Transmission control unit
AssigneeBayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
InventorJohann Schweikl
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a transmission controller for the open-loop and/or closed-loop control of the operation of an automatic or automated manual transmission of a motor vehicle, a shifting strategy of the transmission control unit controls the operation of the transmission in an open-loop and/or closed-loop manner based on driving status data and/or driver intention data. The shifting strategy of the transmission control unit influences a gear change from a current actual gear into a target gear based on available environmental data. In the event of a required down-shift from a current actual gear into a lower target gear, the transmission control unit is configured to take into account available information relating to a traffic light status, in particular relating to a change of a traffic light status of a relevant traffic light.
Claims13
A transmission control device for open-loop and/or closed-loop control of an automatic or automated manual transmission of a motor vehicle, comprising:
- a shifting strategy of the transmission control device based on driving status data and/or driver intention data to provide the open-loop and/or the closed-loop control of operation of the transmission, wherein
- the shifting strategy influences a gear shift from a current actual gear into a target gear based on available information about the motor vehicle's environment, and
- the transmission control device is operatively configured to take into account the available information about the motor vehicle's environment about a change of status of a relevant traffic signal located in a driving direction of the motor vehicle when a downshift from a current actual gear into a lower target gear is requested.
A method of operating an automatic or automated manual transmission of a motor vehicle having a transmission control device that employs a shifting strategy based on driving status data and/or driver intention data, the method comprising the acts of:
- detecting a change of status of a relevant traffic signal with respect to a driving direction of the motor vehicle;
- when the change of status of the relevant traffic signal is detected, determining whether an acceleration request with a request for a downshift is undertaken by a driver of the motor vehicle;
- as soon as the acceleration request is determined, calculating an anticipated period of time until the relevant traffic signal is reached both with a downshift and without a downshift;
- and
- when the calculated period of time before reaching the relevant traffic signal with a downshift is less than the calculated period of time before reaching the relevant traffic signal without the downshift, then permitting the requested downshift, otherwise preventing the requested downshift.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.