Patent ID: 8744482

Claim:
An apparatus for determining a location of a wireless device with respect to a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: an on-board vehicle controller for being operably coupled to a plurality of antennas in a vehicle and each antenna transmitting a first wireless signal to the wireless device to locate a primary antenna, the primary antenna being one of the plurality of antennas that transmitted the first wireless signal at a strongest signal strength, the controller being configured to: store a first signal strength for a first control point that is positioned about the vehicle and away from the primary antenna; determine the location of the wireless device based on a comparison of the first signal strength to the strongest signal strength; determine that the wireless device is positioned proximate to the primary antenna if the strongest signal strength is greater than the first signal strength; and store a second signal strength for a second control point positioned about the vehicle and away from a first antenna of the plurality of antennas, wherein the first antenna is different than the primary antenna.