Localization And Passive Entry/Passive Start Systems And Methods For Vehicles

A method comprising:

• establishing, with a communication gateway in a vehicle, a wireless communication connection with a portable device, the communication gateway being configured to communicate with a plurality of sensors, each configured to receive connection information about the wireless communication connection from the communication gateway, to eavesdrop on the wireless communication connection based on the connection information, and to determine information about at least one communication signal corresponding to at least one communication packet sent from the portable device to the communication gateway;
• determining, with a security filtering module, whether the at least one communication packet was received from an unauthorized device;
• receiving, with a localization module, the signal information from each of the plurality of sensors, in response to the security filtering module determining that the at least one communication packet was not received from an unauthorized device;
• determining, with the localization module, a location of the portable device based on the signal information from the plurality of sensors;
• 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, and allowing the vehicle to be started based on the location of the portable device.