Patent ID: 7508301

Claim:
A vehicle tire monitoring system for use in a vehicle having two front and two rear tires, the system comprising: no more than two initiator arrangements, one of the initiator arrangements located adjacent to one of the front tires and configured to produce a first initiation signal, the other of the initiator arrangements located adjacent to one of the rear tires and configured to produce a second initiation signal; no more than two sensor arrangements, one of the sensor arrangements located at one of the tires of the vehicle and configured to transmit a first output signal indicative of a direction of rotation of the one tire in response to receiving the first or second initiation signal, the other of the sensor arrangements located at another one of the tires of the vehicle and configured to transmit a second output signal indicative of a direction of rotation of the another one tire in response to receiving the first or second initiation signal; and a receiver arrangement configured to cause the initiator arrangements to produce the initiation signals and to determine a position of each of the front and rear tires based on (i) whether the receiver arrangement receives the first and second output signals within a predetermined period of time after the initiation signals have been produce and (ii) the direction of rotation of the first and second tires.