Plasma arc ignition system

An ignition system for igniting an air/fuel mixture within an engine, said system comprising:

• a) at least one ignition plug disposed in said engine, said ignition plug having a pair of electrodes;
• b) high voltage generator means connected to said ignition plug for applying a gated high high frequency AC signal across a pair of electrodes so as to initiate ionization of said air/fuel mixture and create an infant plasma channel between said pair of electrodes;
• c) plasma arc current generator means connected to said ignition plug for generating a predetermined amplitude of alternating current for a predetermined duration so as to sustain said plasma channel and ignite said air/fuel mixture;
• d) controller means for selectively enabling and disabling said high voltage generator means and said plasma arc current generator means at predetermined times by adaptively controlling said predetermined amplitude and predetermined duration of said alternating current generated by said plasma arc current generator in accordance with more than one engine operation parameter;
• and
• e) a high voltage blocking circuit for isolating said plasma arc current generator means from said high voltage generator, wherein said high voltage blocking circuit comprises at least three cascaded LC filter sections.