Patent ID: 8887691

Claim:
Method for selecting a preferred combustion mode for an internal combustion engine selectively operative in a plurality of combustion modes, comprising: defining engine operation in terms of first and second parameters; separating the engine operation into a plurality of zones, each zone having boundaries defined by thresholds for the first parameter; separating each of the zones into a plurality of sub-zones, each sub-zone having boundaries defined by thresholds for the second parameter; associating one of the combustion modes with each of the sub-zones, wherein said combustion modes comprising a single injection auto-ignition mode, a double injection auto-ignition mode, a spray-guided spark-ignition mode, and a homogeneous-charge spark-ignition mode; determining states for the first and second parameters; identifying one of the zones based upon the state for the first parameter; identifying one of the sub-zones of the identified zone based upon the state for the second parameter; and, identifying a preferred combustion mode comprising the combustion mode associated with the identified sub-zone.