Picture this: you're standing in your driveway, keys in hand, ready to hit the road. But there are two cars in front of you. The problem? Your iPhone automatically connects with both, unlocking their doors and draining precious battery life from your device and potentially causing interference issues. How does your phone know which car you're about to step into and only connect with that one? Enter Apple's recently filed patent, US20230379838A1, aimed at solving this exact conundrum.
Presently, iPhones set up Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless links with all available vehicles, automatically unlocking doors and engaging in other actions. Yet this process can overwhelm the device's resources, consuming more energy than necessary. Furthermore, establishing links with multiple cars can lead to potential overlap, affecting the reliability of the connections. This inconvenient situation is what Apple's new patent intends to address.
The new take is rather straightforward. Apple's patent envisions an iPhone acting like a special walkie-talkie, communicating with all available cars, but deciding which to connect based on proximity or positioning. Once it makes this decision, the iPhone will give more power to that connection, enhancing its strength. This approach is like using a loudspeaker to communicate with the chosen car, ensuring a clearer, interruption-free communication link.
It's the equivalent of a traffic officer standing at a busy intersection, systematically picking out cars and directing them without causing a congestion. It saves time, prevents frustration, and allows for a more efficient use of resources.
Just imagine a world without any confusion or wasted energy. Your iPhone will know if you're about to take the minivan for the family road trip or the coupe for a quick run to the store. This kind of targeted functionality will certainly streamline daily routines for many iPhone users and car owners.
However, it's important to remember that this is still a patent. There's no guarantee that the concept will hit the market soon, or even at all. Even the most promising patents sometimes end up as brilliant ideas that never see production. But if it clears all hurdles, it could make our iPhones even more intelligent in their interactions with our cars.