JP2015145578A - vehicle electronic key system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic key system capable of accurately determining that a terminal having an NFC communication section for transmitting an authentication ID has been left in a cabin.SOLUTION: A vehicle electronic key system transmitting and receiving an authentication ID by NFC communication with a smartphone 200 includes: an outside-vehicle NFC communication section 10; a Bluetooth communication section 30 installed in an inside of a vehicle; an outside-vehicle authentication section 41 for determining whether or not authentication is valid based on the authentication ID acquired from the smartphone 200 by the outside-vehicle NFC communication section 10; and an inside-vehicle communication determination section 42 for determining whether or not communication can be performed by the Bluetooth communication section 30 based on the fact that the authentification is determined to be valid by the outside-vehicle authentication section 41. The inside-vehicle communication determination section 42 determines whether communication is possible or not in the state that a communication area in which the Bluetooth communication section 30 can perform communication is narrower in the vehicle outside section than in the vehicle inside section and is wider than a communication area by NFC communication.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic key system that locks and unlocks a vehicle door, and more particularly to a vehicle electronic key system that can lock and unlock a vehicle door by proximity communication such as NFC communication.

  A vehicle electronic key system that can perform the same function as a vehicle electronic key using a mobile phone is known (for example, Patent Document 1). In the vehicle electronic key system disclosed in Patent Document 1, the mobile phone includes an NFC (Near Field Communication) communication unit, and the vehicle also includes an NFC communication unit. By holding the mobile phone over the NFC communication unit of the vehicle, the NFC communication unit of the mobile phone communicates with the NFC communication unit of the vehicle, and the vehicle door is locked and unlocked.

  Patent Document 1 also discloses a countermeasure when a mobile phone that can be used as a vehicle electronic key is left in the vehicle. The mobile phone disclosed in Patent Document 1 also includes a Bluetooth communication unit, and the vehicle also includes a Bluetooth communication unit. Note that Bluetooth is a registered trademark.

  The reason why the Bluetooth communication unit is provided is that the communication distance of the NFC communication unit is about several centimeters, and therefore, if there is no mobile phone in the vicinity of the NFC communication unit in the vehicle, the mobile phone cannot be detected by NFC communication. .

  In Patent Document 1, after the vehicle door is locked, the strength of the Bluetooth response radio wave transmitted from the mobile phone is monitored, and if the strength of the Bluetooth response radio wave does not decrease, it is determined that the mobile phone has been left in the vehicle.

  When it is determined that the mobile phone has been left in the car, the key function of the mobile phone is invalidated. As a result, even if a third party illegally enters the vehicle due to the door glass being cracked or the like, the engine cannot be started by the mobile phone, so that vehicle theft can be suppressed.

  Note that NFC communication and Bluetooth communication are sometimes called short-range communication in a broad sense, but in this specification, of the short-range communication in a broad sense, the communication distance is usually 10 cm or less as in NFC communication. Short communication is called proximity communication. In the case of short-range communication, it means short-range communication with a communication distance of several meters or more, such as Bluetooth.

JP 2011-231567 A

  The communication distance of the Bluetooth communication method is usually a radius of 10 m or more. Therefore, in the technology of Patent Document 1, even if the mobile phone is carried and the user gets off, if the person carrying the mobile phone is located in the vicinity of the vehicle, the Bluetooth communication unit provided in the mobile phone and the vehicle May be able to communicate. Therefore, there is a problem that the mobile phone cannot accurately detect that the mobile phone has been left in the passenger compartment.

  Of course, there is the same problem as long as it is a mobile terminal that transmits and receives an authentication ID by proximity communication such as NFC communication and uses near field communication such as Bluetooth in order to detect misplacement in the vehicle interior. .

  The present invention has been made based on this situation, and the object of the present invention is to accurately determine that a portable terminal having a proximity communication unit that transmits and receives an authentication ID has been left behind in the vehicle interior. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle electronic key system.

  The above object is achieved by a combination of the features described in the independent claims, and the subclaims define further advantageous embodiments of the invention.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a terminal-side short-range communication unit (220) that performs short-distance communication having a communication distance longer than that of the near-field communication in addition to the terminal-side proximity communication unit (210) that performs short-range communication. A vehicle electronic key system (1) that transmits and receives an authentication ID by proximity communication with the proximity mobile terminal (200), and a predetermined area outside the vehicle including the vehicle electronic key system is defined as a communication area. And an in-vehicle communication unit (10) that communicates with a mobile terminal registered in the vehicle electronic key system, and an in-vehicle short-range communication unit (30) that is installed inside the vehicle and performs near-field communication. Based on the authentication ID acquired from the mobile terminal by communicating with the mobile terminal, the vehicle external authentication unit (41) that determines whether or not the mobile terminal authentication has been established, and a vehicle door lock mechanism ( 10 ) Is in the unlocked state, and the vehicle interior authentication unit determines whether the in-vehicle short-range communication unit and the terminal-side short-range communication unit can communicate based on the determination that the authentication of the mobile terminal has been established. A communication determination unit (42), and the in-vehicle communication determination unit has a communication area in which the in-vehicle short-range communication unit can communicate with the terminal-side short-range communication unit, and the outside portion is narrower than the in-vehicle part, and It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not the in-vehicle near field communication unit and the terminal side near field communication unit can communicate with each other in a state where the communication area is wider than the near field communication area.

  In the present invention, the in-vehicle short-range communication unit and the terminal-side short-range communication unit can communicate based on the fact that the vehicle door is unlocked and the outside-of-vehicle authentication unit determines that the authentication of the mobile terminal has been established. Determine whether or not. This determination is based on a state in which the communication area in which the in-vehicle short-range communication unit can communicate with the terminal-side short-range communication unit is smaller than the in-vehicle part and outside the communication area by proximity communication. To do. Since the area outside the vehicle is narrower than the inside part of the vehicle, this communication area is mainly formed in the vehicle. Therefore, when the in-vehicle short-range communication unit and the terminal-side short-range communication unit can communicate, there is a high possibility that the proximity portable terminal including the terminal-side short-range communication unit is in the vehicle interior. Therefore, it is possible to accurately determine that the proximity mobile terminal has been left behind in the vehicle interior.

  In addition, the code | symbol in the parenthesis described in the claim shows the correspondence with the specific means as described in embodiment mentioned later as one aspect, Comprising: The technical scope of this invention is limited is not.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle electronic key system 1 used as embodiment of this invention. It is a detailed block diagram of the communication module 34 of FIG. It is a figure which illustrates the communication areas 16R, 26R, and 36R of the NFC antennas 16 and 26 and the Bluetooth antenna 36. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the smart phone 200 of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the function of collation ECU40 of FIG. It is a flowchart which illustrates the flow of processing of collation ECU40.

<Overall configuration of vehicle electronic key system 1>
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle electronic key system 1 of this embodiment includes an out-of-vehicle NFC communication unit 10, an in-vehicle NFC communication unit 20, a Bluetooth communication unit 30, and a verification ECU 40.

  The NFC communication unit 10 outside the vehicle is a communication unit that performs proximity communication, and is installed on a vehicle door handle or the like. When installed on the vehicle door handle, the communication area is near the vehicle door handle outside the vehicle. In addition, the NFC communication part 10 outside a vehicle may be installed not only in a vehicle door handle but in the pillar part of a door. Since it is a proximity communication, the radius of a communication area is 10 cm or less. This outside NFC communication unit 10 includes a control unit 12, a communication module 14, and an NFC antenna 16. The outside NFC communication unit 10 corresponds to the outside communication unit in the claims.

  The control unit 12 is a computer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls the communication module 14. Further, the signal transmitted by the smartphone 200 is acquired from the communication module 14 and output to the verification ECU 40. Further, the signal input from the verification ECU 40 is output to the communication module 14.

  The communication module 14 includes a modulation unit, a demodulation unit, and the like, modulates a signal input from the control unit 12 and sends the modulated signal to the NFC antenna 16. Further, the radio wave received by the NFC antenna 16 is demodulated to extract a signal.

  The antenna length of the NFC antenna 16 is set so that radio waves of a predetermined frequency such as 13.56 MHz can be transmitted and received. As the NFC antenna 16, for example, a loop antenna is used.

  The in-vehicle NFC communication unit 20 is also a communication unit that performs proximity communication, similar to the out-of-vehicle NFC communication unit 10, and corresponds to the in-vehicle proximity communication unit of the claims. The in-vehicle NFC communication unit 20 includes a control unit 22, a communication module 24, and an NFC antenna 26. These are the same configurations as the control unit 12, the communication module 14, and the NFC antenna 16 included in the NFC communication unit 10 outside the vehicle, respectively. The installation position of the in-vehicle NFC communication unit 20 is a position where the driver seated in the driver's seat reaches and reaches the communication area of the in-vehicle NFC communication unit 20.

  The Bluetooth communication unit 30 corresponding to the in-vehicle near field communication unit is installed in the vehicle and performs communication in accordance with the standard of Bluetooth communication which is near field communication. The Bluetooth communication unit 30 is installed in the center of the vehicle compartment and includes the vehicle compartment in the communication area.

  The Bluetooth communication unit 30 includes a control unit 32, a communication module 34, and a Bluetooth antenna 36. The control unit 32 is a computer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls the communication module 34. Further, the signal transmitted by the smartphone 200 is acquired from the communication module 34 and output to the verification ECU 40. Further, the signal input from the verification ECU 40 is output to the communication module 34.

  The configuration of the communication module 34 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication module 34 includes a modulation unit 341, a variable gain amplifier (VGA) 342, a demodulation unit 343, a high frequency filter 344, a variable matching circuit 345, and the like.

  The modulation unit 341 modulates the signal input from the control unit 32. The VGA 342 amplifies the signal modulated by the modulation unit 341 with the gain instructed from the control unit 32. Since the communication module 34 includes the VGA 342, the Bluetooth communication unit 30 has a variable transmission output value.

  The demodulator 343 demodulates the signal that has passed through the high frequency filter 344 and sends the demodulated signal to the controller 32. The high frequency filter 344 passes a component in a predetermined high frequency band. The variable matching circuit 345 has a variable impedance, and adjusts the impedance including the variable matching circuit 345 and the Bluetooth antenna 36.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the antenna length of the Bluetooth antenna 36 is set so that radio waves of a frequency (for example, 2.45 GHz) used in Bluetooth communication can be transmitted and received.

  The verification ECU 40 is connected to the outside NFC communication unit 10, the in-vehicle NFC communication unit 20, the Bluetooth communication unit 30, and the power switch 106. Further, it is also connected to the bus line 101, and signals can be transmitted and received between the body ECU 102 and the engine ECU 108 via the bus line 101.

  The verification ECU 40 is a computer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The CPU executes a program stored in the ROM while using a temporary storage function of the RAM, thereby performing verification of the smartphone 200 and the like. . The function of the verification ECU 40 will be described in detail later with reference to FIGS.

  The body ECU 102 is connected to the door lock mechanism 104 and controls the door lock mechanism 104. The body ECU 102 corresponds to a door lock control unit in claims. The door lock mechanism 104 is a mechanism for locking and unlocking the vehicle door.

  The power switch 106 is disposed at a predetermined position in the passenger compartment that can be operated from the driver's seat. The power switch 106 is a switch for sequentially switching the power position of the vehicle to three positions of accessory on, ignition on, and power off.

  The engine ECU 108 is connected to the starter motor 110 and controls the starter motor 110. The starter motor 110 is a motor that starts the engine.

<Example of communication area>
FIG. 3 illustrates communication areas 16R, 26R, and 36R of the NFC antennas 16 and 26 and the Bluetooth antenna 36. The communication area 16R is near the door handle outside the vehicle. The communication area 26R is the front end of the passenger compartment and near the center in the width direction of the passenger compartment. Since these communication areas 16R and 26R are communication areas by NFC communication, they are areas having a radius of 10 cm or less.

  On the other hand, the communication area 36 </ b> R is an area having a size including almost the entire passenger compartment. As will be described later, the communication area 36R is variable, and the communication area 36R shown in FIG. 3 is the communication area 36R in the authentication mode.

<Configuration of smartphone 200>
The smartphone 200 has a known configuration and corresponds to the proximity portable terminal in the claims. FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of the smartphone 200. The smartphone 200 includes an NFC communication unit 210, a Bluetooth communication unit 220, a display 230, a speaker 240, a vibration device 250, and an MCU (Micro Control Unit) 260.

  The NFC communication unit 210 corresponds to the terminal-side proximity communication unit in the claims, and includes a communication module 212 and an NFC antenna 214. These functions are the same as those of the communication modules 14 and 24 and the NFC antennas 16 and 26 included in the in-vehicle NFC communication unit 10 and the in-vehicle NFC communication unit 20 illustrated in FIG. Note that the functions of the control units 12 and 22 included in the NFC communication unit 10 outside the vehicle and the NFC communication unit 20 inside the vehicle are executed by the MCU 260 in the smartphone 200.

  The Bluetooth communication unit 220 corresponds to the terminal-side short-range communication unit in the claims, and includes a communication module 222 and a Bluetooth antenna 224. These are the same functions as the communication module 34 and the Bluetooth antenna 36 included in the Bluetooth communication unit 30 shown in FIG. In addition, the function of the control unit 32 provided in the Bluetooth communication unit 30 is executed by the MCU 260 in the smartphone 200.

  The vibration device 250 is a device that generates vibrations having a magnitude that can be felt by a person carrying the smartphone 200. The display 230, the speaker 240, and the vibration device 250 correspond to an alarm unit in the claims, and output a display or alarm sound indicating an alarm or an alarm according to an instruction from an alarm control unit 46 (see FIG. 5) described later. Generates a vibration that means Note that all three of the display 230, the speaker 240, and the vibration device 250 do not need to function as an alarm unit, and any two or one may function as an alarm unit.

  The MCU 260 controls the NFC communication unit 210, the Bluetooth communication unit 220, the display 230, the speaker 240, and the vibration device 250. The MCU 260 stores an authentication ID transmitted when authenticating with the vehicle electronic key system 1. This authentication ID is transmitted via the NFC communication unit 210. Moreover, MCU260 performs pairing with the Bluetooth communication part 220 with which the Bluetooth communication part 220 and the vehicle electronic key system 1 are provided based on a user's pairing operation.

  In FIG. 3, two smartphones 200A and 200B are shown. These two smartphones 200A and 200B both have the configuration shown in FIG. In the following description, it is assumed that the two smartphones 200 </ b> A and 200 </ b> B both store an authentication ID that permits the vehicle electronic key system 1 to unlock the door and the like. In any case, it is assumed that pairing is performed with the Bluetooth communication unit 30 included in the vehicle electronic key system 1.

<Function of verification ECU 40>
As shown in FIG. 5, the verification ECU 40 includes an out-of-vehicle authentication unit 41, an in-vehicle communication determination unit 42, a door lock instruction unit 44, a terminal invalidation unit 45, an alarm control unit 46, an in-vehicle authentication unit 47, and a start permission unit 48. It has a function.

  The vehicle outside authentication unit 41 determines whether or not the authentication ID acquired from the smartphone 200 by the vehicle outside NFC communication unit 10 communicating with the NFC communication unit 210 of the smartphone 200 is a registered authentication ID. If the authentication ID acquired from the smartphone 200 is a registered authentication ID, it is assumed that the authentication of the smartphone 200 has been established. The vehicle outside authentication unit 41 notifies the vehicle interior communication determination unit 42 of the determination result.

  When the door lock mechanism 104 is in the unlocked state and the vehicle outside authentication unit 41 determines that the authentication of the smartphone 200 has been established, the in-vehicle communication determination unit 42 determines that the Bluetooth communication unit 30 and the Bluetooth communication unit 220 of the smartphone 200 Determine whether communication is possible.

  However, this determination is made after changing to the authentication mode. The mode before changing to the authentication mode is the normal mode. In the present embodiment, the authentication mode is a mode in which the communication area is an area having a size that includes almost the entire passenger compartment but does not include the outside of the vehicle, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the communication area in the normal mode has a communication area by general Bluetooth communication, for example, a communication area having a radius of 10 m or more.

  Whether the door lock mechanism 104 is in the unlocked state may be determined by obtaining information indicating the state of the door lock mechanism 104 from the body ECU 102, or by issuing a door lock instruction from the door lock instruction unit 44 described later. Information indicating that it has been performed may be acquired and determined.

  In order to enter the authentication mode, the in-vehicle communication determination unit 42 performs a communication area restriction process. This communication area restriction process is, for example, a process for setting the gain of the VGA 342 of the Bluetooth communication unit 30 to be smaller than that in the normal mode. The gain of the VGA in the communication area restriction process is a gain at which the transmission output value output from the Bluetooth antenna 36 becomes the in-vehicle area formation output value set to be the communication area in the authentication mode shown in FIG. .

  Further, as the communication area restriction process, a process for reducing the antenna gain may be performed. As shown in FIG. 2, the Bluetooth communication unit 30 includes the variable matching circuit 345. Therefore, the impedance is adjusted by the variable matching circuit 345 so that the VSWR is set to a higher value than that in the normal mode. Reduce. The VSWR in the communication area restriction process is a VSWR in which the antenna gain of the Bluetooth antenna 36 becomes the in-vehicle area formation gain set to be the communication area in the authentication mode shown in FIG.

  In addition, even if the Bluetooth communication unit 30 cannot receive the signal transmitted by the Bluetooth communication unit 220 of the smartphone 200, the communication of the communication units 30 and 220 is not established.

  Therefore, as the communication area restriction process, the reception sensitivity may be lower than that in the normal mode, and may be the in-vehicle area formation sensitivity that is set to be the communication area in the authentication mode shown in FIG. A plurality of processes for limiting the communication area may be combined.

  Further, there is a possibility that the Bluetooth communication unit 220 of the smartphone 200 can change the transmission power. When the Bluetooth communication unit 220 can change the transmission power, a low output instruction that instructs the transmission power to be an in-vehicle area formation output value that is set so that the communication area 36R does not include the outside of the vehicle The signal may be transmitted from the Bluetooth communication unit 30 to the smartphone 200. Whether or not the Bluetooth communication unit 220 can change the transmission power is acquired from the smartphone 200 in advance in a state where the Bluetooth communication is performed.

  After determining whether or not the Bluetooth communication unit 30 can communicate with the Bluetooth communication unit 220 of the smartphone 200 in the authentication mode, the restriction release process is performed to return to the normal mode.

  The restriction release process is a process for returning the gain of the VGA 342 to the gain before the reduction when the gain of the VGA 342 is lowered in the communication area restriction process. In the case where the antenna gain is lowered, the antenna gain is returned to the vehicle outside area forming gain which is the original gain. When the reception sensitivity is reduced, the reception sensitivity is returned to the vehicle outside area formation sensitivity which is the original sensitivity. When instructing the transmission power of the Bluetooth communication unit 220 to be the in-vehicle area formation output value, a high output instruction signal instructing to return the transmission power to the outside area formation output value that is the original transmission power, This is processing to be transmitted from the Bluetooth communication unit 30 to the smartphone 200. The vehicle area formation output value is higher than the vehicle area formation output value.

  If the Bluetooth communication unit 30 can communicate with the Bluetooth communication unit 220 of the smartphone 200 after performing the communication area restriction process, the smartphone 200 can be considered to be in the vehicle.

  Therefore, if the in-vehicle communication determination unit 42 determines that the Bluetooth communication unit 30 has been able to communicate with the Bluetooth communication unit 220 of the smartphone 200, the in-vehicle communication determination unit 42 determines that the smartphone 200 has been left behind in the vehicle.

  The door lock instruction unit 44 instructs the body ECU 102 to place the door lock mechanism 104 in a locked state when the following two door lock conditions are satisfied. The first door lock condition is that the door lock mechanism 104 is unlocked. The second door lock condition is that the vehicle outside authentication unit 41 has determined that the authentication of the smartphone 200 has been established.

  When the in-vehicle communication determination unit 42 determines that the smartphone 200 is left behind in the vehicle, the terminal invalidation unit 45 invalidates the vehicle control function of the smartphone 200. Specifically, the invalidation processing is processing for preventing authentication from being established with the authentication ID stored in the smartphone 200.

  The correspondence relationship between the smartphone 200 left behind in the vehicle and the authentication ID stored in the smartphone 200 is associated with the authentication ID registered. Alternatively, when the vehicle outside authentication unit 41 or the vehicle interior authentication unit 47 to be described later can be authenticated in a state where only the smartphone 200 is connected to Bluetooth, the authenticated authentication ID may be associated with the smartphone 200.

  When the in-vehicle communication determination unit 42 determines that the smartphone 200 has been left behind in the vehicle, the alarm control unit 46 transmits the alarm generation signal from the Bluetooth communication unit 30 after performing the restriction release processing to the smartphone 200. To the Bluetooth communication unit 220. This alarm generation signal is a signal instructing to generate an alarm from at least one of the alarm units described above, that is, the display 230, the speaker 240, and the vibration device 250. If the NFC communication unit 10 outside the vehicle and the NFC communication unit 210 of the smartphone 200 can communicate with each other, an alarm generation signal may be transmitted from the NFC communication unit 10 outside the vehicle.

  Moreover, the warning control part 46 may generate | occur | produce a warning from these horns and a direction indicator light using the horn and direction indicator lamp with which a vehicle is equipped as a warning part.

  The in-vehicle authentication unit 47 determines whether the authentication ID acquired from the smartphone 200 is a registered authentication ID when the in-vehicle NFC communication unit 20 communicates with the NFC communication unit 210 of the smartphone 200. If the authentication ID acquired from the smartphone 200 is a registered authentication ID, it is assumed that the authentication of the smartphone 200 has been established. The in-vehicle authentication unit 47 notifies the start permission unit 48 of the determination result.

  The start permission unit 48 permits the start of the vehicle when notified from the in-vehicle authentication unit 47 that the authentication of the smartphone 200 has been established. When the power switch 106 is pressed in a state where the start of the vehicle is permitted, the power position is switched to a position determined according to the number of times the power switch 106 is pressed. Then, when the power supply position is in the ignition-on state, the engine ECU 108 is instructed to start the engine.

<Description of the flow of processing performed by the verification ECU 40>
Next, an example of the flow of processing performed by the verification ECU 40 will be described with reference to FIG. The process shown in FIG. 6 shows the process after the vehicle stops and the door is locked.

  Step S2 is a process performed by the vehicle outside authentication unit 41. In step S2, communication is performed between the NFC communication unit 10 outside the vehicle and the NFC communication unit 210 of the smartphone 200, and it is determined whether or not the smartphone 200 has been authenticated. If this determination is No, step S2 is repeated. On the other hand, if Yes, the process proceeds to step S4.

  Step S <b> 4 is a process of the door lock instruction unit 44. In the state proceeding to step S4, the registered smartphone 200 is held near the door handle outside the vehicle while the door is locked. In step S4, the body ECU 102 is instructed to place the door lock mechanism 104 in the unlocked state.

  In the subsequent step S6, the same determination as in step S2 is performed. If this determination is No, step S6 is repeated. On the other hand, if Yes, the process proceeds to step S8.

  Step S8 is a process performed by the in-vehicle communication determination unit 42, and performs the communication area restriction process described above to enter the authentication mode. The subsequent step S10 is also a process performed by the in-vehicle communication determination unit 42, and determines whether the Bluetooth link other than the smartphone 200 determined to have been authenticated in step S6 and the Bluetooth link are off.

  Since the authentication mode is set in step S8, if the determination in step S10 is No, the smartphone 200 is in the vehicle, and Bluetooth communication with the smartphone 200 can be performed. In this case, the process proceeds to step S12.

  Step S12 is processing performed by the terminal invalidation unit 45, and performs invalidation processing that prevents authentication from being established with the authentication ID stored in the smartphone 200 in the vehicle.

  Step S14 is processing of the alarm control unit 46. In order to notify the person carrying the smartphone 200 that has been authenticated that there is another smartphone 200 in the vehicle, the above-described alarm generation signal is authenticated in step S6. It transmits to the smartphone 200 that has been made.

  The smartphone 200 that has received the alarm generation signal outputs, for example, an alarm message on the display 230 that “the smartphone remains in the vehicle. The key has been disabled.”

  After executing step S14, the process proceeds to step S16. Moreover, also when the judgment of step S10 is No, it progresses to step S16. Step S16 is a process performed by the door lock instructing unit 44, and instructs the body ECU 102 to place the door lock mechanism 104 in the locked state.

  The subsequent step S18 is a process performed by the in-vehicle communication determination unit 42, and performs the restriction release process described above to return to the normal mode.

<Effect of embodiment>
As described above, the vehicle electronic key system 1 according to the present embodiment described above is configured such that when the vehicle door is unlocked and the smartphone 200 is authenticated by the communication of the NFC communication unit 10 outside the vehicle (S6: Yes), the vehicle The door is locked (S16). In addition, the vehicle electronic key system 1 includes the communication area 36R of the Bluetooth communication unit 30 including the vehicle compartment when the authentication of the smartphone 200 is established by communication of the NFC communication unit 10 outside the vehicle (S6: Yes) A communication area restriction process is performed so as not to include outside the vehicle. Thereafter, it is determined whether the Bluetooth communication unit 30 and the Bluetooth communication unit 220 included in the smartphone 200 can communicate. Since the communication area 36R of the Bluetooth communication unit 30 includes the passenger compartment of the vehicle and does not include the outside of the vehicle, if the two Bluetooth communication units 30 and 220 can communicate with each other, there is a possibility that the smartphone 200 is in the vehicle interior. high. Therefore, it can be accurately determined that the smartphone 200 has been left behind in the passenger compartment.

  Moreover, according to this embodiment, after performing communication area restriction | limiting process and determining whether the smart phone 200 is left misplaced in a vehicle interior, restriction | limiting cancellation | release processing is performed and communication area 36R is an area including the vehicle exterior. The normal mode is restored. By returning to the normal mode, it is possible to operate a predetermined control device of the vehicle from outside the vehicle using communication between the Bluetooth communication unit 220 of the smartphone 200 and the Bluetooth 30 of the vehicle electronic key system 1. Examples of the control device include a device that detects a user approaching the vehicle and turns on a light included in the vehicle, and a device that notifies the smartphone 200 of a vehicle state such as a remaining amount of fuel.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when it is determined that the smartphone 200 is in the vehicle (S10: Yes), the vehicle control function such as engine start by the smartphone 200 is invalidated (S12). Thereby, even if the smartphone 200 is misplaced in the vehicle, the possibility that the vehicle will be stolen can be reduced. Moreover, when it is desired to place the smartphone 200 on the vehicle, the door can be locked while leaving the smartphone 200.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, when it is judged that there is the smart phone 200 in the vehicle (S10: Yes), the smart phone 200 that has been authenticated by the communication of the NFC communication unit 10 outside the vehicle indicates that the smart phone 200 is in the vehicle. An alarm is output. This makes it easier for the user to recognize that the smartphone 200 has been left behind.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, The following modification is also contained in the technical scope of this invention, Furthermore, the summary other than the following is also included. Various modifications can be made without departing from the scope.

<Modification 1>
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the door is locked even if the smartphone 200 is in the vehicle, but the present invention is not limited to this. If it is determined that the smartphone 200 is not present in the vehicle, in addition to the door lock condition, the door may not be locked when it is determined that the smartphone 200 is present in the vehicle. In this way, when the smartphone 200 is in the vehicle, the door is not locked, so even if the user tries to lock the door, the smartphone 200 is misplaced in the vehicle because it is not locked. It becomes easy to notice.

<Modification 2>
The above-described vehicle electronic key system 1 may further include a known vehicle electronic key. This vehicle electronic key is equivalent to the portable terminal of a claim. In this case, a communication unit capable of communicating with the vehicle electronic key is provided as the vehicle outside communication unit. This communication unit normally uses a frequency in the LF band. Even when communication is performed between the vehicle electronic key and the vehicle outside communication unit and authentication of the vehicle electronic key is established, the above-described step S8 and subsequent steps are executed.

<Modification 3>
A variable attenuator may be provided between the modulation unit 341 and the Bluetooth antenna 36 of the communication module 34 of the Bluetooth communication unit 30 or between the demodulation unit 343 and the Bluetooth antenna 36. By adjusting the attenuation factor of the variable attenuator, the size of the communication area 36R can be changed. Specifically, as the communication area restriction process, a process is performed in which the attenuation factor of the variable attenuator is set to a preset in-vehicle area formation attenuation factor. Then, as the restriction release processing, the attenuation rate of the variable attenuator is set to a preset outside vehicle area formation attenuation rate that is lower than the vehicle interior area formation attenuation rate.

<Modification 4>
In the above-described embodiment, the communication area in the authentication mode is an area that includes almost the entire passenger compartment but does not include the outside of the vehicle. However, the communication area in the authentication mode may be somewhat narrower than that in the above-described embodiment, and conversely, it may be somewhat larger.

  However, even when this communication area is made wider than that of the above-described embodiment, the vehicle exterior portion is made narrower than the vehicle interior portion in the communication area. If it is this level, since the communication area is mainly formed in the vehicle, it is possible to accurately determine whether the smartphone 200 is left behind.

  Even when the communication area is narrower than that of the above-described embodiment, the communication area is made wider than the communication area of the in-vehicle NFC communication unit 20. In this way, it is possible to accurately determine the misplacement of the smartphone 200 rather than detecting the misplacement by the in-vehicle NFC communication unit 20.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1: Vehicle electronic key system, 10: NFC communication part outside vehicle, 20: NFC communication part inside vehicle, 30: Near field communication part inside vehicle, 40: Verification ECU, 41: Authentication part outside vehicle, 42: Communication judgment part inside vehicle, 44: Door Lock instruction unit, 45: terminal invalidation unit, 46: alarm control unit, 47: in-vehicle authentication unit, 48: start permission unit, 101: bus line, 102: body ECU, 104: door lock mechanism, 106: power switch, 108: Engine ECU, 110: Starter motor, 200: Smartphone, 210: NFC communication unit, 220: Communication unit, 230: Display, 240: Speaker, 250: Vibration device, 341: Modulation unit, 342: VGA, 343: Demodulation Part, 344: High frequency filter, 345: Variable matching circuit

Claims (12)

In addition to the terminal-side proximity communication unit (210) that performs proximity communication, a proximity mobile terminal (200) that includes a terminal-side near-field communication unit (220) that performs short-range communication with a communication distance longer than the proximity communication. A vehicle electronic key system (1) that transmits and receives an authentication ID by means of the proximity communication,
An out-of-vehicle communication unit (10) that communicates with a mobile terminal registered in the vehicle electronic key system, with a predetermined area outside the vehicle including the vehicle electronic key system as a communication area,
In-vehicle short-range communication unit (30) that is installed inside the vehicle and performs short-range communication;
An out-of-vehicle authentication unit (41) that determines whether or not authentication of the mobile terminal has been established based on an authentication ID acquired from the mobile terminal by communicating with the mobile terminal by the out-of-vehicle communication unit;
Based on the fact that the vehicle door lock mechanism (104) is in the unlocked state and the outside-of-vehicle authentication unit determines that authentication of the mobile terminal has been established, the in-vehicle short-range communication unit and the terminal-side short-range communication An in-vehicle communication determination unit (42) that determines whether or not the unit can communicate,
The in-vehicle communication determination unit has a communication area where the in-vehicle short-range communication unit can communicate with the terminal-side short-range communication unit. The vehicle electronic key system is characterized by determining whether or not the in-vehicle short-range communication unit and the terminal-side short-range communication unit can communicate with each other in a widened state. In claim 1,
The in-vehicle communication determination unit performs a communication area restriction process in which the in-vehicle short-range communication unit can communicate with the terminal-side short-range communication unit, so that a portion outside the vehicle is narrower than an in-vehicle part. It is determined whether or not the in-vehicle short-range communication unit and the terminal-side short-range communication unit can communicate, and then, the communication area in which the in-vehicle short-range communication unit can communicate with the terminal-side short-range communication unit is outside the vehicle portion. A vehicle electronic key system characterized in that a restriction release process is performed so that the portion becomes wider. In claim 2,
The in-vehicle short-range communication unit has a variable transmission output value,
The in-vehicle communication determination unit performs a process of setting the transmission output value of the in-vehicle short-distance communication unit as a preset in-vehicle area formation output value as the communication area restriction process, and as the restriction release process, A vehicle electronic key system that performs processing to set a transmission output value of a distance communication unit to a preset vehicle exterior area formation output value that is higher than the vehicle interior area formation output value. In claim 2,
The in-vehicle short-range communication unit has a variable antenna gain,
The in-vehicle communication determination unit performs a process of setting the antenna gain of the in-vehicle short-range communication unit as a preset in-vehicle area forming gain as the communication area restriction process, and the in-vehicle short-range communication as the restriction release process. The vehicle electronic key system is characterized in that processing is performed to make the antenna gain of the unit higher than the in-vehicle area forming gain, which is set in advance as the in-vehicle area forming gain. In claim 2,
The in-vehicle short-range communication unit includes a variable attenuator between at least one of the modulation unit and the antenna and between the antenna and the demodulation unit,
The in-vehicle communication determination unit performs a process of setting the attenuation rate by the variable attenuator as a preset in-vehicle area forming attenuation rate as the communication area limiting process, and the attenuation by the variable attenuator as the limit releasing process. The vehicle electronic key system is characterized in that the rate is set to a preset outside vehicle area formation attenuation rate that is lower than the vehicle interior area formation attenuation rate. In claim 2,
The in-vehicle short-range communication unit has variable reception sensitivity,
The in-vehicle communication determination unit performs a process in which the reception sensitivity of the in-vehicle short-range communication unit is set as a preset in-vehicle area formation sensitivity as the communication area restriction process, and the in-vehicle short-range communication as the restriction release process. The vehicle electronic key system is characterized in that the reception sensitivity of the unit is set to be a vehicle exterior area formation sensitivity that is higher than the vehicle interior area formation sensitivity. In claim 2,
The proximity portable terminal has variable transmission power,
The in-vehicle communication determination unit, as the communication area restriction process, generates a low output instruction signal instructing to set the transmission power transmitted by the terminal-side short-range communication unit to a preset in-vehicle area formation output value. A process for transmitting from the distance communication unit to the proximity portable terminal is performed, and as the restriction release process, a transmission power transmitted by the terminal-side near field communication unit is higher than the in-vehicle area formation output value, which is set in advance. A vehicle electronic key system that performs a process of transmitting a high-power instruction signal that instructs to set an area formation output value from the in-vehicle short-range communication unit to the proximity portable terminal. In any one of Claims 1-7,
When the in-vehicle communication determination unit determines that the in-vehicle short-range communication unit and the terminal-side short-range communication unit cannot communicate, the door lock control unit (102) that controls the door lock mechanism is connected to the door. A vehicle electronic key system comprising a door lock instructing section (44) for instructing a lock mechanism to be in a locked state. In any one of Claims 1-8,
Terminal invalidation that invalidates the control function of the vehicle by the proximity portable terminal based on the fact that the in-vehicle communication determination unit determines that the in-vehicle short-range communication unit and the terminal-side short-range communication unit can communicate with each other A vehicle electronic key system comprising a section (45). In any one of Claims 1-9,
Provided with an alarm control unit (46) for generating an alarm from a predetermined alarm unit based on the determination that the in-vehicle short-range communication unit and the terminal-side short-range communication unit can communicate with each other, Vehicle electronic key system characterized by In any one of Claims 2-7,
The portable terminal includes the alarm unit;
The in-vehicle short distance after the in-vehicle communication determining section and the terminal-side short-range communication section have determined that the in-vehicle short-range communication section and the terminal-side short-range communication section can communicate with each other. A vehicle electronic key system comprising: an alarm control unit (46) for generating an alarm from the alarm unit by transmitting an instruction to operate the alarm unit from one of the communication units to the portable terminal. In any one of Claims 1-11,
An in-vehicle proximity communication unit (20) that performs the proximity communication with the terminal-side proximity communication unit when the proximity portable terminal is present in a communication area that is set to be operable from the driver's seat of the vehicle; ,
An in-vehicle authentication unit (47) that determines whether authentication of the proximity mobile terminal is established by communication between the in-vehicle proximity communication unit and the terminal-side proximity communication unit;
A vehicle electronic key system comprising: a start permission unit (48) that permits start of the vehicle based on the fact that the in-vehicle authentication unit determines that the proximity portable terminal has been authenticated.

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