Patent ID: 8285446

Claim:
A system for providing control signals to a vehicle component, the system comprising: an aftermarket steering wheel control mounted to a steering wheel of a vehicle, and including at least one user-operable switch; and a control signal interface, including: an input unit configured to receive control signals from the aftermarket steering wheel control, an output unit electrically connectable to at least one channel of a vehicle component, the vehicle component including an aftermarket entertainment component, and a signal processing unit adapted to auto-detect a control signal configuration of the vehicle component, by: (i) performing a measurement on the at least one channel of the vehicle component, and (ii) identifying the control signal configuration of the vehicle component based on the measurement, wherein the output unit is adapted to transmit control signals to the vehicle component based on the control signals received by the input unit and in accordance with the auto-detected control signal configuration of the vehicle component.