Your smartphone becomes the key to your car! Next-generation keyless entry is becoming increasingly digital
Keyless entry, which uses a smartphone as a digital key, is evolving. This article will describe the highly convenient functions that can be achieved with next-generation keyless entry, such as car sharing with family and friends, remote operation, and digital theft prevention. This article will also cover current issues, and what keyless entry will be like in the future.
The evolution of smart keyless entry
Keyless entry is a system that allows the driver to unlock and lock the car doors without using a physical key. Keyless entry began to increase in the mid-1990s, followed by keyless entry using button operation in the 2000s. Now smart keyless entry is progressing, in which doors are locked or unlocked simply by approaching the car or touching the doorknob. Convenient functions (such as automatic adjustment of the seat and steering position, starting the engine, air conditioner temperature settings, and car radio settings) are being installed one after another, thereby further increasing convenience.
Furthermore, the development and implementation of digital keys that enable keyless entry operations using a smartphone app is progressing. Instead of managing conventional car keys and dealing with troublesome tasks in the event of loss or theft, simply operating the digital key online is all that is needed.
In addition, it is also possible to easily share a car using the digital key function. For example, even if family and friends are not close by, they can be granted use of the car by sharing the digital key's QR code. A mechanism is being implemented in which, if someone has a smartphone that has received the digital key, the doors of the shared car will be automatically unlocked just by approaching it, and the engine will start.
Process and technologies for keyless entry by smartphone
In keyless entry using a smartphone app, first, communication between the sensor installed in the car and the digital key is used to determine whether the driver is the owner of the car, the person with whom the digital key was shared, or a third party.
The sensor receives a Bluetooth signal from the driver's smartphone, and a computer authenticates whether it is genuine or not. In addition, the sensor also receives UWB (Ultra Wide Band) signals sent from the smartphone and measures the distance to the driver to determine whether the door should be unlocked or locked.
In the past, short-range wireless communication was used, so drivers had to take their smartphones out of their pockets or bags when starting the engine from the driver's seat. However, by using a smartphone's ultra wideband wireless communication called UWB, it is now possible to lock/unlock the door and start the engine from a distance.
Since UWB can measure distance and position with high accuracy, a driver with a digital key can unlock the car door by entering an area within a certain distance.
In keyless entry development, where digitalization is progressing, software technology has become important for communication technology, server management, and application development, in addition to embedded control technology. Security technology that prevents theft and cyberattacks is also essential. Furthermore, encryption technology is also required for the E/E architecture in the vehicle and the communication system with the server.
Cybersecurity challenges for keyless entry
One of the challenges of keyless entry is security measures to prevent car theft. Years ago, car thefts were done by breaking the window glass, disassembling the keyhole, and directly connecting the wires inside. As electronic technologies progressed, the number of old-style thefts decreased due to the introduction of a system called an "immobilizer" that prevented the engine from starting if the key and the car ID did not match.
However, theft methods have become more sophisticated in recent years. In Japan too, a method is spreading called "relay attack" that catches weak radio waves emitted by a smart key and uses them to unlock the car, and it is regarded as an issue in the development of keyless entry.
In order to counter cyberattacks, the next-generation keyless entry uses Bluetooth as the communication standard between smartphones and automobiles, and the system is being improved to unlock the vehicle only when the radio wave characteristics match. In addition, since a UWB signal for measuring distance is also transmitted from the smartphone, stronger security by maintaining the integrity of the Bluetooth and UWB signals is also being developed.
Furthermore, the next-generation keyless entry is also increasingly equipped with encryption systems that use special electronic systems to block theft signals from relay attacks and others.
The future of keyless entry, widely used in automobiles and other applications
The widespread use of digital keys via smartphone apps is expected to improve work efficiency. For example, simply sending a digital key online will simplify the previously troublesome procedures for sharing a company car or renting a car.
When someone parks their car in a large parking lot, they can locate their car with a smartphone app, thereby eliminating the need to walk around the parking lot in vain in search of their car. In this way, the evolution of keyless entry will also contribute to improving the quality of life.
In addition, in the future, digital keys will evolve so that they can be used on a variety of devices other than smartphones. For example, they may become accessible on smartwatches and tablets.
Furthermore, the keyless entry of the future is not limited to automobiles. It is expected that the use of digital keys will generate opportunities for home security and new businesses, and provide a safe and secure future.
Through the ever-evolving keyless entry, efforts will continue to achieve safety and comfort, strong security, and widespread convenience.
[Reference Article]
・Perfectly Keyless - Precise wireless localization and secure key management -
https://www.bosch-mobility-solutions.com/en/solutions/software-and-services/perfectly-keyless/Technical Supervisors
Camille Vuillaume
Camille Vuillaume is Head of the Advanced Network Solutions regional business unit at Bosch in Japan. He has been in Japan since 2005, initially working in the field of cybersecurity. He joined the Bosch Group in 2013. He obtained his PhD in 2007.
Ashley Canning
Ashley Canning is Project Manager of Keyless Entry Solutions at Bosch in Japan. He has been with the Bosch Group for more than twenty years, and has been with Bosch in Japan for eight years.
*Information contained in this article is current at the time of data collection. (Published on February 20, 2023)