Collision notification circuit and control method using the same

Abstract

A collision notification circuit includes (i) a collision notification resistor, wherein a voltage change across the collision notification resistor is used to indicate the occurrence of a collision event and potential fault modes of the collision notification circuit, (ii) a high-side power stage circuit coupled between a first power supply and the collision notification resistor and including a first switching transistor, wherein the first switching transistor is controlled by a first drive signal related to the collision event, and (iii) a low-side power stage circuit coupled between the collision notification resistor and ground and comprising a second switching transistor, wherein the second switching transistor is controlled by a second drive signal related to the collision event, wherein the first drive signal and the second drive signal are independent of each other. A control method utilizing a collision notification circuit and an electronic control unit is also disclosed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.