Car Connectivity Consortium Unveils New Features for Digital Key Specification

BEAVERTON, Ore.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) today announced that its Digital Key Release 2.0 specification, which leverages Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to enable compatible mobile devices such as smartphones to securely access vehicles, is planned for completion by the end of 2019. Release 2.0 introduces a new scalable architecture to support mass adoption, while reducing development costs for adopters and ensuring interoperability between a variety of smart mobile devices and cars. In addition, the consortium has begun work on Digital Key Release 3.0, which adds support for passive access.

“The broad industry support for Digital Key has been phenomenal, and I’m excited to see our membership grow to over 100 companies,” said Mahfuzur Rahman, president, CCC. “We are now in the final stages of delivering Digital Key Release 2.0 to our membership – which includes major car or device manufacturers in the world – and we expect to see products in the market soon. Release 2.0 which implements NFC technology will allow the industry to massively scale a secure digital key solution, while Release 3.0 will add new standardized connectivity interfaces for an even more seamless end user experience.”

Digital Key Release 2.0 Highlights

The Digital Key Release 2.0 specification leverages NFC – a short-range wireless connectivity standard for contactless communication between devices such as smartphones or tablets. CCC uses existing industry standards like NFC as much as possible to ensure high interoperability between vehicles and a wide range of industry devices.

To address security in Release 2.0, a secure connection is established between mobile devices and vehicles using NFC, which continues to operate even when the supported mobile device’s battery is low. Mobile devices ensure the highest level of security by storing digital keys in dedicated, tamper-resistant security chips isolated from the device’s operating system. Mobile developers are able to build applications that interact with digital keys and vehicles to provide custom, vehicle-specific functionality.

Digital Key Release 3.0 Adds Passive Keyless Access Capabilities

The Digital Key Release 3.0 specification will enhance Digital Key Release 2.0 by adding passive, location-aware keyless access. Rather than having to pull their mobile devices out to access a car, consumers will be able to leave their mobile device in their bag or pocket when accessing and/or starting their vehicle. Passive access is not only vastly more convenient and a better overall user experience, it also allows vehicles to offer new location-aware features.

To support these new features, the CCC is developing a specification based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) in combination with Ultra-Wideband (UWB) to enable passive keyless access and to allow secure and accurate positioning.

The Digital Key Release 2.0 specification will be made available to CCC members by the end of 2019. Companies that are interested in joining CCC can download membership application documents at www.carconnectivity.org/membership/how-to-join-ccc/.

About the Car Connectivity Consortium

The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) is dedicated to cross-industry collaboration in developing global standards and solutions for smartphone and in-vehicle connectivity. The Board of Directors of CCC include individuals from the Charter Member Companies Apple, BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, and Volkswagen. The organization’s 100 plus members represent a large portion of the global automotive and smartphone market. Besides Digital Key, the CCC portfolio of technologies includes MirrorLink® and Car Data. For further information about CCC projects and to get involved, please visit www.carconnectivity.org.

Contacts

Lori Mesecke

Nereus for CCC

503.459.9150

lmesecke@nereus-worldwide.com