Patent ID: 7689337

Claim:
A method for controlling a vehicle, comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of vehicle sub-algorithms within the vehicle, each sub-algorithm being associated with a vehicle subsystem and being operable to control at least one particular aspect of vehicle dynamics within the associated vehicle subsystem, wherein at least one sub-algorithm is associated with a wheel torque control subsystem and is operable to control wheel torque; providing a high level algorithm in said vehicle, said high level algorithm being operable to monitor an overall operating condition of said vehicle and to mediate potential conflicts between said sub-algorithms; collecting information regarding conditions of the vehicle's operative state and providing said collected information to at least one of said sub-algorithms and said high level algorithm; generating instructions from said sub-algorithm based on the collected information; controlling operation of said vehicle based upon said generated instructions; providing the generated instructions from each of the sub-algorithms to the high level algorithm, said high-level algorithm being operable to determine if generated instructions from any of the sub-algorithms are in conflict with generated instructions from another sub-algorithm, wherein instructions from said algorithm associated with a wheel torque control subsystem are instructions to change wheel torque at one or more wheels; generating resolution instructions within the high level algorithm to replace any conflicting generated instructions from the sub-algorithms; communicating the resolution instructions from the high level algorithm to appropriate ones of said sub-algorithms to appropriately control the associated vehicle subsystem.