Patent ID: 8145387

Claim:
A communications network for a passenger protection system of a vehicle including a passenger protection device, the communications network comprising: an ECU configured to control the passenger protection device upon collision of the vehicle; and a plurality of sensors bus-connected to the ECU and configured to detect and transmit an acceleration of the vehicle, the plurality of sensors being set with respective addresses and transmitting notifications of completion of setting respective addresses to the ECU at time of initialization for communications with the ECU, wherein each of the sensors includes a current detection circuit configured to detect a current value of a current flowing to an output side, which is opposite to an input side that is on a side of the ECU, and a control circuit configured to set a specific address in a memory when the current value detected by the current detection circuit is less than a predetermined threshold current, to transmit the notification of completion of setting the specific address to the ECU, to store the specific address after setting, and to control a mode of the sensor to a specific mode, which consumes current less than the predetermined threshold current.