Patent ID: 7040154

Claim:
A method comprising: operating a tire pressure monitoring system in a first operating mode, wherein the tire pressure monitoring system is implemented in a motorized vehicle; using a piezoelectric sensor to sense vibration; determining, using a controller, that an output signal of the piezoelectric sensor is above a predetermined threshold; setting the tire pressure monitoring system to a second operating mode based upon the determination that an output signal of the piezoelectric sensor is above a predetermined threshold, wherein during the first operating mode, an output of a first sensor is sampled at a first sample rate and during the second operating mode the output of the first sensor is sampled at a second sample rate, wherein the piezoelectric sensor is mounted on a lead frame and the controller is implemented in an integrated circuit die, which is stacked on top of the piezoelectric sensor, such that the integrated circuit die, acting as a mass, increases sensitivity of the piezoelectric sensor to vibrations; transmitting information to a controller system of the motorized vehicle at a first transmitting rate during the first operating mode, wherein the first transmitting rate is lower than the first sample rate; and transmitting information to the controller system at a second transmitting rate during the second operating mode, wherein the second transmitting rate is lower than the first transmitting rate and is lower than the second sample rate.