Method to schedule a vehicle in real-time to transport freight and passengers
First Claim
1. A method of scheduling a vehicle for transporting freight and passengers using a host connected over a network to a plurality of freight terminals and a plurality of passenger terminals, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving over the network freight transportation requests containing pickup times, pickup locations, destination times, destination locations, and freight requirements at the host from said plurality of freight terminals;
receiving passenger transportation requests containing pickup times, pickup locations, destination times, destination locations, and the number of passengers at the host from said plurality of passenger terminals;
creating a route at the host for the vehicle having destinations based on said received transportation requests, said route created only when the vehicle can transport a predetermined number of passengers and a predetermined freight requirement;
predicting at the host an arrival time and a departure time for each destination along said route;
generating at the host a route schedule including said predicted arrival and departure times for each destination along said route;
receiving at the host actual times at said host from said vehicle as said vehicle travels to each destination along said route;
updating said generated route schedule at said host to include said received actual times.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of scheduling a vehicle in real-time to transport freight and passengers. A host receives transportation requests (e.g., to deliver freight, transport passengers, reschedule, cancel, etc.) over a network from a freight terminal and/or a passenger terminal. A route is created at the host with destinations based on the received transportation requests. The host predicts an arrival time and a departure time for each destination along the route and generates a route schedule. As the vehicle travels to each destination, the host receives actual arrival and departure times and uses these actual times to update the route schedule. The route schedule is also updated when new destinations are added or a scheduled destination is cancelled. In another embodiment, the predicted arrival and departure times are updated based on vehicle positioning data received from a global positioning system. In each embodiment, the generated and updated route schedules are posted at the host and are accessible from any remote terminal over the network.
76 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of scheduling a vehicle for transporting freight and passengers using a host connected over a network to a plurality of freight terminals and a plurality of passenger terminals, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving over the network freight transportation requests containing pickup times, pickup locations, destination times, destination locations, and freight requirements at the host from said plurality of freight terminals;
receiving passenger transportation requests containing pickup times, pickup locations, destination times, destination locations, and the number of passengers at the host from said plurality of passenger terminals;
creating a route at the host for the vehicle having destinations based on said received transportation requests, said route created only when the vehicle can transport a predetermined number of passengers and a predetermined freight requirement;
predicting at the host an arrival time and a departure time for each destination along said route;
generating at the host a route schedule including said predicted arrival and departure times for each destination along said route;
receiving at the host actual times at said host from said vehicle as said vehicle travels to each destination along said route;
updating said generated route schedule at said host to include said received actual times. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of scheduling freight and passengers for transport using a host connected over a network to a plurality of freight terminals and a plurality of passenger terminals, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving over the network transportation requests at the host from said plurality of freight terminals and from said plurality of passenger terminals;
creating a route for the vehicle at the host only when a predetermined profit value based on said received transportation requests is generated;
predicting at the host an arrival time and a departure time for each destination along said route;
generating a route schedule at the host including said predicted arrival and departure times for each destination along said route. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16)
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13. A method of scheduling freight and passengers for transport using a host connected over a network to a plurality of freight terminals and a plurality of passenger terminals, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving over the network transportation requests at said host from said plurality of freight terminals and from said plurality of passenger terminals;
analyzing existing routes stored in memory at the host;
modifying at the host the existing routes to accommodate said received transportation requests;
creating new routes at the host based on said received transportation requests and said existing routes only when at least a predetermined profit value for each new route is obtained;
predicting an arrival time and a departure time for each destination along said route;
generating a route schedule for each new route including said predicted arrival and departure times for each destination along said route.
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Specification