Systems and methods for reducing power consumption in a smart key of a vehicle

A method for reducing power consumption in one or more smart keys of a vehicle, the method comprising:

• detecting, by a first processor in a first smart key, whether the first smart key is actively communicating with a communication system located in the vehicle;
• determining a distance between the first smart key and the vehicle;
• and
• placing one or more circuits inside the first smart key in a power-down condition when the first smart key is in a moving state, and actively communicating with the communication system and the distance between the first smart key and the vehicle exceeds a threshold distance.

A smart key comprising:

• an accelerometer;
• a wakeup receiver circuit;
• a transceiver circuit;
• a memory that stores computer-executable instructions;
• and
• a processor configured to access the memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to at least:
• detect, by the accelerometer, whether the smart key is in a moving state;
• detect whether the smart key is actively communicating with a communication system located in a vehicle;
• determine a distance between the smart key and the vehicle;
• and
• place at least the wakeup receiver circuit in a power-down condition when the smart key is in the moving state and actively communicating with the communication system located in the vehicle, and the distance between the smart key and the vehicle exceeds a threshold distance.