Patent ID: 8304929

Claim:
A vehicle inverter configured to invert a first DC voltage provided from a vehicle battery into a single-phase AC voltage suitable for powering a consumer electronic device comprising: a housing comprising: a DC/DC converter operable to convert the first DC voltage to a second DC voltage in response to DC/DC control signals, the second DC voltage being greater than the first DC voltage; a DC/AC inverter operable to invert the second DC voltage to the single-phase AC voltage in response to DC/AC control signals; a DC/DC controller configured to output the DC/DC control signals; a DC/AC controller configured to output the DC/AC control signals; a network interface configured to interface messages between a network bus included within the vehicle and at least one of the DC/DC controller and the DC/AC controller; and wherein the DC/DC controller and the DC/AC controller are configured to shutdown in response to an ignition message received over the network bus indicating a position of a vehicle ignition to have changed from an ‘on’ position to an ‘off’ position or indicating the vehicle ignition being in the ‘on’ position and an engine being stopped in accordance with a stop/start strategy.