JP2020088508A - Smartphone key system for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a smartphone key system for a vehicle that can confirm a traveling situation of the vehicle currently driven by a specific person from a remote location apart from the vehicle, assuming that the vehicle is driven using as a key a second smartphone to which use authority is granted.SOLUTION: A smartphone key system for a vehicle includes: individual identification means 5 for identifying a driver via a second smartphone to which use authority is granted; remote control means 7 for authenticating the identified driver on the basis of permission of requesting information on a traveling situation of the vehicle to permit remote operation on an information apparatus capable of acquiring the traveling situation of the vehicle; and an external terminal D at which an information request for the traveling situation of the vehicle and operation of acquiring the information on the traveling situation are possible remotely. When receiving the information request from the external terminal at the time of the vehicle traveling, the remote control means permits, on the basis of a result of the authentication of the identified driver, the external terminal to perform remote operation of the information apparatus of the vehicle to allow the identified driver to acquire the information on the traveling situation of the vehicle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a smartphone key system for a vehicle, which enables confirmation of a driving situation of a vehicle driven by a specific person from a remote point away from the vehicle.

Recently, there has been known a smartphone key system capable of operating each device of an automobile (vehicle) using a smartphone (hereinafter, referred to as a smartphone) (see Patent Document 1).
In such a smartphone key system, it is possible to transfer the authority of the smartphone key between the smartphones via an electronic network such as the Internet connection or the Bluetooth (registered trademark) connection without renting the smartphone.

For example, in some cases, the owner of a vehicle delegates the authority of the smartphone to the person who has delegated the authority of the smartphone to drive the vehicle of the owner. In such a case, there is a concern that the person who has been delegated the authority of the smartphone may wonder how he/she went and how far he went.

JP, 2013-106338, A

However, since the smartphone key system is mainly the function of operating each device of the owner's vehicle and the function of delegating the authority of the smartphone key, who is driving the vehicle, where is this vehicle? I don't know how to drive. Therefore, the owner of the smartphone is worried about the trend of the vehicle currently being driven by the smartphone.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle that a specific person is currently driving from a remote point away from the vehicle, on the assumption that the vehicle is driven by using the second smartphone to which the usage right is given as a key. We provide a smartphone key system for vehicles that allows you to check the driving status.

An aspect of the present invention is a smartphone key system for a vehicle, which enables operation of various devices of the vehicle by a second smartphone to which the owner of the first smartphone has been given authority to use the vehicle. The personal identification means for identifying the driver who gets in and drives the vehicle via the smartphone of 2 and the vehicle-mounted personal authentication means, which authenticates the identified driver based on the permission of the information request of the traveling condition of the vehicle, It has a remote control means that allows remote operation of information equipment that can acquire the traveling status, and an external terminal that enables operations to remotely request information on the traveling status of the vehicle and acquire information on the traveling status of the vehicle. When the vehicle receives the information request from the external terminal while the vehicle is traveling, the control means permits remote operation of the information equipment of the vehicle by the external terminal based on the authentication result of the specified driver, and the specified driver through the external terminal. It is possible to acquire the information on the traveling state of the vehicle by.

According to the present invention, for example, when the driving situation of a vehicle driving with the second smartphone as a key is anxious, an operation of requesting information from an external terminal to a vehicle driven by a specific person (driver) is performed. You can do it.
That is, since the driver driving via the second smartphone is specified, when the vehicle receives the information request from the external terminal, the remote operation of the information equipment of the vehicle by the external terminal is performed according to the driver's authentication. forgiven. Then, the information on the traveling status of the vehicle the driver is driving is acquired from the external terminal, and the current situation such as who, what kind of driving, where they are traveling, and where they have gone are known.

Therefore, in a vehicle driven by using the second smartphone as a key, it is possible to grasp (confirm) the traveling situation of the vehicle currently driven by a specific person from a remote point away from the vehicle.

The block diagram which shows the main structures of the smart phone key system of a vehicle used as the aspect which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing explaining until an external terminal acquires the information of a driving|running condition from the vehicle driven using a 2nd smartphone as a key. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an aspect related to the second embodiment of the present invention, which is performed by an external terminal until the information on the traveling state is acquired from the vehicle that is driven using the second smartphone as a key. Explanatory drawing explaining the process which acquires the information of a driving|running condition from the vehicle driven using a 2nd smartphone as a key by the external terminal used as the aspect which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing explaining the process which acquires the information of the driving|running condition of the vehicle which drives using a 2nd smartphone as a key by the external terminal used as the aspect which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 shows a vehicle A that travels using, for example, an engine (not shown) as a drive source. The vehicle A is provided with a smartphone key system C capable of operating each device of the vehicle A using a smartphone (hereinafter referred to as a smartphone) as a key (smartphone key).
A plurality of smartphones used in the smartphone key system C include, for example, a smartphone B owned by a parent who is the owner of the vehicle A (corresponding to the first smartphone of the present application), for example, a smartphone Bx owned by a child (the first smartphone of the present application). 2 equivalent to a smartphone) is used. Both smartphones B and Bx have a Bluetooth (registered trademark) function. Of course, the smartphones B and Bx do not have to be parents or children.

Of these, for example, the smartphone B is registered so that it can be used as a smartphone key that allows each device of the vehicle A to be operated by storing a dedicated application (hereinafter referred to as an application). The smartphone Bx is delegated the use authority from the smartphone B, and can operate each device of the vehicle A as a smartphone key. Of course, for smartphones B and Bx, the authority of keys can be electronically transferred between smartphones. Incidentally, a different smartphone key ID (corresponding to the key ID of the present application) is given to each of the smartphones B and Bx (for discrimination).

On the other hand, the vehicle A is provided with a Bluetooth communication unit 3 that performs Bluetooth communication between the smartphones B and Bx, and a smartphone key ECU 5 that is connected to the Bluetooth communication unit 3.
The smartphone key ECU 5 stores various key ID information as personal identification information for identifying an individual who uses the smartphone B or the smartphone Bx. Thereby, the person who gets in the vehicle A and drives, that is, the driver is authenticated through the Bluetooth communication performed between the Bluetooth communication unit 3 and the smartphones B and Bx. That is, the driver who drives the vehicle A is specified (corresponding to the individual specifying means).

The respective vehicles B and Bx are used to drive the vehicle A. Here, for example, a variety of ECUs (not shown) such as a body ECU and an engine ECU are connected to the smartphone key ECU 5 via a telematics ECU 7 to allow a specified person to perform an operation such as an engine switch necessary for vehicle traveling. That is, the vehicle A is driven by the specified individual (driver). Of course, other configurations may be used, such as a case where the smartphone key ECU 5 is directly connected to the body ECU or the engine ECU without using the telematics ECU 7.

Various information devices are also connected to the telematics ECU 7 in order to obtain information on the traveling state of the vehicle A. For example, a drive recorder 9 for imaging the front and rear of the vehicle A, a GPS navigation device 11 for guiding the vehicle A to a destination, a meter unit 13 (equipment including a speedometer) attached to an instrument panel 12 of the vehicle A, etc. are connected. To be done.
The telematics ECU 7 is set with functions such as remote control of the drive recorder 9, control of the GPS navigation device 11 and access to the speedometer of the meter unit 13 while the vehicle is traveling.

Further, the telematics ECU 7 is set with a function of receiving an information request of such an information device from the external terminal D.
Specifically, the telematics ECU 7 is connected to the Internet communication unit 15, and can be connected to an external terminal D located at a remote place (for example, a home) away from the vehicle A, for example, an external terminal D including a personal computer through an Internet line. Has become. The external terminal D may be a smartphone or a tablet.

The external terminal D stores in advance a function required to remotely control the information equipment of the vehicle A, that is, an application that enables remote control of the drive recorder 9, the GPS navigation device 11, and the meter unit 13 of the vehicle A.
The telematics ECU 7 is provided with a function of determining permission/non-permission of the information request from the external terminal D based on the authentication result of the identified driver's key ID. Further, when the information request is permitted to the telematics ECU 7, the telematics ECU 7 is set to allow the remote operation from the external terminal D (corresponding to the remote control means of the present application). From this external terminal D, for example, the drive recorder 9 is operated to obtain image information in front of the vehicle A (around the vehicle), or the GPS navigation device 11 is operated to obtain position information of the current position of the vehicle A. The speed information (both running status information) may be obtained from the speedometer of the meter unit 13 while the vehicle is running. Of course, it goes without saying that the external terminal D is set to enable acquisition of such information.

As a result, it is possible to acquire information (image information, position information, speed information) on the current traveling state of the vehicle A by the identified driver from the external terminal D.
Next, the operation of the smartphone key system will be described with reference to the explanatory diagram shown in FIG.
For example, assume that the son has his own smartphone Bx and goes out in the vehicle A.
At this time, when the son carrying the smartphone Bx approaches the vehicle A with the smartphone B (within the Bluetooth communication range), the key ID is authenticated via the Bluetooth communication unit 3 and the smartphone key ECU 5, and as shown in FIG. As in (1), the latch of the door (not shown) of the vehicle A is unlocked (door unlocking). As a result, the son opens the door, gets into the vehicle A, operates the engine switch (not shown) to start the engine (not shown), and then causes the vehicle A to run.

When the vehicle is traveling, for example, the parent is concerned about the traveling situation of the son who is driving the vehicle A and wants to know what kind of driving and where he/she went.
At this time, the parent operates the external terminal D. The external terminal D is located at a remote location (for example, home) away from the vehicle A, and the traveling of the vehicle A that is currently traveling as shown by (4) in FIG. Make a request for status information. The information request is made using, for example, a key ID that is a keyword that identifies the driver (son).

Here, since the telemax ECU 7 has already received the information of the key ID from the smartphone key ECU 5 as shown in (2) of FIG. 2, it is identified as the vehicle A in which the son is driving by the collation match, and The information request from the external terminal D is permitted as shown in (3).
As a result, as in (4) and (5) in FIG. 2, it becomes possible to remotely control various information devices mounted on the vehicle A from the external terminal D. Of course, for security reasons, if the collation does not match, the information request permission from the external terminal D is rejected, and the access from the external terminal D is denied.

Thereafter, the information request instruction is output from the external terminal D via the telemax ECU 7 to the information device as shown by (5) in FIG. Specifically, the drive recorder 9 is operated by remote control, the GPS navigation device 11 is operated, and the speedometer of the meter unit 13 is accessed.
As a result, from the external terminal D, image information (for example, photo information) in front of the vehicle A (around the vehicle) is displayed from the drive recorder 9 as the request information for knowing the traveling state of the vehicle A, as shown in (6) in FIG. ), the position information of the current position of the vehicle A can be acquired from the GPS navigation device 11, and the current speed information can be acquired from the speedometer from the meter unit 13. The information on the traveling state of the vehicle A is output to the external terminal D through the telemax ECU 7 as shown in (4) and (6) in FIG. 2 and displayed on the display of the external terminal D.

That is, the parent confirms the image information (drive recorder 9), the position information (GPS navigation device 11), and the speed information (meter unit 13) on the display of the external terminal D to determine who is currently You can see where you are driving and how far you have gone.
Therefore, in the vehicle A that is driven by using the smartphone B as a key, it is possible to grasp (confirm) the traveling status of the vehicle currently driven by the specific driver (person) from a remote point away from the vehicle A. It can eliminate parents' worries. In particular, since the person driving the vehicle A is specified via the smartphone Bx, the traveling condition of the vehicle can be easily grasped.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
The present embodiment does not specify an individual who drives the vehicle A from the smartphone key ECU as in the first embodiment, but an external server for specifying an individual in which personal information such as a key ID that characterizes the individual is stored in advance, For example, the personal identification cloud E is used for identification. Even in this case, similarly to the first embodiment, it is possible to grasp (confirm) the traveling status of the vehicle currently driven by the specific person from a remote location.

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.
The present embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment, in which the smartphone Bx (second smartphone) is given an attribute with the smartphone B (parent), and the driver is specified based on the attribute of the smartphone Bx. It is a thing.
For example, the smartphone Bx is given “son” as an attribute with the owner. Information on the attribute "son" is stored in advance in the Telemax ECU 7, and the driver can be specified based on the attribute "son" to acquire the information on the traveling state of the vehicle A.

That is, also in the method of identifying an individual based on an attribute, similarly to the first embodiment, according to the permission of the information request, the traveling status of the vehicle currently driven by the specific person is grasped (confirmed) from a remote point. )can do.
FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
The present embodiment is a modification of the third embodiment, and the vehicle A is driven by using an external server for identifying an individual, such as the cloud F, in which attribute information identifying an individual is stored, without using the smartphone key ECU. Identify people. Specifically, not only is the cloud F used to identify an individual based on the attributes of the smartphone Bx, but also the telematics ECU 7 is used based on the attributes of the smartphone Bx to unlock the doors of the vehicle A, start the engine, and perform other vehicle travel. It is possible to perform the operation and obtain the information on the traveling condition of the vehicle described above.

Even with a smartphone key system that does not use such a smartphone key ECU, it is possible to grasp (confirm) the traveling status of a vehicle currently driven by a specific person from a remote location.
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the parent smartphone B (first smartphone) and the child smartphone Bx (second smartphone) are used has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is used as a smartphone key by transferring authority. As long as you can do it, you can use a smartphone owned by any person.

A vehicle B smartphone (first smartphone)
Bx smartphone (second smartphone)
C smartphone key system D external terminal 5, E, F smartphone key ECU, cloud (personal identification means)
7 Telematics ECU (remote control means)

Claims (3)

A smartphone key system for a vehicle, which enables operation of various devices of the vehicle by a second smartphone to which the owner of the first smartphone has been given authority to use the vehicle,
Personal identification means for identifying a driver who gets in and drives the vehicle via the second smartphone;
Remote control means provided in the vehicle, which permits remote operation of an information device that authenticates the identified driver based on permission of a request for information on the traveling condition of the vehicle and obtains the traveling condition of the vehicle,
It has an external terminal capable of remotely requesting information on the traveling condition of the vehicle and acquiring information on the traveling condition of the vehicle,
Upon receiving an information request from the external terminal while the vehicle is traveling, the remote control means permits remote operation of the information equipment of the vehicle by the external terminal based on the authentication result of the identified driver, and through the external terminal. The vehicle smartphone system is characterized in that it is possible to obtain information on the running condition of the vehicle by the identified driver. The smart phone key system for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the individual specifying unit specifies a driver based on a key ID given to the second smartphone. The second smartphone is given an attribute with the owner of the first smartphone,
The smart phone key system for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the individual specifying unit specifies a driver based on an attribute of the second smartphone.

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