Method of controlling in-cylinder trapped gas masses in a variable timing gasoline engine

A method of controlling masses of gas trapped in a cylinder of a variable timing gasoline engine including an intake valve and an exhaust valve, each valve being provided with a variable timing actuator, the cylinder being connected to an intake manifold provided with an intake throttle, in which a trapped air mass set point in the cylinder and a trapped burnt gas mass set point in the cylinder are determined by mapping depending on engine speed and torque, comprising:

• generating an intake pressure set point from measurements of positions of the variable timing actuators and from the trapped air mass set point;
• generating position set points for the variable timing actuators from measurement of the intake pressure and from the trapped burnt gas mass set point;
• and
• controlling the intake throttle and the variable timing actuators to meet the intake pressure set point and the position set points of the variable timing actuators to provide control of the masses of gas trapped in the cylinder.