Method of regulating an internal combustion engine including omission of cylinder firings

A method of regulating an internal combustion engine having a number of cylinders, comprising:

• deriving a predeterminable pattern comprising a time sequence of ignition commands for ignition of individual cylinders of the number of cylinders and non-ignition commands for skipping ignition of the individual cylinders of the number of cylinders, wherein the predeterminable pattern is derived by a calculation with spacing between the individual cylinders derived for non-ignition commands in relation to a firing order is an odd number;
• varying with respect to time, after a predeterminable time interval, the predeterminable pattern by adding ignition commands for a number of at least one individual cylinder and by adding non-ignition commands for the same number of at least one individual cylinder;
• excluding a number of at least one individual cylinder from non-ignition commands of the predeterminable pattern for regular ignition without adaptation to a load demand;
• and
• activating or deactivating individual cylinders of the predeterminable pattern depending on a required power output by the internal combustion engine.