Patent ID: 8581696

Claim:
A garage door opener (GDO) system operable with a vehicle to transmit garage door signals to control a garage door, the system comprising: a remote keyless entry (RKE) fob being operable remotely from the vehicle to transmit and receive RKE signals; a RKE transceiver being fixed within the vehicle and operable to transmit and receive RKE signals, and upon receipt of RKE signals from the RKE fob, to control one or more vehicle subsystems as a function thereof; a GDO transmitter being fixed within the vehicle and operable to transmit the garage door signal to control the garage door in response to receipt of a corresponding GDO signal; and wherein the RKE transceiver and the GDO transmitter are operably coupled to each other via a vehicle bus, the RKE transceiver being further operable to determine, independently of operation of the RKE fob, the GDO transmitter to have transmitted the garage door signal from information output by the GDO transmitter on the vehicle bus; wherein the RKE transceiver is operable to transmit RKE signals to the RKE fob to notify the RKE fob of the GDO transmitter transmitting the garage door signal responsive to the RKE transceiver determining that the GDO transmitter has transmitted the garage door signal; wherein the RKE fob is operable to generate an alert in response to receipt of the RKE signals notifying the RKE fob of the GDO transmitter transmitting the garage door signal.