Patent ID: 8654166

Claim:
A driving unit that drives a load based a small-amplitude differential signal transmitted from a low voltage differential signal (LVDS) driver, the driving unit comprising: a differential input circuit having an inverting input terminal and a non-inverting input terminal to which the differential signal is input; an abnormality detection circuit that detects an abnormality in a wiring connected to the inverting input terminal and the non-inverting input terminal; and a control circuit that sets an output signal of the driving unit in a predetermined status to stop a driving of the load when the abnormality detection circuit detects the abnormality in the wiring connected to the inverting input terminal and the non-inverting input terminal; wherein the abnormality detection circuit detects the abnormality in the wiring connected to the inverting input terminal and the non-inverting input terminal if a status, in which a potential difference between a voltage of the inverting input terminal and a voltage of the non-inverting input terminal is less than a predetermined minimum potential difference value, continues for a predetermined time or more, and wherein the control circuit includes an AND circuit that outputs the output signal of the driving unit and receives as inputs an output of the differential input circuit and an output of the abnormality detection circuit, and wherein in a case that the output of the abnormality detection circuit indicates that the abnormality has been detected, the AND circuit holds the output signal of the driving unit in the predetermined status to stop driving of the load, and in a case that the output of the abnormality detection circuit does not indicate that the abnormality has been detected, the output of the differential input circuit is passed through as the output signal of the driving unit.