The BLE Legend BLE-enabled digital car key systems that realize features of passive keyless entry (PKE) or even passive entry and passive start (PEPS) have reaped wide popularity among car makers, as that single ECU gives their new models an intelligent face lift. However, existing BLE systems are inherently vulnerable to relay attacks, making PKE/PEPS exposed to thefts and hijacks. A TikTok short video showing how two thieves stole a Bentley with some simple relay attack tool in thirty seconds went viral recently. UWB Came to Rescue Such incidents aroused worries among motorists and car buyers, and also prompted carmakers to rethink the baseline technology of the existing digital car key system. The Ultra-Wide-Band (UWB) technology came into their scope of view. Due to its features of much higher locating precision and ultra-high frequency pulse radio that is immune to relay attacks, it has become a major part of the global standard for digital car keys issued by the Car Connectivity Consortium – CCC3.0. Other two-car connectivity standard bodies – ICCE and ICCOA also recognized it by including it as a major enabling technology. From 2022 on, car makers such as BMW, BYD, Geely and NIO began to ship UWB-enabled car models for premium car owners. Such quick adoption is not only built upon the technology's supremacy but also over a belief that the economy of scale will be realized soon. The source in the technical circle said Qualcomm will release a UWB-embedded smartphone SoC in early 2024. That will prompt major phone makers to produce UWB smartphones to join the league of Apple iPhone, making the UWB installation base terminal wise dramatically increase. And people believe in the near future, the UWB will become a ubiquitous wireless communication technology in daily life. The foreseeable huge terminal user base boosted undoubtedly car makers’ confidence in the technology. Why UWB for Digital Keys? Now, let us look at some major technical properties of UWB to get a deeper understanding of why we need UWB for next-generation digital keys of future vehicles. Precise Location The UWB communication involves the information exchange between the UWB keyfob (also known as Tag) and the UWB Anchor installed in the car. The Time-of-Flight (ToF) measurement uses specific fields in the UWB messages as timestamps to calculate precise distance. UWB technology utilizes very short pulses (lasting only nanoseconds) of low-power signals with a wide bandwidth (> 500 MHz). UWB’s wide bandwidth and short pulses bring little interference and few multi-path effects compared to narrowband signals. In some ways, UWB can effectively measure range with an accuracy of up to 10cm. Enhanced Security Today's technologies relying on signal strength to evaluate distance are vulnerable to relay attacks. Car thieves intercept and amplify the signal strength of a valid key and deceive the receiver into believing that the digital key is nearby. Then, these attacks cause the lock...

Intelligent vehicle "Intelligent vehicle" refers to the addition of advanced sensors, controllers, actuators and other devices in the car, through the on-board sensor system and information terminal to realize the intelligent information exchange with people, cars, roads, etc.. The intelligent vehicle integrates environmental perception, planning and decision-making, multi-level assisted driving and other functions. It focuses on the use of computers, modern sensing, information fusion, communications, artificial intelligence and automatic control technologies, and is mainly dedicated to improving the safety and comfort of automobiles, as well as providing excellent human-vehicle interactive interfaces. The extensive application of the Internet of Things and computer technology provides a broad prospect for the intelligentization of automobiles. RF star has been deeply engaged in the field of wireless communication for many years and has reached long-term and stable cooperation with many well-known domestic and foreign automobile companies and vehicle equipment manufacturers. In the layout of smart vehicles, various sensors on vehicle equipment are equipped with our BLE/Wi-Fi modules, and software solutions + APP customization and other services, so as to integrate our customers' products with cutting-edge technologies and go further on the road of smart vehicle development. T-BOX smart terminal In the on-board T-BOX (Telematics BOX) smart terminal solution, T-Box can establish a transmission channel through Bluetooth and mobile phone APP to realize the control of opening, locking, starting the vehicle, turning on the air conditioner, and adjusting the seat, etc. It also can be used as the key equipment to realize the inter-working between the vehicle and the cloud platform, by sending the collected vehicle data (such as the driving motor data, vehicle data, battery data status, etc.) to the cloud platform.  And the control instructions sent by the cloud platform can also be forwarded to the vehicle as well. RF-star can support you to get the one-stop solution for help you move forward in the application. OBD system After the on-board automatic diagnosis system (OBD) added the Bluetooth transmission, the era of using mobile phones for vehicle diagnosis was opened. OBD realizes automobile fault detection and real-time monitoring of dynamic data, and then sends the diagnostic data to the monitoring system software on the mobile phone via Bluetooth. OBD system can carry out a full range of inspections and professional fault detection on the car to ensure the state of driving and eliminate potential safety hazards. At the same time, in case of abnormalities such as vehicle speed, water temperature, voltage, etc. during driving, the system instantly sends reminders to make travel more at ease. RF-star hardware and software engineering team can support to finish the whole OBD solution. Make your current solution more functional.