Automotive electronic safety network

An electrical system in a vehicle, comprising:

• a plurality of sensors each detecting a physical characteristic of the vehicle, at least one of said sensors being a crash sensor which detects a physical characteristic of the vehicle affected by a crash involving the vehicle;
• at least one airbag module each comprising an airbag, an inflator assembly for inflating said airbag and an electronic controller for controlling inflation of said airbag by said inflator assembly;
• an electrical bus coupling said crash sensor and said at least one airbag module and conveying at least one of power and information to or from said crash sensor and said at least one airbag module;
• and
• a module coupled to said bus and arranged to receive signals from said crash sensor based on the detected physical characteristic of the vehicle and process said signals to provide a control signal to said controller such that inflation of said airbag is controlled by said controller in consideration of the physical characteristic detected by said crash sensor.

An electrical system in a vehicle, comprising:

• a plurality of devices used in the operation of the vehicle including at least one crash sensor and at least one airbag module;
• at least one electrical bus each coupling at least a portion of said devices and conveying at least one of power and information to or from said devices coupled to said bus, a first one of said at least one bus coupling said at least one crash sensor and said at least one airbag module,
• each of said at least one crash sensor generating signals relating to an impact of the vehicle and
• each of said at least one airbag module comprising a module housing, an airbag associated with said housing, an inflator assembly arranged in said housing for inflating said airbag and an electronic controller arranged in or adjacent said housing and coupled to said first one of said at least one bus, said controller controlling inflation of said airbag by said inflator assembly in consideration of the signals generated by said at least one crash sensor,
• said at least one crash sensor each being arranged separate and at a location apart from said housing of each of said at least one airbag module;
• and
• a sensor and diagnostic module coupled to said first one of said at least one bus for monitoring said controller of each of said at least one airbag module.

An electrical system in a vehicle, comprising:

• a plurality of devices used in the operation of the vehicle including at least one crash sensor and at least one airbag module:
• and
• at least one electrical bus each coupling at least a portion of said devices and conveying at least one of power and information to or from said devices coupled to said bus, a first one of said at least one bus coupling said at least one crash sensor and said at least one airbag module,
• each of said at least one crash sensor generating signals relating to an impact of the vehicle and
• each of said at least one airbag module comprising a module housing, an airbag associated with said housing, an inflator assembly arranged in said housing for inflating said airbag and an electronic controller arranged in or adjacent said housing and coupled to said first one of said at least one bus, said controller controlling inflation of said airbag by said inflator assembly in consideration of the signals generated by said at least one crash sensor,
• said at least one crash sensor each being arranged separate and at a location apart from said housing of each of said at least one airbag module,
• said controller being arranged to acknowledge receipt of a communication via said first one of said at least one bus and indicate operability of said airbag module.

An electrical system in a vehicle, comprising:

• a plurality of devices used in the operation of the vehicle including at least one crash sensor and at least one airbag module:
• and
• at least one electrical bus each coupling at least a portion of said devices and conveying at least one of power and information to or from said devices coupled to said bus, a first one of said at least one bus coupling said at least one crash sensor and said at least one airbag module,
• each of said at least one crash sensor generating signals relating to an impact of the vehicle and
• each of said at least one airbag module comprising a module housing, an airbag associated with said housing, an inflator assembly arranged in said housing for inflating said airbag and an electronic controller arranged in or adjacent said housing and coupled to said first one of said at least one bus, said controller controlling inflation of said airbag by said inflator assembly in consideration of the signals generated by said at least one crash sensor,
• said at least one crash sensor each being arranged separate and at a location apart from said housing of each of said at least one airbag module,
• said controller is structured and arranged to monitor a power supply voltage used to power said inflator assembly to assure that sufficient energy is available to initiate said inflator assembly.

An electrical system in a vehicle, comprising:

• a plurality of devices used in the operation of the vehicle including at least one crash sensor and at least one airbag module:
• and
• at least one electrical bus each coupling at least a portion of said devices and conveying at least one of power and information to or from said devices coupled to said bus, a first one of said at least one bus coupling said at least one crash sensor and said at least one airbag module,
• each of said at least one crash sensor generating signals relating to an impact of the vehicle and
• each of said at least one airbag module comprising a module housing, an airbag associated with said housing, an inflator assembly arranged in said housing for inflating said airbag and an electronic controller arranged in or adjacent said housing and coupled to said first one of said at least one bus, said controller controlling inflation of said airbag by said inflator assembly in consideration of the signals generated by said at least one crash sensor,
• said at least one crash sensor each being arranged separate and at a location apart from said housing of each of said at least one airbag module,
• said controller being structured and arranged to diagnosis said at least one airbag module by generating a periodic report when said at least one airbag module has sufficient energy to deploy said airbag and sending a fault code when failure of a component of said at least one airbag module is detected.