Passive entry / passive start systems and methods for vehicles

A method comprising:

• establishing, with a communication gateway in a vehicle, a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) communication connection with a portable device;
• instructing, with a communication gateway, at least one sensor configured to communicate with the portable device using impulse radio (IR) ultra-wide band (UWB) communication to perform two-way ranging using IR UWB communication with the portable device in a designated time slot after pairing between the communication gateway and the portable device is completed;
• performing, with the at least one sensor, two-way ranging using IR UWB communication with the portable device;
• determining, with a localization module, a location of the portable device based on the two-way ranging performed by the at least one sensor;
• receiving, with a passive entry/passive start (PEPS) system, the location of the portable device from the localization module;
• and
• performing, with the PEPS system, a vehicle function including at least one of unlocking a door of the vehicle, unlocking a trunk of the vehicle, allowing the vehicle to be started, and activating a wireless charging station in the vehicle based on the location of the portable device.

A system comprising:

• at least one low frequency (LF) antenna on a vehicle configured to transmit a wireless charging ping signal within a predetermined range of the at least one LF antenna to a portable device configured for wireless charging;
• a communication gateway in the vehicle configured to establish a wireless communication connection with the portable device, to receive a response to the wireless charging ping signal from the portable device over the wireless communication connection, and to authenticate the portable device based on the response to the wireless charging ping signal;
• and
• a passive entry/passive start (PEPS) system in communication with the communication gateway and configured to perform a vehicle function including at least one of unlocking a door of the vehicle, unlocking a trunk of the vehicle, and allowing the vehicle to be started in response to the communication gateway authenticating the portable device.