USING ION CURRENT SIGNAL FOR SOOT AND IN-CYLINDER VARIABLE MEASURING TECHNIQUES IN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES AND METHOD FOR DOING THE SAME

A system and method is provided for the use of the ion current signal characteristics for onboard cycle-by-cycle, cylinder-by-cylinder measurement, for example soot measurement, load measurement such as indicated or brake mean effective pressure, or fuel consumption measurement in an internal combustion engine. The system may acquire an ion current signal, measures one or more of soot, load, fuel consumption and may control the engine operating parameters accordingly.