A method for checking electrodes of a spark gap of an ignition system for a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine with an externally provided ignition includes generating a spark at the spark gap in an operating state without ignition of an ignitable mixture in the combustion chamber; ascertaining a parameter or characteristic function representing the spark current, the spark voltage, and/or the spark duration; comparing the parameter or the characteristic function to a reference; adapting an energy for a voltage buildup for a further spark generation for the mixture ignition and/or for maintaining an ignition spark for the mixture ignition, in particular for a future ignition process, as a function of a difference between the parameter or the characteristic function and the reference.

The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a method that includes receiving a collection of measurements of electric current amplitude in a primary winding of an engine ignition system having the primary winding and a spark plug, identifying an ignition start time, identifying an inflection point based on the plurality of measurements, determining an inflection point time representative of a time at which the identified inflection point occurred, determining a spark start time based on an amount of time between the ignition start time and the inflection point time, and providing a signal indicative of the spark start time.

A method for monitoring an ignition system including a spark plug of an internal combustion engine is disclosed. The method comprises determining an operation value associated with an electrical parameter indicative of an operation of the ignition system during actuation of the spark plug. The method further comprises determining at least one parameter indicative of a current engine operation condition of the internal combustion engine, and determining a current spark plug state of the spark plug based on the at least one engine parameter and the operation value associated with the electrical parameter of the ignition system.

The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a method that includes receiving a collection of measurements of electric current amplitude in a primary winding of an engine ignition system having the primary winding and a spark plug, identifying an ignition start time, identifying an inflection point based on the plurality of measurements, determining an inflection point time representative of a time at which the identified inflection point occurred, determining a spark start time based on an amount of time between the ignition start time and the inflection point time, and providing a signal indicative of the spark start time.

A method for checking electrodes of a spark gap of an ignition system for a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine with an externally provided ignition includes generating a spark at the spark gap in an operating state without ignition of an ignitable mixture in the combustion chamber; ascertaining a parameter or characteristic function representing the spark current, the spark voltage, and/or the spark duration; comparing the parameter or the characteristic function to a reference; adapting an energy for a voltage buildup for a further spark generation for the mixture ignition and/or for maintaining an ignition spark for the mixture ignition, in particular for a future ignition process, as a function of a difference between the parameter or the characteristic function and the reference.

A method of responding to a detected blowout in a coil ignition system is provided in this disclosure. The method includes receiving a characteristic regarding operation of a coil ignition system; determining a blowout condition exists for the coil ignition system based on the characteristic; and providing a command to the coil ignition system based on the determination that the blowout condition exists, wherein the command is structured to reduce a residual charge amount in the coil ignition system.

A method for monitoring an ignition system including a spark plug of an internal combustion engine is disclosed. The method comprises determining an operation value associated with an electrical parameter indicative of an operation of the ignition system during actuation of the spark plug. The method further comprises determining at least one parameter indicative of a current engine operation condition of the internal combustion engine, and determining a current spark plug state of the spark plug based on the at least one engine parameter and the operation value associated with the electrical parameter of the ignition system.

A variety of methods and arrangements for determining whether a high pressure exhaust spring is present in a cylinder of an internal combustion engine are described. For spark ignition engines, the electrical properties of the spark plug spark gap may be used to determine whether a high pressure exhaust spring is present.

A system for detecting a source of a misfire for a turbulent jet ignition (TJI) engine having a first ignition device disposed in a pre-chamber of a cylinder head and a second ignition device disposed for communication with a main combustion chamber is presented. The system includes a controller that determines engine operating conditions; generates a first spark from the first ignition device at a first time; generates a second spark from the second ignition device at a second time; activates a skipfire mode based on a determination that the engine operating conditions are satisfactory, wherein in the skipfire mode, the controller generates a modified second spark at a modified second time, the modified second time being later than the second time; and determines a misfire event based on sensing ionization of gasses at the main combustion chamber subsequent to firing the first and second ignition devices.

To provide a combustion state detection device for an internal combustion engine which can detect a misfire regardless of the type of fuel. The combustion state detection device for the internal combustion engine includes: a discharge feature amount acquisition unit; and a determination unit. The discharge feature amount acquisition unit acquires the discharge feature amount based on a voltage value or a current value of an ignition coil connected to a spark plug. The spark plug executes an ignition spark discharge for igniting an air-fuel mixture and a detection spark discharge in the same engine cycle after the ignition spark discharge. The determination unit determines whether the internal combustion engine is in a misfire state or a non-misfire state based on the comparison result between the discharge feature amount of the detection spark discharge and a predetermined determination threshold value.