Ford Motor Company Limited

Mark Stanley Pikula

Richard Alan Kraus

Peter Langer

Hyung Kim

An automotive electrical system and method for coupling power to such a system in which current cumulatively drawn by the various modules of the system during its inactive state is minimized. In one aspect of the invention, the electrical system (10) comprises at least one remote module (14a-n) coupled to a power bus (21) and a signal bus (16), at least one of the remote modules (14a-n) is coupled to at least one wake-up input switch (28A-I); a central module (12) coupled to the remote module (14a-n) by the signal bus (16), the central module (12) coupling electrical power from a power source (20) to the power bus (21) in response to a detection of an activation of any of the wake-up input switches (28A-I). In another aspect of the invention, a method for awakening an automotive electrical system (10) from an inactive state, the electrical system (10) having a central module (12) for coupling power from a power source (20) to a power bus (21), at least one remote module (14a-n) coupled to the power bus (21), and the remote module (14a-n) coupled to at least one wake-up input switch (28A-I), the method comprising the steps of: generating a current transient upon activation of the wake-up input switch (28A-I), sensing the current transient, generating a power control signal in response to the sensed current transient and coupling power to the power bus (21) in response to the power control signal.

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Dearborn, MI, United States of America

Mark Stanley Pikula