FORM2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970
39 OF 1970
&
THE PATENT RULES 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(SEE SECTIONS 10 & RULE 13)
1. TITLEOF THE INVENTION
“SYSTEM AND METHOD TO INTERFACE AND DISPLAY A VEHICLE
GEAR INFORMATION”

2. APPLICANTS (S)
(a) Name:
(b) Nationality:
(c) Address:

Varroc Engineering Limited
Indian
L-4, Industrial Area,
MIDC-Waluj,
Aurangabad – 431136,
Maharashtra, India

3. PREAMBLETOTHEDESCRIPTION
COMPLETESPECIFICATION
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

1


CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY
[0001] The present application claims priority from the Indian provisional patent
application, having application number 202321051367, filed on 31st July 2023, incorporated herein by a reference.
5 FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of automotives.
Particularly, but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to a system and a method to interface vehicle gear input signal from a gear assembly unit to a processing unit and displaying the gear on a display unit.
10 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art,
which may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure that are described or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the
15 present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements in this
background section are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely
20 represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to
implementations of the claimed technology.
[0004] Gear indication displays are widely used in the automotive industry. In the
automotive industry, different types of gear interface circuits are used for displaying a
gear at which the vehicle is running. A gear sense mechanism is generally mounted near
25 the gear box of the vehicle which may include plurality of sensors. Users can see gear
information in terms of numbers on an electronic instrument cluster or an indicating
2

device. Once an active low signal is received from gear sensor, respective pin of
processing unit which may be a microcontroller, microprocessor, application-specific
integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other logic circuit that can detect the reference voltage,
senses this active low signal and display gear information on the display unit which may
5 be an LCD (liquid crystal display) or LED (light emitting diode) display. So, it can be
said that 5 input pins of processing unit are used to interface individual gear inputs if a vehicle has 5 gears.
[0005] Therefore, there exists a need in the art to provide a technique that reduces
the number of pins on a processing unit to interface various gear input signals,
10 overcomes the above-mentioned problem, and efficiently detects at which gear the
vehicle is running.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] Before the present system and device and its components are summarized,
it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the system and its arrangement
15 as described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments which are not expressly
illustrated in the present disclosure. The present disclosure overcomes one or more shortcomings of the prior art and provides additional advantages discussed throughout the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. It is also to be understood that the terminology used
20 in the description is for the purpose of describing the versions or embodiments only and
is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended for use in detecting or limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
[0007] The present disclosure overcomes one or more shortcomings of the prior art
25 and provides additional advantages discussed throughout the present disclosure.
Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present
disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail

herein and are considered part of the claimed disclosure. In one non-limiting
embodiment of the present disclosure, a system and method to interface and display a
vehicle gear. The system comprises an input capacitor to bypass switching noise. The
system further comprises a unique value of series resistor which forms a voltage divider
5 circuit along with the pull-up resistor, and a diode to provide protection to reference
power supply against reverse polarity from gear sensor. Reference voltage generator
circuit generates a unique reference voltage which we can connect to Analog pin of
Processing unit which detects the input reference voltage, compares it with the
calculated analog to digital converter (ADC) count range corresponding to calculated
10 voltage range, and provides signal to the display unit. The display unit displays the gear
information on LCD or LED display.
[0008] A reference voltage generator circuit is configured to generate a different
reference voltage for various gears. 5 gears are considered in this article, but this is not limited to 5 gears. A current limiting resistor is used in series with the Processing unit
15 pin to limit the current. Capacitor C6 is connected to analog pin of Processing unit which
is used to bypass noise if in case occurred during gear switching condition. Additionally, it is also used to bypass the noise generated due to PCB track length from Gear input to Processing unit. A Zener diode ZD1 is used at the Processing unit pin to protect processing unit from overvoltage conditions if any occurred during operation. In yet
20 another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, there are 5 gear inputs
considered from vehicle side but only one pin of processing unit is used to detect accurate gear information and display it on display unit.
[0009] In another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the reference
voltage generator circuit forms a different threshold voltage corresponding to each gear
25 input. To achieve different thresholds, various combinations of unique series resistor
values are selected and ensured that it generates appropriate reference voltage which the processing unit can judge an accurate gear information as per the calculated analog to digital converter (ADC) count range corresponding to calculated voltage range.
4

[0010] In yet another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the
combination of one or more series resistors of unique values are used to generate different reference voltages along with a pull-up resistor, and a diode.
[0011] In yet another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, only one
5 pin of processing unit is used to interface 5 gears and processing unit is present inside
an electronic instrument cluster. The system further comprises a display unit in communication with the processing unit. The processing unit is configured to detect vehicle gear information and the display unit is configured to display gear numbers.
[0012] In yet another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the
10 processing unit may be a microcontroller, microprocessor, SOC, or similar logic
integrated circuit.
[0013] In yet another non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, the
display unit may be LCD, LED, TFT displays, or any other similar display boards.
[0014] According to yet another example embodiments illustrated herein, there
15 may be provided a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored
thereon, a set of computer-executable instructions for causing the electronic device
comprising one or more processors to perform steps comprising receiving, via the
transceiver, the initial location and data from the plurality of sensors. In an example
embodiment, the plurality of sensors being disposed on the object. Further, the non-
20 transitory computer-readable storage medium comprises a step for calculating, via the
current position computation unit, the current position of the object based on the initial
location and the data received from the plurality of sensors. Further, the non-transitory
computer-readable storage medium comprises a step for computing, via the update
position computation unit, the updated position of the object by initiating the search to
25 explore the one or more estimated positions in the random space based on the current
position by employing the Lévy flight technique. In an example embodiment, for each
of the one or more estimated positions the proximity value is computed based on the
5

step length. Further, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprises a step for providing, via the update position computation unit, in real-time the updated position of the object based on the proximity value. In an example embodiment, the updated position corresponds to the optimized current location of the object.
5 [0015] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any
way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, examples, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
10 [0016] The features, nature, and advantages of the present disclosure will become
more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which reference characters are identified correspondingly throughout. Some embodiments of systems and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example only,
15 and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
[0017] Fig. 1 illustrates a vehicle environment to gear interface assembly unit to a
processing unit and display gears on a display unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0018] Fig. 2 shows a block diagram illustrating gear interface assembly unit to a
20 processing unit considering reference voltage generator circuit along with reverse
voltage protection, current limiting and noise bypass circuit, overvoltage protection, and then display the gear on display unit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0019] Fig. 3 shows a circuit diagram of a system interface of a vehicle gear
25 assembly unit to a processing unit considering reference voltage generator circuit along
with reverse voltage protection, current limiting and noise bypass circuit, overvoltage
6

protection, and then display the gear on display unit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0020] Fig. 4 shows a system circuit diagram, in accordance with an embodiment
of the present disclosure; and
5 [0021] Fig. 5 shows a flowchart of a system and method to interface and display a
vehicle gear, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0022] It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagram
herein represents conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of
the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flowcharts, flow-
10 diagrams and the like represent various processes which may be substantially
represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor,
whether such computer or processor is explicitly shown.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0023] The terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “include(s)”, or any other variations
15 thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, system, or
method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those
components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or
inherent to such setup or system or method. In other words, one or more elements in a
system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints,
20 preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or
apparatus.
[0024] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure,
reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which
are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be
25 practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled
in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments
7

may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
[0025] Present disclosure describes a system and method to interface and display a
5 vehicle gear. The system comprises a gear assembly unit to detect active low signal and
complete the circuit using a diode, pull-up resistor, and then connected to the series resistor. The system further comprises a reverse voltage protection diode to protect the reference power supply from active high input signal in case occurred from vehicle gear assembly unit. The signal then proceeds through the reference voltage generator circuit
10 which generates a unique reference voltage based on which gear is active. Then a current
limiting resistor is used to limit the current and a noise bypass capacitor is used to suppress the noise at processing unit if any occurred during gear switching at vehicle side. The processing unit comprises a detection of reference voltage level, compares it with calculated analog to digital converter (ADC) count range corresponding to
15 calculated voltage range and determines which vehicle gear is active. According to an
example embodiment, if the reference power supply voltage is +5 V, diode drop is +0.7 V (typically), value of series resistor for gear 2 is 100 Ω (± 1%) and value of pull-up resistor is 1000 Ω (± 1%), then the unique reference voltage generated at pin of processing unit will be from 0.384 V to 0.398 V considering the tolerance values of
20 series and pull-up resistors and their respective ADC count will be from 79 to 82. So, if
the ADC count lies between 79 and 82, the processing unit will sense that Gear 2 of vehicle is connected, and this gear information will be displayed on display unit.
[0026] Different reference voltages are generated for different gears inputs. In this
disclosure five gear inputs are considered. The processing unit compares the reference
25 voltage available and checks with calculated analog to digital converter (ADC) count
range corresponding to calculated voltage range written in the software and displays the corresponding gear on the display unit.
8

[0027] Fig. 1 illustrates a vehicle environment (100) to interface gear assembly unit
(105) to a display unit (103) in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the vehicle environment (100) comprises a
two-wheeler vehicle (101), the gear assembly unit (105) and the display unit (103).
5 According to an alternative embodiment, the two wheeler vehicle (101) can be any
geared vehicle.
[0028] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, while the two-wheeler vehicle
(101) is in motion, the gear assembly unit (105) is configured to provide active low signal once a gear is activated, and the vehicle gear is shown on the display unit (103).
10 [0029] Fig. 2 shows a block diagram illustrating a system (200) in which a gear
assembly unit (220) to a processing unit (209) considering a reference voltage generator circuit (203) along with a reverse voltage protection (201), current limiting and noise bypass circuit (205), an overvoltage protection (207) which can be a Zener diode, and then display a gear on display unit (211), in accordance with an embodiment of the
15 present disclosure. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system (200)
comprises the gear assembly unit (220), the reference voltage generator circuit (203) along with the reverse voltage protection (201), the current limiting and the noise bypass circuit (205), the overvoltage protection (207), the processing unit (209) and the display unit (211) in communication with each other. The system (200) may be installed on a
20 two-wheeler vehicle. However, the present disclosure is not limited to vehicles and any
other device or machine that may comprise a gear assembly unit is well within the scope of present disclosure.
[0030] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of unit (203) may
comprise the reference voltage generator circuit along with the reverse voltage
25 protection (201), the current limiting and the noise bypass circuit (205), the overvoltage
protection (207), the processing unit (209), and the display unit (211), in communication with each other. The plurality of units (210) may comprise a dedicated hardware

circuitry for performing their respective operations and present inside an instrument cluster.
[0031] As discussed in detail in the embodiments below, in one non-limiting
embodiment, the plurality of unit (210) may be implemented inside an electronics
5 instrument cluster (digital, semi digital, dot matrix, thin film transistor (TFT) or any
other similar display technologies, etc.) and gear interface may perform all the operation of the plurality of unit (210).
[0032] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the gear assembly unit (220)
may comprise at least two gears and which go up-to six gears in general. However, the
10 gear assembly unit (220) is not limited to the above example and any other gear assembly
unit is well within the scope of the present disclosure. At least the two gears are configured to detect an active low signal from the vehicle. Then current starts flowing through a diode, a pull-up resistor and a series resistor which makes the circuit complete. Based on the reference voltage level, processing unit (209) can detect and compare it
15 with calculated analog to digital converter (ADC) count range corresponding to
calculated voltage range and understand which vehicle gear is active and display appropriate gear information on display unit (211).
[0033] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the reference voltage generator
circuit (203) may be configured with combination of a diode, pull-up resistor, and series
20 resistors of different values to generate unique reference voltage levels for individual
gear to identify which vehicle gear is active.
[0034] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the current limiting and noise
bypass circuit (205) may be configured after reference voltage generator (203) to limit
current to the input pin of processing unit (209) and bypass the noise if any generated
25 during the operation of the system.

[0035] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, overvoltage protection (207)
may be configured after the current limiting and noise bypass circuit (205) to provide protection to the input pin of processing unit (209).
[0036] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, processing unit (209) detects
5 the reference voltage available at the input pin, compares it with calculated analog to
digital converter (ADC) count range corresponding to calculated voltage range and
generates the signal to display appropriate gear information on the display unit (211).
The display unit (211) may be an electronic instrument cluster, or any other indicating
instrument / device known to a person skilled in art. The above system (200) is not
10 limited to interface vehicle gear to the processing unit (209) and display the gear on
display unit (211). A person skilled in the art may use the above system (200) in any other application to interface gear to the processing unit (209) and display the gear on display unit (211).
[0037] Fig. 3 shows a circuit diagram (300) of a system interface of vehicle gear
15 assembly unit to the processing unit considering reference voltage generator circuit
along with reverse voltage protection, current limiting and noise bypass circuit,
overvoltage protection, and then display the gear on display unit, in accordance with an
embodiment of the present disclosure. The circuit diagram (300) represents a system
(200) as discussed in the above embodiments. The reference voltage generator circuit
20 (203) consists of plurality of capacitors C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5 which are used at input
side of the series resistor and act as a noise bypass capacitor. Further the reference
voltage generator circuit (203) consists of plurality of resistors R1, R3, R4, R5, R6 and
R7. The values of resistors R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 are selected in such a way that
whenever respective gear is made active low, it generates a unique reference voltage
25 along with pull-up resistor R1. The reverse voltage protection circuit (201) to reference
power supply consists of diode D1 and connected to another terminal of pull-up resistor R1. It conducts only when any of the gear input signals is active low. Current limiting and noise bypass circuits (205) consists of series resistor R2 which limits the current to
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the processing unit (209). A bypass capacitor C6 helps to bypass noise generated due to
gear shifting. A Zener diode ZD1 protects processing unit (209) from overvoltage
condition. The processing unit (209) detects the reference voltage level and sends signal
to the display unit (211). Then, the display unit (211) displays the gear information in
5 terms of number depending on which vehicle gear is active.
[0038] Fig. 4 shows a system circuit diagram 400, in accordance with an
embodiment of the present disclosure. The reference voltage generator circuit (203) may comprise plurality of resistors R1, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7 along with the reverse voltage protection circuit (201) which comprises diode D1. The reference voltage generator
10 circuit (203) further comprises plurality of capacitor C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5 which are
used to bypass noise generated due to gear shifting operation. There are five different reference voltages generated by using this reference voltage generator circuit (203), such as reference voltage 1 (Vref1) is generated by using combination of D1, R1, and R3. Reference voltage 2 (Vref2) is generated by using combination of D1, R1, and R4.
15 Reference voltage 3 (Vref3) is generated by using combination of D1, R1, and R5.
Reference voltage 4 (Vref4) is generated by using combination of D1, R1, and R6. Reference voltage 5 (Vref5) is generated by using combination of D1, R1, and R7. One end of resistor R3, R4, R5, R6 and R7 is connected at one common point (Point A). Then this common point is connected to one terminal of resistor R1. The resistor R1 is
20 a pull-up resistor and connected to +5V supply via reverse voltage protection diode D1.
Another terminal of the resistor R3 is connected to gear 1 input of gear assembly unit (220). Similarly, another terminal of resistor R4 is connected to gear 2 input of the gear assembly unit (220). Another terminal of resistor R5 is connected to gear 3 input of the gear assembly unit (220). Another terminal of resistor R6 is connected to gear 4 input
25 of the gear assembly unit (220). Another terminal of resistor R7 is connected to gear 5
input of the gear assembly unit (220). Values of resistors R3, R4, R5, R6, and R7 are selected in such a way that during each gear input, a unique reference voltage is generated. For example, for activation of gear input 1, Vref1 is generated. Similarly, for activation of gear input 2, Vref2 is generated. For activation of gear input 3, Vref3 is

generated. For activation of gear input 4, Vref4 is generated and for activation of gear
input 5, Vref5 is generated. At a time, any one gear will be active from the vehicle and
corresponding components generate unique reference voltage. All five resistors R3, R4,
R5, R6, and R7 are connected to Point A and then it is connected to processing unit
5 (209) through current limiting resistor R2. The processing unit (209) detects the input
reference voltage available, compares it with calculated analog to digital converter (ADC) count range corresponding to calculated voltage rang and generates a signal to the display unit (211) to indicate appropriate gear information in terms of numbers.
[0039] Fig. 5 shows a flowchart (500) of a system and method to interface and
10 display a vehicle gear, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0040] In block 501, respective gear input is detected from the vehicle gear
assembly unit based on active low signal is available.
[0041] In block 503, corresponding reference voltage is generated by using
respective combination of a diode, pull-up resistor, and series resistor used in reference
15 voltage generator circuit as explained above depending on which vehicle gear is active.
[0042] In block 505, the processing unit compares the input reference voltage
generated with the calculated analog to digital converter (ADC) count range corresponding to calculated voltage range and processes which vehicle gear is active from vehicle gear assembly unit.
20 [0043] In block 507, the processing unit provides the appropriate gear information
in terms of number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc. to the display unit. The display unit may consist of light emitting diode (LED), liquid crystal display (LCD), thin film transistor (TFT), or any other indicating methodology.
[0044] In block 509, the end user gets appropriate gear information in terms of
25 numbers on the display unit and understands at which gear a vehicle is running.
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[0045] In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the steps of method
500 may be performed in an order differ from the order described above.
[0046] The processing unit (209) may include, but are not restricted to, a general-
purpose processor, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific
5 integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), microprocessors,
microcomputers, microcontrollers, system on chip (SOC), central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions.
[0047] Suitable processors may include, by way of example, a processor, a special
10 purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality
of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) circuits, system on chip (SOC) any other type of integrated circuit (IC), and/or a state machine.
15 [0048] Exemplary embodiments discussed above may provide certain advantages.
Though it is not required to practice aspects of the disclosure, these advantages may include only one pin of processing unit used to interface five vehicle gear input from gear assembly unit which saves number of pins to be used to detect individual gear by processing unit which is inside an electronic instrument cluster.
20 [0049] In an embodiment, the present disclosure generates a unique reference
voltage for each gear input when respective gear input from vehicle is active low.
[0050] Illustrative steps are set forth to explain the exemplary embodiments shown,
and it should be anticipated that ongoing technological developments will change the
way certain tasks are performed. These examples are presented herein for purposes of
25 illustration, and not limitation. Further, the boundaries of the functional building blocks
have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternative boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof
14

are appropriately performed. Alternatives (including equivalents, extensions, variations, deviations, etc., of those described herein) will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art (s) based on the teachings contained herein. Such alternatives fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosed embodiments.
5
15

We Claim:
1. A system for displaying vehicle gear information, the system comprising:
a gear assembly unit (220), configured to detect vehicle gear information;
5 a reference voltage generator circuit (203), configured to generate a unique
reference voltage for each individual gear when a respective active low signal is available from the gear assembly unit (220);
a processing unit (209), in communication with the reference voltage
generator circuit (203), wherein at least one pin of the processing unit (209) is used to detect
10 five gear inputs;
a detection unit, configured to check the unique input reference voltage level and compare it with a calculated analog to digital converter (ADC) count range corresponding to the calculated voltage range; and
a display unit (211), in communication with the processing unit (209)
15 configured to receive the gear information from the processing unit (209) and display the
said gear information.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reference voltage generator circuit
(203) is configured inside an electronic instrument cluster and, a current limiting resistor
20 within the electronic instrument cluster is configured to protect a pin of the processing unit
(209).
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gear information is displayed on a
liquid crystal display (LCD), light emitting diode (LED) display, thin film transistor (TFT)
25 and a combination thereof and the aforesaid display is part of an electronic instrument
cluster and the like.
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4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reference voltage generator circuit
(203) comprises at least a combination of a series resistor, a pull-up resistor, and a diode connected to the positive supply.
5 5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein to generate the unique reference voltage
for each gear is generated based on a combination of a diode, a pull-up resistor, and respective series resistor.
6. The system as claimed in claim 4, wherein at least one pull-up resistor and the diode
10 are used to generate different reference voltage levels along with the respective series
resistor.
7. The system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
a display unit (211), in communication with the processing unit
15 (209), wherein the processing unit (209) is configured to detect and provide a signal to
display the gear information based on at which gear the vehicle is running.
8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vehicle has a minimum of two gears
and a maximum of six gears in gear assembly unit (220), and inputs are active low.
20
9. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein an overvoltage protection (207) is
configured to protect the pin of the processing unit (209).
10. A method for displaying vehicle gear information, the method comprising:
25 detecting an active low signal from a vehicle gear assembly unit (220);
generating a unique reference voltage based on which vehicle gear is active;
comparing the generated unique reference voltage input by a processing unit (209), with a calculated analog to digital converter (ADC) count range corresponding to calculated voltage range and understands which vehicle gear is active;