A system includes a controller configured to receive a signal acquired by the at least one knock sensor coupled to a reciprocating device, to sample the received signal, to analyze the sampled signal, and to utilize standard quality control (SQC) techniques to perform real-time diagnostics on the reciprocating device based on the analyzed signal.

An apparatus of controlling a vehicle and a method thereof are provided. The operating region of an engine is operated with theoretical air-fuel ratio. The apparatus includes a supercharger that supplies compressed air to a the combustion chamber of the engine and a spark plug that ignites mixed air supplied to the combustion chamber. An intake valve selectively opens and closes the combustion chamber for inflowing the mixed air therein. A variable valve apparatus adjusts an opening timing and closing timing of the intake valve and a controller adjusts an ignition timing of the spark plug and the closing timing of the intake valve through the variable valve apparatus based on the operating region of the engine.

Methods and systems are provided for adjusting spark and/or fuel injection to a cylinder based on late combustion, partial burn, or misfire in a neighboring cylinder. In one example, a method may include deactivating spark and fuel injection to a second cylinder receiving exhaust residuals from combustion in a first cylinder, the first cylinder experiencing a misfire or late combustion event. Mitigating actions are performed in the second cylinder before the occurrence of a pre-ignition event.

A method of deriving reciprocating device component health includes receiving a signal from a knock sensor coupled to a reciprocating device, deriving total harmonic distortion (THD) at one or more frequencies, and determining whether the derived THD exceeds a threshold value.

Methods and systems are provided for operating a variable displacement engine that includes a knock control system. Engine knock background noise levels determined during all cylinders operating mode may be determined via two filters that are constructed in parallel. Output of the two filters may be the basis for determining the presence or absence of engine knock.

Method to detect and control detonation phenomena in an internal combustion engine provided with a number of cylinders and with at least two detonation sensors. For each combustion cycle as a function of the cylinder and of the engine point that is being explored, the method comprises the steps of processing the signal coming from each detonation sensor so as to determine a detonation energy for each detonation sensor; calculating a detonation index for each detonation sensor and controlling the internal combustion engine as a function of a total detonation index through the algebraic sum of the detonation indexes for each detonation sensor.

A method includes receiving a signal indicative of a change in an air-fuel ratio (AFR) for a mixture of air and fuel entering a first combustion chamber of a combustion engine, advancing firing timing of the first combustion chamber, receiving, from a knock sensor, a knock signal indicating that the combustion engine has begun to knock, determining a knock margin of the first combustion chamber based on when the combustion engine begins to knock, and storing the knock margin as associated with the knock timing and the AFR.

In one embodiment, a method is provided. The method includes receiving a plurality of signals representative of an engine noise transmitted via a plurality of noise sensors, wherein the noise sensors are disposed in a grid about an engine. The method further includes receiving a knock sensor signal representative of an engine noise transmitted via a knock sensor. The method additionally includes deriving a combustion event based on the knock sensor signal, and deriving an engine condition based on the plurality of signals and the combustion event. The method also includes communicating the engine condition.

An engine control device includes: a pre-ignition determination module that determines whether an operation state of an engine indicated by a rotation speed detected by a rotation speed detection unit and a load calculated by a load calculating module is in a pre-ignition occurring region; a catalyst protection determination module that determines whether the operation state of the engine is in a catalyst protection region; and a fuel cut execution control module that stops a fuel supplied to the engine, when a remaining amount of a fuel tank is determined to be smaller than a tank threshold value and the operation state is determined to be in the pre-ignition occurring region, and when the remaining amount of the fuel tank is determined to be smaller than the tank threshold value and the operation state is determined to be in the catalyst protection region.

A system for providing fuel type recommendations includes a mobile polling device communicatively coupled to one or more computing devices installed on-board of a vehicle for receiving vehicle's operational data from the on-board computing devices. The system further includes a cloud-based computing environment including a memory configured to store one or more processes and a processor adapted to execute the one or more processes using the cloud-based computing environment. The processor, when executing the one or more processes, is operable to receive vehicle's operational data from the mobile polling device. The processor is further operable to analyze the received vehicle's operational data to identify recommended fuel type and to provide one or more fuel type recommendations indicative of the recommended fuel type.