| CPC B60R 25/31 (2013.01) [B60R 25/01 (2013.01); B60R 25/24 (2013.01); B60R 2325/101 (2013.01); B60R 2325/205 (2013.01)] | 12 Claims |
|
1. A method of controlling access into a vehicle having a vehicle body arranged relative to a longitudinal centerline and defining a vehicle interior, a vehicle exterior, an access opening between the interior and the exterior, and an access door configured to selectively cover and uncover at least a portion of the access opening, the method comprising:
generating a digital key signal via a mobile device in possession of a vehicle user;
receiving, via a vehicle virtual key control module (VKCM), the digital key signal from the mobile device;
communicating, via the VKCM, a signal indicative of the received digital key signal to a vehicle controller;
detecting a presence of the vehicle user external to the vehicle within a predetermined proximity of the access door via an ultrasonic sensing arrangement having an ultrasonic processing module (UPM);
determining, via the UPM, the presence of the vehicle user by determining a dynamic trajectory of the vehicle user either along the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle body, from a left side of the longitudinal centerline, or from a right side of the longitudinal centerline;
communicating, via the ultrasonic sensing arrangement, a signal corresponding to the detected and determined presence of the vehicle user to the vehicle controller;
commanding, via the vehicle controller, a mechanism configured to selectively fasten the access door to the vehicle body and release the access door therefrom, to release the access door in response to the received digital key signal and the detected and determined presence of the vehicle user;
wherein:
the vehicle controller is in a sleep mode when the vehicle is in a parked state prior to generation of the digital key signal, and wherein communicating, via the VKCM, the signal indicative of the received digital key signal to the vehicle controller includes waking up the vehicle controller thereby; and
the ultrasonic sensing arrangement includes an ultrasonic sensor;
collecting, via the ultrasonic sensor, analog data from within the predetermined proximity of the access door and transforming the collected analog data, via the UPM, into digital echo data;
communicating, via the UPM, the digital echo data to an access control module (ACP) waking up the ACP in response to the detection of the presence of the vehicle user, and transforming, via the ACP, the digital echo data into object data;
communicating, via the ACP to the vehicle controller, the object data and a request to release the access door; and
arbitrating the object data and commanding the mechanism to release the access door, via the vehicle controller, in response to the request when the object data corresponds to the vehicle user having been stationary for a predetermined duration of time and the vehicle is in the parked state, wherein the object data corresponds to the vehicle user having been stationary when movement of the vehicle user along the determined dynamic trajectory is below a calculated range rate threshold.
|