Patent ID: 7933547

Claim:
An apparatus operable to disable operation of wireless communications devices, for use within a vehicle having a driver's seat from which a human driver controls the vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a directional antenna including at least one active antenna element, the directional antenna mounted in one of a seat back or a head rest of the driver's seat or in a visor that is positioned above and directly in front of the driver's seat, the directional antenna having a principal axis of emission directed toward a portion of the driver's seat to be occupied by the human driver while controlling the vehicle; and a drive circuit coupled to drive the at least one active antenna element to produce interference within at least one wireless communications band of frequencies in response to movement of the vehicle above a defined threshold, and at sufficiently high power to effectively interfere with communication between a destination device and a wireless communications device positioned in a volume to be occupied by the human driver when the human driver controls the vehicle where the interference disables the communication, and at sufficiently low power to not effectively interfere with communications between the destination device and a wireless communications device positioned relatively behind the driver's seat.