Patent ID: 7312968

Claim:
A starter-relay control circuit for a vehicle, the vehicle including a starter relay, a starter motor connected to the starter relay and rotatable based on an operation of the starter relay, a battery and an ignition switch connected to a positive terminal of the battery, the starter-relay control circuit comprising: a high-side terminal connected to one end of a coil of the starter relay; a low-side terminal connected to the other end of the coil; a high-side switching element connected between a first output line connected to the high-side terminal and an ignition power line connected to the ignition switch; a low-side switching element connected between a second output line connected to the low-side terminal and a ground line connected to a negative terminal of the battery; a pull-up element connected between the ignition power line and the first output line; a pull-down element connected between the ground line and the second output line; and a failure detecting unit connected to the first and second output lines and configured to determine whether a failure wherein the high-side terminal is short-circuited to the positive terminal of the battery occurs based on a voltage of the second output line when the ignition switch is in an off position.