# US 10,865,708 B2 · Systems and methods for determining indicated mean effective pressure > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,865,708 B2 - Document ID: US10865708B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/267,499 - Filed: 2019-02-05 - Published: 2020-08-06 - Granted: 2020-12-15 - Earliest claimed: 2019-02-05 - Assignees: GM Global Technology Operations LLC - Applicants: GM Global Technology Operations LLC - Inventors: Colby T. Stanley; Xiangkun Kong; David S. Mathews; Nicholas J. Kalweit - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10865708B2 ## CPC - F02B 75/18: Multi-cylinder engines (scavenging aspects F02B25/00) - F02D 13/06: Cutting-out cylinders - F02D 13/0219: {by shifting the phase, i.e. the opening periods of the valves are constant} - F02D 31/007: {controlling fuel supply} - F02D 35/024: {using an estimation} - F02D 41/0087: {Selective cylinder activation, i.e. partial cylinder operation (deceleration cut-off F02D41/123)} - F02D 41/1497: {With detection of the mechanical response of the engine} - F02D 2200/1015: Engines misfires - Y02T 10/12: Improving ICE efficiencies - F02B: INTERNAL-COMBUSTION PISTON ENGINES; COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL (gas-turbine plants F02C; hot-gas or combustion-product positive-displacement engine plants F02G) - F02D: CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES (vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed B60K31/00; conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function, road vehicle drive control systems for purposes other than the control of a single sub-unit B60W) - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION ## Abstract An engine control system of a vehicle includes a cylinder control module configured to: determine a target sequence for at least activating and deactivating cylinders of an engine based on a torque request; and activate and deactivate the cylinders of the engine according to the target sequence. A values module is configured to determine, based on the target sequence, a plurality of coefficients and an offset value. An indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) determination module is configured to determine an IMEP of a first cylinder based on: the plurality of coefficients; the offset value; and a plurality of engine speeds at a predetermined crankshaft positions, respectively. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An engine control system of a vehicle, comprising: a cylinder control module configured to: determine a target sequence for at least activating and deactivating the next N cylinders in a firing order of an engine based on a torque request, wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to two; and activate and deactivate the next N cylinders in the firing order of the engine according to the target sequence; a values module configured to determine a plurality of coefficients and an offset value based on the target sequence, an engine speed, and an engine load; and an indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) determination module configured to determine an IMEP of a first cylinder based on: the plurality of coefficients; the offset value; and a plurality of engine speeds at a predetermined crankshaft positions, respectively. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The engine control system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of engine speeds include: a first engine speed at a first predetermined crankshaft position during an expansion stroke of the first cylinder; a second engine speed at a second predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the first cylinder; a third engine speed at a third predetermined crankshaft position during a compression stroke of the first cylinder; a fourth engine speed at a fourth predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the first cylinder; a fifth engine speed at a fifth predetermined crankshaft position during an expansion stroke of a second cylinder that is before the first cylinder in a predetermined firing order of the engine; a sixth engine speed at a sixth predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the second cylinder; a seventh engine speed at a seventh predetermined crankshaft position during a compression stroke of the second cylinder; an eighth engine speed at an eighth predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the second cylinder; a ninth engine speed at a ninth predetermined crankshaft position during an expansion stroke of a third cylinder that is after the first cylinder in the predetermined firing order of the engine; a tenth engine speed at a tenth predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the third cylinder; an eleventh engine speed at an eleventh predetermined crankshaft position during a compression stroke of the third cylinder; and a twelfth engine speed at a twelfth predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the third cylinder. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The engine control system of claim 2 wherein: the second cylinder is immediately before the first cylinder in the predetermined firing order; and the third cylinder is immediately after the first cylinder in the predetermined firing order. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The engine control system of claim 1 further comprising a kinetic energy module configured to: determine a first kinetic energy for an expansion stroke of the first cylinder based on: a first engine speed at a first predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the first cylinder; and a second engine speed at a second predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the first cylinder; determine a second kinetic energy for a compression stroke of the first cylinder based on: a third engine speed at a third predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the first cylinder; and a fourth engine speed at a fourth predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the first cylinder; determine a third kinetic energy for an expansion stroke of a second cylinder that is before the first cylinder in a predetermined firing order of the engine based on: a fifth engine speed at a fifth predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the second cylinder; and a sixth engine speed at a sixth predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the second cylinder; determine a fourth kinetic energy for a compression stroke of the second cylinder based on: a seventh engine speed at a seventh predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the second cylinder; and an eighth engine speed at an eighth predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the second cylinder; determine a fifth kinetic energy for an expansion stroke of a third cylinder that is after the first cylinder in the predetermined firing order based on: a ninth engine speed at a ninth predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the third cylinder; and a tenth engine speed at a tenth predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the third cylinder; and determine a sixth kinetic energy for a compression stroke of the third cylinder based on: an eleventh engine speed at an eleventh predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the third cylinder; and a twelfth engine speed at a twelfth predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the third cylinder, wherein the IMEP module is configured to determine the IMEP of the first cylinder based on: the plurality of coefficients; the offset value; and the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth kinetic energies. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The engine control system of claim 4 wherein the IMEP module is configured to set the IMEP of the first cylinder using the equation: IMEP1=KEC2*v+KEE2*u+KEC1*t+KEE1*s+KEC3*r+KEE3*q+p, where IMEP1 is the IMEP of the first cylinder, KEE2 is the third kinetic energy, KEC2 is the fourth kinetic energy, KEE1 is the first kinetic energy, KEC1 is the second kinetic energy, KEE3 is the fifth kinetic energy, KEC3 is the sixth kinetic energy, v, u, t, s, r, and q are the plurality of coefficients, and p is the offset value. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The engine control system of claim 4 wherein the kinetic energy module is configured to: determine the first kinetic energy based on a first difference between the first engine speed squared and the second engine speed squared; determine the second kinetic energy based on a second difference between the third engine speed squared and the fourth engine speed squared; determine the third kinetic energy based on a third difference between the fifth engine speed squared and the sixth engine speed squared; determine the fourth kinetic energy based on a fourth difference between the seventh engine speed squared and the eighth engine speed squared; determine the fifth kinetic energy based on a fifth difference between the ninth engine speed squared and the tenth engine speed squared; and determine the sixth kinetic energy based on a sixth difference between the eleventh engine speed squared and the twelfth engine speed squared. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The engine control system of claim 4 wherein: the first predetermined crankshaft position is before the second predetermined crankshaft position; the third predetermined crankshaft position is before the fourth predetermined crankshaft position; the fifth predetermined crankshaft position is before the sixth predetermined crankshaft position; the seventh predetermined crankshaft position is before the eighth predetermined crankshaft position; the ninth predetermined crankshaft position is before the tenth predetermined crankshaft position; the eleventh predetermined crankshaft position is before the twelfth predetermined crankshaft position; and the kinetic energy module is configured to: determine the first kinetic energy based on the second engine speed squared minus the first engine speed squared; determine the second kinetic energy based on the fourth engine speed squared minus the third engine speed squared; determine the third kinetic energy based on the sixth engine speed squared minus the fifth engine speed squared; determine the fourth kinetic energy based on the eighth engine speed squared minus the seventh engine speed squared; determine the fifth kinetic energy based on the tenth engine speed squared minus the ninth engine speed squared; and determine the sixth kinetic energy based on the twelfth engine speed squared minus the eleventh engine speed squared. ### Claim 8 (depends on 4) The engine control system of claim 4 further comprising a misfire module configured to indicate that a misfire occurred within the first cylinder when the first cylinder was activated and the IMEP is less than a predetermined value. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The engine control system of claim 8 wherein the misfire module is configured to indicate that a misfire did not occur within the first cylinder when the first cylinder was activated and the IMEP is greater than the predetermined value. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The engine control system of claim 8 further comprising a spark control module configured to adjust a spark timing of the first cylinder in response to the indication that a misfire occurred within the first cylinder. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The engine control system of claim 8 further comprising a fault module configured to illuminate a malfunction indicator light in response to the indication that a misfire occurred within the first cylinder. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The engine control system of claim 11 wherein the fault module is further configured to store a predetermined diagnostic trouble code (DTC) in memory in response to the indication that a misfire occurred within the first cylinder. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The engine control system of claim 8 further comprising a fuel control module configured to adjust fueling of the first cylinder in response to the indication that a misfire occurred within the first cylinder. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The engine control system of claim 8 further comprising a throttle control module configured to adjust opening of a throttle valve in response to the indication that a misfire occurred within the first cylinder. ### Claim 15 (depends on 8) The engine control system of claim 8 further comprising a boost control module configured to adjust an output of a boost device in response to the indication that a misfire occurred within the first cylinder. ### Claim 16 (depends on 8) The engine control system of claim 8 further comprising a phaser control module configured to adjust intake valve phasing in response to the indication that a misfire occurred within the first cylinder. ### Claim 17 (depends on 8) The engine control system of claim 8 further comprising a spark control module configured to adjust exhaust valve phasing in response to the indication that a misfire occurred within the first cylinder. ### Claim 18 (depends on 4) The engine control system of claim 4 wherein: the second cylinder is immediately before the first cylinder in the predetermined firing order; and the third cylinder is immediately after the first cylinder in the predetermined firing order. ### Claim 19 An engine control method for a vehicle, comprising: determining a target sequence for at least activating and deactivating the next N cylinders in a firing order of an engine based on a torque request, wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to two; activating and deactivating the next N cylinders in the firing order of the engine according to the target sequence; determining a plurality of coefficients and an offset value based on the target sequence, an engine speed, and an engine load; and determining an IMEP of a first cylinder based on: the plurality of coefficients; the offset value; and a plurality of engine speeds at a predetermined crankshaft positions, respectively. ### Claim 20 An engine control system of a vehicle, comprising: a cylinder control module configured to: determine a target sequence for at least activating and deactivating cylinders of an engine based on a torque request; and activate and deactivate the cylinders of the engine according to the target sequence; a values module configured to determine, based on the target sequence a plurality of coefficients and an offset value; an indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) determination module configured to determine an IMEP of a first cylinder based on: the plurality of coefficients; the offset value; and a plurality of engine speeds at a predetermined crankshaft positions, respectively; and a kinetic energy module configured to: determine a first kinetic energy for an expansion stroke of the first cylinder based on: a first engine speed at a first predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the first cylinder; and a second engine speed at a second predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the first cylinder; determine a second kinetic energy for a compression stroke of the first cylinder based on: a third engine speed at a third predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the first cylinder; and a fourth engine speed at a fourth predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the first cylinder; determine a third kinetic energy for an expansion stroke of a second cylinder that is before the first cylinder in a predetermined firing order of the engine based on: a fifth engine speed at a fifth predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the second cylinder; and a sixth engine speed at a sixth predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the second cylinder; determine a fourth kinetic energy for a compression stroke of the second cylinder based on: a seventh engine speed at a seventh predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the second cylinder; and an eighth engine speed at an eighth predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the second cylinder; determine a fifth kinetic energy for an expansion stroke of a third cylinder that is after the first cylinder in the predetermined firing order based on: a ninth engine speed at a ninth predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the third cylinder; and a tenth engine speed at a tenth predetermined crankshaft position during the expansion stroke of the third cylinder; and determine a sixth kinetic energy for a compression stroke of the third cylinder based on: an eleventh engine speed at an eleventh predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the third cylinder; and a twelfth engine speed at a twelfth predetermined crankshaft position during the compression stroke of the third cylinder, wherein the IMEP module is configured to determine the IMEP of the first cylinder based on: the plurality of coefficients; the offset value; and the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth kinetic energies.