In this latest installment of our ‘Ask the Experts’ Q&A series, we’re joined again by Erik Peters from the Dialog connectivity team, to get his thoughts on the current – and future – role and impact thatxinyabo体育app (BLE) technology will have for cars, drivers and the automotive market in general.

Can you talk a little about the way Bluetooth is currently affecting the automotive space?

BLE对汽车市场产生了巨大影响。无人驾演，轮胎压力监测系统，蓝牙汽车扬声器 - 这些都是司机和乘客可以在日常生活中互动的所有创新。而这就是因为BLE。

我们看到的另一种趋势是Zipcar和Getaround等汽车租赁服务的兴起。这些不是严格的蓝牙相关，但他们确实展示了如何驾驶和拥有 - 或者在这种情况下，这是一辆越来越多的数字经验，依赖于智能设备和连接。它已经变得略低于完全体验，以及混合在一起的物理和数字。所有这些都有助于燃料在行业中的下一波创新浪潮：支持BLE的数字键。

What is a digital key and what role does BLE play there?

数字键将取代传统的钥匙扣。因此，而不是使用物理键解锁门或启动汽车，而是使用手机或智能手表上安装的数字键。它超越了点火和锁定 - 数字键还可以让您控制像温度，音乐，音量等温度。For instance, in the winter, instead of sitting in a freezing car in the morning that takes several minutes to warm up, you can remotely set the heat to turn on well before you get in. That way it’s at the ideal temperature right as you get in, not when you’re halfway through your commute.

数字钥匙如何工作？

与物理密钥或FOB不同，没有什么可以插入和转弯，没有按钮推动。数字钥匙完全根据车辆的位置和物理靠近工作。这一切都通过蓝牙完成。BLE使数字键能够确定您的车辆的近距离或您的车辆，使用汽车上的一系列节点或接收器来获得其位置和您的位置。

这以几种不同的方式脱颖而出。一件事，你永远不必担心你是否忘了锁定汽车;它会自动锁定或解锁，具体取决于您的车辆的近距离，并在您关闭时向您发出信号，因此您不会在很多时候徘徊在您停放的地方。您也绝不担心将您的钥匙锁定在汽车内或忘记首先留下钥匙。它是正确的，您已经在您的任何设备上携带。

How does security factor into digital keys?

There definitely are security concerns to take into consideration. For one thing, BLE-enabled IoT devices that carry the digital key need to incorporate various layers of cybersecurity – whether it’s end-to-end encryption, two-factor authentication or simple password management – to make sure that not just anyone can access the device and, by association, the key. On top of that, the digital key itself must come with a level of built-in authentication. If the car locks or unlocks within the presence of the key, then we must ensure that that capability is only available to authorized users, and not just anyone walking by a parked car.

汽车所有者这是真的，但对于汽车租赁服务的客户来说也是如此。我早先提到Zipcar。在这种情况下，用户不拥有数字键，因为它们不拥有汽车。相反，Zipcar需要验证数字键，以在特定时间段内为特定车辆的驱动程序工作 - 然后在其预留时间将该键的认证转移到另一个用户。这允许客户在客户之间共享数字键，同时确保只有合适的人在正确的时间驾驶他们保留的汽车。像Zipcar这样的服务也可以超越仅仅在数字键应该到期时的时间和地点;他们还可以根据自己的自行决定，为客户提供有关车辆的一些，但并非所有，以及车辆的所有功能。

Security is already a major factor when we think about cars – if you lose your keys, or they’re stolen, that’s already a security risk. So, it’s not that digital keys are inherently less secure than traditional ones, or that digital keys and Bluetooth are introducing anything unsafe or dangerous here. It’s just a different way to think about how we secure our cars and ourselves.

如果你可以用几句话总结，在你看来，是什么是数字钥匙和汽车漏洞的大卖点？

In two words, I’d say it all comes down to this one thing: user experience. Bluetooth and BLE devices like digital keys should be focused on making people’s lives easier and making experiences that might have been mundane or tedious into something more intuitive, emphasizing convenience and safety. When the key becomes digital, and a part of the mobile device you’re already carrying, then essentially, you become the key. You don’t have to worry about losing your keys. You don’t have to worry about sitting in a freezing car. You don’t have to worry about finding your car in a crowded lot.

And as the technology continues to evolve, Bluetooth and digital keys have the potential to make everything from programming music and temperature settings to adjusting seat and mirror positioning a faster, more seamless and personalized process.

Thanks to Erik for taking the time to chat about BLE and the future of this technology in the automotive world. Stay tuned for future posts in our Ask the Experts series. In the meantime, check out how Dialog’s suite of蓝牙低能量devices – like ourSmartBond DA1469x series- 正在为工程师开辟新的机会。