System for managing torque in a vehicle driveline coupled to an internal combustion engine and an electric motor

A system for managing torque in a vehicle driveline coupled to an internal combustion engine and to a hybrid motor/generator, the system comprising:

• a transmission defining at least part of the vehicle driveline,
• a transmission control circuit configured to control operation of the transmission,
• an engine control circuit configured to control operation of the engine, and
• a hybrid control circuit configured to control operation of the hybrid motor/generator, and
• wherein the engine control circuit includes a memory having instructions stored therein that are executable by the engine control circuit to provide to the transmission control circuit an engine torque value corresponding to torque applied by the engine to the driveline,
• and wherein the transmission control circuit receives one or more torque limit requests from one or more systems other than the hybrid control circuit,
• and wherein the transmission control circuit includes a memory having instructions stored therein that are executable by the transmission control circuit to determine a modified engine torque value based on the engine torque value and the one or more torque limit requests, and to control operation of the transmission in accordance with the modified engine torque value.

A system for managing torque in a vehicle driveline coupled to an internal combustion engine and to a hybrid motor/generator, the system comprising:

• a transmission defining at least part of a vehicle driveline to which the engine and hybrid motor/generator are coupled,
• an accelerator pedal responsive to driver control to produce an accelerator pedal position signal relative to a reference accelerator pedal position,
• an engine control circuit configured to control operation of the engine and including an input receiving the accelerator pedal position signal,
• a transmission control circuit configured to control operation of the transmission, and
• a hybrid control circuit configured to control operation of the hybrid motor/generator,
• wherein the engine control circuit includes a memory having instructions stored therein that are executable by the engine control circuit to process the accelerator pedal position signal and to provide a corresponding accelerator pedal position value to the transmission control circuit and to the hybrid control circuit,
• and wherein the hybrid control circuit includes a memory having instructions stored therein that are executable by the hybrid control circuit to process the accelerator pedal position value to produce and provide to the transmission control circuit a modified accelerator pedal position value when the hybrid motor/generator is operating in a battery recharging mode,
• and wherein the transmission control circuit includes a memory having stored therein instructions that are executable by the transmission control circuit to control operation of the transmission in accordance with the modified accelerator pedal position value when the hybrid motor/generator transmits the modified accelerator pedal position value thereto and to otherwise control operation of the transmission in accordance with the accelerator pedal position value transmitted by the engine control circuit.

A system for controlling operation of a transmission in a vehicle including an internal combustion engine and a hybrid motor/generator, comprising:

• a transmission defining at least part of a vehicle driveline to which the engine and hybrid motor/generator are coupled,
• a transmission control circuit configured to control operation of the transmission,
• an engine control circuit configured to control operation of the engine, and
• a hybrid control circuit configured to control operation of the hybrid motor/generator,
• wherein the engine control circuit includes a memory having instructions stored therein that are executable by the engine control circuit to determine and provide to the transmission control circuit an engine torque value corresponding to torque applied by the engine to the driveline,
• and wherein the transmission control circuit includes a memory having stored therein instructions that are executable by the transmission control circuit to determine from the engine torque value and provide to the hybrid control circuit a node torque value corresponding to torque applied to the point in the driveline to which the hybrid motor/generator is coupled,
• and wherein the hybrid control circuit includes a memory having instructions stored therein that are executable by the hybrid control circuit to determine a motor torque value corresponding to an amount of motor torque applied by the hybrid motor/generator, and to determine from the motor torque value and the node torque value a torque adjustment value corresponding to an amount of torque by which the engine torque value should be modified to account for the amount of motor torque applied by the hybrid motor/generator, and to provide the torque adjustment value to the transmission control circuit,
• and wherein the instructions stored in the memory of the transmission control circuit include instructions that are executable by the transmission control circuit to process the torque adjustment value to determine a corresponding engine torque limit or command and to provide to the engine control circuit the engine torque limit or command,
• and wherein the instructions stored in the memory of the engine control circuit include instructions that are executable by the engine control circuit to modify the torque applied by the engine to the driveline in accordance with the engine torque limit or command.