Patent ID: 8260524

Claim:
A sensor system comprising: a plurality of sensor units, each of which respectively includes a first sensor outputting a first detection signal corresponding to a first physical amount, a second sensor outputting a second detection signal corresponding to a second physical amount, and a switching circuit switching between the first detection signal and the second detection signal; a processing unit which transmits a switching command signal to the switching circuit and receives a detection signal from each of the sensor units; communication lines through which the switching command signal is transmitted from the processing unit to each of the sensor units; and signal lines through which the first detection signal and the second detection signal are transmitted in a form of analog signal from each of the sensor units to the processing unit, wherein the communications lines are separate and distinct from the signal lines, the sensor units are grouped into a first group including two or more sensor units and a second group including at least one sensor unit, and two or more communication lines corresponding to the first group of the sensor units are branched from a single first base line connected to a first communication port of the processing unit, wherein: the sensor system is applied to an internal combustion engine having a plurality of fuel injectors which injects a fuel into a cylinder during a combustion stroke; each of the sensor units is provided to each of the fuel injectors; the first sensor detects a pressure of the fuel as the first physical amount; the second sensor detects a temperature of the first sensor as the second physical amount; and the sensor units are grouped in such a manner that a fuel combustion is sequentially performed in the cylinders corresponding to the first group of the sensor units.