Door control unit

In automotive electronics, a door control unit (DCU) is a generic term for an embedded system that controls a number of electrical systems associated with an advanced motor vehicle. A modern motor vehicle contains a number of ECUs (electronic control units), and the door control unit (DCU) is one of the minor ones.

The door control unit is responsible for controlling and monitoring various electronic accessories in a vehicle's door. Since most of the vehicles have more than one door, DCUs may be present in each door separately, or a single centralised one provided. A DCU associated with the driver's door has some additional functionalities. This additional features are the result of complex functions like locking, driver door switch pad, child lock switches, etc., which are associated with the driver's door. In most of the cases driver door module acts as a master and others act as slaves in communication protocols.

Features controlled by door control units

• Manual window movements
• Automatic window movements
• Global open-close functionality
• Child lock safety feature
• Mirror folding
• Mirror adjustment
• Door lock and unlocking control (latches)

In some advanced motor vehicles, luxury features like puddle lamps and BLIS (Blind spot Indicator System) are also supported by DCUs.