Predictive control method and apparatus for vehicle automatic transmission
First Claim
1. A method of controlling shifting of an automatic transmission in a vehicle, said method comprising:
- determining a current geographic position of the vehicle;
reading projected road contour information from a memory for an approaching portion of a traveled route which lies ahead of the vehicle, based on said determined current position; and
controlling at least one of gear selection and gear shifting timing of said automatic transmission, based on said projected road contour information.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a method and apparatus for controlling an automatic transmission in a motor vehicle, a vehicle simulation device uses information regarding current vehicle operating parameters, together with map information regarding a route being traveled by the vehicle to project the dynamic longitudinal behavior of the vehicle, including vehicle velocity for the road that lies ahead. An evaluation module utilizes speed profile information generated in this manner to develop a desired torque. Finally, a shift strategy module converts the desired torque into a desired gear and a point in time for shifting, such that the transmission either shifts into neutral or shifts to an appropriate gear. The invention may be implemented in the form of hardware components, in the form of software modules which are run on either a centralized or distributed vehicle control system, or a combination of hardware and software components.
44 Citations
12 Claims
-
1. A method of controlling shifting of an automatic transmission in a vehicle, said method comprising:
-
determining a current geographic position of the vehicle;
reading projected road contour information from a memory for an approaching portion of a traveled route which lies ahead of the vehicle, based on said determined current position; and
controlling at least one of gear selection and gear shifting timing of said automatic transmission, based on said projected road contour information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. Apparatus for controlling shifting of an automatic transmission in a vehicle, comprising:
-
a position module which determines a current geographic position of the vehicle;
a map information module which accesses stored map information, including route and elevation data for an area in which said vehicle is operated; and
a predictive shifting control module which reads projected road contour information from said map module for an approaching portion of a traveled route which lies ahead of the vehicle, based on said current geographic position of the vehicle;
wherein said predictive shifting control module controls at least one of gear selection and gear shifting timing of said automatic transmission, based on said projected road contour information. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
Specification