How a Phone Could Prepare Your Car for Driving Before You Unlock the Doors

And while some are pushing for embedded systems (I'm looking at you, General Motors!), essentially making mobile phones less of an essential device behind the wheel, these devices are likely to remain a key part of the time spent in the car.

Now someone is trying to use phones to prepare cars before you actually get inside, and a recent patent application provides us with a closer look at their idea.

American company Cypress Semiconductor has recently patented a technology called "devices for configuring a system as a user approaches." The self-explanatory name of the filling already reveals its purpose, but here's exactly how the company believes phones could help a car get ready for driving, according to each user's settings.

First of all, let's see what a personalized driving experience means. Some cars allow drivers to set up different profiles, including seat configuration, their own infotainment settings, various interior lighting adjustments, air temperature, music volume, and so on. In other words, the moment you get in the car, the vehicle allows you to load the profile, so all your settings are automatically loaded.

Thanks to this approach, multiple drivers of the same car (such as you and your significant other) wouldn’t have to change each setting every time they get in the car. A single tap to load the saved profile allows them to do this, with everything then adjusted according to their previous configuration.

As I said, the system doesn’t require more than a single tap. Basically, it all comes down to this: you unlock the doors of the vehicle, get inside, wait for the infotainment system to load, choose your profile, and then let the car load it and adjust all settings.

But what if you can do all of these before even unlocking the vehicle's doors, having everything prepared the moment you step behind the wheel?

The aforementioned patent describes a way to do this in a very convenient matter. The technology relies on a connection between the phone and the vehicle, so when you approach the parking lot, the car can automatically detect the mobile device. Cars would be equipped with a wireless module whose role is specifically to communicate with the phone. They can exchange data, including your profile, so the car knows in advance who's about to get in. As a result, it can load all settings before you open the door, so when you step inside.

The communication between the phone and the car can work in multiple ways, including using a Wi-Fi connection or Bluetooth. The latter would come with distance limitations, as Bluetooth typically works at a distance of about 20 meters, but depending on the location, such as underground parking with concrete walls, the system might not detect the phone unless you're next to the car. And that's way too late, as you'd still have to wait for everything to load.

On the other hand, the connection between the phone and the vehicle can work both ways. The car can receive the user profile to load everything from seat adjustments to the climate settings and the CarPlay interface, while the phone would be provided with trip information when you arrive at the destination. As a result, when you park the car and lock the doors, the vehicle can automatically upload a driving report to the mobile device.

You can check out all details later, including the traveled distance, the time spent behind the wheel, and, more importantly, the battery charge in electric cars. With companion apps integration, the system could help address range anxiety by providing notifications to the driver, eventually managing the battery range more efficiently.

This idea would fit autonomous vehicles like a glove, especially because owners would end up having even more settings to adjust. Carmakers are already working on transforming vehicles into living rooms on wheels, so with such a system, passengers can have everything adjusted as they approach the vehicle.

Sure enough, it's too early to discuss seeing this system entering mass production. Nevertheless, given the push for new-generation vehicles in general, and autonomous cars in particular, a quick connection between the phone and the vehicle could be an easy way to prepare the driving experience in advance. Time will tell if this is an idea that carmakers would end up pursuing, but if you ask me, Apple might have something similar in mind for the upcoming Apple Car. The vehicle is expected to sport full iPhone integration, so chances are the mobile phone would also be in permanent communication with the car for everything from battery level to automatic door unlocking when you approach it.