Patent ID: 8818664

Claim:
A method for controlling operation of a powertrain system including a multi-mode transmission configured to transfer torque among an engine, torque machines, and a driveline, the method comprising, for each of a plurality of loop cycles: determining a bias engine speed based upon an engine speed for an immediately previous loop cycle and based upon an expected change in the engine speed for an immediately previous loop cycle; and executing a search, comprising: for each of a plurality of candidate engine speeds and candidate engine torques: determining a respective candidate power cost for operating the powertrain system in response to an output torque request, and determining a respective candidate driveability cost for the candidate engine speed based upon the bias engine speed; selecting one of the candidate engine speeds and candidate engine torques that achieves a minimum of a combination of the respective candidate driveability cost and the respective candidate power cost as a preferred engine speed and preferred engine torque; and controlling operation of the powertrain system based upon the preferred engine speed and preferred engine torque.