Vehicle occupant protection device and system having an anti-theft, anti-tamper feature

Abstract

A circuit chip (,) contains a semi-conductor bridge circuit (“SCB”) (,). The SCB (,) initiates an actuatable device, such as an occupant protection device (,A). The circuit chip (,) also contains a memory (,) that holds an identification (,A) of the actuatable device (,A). Preferably, the circuit chip (,) is part of a vehicle occupant protection system (,). Within the system (,) is a controller (,) and a communication interconnection (,) that permits communication between the controller (,) and the device (,A) to control actuation of the device. The controller (,) includes a theft deterrent function (,) to discern the identity of the device (,A) held within the memory (,). The theft deterrent function (,) also makes a determination as to whether the discerned identity of the device corresponds to a predetermined identity and provides a signal indicative of the determination.