SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FUEL INJECTION CHARACTERISTICS IN AN ENGINE

An engine control system (10) includes first (14) and second (16) control modules. The first control module (14) determines a fuel combustion parameter. The second control module (16) determines a fuel delivery parameter based on the fuel combustion parameter. The fuel combustion parameter includes at least one of (i) a total amount of heat released by a volume of fuel during a combustion cycle and (ii) a rate at which heat is released during the combustion cycle. The fuel delivery parameter includes at least one of (i) a duration of time over which the volume of fuel is delivered to a cylinder (18), (ii) a time at which a fuel injector (22) starts delivering the volume of fuel to the cylinder (18), and (iii) a fuel pressure in a fuel rail (32) (Fig. 1).