IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,939,296
Granted Patent B2
US 10,939,296 · App. 16/105,181 · Granted Mar 2, 2021

Vehicle smart connection

Inventors: Matthew Atwood Whitaker (Cupertino, CA); Patrick Ellis (San Jose, CA); Henry Salvatore Savage (Mountain View, CA); Christopher Weir (Mountain View, CA); Subhransu Mishra (Santa Clara, CA); Andreas Arvanitis (Gilroy, CA); Lionel Ronald Sequeira (Sunnyvale, CA); Anuja Anil Shirsat (Mountain View, CA); Hansel Mauricio Monroy (San Jose, CA); Owen Carpenter (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
H04W12/08G06F9/547H04L63/0853H04L63/107H04L63/108H04L63/1416H04W12/06
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,939,296
App. No.
16/105,181
Granted
Mar 2, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

A vehicle includes a controller, programmed to responsive to wirelessly connecting to a mobile device using a mobile credential issued from a server within a time frame specified in the mobile credential, issue an access token to the mobile device, and responsive to receiving a command authorized by the access token from the mobile device, route the command to a vehicle subsystem for execution.

Claims (40)

1. A vehicle, comprising

a controller, programmed to

receive a vehicle credential from a server, wherein the vehicle credential is associated with a mobile credential,

responsive to detecting a connecting attempt from a mobile device with the mobile credential, verify the mobile credential using the vehicle credential,

responsive to a successful verification and wirelessly connecting to a mobile device with the mobile credential issued from a server within a time frame specified in the mobile credential, issue an access token to the mobile device using the vehicle credential, wherein the access token specifies an access authority to a plurality of vehicle subsystems,

responsive to receiving a command from the mobile device verify if the command is authorized by the access token, and

responsive to a successful verification, route the command to a vehicle subsystem for execution.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to, responsive to receiving a delete instruction from the server, delete the vehicle credential.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to, responsive to detecting a predefined threat initiated from the mobile device, disconnect from the mobile device and delete the vehicle credential.

4. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to:

responsive to detecting a disconnection of the controller from the mobile device, start a timer for a predefined time period, and

responsive to detecting an expiration of the timer and a failure to reconnect by the mobile device, delete the vehicle credential.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to, responsive to detecting an expiration of the mobile credential defined by the time frame, disconnect from the mobile device.

6. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to, responsive to receiving a response signal from the vehicle subsystem, send the response signal to the mobile device.

7. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device is wirelessly connected to the controller using at least one of the following technologies: WiFi, near-field communication (NFC), or radio-frequency identification (RFID).

8. A method for a vehicle, comprising:

receiving a vehicle credential from a server, wherein the vehicle credential is associated with a mobile credential;

responsive to receiving a connection request from a mobile device using a mobile credential, verifying the mobile credential with the vehicle credential;

responsive to a successful verification and connecting with the mobile device, issuing an access token to the mobile device based on the vehicle credential, wherein the access token specifies an access authority to perform a remote procedure call (RPC) to a vehicle subsystem; and

responsive to receiving an verifying a RPC from the mobile device, perform the RPC via the vehicle subsystem,

wherein at least one of the vehicle credential or the mobile credential is time-based by specifying a time frame defining a validity of the credential.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

responsive to detecting an expiration of the time frame, disconnecting the mobile device and delete the vehicle credential.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

responsive to detecting the RPC is not authorized by the access token, declining to perform the RPC.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

responsive to detecting a current time beyond the time frame, declining to the connection request from the mobile device.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

responsive to detecting a disconnection from the mobile device, starting a timer for a predefined time period, and

responsive to detecting an expiration of the timer and a failure to reconnect by the mobile device, deleting the vehicle credential.

13. A mobile device, comprising:

a processor, programmed to

send a request for vehicle including a time condition and location condition to a server;

responsive to receiving a mobile credential from the server specifying a time frame defining a validity of the mobile credential and a current time being within the time frame, connect to a vehicle specified in the mobile credential;

responsive to receiving an access token from the vehicle, send a remote procedure call (RPC) to the vehicle; and

receive a response from the vehicle.

14. The mobile device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further programmed to, responsive to detecting an expiration of the time frame, disconnect from the vehicle and delete the mobile credential.

15. The mobile device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further programmed to, responsive to detecting a second mobile device connected to the vehicle, communicate with a second mobile device using the access token via the vehicle.

16. The mobile device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further programmed to, responsive to detecting a distance between the mobile device and the vehicle extending beyond a predefined threshold, delete the mobile credential and send an alert to the server.

17. The mobile device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further programmed to, responsive to detecting a disconnection of the mobile device from the vehicle for long than a predefined time period and a failure to reconnect by to the vehicle, delete the mobile credential and send an alert to the server.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2018
From: WHITAKER, MATTHEW ATWOOD; ELLIS, PATRICK; SAVAGE, HENRY SALVATORE; WEIR, CHRISTOPHER; MISHRA, SUBHRANSU; ARVANITIS, ANDREAS; SEQUEIRA, LIONEL RONALD; SHIRSAT, ANUJA ANIL; MONROY, HANSEL MAURICIO; CARPENTER, OWEN
To: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 046867/0974 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20200059787A1 · Feb 20, 2020