Systems and methods for optimizing vehicle battery usage while operating welcome lights

1 . A vehicle comprising:

a sensor unit configured to detect a presence and a movement of a portable device in proximity to the vehicle;

a plurality of exterior lights;

a battery; and

a processor configured to:

identify one or more parameters associated with the presence and the movement of the portable device in proximity to the vehicle based on inputs obtained from the sensor unit, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a distance between the vehicle and the portable device; and

control an operation of at least one exterior light, from the plurality of exterior lights, based on at least one of the one or more parameters or a state of charge (SoC) level of the battery, wherein, to control the operation of the at least one exterior light, the processor:

detects that the SoC level is less than a predefined first SoC threshold;

detects that the distance is less than a predefined first distance threshold; and

causes the at least one exterior light to illuminate responsive to detecting that the SoC level is less than the predefined first SoC threshold and the distance is less than the predefined first distance threshold,

wherein the processor is further configured to cause the at least one exterior light to illuminate for a predefined time duration responsive to detecting that the SoC level is less than the predefined first SoC threshold and the distance is less than the predefined first distance threshold, and wherein the predefined time duration is based on the predefined first SoC threshold.

2 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the predefined first distance threshold is based on the predefined first SoC threshold.

3 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the at least one exterior light to illuminate at a predefined brightness or in a predefined color responsive to detecting that the SoC level is less than the predefined first SoC threshold and the distance is less than the predefined first distance threshold, and wherein the predefined brightness or the predefined color is based on the predefined first SoC threshold.

4 . The vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise a distance between the vehicle and the portable device and an approach speed of the portable device towards the vehicle, and wherein, to control the operation of the at least one exterior light, the processor:

detects that the distance is less than a predefined second distance threshold, wherein the predefined second distance threshold is based on the approach speed; and

causes the at least one exterior light to illuminate responsive to detecting that the distance is less than the predefined second distance threshold.

5 . The vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise a distance between the vehicle and the portable device, and wherein, to control the operation of the at least one exterior light, the processor:

detects that the distance is less than a predefined third distance threshold;

causes the at least one exterior light to illuminate whenever the portable device approaches the vehicle and the distance is less than the predefined third distance threshold;

identifies that the portable device is not located in an interior portion of the vehicle after the portable device has approached the vehicle for a predefined count of times;

adjusts the predefined third distance threshold to a predefined fourth distance threshold responsive to identifying that the portable device is not located in the interior portion of the vehicle after the portable device has approached the vehicle for the predefined count of times, wherein the predefined fourth distance threshold is less than the predefined third distance threshold; and

causes the at least one exterior light to illuminate when the distance is less than the predefined fourth distance threshold, responsive to adjusting the predefined third distance threshold to the predefined fourth distance threshold.

6 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise a distance between the vehicle and the portable device, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

select an optimal exterior light, from the plurality of exterior lights, based on the distance; and

cause the optimal exterior light to illuminate.

7 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise information associated with a side of the vehicle from where the portable device is approaching the vehicle, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

detect that the portable device is approaching a first side of the vehicle based on the one or more parameters;

detect that the SoC level is less than a predefined second SoC threshold;

select a first exterior light, from the plurality of exterior lights, which is located at the first side of the vehicle, responsive to detecting that the portable device is approaching the first side of the vehicle and the SoC level is less than the predefined second SoC threshold; and

illuminate the first exterior light.

8 . The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the first exterior light is a puddle light at the first side of the vehicle.

9 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the sensor unit detects the presence and the movement of the portable device in proximity to the vehicle by transmitting polling messages to the portable device, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

detect that the SoC level is less than a predefined third SoC threshold; and

cause the sensor unit to reduce a frequency of transmission of the polling messages responsive to detecting that the SoC level is less than the predefined third SoC threshold.

10 . The vehicle of claim 1 further comprising a memory configured to store user preferences for illumination of the plurality of exterior lights, wherein the processor is further configured to control the operation of the at least one exterior light based on the user preferences.

11 . The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the user preferences are associated with at least one: predefined times of a day when the plurality of exterior lights should be illuminated or should not be illuminated, predefined geolocations where the plurality of exterior lights should be illuminated or should not be illuminated, or predefined days when the plurality of exterior lights should be illuminated or should not be illuminated.

12 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the portable device is a key fob or a phone-as-a-key (PaaK).

13 . The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to illuminate the at least one exterior light in a first predefined manner when the portable device is the key fob and in a second predefined manner when the portable device is the PaaK, and wherein the first predefined manner is different from the second predefined manner.

14 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the sensor unit comprises at least one of: a Low Frequency (LF) transceiver, a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transceiver, or an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) transceiver.

15 . A vehicle comprising:

a sensor unit configured to detect a presence and a movement of a portable device in proximity to the vehicle;

a plurality of exterior lights;

a battery; and

a processor configured to:

identify one or more parameters associated with the presence and the movement of the portable device in proximity to the vehicle based on inputs obtained from the sensor unit; and

control an operation of at least one exterior light, from the plurality of exterior lights, based on at least one of the one or more parameters or a state of charge (SoC) level of the battery,

wherein the sensor unit detects the presence and the movement of the portable device in proximity to the vehicle by transmitting polling messages to the portable device, and wherein the processor is further configured to:

detect that the SoC level is less than a predefined third SoC threshold; and

cause the sensor unit to reduce a frequency of transmission of the polling messages responsive to detecting that the SoC level is less than the predefined third SoC threshold.