The central component of an airbag system is a control unit that combines a 16- or 32-bit MCU with a set of local acceleration sensors. Depending on the complexity of the system, additional satellite sensors provide supplementary crash information via a standardized sensor bus, such as the Distributed System Interface (DSI). Processed sensor data is used to fire front, side and curtain airbags with specialized multi-channel squib driver circuits.

As an additional safety factor, highly-efficient switched-mode power supply components allow the system to keep operating for several hundred milliseconds if the battery connection is lost during an accident.

Target Applications

• Airbag System
• Front Crash Detection
• Rollover Sensing
• Side Crash Detection

Featured Reference Designs

- Airbag Evaluation Platform