Method for performing automatic opening of a vehicle or a payment process, and associated apparatus

1. A method for a system to perform an automatic contactless process, the method comprising:

receiving a first signal from outside the system requesting execution of the automatic contactless process;

transmitting a demand signal to an authorized user of the system in response to the first signal;

monitoring for a second signal from the authorized user throughout a duration of a predetermined time beginning with the transmission of the demand signal;

performing the automatic contactless process if no second signal is received in response to the demand signal within the duration of the predetermined time, and

terminating the automatic contactless process if the second signal is received within the duration of the predetermined time.

2. A method for performing automatic opening or enabling of a vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving a first signal to perform the opening or the enabling of the vehicle;

transmitting a second signal for a driver of the vehicle based on the reception of the first signal;

monitoring for a termination signal throughout a duration of a predetermined time;

performing the opening or the enabling of the vehicle if no response to the second signal is received within the duration of the predetermined time after transmission of the second signal;

terminating either the opening or the enabling of the vehicle if a termination signal indicating that the opening or the enabling of the vehicle is to be terminated is received within the duration of the predetermined time.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the predetermined time is selected from the group consisting of from 1 second to 10 seconds, from 1 to 2 seconds, and from 1 to 3 seconds.

4. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the first signal contains a datum for which a receiver of the first signal produces a response datum.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the response datum establishes an identity of the receiver of the first signal.

6. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the second signal is selected from the group consisting of a sound signal, a vibration signal, and a light signal, and

wherein the transmitting sends the second signal a telephone or to a watch.

7. The method as claimed in claim 2 , further comprising performing a plausibility check including checking whether at least one condition in a predefined match for the vehicle and an apparatus exists for the opening or the enabling of the vehicle.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the performing of the plausibility check occurs before the transmitting of the second signal is performed,

wherein the second signal is transmitted if the plausibility check is negative, and

wherein the second signal is not transmitted if the plausibility check is positive.

9. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the plausibility check is performed after the second signal is transmitted.

10. The method as claimed in claim 7 , further comprising:

measuring a first surroundings datum in or on the vehicle,

measuring a second surroundings datum in an apparatus for performing the method, and

using the first surroundings datum and the second surroundings datum for the plausibility check.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the first surroundings datum is measured at a distance of less than three meters from the vehicle, and

wherein the first surroundings datum is selected from the group consisting of a location datum, a temperature datum, and an air pressure datum.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein measuring of the first surroundings data includes measuring the location datum using a system selected from the group consisting of a satellite system, a mobile radio network, and a wireless local area network.

13. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the performing of the plausibility check occurs when the termination signal is not received.

14. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein no recording of signal propagation times and no recording of message transmission times occurs in the opening or the enabling of the vehicle.

15. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the first signal is a first message.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the second signal is a second message.

17. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the termination signal is a termination message.

18. An apparatus for performing automatic opening or enabling of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver receiving a first signal to perform the opening or the enabling of the vehicle;

a transmitter transmitting a second signal for a driver of the vehicle based on the reception of the first signal;

a controller monitoring for a termination signal within a predetermined time after the second signal has been transmitted, the termination signal indicating that the opening or the enabling of the vehicle is meant to be terminated; and

the controller performing either the opening or the enabling of the vehicle if no response to the second signal is received within the predetermined time; and

the controller preventing the opening or the enabling of the vehicle if the termination signal is received within the predetermined time.

19. The apparatus as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the predetermined time is selected from the group consisting of from 1 second to 10 seconds, from 1 to 2 seconds, and from 1 to 3 seconds, and

wherein the first signal contains a datum for which a receiver of the first signal produces a response datum.

20. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19 , wherein the transmitter transmits the response datum as part of a challenge/response method establishing an identity of the receiver of the first signal.