LG Innotek Accelerates Its Expansion into the Automotive Communication Component Market with Its Next-generation Digital Key solution

Killing three birds—localization accuracy, security, and compatibility—with one stone
Aiming for mass production in 2027: “Will solidify standing as a leading company in the automotive communication component market”

SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — LG Innotek (CEO Moon, Hyuksoo) is gearing up to take the lead in the automotive communication component market with its cutting-edge ‘Digital Key solution’.

The Digital Key is highlighted as a next-generation car key that can be used to open, lock, and start the car using a smartphone connected to the vehicle through wireless communication technology. Users will no longer need to carry a separate car key, eliminating the worry of misplacing it. And since the car can be started only with a smartphone connected to the digital key, there is a low risk of theft.

With the recent growth of the vehicle sharing industry, including car sharing and car rental, the demand for digital keys is on the rise. According to the global market research firm Persistence Market Research, the automotive digital key market is expected to more than quadruple, from USD 3.0167 billion in 2023, reaching USD 11.3813 billion in 2033.

LG Innotek has continuously enhanced the performance of its products since it first launched a ‘Digital Key Module for Vehicles’ in 2021. Now, it has developed a ‘Next-Generation Digital Key solution’ that significantly enhances the safety and convenience of passengers.

This product is a package of not only a digital key module installed with an antenna and circuitry but also software to operate the digital key. It places the company in a highly advantageous position in the automotive communication component market.

Killing three birds—localization accuracy, security, and compatibility—with one stone

LG Innotek’s ‘Next-Generation Digital Key solution’ incorporates the unrivalled wireless communication technology capabilities that the company has accumulated over the past 40 years.

It is equipped with short-range communication technologies, including Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Ultra Wideband (UWB). UWB is a wireless communication technology that uses a wide bandwidth frequency that is less prone to interference than BLE. This technology plays a crucial role in accurately measuring the location of the smartphone connected to the digital key. This is complemented by the company’s proprietary algorithm, which accurately detects the smartphone’s location to within 10cm. This industry-leading performance is expected to significantly reduce the failure rate of existing digital keys.

Operating based on short-range wireless communication, LG Innotek’s ‘Next-Generation Digital Key solution’ is significantly more secure than the existing solution that is currently available on the market. This is because the risk of remote hacking cannot be ruled out due to the wide coverage of the long-range communication method used.

In particular, the product is equipped with the company’s independently-developed wireless communication hacking prevention technology to ensure that the digital key function can be activated only by the smartphone authorized by the user. This solves the security issue that has been pointed out as the biggest vulnerability of connected cars.

In addition, it adheres to the latest standards of the ‘Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC)’, a global digital key standardization organization. It can be used regardless of country, terrain, or vehicle type and is compatible with a wide range of smartphones. It is also designed to be interoperable with both iOS and Android operating systems, enhancing user convenience.

Furthermore, the ‘Next-Generation Digital Key solution’ is equipped with a radar that was developed in-house to provide additional functions that enhance safety and convenience.

An example is the ‘Child Presence Detection (CPD)’ function for when a child is left in the vehicle. The radar instantly detects the child’s movement or breathing and sends a real-time alert to the user’s smartphone.

In 2022, 33 children in the United States lost their lives from heatstroke after being left alone in a car. To prevent similar accidents in the future, the United States and Europe are planning to make in-car CDP systems mandatory in 2025.

Most importantly, LG Innotek’s ‘Next-Generation Digital Key solution’ is the smallest in the industry. More than 60 components and modules for BLE and UWB wireless communication, including RF (radio frequency) and power supply devices and in-house developed software, are packed into a solution smaller than a business card. This provides differentiated customer value, including greater design freedom.

Aming for mass production in 2027: “Will solidify standing as a leading company in the automotive communication component market”

LG Innotek has set 2027 as its target year for full-scale mass production of its ‘Next-Generation Digital Key solution’ and is actively promoting it to global customers of fully-built units.

In addition to this, it is accelerating efforts to capture the automotive communication component market with the second-generation ‘5G-V2X Communication Module’ that it developed last year. The company recently won an order for this module from a global automaker and expects to expand its sales volume of vehicle communication modules by more than four times this year compared to last year.

LG Innotek CEO Moon said, “LG Innotek will continue to foster automotive communication components based on its unparalleled wireless communication source technology as the core pillar of its electronic component business.” He then added, “We will continue to present products that offer differentiated customer value and solidify our position as a leader in the global automotive communication component market.”