The present invention describes a fuel-management system for minimizing particulate emissions in turbocharged direct injection gasoline engines. The system optimizes the use of port fuel injection (PFI) in combination with direct injection (DI), particularly in cold start and other transient conditions. In the present invention, the use of these control systems together with other control systems for increasing the effectiveness of port fuel injector use and for reducing particulate emissions from turbocharged direct injection engines is described. Particular attention is given to reducing particulate emissions that occur during cold start and transient conditions since a substantial fraction of the particulate emissions during a drive cycle occur at these times. Further optimization of the fuel management system for these conditions is important for reducing drive cycle emissions.

Provided is a knocking detection apparatus capable of reducing erroneous determination of knocking during transition, and improving knocking detection accuracy regardless of whether an engine is in steady operation or transient operation. A knocking detection apparatus according to the present invention estimates a background level based on an operating state of an internal combustion engine, and calculates a knocking determination index by using the estimated value.

Systems and methods for operating a vehicle that includes an engine that may be automatically stopped and started are described. In one example, an amount of time to start an engine and a rate of engine acceleration are adjusted in response to what type of event triggered an automatic engine start.

A controller includes a memory device and an execution device, which executes an operation of an operated unit of an internal combustion engine. The execution device executes a first calculation process that uses adapted data sets in order to calculate an operated amount on the basis of a detected value of a state variable, a second calculation process that calculates, as the operated amount, a value that is determined by a relationship defining data set and the state variable, a reinforcement learning process that updates the relationship defining data set, first and operation processes that operate the operated unit in accordance with a calculated value of the operated amount, and a switching process that switches a process that operates the operated unit between the first operation process and the second operation process in accordance with the state of the vehicle.

A fuel injection control apparatus including a microprocessor. The microprocessor is configured to perform calculating a target injection time, determining a first crank angle defining a start of fuel injection and a second crank angle defining an end of fuel injection, controlling a fuel injector in a first injection mode in which the fuel is injected for the first target injection time from a first time point corresponding to the first crank angle or a second injection mode in which the fuel is injected for the second target injection time from a second time point corresponding to a target crank angle, and the controlling including controlling the fuel injector so as to inject the fuel in an intake stroke in the first injection mode, while inject the fuel in a compression stroke in the second injection mode.

A control apparatus, for an internal combustion engine, detects a rotational speed parameter (time parameter) that represents a rotational speed of the internal combustion engine including a plurality of cylinders, detects a single misfire that is a misfire for every ignition for each of the plurality of cylinders, based on the rotational speed parameter that has been detected in each combustion stroke of the plurality of cylinders (steps 2 to 7 and 9), counts, as a misfire counter value, the number of times that the single misfire has been detected for each of the plurality of cylinders (steps 8 and 10), determines whether the misfire is occurring in the cylinder, based on the misfire counter value (steps 11 to 12), and corrects an ignition timing of the cylinder that has been determined that the misfire is occurring to an advance angle side (steps 25, 26, and 34).

Apparatuses, methods, and systems for igniting fuel for an internal combustion engine, an ignition system include a first ignition device associated with a pre-combustion chamber of a cylinder and a second ignition device associated with a main combustion chamber of the cylinder. An engine control unit is operably connected to both the engine and the ignition system to ignite fuel for the cylinder with the first ignition device independently of igniting fuel with the second ignition device. The engine control unit determines an occurrence of a combustion condition and in response thereto (i) ignites fuel for combustion with both the first and the second ignition devices or (ii) ignites fuel for combustion only with the second ignition device. The engine control unit determines a second combustion condition and in response thereto ignites fuel only with the first ignition device.

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 applied when one or more cylinders are deactivated to determine the presence or absence of engine knock. Additionally, engine knock background noise levels determined during all cylinders operating mode may be applied when one or more cylinders are reactivated such that the engine operates with all cylinder combusting so that the possibility of indicating knock when knock is not present may be avoided.

Systems and methods for operating a vehicle that includes an engine that may be automatically stopped and started are described. In one example, an amount of time to start an engine and a rate of engine acceleration are adjusted in response to what type of event triggered an automatic engine start.

A control apparatus performs a diagnosis process for determining whether or not catalyst warm-up control is abnormal by determining whether or not an ignition timing that is set during the performance of catalyst warm-up control is a timing advanced by a threshold or more. The threshold is a value that is set to a timing more advanced than the ignition timing that is set during the performance of catalyst warm-up control by a predetermined margin. The control apparatus performs a setting process for setting the threshold based on a start-up coolant temperature such that the margin becomes larger when the start-up coolant temperature is low than when the start-up coolant temperature is high.