DRIVEN BASE
Person unlocking their car from their phone

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Key: 'Phone as a Key' Technology

  • Automotive Part for Phone as a Key

    PaaK is made at DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee (DMTN) using two products – the main Bluetooth module and the Bluetooth antenna, several of which are placed around the vehicle.

What could be easier than downloading your vehicle’s digital key to your smartphone and using it to locate your auto, access the cabin and get the wheels rolling? That’s precisely the question that drove a team of DENSO International America (DIAM) associates as they contemplated consumer needs and smartphone user trends as early as 2012. 

With that thinking, DENSO achieved a global first with its Phone as a Key (PaaK) technology and a DIAM first by earning DENSO’s coveted President’s Award for “World First Innovation” in fiscal year 2018. 

“We were seeing the emergence of a seamless lifestyle and that people were using their smartphones for everything,” said Tianjin (TJ) Liu, SVP of Engineering, Mobility Electronics, DIAM. “We thought if we could use the smartphone as a key, it would provide convenient, seamless access.”

InfiniteKey® Technology

Part of DENSO’s strategy in bringing a PaaK product to market included the 2017 acquisition of InfiniteKey, a Michigan tech company with patents and foundational technology DENSO could use to strengthen PaaK technology development. 

When DIAM showcased the technology on a demonstration vehicle, multiple customers expressed interest. By 2019, DENSO was supplying PaaK to a North American customer on several vehicle models.

  • Coolest Thing Awards

    In July 2024, DENSO team members attended the Coolest Thing Made in Tennessee awards luncheon where PaaK was one of four finalists.  For two months, more than 75,000 online votes were cast for 121 products in the competition.  You could say the competition was PaaKed, and while the Nissan Rogue won the top slot, the exposure for DENSO was “locked in”. 

Looking Ahead

In 2020 DENSO partnered with Lambda:4, a German tech company with enhanced passive digital key technology to further cement its global leadership in the category. That same year, a customer presented DENSO with an excellence award for DENSO’s Bluetooth Low Energy PaaK.

“We are always looking ahead at DENSO and seeking to create next-generation technology that sustains our leadership position,” Liu shared. “With PaaK, DENSO is providing a secure, connected and convenient option that supports our Peace of Mind great cause.” 

PaaK technology was leading-edge in 2019, and today serves as the underpinning for future developments for DENSO’s other connected vehicle applications.  

 

  • BES President Award

    In June 2019, DENSO Corporation awarded DIAM the President’s Award for World’s First Innovation. The award was presented in recognition of exceptional contributions to the DENSO Group through progressive, dynamic and honorable performance by the world’s first challenge.