这些日子以来，几乎我们所做的每件事情最后都可以用一个应用程序来搞定，那么汽车钥匙呢？是否它有一天也将成为智能手机屏幕上的一个小方块图标？
最近笔者采访了博通(Broadcom)无线连结部门产品销售主管Tom Ramsthaler，于是冒出了以上这个想法；在针对该公司即将推出的 802.11ac /蓝牙低功耗(LE)组合芯片的讨论中，Ramsthaler提出所预期的蓝牙低功耗技术在汽车内的应用。
他举出的一个例子是在不久前法兰克福车展(Frankfurt Auto Show)上发表的 Nissan Watch ；这款智能手表采用蓝牙低功耗连结技术，能收集汽车的遥测数据，为驾驶人展示汽车的油耗、性能等信息。Nissan Watch也能监测驾驶人的健康状况参数，例如在塞车时的心跳速率。
可连结汽车与驾驶人的Nissan Watch
Obeesmc
嗯…好象有点意思；但我想，恐怕很难用一款大众产品促使所有的汽车制造商采用蓝牙低功耗技术。不过Ramsthaler不假思索地表示，蓝牙低功耗技术可应用在智能汽车钥匙上──这下子引起我的兴趣了。
据我所知，在智能汽车钥匙市场执牛耳的恩智浦半导体(NXP)也有类似的想法，该公司曾推出采用NFC通讯技术的多功能汽车钥匙单芯片解决方案；该KEyLink Lite产品的构想是让车钥匙能与外部的NFC装置连结，例如手机、平板或笔记本电脑，而这样的智能钥匙的功能包括找汽车、路线规划，以及汽车状态/服务信息的管理。
所以现在博通是打算以蓝牙低功耗芯片进军汽车领域，然后我们将看到智能汽车钥匙市场上点燃NFC与蓝牙低功耗技术的战火？或者，是否将有一天我们能不再需要真正的汽车钥匙。只要简单地挥挥手机就能打开车门？
还有得等。我在欧洲微电子高峰会(European Microelectronics Summit)上与几位产业高层交换意见之后很快地理解到，用智能手机当汽车钥匙实际上并不是一个好主意。
市场研究机构Strategy Analytics的汽车市场分析师Ian Riches同意，用智能手机为车门解锁是可行的，但：“问题是很多人会在车子里为智能手机充电，如果你在车外的时候手机就没电了怎么办？你连车门都进不去！”
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
第2页：汽车钥匙的寿命必须比汽车更长
第3页：NFC与蓝牙低功耗谁更适合车钥匙？
相关阅读：
• 英恒免钥入车系统新品，无需按键便可自动开启车门
• “车联网”应用兴起，驱动汽车电子市场新发展
• 骇客们有可能这样控制你的汽车……Obeesmc
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我跟恩智浦半导体汽车业务部门全球销售副总裁Drue Freeman谈到这个问题，也在欧洲微电子高峰会上担任讲师的他表示：“你要了解，汽车钥匙的寿命必须比汽车更长。”
确实，这是要将智能手机当车子钥匙用，会遇到的第一个障碍；消费者汰换手机的周期平均约一年半，但汽车的平均寿命则是超过八年。虽然也认同利用支持NFC技术的智能手机来开车门是可行的，Freeman还提出了一个更显著的便利性问题。
目前的汽车免钥匙进入系统，可在不需要将钥匙插入激活装置的情况下解除防盗器并发动汽车，这类系统采用低频(LF，125KHz)与射频(RF，300MHz以上)，运作原理是在汽车内外装设一系列的LF传送天线，外部的天线是在车门把上，当车辆被触发时，LF讯号会由天线传送到钥匙上，如果钥匙足够接近汽车，会将其ID透过RF送回至汽车内的接收器。
让智能手机上的NFC功能支持汽车保安系统当然是可行的，但驾驶人仍须要走到汽车旁边手动开启车门──除非智能手机也整合了LF/RF免钥匙进入系统。
Freeman解释：“利用智能手机需要两个步骤，但现在的智能汽车钥匙则是能立即遥控开启车门，不需要先把智能手机拿起来操作。”尽管如此，用手机来为汽车上锁/解锁，然后发动引擎的这个想法，还是掳获了一些车厂的心，例如Hyundai。
利用嵌入于车辆的NFC卷标，Hyundai设计了一套系统，让汽车驾驶人能透过在手机触控屏幕滑动操作来解锁车门、激活引擎；这家韩国车厂在稍早前在i30车款上，展示了其“连结性概念(Connectivity Concept)”。
韩国车厂Hyundai展示搭载NFC技术的概念车
Obeesmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
第3页：NFC与蓝牙低功耗谁更适合车钥匙？
相关阅读：
• 英恒免钥入车系统新品，无需按键便可自动开启车门
• “车联网”应用兴起，驱动汽车电子市场新发展
• 骇客们有可能这样控制你的汽车……Obeesmc
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所以其实把智能手机当车钥匙用的概念几年前就出现了，也获得了部分汽车厂商的注意；那么蓝牙低功耗技术也可以支持汽车钥匙吗？
有人会说：有何不可？但要让这个概念可行的第一个步骤，是确保蓝牙智能车钥匙与车内的电子装置不会有任何EMC干扰；也许更重要的是，蓝牙低功耗需要电源(虽然很低)。相反的，NFC无需激活电源，不会影响钥匙的电池寿命。
恩智浦半导体表示：“NFC透过接触就能建立一个连结，不需要透过事先的装置配对。”也就是说，NFC能让车厂专注于便利性与安全性。不过，就算NFC或蓝牙等任一种无线技术能胜任智能车钥的功能，技术供货商还是得清除更多障碍。
Freeman解释，对一家车厂来说，拥有其汽车品牌标志的车钥匙，是与车主之间所建立的第一个、也是最重要的物理性且有形的接触，汽车厂商可能不会急于把如此珍贵的品牌商机送给智能手机──后者不负担任何汽车品牌责任。
所以你懂了；目前NFC与蓝牙低功耗的战争看来是较着重于将智能手机(或任何一种可穿戴式装置)与智能车钥连结，并非是直接让智能手机取代车钥。
根据恩智浦半导体的说法，该公司采用NFC技术的多功能汽车钥匙解决方案，是其完整的车用智能接取(Smart Access)解决方案的系列新产品成员之一，该系列产品将与2013年的车款共同上市。。
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
编译：Judith Cheng
参考英文原文：Unlocking the Keyless Car Future，by Junko Yoshida
相关阅读：
• 英恒免钥入车系统新品，无需按键便可自动开启车门
• “车联网”应用兴起，驱动汽车电子市场新发展
• 骇客们有可能这样控制你的汽车……Obeesmc
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Unlocking the Keyless Car Future
Junko Yoshida
For just about everything we do these days, "there's an app for that." Is the car key destined to become one more little tile on a smartphone screen?
The thought hit me recently while interviewing Broadcom executive Tom Ramsthaler, responsible for product marketing of wireless connectivity. In discussing the company's upcoming 802.11ac/Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) combo chip, Ramsthaler explained to me what he envisions as in-vehicle applications enabled by Bluetooth LE.
He talked about Nissan Watch, unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show last month. The smartwatch, using a Bluetooth LE connection, gathers telemetry data from a car so that it can show the driver the car's efficiency information, such as fuel consumption, while also tracking performance. The Nissan Watch also monitors certain parameters of driver health, like heart rate in a traffic jam.
Nissan Watch links a car and a driver.
OK, mildly interesting. But hardly the mass market product that will prompt every carmaker to embrace Bluetooth LE, I thought. However, Ramsthaler mentioned offhand that Bluetooth LE would be useful as a smart car key.
Now I'm interested.
As I recall, NXP, armed with the lion's share in the smart car key market, had been thinking along these lines. NXP came up with a single-chip solution for multi-function car keys using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The idea is for keys to connect to external NFC-compliant devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, and laptops. Announcing the product, called KEyLink Lite, NXP talked about potential "smart" key applications including car finder, route planner, and car status/service data management.
So, now that Broadcom is coming to the automotive market with Bluetooth LE chips, will we be seeing an NFC vs. Bluetooth LE battle brewing in the smart car key market?
Or better yet, will there be a day when we can do away with our car keys and flip open a car door simply by waving the phone?
Not so fast.
Talking to several executives at the European Microelectronics Summit, I quickly realized that using a smartphone to enter a car is actually not a smart idea.
Ian Riches, director of global automotive practice at Strategy Analytics, agreed that unlocking a car with a smartphone is possible. But he cautioned: "The problem is that a lot of people go inside a car to charge their smartphones. What if your smartphone already ran out of battery? You can't even open your car door!"
I broached the subject with Drue Freeman, vice president, global sales and marketing, automotive business unit, NXP Semiconductors, who was also a presenter at the European Microelectronics Summit. Freeman told me, "You need to understand that car keys must last longer than cars."
Indeed, that's the first hurdle for any attempt to use a smartphone as a car key. Consumers swap smartphones roughly every 1.5 years. The average car lasts more than eight years.
While acknowledging that opening a car with an NFC-enabled smartphone could be done, Freeman posed a more salient matter of convenience.
In the current generation of keyless entry for cars, a smart key system disengages the immobilizer and activates the ignition without inserting a key in the ignition. The system uses LF (low frequency, 125 kHz) and RF (radio frequency, >300 MHz). It works by having a series of LF transmitting antennas both inside and outside the vehicle. External antennas are in the door handles. When the vehicle is triggered, an LF signal is transmitted from the antennas to the key. The key activates if it is sufficiently close, and it transmits its ID back to the vehicle via RF to a receiver located in the vehicle.
Applying NFC in a smartphone to the car security system is certainly feasible. But the driver still needs to walk up to a car and physically open the door -- unless the smartphone is also integrated with an LF/RF-based keyless entry system.
Freeman explained, "With a smartphone, it's a two-step process. In contrast, the smart car key you use today can remotely flip a car open -- instantly," without fiddling with your smartphone first.
But let's be clear: The idea of unlocking and locking the car and then starting the ignition with a phone has haunted the minds of some carmakers, such as Hyundai.
By using NFC, Hyundai demonstrated "Connectivity Concept."
By using an embedded NFC tag in the car, Hyundai has designed a system that allows owners to unlock a vehicle, start the engine, and link up to the touchscreen with a quick swipe. The Korean automaker showed earlier this year what the company calls its "Connectivity Concept" in a demonstration i30 hatchback car.
So, the idea of smartphone as your car key has been percolating for a few years, and it has gotten some attention from carmakers. Can a Bluetooth LE be that key?
One might say: Why not?
The first step in proving the feasibility of this concept is to make sure there is absolutely no EMC interference between a Bluetooth-based smart car key and the electronics inside the vehicle. Perhaps more important, Bluetooth LE requires power (albeit low energy). NFC connectivity "does not require a power supply in the key, hence does not affect the key's battery lifetime," according to NXP's spokesperson. "Setting up a connectivity link is done by a touch and would not require an exchange pairing credential upfront." In sum, NFC allows carmakers to focus on convenience and security.
Even assuming that either wireless technology -- NFC or Bluetooth -- works fine as a smart car key, technology suppliers need to clear one more hurdle.
NXP's Freeman explained that for a carmaker, the branded car key establishes the first and the most significant physical and tactile contact with car owners. Automotive companies might not be so eager to give up that precious branding opportunity to a smartphone -- which bears no automotive brand.
Point taken.
For the time being, the NFC vs. Bluetooth LE battleground is likely to be focused more on connecting a smart car key with a smartphone (or any wearable smart device), rather than a smartphone replacing a car key.
According to NXP, the company's multi-function car key using NFC is "one member of a complete new product family designed for Smart Access solutions." The product family debuts in the market with model year '13 vehicles.
责编：Quentin
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