Patent ID: 7406366

Claim:
A method for validating engine and motor velocities in a vehicle having a plurality of vehicle components, including an engine and a first motor arranged in a vehicle architecture such that at least one known mathematical relationship exists between the engine velocity and the velocity of the first motor, the engine and the first motor each being operable to output torque and at least the engine being operable to output torque to at least one vehicle wheel, the method comprising: measuring engine speed, thereby facilitating a determination of engine velocity; measuring the velocity of the first motor; using the determined engine velocity and the measured velocity of the first motor in a first equation, the first equation including the use of a first velocity relationship mathematically relating the engine velocity and the velocity of the first motor based on the vehicle architecture, the first equation being determinative of whether a mathematical combination of at least the determined engine velocity and the measured velocity of the first motor is within a first predetermined speed range; validating the determined engine velocity and the measured velocity of the first motor when the mathematical combination of at least the determined engine velocity and the measured velocity of the first motor is within the first predetermined speed range; and communicating at least one of the validated determined engine velocity or the validated measured velocity of the first motor to at least one of the vehicle components.