Patent ID: 7654236

Claim:
A method for controlling an internal combustion engine having an intake tract with a throttle valve, a camshaft that acts on a plurality of gas inlet valves associated with a cylinder, and a phase-adjustment device associated with the camshaft that adjusts a phase between the camshaft and a crankshaft, comprising: determining an ambient pressure upstream of the throttle valve; recording a measured inlet manifold pressure downstream of the throttle valve; determining a desired air mass flow into a combustion chamber of the cylinder based on a charge requirement requested by a driver; determining whether the phase between the camshaft and the crankshaft can be varied while maintaining an actual pressure difference upstream and downstream of the throttle valve; adjusting the desired air mass flow by varying the phase between the camshaft and the crankshaft if it is determined that the phase between the camshaft and the crankshaft can be varied while maintaining an actual pressure difference upstream and downstream of the throttle valve; and otherwise adjusting the desired air mass flow by varying the opening angle of the throttle valve if it is determined that the phase between the camshaft and the crankshaft cannot be varied while maintaining an actual pressure difference upstream and downstream of the throttle valve.