27.1 A 3-Axis gyroscope for electronic stability control with continuous self-test

Gyroscopes and accelerometers form the core of Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems [1], which are mandated for new vehicles in many countries. Gyroscopes for ESC applications require higher performance specifications than those of consumer gyroscopes available in the market today. In addition, they require continuous safety monitoring so that changes in the output, which happen in the field due to MEMS and circuit malfunctions, are flagged and are not misconstrued for legitimate signals. This work presents a low-overhead approach for implementing accurate continuous safety monitoring by augmenting the function of already existing sub-systems. In addition, the paper discusses circuit architecture and design techniques, which achieve the stringent ESC specifications for noise, robustness to parasitic resonant modes in the sensor element and offset drift due to temperature and Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI).