Engine Controller Design for Small Engine Mass Production

The global challenges for cleaner engine technology place a heavy burden on electronic control. Creative technology such as direct injection and throttle by wire create more powerful and more fuel efficient engines with lower emissions. While the majority of this type of technology would be considered evolutionary from the base electronic fuel injection (EFI) system, production engine technology can only be realized with modern system on a chip technology designed specifically for the automotive market. As the future of the global auto industry pushes beyond the Ultra-low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) and European Union Regulation 715/2007(EURO V) limits, this burden of increasingly complex electronic control is being transferred to the to the small engine market. Here, tens of millions of one and two-cylinder engines have almost no electronic content yet face emissions challenges in 2010 and beyond requiring advanced control techniques that can only be enabled by highly integrated, specialized electronics.

Electrical systems incorporating the right amount of leading automotive technology are essential to the successful adoption of new electronics for small engine based products. However, these systems cannot simply be scaled from automotive designs. A combination of specialized components and fundamental technology must meet stringent cost targets to prevent a small engine based product from losing its positioning in the market due to the added cost. At the center of this problem is the principal component of an EFI system, the electronic control unit (ECU).