An integrated circuit having a housing in a control unit provides at least two voltage levels, has a watchdog for monitoring a processor, performs an evaluation of at least one acceleration signal to enable at least one ignition output stage, and has at least one first interface for connecting to at least one sensor situated outside the control unit.

Threshold detection for load current on a bus involves generating an output current representative of the load current using a transconductance circuit, sampling the output current during a quiescent phase of the bus to produce a sample current, generating a compensation current that is proportional to the transconductance gain associated with the transconductance circuit, where the compensation current is a function of the sample current, combining the output current, the sample current, the compensation current, and a reference current representative of a threshold value for the load current to produce a combined current, and using a discriminator during an active phase of the bus to output a first value when the sum current exceeds the threshold value and a second value when the combined current is less than the threshold value.

A control device for a personal protection system. The system includes at least one main processor, to generate and output at least one trigger signal for at least one trigger element of a personal protection device of the personal protection system as a function of trigger-relevant information, a central safety circuit with an auxiliary processor, to generate and output at least one enable signal for the at least one trigger element of the personal protection device as a function of the trigger-relevant information, an integrated main system circuit, to generate and output, as a function of the at least one trigger signal and the at least one enable signal, at least one actuation signal for triggering the at least one trigger element of the personal protection device, and at least one control device data bus, via which the main processor communicates with the other components of the control device.