Smartphone-based positioning system that can enable users to lock and unlock vehicle without a physical key.
Alps Alpine and Broadcom Inc. have jointly-developed an automotive Phone as a Key (PaaK) system based on Bluetooth Low Energy. The system employs a Bluetooth position measurement technology and a smartphone with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi combo chip that supports high-accuracy distance measurement. The new technology can change how we unlock and get into a car. This will enable users to open and unlock their car using their phone making it more convenient for the user.
Bluetooth technology has been evolving at a rapid pace and one of the major growth area in the Bluetooth market is high-accuracy distance measurement services. The system contains a smartphone that features Broadcom Bluetooth and a Wi-Fi combo chip that supports high-accuracy distance measurement along with Alps Alpine’s precision Bluetooth position measurement technology to enable long-distance coverage.
“Alps Alpine and Broadcom are world leaders in high-accuracy positioning technology,” said Gabriel Desjardins, director of marketing in Broadcom’s Wireless Communications and Connectivity Division, “We have partnered with Alps Alpine to rapidly commercialize Broadcom’s Bluetooth-based high-accuracy distance measurement technology, and they have delivered a performance that is second to none.”
According to the two companies, the phone as a key is the start of a new technology revolution, the Bluetooth-based high-accuracy of Broadcom distance measurement technology coupled with Alps Alpine’s positioning systems can find application not only in vehicle entry systems but also for industrial equipment and IoT markets.