With the Car Connectivity Consortium’s (CCC) Digital Key release 3.0 specification now readily
available, the standards for turning the smartphone into a full digital car key have been defined.
The 3.0 release adds the handsfree experience on top of the secure digital key management. It will
soon be available across most leading car and phone brands. Read on to discover three reasons why
the Digital Key release 3.0 is cause for excitement.
- It Sets a Worldwide Cross-Industry Standard
Although smartphones have been used to access vehicles for some time now, there is no worldwide
standard which enables and ensures mobile car access with the performance and convenience
customers are used to with their existing key fob. In the past, one would have to rely on mobile
apps provided by vehicle manufacturers and rental companies, meaning different,
non-interoperable approaches with varying degrees of convenience, security and privacy
protection. Through the new standard, propriety systems are a thing of the past. Smartphone
manufacturers have worked together with carmakers to enable a secure environment where car keys
can be implemented into a phone’s wallet. It even enables new functions beyond the capabilities
of today’s classic keys.
The traditional key fob allows users to lock and unlock their car, open the windows or start the
engine. These functions are of course also provided by the Digital Key, however, the CCC Digital
Key can extend additional comfort functions. You can now have full control over the access
rights to your car. The CCC Digital Key lets users share access among family and friends, no
matter the physical distance. Access can be transferred in an instant and for any amount of
time. Furthermore, certain rights can be granted, ranging from access only to the car, to full
driving capability.
- It Adds More Comfort and Allows for Truly Handsfree Access
The Digital Key 3.0 release comes with true handsfree car access based on the unique
localization capabilities of
Ultra-Wideband (UWB). Not only does handsfree passive keyless entry grant the same level of comfort and safety as
classic key fob-based solutions, there’s also no need for interaction with the smartphone. This
means users don’t even have to get their phones out of their pockets to open an app, allowing
truly handsfree access for even more convenience.
- It Sees Ranging Security as Top Priority
Digital Key release 3.0 extends the end-to-end security from the phone’s secure element to the
car’s secure element via Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE). By adding UWB wireless
connectivity technologies, a secure ranging session is established. Ranging keys are derived
from Digital Keys securely stored in Secure Element. When in use, ranging keys have a limited
lifetime designed to shorten the time window available to an attacker. This means that UWB
communication provides secure and accurate ranging in the distance measurement between the
vehicle and mobile device. Moreover, UWB's precise real-time localization capabilities protect
the owners from relay attacks—all together making Digital Keys even more secure than traditional
key fobs.
The new CCC Digital release 3.0 is changing how we interact with our vehicles in ways that make
life more convenient and engaging. Visit our
Smart Car Access Reference Platform
to discover more.