Q: What problems do keyfob designers face?
David Green: Within Europe in particular, there is a significant amount of RF interference that can prevent vehicles from receiving commands from the keyfobs which can result in drivers being locked out of their vehicles. Not all drivers are aware of the key cylinders fitted to allow them to open the door in such an emergency and that results in rescue/recovery services being used. For drivers of smart key systems, they also need to be aware of the back-up engine starting procedure.
Chris Vargyas: Looking to future systems, customer demand will be for more interactive features, more control and more information available through their key fob. The two-way communications and higher data storage and transmission rates starting to appear in the latest key fobs will allow a greater range of functionality via the keyfob. SBD predict that the range of OE enhanced keyfobs, acting as the driver interface outside the vehicle, will increase significantly.
Many suppliers are already showing prototype key fobs capable of displaying vehicle status information such as tyre pressure, alarm and locking status, fuel levels etc. Depending upon the vehicle, the keyfobs can also control remote engine start, personal comfort settings and even program navigation system destinations.
The functions also offer greater convenience for servicing because fault codes and basic performance data can be recorded on the keyfob and then downloaded without having to connect diagnostic equipment to the vehicle. This speeds up the process and improves the customer experience. Such memory storage can also be used to record vehicle identification information and usage which can help to combat fraud for insurers.
Q: Why haven’t we seen these enhanced keyfobs yet?
CV: To date the main barrier against the adoption of such technology has been how to satisfy the increased power requirements of enhanced key fobs without impacting customer convenience. There has been a lot of research into low power display technology such as Organic LED’s and Electronic Paper as well as dual power systems, whereby the basic RF functions run from the standard battery but the status display runs from a separate rechargeable source. It is only recently that these issues have been solved and development has moved on significantly.
Q: Will these new key fobs still suffer from interference?
DG: Interference is mainly due to the increasing amount of electrical equipment using the same unlicensed frequency bands as the vehicle keyfobs. There are two types of interference, environmental and deliberate. Typical environmental causes include wireless door bells, garage door openers, restaurant pager systems, as well as telephone masts and other high power sources. In recent years we have also seen a rise in jamming equipment placed around potential terrorist threats to prevent remote controlled explosives from being used. This is a particular issue in the UK and Spain.
Deliberate interference is where thieves have started to use RF jamming techniques to prevent vehicles from being locked, leaving them easy targets for theft. SBD have noted an increase in the use of RF theft tools around the world with regular reports from Russia and China in particular.
Legally, enhanced keyfobs must use the same frequencies as existing keyfobs so they will still be susceptible to the same causes of environmental and deliberate interference.
Q: What can we expect to happen next?
DG: Vehicle manufacturers in Europe, where interference is most common, are lobbying the European Commission to have a unique frequency band allocated to automotive short range device usage. This will allow vehicle keyfobs to be taken out of the congested unlicensed frequency bands. These discussions have been ongoing for some years but changes are still unlikely within the next 3 to 5 years. In the meantime, some manufacturers are choosing less congested bands (in Europe 868Mhz is allowed as well as the more popular 433MHz band). At this time the countries using 315MhZ (Japan and the USA in particular) are not suffering as much environmental interference.
Changing bands will not prevent jamming problems, so longer term we expect to see channel hopping or dual frequency solutions, but this will require additional hardware in the keyfobs which increases cost and introduces battery life concerns.
CV: In terms of keyfob functionality, the latest development by Delphi uses either a Bluetooth or NFC connection to display the status and operate the additional functions on a paired mobile phone. The keyfob acts as a gateway between the interface device and the vehicle, reducing the battery power requirements and at the same time allowing easy upgrades via simple application software on the phone. This method conveniently solves many of the problems keyfob designers had been facing and could facilitate the widespread adoption of enhanced keyfobs in the near future.
SBD have a range of research reports that will help you understand and overcome the challenges posed by RF interference including:
Vehicle crime in the 21st century and the impact of electronic theft methods
Enhanced key fobs – The driver interface outside the vehicle
RF interference and the future for vehicle entry
To purchase any of the reports above or for more information, please contact Juanita Appleby on jappleby@sbd.co.uk