Patent ID: 8924025

Claim:
A heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) module for a vehicle, the HVAC module comprising: an HVAC structure to accommodate a plurality of HVAC system components, the HVAC structure configured to be installed in a host vehicle; an interconnect network comprising a first group of the plurality of HVAC system components and a hub component, arranged in a star topology using a local interconnect network (LIN) architecture, wherein the first group comprises a plurality of LIN-compatible HVAC system components; wherein the first group and the hub component are coupled to an interconnect fabric, the interconnect fabric comprising a data transport link and at least one physical electrical conductor; wherein the hub component is coupled to a second group of the plurality of HVAC system components, the second group comprising analog sensor components; and an HVAC module connector coupled to the interconnect fabric of the interconnect network, wherein the HVAC module connector is configured to: establish data connectivity between the interconnect network and an electronic control module of the host vehicle; and accommodate and support a plurality of LIN circuits.