in the pilot injection is decreased while the amount for the main fuel injection is increased in order to keep load and lambda constant the combustion is then phased later in the next cycle and engine knock is decreased in this context the term u201c next cycle u201d refers to the cycle following immediately after the current cycle fig3 b and 3d show the cylinder pressure for a case where the knock signal is low and the cov signal is high this indicates low knocking cycles with early phased combustion cycles alternating with late phased combustion cycles for a conventional control strategy this would result in an immediate advance of the combustion phasing to avoid problems with stability however if this adjustment occurs immediately after a late phased cycle the result would most likely be engine knocking in the next cycle according to the invention the control unit evaluates the signals from sensors that indicate knock combustion stability and combustion phasing the latter is preferably achieved by detecting the location of peak pressure lpp when the knock signal is low the cov signal is high and lpp is early the amount of fuel injected in the pilot injection is increased while the amount for the main fuel injection is decreased in order to keep load and lambda constant this will phase the combustion of the next cycle earlier than it would have been without injection adjustment and combustion stability is increased however if lpp is sensed late the amount of fuel injected in the pilot injection is increased while the amount for the main fuel injection is decreased for the cycle after the next cycle this delay avoids an.