Patent ID: 8335599

Claim:
An apparatus for determining a location of a wireless device with respect to a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of antennas for being positioned about the vehicle to receive a wireless signal from the wireless device and each antenna of the plurality of antennas is arranged to be positioned in a zone about the vehicle in which the wireless device is capable of being positioned within, the wireless device for being one of carried by a user and positioned on the vehicle, and the wireless signal being indicative of a predetermined vehicle operation; and a controller for being operably coupled to each antenna and being configured to: determine the zone which includes the portable wireless device based on an order in which the plurality of antennas receives the wireless signal; generate a location signal indicative of the location of the wireless device based on the order in which the plurality of antennas receives the wireless signal; and perform the predetermined vehicle operation based on the location signal.