Patent ID: 7568402

Claim:
Apparatus to determine a position of a transmission gear selector lever having a plurality of operator-selectable positions, comprising: a first lever-position sensor configured to detect each of the operator-selectable positions; a second lever-position sensor configured to detect each of a plurality of subsets of the operator-selectable positions, wherein each of the subsets of the operator-selectable positions consists of ones of the operator-selectable positions corresponding to a common rotational direction of an output of the transmission; a first control module configured to monitor only the second lever-position sensor; a second control module configured to monitor only the first lever-position sensor; the second control module configured to identify and communicate a currently detected one of the operator-selectable positions to the first control module; the first control module configured to validate the currently detected one of the operator-selectable positions based upon a currently detected one of the subsets of the operator-selectable positions, and communicate the validated currently detected one of the operator-selectable positions to a control system.