Methods and apparatus for performing combustion analysis in an internal combustion engine utilizing ignition voltage analysis

A method of combustion analysis in an internal combustion engine comprising:

• providing a first set of characteristic parameters relating a plurality of spark plug voltage waveform signals with at least one of a knocking combustion measure, a normal combustion measure, a slow burn combustion measure, a partial burn combustion measure, and a misfire combustion measure;
• sampling a first spark plug voltage waveform signal during a first combustion process;
• generating a second set of characteristic parameters based on said first spark plug voltage waveform signal by performing at least one of:
• a principal component analysis on said first spark plug voltage waveform signal, a wavelet transformation analysis on said first spark plug voltage waveform signal, a linear parametric system identification analysis on said first spark plug voltage signal, a non-linear parametric system identification analysis on said first spark plug voltage waveform signal, a neural network processing analysis on said first spark plug voltage waveform signal, and a fuzzy classification analysis on said first spark plug voltage waveform signal;
• and,
• classifying said first combustion process as one of said combustion quality measures based on a correlation between said first set of characteristic parameters and said second set of characteristic parameters.

A method of combustion analysis in an internal combustion engine comprising:

• providing a first set of characteristic parameters relating a plurality of spark plug current waveform signals with a plurality of combustion quality measures including operating a first internal combustion engine under a plurality of combustion conditions to obtain at least one of a knocking combustion measure, a normal combustion measure, a slow burn combustion measure, a partial burn combustion measure, and a misfire combustion measure;
• sampling a first spark plug current waveform signal during a first combustion process of a second internal combustion engine;
• generating a second set of characteristic parameters based on said first spark plug current waveform signal;
• and,
• classifying said first combustion process as one of said combustion quality measures based on a correlation between said first set of characteristic parameters and said second set of characteristic parameters.

A method of combustion analysis in an internal combustion engine comprising:

• providing a first set of characteristic parameters relating a plurality of spark plug current waveform signals with a combustion quality measure including operating a first internal combustion engine under a plurality of combustion conditions including a plurality of:
• a knocking combustion event, a normal combustion event, a slow burn event, a partial burn event and a misfire event while sampling said plurality of spark plug current waveform signals;
• sampling a first spark plug current waveform signal during a first combustion process including sampling a spark plug current waveform signal in a second internal combustion engine;
• generating a second set of characteristic parameters based on said first spark plug current waveform signal;
• and
• classifying said first combustion process as one of said combustion quality measures based on a correlation between said first set of characteristic parameters and said second set of characteristic parameters.

A method of combustion analysis in an internal combustion engine comprising:

• providing a first set of characteristic parameters relating a plurality of spark plug gap impedance waveform signals with a plurality of combustion quality measures including operating a first internal combustion engine under a plurality of combustion conditions to obtain at least one of a knocking combustion measure, a normal combustion measure, a slow burn combustion measure, a partial burn combustion measure, and a misfire combustion measure;
• sampling a first spark plug gap impedance waveform signal during a first combustion process of a second internal combustion engine;
• generating a second set of characteristic parameters based on said first spark plug gap impedance waveform signal;
• and,
• classifying said first combustion process as one of said combustion quality measures based on a correlation between said first set of characteristic parameters and said second set of characteristic parameters.

A method of combustion analysis in an internal combustion engine comprising:

• providing a first set of characteristic parameters relating a plurality of spark plug gap impedance waveform signals with a combustion quality measure including operating a first internal combustion engine under a plurality of combustion conditions including a plurality of:
• a knocking combustion event, a normal combustion event, a slow burn event, a partial burn event and a misfire event while sampling said plurality of spark plug gap impedance waveform signals;
• sampling a first spark plug gap impedance waveform signal during a first combustion process including sampling a spark plug gap impedance waveform signal in a second internal combustion engine;
• generating a second set of characteristic parameters based on said first spark plug gap impedance waveform signal;
• and,
• classifying said first combustion process as one of said combustion quality measures based on a correlation between said first set of characteristic parameters and said second set of characteristic parameters.

A method of combustion analysis in an internal combustion engine comprising:

• providing a first set of characteristic parameters relating a plurality of signature spark plug electrical waveform signals with a plurality of different known combustion quality measures for an internal combustion engine of a particular type;
• storing said first set of signature characteristic parameters of said particular type of internal combustion engine in a memory of an onboard computer of a vehicle, said vehicle further comprising an internal combustion engine of said particular type;
• sampling a real time spark plug electrical waveform signal of said particular type of engine of said vehicle during a real time combustion process;
• generating a second set of characteristic parameters based upon said real time spark plug electrical waveform signal;
• and
• comparing said first and second sets of characteristic parameters to classify said real time combustion process of said vehicle engine as one of said known combustion quality measures.