Patent attributes
A monitoring system, particularly suitable for monitoring conditions (e.g. pressure or temperature) of a vehicle tire comprises a passive sensor (102, 104), an antenna (106) associated with said passive sensor, and switching means (108) for controlling the connection between the passive sensor and the antenna such that, in a first state of said switching means, said antenna is prevented from transmitting a signal generated by the passive sensor, and, in a second state of said switching means, said antenna is permitted to transmit a signal generated by the passive sensor. The switching means is operated remotely by means of a control signal. The control signal may be derived from the sum or difference of RF signals (F1 and F2) applied to a filter (112) In alternative embodiments the control signal is the modulating frequency of an AM or FM modulated radio signal or a radio signal carrying a digital code.