An information processing device comprising a processor, the processor being configured to: in a case in which a door of a vehicle is locked, determine whether or not a terminal that operates as an electronic key is located in the vehicle; and in a case in which the terminal is determined to be located in the vehicle, perform control to restrict at least a subset of functions, among functions of the vehicle that are controlled in accordance with communications with the terminal, based on a lock trigger causing the locking of the door of the vehicle.

A vehicle includes a confirmation section that confirms, at a time of vehicle door locking, whether or not an information processing device configured to be used to perform the vehicle door locking, is inside the vehicle; a determination section that, in a case in which it has not been confirmed by the confirmation section that the information processing device is inside the vehicle, determines whether or not vibration or movement of the information processing device has been detected within a predetermined period of time from the door locking; and an actuation section that, in a case in which vibration or movement of the information processing device has not been detected by the determination section, actuates an alarm.

A method and a system for ultra high frequency communication with and location of a portable device for “hands-free” access to a motor vehicle, the motor vehicle having an on-board communication device comprising an ultra high frequency transceiver, an electrical power supply source and at least one antenna, the motor vehicle including a first arrangement, in which the transceiver is connected to the antenna, and a second arrangement, in which the transceiver is disconnected from the antenna. The transceiver is connected to an attenuation module located at a predetermined distance from the transceiver. The attenuation module includes an impedance of predetermined value connected to ground. The predetermined distance between the transceiver and the attenuation module, as well as the predetermined value of the impedance, defining a locating area of the portable device in and around the motor vehicle.

Systems and methods are provided for remotely controlling a vehicle. A command for controlling the vehicle may be received via a user interface of the device, a command for controlling the vehicle and a determination of whether a first two-way wireless connection is available between the device and the vehicle is made. In response to determining that the two-way wireless connection is available, the command is transmitted to the vehicle via the first two-way wireless connection. In response to determining that the first two-way wireless connection is not available, the command is transmitted to a remote server associated with the vehicle via a second two-way connection. In response to receiving a request to display the status information of the vehicle, the most recent status information received via the first two-way wireless connection or retrieved from a memory is displayed.

Systems and methods are provided for controlling power modes of a vehicle and for providing passive entry to the vehicle. Responsive to a determination that a device is within a first distance from the vehicle, a wake-up action of the vehicle is initiated. The wake-up action includes a central controller transitioning one or more electronic control units (ECUs) or at least one program module from a first state to a second state. Responsive to a determination that the device is within a second distance from the vehicle, a welcome action of the vehicle is initiated. The welcome action includes the central controller causing the one or more ECUs or the at least one program module of the vehicle to execute an action associated with the vehicle.

A portable device is configured to establish a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) communication connection with a vehicle and to communicate with at least one sensor in the vehicle using impulse radio (IR) ultra-wide band (UWB) communication after establishment of the BLE communication connection with the vehicle is completed. A location of the portable device is determined by the vehicle based on ranging using IR UWB communication performed by the at least one sensor.

An affixable device can include a locking mechanism, a force-limiting mechanism, and a sensing mechanism. The locking mechanism can include an engagement component configured to disable the locking mechanism. The force-limiting mechanism can be configured to limit a locking force of the locking mechanism. The sensing mechanism can be coupled to the engagement component, and can be configured to determine that the force-limiting mechanism has limited the locking force of the locking mechanism. In response to determining the force-limiting mechanism limiting the locking force, the sensing mechanism can cause the engagement component to disable the locking mechanism.

An apparatus includes a vehicle control system (VCS) coupled to a computer of a vehicle via a CAN bus and configured to present selectively appearance of a presence in the vehicle of a smartkey, e.g., by energizing and de-energizing an actual smartkey of the vehicle. The VCS includes a VCS and a Bluetooth® VCS transceiver. The VCS stores VCS software. The apparatus also includes a smartphone with a Bluetooth® transceiver, and storing an app. The mobile device is paired with the VCS to communicate with the VCS via a Bluetooth® link. The app configures the smartphone to receive menu selections from a user, to generate communications that identity smartkey-enabled features of the VCS that correspond to the selections, and to send to the VCS the communications through the link. The VCS software configures the VCS to receive the communications and cause the vehicle to perform actions corresponding to live communications.

A system for passive locking and unlocking a vehicle is described that includes a memory for storing executable instructions and a processor configured to execute the instructions to unlock the vehicle using a time of flight to transmit the trigger request between the vehicle and the first key fob. The processor receives, from a first key fob, a trigger request to unlock the vehicle, and determines, based key fob identifiers that identify the first key fob and a second key fob that is also near the vehicle, that the first and second key fobs are associated with a vehicle. The processor selects the first key fob based on a key fob characteristic. The processor evaluates the time of flight using the first key fob, and unlocks the vehicle based on the time of flight satisfying a threshold for signal transmission flight time.

A system including: a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device and the second communication device perform the wireless communication that conforms to first wireless communication standards, and, when one of the first communication device and the second communication device decides that information obtained by the wireless communication that conforms to the first wireless communication standards satisfies a predetermined condition, perform the wireless communication that conforms to second wireless communication standards for measuring a distance between the first communication device and the second communication device.