Patent ID: 8847731

Claim:
A system for communicating with a vehicle comprising: a control module configured to be mounted in the vehicle, said control module comprising a first RKE receiver, said control module further configured to control a vehicle function in response to a RKE signal received by the first RKE receiver; a fob equipped with a first RKE transmitter and a first short range transceiver, wherein said first RKE transmitter is configured to transmit the RKE signal in response to the first short range transceiver receiving a gateway message via a first communication gateway; and a consumer device equipped with a second short range transceiver, wherein the consumer device is configured to transmit the gateway message to the first short range transceiver via the first communication gateway in response to an action by a user, and thereby enable the user to control the vehicle function from the consumer device via the fob, wherein the second short range transceiver communicates the gateway message to the first short range transceiver via the first communication gateway if a communication distance between the vehicle and the consumer device is greater than a distance threshold, and the second short range transceiver transmits the gateway message to the third short range transceiver via the second communication gateway if the communication distance is less than the distance threshold.