System for obtaining vehicular information

A vehicle in which components including tires thereof are monitored using wireless transmissions, comprising:

• a plurality of components including a plurality of tires, at least one of said tires being arranged on a right side of the vehicle and at least one of said tires being arranged on a left side of the vehicle;
• and
• a system for obtaining information about said components, said system comprising:
• a plurality of sensors each arranged in connection with a respective one of said tires, each of said sensors being arranged to sense at least one of pressure and temperature of an interior space of said tire and generate and wirelessly transmit a signal based on the sensed at least one of pressure and temperature and upon receipt and detection of a radio frequency signal;
• and
• first and second antennas arranged on the vehicle between the left and right sides of the vehicle such that at least one of said sensors is on each lateral side of said first and second antennas, each of said first and second antennas being arranged to wirelessly transmit radio frequency (RF) signals toward said sensors from a different direction and receive return signals from all of said sensors at a different time and different amplitude or phase, each of the return signals being separable by looking at the return signals from both said first and second antennas since each of the return signals is received differently based on its angle or time of arrival or phase,
• the return signals from said sensors being processed after reception by said antenna array into information about the at least one of pressure and temperature sensed by said sensors.

A vehicle in which components thereof are monitored using wireless transmissions, comprising:

• a plurality of components;
• and
• a plurality of sensor assemblies, each of said sensor assemblies being associated with a respective one of said components and including a sensor arranged to sense a property or condition of said respective component and a wireless transmission element connected to said sensor and arranged to generate and wirelessly transmit a signal based on the property or condition of said component sensed by said sensor, each of said sensor assemblies being arranged to detect a radio frequency (RF) signal and upon such detection, cause said wireless transmission element to transmit its signal based on the property or condition of said component being sensed by said sensor;
• a single multi-element directional antenna array arranged on the vehicle and including antenna elements, each of said antenna elements being directed toward a respective one of said sensor assemblies and arranged to wirelessly transmit radio frequency (RF) signals toward said respective sensor assembly and receive return signals wirelessly transmitted from said wireless transmission element of said sensor assemblies;
• a control system coupled to said antenna array and said components and arranged to control the transmission of the RF signals from said antenna elements and process the return signals from said wireless transmission elements of said sensor assemblies into information about said components;
• means coupled to said control system for utilizing the information about said components, said means comprising at least one of a display unit for displaying the information to an occupant of the vehicle, a telematics unit for wirelessly transmitting the information to a location remote from the vehicle and an adjustment mechanism for adjusting at least one said components based on the information;
• and means arranged at said antenna array for determining a source of each received return signal