US Patent 9292409 Sensor interfaces

Some embodiments of the present disclosure relates to an automotive control unit (ACU) able to communicate with sensors using a plurality of different communication protocols. The ACU comprises a control unit that operates a sensor interface module to selectively generate a plurality of control signals corresponding to a plurality of different communication protocols, wherein respective control signals have characteristics corresponding to one of the plurality of different communication protocols. A modulation unit receives one of the control signals and generates a modulated communication signal having characteristics that correspond to a communication protocol of the one of the control signals. A communication bus provides the communication signal to a sensor network comprising one or more sensors. By operating the modulation unit to operate according to different communication protocols the ACU can be operated to communicate with multiple sensors using different communication protocols (e.g., PSI5 and DSI3 communication protocols).