University of California

Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Other

Eric M Hall

Larry Allen Coldren

Shigeru Nakagawa

Bradley C Gibson

Guilhem Almuneau

Zhong Wang

Michael L Kociba

Michael A Smith

Stephen Paul Levijoki

Vijaysekhar Jayaraman

Brian L Spohn

John W Siekkinen

Ognyan N Yanakiev

Robert Gallon

Martino A Casetti

Michael Kaczmar

Miles K Maxey

Douglas J Moening

David Edward Prout

Gary L Rogers

Christopher P Musienko

Scott A Kegebein

David E Winn

Geoffrey McNabb

James D Ethington

An engine includes an air intake system, an exhaust system, a single-cylinder-sourced EGR system, an exhaust sensor that is disposed to monitor exhaust gas from the single one of the cylinders, and a diverter valve. A controller includes an instruction set that executable to determine operation of the engine in a fuel cut-off mode, discontinue fuel flow to the single one of the cylinders, divert exhaust gas from the single one of the cylinders to the air intake system, determine an airflow, temperature, and an equivalence ratio of the diverted exhaust gas from the single one of the cylinders, determine a mass flowrate of oxygen in the diverted exhaust gas, integrate the mass flowrate of oxygen in the diverted exhaust gas, and discontinue the diverting of the exhaust gas from the single one of the cylinders when the integrated mass flowrate of oxygen is greater than a threshold value.

Method and apparatus for controlling an internal combustion engine

A diagnostic system of a vehicle includes an impedance module and a diagnostic module. The impedance module determines an impedance of a sensing element of an exhaust gas oxygen sensor based on a response of the sensing element to a change in current through the sensing element. The diagnostic module selectively diagnoses a fault associated with the exhaust gas oxygen sensor based on the impedance of the sensing element.

Fault diagnostic systems and methods using oxygen sensor impedance

A control system includes a temperature determination module and a heater control module. The temperature determination module determines a temperature of an oxygen sensor in an exhaust system of an engine. The heater control module applies a heat cycle to combust deposits on the oxygen sensor by activating a heating element of the oxygen sensor to increase the temperature of the oxygen sensor to greater than 800 degrees Celsius.

Control system and method for heating an oxygen sensor

An oxygen sensor system for a vehicle includes a pump control module, a correction module, and a fuel control module. While fueling of an engine is cut off, the pump control module selectively turns ON an air pump that pumps ambient air into an exhaust system of the vehicle upstream of a universal exhaust gas oxygen (UEGO) sensor and a catalyst. The correction module receives an output of the UEGO sensor, selectively determines a correction for the output of the UEGO sensor when the air pump is ON and the fuel is cut off, and adjusts the output of the UEGO sensor based on the correction to produce a corrected output. The fuel control module, during fueling of the engine, selectively controls the fueling based on the corrected output.

Oxygen sensor output correction systems and methods

A control method for monitoring a soot sensor of an exhaust treatment system is provided. The control method includes: determining when regeneration has completed; comparing soot sensor data to an estimated soot data based on the determining; and generating a message based on the comparing.

Soot sensor monitoring

A leak diagnostic system for a vehicle comprises a tank pressure module and a leak diagnostic module. The tank pressure module selectively outputs first and second fuel tank pressures when an engine is shut down and when engine vacuum is greater than a predetermined engine vacuum, respectively. The leak diagnostic module selectively diagnoses a leak in a fuel vapor purge valve based on the second fuel tank pressure when the first fuel tank pressure is less than a first predetermined pressure.

Purge valve leak diagnostic systems and methods

A superluminescent diode according the present invention employs a uniform AlGaInAs quantum well on an InP substrate, emitting in a range of 1100 to 1800 nm. The favorable conduction band: valence band offset ratio of this material system enables superluminescent diodes which simultaneously provide high power and large optical bandwidth. A recent reduction to practice of the present invention simultaneously demonstrates output power exceeding 100 mW and bandwidth exceeding 100 nm. A preferred embodiment of this invention uses multiple uniform AlGaInAs quantum wells with two confined quantum states and energetic separation in a range of 100-130 nm. An alternate preferred embodiment uses non-uniform wells, with each well having two confined quantum states. The present invention is particularly useful in time domain and spectral domain optical coherence tomography systems, providing increased resolution and tissue penetration for in-vivo imaging.

High power broadband superluminescent diode

A fuel level monitoring system for a fuel system having a primary fuel tank and a secondary fuel tank includes a fuel level sensor that is disposed within the secondary fuel tank and that generates a first signal. An empty switch is disposed within the secondary fuel tank and generates a second signal. A control module determines a condition of one of the fuel level sensor and the empty switch based on the first signal, the second signal and a plurality of signal thresholds.

Empty fuel level detection cross-check

A method for aperturing a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), for increasing the external quantum efficiency and decreasing the threshold current, involves an etching mixture that is applied to the active region of the VCSEL. The etching mixture is designed in a manner to selectively etch the active region of the VCSEL at a rate substantially faster than the etch rate of at least one of the multiple DBRS associated with the VCSEL.

Method for aperturing vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs)

A system and a method for reducing the temperature in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) comprising of including at least one heat spreading layer adjecent to one of the reflecting surfaces in a VCSEL. The heat spreading layer has high thermal conductivity allowing heat to bypass said one of the reflecting surfaces, thereby efficiently removing the heat away from the device. This also reduces the serial resistance and the thermal impedance of the VCSEL.

Heat spreading layers for vertical cavity surface emitting lasers

A distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) for a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) has a semiconductor material system including the elements aluminum, gallium, arsenic, and antimony. Use of antimony in the DBR structure allows current to be pumped through the DBRs into an active region to provide for long wavelength, continuous wave operation of the VCSEL.

Distributed bragg reflectors incorporating SB material for long-wavelength vertical cavity surface emitting lasers

A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) includes a semiconductor device having a pair of mirror portions, an active region, a tunnel junction, a pair of cladding layers and a substrate. Heat generated by the VCSEL dissipates through the cladding layers, which utilize an indium phosphide material. The VCSEL also includes selective etches that are used to aperture the active region to allow electric current to be injected into the active region.

Contact scheme for intracavity-contacted vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

Double intracavity contacted long-wavelength VCSELs

Double intracavity contacted long-wavelength VCSELs and method of fabricating same

A distributed Bragg reflector for a vertical cavity surface emitting laser has a semiconductor material system including the elements aluminum, gallium, arsenic, and antimony. Accurate control of the composition of the semiconductor material system must be maintained to result in a distributed Bragg reflector suitable for use in a VCSEL. A method of fabricating the distributed Bragg reflector includes calibrating the incorporation of at least one of the elements into the material system as different semiconductor materials are grown on a substrate.

Growing community of inventors

Rochester Hills, MI, United States of America

Eric M Hall