Air bag sensor for vehicle protection during parking mode

An air bag system of a vehicle, comprising:

• a collision monitoring system coupled to a current-modulation communication interface,
• wherein the collision monitoring system comprises:
• a sensor controller configured to receive a parking mode command via the current-modulation communication interface and enter into a low-power mode based on receiving the parking mode command, wherein the parking mode command is indicative of the vehicle being in a parked state, and wherein the sensor controller is configured to set the current-modulation communication interface into an idle communication mode during the low-power mode;
• an air bag sensor configured to generate a sensor signal during the low-power mode based on a measured property;
• and
• a processing circuit configured to compute, during the low-power mode, a derivative measurement at a plurality of sampling times based on the sensor signal, and compare each instance of the derivative measurement to a threshold,
• wherein the sensor controller is configured to exit the low-power mode and transmit an alarm signal via the current-modulation communication interface based on the derivative measurement satisfying the threshold at one of the plurality of sampling times.

A method, comprising:

• detecting, by a vehicle controller, a parking mode of a vehicle;
• generating, by the vehicle controller, a low-power command based on detecting the parking mode;
• receiving, by a sensor controller, the low-power command via a current-modulation communication interface;
• and
• entering, by the sensor controller, into a low-power mode based on receiving the low-power command, including setting the current-modulation communication interface into an idle communication mode during the low-power mode;
• wherein, during the low-power mode, the method further comprises:
• generating, by a sensor, a sensor signal based on a measured property;
• computing, by a processing circuit, a derivative measurement at a plurality of sampling times based on the sensor signal;
• comparing, by the processing circuit, each instance of the derivative measurement to a threshold;
• and
• transmitting, by the sensor controller, a wake-up command to the vehicle controller via the current-modulation communication interface based on the derivative measurement satisfying the threshold.