This is the charm of digital keys. I believe many car owners will agree that our car keys will soon be replaced by mobile phones, because this function is not too difficult technically. Of course, some car owners will worry that when our mobile phone battery is 50%, we will start to be anxious. What should we do if our mobile phone battery is dead? Moreover, is such a "digital key" safe enough?
■? Car companies need to change their car keys.
On June 23rd, Apple officially released iOS with CarKey function of digital car key at the World Developers Conference (WWDC). 14, do users only use iPhone or Apple? Watches can lock, unlock and start cars. BMW will be the first car company to use CarKey, and the 202 1 BMW 5 Series will be the first to carry it. In addition, most BMW models produced after July this year 1 will support CarKey function.
The number keys are not the "unique cheats" of Apple and BMW. Recently, the CoSmA smart phone numeric keys developed by the parts company Continental Group have won orders from three mainstream auto companies. The smart phone solution will be integrated into the new generation car architecture and put into mass production in 20021year. As early as 20 16, Continental cooperated with Apple and BMW to develop the digital key of UWB technology.
China enterprises are also in the forefront in the field of digital keys. In September last year, BYD DiLink joined hands with Huawei? AI？ Chuan, Huawei Developers Conference released NFC car keys for mobile phones. According to BYD's thinking, we will build a full-scene digital key ecological environment for users and help them get rid of traditional car keys completely. Car owners can use the remote control key through the cloud, use the Bluetooth key when there is no network, and even use the NFC car key when there is no power. This design is as good as Apple.
The car company is launching a real "keyless revolution". According to the preliminary statistics of car home, many enterprises in the industry are combining various forces to develop digital key technologies, and some enterprises' products are about to enter the mass production stage. The era of "a car key helps me walk the world" is coming to an end, and it is replaced by an "omnipotent" smartphone.
German BMW Motor Works (Bavarian Motor Works)
apple
BYD Auto
Changan automobile
Hyundai motor company
XPENG Motors
Jed
Continental group
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■? Car keys: from tangible to intangible
Looking back on the development of car keys, we are surprised to find that this seemingly non-core component is accompanied by leaps and bounds in the automobile industry. Li Ping, director of R&D of access control system in Asia of Continental Group, said that car keys have roughly gone through several development processes: mechanical keys, chip keys, remote control keys, keyless entry systems and digital keys.
Every upgrade of car keys keeps pace with the upgrade of the overall technology of the car. At the beginning of the last century, because the engine was not driven by batteries, the car key was a "big crank", which needed to be inserted into the front of the car with a hand rocker and shaken by an adult man to start the car. For example, the "hand crank" of a walking tractor is actually the earliest car key, which is very unfriendly to women.
1949, Chrysler began to use knife keys, which are very similar to household keys. Since then, drivers no longer need to start the vehicle manually, which is very convenient for female drivers. It can be said that Chrysler's knife key is a major improvement of car keys, but there are also great security risks. As long as the teeth are right, the vehicle can drive, which increases the risk of vehicle theft.
With the development of electronic technology, chip keys came into being. The chip key (also called burglar alarm) was inspired by the pig industry. In order to prevent the pig from getting lost, the breeder put an anti-theft alarm chip on the pig's ear. Then if the chip is implanted in the car key, even if the tooth profile of the key is correct, it may not be able to unlock and start the car, then the safety of the car will be greatly improved.
In recent years, the promotion of keyless entry system for automobiles is also very rapid. "Keyless entry function" means that when the owner carries the key into the specified range, the vehicle safety system correctly matches the key, and the owner can unlock the door by pulling the door handle, touching a specific position or putting his hand into the induction area, thus eliminating the step of pulling out the key to unlock the door. Car home Big Data shows that since 20 13, the assembly rate of "keyless entry" and "remote start" functions of newly listed vehicles has gradually increased, from the initial non-assembly to the current 27.75% and 37.50%.
Nowadays, automobile products are further evolving to intelligence, and automobile keys also play an important role in the tide of intelligence. In recent years, concepts such as automobile intelligent key, virtual key and digital key have gradually emerged. Car keys move from tangible to intangible. In the future, a mobile phone, a password, even a fingerprint and a face can drive a car.
As Li Ping said, the continuous innovation of car keys mainly lies in improving user experience and product safety. Keyless access system can realize non-inductive door opening and starting, and digital key is a great change. Entering the digital key stage, the automobile key is not only the improvement of physical properties, but also the embodiment of the transformation of the automobile industry.
■? Can intelligence and security be balanced?
At the Apple Developers Conference, car-related updates mainly focused on three aspects: CarPlay system, maps and mobile phone intelligent key. According to the demonstration, the driver takes out the iPhone and just touches the vehicle to unlock it. After entering the vehicle, the driver puts the iPhone into the BMW smartphone tray and starts the car.
Smarter, Apple's digital key can be shared with up to five users. Of course, this kind of * * * enjoyment is not completely unlimited. The main user can control the right to use other users, such as limiting their driving speed and even controlling the broadcast volume of the vehicle. For example, if BMW owners give their vehicles to their children aged 18, they can pay attention to their driving situation and intervene.
Mainland China and Apple have similar solutions. In addition to the normal entry and start-up scenarios, you can also perform key authorization and key permission setting. The user's authorization method is to send it to the authorized person in the form of digital key, and the receiver uses the digital key to open and start the vehicle. In addition, the mainland has also expanded other scenes around digital keys, and vehicle management, logistics services, car enjoyment and car care services can all be completed through digital keys.
The intelligence and convenience of digital keys are incomparable to traditional keys, and users don't have to worry about the loss or damage of keys, so the use scenarios are more diverse. What's more worth mentioning is that in order to avoid the embarrassment caused by the lack of power on the mobile phone, most enterprises that launch numeric keys adopt NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. Even if the battery of the mobile phone is insufficient, even if it is turned off for about 5 hours, it can continue to unlock the vehicle without delaying the owner's use of the car. From a technical point of view, the number keys can meet the needs of users in various scenarios.
The lifeblood of digital keys is security, which is also the high incidence area of smart cars. As early as 20 16, American hackers and domestic teams have cracked Jeep free light and Tesla models? S and other models. Taking a certain model as an example, the hacker team cracked its Bluetooth PIN code through software such as Ubertooth, and then connected Bluetooth to mobile devices such as mobile phones after success. Rely on the loophole between the keyless entry system and the mobile App control program, open the door and start the vehicle.
Some insiders believe that digital key is not a very mature solution at present. If the smartphone crashes, is damaged, has a virus, etc. , may bring great trouble to users, and may even bring great economic losses and security threats.
Generally speaking, digital key security is mainly divided into three parts: one is background security; Second, the storage of mobile phones and controllers is safe; Third, the security of communication links between vehicles, mobile phones and the background. Only when the digital key has enough security can it be loaded in batches.
■? When will we enter the keyless era?
"Safety is very important, but we can't give up eating because of choking." In Li Ping's view, digital keys are technically enough to replace traditional keys. Under the wave of digitalization, service providers such as vehicle companies, mobile phone companies and Internet companies are all promoting the development of digital keys, and the industrial chain is also actively promoting the standardization of digital keys. Industry norms, numeric keys will further break the limitations of mobile phone platforms.
The advancement of numeric keys also depends on users' habits and preferences. From the usage scenario, unlocking and starting the vehicle through mobile network, Bluetooth and NFC are the three main technical means to meet the user's usage scenario. At present, the combination of these three methods is the best solution of digital key, which can unlock the vehicle smoothly whether in remote, short distance, poor network environment or when the mobile phone is turned off.
Digital keys will also be very suitable for future autopilot scenarios. In the era of autonomous driving/driverless driving, digital keys can be used as customer identification codes to identify and bind passengers' personalized settings. When a passenger opens and enters the vehicle through the digital key, the self-driving vehicle will automatically adjust the personalized settings for the passenger, thus providing a better experience for the user.
Editor's summary: How many years will it take for digital keys to replace traditional keys?
Although digital keys have many advantages, it will take some time to completely replace traditional keys. First of all, the automobile stock market is huge, and traditional keys still have their own market space; Secondly, digital keys need to be further tested by the market, and this process cannot be completed in a short time. Mike Crane, head of mainland North America, once said that traditional car keys will not suddenly disappear, and in the next 5 ~ 10 years, digital keys will be stored together with traditional keys. (Text/car home? Li Zhengguang)