Digital vehicle key with Key-Sharing 3.0 - a milestone for the end-to-end development of clever vehicle functions
At this year's International Suppliers Fair IZB in Wolfsburg, Cognizant Mobility is showing how modern, integrated and automated software development for the vehicle of the future can be successful.
When it comes to car keys, it goes without saying that having nothing on hand, or, to correct the pun, in your pocket, is an advantage. Digital progress favors digital uses and features. The days of the bulky key as a status symbol are over, just as quality standards in the automotive industry are no longer determined solely by luxury models and expensive interiors.
The digitization of car keys is a logical step that some manufacturers have already taken. A comprehensive and completely secure solution, based on the UWB (Ultrawideband) radio standard and new embedded technologies, as well as using modern end-2-end development methods and automated testing, a completely new way.
Digital Key - What is it?
The basic concept of the digital car key seems obvious: vehicle owners no longer use a physical key, but instead a digital key on their smartphone. With this key, the vehicle can not only be unlocked and locked, but with the associated connectivity functions, settings such as the desired comfortable temperature or the ambient light can also be conveniently transmitted remotely. Such a key cannot be lost - the underlying apps can be restored even if the smartphone is lost.
One new feature, for example, is digital divisibility: key sharing. In this way, the vehicle key can easily be handed over to other, selected people with previously defined settings and restrictions (range limit, speed, only open and close for storage in the vehicle, etc.).
The technology behind the Digital Key
Three different technologies are used to enable the technical basis of the Digital Key, namely NFC (Near Field Communication), UWB (Ultrawideband) and Bluetooth. In the latest version 3.0 of the underlying CCC (Car Connectivity Consortium) standard, UWB technology is used in particular for location-based functions and improved usability.
By using the CCC standard of the partner program of the same name, the digital key of Cognizant Mobility can be used across vehicles and platforms. For the purpose of further development, Cognizant Mobility is actively called upon together with the CCC partners to contribute their know-how in the areas of UWB, NFC and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), antenna technology and process experience together with a well-known OEM to become a reliable partner in the future of the digital key.
How secure is the Digital Key?
End-users are asking the question of security: “What if I lose my phone? Can someone hack me and steal my car? What if the phone is off?”
First of all, it should be noted that the Cognizant Mobility digital key has nothing to do with the disreputable radio keys of the past, some of whose signals could be intercepted. Instead, users register an "owner device", i.e. their device on which the real key is stored. If the user now opens his vehicle, the vehicle recognizes that the car owner's original smartphone wants to open the car and can also use the "Time of Flight" to determine how long it took for the signal to unlock from the device to the lock. The combination of Bluetooth and UWB makes this ranging so effective that misuse is almost impossible.
Modern development methods save the vehicle of the future
It has been clear for years that the software-defined vehicle (SDV) is the future. The focus is on customer features and functions, such as the digital key, which are controlled exclusively by software - modular, high-performance and loaded onto the vehicle over-the-air. Hundreds of millions of lines of software code will ensure both driving experience and safety in our future cars. Vehicle manufacturers who do not master the software to a high degree already have a hard time surviving on the market. Increasing software complexity is causing increasing headaches for manufacturers, and this challenge can only be mastered with clever development methods and sophisticated, automated testing.
At its booth at the IZB, Cognizant Mobility is not only demonstrating the digital key, but also its expertise in the field of vehicle operating systems (Vehicle.OS) and service-oriented environments based on the AUTOSAR standard, which the company helped to design, as well as efficient options for the Testing with automated processes. With regard to feature testing, a robot at the booth will demonstrate how all conceivable scenarios can be tested along the use of the app, the smartphone, the control units and the backend.
Digital Key and modern development methods - Experience live at the International Suppliers Fair IZB 2022 in Wolfsburg
From October 11th to 13th, 2022, trade visitors can see the performance of Cognizant Mobility for themselves in Hall 1, Stand 1311 at the International Suppliers Fair IZB in Wolfsburg. The trade fair demonstrator shows both the Digital Key solution and the fully autonomous testing as the last step in a continuous end-2-end development process chain.