Provision of a Status Indication to a User in a Vehicle Communication System

Abstract

A vehicle communication system (100) comprises a base station (104) positioned in the vehicle (102) and a mobile communication unit (122). The base station (104) comprises a first transmitter for transmitting a signal to the mobile communication unit (122) and a first receiver for receiving an authentication signal from the mobile communication unit (122). The base station (104) is configured to track a position of the mobile communication unit with respect to the vehicle based on a time of flight of a communication between the mobile communication unit and at least the first transmitter and the first receiver, to receive a subsystem status signal relating to performance of a monitored vehicle (102) function and to determine, based on the subsystem status signal, a monitored function status relating to the monitored vehicle (102) function. The base station (104) is also configured to output a status update signal for receipt by the mobile communication unit (122), the status update signal being indicative of the monitored function status. The vehicle communication system (100) is configured to provide a status indication to a user based on the status update signal in dependence on the position of the mobile communication unit (122).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.