A method and a device for controlling a drive unit, in particular, of an internal
combustion engine in a vehicle, in which at least one performance quantity of the
drive unit is detected and at least one actuator of the drive unit is controlled
with controlled variables, depending on this performance quantity, according to
predefinable or preselectable functionalities. In a controller, at least two processors
process the possible functionalities, where these functionalities are defined by
program code in at least one assigned program memory per processor. These possible
functionalities of the processors, i.e., the program codes in the program memories
assigned to the processors are identical.