Patent Description:
More precisely the invention relates to an arrangement and a process for controlling a park area access system.

It is known to provide vehicles with an automatic parking capability such that the vehicle may park without receiving any direction from the driver. Such a vehicle may have for instance an onboard system including an automatic parking unit adapted to control a maneuver of the vehicle in a garage. Such a vehicle might also have an onboard system to directly control a garage door operation as part of the automatic parking operation. The document <CIT> discloses a receiver adapted to receive wireless signals being able to provide a barrier actuation signal to actuate a barrier. The document <CIT> discloses a receiver able to receive a wireless signal from a smart device connected to a pushbutton to control the movement of a garage door.

Besides, it is known to control an automated garage door using either a button in the garage or a remote control. Such systems are generally known as GDO (for "Garage Door Opener"), the remote control being called a UGDO (for "Universal Garage Door Opener").

The automatic parking unit and the garage door opener are however usually distinct systems that are unable to cooperate.

In this context, the invention provides a process for controlling a park area access system according to claim <NUM>. Moreover the disclosure provides an arrangement for controlling a park area access system, comprising a button; a first control circuit connected to the button and suited to trigger the operation of the park area access system upon actuation of the button; characterized by a receiver circuit; a controllable switch connected in parallel to the button; and a second control circuit suited to toggle the controllable switch when the receiver circuit receives a wireless instruction.

Thanks to this arrangement, receipt of the wireless instruction by the receiver circuit can be detected by the second control circuit, which can then toggle the controllable switch to simulate depression of the button. Receipt of the wireless instruction can therefore lead to operation of the park area access system.

For clarity, the access system may be for instance a garage door, a gate, a barrier or a lift, that needs to be operated while maneuvering the car.

The arrangement further includes a receiver unit connected to the first control circuit and suited to receive a (typically sub GHz) radiofrequency signal; the first control circuit may in this case also be suited to trigger the operation of the park area access system upon this receiver unit receiving the sub GHz radiofrequency signal.

This is the case for instance of an access system controllable by a remote control, such as a conventional UGDO (as mentioned above).

In this situation, provision of the controllable switch toggled upon the receiving of a wireless instruction at the receiver circuit makes it possible to remotely control operation of the access system via a wireless communication technology that is distinct from the conventional sub GHz radiofrequency signal. The wireless communication technology may for instance be Bluetooth or communication in a wireless area network.

The button is for instance located in the park area.

The process for controlling a park area access system according to the invention comprises the following steps:.

In a non-claimed embodiment an electronic device, such as a smartphone, integrates said communication circuit.

Other features and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention will be better understood upon reading of preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the appended drawings.

In the context shown in <FIG>, a park area <NUM> (here: a garage) is secured by an access system <NUM> (here a garage door).

A mechanism <NUM> for operating the access system <NUM> (i.e. here for opening or closing the garage door) can be activated either by depressing a button <NUM> (typically located in the park area <NUM>) or using a remote control <NUM>, such as a Universal Garage Door Opener, that can for instance be mounted in a vehicle <NUM>.

Specifically, a control circuit <NUM> suited to activate the mechanism <NUM> is connected to the button <NUM>. In the example described here, the button <NUM> is interposed between the control circuit <NUM> and a ground terminal, as shown in <FIG>. It may however not necessarily be wired that way.

When the user depresses the button <NUM>, an actuation signal is detected at the control circuit <NUM> (a pin of the control circuit <NUM> being momentarily set to the ground potential, for instance) and the control circuit <NUM> then activates the mechanism <NUM>.

Besides, a receiver unit <NUM> (for instance implemented by a transceiver) is also connected to the control circuit <NUM> and suited to receive (and possibly transmit) a radiofrequency signal (here: a sub Ghz radiofrequency signal, i.e. a radiofrequency signal having a main frequency below <NUM>).

The control circuit <NUM> is suited to also activate the mechanism <NUM> for operating the access system <NUM> when the receiver unit <NUM> receives this radiofrequency signal (together with valid credentials in practice).

As visible in <FIG>, an electronic module <NUM> is connected to the control unit <NUM> in parallel to the button <NUM>.

This electronic module <NUM> may in practice be an add-on that has been mounted by the user in parallel to an existing button <NUM> in such a way to obtain complementary operational features for the access system <NUM>, as explained below.

The electronic module <NUM> comprises a control circuit <NUM> (for instance a microprocessor or a microcontroller), a controllable switch <NUM> and a receiver circuit, implemented here by a transceiver circuit <NUM>.

The controllable switch <NUM> is connected in parallel to the button <NUM>; the controllable switch <NUM> is thus here also interposed between the control circuit <NUM> and the ground terminal, as visible in <FIG>.

The transceiver circuit <NUM> is suited to receive a wireless instruction from an external communication circuit <NUM>. In the embodiment described here, the transceiver circuit <NUM> and the communication circuit <NUM> are suited to establish a wireless data link (such as a Bluetooth data link, or a link in a wireless local area network or WLAN) between them. The wireless instruction may then be transmitted from the communication circuit <NUM> to the transceiver circuit <NUM> via this wireless data link.

The control circuit <NUM> is suited to toggle the controllable switch <NUM> (specifically here to control closing of the controllable switch <NUM> for a predefined period of time, e.g. in practice by applying a given voltage to a control pin of the controllable switch <NUM>) when the transceiver circuit <NUM> receives the wireless instruction mentioned above with valid credentials.

Thanks to the parallel arrangement of the button <NUM> and the controllable switch <NUM>, closing the controllable switch <NUM> simulates depression of the button <NUM> triggering the control circuit <NUM> to activate the mechanism <NUM> and consequently operate the access system <NUM>. Phrased differently, toggling the controllable switch <NUM> generates a signal identical to the actuation signal transmitted to the control circuit <NUM> when the button <NUM> is depressed, such that the control circuit <NUM> activates the mechanism <NUM> an consequently operate the access system <NUM>.

Receiving the wireless instruction at the transceiver circuit <NUM> results in operating the access system <NUM>.

According to a first embodiment presented referring to <FIG>, the external communication circuit <NUM> is embedded in an onboard system <NUM> of the vehicle <NUM>.

This onboard system <NUM> also integrates an electronic control unit <NUM> connected to the communication circuit <NUM> and an automatic parking unit <NUM>.

The automatic parking unit <NUM> comprises at least one sensor <NUM> (generally a plurality of sensors), a processing circuit <NUM>, a control circuit <NUM> and at least a vehicle motion control mechanism <NUM> (such as a power train and/or a steering system and/or a braking system).

Each sensor <NUM> (for instance a video camera or an ultrasonic sensor) captures data representative of the environment of the vehicle <NUM>.

The processing circuit <NUM> processes (e.g. analyzes) the (raw) data captured by the sensor(s) <NUM> to generate processed data, which also incorporates the vehicle environment, but in a more synthetic manner. The processed data contains for instance the location of detected objects in the environment of the vehicle <NUM>.

The control circuit <NUM> receives these processed data and a command from the electronic control unit <NUM>.

When the command received from the electronic control unit <NUM> indicates the automatic maneuver should proceed (for instance further to receiving a corresponding user instruction via a human-machine interface connected to the electronic control unit <NUM>), the control circuit <NUM> controls the vehicle motion control mechanism(s) <NUM> based on the processed data so as to drive the vehicle <NUM> in its environment.

When the command received from the electronic control unit <NUM> indicates the automatic maneuver should be stopped (for instance when receiving a corresponding order from the user via the human-machine interface), the control circuit <NUM> controls the vehicle motion control mechanism(s) <NUM> to halt the vehicle <NUM>.

At some point of time during the maneuver, when the automatic parking unit <NUM> computes that the operation of the access system <NUM> needs to be started to allow a continuous park maneuver, the electronic control unit <NUM> sends the wireless instruction to the electronic module <NUM>, here via the wireless data link established between the communication circuit <NUM> and the transceiver circuit <NUM>, as explained above. (In practice, the automatic parking unit <NUM> may compute an appropriate time to operate the access system <NUM> and communicate this appropriate time to the electronic control unit <NUM>, which may then control the communication circuit <NUM> to transmit the wireless instruction at said appropriate time. ) Operation of the access system <NUM> may thus be controlled synchronously to the vehicle maneuver.

According to a possible variation, the decision to trigger the operation of the access system <NUM> may be taken asynchronously (relative to the progress of the maneuver), for instance at the start of the maneuver or when the maneuver cannot proceed any longer without operation of the access system <NUM>.

As explained above, upon the transceiver circuit <NUM> receiving the wireless instruction, the control circuit <NUM> toggles the controllable switch <NUM> and the control circuit <NUM> thus activates the mechanism <NUM> operates the access system <NUM> (i.e. here in order to open the garage door) such that, under the control of the automatic parking unit <NUM>, the vehicle <NUM> may clear the access system <NUM> and continue the maneuver (here: enter the park area <NUM>).

Use of the electronic module <NUM> thus makes it possible to wirelessly control the operation of the access system <NUM> with another means than the remote control <NUM>. This is particularly interesting when the remote control <NUM> is not designed to cooperate with the automatic parking unit <NUM>. The transceiver unit <NUM> is chosen so as to be compatible with the communication circuit <NUM> provided in the vehicle <NUM>, preferably using a common wireless communication standard, such as Bluetooth or a WLAN, as already indicated.

According to a second embodiment not according to the invention, the external communication circuit is included in an electronic device <NUM>, such as a smartphone (as schematically shown in dotted lines in <FIG>).

In this case, the communication circuit of the electronic device <NUM> can send the wireless instruction intended to the transceiver circuit <NUM> when the user enters a corresponding instruction on a human-machine interface (for instance a touch screen) of the electronic device <NUM>, e.g. when the user selects a virtual button on the touch screen of the electronic device <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A process for controlling a park area access system (<NUM>) using an arrangement comprising:
a button (<NUM>);
a first control circuit (<NUM>) connected to the button (<NUM>) and suited to trigger the operation of the park area access system (<NUM>) upon actuation of the button (<NUM>); a receiver unit (<NUM>) connected to the first control circuit (<NUM>) and suited to receive a radiofrequency signal, wherein the first control circuit (<NUM>) is also suited to trigger the operation of the park area access system (<NUM>) upon the receiver unit (<NUM>) receiving a sub GHz radiofrequency signal, and
an electronic module (<NUM>) comprising: a receiver circuit (<NUM>),
a controllable switch (<NUM>) connected in parallel to the button (<NUM>) and
a second control circuit (<NUM>) suited to toggle the controllable switch (<NUM>) when the receiver circuit (<NUM>) receives a wireless instruction;
the process comprising the following steps:
sending the wireless instruction by a communication circuit (<NUM>);
toggling the controllable switch (<NUM>) by the second control circuit (<NUM>) upon receiving the wireless instruction at the receiver circuit (<NUM>), wherein an onboard system (<NUM>) of a vehicle (<NUM>) comprises the communication circuit (<NUM>) and an automatic parking unit (<NUM>) suited to control a maneuver of the vehicle (<NUM>) in the park area (<NUM>), the communication circuit (<NUM>) is suited to send the wireless instruction synchronously to said maneuver, the automatic parking unit (<NUM>) is suited to compute an appropriate time for operation the access system (<NUM>) and wherein the communication circuit (<NUM>) is suited to transmit the wireless instruction at said appropriate time.