# US 12,184,345 B2 · Positioning system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,184,345 B2 - Document ID: US12184345B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/345,066 - Filed: 2021-06-11 - Published: 2021-09-30 - Granted: 2024-12-31 - Earliest claimed: 2018-12-14 - Assignees: Denso Corporation - Applicants: Denso Corporation - Inventors: Kenichiro Sanji; Nobuyasu Okabe; Nobuyoshi Nagai - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12184345B2 ## CPC - H04B 17/27: for locating or positioning the transmitter - H04W 4/021: Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences - B60R 25/31: of human presence inside or outside the vehicle - E05B 49/00: Electric permutation locks; Circuits therefor {; Mechanical aspects of electronic locks; Mechanical keys therefor (arrangements for sensing or reading record carriers G06K7/00; mechanisms including electronic locks actuated by nonmechanical keys such as passive and active electrical keys and other data carriers G07C9/00, G07F7/00; electronic switching H03K17/00)} - G01S 7/03: Details of HF subsystems specially adapted therefor, e.g. common to transmitter and receiver - G01S 13/825: {with exchange of information between interrogator and responder} - G01S 13/04: Systems determining presence of a target (based on relative movement of target G01S13/56) - G01S 13/765: {with exchange of information between interrogator and responder} - H04W 64/006: {with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination} - H04B: TRANSMISSION - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - B60R: VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - E05B: LOCKS; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR; HANDCUFFS - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES ## Abstract A positioning system includes a vehicular exterior communication device and a positioning device. The vehicular exterior communication device has an antenna and a strength detector. The antenna is disposed at a side surface portion of the vehicle that receives a wireless signal transmitted from the portable terminal. The strength detector detects reception strength of the wireless signal received by the antenna. The positioning device determines whether the portable terminal is present at an operating area based on vehicular exterior device strength as the reception strength of the wireless signal from the portable terminal detected by the vehicular exterior communication device. The vehicular exterior communication device is disposed under a door of the vehicle in a posture in which a center of directivity of the antenna faces upward or downward. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A positioning system comprising: a vehicular exterior communication device that includes an antenna configured to be disposed at a side surface portion of a vehicle, and receive a wireless signal transmitted from a portable terminal, the wireless signal being a radio wave of 1 GHz or higher, and a strength detector configured to detect reception strength of the wireless signal received by the antenna; a data communication device located inside the vehicle, the data communication device configured to execute data communication in a frequency-hopping mode with the portable terminal; and a positioning device that is configured to determine whether or not the portable terminal is present at an operating area based on vehicular exterior device strength as the reception strength of the wireless signal from the portable terminal detected by the vehicular exterior communication device, the operating area being a region outside a vehicle compartment within a predetermined operating distance from the vehicle, wherein: the vehicular exterior communication device is configured to be attached to a side sill located below a door of the vehicle in a posture in which a center of directivity of the antenna faces upward or downward with respect to the vehicle; and the positioning device is further configured to acquire, from the data communication device, channel information indicative of a channel adopted for the data communication between the data communication device and the portable terminal based on a condition that the data communication device establishes communication connection with the portable terminal, notify the vehicular exterior communication device of the channel information, and cause the vehicular exterior communication device to detect the reception strength of the wireless signal from the portable terminal, in response to the vehicular exterior communication device receiving the notified channel information. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The positioning system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicular exterior communication device is configured to be installed in a posture in which a portion of a transmission signal is reflected towards a side of the vehicle at the side surface portion of the vehicle. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The positioning system according to claim 1 wherein the antenna is a directional antenna, and is configured to be installed in a posture in which the center of the directivity faces upward. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The positioning system according to claim 1, wherein the antenna is a directional antenna, and is configured to be installed in a posture in which the center of the directivity faces downward. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The positioning system according to claim 3, further comprising a reflector configured to reflect an electromagnetic wave towards the side of the vehicle, and disposed in vicinity of the antenna. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The positioning system according to claim 4, further comprising a prism configured to diffract propagation of the radio wave emitted by the antenna, and disposed in vicinity of the antenna. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The positioning system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicular exterior communication device is configured to be installed in a posture in which a polarized plane of the antenna is perpendicular to the side surface portion of the vehicle. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The positioning system according to claim 1, further comprising: a vehicular interior communication device configured to be disposed inside the vehicle compartment of the vehicle, receive the wireless signal transmitted from the portable terminal, and detect the reception strength of the received wireless signal, wherein the positioning device is further configured to: determine that the portable terminal is present inside the operating area, based on a condition that the vehicular exterior device strength as the reception strength detected by the vehicular exterior communication device is larger than or equal to a predetermined operating threshold value; and determine that the portable terminal is present inside the vehicle compartment, based on a condition that vehicular interior device strength as the reception strength detected by the vehicular interior communication device is larger than or equal to a predetermined interior equivalent value. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The positioning system according to claim 1, further comprising a vehicular interior communication device configured to be disposed inside the vehicle compartment of the vehicle, receive the wireless signal transmitted from the portable terminal, and detect the reception strength of the received wireless signal, wherein the positioning device is further configured to: determine that the portable terminal is present inside the operating area, based on a condition that the vehicular exterior device strength as the reception strength detected by the vehicular exterior communication device is larger than or equal to a predetermined operating threshold value; and determine that the portable terminal is present inside the vehicle compartment, based on a condition that the vehicular exterior device strength is less than the operating threshold and the reception strength detected by the vehicular interior communication device is larger than the vehicular exterior device strength. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The positioning system according to claim 1, wherein the antenna is a patch antenna or a linear antenna. ### Claim 11 A positioning system comprising: an antenna configured to be disposed at a side surface portion of a vehicle, and receive a wireless signal transmitted from a portable terminal, the wireless signal being a radio wave of 1 GHz or higher; a strength detector configured to detect reception strength of the wireless signal received by the antenna; a data communication device located inside the vehicle, the data communication device configured to execute data communication in a frequency-hopping mode with the portable terminal; and a processor and a memory that stores instructions configured to, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to determine whether or not the portable terminal is present at an operating area based on the reception strength of the wireless signal from the portable terminal detected by the strength detector, the operating area being a region outside a vehicle compartment within a predetermined operating distance from the vehicle, acquire, from the data communication device, channel information indicative of a channel adopted for the data communication between the data communication device and the portable terminal based on a condition that the data communication device establishes communication connection with the portable terminal, notify the strength detector of the channel information, and cause the strength detector to detect the reception strength of the wireless signal, in response to the antenna receiving the notified channel information, wherein: the antenna and the strength detector are configured to be attached to a side sill located below a door of the vehicle in a posture in which a center of directivity of the antenna faces upward or downward with respect to the vehicle. ### Claim 12 A device comprising: an antenna configured to receive a wireless signal transmitted from a portable terminal, the wireless signal being a radio wave of 1 GHz or higher, and acquire, from a data communication device, channel information indicative of a channel adopted for communication connection in a frequency-hopping mode based on a condition that the communication connection is established between the portable terminal and the data communication device, the data communication device being located inside a vehicle; and a strength detector configured to detect reception strength of the wireless signal in response to the antenna acquiring the channel information from the data communication device, the reception strength being adopted to determine whether or not the portable terminal is present at an operating area being a region outside a vehicle compartment within a predetermined operating distance from the vehicle, wherein: the antenna is further configured to be attached to a side sill below a door of a vehicle in a posture in which a center of directivity of the antenna faces upward or downward with respect to the vehicle. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The positioning system according to claim 1, wherein the positioning device is further configured to: acquire a terminal ID of the portable terminal from the data communication device, based on a condition that the data communication device establishes the communication connection with the portable terminal; notify the vehicular exterior communication device of the terminal ID; and cause the vehicular exterior communication device to identify the portable terminal based on the notified terminal ID. ### Claim 14 A positioning system comprising: a vehicular exterior communication device that includes an antenna configured to be disposed at a side surface portion of a vehicle, and receive a wireless signal transmitted from a portable terminal, the wireless signal being a radio wave of 1 GHz or higher, and a strength detector configured to detect reception strength of the wireless signal received by the antenna; a data communication device located inside the vehicle, the data communication device configured to execute data communication in a frequency-hopping mode with the portable terminal; and a positioning device that is configured to determine whether or not the portable terminal is present at an operating area based on vehicular exterior device strength as the reception strength of the wireless signal from the portable terminal detected by the vehicular exterior communication device, the operating area being a region outside a vehicle compartment within a predetermined operating distance from the vehicle, wherein: the vehicular exterior communication device is configured to be located on a bracket fixed to a side sill of the vehicle in a posture in which a center of directivity of the antenna faces upward or downward with respect to the vehicle. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The positioning system according to claim 14, wherein the bracket is fixed to a bottom surface of the side sill of the vehicle. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The positioning system according to claim 14, wherein: the bracket includes a main body and a reflector; the vehicular exterior communication device is located on the main body; and a range of an angle formed between the main body and the reflector is between 60 to 90 degrees. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The positioning system according to claim 14, further comprising: a side sill cover being fixed to the side sill via the bracket to enclose the vehicular exterior communication device. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The positioning system according to claim 14, wherein the vehicular exterior communication device is located on a portion of the bracket extending from the side sill.