COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM FOR MARKET-BASED CONSTRAINT OPTIMIZATION

• US 20020013631A1
• Filed: 07/23/1997
• Published: 01/31/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Techteam Government Solutions Incorporated (Jacobs Solutions, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Altarum Institute
• Inventors: PARUNAK, H. VAN DYKE, SAUTER, JOHN A., WARD, ALLEN C.
• Granted Patent: US 6,536,935 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/28
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/024 in which a parameter or coefficient is automatically adjusted to optimise the performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0635 Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 706/919 Designing, planning, programming, CAD, CASE

Abstract

An apparatus for determining assignments to attributes (e.g., electrical power or overall dimensional size) of components within a system. A computerized constraint network is constructed which uses constraint agents, variable agents, and task agents in order to make assignments to the attributes of the components based upon market-based constraint optimization techniques. The attributes have variables indicative of the assignments to the attributes. Constraint data structures assist the agents in determining permissible assignments for the variables. The constraint data structures use preferential rules for determining the assignments to the variables. The preferential rules indicate which assignments for the variables of the agents produce higher utility and lower cost.

Claims

1. An apparatus for determining assignments to attributes of components within a system, said attributes having variables indicative of assignments to said attributes, comprising:

a first constraint data structure for determining a preferential set of assignments to a first variable, said first variable being indicative of an assignment to a first attribute of a first component, said first constraint data structure having first preferential rules for determining preferential assignments to said first variable; and

a first computer module connected to said first constraint data structure for determining bid data based upon said first preferential rules, said bid data containing price data associated with a first preferential set of assignments to said first variable;

whereby said first variable is assigned a value based upon said bid data.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first computer module is a computerized agent.