System and method for micro-locating and communicating with a portable vehicle control device
AssigneeVoxx International Corporation
InventorsJoseph Anthony Santavicca, Tristen Kyle Pierson, Benson James Brady
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for micro-locating a portable device including: a plurality of proximity sensors disposed within a vehicle, wherein the proximity sensors are disposed at different locations from each other, and wherein the proximity sensors are each configured to broadcast a signal; a portable device configured to receive the signals broadcast from the proximity sensors to determine its location with respect to the vehicle; and a control module disposed within the vehicle and configured to enable or disable vehicle control features of the portable device based on the location of the portable device.
Claims20
A system for micro-locating a portable device, comprising:
- a plurality of proximity sensors disposed within a vehicle, wherein the proximity sensors are disposed at different locations from each other, and wherein the proximity sensors are each configured to broadcast a signal;
- a portable device configured to receive the signals broadcast from the proximity sensors to determine its location with respect to the vehicle;
- and
- a control module disposed within the vehicle and configured to enable or disable vehicle control features of the portable device based on the location of the portable device,
- wherein distances used for locking and unlocking the vehicle's doors are based on a threshold of signal strength from the portable device and a time delay.
A system for micro-locating a portable device, comprising:
- a mobile device;
- and
- a plurality of beacons disposed within a vehicle, wherein the beacons are disposed at different locations from each other, wherein the beacons are communicably coupled to each other to form a beacon frame, wherein at least one zone is defined in the beacon frame by received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values of the beacons, and
- when the mobile device is in the beacon frame, a signal strength between the mobile device and each of the beacons is measured to determine if the mobile device is within the at least one zone, and if the mobile device is determined to be within the at least one zone, the mobile device is permitted full functionality or limited functionality in the at least one zone,
- wherein when the mobile device has the limited functionality in the at least one zone and, the mobile device leaves the at least one zone for less than a predetermined period of time, the mobile device maintains the limited functionality.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.