Wireless Auto-addressing for Vehicle Modules Using Bluetooth Localization Techniques

Auto manufacturers have been adding Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) capability for numerous applications including, for example, passive entry passive start (PEPS) which employs a key fob that can send a signal to a smart key module to trigger the mechanism to unlock the doors. This system typically has a master smart key module and multiple slave modules that are physically distributed around and in the car. System designers would like to design one hardware board with identical software for the slave modules so that installation in the car is agnostic of the position, however since the hardware and software of the slave nodes at installation time is identical, a scheme is needed for the master module to assign a unique address to each slave node after the modules are installed in the car. Currently, a wired communication interface is used to address all the slave nodes; We will discuss how to address each slave node using BLE techniques in order to remove the wired communication interface.