Tula Technology, Inc.

Delphi Technologies, Inc.

Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Fca US LLC

Mark A Shost

Louis Joseph Serrano

Matthew Aaron Younkins

Xin Yuan

Steven E Carlson

Vijay Srinivasan

Ihab S Soliman

Shikui Kevin Chen

Mark A Wilcutts

Samuel Roland Palfenier

Joshua P Switkes

Yingjie Lin

John W Parsels

Randall S Beikmann

Santos Burrola

Li-Chun Chien

Duane Zedric Collins

Adya S Tripathi

Da Yu Wang

Mark James Spath

Mohammad R Pirjaberi

Walter Thomas Symons

Paul Casey Kikuchi

Michael James Fox

James J Daley

Timothy Wilton Kunz

Siamak Hashemi

Joseph B Adams

Michael E McCarroll

David K Chen

Andrew D Herman

Daniel J Moreno

Ming-Cheng Wu

Cecilia Hernandez

Joel D Van Ess

David D Cabush

Ronald D Yuille

Eric J Defenderfer

Nitish J Wagh

Ying Ren

Jinbiao Li

Biswa R Ghosh

Thomas H Lichti

Ronald A Waydelis

Daniel R Cuatt

Mahmood Rad

Geoffrey Routledge

Joseph G Ralph

Stephen G Paddock

Guy Ernest Giannone

Esau Aguinaga

Manuel S Sanchez

Srihari Kalluri

John Castellana

Leo Breton

Michael J Niemiec

Thomas G Elphick

Kenneth A Kovacevich

John D Phillips

Charles H Loucks

Norberto Hernandez

Jesus Carmona

Cornelius Opris

Arpit Shukla

David P Wallace

Lora Thrun

David W Lehrschall

Aaron T Gibson

Truc Trung Le

A skip fire control system for an engine of a vehicle includes a set of sensors configured to measure a set of operating parameters of the engine corresponding to a volumetric efficiency of the engine, a set of sub-systems having a set of operational states that affect transitions between different firing patterns/fractions of the engine, and a controller configured to, based on the set of operating parameters and the set of operational states of the set of sub-systems, determine a best firing pattern/fraction by taking into account losses or penalties to transition at least some of the set of operational states of the set of sub-systems to obtain a target firing pattern/fraction, and control the engine based on the target firing pattern/fraction to maximize an efficiency of the engine.

Smart firing pattern selection for skip fire capable engines

In one aspect, a skip fire engine controller is described. The skip fire engine controller includes a skip fire module arranged to determine an operational firing fraction and associated cylinder load for delivering a desired engine output. The skip fire engine controller also includes a firing controller arranged to direct firings in a skip fire manner that delivers the selected operational firing fraction. Various methods, modules, lookup tables and arrangements related to the selection of a suitable operational firing fraction are also described.

Method and apparatus for determining optimum skip fire firing profile

Improved systems and methods for dosing agent injection adaptation for a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system of an engine of a vehicle involve an adaptation procedure that is generally divided into distinct phases based upon the requirement to obtain an accurate dosing adaptation. The phases themselves provide the specific functions of catalyst ammonia storage depletion, catalyst ammonia storage and NOx conversion stabilization, and adaptation value factor determination and verification.

Selective catalytic reduction adaptation for accuracy and minimized tailpipe impact

Internal combustion engine having cam actuated valves that can be controlled to facilitate the use of different air charge levels in different cylinders or sets of cylinders are described. In one aspect a first set of cylinders is operated in a skip fire manner in which the corresponding cylinders are deactivated during skipped working cycles. Cam actuated intake valves associated with a second set of cylinders are operated differently so that the air charge in the cylinders in the second set is different than the air charge in fired cylinders subject to the skip fire control. According to another aspect, an engine having cam actuated intake valves is operated in a dynamic firing level modulation mode. During the dynamic firing level modulation operation, the cam actuated intake valves are controlled in at least two different manners to such that different cylinder working cycles have different air charges.

Internal combustion engine air charge control

Systems and methods for reducing noise or vibration generated by an internal combustion engine are described. An engine controller is arranged to operate the working chambers of the engine in a cylinder output level modulation manner A noise/vibration reduction unit actively control of a device that is not a part of the powertrain. The device is controlled in a feed forward manner to alter an NVH characteristic of the vehicle in a desired manner based at least in part on a characteristic of the cylinder output level modulation operation of the engine.

Noise/vibration reduction control

An engine system for a vehicle includes an engine comprising X cylinders (X&#x2265;4) and Y deactivation mechanisms (X/2&#x3c;Y&#x3c;X), each of the Y deactivation mechanisms being configured to deactivate a different one of the X cylinders and wherein the Y deactivation mechanisms are arranged an optimal Y of the X cylinders for a defined firing order of the X cylinders. The engine system further includes a controller configured to: determine a torque request for the engine, determine a set of potential firing fractions of the engine, each firing fraction representing a particular Z of the X cylinders being deactivated (0&#x3c;Z&#x2264;Y) based on the torque request, determine an optimal firing fraction of the set of potential firing fractions, based on the optimal firing fraction, command a corresponding Z of the Y deactivation mechanisms to deactivate the determined Z of the X cylinders, and command firing of a remainder the X cylinders.

Optimal firing patterns for cylinder deactivation control with limited deactivation mechanisms

Systems and methods for reducing noise or vibration generated by an internal combustion engine are described. An engine controller is arranged to operate the working chambers of the engine in a cylinder output level modulation manner. A noise/vibration reduction unit actively control of a device that is not a part of the powertrain. The device is controlled in a feed forward manner to alter an NVH characteristic of the vehicle in a desired manner based at least in part on a characteristic of the cylinder output level modulation operation of the engine.

An internal combustion engine capable of cylinder deactivation or skip fire control in combination with variable valve lift control. One bank of cylinders can be deactivated while the air induction of the other bank of cylinders is regulated using variable valve lift control to increase engine efficiency. An internal combustion engine with two cylinder banks, where control of one cylinder bank using skip fire control can be operating at an appropriate firing fraction in combination with variable valve lift control on the other cylinder bank. A single bank of cylinders can be controlled in a skip fire manner in conjunction with variable valve lift control.

Internal combustion engine using variable valve lift and skip fire control

In one aspect, a method is described. An operational engine torque is calculated. The engine is operated in a skip fire manner to deliver the operational engine torque. A reference engine torque is calculated using a torque model. The torque model involves estimating torque at a working chamber level. The reference engine torque is compared to the calculated operational engine torque to assess the accuracy of the operational engine torque calculation. Various embodiments of the present invention involve software, devices, systems and engine controllers that are related to one or more of the above operations.

Torque estimation in a skip fire engine control system

A variety of methods and arrangements for implementing a start/stop feature in a skip fire engine control system are described. In one aspect, the implementation of the start/stop feature involves automatically turning off an internal combustion engine under selected circumstances during a drive cycle. A determination is made that the engine should be restarted. During the engine startup period, the engine is operated in a skip fire manner such that a desired engine speed is reached.

Implementing skip fire with start/stop feature

Methods and devices are described for performing engine diagnostics during skip fire operation of an engine while a vehicle is being driven. Knowledge of the firing sequence is used to determine appropriate times to conduct selected diagnostics and/or to help better interpret sensor inputs or diagnostic results. In one aspect, selected diagnostics are executed when a single cylinder is fired a plurality of times in isolation relative to a sensor used in the diagnosis. In another aspect, selected diagnostics are conducted while the engine is operated using a firing sequence that insures that no cylinders in a first cylinder bank are fired for a plurality of engine cycles while cylinders in a second bank are at least sometimes fired. The described tests can be conducted opportunistically, when conditions are appropriate, or specific firing sequences can be commanded to achieve the desired isolation or skipping of one or more selected cylinders.

Engine diagnostics with skip fire control

A variety of methods and arrangements for detecting misfire in a skip fire engine control system are described. In one aspect, a window is assigned to a target firing opportunity for a target working chamber. A change in an engine parameter is measured during the window. A determination is made as to whether a firing opportunity before the target firing opportunity is a skip or a fire and/or whether a firing opportunity after the target firing opportunity is a skip or a fire. Based at least in part on this skip/fire determination, a determination is made as to whether the target working chamber has misfired. In various embodiments, if the target working chamber is identified as persistently misfiring, the firing sequence is modified so that the target working chamber is deactivated and excluded from the firing sequence. In still other embodiments, a torque model is used to detect engine-related problems.

Misfire detection system

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Northville, MI, United States of America

Mark A Shost