Patent ID: 8755988

Claim:
A method for controlling a direct-injection fuel injector for an internal combustion engine, the method comprising: identifying linear and non-linear fuel mass delivery regions corresponding to predefined ranges of injection duration; monitoring an operator torque request; determining a total desired fuel mass associated with the operator torque request; identifying a fuel mass delivery region corresponding to the total desired fuel mass comprising: selecting the total desired fuel mass to be delivered in a single injection event; determining an injection duration corresponding to the selected total desired fuel mass to be delivered in the single injection event; and identifying whether the determined injection duration delivered in the single injection event corresponds to one of a non-linear fuel mass delivery region defined by a minimum injection duration and a maximum injection duration and a linear fuel mass delivery region defined by an injection duration being either one of less than the minimum injection duration and greater than the maximum injection duration; and commanding a plurality of partial injection events having injection durations corresponding to the linear fuel mass delivery region to inject the total desired fuel mass only when the injection duration corresponding to the selected total desired fuel mass to be delivered in the single injection event corresponds to the non-linear fuel mass delivery region.