Patent ID: 7334463

Claim:
A tire parameter sensing system for a vehicle, the system comprising: a vehicle-based unit for receiving parameter signals and for providing tire parameter information to an operator of the vehicle; a tire-based unit associated with a tire of the vehicle and rotating with the tire, the tire-based unit being located in a communication zone for communicating with the vehicle-based unit through only a portion of each rotation of the tire, the tire-based unit being configured to sense at least one parameter of the tire and to transmit a parameter signal indicative of the sensed parameter while in the communication zone; and means for monitoring the rotation of the tire and for providing rotation information indicative of the monitored tire rotation; the tire-based unit being responsive to the rotation information for transmitting the parameter signal while the tire-based unit is located in the communication zone; wherein the tire-based unit transmits the parameter signal at least a minimum number of times so as to ensure occurrence of the transmitted parameter signal when the tire-based unit is in the communication zone, transmissions of the parameter signal being spaced from one another by approximately egual angles.