Patent ID: 8633828

Claim:
A method of operating a plurality of safety systems in a vehicle, the method comprising: providing a first safety system comprising: a first airbag, and characterized by a first airbag deployment threshold and a first plausibility threshold; and a high-G accelerometer configured to provide a high-G output and specified to measure at least about 20 Gs of acceleration and configured to act as a first-system primary sensor for the first safety system; providing a second safety system comprising: a second safety device selected from a group comprising a second airbag, a braking system, and a vehicle stability control system, the second safety device being characterized by a second deployment threshold; and a low-G accelerometer configured to provide a low-G output, and specified to measure not more than about 20 Gs and configured to act as a second-system primary sensor for the second safety system and as a safing sensor for the first safety system; monitoring a motion of the vehicle with the high-G accelerometer to determine whether the high-G output exceeds the airbag deployment threshold; monitoring the same motion of the vehicle with the low-G accelerometer to determine whether the low-G output exceeds the first plausibility threshold; and deploying the first airbag if the high-G output exceeds the first airbag deployment threshold and the low-G output exceeds the first plausibility threshold.