Car companies make mobile phones? It is said that there is a small idea behind UWB

Recently, the mobile phone product of a new car-making force has been registered with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and a number of industry professionals have emerged to interpret its functional performance. In particular, its car experience based on ultra-wideband (UWB) technology may once again be improved. Sparking technical discussions in the industry.

One of the features of this phone is that it is equipped with UWB technology, which will become a digital car key for the owners of this new force. The car key will not only have a simple Bluetooth connection function, but also have a location recognition function, as well as various location-based development. User experience upgrade possible.

Currently, mainstream mobile phone digital car keys rely on Bluetooth low-power communication on the mobile phone to achieve connection functions, but do not yet have positioning capabilities. Although the phone can be automatically unlocked when it is close to the vehicle, it is not known who the other party is and where they are sitting.

The insertion of UWB and centimeter-level positioning accuracy allow the car to identify the main driver, co-driver and even rear passengers, and can adjust car settings, music, air conditioning, welcome effects in advance... and more functional expansions, allowing the car to be used more easily. The experience is richer and silkier.

Not only positioning accuracy, these characteristics of UWB are also important

UWB supports single distance measurement area

It is worth mentioning that UWB is interested in positioning accuracy but not limited to its advantages. Compared with NFC and Bluetooth, UWB technology solutions also have obvious advantages in terms of security, power consumption, and application expansion.

For example, in the past few years, the automotive industry has repeatedly experienced hacker attacks on keyless systems, many of which use Bluetooth solutions. Some known vulnerabilities in traditional remote keyless entry (433MHz car dongles/fobs) allow attackers to sometimes access and even control the car.

The UWB solution greatly improves the anti-relay attack capability of UWB digital keys due to the addition of security timestamps to the signal. Because the ranging information frame sent by the transmitting device can support more than 8,000-bit encrypted timestamps, only after matching the rolling code on the receiving end can the corresponding timestamp be obtained and the vehicle unlocked. Furthermore, if the signal flight time is too long, the system will also determine that the car key is not within the valid range, so the attacker will not be able to deceive the system.

Two years ago, the CCC3.0 specification officially released by the Car Network Alliance (CCC) clearly proposed that the combination of UWB and Bluetooth wireless technology can achieve passive keyless entry and engine starting through compatible mobile devices, which is equivalent to the official UWB digital The key rectifies the name.

With its many advantages such as anti-interference, high precision, and strong security, UWB ultra-wideband technology is entering the public eye with a new attitude, along with upstream chips, protocols, standards, and mid-stream and downstream hardware.

• Based on the UWB radar function, people and objects inside and outside the vehicle can also be detected, thereby realizing new security functions, such as intrusion car detection and passenger detection. Because UWB radar technology is so sensitive, it can be used to detect human breath and even differentiate between adults and infants. Today, there are endless accidents of infants and young children left in the car every year. UWB living bodies can effectively prevent similar tragedies from happening. It can also send an alarm to the driver protection system when the driver falls asleep or loses the ability to move.

UWB kick switch

• Based on the high-sensitivity UWB radar algorithm, the left or right rear anchor point of the car can be reused. Compared with the current capacitive kick switch function used in most mid-to-high-end cars, it can more accurately detect kick movements to realize automatic opening of the trunk. and other functions.

Intelligent location awareness

• UWB technology will also promote the development of autonomous driving to a great extent. Based on UWB anchor point multiplexing technology and super-credible position sensing algorithm, broadcast transmission and distributed calculation are realized, and centimeter-level high-precision positioning of cars in underground garages, tunnels, and satellite blind spots is achieved.

Wider V2X applications

• Another use case of UWB is to ensure the security of automatic wireless charging that electric vehicles are expected to open in the future. This function can drive UWB electric vehicles to wireless charging areas, and then automatically share credentials and complete charging transactions. For precise wireless charging, even in V2X scenarios, UWB can be used to detect the distance to surrounding objects to prevent collisions. It can also be relied on to achieve assisted overtaking, automatic parking, etc.

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(Friends are welcome to open their minds, what other innovations in automotive functions and experiences can UWB bring? Let’s leave a message to discuss together )

Today, our U WB solution can be widely used in almost all possible applications, including the following four major scenarios:

It is worth mentioning that Qorvo completed MFi certification last year for its ultra-wideband solution to interoperate with the Apple U1 chip used in supported iPhone and Apple Watch models. Qorvo's ultra-wideband solutions are compliant with the Nearby Interaction Accessory Agreement, allowing developers to easily design new commercial ultra-wideband accessories that take advantage of the advanced location, direction and distance capabilities of U1-equipped iPhone or Apple Watch models.