Patent ID: 8731788

Claim:
A method for downspeed coasting management for a vehicle, comprising: providing one or more processors, accessing predetermined vehicle parameter data indicative of at least one predetermined vehicle parameter, said at least one predetermined vehicle parameter including at least one of vehicle mass, vehicle drag, vehicle rolling resistance, tire circumference, front area of vehicle, powertrain torque loss, and engine friction; accessing current vehicle operating data indicative of at least one current vehicle operating condition, said at least one current vehicle operating condition including current vehicle speed, a lower vehicle speed target to be reached, and a distance to coast in order to reach the lower vehicle speed target; accessing road terrain data indicative of at least one road terrain element, said at least one road terrain element including at least one of speed limit changes, off ramp locations, fueling locations, road grade, air density and traffic congestion; determining by the one or more processors a desired rate of deceleration based on said current vehicle speed, lower vehicle speed target to be reached, and the distance to coast in order to reach the lower vehicle speed target said desired rate of deceleration is determined according to the equation ⅆ v ⅆ t = v Low ⁢ ⁢ Speed 2 - v Current ⁢ ⁢ Speed 2 2 ⁢ d Low ⁢ ⁢ Speed ; and determining by the one or more processors a transmission gear recommendation based on said predetermined vehicle parameter data, said current vehicle operating data, said road terrain data and said desired rate of deceleration, said transmission gear recommendation being determined according to the equation G rec = ∅ v Current ⁢ ⁢ Speed - 1 ⁢ { - m ⁢ ⅆ v ⅆ t - ρ ⁢ ⁢ C d ⁢ v Current ⁢ ⁢ Speed 2 - C rr ⁢ mg ⁢ ⁢ cos ⁡ ( θ ) - mg ⁢ ⁢ sin ⁡ ( θ ) } .