Patent ID: 7421321

Claim:
A vehicle in which components including tires thereof are monitored using wireless transmissions, comprising: a plurality of components including a plurality of tires, at least one of said tires being arranged on a right side of the vehicle and at least one of said tires being arranged on a left side of the vehicle; and a system for obtaining information about said components, said system comprising: a plurality of sensors each arranged in connection with a respective one of said tires, each of said sensors being arranged to sense at least one of pressure and temperature of an interior space of said tire and generate and wirelessly transmit a signal based on the sensed at least one of pressure and temperature and upon receipt and detection of a radio frequency signal; and a multi-element, switchable directional antenna array arranged on the vehicle between the left and right sides of the vehicle such that at least one of said sensors is on each lateral side of said array, each of said antenna elements being directed toward a respective one of said sensors and arranged to wirelessly transmit radio frequency (RF) signals toward said respective sensor and receive return signals wirelessly transmitted from said sensors, the return signals from said sensors being processed after reception by said antenna array into information about the at least one of pressure and temperature sensed by said sensors.