Corner sensor for a motor vehicle

1. A corner sensor for a motor vehicle, said corner sensor being capable of communicating over a wireless communication link with an authentication device carried by a user of said vehicle, said corner sensor comprising:

i. an array of antennae, each antenna of which is configured to be active for reception during a predetermined time range, called “reception” time range, that is different from the reception time ranges of the other antennae of the array of antennae, so as to receive a different portion, called “segment”, of the same signal sent by the device via said wireless communication link;

ii. an electronic control unit configured to:

1. determine the phase difference between the segments received by the antennae of the array of antennae;

2. determine a probability of each angle of incidence over a predetermined range of angles on the basis of the determined phase differences and of a predefined table, so as to determine a probability profile (P b ) over the predetermined range of angles;

3. measure a power of the segments received by the antennae of the array of antennae so as to determine a power profile (P u ) over the predetermined range of angles;

4. determine an actual angle of incidence of the signal by multiplying the probability profile (P b ) with said power profile (P u );

5. send a value of the determined actual angle of incidence to a central electronic control unit of the vehicle.

2. The corner sensor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the electronic control unit is configured to determine the actual angle of incidence by selecting the value of the angle of incidence corresponding to the maximum of the result of the multiplication.

3. The corner sensor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the array of antennae comprises a plurality of directional antennae.

4. The corner sensor as claimed in claim 1 , capable of communicating with the device over a radiofrequency communication link.

5. The corner sensor as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the array of antennae comprises a plurality of directional antennae.

6. A vehicle comprising a system for locating an authentication device carried by a user of said vehicle, said system comprising at least two corner sensors as claimed in claim 1 and a central electronic control unit.

7. The vehicle as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the central electronic control unit is configured to:

a. receive a plurality of actual angle of incidence values, each value being determined and sent by a separate corner sensor;

b. determine a location of the authentication device on the basis of the plurality of received angle of incidence values.

8. A method for locating an authentication device for a vehicle, said vehicle, which is a vehicle as claimed in claim 5 , comprising a location system, the method comprising:

a. receiving, by at least two corner sensors, at least one signal sent by the authentication device;

b. for each corner sensor having received at least one signal:

i. determining the phase difference between the segments received by the antennae of the array of antennae;

ii. determining the probability of each angle of incidence over a predetermined range of angles on the basis of the determined phase differences and of a predefined table, so as to determine a probability profile (P b ) over the predetermined range of angles;

iii. measuring the power of the segments received by the antennae of the array of antenna so as to determine a power profile (P u ) over the predetermined range of angles;

iv. determining the actual angle of incidence of the signal by multiplying the probability profile (P b ) with said power profile (P u );

v. sending the value of the determined actual angle of incidence to a central electronic control unit of the vehicle.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the actual angle of incidence is determined by selecting the value of the angle of incidence corresponding to the maximum of the result of the multiplication.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9 , comprising, after the step of sending the value of the actual angle of incidence, the following:

a. receiving a plurality of actual angle of incidence values, each value being determined and sent by a separate corner sensor;

b. determining the location of the authentication device on the basis of the plurality of received angle of incidence values.

11. The method as claimed in claim 7 , comprising, after the step of sending the value of the actual angle of incidence, the following:

a. receiving a plurality of actual angle of incidence values, each value being determined and sent by a separate corner sensor;

b. determining the location of the authentication device on the basis of the plurality of received angle of incidence values.

12. The method as claimed in claim 8 , comprising, before the step of determining the phase difference between the segments received by the antennae, a step of determining the phase of each received signal segment.

13. A method for locating an authentication device for a vehicle, said vehicle, which is a vehicle as claimed in claim 6 , comprising a location system, the method comprising:

a. receiving, by at least two corner sensors, at least one signal sent by the authentication device;

b. for each corner sensor having received at least one signal:

i. determining the phase difference between the segments received by the antennae of the array of antennae;

ii. determining the probability of each angle of incidence over a predetermined range of angles on the basis of the determined phase differences and of a predefined table, so as to determine a probability profile over the predetermined range of angles;

iii. measuring the power of the segments received by the antennae of the array of antenna so as to determine a power profile over the predetermined range of angles;

iv. determining the actual angle of incidence of the signal by multiplying the probability profile with said power profile;

v. sending the value of the determined actual angle of incidence to a central electronic control unit of the vehicle.