Autonomous valve train & HCCI

A new idea from Purdue seems to be the next big thing in making the IC engined (petrol) auto a bit more eco-friendly. The concept is based on variable valve timing that is facilitated by an autonomous power and control system for the valve train ( i wonder if this can be called a valve train as it has not connection with the crankshaft). The kicker seems to be the fact that the more granular valve control independent of the timing allows the implementation of homogeneous charge compression ignition that in turn pushes up efficiency by about 20 %. Read more here.