Patent ID: 8401730

Claim:
A controller for indicating whether a previously-detected, acceleration-sensor malfunction no longer exists, the controller comprising: an electronic memory; and an electronic processing unit connected to the electronic memory, the electronic processing unit including, a malfunction monitoring module configured to monitor the operation of an acceleration sensor and generate a fault signal if the acceleration sensor outputs a lateral acceleration signal that is outside of a first predetermined range, the fault signal containing fault information and causing at least one of a tell-tale indicator to be activated or a vehicle control module to modify its operation from a first operating state to a second operating state, a failure handling module configured to cause drive cycle information and the fault information to be stored in the electronic memory, and a signal checking module configured to perform a signal check after the malfunction monitoring module generates the fault signal, the signal check including retrieving the drive cycle information from the electronic memory, determining whether to execute a signal check function based on the drive cycle information, executing the signal check function with the lateral acceleration signal, determining whether the lateral acceleration signal passes the signal check function by comparing the lateral acceleration signal to a second pre-determined range narrower than the first predetermined range, the lateral acceleration signal passing the signal check if the lateral acceleration signal is within the second pre-determined range, and generating a reset signal if the lateral acceleration signal passes the signal check function, the reset signal causing at least one of the tell-tale indicator to be deactivated or the vehicle control module to resume operation in the first operating state.