Patent ID: 8347850

Claim:
An internal-combustion engine operable in a homogeneous charge compression ignition mode at least under certain operating conditions, the engine comprising: a triggering unit operatively configured to trigger auto-ignition during the homogeneous charge compression ignition mode before a combustion mixture in a combustion chamber of the internal-combustion engine reaches auto-ignition conditions to auto-ignite; wherein the triggering unit is a corona ignition system operable for triggering the auto-ignition during the homogeneous charge compression ignition mode by a generated non-thermal plasma, and as a result of a generated corona discharge, an initialization of a spatial auto-ignition, which is targeted with respect to time, occurs, such that radicals form along corona threads of the corona ignition system, which initializes a rapid ignition along the corona threads, and the auto-ignition is thus triggered in remaining regions of the combustion chamber.