WO2019050449A1

WO2019050449A1 - Method and control arrangement for activation of a communication device

Info

Publication number: WO2019050449A1
Application number: PCT/SE2018/050843
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bas OREMUS
Original assignee: Scania Cv Ab
Priority date: 2017-09-07
Filing date: 2018-08-21
Publication date: 2019-03-14
Also published as: DE112018003883B4; SE544279C2; SE1751078A1; DE112018003883T5

Abstract

Method (600) and control arrangement (310), for activating a wireless short distance connection of a communication device (120) of the vehicle (100) and a wireless short distance access point (210) associated with a predefined geographical zone (200). The method (600) comprises determining (601) geographical position of the vehicle (100); detecting (602) that the determined (601) geographical position is situated within the predefined geographical zone (200); and activating (608) the communication device (120) for wireless short distance connection with the wireless short distance access point (210), when the vehicle (100) is detected (602) to be situated within the predefined geographical zone (200).

Description

METHOD AND CONTROL ARRANGEMENT FOR ACTIVATION OF A COMMUNICATION DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD

This document discloses a method and a control arrangement. More particularly, a method and a control arrangement are disclosed, for activating a wireless short distance connection of a communication device of the vehicle and a wireless short distance access point associated with a predefined geographical zone. BACKGROUND

A problem with allowing vehicles access a wireless short distance connection such as e.g. WiFi or similar wireless communication interface is that vehicles typically are moving and passing the rather limited coverage zone of a WiFi access point very fast. In worst case, there may be enough time to terminate access procedures and initiate transmission of infor- mation to/ from the vehicle, but not enough time to complete the transmission. It may then be unknown which data has been sent or not. Resending data at a later access point is suboptimal and may cause double registration of data, etc. For this reason, wireless access via a continuous cellular communication network is considered to be the obvious and most appropriate choice for wireless vehicle communication.

And yet, allowing for WiFi access would have great advantages when developing new services for vehicles. It would for example allows for a connection free of charge with units in the vicinity of a WiFi access point. Many vehicles such as long haulage trucks typically operate in a multinational environment, which implicates that cellular communication roaming is required when the vehicle drives outside the range of the home cellular network, resulting in increased communication costs and possibly also communication volume/ speed constraints. These costs may be avoided if instead WiFi would be utilised for communication.

However, security issues and fear of hacker attacks are currently preventing any WiFi usage in vehicles, according to a branch convention, as vehicles are exceptionally much more sensitive for software failures than handheld communication devices such as cellular telephones. It has also shown that heavy vehicles such as trucks are attractive targets to over- take, for both terrorists and thieves, which put further demands on enhanced network security for vehicles in comparison with e.g. cellular telephones.

Another problem associated with vehicles emerge when driving to an automotive repair shop for maintenance or reparation. Various vehicle data is extracted from the control system of the vehicle via a wired interface, for analysis at the workshop. The described procedure is time consuming, and also requires expensive hardware equipment at the repair shop for wired communication with the vehicle control system. The information extraction furthermore often fails due to various hardware failures of the wired communication interface, due to the rough environment.

Yet a problem of a vehicle enabled to drive with a trailer, is to find the right trailer out of a plurality of available trailers. A major commercial freight forwarder may have hundreds of trailers on the parking and it is time consuming for the driver to find the right trailer, based only on knowledge of the registration plate. The risk is apparent that the driver takes another trailer than the intended, which may cause various problems. The erroneously taken trailer may for example be dysfunctional; or have another dimension than is optimal for the vehicle from an aerodynamic viewpoint, or sufficient for the cargo which is to be loaded in the trailer.

Also, vehicle drivers are responsible for keeping the vehicle fully functional and e.g. that the lamps for the head light, blinkers, brake lights etc., works. However, for checking the functionality of the blinkers for example, the driver needs to activate the blinkers on one side, at the driver seat and then walk around the vehicle to check the blinker lights on that side, and then return to the driver seat and repeat the procedure for the other side of the vehicles, etc., which is time consuming and tedious, in particular for heavy vehicles with trailers. There is consequently an obvious risk that the driver neglect frequent functionality checks.

The document CN104394513 discloses a control method for mobile terminal to access wire- less network. The method pre-sets a WI-FI module opening area of the mobile terminal, wherein the WI-FI module opening area is the coverage range of a safe WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network). The method judges whether the mobile terminal is positioned within the WI-FI module opening area according to a GPS module. If yes, the WI-FI module is turned on. The terminal closes the WI-FI module when the mobile terminal is positioned out of the WI-FI module opening area.

However, the document does not discuss any of the various particular problems of wireless communication with a vehicle. Further, the coverage range of a safe WLAN may be considerably larger than a geographical area that could be considered safe or appropriate.

Document WO2016095974 discloses a method for access network selection. An Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) rule is defined and transmitted to an ANDSF client in a User Equipment (UE). The ANDSF client determines if the current location of the UE matches the validity location area in the rule. If it matches, the ANDSF rule is applied in the UE.

Neither this document concerns the particular security issues related to wireless communi- cation with a vehicle, but only a cellular telephone. Further the solution disclosed in the document discussed which cellular network to access at different location areas, not whether WiFi is to be turned on/ off.

There are several distinct problems associated with vehicles and transfer of information to/ from vehicles, that may cause various problems in the traffic. It appears that further development is required for reducing problems associated with vehicle information communication.

SUMMARY

It is therefore an object of this invention to solve at least some of the above problems and provide improved activation of a wireless short distance connection of a communication device of a vehicle.

According to a first aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method in a vehicle, for activating a wireless short distance connection of a communication device of the vehicle and a wireless short distance access point associated with a predefined geographical zone. The method comprises determining geographical position of the vehicle. Further, the method comprises detecting that the determined geographical position is situated within the predefined geographical zone. In addition, the method also comprises activating the communica- tion device for wireless short distance connection with the wireless short distance access point, when the vehicle is detected to be situated within the predefined geographical zone.

According to a second aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a control arrangement for activating a wireless short distance connection of a communication device of the vehicle and a wireless short distance access point associated with a predefined geographical zone. The control arrangement is configured to determine geographical position of the vehicle. Further, the control arrangement is configured to detect that the determined geographical position is situated within the predefined geographical zone. Also, the control arrangement is further configured to activate the communication device for wireless short dis- tance connection with the wireless short distance access point, when the vehicle is detected to be situated within the predefined geographical zone.

Thanks to the described aspects, by defining geographical zones wherein safe WiFi access points (or based on other, similar, access technology), by continuously check whether the vehicle is situated within the predefined geographical zone, and only activate the WiFi chip of a communication device in the vehicle when the vehicle is situated within the defined geographical zone, it is avoided that communication is established with malicious or tam- pered WiFi access points. Thereby, the risk of hacker attacks is thereby radically decreased in comparison with having a continuously activated WiFi chip. However, data and information could be communicated to/ from the vehicle wirelessly within the predefined geographical zone, leading to efficient and reliable data exchange without the costs involved when cellular communication roaming is required.

Further, the provided solution makes it possible to introduce new services, such as for example extracting vehicle data for analysis while approaching the vehicle workshop and providing the technician with an analysis when the vehicle parks in the workshop. Another enabled service may be to allow the driver, or a technician, to remotely activate functions of the vehicle via a portable communication device communicating with the vehicle via the wireless short distance connection.

Other advantages and additional novel features will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description.

FIGURES

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a side view of a vehicle according to an embodiment.

Figure 2 illustrates a scenario with a vehicle according to an embodiment and a wire- less short distance access in a zone, as seen from above.

Figure 3 schematically illustrates a vehicle interior according to an embodiment.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of stored parameters in a database.

Figure 5 illustrates wireless communication according to an embodiment.

Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the method.

Figure 7 is an illustration depicting a system according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention described herein are defined as a method and a control ar- rangement, which may be put into practice in the embodiments described below. These embodiments may, however, be exemplified and realised in many different forms and are not to be limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these illustrative examples of embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

Still other objects and features may become apparent from the following detailed description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the herein disclosed embodiments, for which reference is to be made to the appended claims. Further, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.

Figure 1 illustrates a vehicle 100, driving in a driving direction 105. The vehicle 100 may drive on a road 110.

The vehicle 100 may comprise e.g. a truck, a car, a motorcycle, a multi-passenger vehicle such as a bus, a coach or any similar vehicle or other means of conveyance. The vehicle 100 may be driver-controlled or an autonomously controlled driverless vehicle in different embodiments. However, for enhanced clarity, the vehicle 100 is subsequently described as having a driver.

The vehicle 100 comprises a vehicle mounted wireless communication device 120, mounted on the vehicle 100. The purpose of the communication device 120 is to communicate wire- lessly via a short distance communication interface such as e.g. Wi-Fi, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Bluetooth (BT), Near Field Communication (NFC), Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Z-wave, ZigBee, IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6L0WPAN), Wireless Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (HART) Protocol, Wireless Universal Serial Bus (USB), optical communication such as Infrared Data Association (IrDA), Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) such as e.g. LoRa, or infrared transmission to name but a few possible examples of wireless communications in some embodiments.

A solution in order to avoid, or at least reduce vulnerability to hacker attack etc. on the wire- less communication device 120, which may comprise a Wi-Fi chip, is to limit the activation of the communication device 120 based on geographical location of the vehicle 100. For example, the communication device 120 may be activated in the vicinity of approved vehicle workshops. The communication device 120 may by default be deactivated. However, when the vehicle 100 enters a defined zone around an approved workshop, the communication device 120, and thereby also the wireless short distance communication interface, is activated. The defined zone may have any arbitrary form, such as square, rectangular, circular, triangular, or various combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the defined zone may be shaped in order to disallow activation of communication devices 120 in vehicles 100 that are merely passing the workshop on a close by road, while allowing activation of communication devices 120 in vehicles 100 entering the workshop area.

Thereby, new services could be developed that can connect the communication device 120 of the vehicle 100 to a workshop network in order to start downloading new software to the vehicle 100, upload various vehicle data, etc.

When the vehicle 100 is leaving the zone, the communication devices 120 is turned off again, thus minimising the risk of intrusion by others. By only activating the wireless short distance communication ability of the communication device 120 when the vehicle 100 is in a trusted zone the risk of the vehicle 100 being subject of hacker attacks is reduced, or even eliminated.

Figure 2 illustrates a scenario wherein the vehicle 100 is driving in the driving direction 105, approaching a predefined geographical zone 200 and a wireless short distance access point 210 situated therein, as seen from above.

It may be determined that the vehicle 100 is approaching the predefined geographical zone 200, e.g. based on determination of geographical position of the vehicle 100 based on a satellite navigation system such as the Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging (Navstar) Global Positioning System (GPS), Differential GPS (DGPS), Galileo, GLONASS, or the like, in combination with map data wherein the predefined geographical zone 200 is designated.

The vehicle 100 may comprise a positioning device for determining the geographical position of the vehicle 100, as well as time, vehicle speed, heading, etc., may be determined continuously, or at a certain predetermined or configurable time interval according to various embodiments. The geographical position of the vehicle 100 may alternatively be determined, e.g. by having transponders positioned at known positions around the route and a dedicated sensor in the vehicle 100, for recognising the transponders and thereby determining the position; by detecting and recognising cellular network signals; by receiving wireless beaconing signals, associated with a respective geographical position, or other signal signatures of wireless signals such as e.g. by triangulation of signals emitted by a plurality of fixed base stations with known geographical positions, etc.

In yet some alternative embodiments, the vehicle 100 may detect the predefined geograph- ical zone 200 via a sensor, i.e. a camera. The sensor may detect e.g. a traffic sign, informing about the predefined geographical zone 200. The sensor may be forwardly directed in the driving direction 105. A forwardly directed sensor may be arranged e.g. behind the windshield have some advantages compared to externally mounted camera systems. These advantages include the possibility to use windshield wipers for cleaning and using the light from headlights to illuminate objects in the camera's field of view. It is also protected from dirt, snow, rain and to some extent also from damage, vandalism and/ or theft. Such forwardly directed sensor may also be used for a variety of other tasks. The purpose of the visual detection of the predefined geographical zone 200 may be to have redundancy. The sensor comprises, or may be connected to a control arrangement configured for image recognition/ computer vision and object recognition. It may thereby be determined that the vehicle 100 is approaching the predefined geographical zone 200.

Figure 3 illustrates a scenario wherein the vehicle 100 is driving in the driving direction 105 on a road 1 10, as it may be perceived by the driver of the vehicle 100, if any.

The vehicle 100 comprises a control arrangement 310, such as e.g. a computer. The control arrangement 310 at least one processing element, typically a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and some form of memory. The processing element may carry out arithmetic and logical operations, and a sequencing and control unit can change the order of operations in response to stored information.

The control arrangement 310 is configured to determine geographical position of the vehicle 100 via a positioning device 340, or navigator, in the vehicle 100. The positioning device 340 and the geographical positioning may be based on a satellite navigation system such as the Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging (Navstar) Global Positioning System (GPS), Differential GPS (DGPS), Galileo, GLONASS, or the like. The geographical position of the positioning device 340, (and thereby also of the vehicle 100) may be made repeatedly, such as e.g. continuously at a certain predetermined or configurable time interval, according to various embodiments.

5 Positioning by satellite navigation is based on distance measurement using triangulation from a number of satellites 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d. In this example, four satellites 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d are depicted, but this is merely an example. More than four satellites 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d may be used for enhancing the precision, or for creating redundancy. The satellites 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d continuously transmit information about time and date (for

10 example, in coded form), identity (which satellite 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d that broadcasts), status, and where the satellite 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d are situated at any given time. The GPS satellites 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d sends information encoded with different codes, for example, but not necessarily based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). This allows information from an individual satellite 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d distinguished from the others'

15 information, based on a unique code for each respective satellite 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d.

This information can then be transmitted to be received by the appropriately adapted positioning device 340 comprised in the vehicle 100.

Distance measurement can according to some embodiments comprise measuring the differ- 20 ence in the time it takes for each respective satellite signal transmitted by the respective satellites 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d to reach the positioning device 340. As the radio signals travel at the speed of light, the distance to the respective satellite 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d may be computed by measuring the signal propagation time.

25 The positions of the satellites 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d are known, as they continuously are monitored by approximately 15-30 ground stations located mainly along and near the earth's equator. Thereby the geographical position, i.e. latitude and longitude, of the vehicle 100 may be calculated by determining the distance to at least three satellites 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d through triangulation. For determination of altitude, signals from four satellites 350a,

30 350b, 350c, 350d may be used according to some embodiments.

Having determined the geographical position of the vehicle 100 by the positioning device 340 (or in another way), it may be presented on a map, a screen or an information outputting device 330 where the position of the vehicle 100 may be marked in some optional, alternative 35 embodiments.

In some embodiments, the current geographical position of the vehicle 100 and the com- puted predicted path of the vehicle 100 may in some embodiments be displayed on the information outputting device 330.

The current position of the vehicle 100 may be checked against stored map data upon which positioning data associated with predefined geographical zones 200 are stored in a database 320.

It may thereby be detected that the vehicle 100 is approaching/ entering and/ or leaving a predefined geographical zone 200.

When the vehicle 100 is determined to be entering a predefined geographical zone 200, i.e. a zone in which wireless short distance connection is allowed, based on the determined geographical position of the vehicle 100 and stored map data in the database 320, the control arrangement 310 may activate the communication device 120 in the vehicle 100 for wireless short distance connection with the wireless short distance access point 210 of the geographical zone 200, when the vehicle 100 is detected to be situated within the predefined geographical zone 200. The described process is made automatically, without requiring any manual interaction by the driver, enabling him/ her to focus on the traffic environment. Figure 4 illustrates an example of a database 320. In this case, each predetermined zone 200 is associated with a set of geographical coordinates that defines, or limits, the zone 200. It may be noted that the zones 200 may have any arbitrary shape, such as rectangular, triangular, quadratic, circular, semi-circular, or a combination thereof. The different zones 200 may also have different shapes.

The coordinates may comprise absolute or relative geographical coordinates that uniquely determines the limits of the respective zone 200.

Each zone 200 is also associated with a respective wireless short distance access point 210.

The zones 200 may in some embodiments also be associated with different eligibilities, dependent on the level of trust or confidence that may be given to each respective zone 200/ wireless short distance access point 210. These levels of trust may be binary (trusted/ less trusted) or divided into several levels, in different embodiments.

For example, an access point 210 which is in direct control/ owned by the vehicle owner, or otherwise being trustworthy and secure, may have unlimited level of trust, allowing for example downloading of software updates, new software, uploading of confidential (business critical) information from the vehicle 100, etc. Another example may be vehicle brand workshops, which also may have unlimited trust; or at least being trusted to extract vehicle diagnosis information from the vehicle 100, in order to detect errors.

5 Some zones 200/ access points 210 may be less trusted, such as e.g. access points 210 of fuel stations (e.g. of a certain preferred brand), hotel/ motel chains (e.g. of a certain preferred brand), etc. In these less trusted zones 200/ access points 210, permission may be given to upload certain non-confidential (not business critical) information from the vehicle 100, but not to download software, for example, as malicious or erroneous software may affect traffic o safety.

In this illustrated example, there is also a zone 200/ access point 210 having a third level of trust, wherein no interaction of vehicle data is allowed at all, while for example infotainment related data may be downloaded, for the pleasure of the driver.

5

It may be noted that the communication device 120 will be deactivated while situated outside any of the predefined zones 200 and consequently will not be able to access any unknown access point being situated outside any predefined zone 200. 0 Figure 5 illustrates an example of a scenario, wherein the vehicle 100 is situated within a predefined geographical zone 200, wherein short distance wireless communication is enabled, as the communication device 120 of the vehicle 100 has been activated.

Short distance wireless communication is thereby enabled between the communication de-5 vice 120 of the vehicle 100 and a portable communication device 500 of the driver.

The short distance wireless communication may be e.g. WiFi signals via the access point 120, or peer-to-peer communication directly between the communication device 120 and the portable communication device 500, such as Bluetooth or similar communication protocol.0

It thereby becomes possible for the driver to remotely activate blinkers on the vehicle 100 via the portable communication device 500. Other possible functionalities may be to remotely activate a heater or air conditioner within the cabin of the vehicle 100; check air pressure of the tyres; check fuel level/ urea level, temperature of the cabin, etc.

5

Figure 6 illustrates an example of a method 600 according to an embodiment. The flow chart in Figure 6 shows the method 600 in a vehicle 100 for activating a wireless short distance connection of a communication device 120 of the vehicle 100 and a wireless short distance access point 210 associated with a predefined geographical zone 200.

Information such as e.g. geographical coordinates of the predefined geographical zone 200, associated wireless short distance access point 210, type of zone 200, trust level of the zone 5 200, eligibilities that may be performed in the zone 200 etc., may be stored in a database 320 in the vehicle 100; or alternatively in a vehicle external database.

In order to be able to activate the wireless short distance connection of the communication device 120, the method 600 may comprise a number of steps 601-610. However, some of0 these steps 601 -610 may be performed solely in some alternative embodiments, like e.g. steps 603-607 and/ or 609-610. Further, the described steps 601 -610 may be performed in a somewhat different chronological order than the numbering suggests. The method 600 may comprise the subsequent steps: 5 Step 601 comprises determining geographical position of the vehicle 100.

Step 602 comprises detecting that the determined 601 geographical position is situated within the predefined geographical zone 200. 0 Information/ coordinates of the predefined geographical zone 200 may be stored in the database 320 in the vehicle 100; or alternatively in a vehicle external database.

Step 603, which only may be performed in some alternative embodiments, comprises extracting a confidence level, associated with the predefined geographical zone 200.

5

The confidence level may be extracted from the database 320 in the vehicle 100; or alternatively from a vehicle external database.

By giving and associating different confidence levels to different access points 120/ prede-0 fined geographical zones 200, different services (i.e. services being differently critical to security issues) may be provided in different geographical zones 200, dependent on the confidence level of that access point 120/ geographical zone 200.

Access points 120/ geographical zones 200 that are very reliable and trusted, e.g. being5 owned by the vehicle owner, may have full access to all information of the vehicle 100 while less trusted access points 120/ geographical zones 200 still may allow for less security critical communication, such as e.g. downloading of infotainment to an output device in the cabin. Step 604, which only may be performed in some alternative embodiments, comprises estimating a period of time the vehicle 100 will remain within the predefined geographical zone 200. Step 605, which only may be performed in some alternative embodiments, comprises disallowing any communication expected to exceed the estimated 604 period of time.

Thereby, thanks to steps 604-605, it is avoided that information downloading is avoided when the vehicle 100 is only passing the geographical zone 200 at high velocity, and there is not enough time to finish the communication to be made. Thereby it is avoided to start uploading vehicle information (and/ or downloading a software update) when the time within the zone 200 is insufficient.

Step 606, which only may be performed in some alternative embodiments, comprises deter- mining a priority order of information to be communicated.

Thus, by making a priority order and communicate information in the priority order, it is assured that the most crucial/ critical information is transmitted firstly and that less important information is sent only when there is plenty of time for the communication.

Step 607, which only may be performed in some alternative embodiments, comprises determining the vehicle speed of the vehicle 100.

By determining the vehicle speed, e.g. via the speedometer of the vehicle 100, and/ or via the navigator, it is avoided that lengthy communications are initiated when the vehicle 100 is driving at a speed exceeding the threshold value (which may be set to zero km/h, or any other convenient speed).

The activation of the communication device 120 may be made only when the determined vehicle speed is lower than a threshold value.

Thereby workshop data may be downloaded from the vehicle 100 when queuing outside the workshop (waiting for service/ maintenance), but not from the vehicle 100 when just passing the workshop on the close by high way.

Step 608 comprises activating the communication device 120 for wireless short distance connection with the wireless short distance access point 210, when the vehicle 100 is detected 602 to be situated within the predefined geographical zone 200. The activation of the communication device 120 may in some embodiments wherein step 603 has been performed, be made according to the extracted 603 confidence level. In some embodiments wherein step 606 has been performed, the communication of the communication device 120 may be made in the determined 606 priority order.

The activation of the communication device 120 may be made only when the determined 607 vehicle speed is lower than a threshold value, according to some embodiments wherein step 607 has been performed.

Step 609, which only may be performed in some alternative embodiments, comprises detecting that the determined 601 geographical position is situated outside the predefined geographical zone 200.

Step 610, which only may be performed in some alternative embodiments wherein step 609 has been performed, comprises deactivating the communication device 120 for wireless short distance connection with the wireless short distance access point 210, when the vehicle 100 is detected 609 to be situated outside the predefined geographical zone 200.

By detecting that the vehicle 100 is leaving the geographical zone 200, and turning off the WiFi chip/ communication device 120 when such detection is made, it is avoided that the WiFi chip/ communication device 120 connect to any other, not trusted, access point outside the geographical zone 200.

Figure 7 presents a system 700. The system 700 aims at activating a wireless short distance connection of a communication device 120 of the vehicle 100 and a wireless short distance access point 210 associated with a predefined geographical zone 200. The system 700 comprises a control arrangement 310. The control arrangement 310 is configured for performing the method 600, according to any, some or all of the previously described steps 601 -610 as described above and illustrated in Figure 6. Thus, the control arrangement 310 aims at activating a wireless short distance connection of a communication device 120 of the vehicle 100 and a wireless short distance access point 210 associated with a predefined geographical zone 200.

The control arrangement 310 is configured to determine geographical position of the vehicle 100. Further, the control arrangement 310 is also configured to detect that the determined geographical position is situated within the predefined geographical zone 200. The control arrangement 310 is furthermore configured to activate the communication device 120 for wireless short distance connection with the wireless short distance access point 210, when the vehicle 100 is detected to be situated within the predefined geographical zone 200.

The control arrangement 310 may in some alternative embodiments be configured to extract a confidence level, associated with the predefined geographical zone 200. The control arrangement 310 may in addition be configured to activate the communication device 120 according to the extracted confidence level.

In some embodiments, the control arrangement 310 may also be configured to estimate a period of time the vehicle 100 will remain within the predefined geographical zone 200. The control arrangement 310 may furthermore also be configured to disallow any communication expected to exceed the estimated period of time.

Furthermore, the control arrangement 310 may be configured to determine a priority order of information to be transferred. The control arrangement 310 may furthermore be configured to control that the communication of the communication device 120 is made in the determined priority order.

Also, the control arrangement 310 may in some embodiments be configured to determine vehicle speed. The control arrangement 310 may in addition be configured to activate the communication device 120 only when the determined vehicle speed is lower than a threshold value.

The control arrangement 310 may furthermore, in some embodiments, be configured to detect that the determined geographical position is situated outside the predefined geographical zone 200, based on information obtained from a positioning device 340. Also, the control arrangement 310 may be configured to deactivate the communication device 120 for wireless short distance connection with the wireless short distance access point 210, when the vehicle 100 is detected to be situated outside the predefined geographical zone 200.

The system 700 in addition also comprises a positioning device 340, configured to determine geographical position of the vehicle 100, such as e.g. a navigator.

Further, the system 700 comprises a database 320 comprising a list of geographical positions of predefined geographical zones 200, wherein each predefined geographical zone 200 is associated with a wireless short distance access point 210. The system 700 comprises a communication device 120 for wireless short distance connection with the wireless short distance access point 210. The control arrangement 310 may comprise a receiving unit 710 configured for receiving information via a wired or wireless communication, from the database 320 and/ or from the positioning device 340.

The control arrangement 310 further may comprise a processing circuitry 720 configured for performing various calculations for conducting the method 600 according to at least some of the previously described method steps 601 -610.

Such processing circuitry 720 may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit, i.e. a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, a processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that may interpret and execute instructions. The herein utilised expression "processing circuitry" may thus represent a processing circuitry comprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any, some or all of the ones enumerated above. Furthermore, the control arrangement 310 may comprise a memory 725 in some embodiments. The optional memory 725 may comprise a physical device utilised to store data or programs, i.e., sequences of instructions, on a temporary or permanent basis. According to some embodiments, the memory 725 may comprise integrated circuits comprising silicon- based transistors. The memory 725 may comprise e.g. a memory card, a flash memory, a USB memory, a hard disc, or another similar volatile or non-volatile storage unit for storing data such as e.g. ROM (Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable PROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM), etc. in different embodiments. Further, the control arrangement 310 may comprise a signal transmitting unit 730. The signal transmitting unit 730 may be configured for transmitting a command signal and/ or information to the communication device 120, which in turn is configured for wireless short distance connection with the wireless short distance access point 210. The previously described steps 601 -610 to be performed in the control arrangement 310 may be implemented through the one or more processing circuitries 720 within the control arrangement 310, together with computer program product for performing at least some of the functions of the steps 601 -610. Thus, a computer program product, comprising instructions for performing the steps 601 -610 in the control arrangement 310 may perform the method 600 comprising at least some of the steps 601 -610 for activating a wireless short distance connection of a communication device 120 of the vehicle 100 and a wireless short distance access point 210 associated with a predefined geographical zone 200, when the computer 5 program is loaded into the one or more processing circuitries 720 of the control arrangement 310.

The described steps 601 -610 thus may be performed by a computer algorithm, a machine executable code, a non-transitory computer-readable medium, or a software instructions pro- 10 grammed into a suitable programmable logic such as the processing circuitry 720 in the control arrangement 310 in various embodiments.

The computer program product mentioned above may be provided for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at least some of the step

15 601 -610 according to some embodiments when being loaded into the one or more processing circuitry 720 of the control arrangement 310. The data carrier may be, e.g., a hard disk, a CD ROM disc, a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any other appropriate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold machine readable data in a non-transitory manner. The computer program product may furthermore be pro-

20 vided as computer program code on a server and downloaded to the control arrangement 310 remotely, e.g., over an Internet or an intranet connection.

Further, some embodiments may comprise a vehicle 100, comprising the control arrangement 310, as described above, for performing the method according to at least some of the 25 described method steps 601 -610.

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the described method 600, control arrangement 310; computer program, and/ or system 700. Various changes, substitutions and/ or 30 alterations may be made, without departing from invention embodiments as defined by the appended claims.

As used herein, the term "and/ or" comprises any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The term "or" as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathematical 35 OR, i.e., as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR), unless expressly stated otherwise. In addition, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are to be interpreted as "at least one", thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of the same kind, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "includes", "comprises", "including" and/ or "comprising", specifies the presence of stated features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/ or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/ or groups thereof. A single unit such as e.g. a processor may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/ distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms such as via Internet or other wired or wireless communication system.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1 . A method (600) in a vehicle (100), for activating a wireless short distance connection of a communication device (120) of the vehicle (100) and a wireless short distance access point (210) associated with a predefined geographical zone (200), which method (600) com- prises:

determining (601 ) geographical position of the vehicle (100);

detecting (602) that the determined (601 ) geographical position is situated within the predefined geographical zone (200); and

activating (608) the communication device (120) for wireless short distance connec- tion with the wireless short distance access point (210), when the vehicle (100) is detected (602) to be situated within the predefined geographical zone (200).

2. The method (600) according to claim 1 , further comprising:

extracting (603) a confidence level, associated with the predefined geographical zone (200); and

wherein the activation (608) of the communication device (120) is made according to the extracted (603) confidence level.

3. The method (600) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: estimating (604) a period of time the vehicle (100) will remain within the predefined geographical zone (200); and

disallowing (605) any communication expected to exceed the estimated (604) period of time.

4. The method (600) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: determining (606) a priority order of information to be communicated; and wherein the communication of the communication device (120) is made in the determined (606) priority order.

5. The method (600) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: determining (607) vehicle speed; and

wherein the activation (608) of the communication device (120) is made only when the determined (607) vehicle speed is lower than a threshold value.

6. The method (600) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: detecting (609) that the determined (601 ) geographical position is situated outside the predefined geographical zone (200); and deactivating (610) the communication device (120) for wireless short distance connection with the wireless short distance access point (210), when the vehicle (100) is detected (609) to be situated outside the predefined geographical zone (200).

7. A computer program comprising program code for performing a method (600) according to any one of the preceding claims when the computer program is executed in a control arrangement (310), according to any one of claims 8-1 1 .

8. A control arrangement (310) in a vehicle (100), for activating a wireless short dis- tance connection of a communication device (120) of the vehicle (100) and a wireless short distance access point (210) associated with a predefined geographical zone (200), wherein the control arrangement (310) is configured to:

determine geographical position of the vehicle (100);

detect that the determined geographical position is situated within the predefined geographical zone (200); and

activate the communication device (120) for wireless short distance connection with the wireless short distance access point (210), when the vehicle (100) is detected to be situated within the predefined geographical zone (200).

9. The control arrangement (310) according to claim 8, further configured to:

extract a confidence level, associated with the predefined geographical zone (200); and

activate the communication device (120) according to the extracted confidence level.

10. The control arrangement (310) according to any one of claim 8 or claim 9, further configured to:

estimate a period of time the vehicle (100) will remain within the predefined geographical zone (200); and

disallow any communication expected to exceed the estimated period of time.

1 1 . The control arrangement (310) according to any one of claims 8-10, further configured to:

determine a priority order of information to be transferred; and

wherein the communication of the communication device (120) is made in the determined priority order.

12. The control arrangement (310) according to any one of claims 8-1 1 , further configured to:

determine vehicle speed; and

activate the communication device (120) only when the determined vehicle speed 5 is lower than a threshold value.

13. The control arrangement (310) according to any one of claims 8-12, further configured to:

detect that the determined geographical position is situated outside the predefined 10 geographical zone (200); and

deactivate the communication device (120) for wireless short distance connection with the wireless short distance access point (210), when the vehicle (100) is detected to be situated outside the predefined geographical zone (200).

15 14. A system (700) for activating a wireless short distance connection of a communication device (120) of the vehicle (100) and a wireless short distance access point (210) associated with a predefined geographical zone (200), which system (700) comprises:

a control arrangement (310), according to any one of claims 8-13;

a positioning device (340), configured to determine geographical position of the ve- 20 hide (100);

a database (320) comprising a list of geographical positions of predefined geographical zones (200), wherein each predefined geographical zone (200) is associated with a wireless short distance access point (210); and

a communication device (120) for wireless short distance connection with the wire- 25 less short distance access point (210).