Patent ID: 8497771

Claim:
A vehicle entry/tire pressure monitoring system comprising: a left front tire sensor installed in a left front tire of a vehicle; a left rear tire sensor installed in a left rear tire of the vehicle; a right front tire sensor installed in a right front tire of the vehicle; a right rear tire sensor installed in a right rear tire of the vehicle; a front low frequency (“LF”) antenna mounted towards a front of the vehicle, the front antenna being configured to transmit a front LF field to wake up the front tire sensors; a rear LF antenna mounted towards a rear of the vehicle, the rear antenna being configured to transmit a rear LF field to wake up the rear tire sensors; a left side LF antenna mounted adjacent, in or on a left door of the vehicle, the left side antenna being configured to transmit a left LF field to wake up the left tire sensors; a right side LF antenna mounted adjacent, in or on a right door of the vehicle, the right side antenna being configured to transmit a right LF field to wake up the right tire sensors, wherein two of the antennas are also configured to transmit a SMART entry LF search field to wake up a portable transmission/reception unit for keyless entry of the vehicle; and an ECU in communication with the tire sensors and the LF antennas, wherein the ECU is configured to receive identification signals from the respective tire sensors and to determine locations of the respective tire sensors based on which antenna woke up the tire sensor transmitting the respective identification signal and whether the respective identification signal matches other received identification signals, wherein each tire sensor and each side antenna are configured such that each tire sensor has at least about an 80% chance of being woken up by the right or the left LF field when the tires are not moving; wherein each tire sensor, the front antenna, and the rear antenna are configured such that each tire sensor has at least about a 95% chance of being woken up by the right, the left, the front or the rear LF field when the tires are not moving.