Patent ID: 8787823

Claim:
A recovery system with repeating communication capabilities for facilitating recovery of a vehicle equipped with a locating unit, the system comprising: a central station configured to send a first message; at least a first communication tower including a first remote transmitting unit, wherein, responsive to the first message from the central station, the first remote transmitting unit transmits a second message to activate the locating unit in the vehicle; and at least a second communication tower including a second remote transmitting unit, the second remote transmitting unit including: a receiver which receives the second message for activating the locating unit of the vehicle from the first remote transmitting unit in the at least first communication tower, a controller configured to process the second message, and a transmitter, responsive to the second message, for transmitting a third message to activate the locating unit in the vehicle, wherein the controller is programmed to: transmit the third message only upon receipt of two or more instances of the second message, transmit the third message only for a predetermined time period, and ignore any second message received by the receiver having a signal strength below a predetermined signal strength.