key 3 may be of a type that sends key position information to the vehicle 1 and notifies the vehicle 1 of the key position, for example, if a GPS is mounted.
The RF receiver 9 of the electronic key system 4 and the RF receiver 35 of the car finder system 33 may be integrated into one.

  The communication areas between the electronic key system 4 and the car finder system 33 are not limited to different areas, and they may take the same area. Needless to say, various signal frequencies can be used.

The car finder system 33 is not limited to having one function belonging to the electronic key system 4, and may be a system independent of the electronic key system 4, for example.
The position estimation (position calculation according to the adaptive array antenna system) is not necessarily performed on the vehicle 1 side, and may be performed on the electronic key 3 side. That is, an adaptive array antenna may be incorporated in the electronic key 3, the position of the vehicle 1 may be estimated based on radio waves received from the vehicle 1, and the estimation result may be taught to the user with an arrow or the like.

The position estimation is not necessarily performed using a position estimation signal, and may be performed using an ID code or a function code radio wave.
The portable terminal is not necessarily limited to the electronic key 3 (essentially a key part), and may be, for example, a cellular phone or a portable personal computer.

-The teaching form of the vehicle position is not necessarily limited to an arrow, but may be a vehicle position displayed on a map screen, for example.
The vehicle position display (arrow and distance display) on the display unit 41 may be automatically deleted after being displayed for a certain time, for example, or may be a predetermined operation such as pressing the car finder button 38, for example. It may be deleted when the operation is performed.

  -Position teaching does not necessarily display both the direction and the distance, but only one of them needs to be displayed. Further, the position teaching is not necessarily limited to the screen display, and for example, voice notification may be employed.

The personal authentication system 2 is not necessarily applied to the vehicle 1 but can be applied to various devices and apparatuses that require verification at the time of use.
Next, technical ideas that can be grasped from the above-described embodiment and other examples will be described below together with their effects.

  (1) In any one of claims 1 to 5, the article is a vehicle, and the article operation by the article user is a door lock unlocking operation of the vehicle. According to this configuration, it is not necessary to pick up the mobile terminal that is the key of the vehicle and to allow a third party who has found the vehicle position by the position teaching function of the mobile terminal to enter the vehicle without permission. Can be made high.

  (2) In Claims 1 to 5 and the technical idea (1), the article is a vehicle, and the article operation by the article user is an engine start operation of the vehicle. According to this configuration, since it is not necessary for a third party who picks up the mobile terminal, which is the key of the vehicle, to find the vehicle position by the position teaching function of the mobile terminal, the engine of the vehicle is not arbitrarily started, security against vehicle theft It becomes possible to make high.

(3) In any one of claims 1 to 5 and technical ideas (1) and (2), the mobile terminal is a terminal for key positioning with respect to an article.
(4) In any one of claims 1 to 3 and the technical ideas (1) to (3), the position teaching function is a high-frequency signal that one of the article and the mobile terminal receives from the other The other positional relationship is determined by estimating the other position using (including radio waves and data). According to this configuration, since a high-frequency signal is used as a radio signal used for position estimation, a large amount of data can be transmitted.

  (5) In any one of claims 1 to 5 and the technical ideas (1) to (4), the position teaching function includes a plurality of antenna elements as a receiver on the signal receiving side of the article and the portable terminal. When the high-frequency radio waves transmitted from the mobile terminal are received by the plurality of antenna elements, the position of the mobile terminal is estimated based on reception parameters of each of the high-frequency radio waves received by the antenna elements. Estimate and determine the position.

  (6) In any one of claims 1 to 5 and the technical ideas (1) to (5), the position teaching function is based on a radio signal received from the portable terminal by the article. Estimating the position of the mobile terminal that has been viewed, sending the estimation result to the mobile terminal, and the mobile terminal obtaining the position of the article viewed from the mobile terminal based on the estimation result, Determine the positional relationship between.

The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the car finder system in one Embodiment. The data conceptual diagram which shows the data structure of a car finder function trigger electric wave. The data conceptual diagram which shows the data structure of an estimation result notification. The block diagram which shows a car finder system when an authentication level is a low level. The block diagram which shows a car finder system when an authentication level is a high level.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle as goods, 3 ... Electronic key as portable terminal (key), 46 ... Car finder use monitoring part as monitoring means, 47 ... Authentication level setting part as switching means.

Claims (6)

When a request operation for requesting position teaching for an article is executed on a portable terminal, the position relationship between the portable terminal and the article is determined, and a position teaching function for teaching the article position to the user on the portable terminal is provided. Authentication of an article equipped with a position teaching function that is used for an article that has been authenticated and authenticates itself with the article user when the article user uses the article. In the system,
Monitoring means for monitoring whether or not the position teaching function is used;
An authentication system for an article equipped with a position teaching function, comprising switching means for switching the level of the authentication according to whether or not the position teaching function is used.   In the case of authentication after the use of the position teaching function, the switching means imposes a plurality of authentications on the article user, and in the case of authentication after the use of the position teaching function, the article user 2. The article having the position teaching function according to claim 1, wherein the authentication strength level is switched by making the number of authentications to be less than the number of authentications after the use of the position teaching function. Authentication system. The authentication includes key authentication that performs authentication by comparing a key code of a key with that of an article, and other authentication that does not use the key in the authentication,
In the case of authentication after use of the position teaching function, the switching means treats both the key authentication and the other authentication as the authentication, and in the case of authentication after not using the position teaching function. The authentication system for an article with a position teaching function according to claim 1, wherein only one of the key authentication and the other authentication is given as the authentication. The authentication includes key authentication that performs authentication by comparing a key code of a key with that of an article, and other authentication that does not use the key in the authentication,
In the case of authentication after use of the position teaching function, the switching means treats both the key authentication and the other authentication as the authentication, and in the case of authentication after not using the position teaching function. The authentication system for an article with a position teaching function according to claim 1, wherein only the key authentication is performed as the authentication.   5. The authentication system for an article with a position teaching function according to claim 3, wherein the other authentication is biometric authentication in which the article user performs the authentication using biometric information held on the body. . When a request operation for requesting position teaching for an article is executed on a portable terminal, the position relationship between the portable terminal and the article is determined, and a position teaching function for teaching the article position to the user on the portable terminal is provided. Authentication of an article equipped with a position teaching function that is used for an article that has been authenticated and authenticates itself with the article user when the article user uses the article. In the method
A method for authenticating an article equipped with a position teaching function, wherein the presence or absence of use of the position teaching function is monitored by a monitoring means, and the strength level of the authentication is switched by a switching means according to the presence or absence of use of the position teaching function.

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