Arrangement for unlocking a vehicle, method and a vehicle

Abstract

An arrangement for unlocking a vehicle with a user equipment, including an electronic information reader module for reading authenticity information from a passive tag of the user equipment, said passive tag being powered by inducing a voltage therein, wherein the arrangement is configured for running a first authentication protocol via the reader module and the passive tag, a charging device for charging the user equipment, wherein the charging device is located in a closeable space of the vehicle being closeable by at least one lockable lid, wherein the at least one lockable lid is configured to be unlocked when the reader module and the passive tag are in communicative contact and when the arrangement has verified an authenticity of the passive tag, and wherein the arrangement is configured to run an additional authentication protocol with the user equipment for unlocking at least one door of the vehicle.

Claims

1. An arrangement for unlocking a vehicle with a user equipment, comprising, an electronic information reader module for reading authenticity information from a passive tag of the user equipment, said passive tag being powered by inducing a voltage therein, wherein the arrangement is configured for running a first authentication protocol via the reader module and the passive tag, a charging device for charging the user equipment, wherein the charging device is located in a closeable space of the vehicle being closeable by at least one lockable lid, wherein the at least one lockable lid is configured to be unlocked when the reader module and the passive tag are in communicative contact and when the arrangement has run the first authentication protocol and verified an authenticity of the passive tag based on the authenticity information, and wherein the arrangement is configured to run an additional authentication protocol with the user equipment for unlocking at least one door of the vehicle.

2. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the passive tag is powered by inducing a voltage therein by the electronic information reader module.

3. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the additional authentication protocol for unlocking the at least one door is configured to be run via the charging device.

4. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the charging device comprises at least one of a physical charging connection, a USB connection, or an inductive charging connection.

5. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the additional authentication protocol is configured to be run via at least one of a physical electrical connection and a wireless connection between the arrangement and the user equipment.

6. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the lockable lid is a fueling and/or electrical charging lid of the vehicle.

7. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the user equipment is any one of a mobile device, a smartphone and a tablet computer.

8. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the electronic information reader module and the passive tag are adapted to be in communicative contact in a range of 2 meters or less from each other.

9. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the electronic information reader module and the passive tag are configured as an NFC reader/tag and/or an RFID reader/tag.

10. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the electronic information reader module is located at an outer surface of the vehicle.

11. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the electronic information reader module is located in the proximity of the closeable space and/or the lockable lid.

12. A vehicle comprising the arrangement according to claim 1.

13. A method for unlocking a vehicle with a user equipment and an arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises the following steps: A) providing the user equipment in a range from the reader module such that the reader module and the passive tag of the user equipment are in communicative contact, B) running a first authentication protocol between the reader module and the passive tag for authenticating the passive tag, and when the passive tag is authenticated, unlocking the lockable lid, thereby accessing the closeable space, C) connecting the user equipment to the charging device in the closeable space for charging the user equipment, and D) running an additional authentication protocol between the arrangement and the user equipment for authenticating the user equipment to thereby unlock at least one door of the vehicle.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: running the additional authentication protocol when the user equipment has been charged by the charging device to a level allowing the user equipment to be activated.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the additional authentication protocol is run via the charging device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) Exemplifying and preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described more in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a vehicle according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 shows an arrangement according to an example embodiment of the present invention; and

(4) FIG. 3 shows flowchart of a method according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

(5) The drawings show diagrammatic exemplifying embodiments of the present invention and are thus not necessarily drawn to scale. It shall be understood that the embodiments shown and described are exemplifying and that the invention is not limited to these embodiments. It shall also be noted that some details in the drawings may be exaggerated in order to better describe and illustrate the invention. Like reference characters refer to like elements throughout the description, unless expressed otherwise.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(6) In FIG. 1, a vehicle 100 including an arrangement 1 according to the first aspect of the invention is depicted. The vehicle 100 includes at least one door 101 for accessing a vehicle compartment for users of the vehicle 100. Still further, the vehicle 100 includes at least one lockable lid 14, which in this embodiment is a charging lid, but could also of course be a fueling lid or any other lid. Next to the lockable lid 14 is an electronic information reader module 11 positioned. As may be understood, the reader module 11 may be located at any location on the vehicle 100, but in a preferred embodiment the reader module 11 is positioned close to the lockable lid 14, or even on the lockable lid 14. The reader module 11 may further be identified by a user by a marking on the vehicle 100, which could be text, specific coloring etc. In an alternative embodiment, the reader module 11 may not be seen and also not possible to identify by visual inspection of the vehicle 100. This may increase the difficulty for an unwanted user to try to open the lid 14 by using the reader module 11.

(7) Just as a matter of example, the reader module 11 of the arrangement 1 may also be used for other purposes, such as for easily opening the lid 14 when the user wants to refill the fueling tank (not shown) or charge the vehicle 100. As another example, the reader module 11 may also be used for automatically opening the lid 14 by a robot arm (not shown) including a passive tag, wherein the robot arm is used for automatically recharging the vehicle 100. In such a case, the authentication process between the robot arm and the vehicle 100 may include prior security data exchange, possibly over Bluetooth or WiFi.

(8) Still further, the reader module 11 on the vehicle 100 may further be used for automatic payments, such as for toll roads/bridge passages or the like.

(9) Now turning to FIG. 2, a more detailed view of an arrangement 1 is depicted, which is connected to a user equipment 20 for unlocking a vehicle door 101 as seen in FIG. 1. The user equipment 20 is in this embodiment a smartphone which also includes a passive NFC tag 21. The arrangement 1 includes an electronic information reader module 11 for reading authenticity information from the passive tag 21 of the smartphone 20. The passive tag 21 is powered by electromagnetically inducing a voltage in the tag 21, the voltage being induced by the reader module 11. The arrangement 1 is configured for running a first authentication protocol via the reader module 11 and the passive tag 21 and further includes a charging device 12, in this embodiment a USB connection, for charging the user equipment 20. The charging device 12 is located in a closeable space 13 of the vehicle 100 which is closeable by at least one lockable lid 14. In this example embodiment, the lid 14 is a charging lid for accessing a socket for charging a battery (not shown) of the vehicle 100. The at least one lockable lid 14 is configured to be unlocked when the reader module 11 and the passive tag 21 are in communicative contact and when the arrangement 1 has run the first authentication protocol and verified an authenticity of the passive tag 21 based on the authenticity information in the tag 21. The arrangement 1 is configured to run an additional authentication protocol with the user equipment 20 for unlocking at least one door 101 of the vehicle 100, wherein in this example the additional authentication protocol is run via the USB connection 12. Hence, the lockable lid 14 may first be opened by the reader/tag, 11 and 21, even if the smartphone's 20 battery (not shown) is out of charge. After opening the lid 14 and the smartphone 20 has been connected to the USB connection 12 and charged to a level such that it can be activated again, the additional authentication protocol can be run via the connection 12. Thereby, a convenient and secure way of unlocking the vehicle 100 is provided.

(10) The first authentication protocol may for example be a less secure protocol than the additional protocol run via the USB connection 12 which the smartphone 20 is connected to. Hence, the closeable space 13 may be easy accessible by using the tag 21 and the vehicle compartment may be more difficult to access since it requires the additional authentication protocol which may be a more secure protocol run by the respective processing units/memory units (not shown) in the smartphone 20 and the arrangement 1. For example, the additional protocol may include an algorithm and may be a so called Challenge-Response protocol.

(11) Once the vehicle door 101 is opened, the user may disconnect the user equipment 20 from the charging device 12 and enter the vehicle 100. If the user equipment 20 has enough power, it may further be used for starting/activating the vehicle 100 by running another secure authentication protocol. In the case the user equipment 20 needs further charging, it may be connected to an additional charging device (not shown) inside the vehicle compartment. Thereafter, an authentication protocol for starting the vehicle 100 may be run, either directly via the additional charging device or wirelessly once the user equipment 20 has enough power. The additional charging device inside the vehicle compartment may be an additional USB connection, an inductive charging device or any other suitable charging device.

(12) In FIG. 3, a flowchart of a method according to an example embodiment of the present invention is depicted. The method is used for unlocking a vehicle 100 with a user equipment 20 and an arrangement 1 as disclosed herein. The method includes the following steps:

(13) A) providing the user equipment 20 in a range from the reader module 11 such that the reader module 11 and the passive tag 21 of the user equipment 20 are in communicative contact,

(14) B) running a first authentication protocol between the reader module 11 and the passive tag 21 for authenticating the passive tag 21, and when the passive tag 21 is authenticated, unlocking the lockable lid 14, thereby accessing the closeable space 13,

(15) C) connecting the user equipment 20 to the charging device 12 in the closeable space 13 for charging the user equipment 20, and

(16) D) running an additional authentication protocol between the arrangement 1 and the user equipment 20 for authenticating the user equipment 20 to thereby unlock at least one door 101 of the vehicle 100.

(17) The additional authentication protocol that is run in step D may be run when the user equipment 20 has been charged to a level allowing the user equipment 20 to be activated. In addition, as can be seen in the embodiment in FIG. 2, the additional authentication protocol in step D may advantageously be run via the charging device 12, which in this example is a USB connection. Alternatively and as also disclosed herein, the charging device 12 could also be another charging device, such as an inductive charging device. In such a case, the additional authentication protocol may be run via a wireless connection, such as WiFi or Bluetooth when the user equipment 20 has been charged to a level allowing it to be activated. Thereby a more secure authentication protocol may be run once the user equipment is activated, for example an authentication protocol as disclosed herein, or any other similar secure authentication protocol.

(18) The invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein. It would be evident for the skilled person that other embodiments and modifications to the embodiments specified hereinabove are also possible within the scope of the claims.