METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A DONGLE IS IN SPATIAL PROXIMITY TO A VEHICLE DIAGNOSTIC TOOL

A system comprises a dongle and a diagnostic tool. The dongle includes a vehicle communication transceiver (VCT), a first wireless transceiver, and a vehicle connector. The diagnostic tool includes a processor, a proximity sensing component, an output device, and a second wireless transceiver. The proximity sensing component outputs an output signal. The processor receives the output signal and make a determination that indicates whether the output signal indicates an object is in spatial proximity to the proximity sensing component. The processor outputs using the output device a notification based on the determination. The VCT performs a vehicle communication directly with a vehicle while the vehicle connector is connected to an on-board diagnostic connector (OBDC) of the vehicle. The first and second wireless transceivers communicates with each other to trigger a vehicle communication from the dongle to the vehicle while the vehicle connector is connected to the OBDC.