BRAKE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR BRAKING A VEHICLE

A brake system () for braking a vehicle is disclosed. The brake system comprises a brake pedal control unit () configured to receive a brake pedal signal from a brake pedal sensor () and to respond with a primary deceleration intent signal onto a network, a brake actuator control unit () configured to activate a brake actuator () in response to a deceleration intent signal received from the network. The brake system () further comprises a central vehicle control unit (VCU) () that is configured to generate a secondary deceleration intent signal in response to the primary deceleration intent signal based on an overall state of the vehicle and a mode control unit (MCU) () to configure the brake system in an operational mode selected from at least a normal operational mode (N) and a degraded operational mode (D). The brake actuator control unit () is configured to activate the brake actuator () in response to a secondary deceleration intent signal in the normal operational mode and to activate the brake actuator () in response to the primary deceleration intent signal in the degraded operational mode (D) for applying degraded (emergency) braking to the vehicle.