JP4680837B2 - Remote control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote control device that operates or permits an operation of a remote control object by remote control.

  Conventionally, when a user carries a portable device as an electronic key and approaches or separates from the vehicle, an electronic key system for a vehicle that unlocks or locks a door through mutual wireless communication between the portable device and the vehicle has been proposed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). The electronic key system for a vehicle includes a plurality of transmission antennas provided on door handle knobs of a driver seat side door, a passenger seat side door, a rear seat right door, and a rear seat left door. By transmitting a response request signal through the driver seat side door, the passenger seat side door, the rear seat right door, and the rear seat left door, a detection area of the portable device is formed. When the user carries the portable device and approaches the vehicle and enters the detection area, the portable device receives the response request signal and returns a response signal including a predetermined identification code. When the returned response signal is received via a receiving antenna provided in the vehicle interior, the vehicle control device determines the validity of the predetermined identification code included in the received response signal and When it is determined that there is, the vehicle door is electronically unlocked or unlocked.

  Next, mutual wireless communication between the portable device and the vehicle will be described in detail. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle control device forms a detection area of the portable device by transmitting an activation signal Swake including a WAKE code for activating the portable device as the response signal through the transmission antenna. To do. Then, when the user carries the portable device and enters the detection area, when the portable device receives the activation signal Swake transmitted through the transmission antenna of the vehicle, the portable device first includes the WAKE included in the activation signal Swake. Determine the validity of the code, that is, whether it is a regular signal pattern. Next, the portable device waits for the operation of the built-in control IC to stabilize, and returns an ACK signal Sack, which is a response signal indicating that it has been recognized normally, to the vehicle side. When there are a plurality of portable devices such as a master and a spare in the detection area, an ACK signal Sack is returned from each to the vehicle side.

  By receiving the ACK signal Sack, the vehicle control device determines that the portable device is within the detection area and transmits a vehicle identification signal Scar including its own vehicle code. When the portable device receives the vehicle identification signal Scar, the portable device collates the vehicle code included in the portable device with the vehicle code registered in the portable device. If the matching is established, the portable device again sends the ACK signal Sack to the vehicle side. Reply to When there are a plurality of portable devices such as a master and a spare in the detection area, an ACK signal Sack is returned from each to the vehicle side.

  When the control device for the vehicle receives the ACK signal Sack again, it transmits an authentication signal Sran including the key code. At this time, a plurality of types of key codes are registered on the vehicle side in order to support a spare portable device, and an authentication signal Sran including the registered key codes is sequentially transmitted from the vehicle side. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, an authentication signal Sran corresponding to the master portable device 12 is transmitted, and thereafter, an authentication signal Sran corresponding to the spare portable device 12 is sequentially transmitted.

  When the portable device receives this authentication signal Sran, the portable device collates the key code included in the portable device with the key code registered in itself, and if the collation is established, the key code of the portable device is registered in the vehicle. It is determined that the code is correct. Then, the portable device returns an identification signal Sid including its own identification code to the vehicle side. When receiving the identification signal Sid, the vehicle control device collates the identification code included in the identification signal Sid with the identification code registered in the vehicle. It is determined that the mobile device is registered in. The vehicle control device permits the door lock to be unlocked or unlocked.

  Here, the ACK signal Sack is a common signal having the same signal pattern in the master portable device and the spare portable device. For this reason, there is no problem when the master and spare portable devices simultaneously receive the activation signal Swake and simultaneously return the ACK signal Sack. That is, the two ACK signals Sack sent back simultaneously are combined by the vehicle control device and recognized as a single ACK signal Sack. At this time, as long as the return timing of the ACK signal Sack is the same, the signal pattern of the synthesized ACK signal Sack recognized by the vehicle control device is that of the individual ACK signal Sack returned from the master and spare portable devices. Since it coincides with the signal pattern, the vehicle control device can clearly recognize the synthesized ACK signal Sack.

  However, actually, as shown in FIG. 5, the WAKE code determination time t1 and the WAKE code from when the activation signal Swake is received from the vehicle until the determination of the validity of the WAKE code included in the signal is completed. The operation stabilization time t2 from the completion of the validity determination to the stabilization of the operation of the control IC varies between the master and spare portable devices. Due to this, even when both portable devices receive the activation signal Swake at the same time, the response timing of the ACK signal Sack varies between the two. That is, both portable devices are activated upon receiving an activation signal Swake from the vehicle, and return an ACK signal Sack at each timing.

  Then, the ACK signals Sack from the two portable devices that are returned with a shift from each other in time are combined and recognized as one signal by the vehicle control device. At this time, a bit error (here, so-called bit collapse) may occur. As shown in FIG. 5, when the pattern of the ACK signal Sack is composed of, for example, a first bit Bit1 (Hi), a second bit Bit2 (Lo), and a third bit Bit3 (Hi), The ACK signal Sack from the portable device is synthesized and recognized by the vehicle control device in the following manner.

  That is, the first bit Bit1 of the ACK signal Sack received earlier and the first bit Bit1 of the ACK signal Sack received later are combined so that they are just superimposed, and the width of the first bit Bit1 is It becomes longer in time than the original bit width. Further, the third bit Bit3 of the ACK signal Sack received earlier and the third bit Bit3 of the ACK signal Sack received later are combined so that the width of the third bit Bit3 is originally It becomes longer in time than the bit width of.

  As a result, the bit width of the second bit Bit2 secured between the front end of the third bit Bit3 of the ACK signal Sack received earlier and the rear end of the first bit Bit1 of the ACK signal Sack received later. Will be slight. That is, in this case, the second bit Bit2 is almost crushed, and the vehicle control device may not be able to recognize the second bit Bit2 and thus the synthesized ACK signal Sack.

Therefore, in order to suppress the occurrence of the so-called bit collapse of the ACK signal Sack, the applicant of the present application uses a bit format in which each bit width of the ACK signal Sack is longer than the conventional one, as shown in FIG. I am thinking of adopting it. In this way, when the master and spare portable devices receive the activation signal Swake at the same time, the return timing of the ACK signal Sack from both due to variations in the WAKE code determination time t1 and the operation stabilization time t2. Even if there is a slight shift, the bit width of the second bit Bit2 when the two ACK signals Sack are combined is ensured to some extent. For this reason, the vehicle control apparatus can recognize the synthesized ACK signal Sack.
JP 2000-104429 A JP 2001-241227 A

  However, in the electronic key system, the bit format of the ACK signal Sack is changed to the conventional one in order to suppress the occurrence of bit collapse when there are ACK signal Sack replies from a plurality of portable devices such as a master and a spare. Due to the design longer than the electronic key system, the following were concerned. That is, the ACK signal Sack and the identification signal Sid are both received by the same receiver mounted on the vehicle. The received signals are demodulated by a demodulation circuit, and noise is removed from the demodulated signals by a filter. Here, since the (frequency) pass band of the filter is single, it is necessary to set the ACK signal Sack and the identification signal Sid transmitted from the portable device to the same bit format.

  That is, as described above, when the bit format of the ACK signal Sack is set to be longer than the conventional one, it is necessary to set the bit format of the identification signal Sid to be longer than the conventional one. There is a possibility that the total communication time between the portable device and the vehicle is increased by the length of the bit format of the signal Sack and the identification signal Sid. An increase in the communication time between the portable device and the vehicle is an obstacle to smooth unlocking or unlocking of the door of the vehicle. Therefore, an improvement in this respect has been desired. In addition, in recent years, an electronic key system as described above, for example, applied to a door of a house is also known (for example, see Patent Document 2). Even in this case, there were concerns about the same problems as described above.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to ensure communication reliability while suppressing an increase in communication time between the portable device possessed by the user and the object to be remotely controlled. It is to provide a remote control device that can be used.

  The invention according to claim 1 includes a portable device carried by the user, and when the portable device receives a response request signal transmitted from a remote control target, it returns a response signal including an identification code, When the returned response signal is received by the remote control target, the control device of the remote control target determines the validity of the identification code included in the received response signal and determines that it is appropriate. In some cases, the remote control device is adapted to operate or permit the remote control target to respond, and the response signal from the portable device is transmitted from the remote control target to each of the plurality of portable devices corresponding to the remote control target. A response signal common to each portable device returned from each portable device when a response request signal to be transmitted is normally received, and a plurality corresponding to the remote control object upon receiving the common response signal A response including the identification code unique to each portable device returned from the specific portable device when a response request signal transmitted from the remote control target is normally received with respect to the specific portable device among the portable devices The plurality of portable devices is one of response request signals transmitted from the remote control target control device to each of the mobile devices corresponding to the remote control target. The remote control target control device starts after receiving a start signal, and after the start signal is transmitted to each portable device, it takes time until all of the portable devices that have received the start signal operate stably. After the standby time set in consideration, the reply timing control signal for requesting the reply of the response signal common to each portable device with respect to the activation signal is transmitted to each portable device. Each portable device receives a ring control signal as its gist in that so as to return a response signal for Generic Trunking to each portable device with respect to the start signal.

  In a plurality of portable devices such as a master and a spare, the time until the operations are stabilized after receiving an activation signal from a remote control target control device varies between portable devices. In such a situation, according to the present invention, each portable device receives the reply timing control signal from the remote control target control device after their operation is stabilized, and outputs the common response signal. Each will reply. That is, the response timing of the common response signal from each portable device is controlled by a response timing control signal transmitted from the remote control target control device. For this reason, the dispersion | variation in the reply timing of the said common response signal between several portable devices is suppressed, and the reply timing of the said response signal corresponds.

  Here, the plurality of common response signals are combined in the remote control target control device and recognized as a single signal. At this time, according to the present invention, since the response timing of the common response signal is the same, the signal pattern of the combined common response signal recognized by the remote control target control device is It matches the signal pattern of the individual common response signal returned from. For this reason, variations in the time from when the activation signal is received until the operation of each portable device is stabilized can affect the occurrence of bit errors (particularly, so-called bit collapse) in the synthesized response signal. Absent. Therefore, even when the common response signal returned from each portable device is combined and received so as to be overlapped in the remote control target control device, the occurrence of bit errors is suppressed, and the remote control target The control device can clearly recognize the synthesized common response signal. As a result, the reliability with respect to communication between a portable machine and a remote control object is ensured.

  By the way, when receiving an activation signal from a remote control target control device and waiting for each portable device to stabilize its own operation, the common response signal is returned at each timing. The variation in time from when the activation signal is received until the operation of each portable device is stabilized directly leads to the variation in the response timing of the common response signal. Then, due to the variation in the reply timing, there is a possibility that a bit error occurs when each common response signal is combined with the remote control target control device and received.

  In addition, according to the present invention, when the response timing of the common response signal with respect to the activation signal of each portable device matches, the signal format of the common response signal can be made shorter than before. This is because, by suppressing the difference in response timing of the common response signal from each portable device, the bit error of the common response signal that is synthesized and received by the control device to be remotely controlled. This is because generation is suppressed. Then, the communication time between the portable device and the remote control target control device is reduced by the shortened signal format, and the operation of the remote control target or the permission of the operation is smoothly performed.

  Here, for example, it is conceivable to suppress the occurrence of bit errors in the synthesized common response signal by making the signal format of the common response signal longer than the conventional one. That is, the difference in response timing of the common response signal from each portable device is absorbed by the length of the signal format of each common response signal. For this reason, when each common response signal is synthesized and received, the signal width of the synthesized signal is ensured, so that the control device to be remotely controlled can synthesize the common response signal. Can be recognized. However, in this case, the communication time between the portable device and the remote control object is increased by the length of the signal format than before.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, the common response signals from a plurality of portable devices are combined and received by matching the return timings of the common response signals without lengthening the signal format of the common response signal. The occurrence of bit errors in the common response signal is suppressed. Therefore, the signal format of the common response signal can be made shorter than before, and the communication time between the portable device and the remote control target control device can be shortened by the shortened format.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the remote control device according to the first aspect, a stabilization time from when the plurality of portable devices receive the activation signal until the operations of all the portable devices are stabilized is previously set. The gist is that the waiting time is set longer than the stable time by a margin time.

  According to the present invention, the remote control target control device, after a lapse of a stable time from when the activation signal is received until the operations of all the portable devices are stabilized, further delays by a margin time and sends a reply timing control signal. It comes to send. Here, in a plurality of portable devices, there is an individual difference between the portable devices after the activation signal is received from the remote control target control device until their operations are stabilized. The time until the operation of the portable device is stabilized may vary depending on, for example, the use environment. Therefore, when the standby time is not included in the waiting time, the control device to be remotely controlled transmits a reply timing control signal even though there is a portable device whose operation is not stable. It can also be done. The portable device that has received the reply timing control signal in a state where the operation is not stable returns the common response signal after the operation is stabilized. As a result, there is a possibility that a difference occurs in the response timing of the common response signal from each portable device. According to the present invention, it is possible to absorb the fluctuation of the operation stabilization time of the portable device due to such a use environment. For this reason, each portable device will receive a reply timing control signal after its operation is stabilized, and more reliably avoid occurrence of a deviation in the reply timing of the common response signal from each portable device. Can do.

The gist of the invention according to claim 3 is the remote control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the remote control object is a vehicle or a building.
According to the present invention, an increase in communication time between a portable device and a remote control target is suppressed, and communication reliability is ensured. For this reason, the operation | movement or operation | movement permission of a vehicle or a building is performed smoothly and a user's convenience is ensured.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the reliability of communication is securable, suppressing the increase in the communication time of the portable device and the remote control object which a user possesses.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in an electronic key system will be described with reference to FIG.
<Outline of electronic key system>
As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic key system 11 as a remote control device includes a portable device 12 as an electronic key possessed by a user and an electronic control device 14 mounted on a vehicle 13 as a remote control target. Yes. The electronic control device 14 is connected to a transmitter 15 and a receiver 16 for performing mutual wireless communication with the portable device 12 unique to the vehicle 13, and as a control target of the electronic control device 14. A door lock 17 and an engine 18 are connected. The transmitter 15 includes a transmission antenna 15a, and the receiver 16 includes a reception antenna 16a.

  The electronic control unit 14 performs mutual wireless communication with the portable device 12 through the transmission antenna 15a and the reception antenna 16a, and determines the validity of the portable device 12 outside or inside the vehicle through the communication. That is, the electronic control device 14 generates a response request signal Sreq for outdoor verification that requests a response from the portable device 12, and transmits the signal to the outside of the vehicle through the transmission antenna 15a at a predetermined control period. Thereby, a detection area (not shown) of the portable device 12 is formed around the door of the vehicle 13.

  When the user holds the portable device 12 and approaches the locked vehicle and enters the detection area, the portable device 12 receives the response request signal Sreq and returns a response signal Srep including a predetermined identification code. To do. When the returned response signal Srep is received via the receiving antenna 16a, the electronic control unit 14 determines the validity of the predetermined identification code included in the received response signal Srep and determines that it is appropriate. When this occurs, the vehicle 13 is caused to perform a predetermined operation or the operation is permitted. In the present embodiment, as a predetermined operation of the vehicle 13, the electronic control device 14 electronically unlocks or unlocks the door lock 17. The validity of the identification code is determined by whether or not the identification code matches the identification code registered in the vehicle (more precisely, the electronic control unit 14).

  When the user holding the portable device 12 gets into the vehicle after unlocking the door, the electronic control unit 14 detects this by a door sensor (not shown) and transmits a vehicle interior communication (not shown) provided in the vehicle 13. By transmitting a response request signal Sreq for indoor verification through the machine, a detection area of the portable device 12 is formed in the vehicle interior. The portable device 12 receives the response request signal Sreq and returns a response signal Srep including an identification code. When the response signal Srep is received through the receiving antenna 16a, the electronic control unit 14 determines the validity of the identification code included in the response signal Srep. to approve. When the start switch (not shown) disposed in the vicinity of the driver's seat in the passenger compartment is operated by the user while the start of the engine 18 is permitted, the electronic control unit 14 starts the engine 18. Then, after the user stops the engine 18 through the operation of the start switch and then moves away from the unlocked vehicle while holding the portable device 12, the electronic control unit 14 Is detected when the response signal Srep from the portable device 12 is interrupted, and the door lock of the vehicle is electronically locked or locked.

<Operation of electronic key system>
Next, the operation of the electronic key system configured as described above will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the electronic control device 14 transmits an activation signal Swake including a WAKE code for activating the portable device 12 to the outside of the passenger compartment through the transmission antenna 15a. Thereby, the detection area of the portable device 12 is formed around the door of the vehicle 13. When the portable device 12 receives the activation signal Swake from the vehicle 13 when the user carries the portable device 12 and enters the detection area, the portable device 12 first receives the WAKE code included in the activation signal Swake. The validity is determined, and when it is determined that the code is valid, it is activated and waits for the next command from the electronic control unit 14.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the electronic control unit 14 transmits a start signal Swake, and then a response indicating whether or not the start signal Swake has been normally received after a preset waiting time tw has elapsed. Is sent to the portable device 12 as a reply timing control signal Scont. The standby time tw will be described later in detail.

  As shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, in response to the reply timing control signal Scont from the electronic control unit 14, the portable device 12 is an ACK that is a response signal indicating that the activation signal Swake has been normally recognized. The signal Sack is returned to the vehicle side. Here, when there are a plurality of portable devices 12 such as a master and a spare in the detection area, an ACK signal Sack is returned from each to the vehicle side. Then, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the electronic control unit 14 receives the ACK signal Sack, determines that the portable device 12 is within the detection area, and uses its registered vehicle code. The vehicle identification signal Scar including is transmitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, when the portable device 12 receives the vehicle identification signal Scar, the portable device 12 compares the vehicle code included therein with the vehicle code registered in itself. And when the collation is materialized, the portable device 12 returns the ACK signal Sack to the vehicle side again. Here, when there are a plurality of portable devices 12 such as a master and a spare in the detection area, an ACK signal Sack is returned from each to the vehicle side.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, when the electronic control unit 14 receives the ACK signal Sack again, it transmits the authentication signal Sran including the key code. Here, in this embodiment, a plurality of types of key codes are registered in the electronic control unit 14 so as to correspond to the spare portable device 12. The electronic control device 14 transmits an activation signal Swake and a vehicle identification signal Scar, and then sequentially transmits an authentication signal Sran corresponding to the master and spare portable devices 12.

  As shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, when the portable device 12 receives the authentication signal Sran, the portable device 12 collates the key code included therein with the key code registered in itself. When the collation is established, the portable device 12 determines that its own key code is a code registered in the vehicle. Then, the portable device 12 returns an identification signal Sid including its own identification code to the vehicle side. When the electronic control unit 14 receives the identification signal Sid, the electronic control unit 14 collates the identification code included in the identification signal Sid with the identification code registered in the identification signal Sid. Is the portable device 12 registered in the vehicle, and the door lock is unlocked or unlocked.

<ACK signal reception mode>
Next, when there are two master and spare portable devices 12 in the detection area, an ACK signal Sack returned from both portable devices 12 in response to a reply timing control signal Scont from the vehicle 13 is sent to the electronic control unit 14. A mode when the signal is synthesized and received will be described in detail.

  When the user carries the portable device 12 and enters the detection area, when the portable device 12 receives the activation signal Swake from the vehicle 13 shown in FIG. The receiving IC (not shown) first determines the validity of the WAKE code included in the activation signal Swake. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the WAKE code is a registered regular signal pattern. When it is determined that the WAKE code is a regular signal pattern, the portable device 12 is activated by sending the WAKE code to a control IC (not shown) and waits for the next command from the electronic control device 14. .

The electronic control device 14 transmits a reply timing control signal Scont when a preset standby time tw has elapsed since the activation signal Swake was transmitted.
Here, the standby time tw will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, the WAKE code determination time t1 from when the activation signal Swake is received from the vehicle 13 until the determination of the validity of the WAKE code included in the signal is completed. There are variations between the master and spare portable devices 12. Further, the operation stabilization time t2 from the completion of the determination of the validity of the WAKE code to the stabilization of the operation of the control IC also varies between the master and spare portable devices 12. From such a situation, the standby time tw is set in consideration of variations in the WAKE code determination time t1 and the operation stabilization time t2 of both portable devices 12.

  Specifically, the standby time tw corresponds to a plurality of portable devices 12 such as a master and a spare so that each portable device 12 receives the activation signal Swake after receiving the activation signal Swake. Is set on the basis of a stable time te until the portable device 12 operates stably. As a result, variations in the WAKE code determination time t1 and the operation stabilization time t2 of both portable devices 12 are absorbed, and the electronic control unit 14 can transmit the reply timing control signal Scont in a state where the operations of all the portable devices 12 are stable. It becomes. In each portable device 12, the time from when the activation signal Swake is received until the operation is stabilized is obtained by experiments or the like. Further, the time until the operation of the portable device 12 is stabilized may vary depending on, for example, the usage environment of the portable device 12. In order to absorb this variation, in the present embodiment, the standby time tw is set longer than the stable time te by a margin time ts. Therefore, after any operation of both portable devices 12 is reliably stabilized, the electronic control device 14 transmits a reply timing control signal Scont.

  As shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, both portable devices 12 return the ACK signal Sack in response to the return timing control signal Scont from the electronic control unit 14. That is, the ACK signal Sack from both the master and spare portable devices 12 is returned at the same timing.

  The two ACK signals Sack sent back simultaneously are combined by the electronic control unit 14 and recognized as a single ACK signal Sack. The ACK signal Sack sent back from both portable devices 12 has the same signal pattern in the master portable device 12 and the spare portable device 12 key. Therefore, if the return timing of the ACK signal Sack is the same, as shown in FIG. 3D, the signal pattern of the synthesized ACK signal Sack recognized by the electronic control unit 14 is the mobile phone of the master and the spare. This matches the signal pattern of the individual ACK signal Sack returned from the machine 12. For this reason, by combining the ACK signals Sack from the two portable devices 12, occurrence of a bit error (here, so-called bit collapse) in the combined ACK signal is suppressed, and the electronic control unit 14 The synthesized ACK signal Sack can be clearly recognized.

  Incidentally, for example, when receiving the activation signal Swake as a trigger and causing the portable device 12 to return the ACK signal Sack, there are the following problems. That is, the plurality of portable devices 12 return the ACK signal Sack at each timing after the WAKE code determination time t1 and the operation stabilization time t2 have elapsed after receiving the activation signal Swake. Since the WAKE code determination time t1 and the operation stabilization time t2 vary between the master and spare portable devices 12, the ACK signal Sack return timing also varies between the master and spare portable devices 12.

  The ACK signals Sack from the two portable devices that are shifted from each other in time are combined and recognized as one signal by the electronic control unit 14. At this time, a bit error (here, each bit constituting the ACK signal Sack is crushed, so-called bit crushed) may occur. Referring to FIG. 5, when the pattern of the ACK signal Sack is composed of, for example, a first bit Bit1 (Hi), a second bit Bit2 (Lo), and a third bit Bit3 (Hi), 2 The ACK signals Sack from the two portable devices are combined and recognized by the electronic control unit 14 in the following manner.

  That is, the first bit Bit1 of the ACK signal Sack received earlier and the first bit Bit1 of the ACK signal Sack received later are combined so that they are just superimposed, and the width of the first bit Bit1 is It becomes longer (in time) than the original bit width. Further, the third bit Bit3 of the ACK signal Sack received earlier and the third bit Bit3 of the ACK signal Sack received later are combined so that the width of the third bit Bit3 is originally It becomes longer (in time) than the bit width of. As a result, the width of the second bit Bit2 is the length between the front end of the third bit Bit3 of the ACK signal Sack received earlier and the rear end of the first bit Bit1 of the ACK signal Sack received later. Become. That is, in this case, the second bit Bit2 is almost crushed, and the electronic control device 14 may not be able to recognize the second bit Bit2.

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, the ACK signal from both portable devices 12 is controlled by controlling the return timing of the ACK signal Sack from both portable devices 12 by the reply timing control signal Scont from the electronic control device 14. The occurrence of variations in the Sack reply timing is suppressed. In addition, since the reply timing control signal Scont is transmitted after the operations of all the portable devices 12 are stabilized, variations in time from when the activation signal Swake is received until the operations of the respective portable devices 12 are stabilized 12 does not affect the return timing of the ACK signal Sack from 12. Therefore, even when the ACK signals Sack sent back from both portable devices 12 are combined and received so as to be overlapped by the electronic control unit 14, a bit error occurs due to variations in the return timing of the ACK signal Sack. Is suppressed. As a result, the electronic control device 14 can appropriately recognize the ACK signal Sack, and as a result, reliability for wireless communication between the portable device 12 and the electronic control device 14 is ensured. The transmission timing of the second ACK signal Sack sent back from both portable devices 12 in response to the vehicle identification signal Scar from the electronic control device 14 need not be controlled by the electronic control device 14. This is because both portable devices 12 are already activated at this time.

  Further, since the return timings of the ACK signal Sack from both portable devices 12 match, the bit format (signal format) of the ACK signal Sack can be made shorter than before. This is because a bit error as described above may occur in the ACK signal synthesized and received by the electronic control unit 14 by suppressing the difference in the return timing of the ACK signal Sack from both portable devices 12. Because there is no. Then, the communication time between the portable device 12 and the electronic control device 14 is shortened by the shortened bit format, and the unlocking or unlocking of the door of the vehicle 13 is smoothly performed.

  Incidentally, it is conceivable to suppress the occurrence of bit errors in the synthesized ACK signal by making the bit format of the ACK signal Sack longer than before. That is, the difference in the return timing of the ACK signal Sack from both portable devices 12 is absorbed by the length of the bit format of each ACK signal (see FIG. 6). For this reason, when the ACK signal Sack from both portable devices 12 is synthesized and received, the bit width of the synthesized signal (here, the width of the second bit bit2) is ensured, so that the electronic The control device 14 can recognize the combined ACK signal. However, in this case, the communication time between the portable device 12 and the electronic control device 14 is increased by the amount that the bit format is longer than the conventional one. According to the present embodiment, the communication time does not increase in this way.

  In the present embodiment, the response request signal Sreq for out-of-vehicle verification from the vehicle 13 includes an activation signal Swake, a vehicle identification signal Scar, and an authentication signal Sran. The activation signal Swake and the vehicle identification signal Scar are response request signals for each of the plurality of portable devices 12 corresponding to the vehicle 13. The authentication signal Sran is a response request signal for a specific portable device 12 among the plurality of portable devices 12 corresponding to the vehicle 13.

  The response signal Srep from the portable device 12 includes an ACK signal Sack and an identification signal Sid. The ACK signal Sack is a common response signal to each portable device 12 that is transmitted from each portable device 12 when the response request signal for each of the plurality of portable devices 12 corresponding to the vehicle 13 is normally received. . The identification signal Sid is transmitted from the specific portable device 12 when the response request signal for the specific portable device 12 is normally received among the plurality of portable devices 12 corresponding to the vehicle 13. It is a response signal unique to.

<Effect of Embodiment>
Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The electronic control device 14 waits for a set waiting time te from the time when the start signal Swake is transmitted to the time when all the portable devices 12 that have received the start signal Swake operate stably. A reply timing control signal Scont that requests (permits) a reply of the ACK signal Sack is transmitted to each portable device 12 after elapse of tw.

  There is an individual difference between the portable devices 12 in the plurality of portable devices 12, after the activation signal Swake from the electronic control device 14 is received, until the operation is stabilized. Under such circumstances, according to the present embodiment, each of the portable devices 12 receives the reply timing control signal Scont from the electronic control device 14 after their operations are stabilized, and receives the ACK signal Sack. I will reply. That is, the return timing of the ACK signal Sack from each portable device 12 is controlled by the return timing control signal Scont transmitted from the electronic control device 14. For this reason, the dispersion | variation in the reply timing of the ACK signal Sack from the some portable device 12 is suppressed, and the reply timing of the said ACK signal Sack corresponds.

  Here, the ACK signal Sack from each portable device 12 is synthesized by the electronic control unit 14 and recognized as a single signal. At this time, according to the present embodiment, since the return timing of the ACK signal Sack is the same, the bit pattern of the combined ACK signal Sack recognized by the electronic control unit 14 is returned from each portable device 12. It matches the signal pattern of the individual ACK signal Sack. For this reason, variations in the time (WAKE code determination time t1 and control IC operation stabilization time t2) from when the activation signal Swake is received until the operation of each portable device 12 is stabilized are bit errors in the combined ACK signal Sack. (In particular, it does not affect the occurrence of so-called bit collapse). Therefore, even when the ACK signal Sack sent back from each portable device 12 is combined and received so as to be overlapped by the electronic control device 14, the occurrence of bit errors is suppressed, and the electronic control device 14 The received ACK signal Sack can be clearly recognized. As a result, the reliability with respect to communication between the portable device 12 and the electronic control device 14 is ensured.

  (2) Moreover, according to this Embodiment, when the reply timing of the ACK signal Sack from each portable device 12 matches, the bit format of the ACK signal Sack can be made shorter than before. This is because a bit error does not occur with respect to the ACK signal Sack that is synthesized and received by the electronic control unit 14 by suppressing the difference in the reply timing of the ACK signal Sack from each portable device 12. . Then, the communication time between the portable device 12 and the electronic control device 14 is shortened by the shortened bit format, and the unlocking or unlocking of the door of the vehicle 13 is smoothly performed.

  (3) The waiting time tw is determined by determining the validity of the WAKE code included in the activation signal Swake after the plurality of portable devices 12 receives the activation signal Swake from the vehicle 13, and thereafter, The time is set longer than the stabilization time te until the operation of the 12 control ICs is stabilized.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the electronic control unit 14 returns the response after delaying the margin time ts after the stabilization time te from when the activation signal Swake is received until the operations of all the portable devices 12 are stabilized. The timing control signal Scont is transmitted. Here, there is an individual difference between the respective portable devices 12 in the plurality of portable devices 12, after the activation signal Swake from the electronic control device 14 is received, until the operation thereof is stabilized. The time until the operation of the portable device 12 is stabilized may vary slightly depending on, for example, the usage environment. For this reason, when the standby time tw does not include the margin time ts, the electronic control unit 14 determines that the reply timing control signal Scont is present despite the presence of the portable device 12 whose operation is not stable. May also be transmitted. The portable device 12 that has received the reply timing control signal Scont in a state where the operation is not stable returns the ACK signal Sack after the operation is stabilized. As a result, there is a concern that a deviation occurs in the return timing of the ACK signal Sack from each portable device 12. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to absorb fluctuations in the operation stabilization time (here, the total of the WAKE code determination time t1 and the control IC operation stabilization time T2) due to such a usage environment. . For this reason, each portable device 12 receives the reply timing control signal Scont after its operation is stabilized, and more reliably avoids the occurrence of a deviation in the reply timing of the ACK signal Sack from each portable device 12. Can do.

(4) The electronic key system 11 for operating or permitting the operation of the vehicle 13 through the mutual wireless communication between the portable device 12 and the vehicle 13 to be remotely controlled is constructed.
For this reason, an increase in communication time between the portable device 12 and the vehicle 13 (more precisely, the electronic control device 14) is suppressed, and the reliability of communication between the two is ensured. For this reason, the operation | movement or operation | movement permission of the vehicle 13 is performed smoothly, and a user's convenience is ensured.

<Other embodiments>
In addition, you may implement this Embodiment as follows.
-Two, three, or more spare portable devices 12 may be provided.

  In the present embodiment, the standby time tw is longer than the stable time te until the operations of all the portable devices 12 that have received the activation signal Swake from the electronic control device 14 are stabilized, by a margin time ts. Although it is set, the margin time ts may be omitted. That is, the standby time tw is set as the stable time te. Even in such a case, when there is no or slight fluctuation in the stable time te due to the usage environment of the portable device 12, variation in the return timing of the ACK signal Sack from the plurality of portable devices 12 is suppressed, The return timing of the ACK signal Sack can be matched.

  In the present embodiment, the electronic control unit 14 determines the validity of the identification code included in the response signal Srep from the portable device 12, and performs a predetermined operation on the vehicle 13 when determining that it is appropriate. The door lock 17 is permitted to be unlocked or unlocked as the predetermined operation, but other operations may be performed. Other operations include, for example, starting or starting permission of the engine 18 and unlocking or unlocking of a steering lock (not shown).

  In the present embodiment, the present invention is embodied in a vehicle electronic key system, but may be embodied in a building. In this case, the building is a target for remote control. Then, through the mutual wireless communication between the portable device 12 and the building, for example, the door lock of the building is permitted to be unlocked or unlocked. Further, the present invention may be applied to a system (apparatus) that targets a vehicle other than the vehicle 13 or the building.

The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the electronic key system in this Embodiment. (A)-(c) is a timing chart which similarly shows operation | movement of an electronic controller and two portable machines. (A)-(d) is a timing chart which shows the return timing of the ACK signal from two portable devices similarly. The timing chart which shows the operation | movement of the conventional electronic control apparatus and two portable machines. The timing chart which shows the reply timing of the ACK signal from two portable devices similarly. The other timing chart which similarly shows the reply timing of the ACK signal from two portable devices.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Electronic key system (remote control device), 12 ... Portable machine, 13 ... Vehicle (remote control object), 14 ... Electronic control device, 15 ... Transmitter, 16 ... Receiver, Sack ... ACK signal (common response) Signal), Scont ... Reply timing control signal, Sid ... Identification signal (unique response signal), Srep ... Response signal, Sreq ... Response request signal, Swake ... Start signal, te ... Stabilization time, ts ... Margin time, tw ... Standby time.

Claims (3)

A portable device possessed by the user, the portable device returns a response signal including an identification code when receiving a response request signal transmitted from a remote control target, and the returned response signal is When received by the control target, the remote control target control device determines the validity of the identification code included in the received response signal, and when determined to be valid, activates or operates the remote control target. In the remote control device to allow,
The response signal from the portable device is returned from each portable device when a response request signal transmitted from the remote control target is normally received for each of the plurality of portable devices corresponding to the remote control target. A response signal that is common to each portable device, and is transmitted from the remote control target to a specific portable device among a plurality of portable devices corresponding to the remote control target in response to the common response signal A response signal including the identification code unique to each portable device returned from the specific portable device when the response request signal is normally received,
The plurality of portable devices receive an activation signal that is one of response request signals transmitted from the remote control target control device to each of the portable devices corresponding to the remote control target. The remote control target control device is set in consideration of the time from when the activation signal is transmitted to each portable device until all of the portable devices that have received the activation signal operate stably. After the waiting time has elapsed, a reply timing control signal is sent to each portable device to request a response signal common to each portable device in response to the activation signal, and the reply timing control signal is received. A remote control device in which each portable device returns a common response signal to each portable device with respect to the activation signal. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein
Obtain in advance a stable time from when the plurality of portable devices receive the activation signal until the operations of all the portable devices are stabilized,
The remote control device, wherein the standby time is set longer than the stable time by a margin time.   The remote control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the remote control target is a vehicle or a building.

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