Disruption handling for scheduling system

• US 20030191678A1
• Filed: 04/03/2002
• Published: 10/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Kumar, Ashwin, Venkataraman, Sreedharan V., Vemuri, Madhava K., Padubidri, Chandrashekar, Shetty, Ravindra K.
• Application Number:
  US10/115,473
• Publication Number:
  US 20030191678A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.13
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0043 Traffic management of multiple aircrafts from the ground G08G5/003 takes precedence; data processing specially designed for resource management, e.g. scheduling or allocating time, human or machine resources G06Q10/06

Abstract

A scheduling system reschedules based on the affect such rescheduling has on cascading costs. The costs for an airline set of schedules include factors such as the affect on passengers, the affect on profit and other factors. Cascading costs include the cost of further disruptions to schedules as a result of proposed solutions to a disruption. The further disruptions are referred to as cascading disruptions since they cascade from the original disruption or solutions to the disruption. Disruptions are entered into a computer program and ranked by a common denominator such as cost by simulating the effects of the disruptions on the actual servicing of the schedules. Disruptions are prioritized based on their impact on the system if left unattended. Each disruption is then considered individually based on their rank, with the cascaded cost of proposed solutions calculated.

Claims

1. A method of handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules, the method comprising:

prioritizing the disruptions in a list;

for the highest priority disruption in the list;

generating a set of possible solutions to the disruption;

calculating a cascaded cost for individual possible solutions; and

selecting a solution to the disruption based on the cascaded cost.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein disruptions are prioritized based on affect of the disruption on servicing the schedules.

3. The method of claim 1 and further comprising:

removing a disruption that has been solved from the list; and

repeating the elements of claim 1 for the items remaining in the list.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein calculating a cascaded cost comprises:

simulating servicing of the schedule; and

continuing the simulation to a selected level of cascading effects.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the related schedules comprise schedules of the resources.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the schedules are determined by finding patterns in resource utilization and resource assignment.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein prioritizing disruptions is based on the impact such disruptions have if left unattended.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the method further comprises:

removing a disruption that has been solved from the list; and

repeating the elements of claim 1 for the items remaining in the list.

33. The system of claim 31 and further comprising:

means for removing a disruption that has been solved from the list; and

means for repeating the elements of claim 1 for the items remaining in the list.

44. The system of claim 42 and further comprising:

a module that removes a disruption that has been solved from the list; and

a module that repeats the elements of claim 1 for the items remaining in the list.

8. A method of handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules, the method comprising:

generating a set of possible solutions to a selected disruption;

calculating a cascaded cost for individual possible solutions; and

selecting a solution to the disruption based on the cascaded cost.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein calculating a cascaded cost comprises:

simulating servicing of the schedule; and

continuing the simulation to a selected level of cascading effects.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the related schedules comprise the schedules of any resources in the timed activity.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the schedules are determined by finding patterns in resource utilization and assigning resources to the schedules.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein colored Petri Nets are utilized to calculate cascaded costs for the possible solutions.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein costs are based on selected time frames for resources involved in the solutions.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the time frames correspond to delay windows

15. A method of handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules used by any resource in a timed activity, the method comprising:

receiving information describing disruptions;

prioritizing the disruptions in a list by simulating the effects of the disruptions if left unattended;

for the highest priority disruption in the list;

generating a set of possible solutions to the disruption;

calculating a cascaded cost for individual possible solutions; and

selecting a solution to the disruption based on the cascaded cost.

16. The method of handling disruptions of claim 15 wherein disruptions are selected from a group consisting of limitations, restrictions, and problems related to the resources.

17. The method of handling disruptions of claim 15 wherein solutions are selected from the group consisting of diverting/skipping, canceling, delaying, postponing maintenance checks, swapping with a spare or any such activity that would bring the system back to its state of normalcy.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein costs are selected from the group consisting of costs related to the operator availability.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein a cost of a resource delay disruption if left unattended is determined by:

determining the total delay of remaining resources in pattern and multiplying by a cost function.

20. A method of creating options for handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules, the method comprising:

receiving resource disruption information;

identifying compatible resources to the disrupted resource;

determining availability on the compatible resources;

performing checks on the compatible resources; and

providing the list of compatible resources to a cost function for determining the cascaded cost of each compatible resource.

21. A method of handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules being serviced by aircraft of an airline, the method comprising:

receiving information about a disruption to a schedule;

determining a time window based on expected arrival time and ground time;

identifying flights within the window;

determining an array of compatible flights from the identified flights;

determining the cascaded cost of the compatible flights; and

combining the compatible flights and cascaded costs for use in deciding whether or not to use a compatible flight.

22. A computer readable medium having instructions for causing a computer to perform a method of handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules, the method comprising:

prioritizing the disruptions in a list;

for the highest priority disruption in the list;

generate a set of possible solutions to the disruption;

calculate a cascaded cost for individual possible solutions; and

selecting a solution to the disruption based on the cascaded cost.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein disruptions are prioritized based on affect of the disruption on servicing the schedules.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein calculating a cascaded cost comprises:

simulating servicing of the schedule; and

continuing the simulation to a selected level of cascading effects.

26. A computer readable medium having instructions for causing a computer to perform a method of handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules, the method comprising:

generating a set of possible solutions to a selected disruption;

calculating a cascaded cost for individual possible solutions; and

selecting a solution to the disruption based on the cascaded cost.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 26 wherein calculating a cascaded cost comprises:

simulating servicing of the schedule; and

continuing the simulation to a selected level of cascading effects.

28. A computer readable medium having instructions for causing a computer to perform a method of handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules used by an airline, the method comprising:

receiving information describing disruptions;

prioritizing the disruptions in a list by simulating the effects of the disruptions if left unattended;

for the highest priority disruption in the list;

generating a set of possible solutions to the disruption;

calculating a cascaded cost for individual possible solutions; and

selecting a solution to the disruption based on the cascaded cost.

29. A computer readable medium having instructions for causing a computer to perform a method of creating options for handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules, the method comprising:

receiving resource disruption information;

identifying compatible resources to the disrupted resource;

determining availability of the compatible resources;

performing checks on the compatible resources; and

providing the list of compatible resources to a cost function for determining the cascaded cost of each compatible resource.

30. A computer readable medium having instructions for causing a computer to perform a method of handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules being serviced by aircraft of an airline, the method comprising:

receiving information about a disruption to a schedule;

determining a time window based on expected arrival time and ground time;

identifying flights within the window;

determining an array of compatible flights from the identified flights;

determining the cascaded cost of the compatible flights; and

combining the compatible flights and cascaded costs for use in deciding whether or not to use a compatible flight.

31. A system for handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules, the method comprising:

means for prioritizing the disruptions in a list;

for the highest priority disruption in the list;

means for generating a set of possible solutions to the disruption;

means for calculating a cascaded cost for individual possible solutions; and

means for selecting a solution to the disruption based on the cascaded cost.

32. The system of claim 31 wherein disruptions are prioritized based on affect of the disruption on servicing the schedules.

34. The system of claim 31 wherein calculating a cascaded cost comprises:

means for simulating servicing of the schedule; and

means for continuing the simulation to a selected level of cascading effects.

35. The system of claim 31 wherein the related schedules comprise airline schedules.

36. The system of claim 31 wherein the schedules are determined by finding patterns in airline flights and assigning aircraft to the schedules.

37. The system of claim 31 wherein prioritizing disruptions is based on the impact such disruptions have if left unattended.

38. A system for handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules, the system comprising:

means for generating a set of possible solutions to a selected disruption;

means for calculating a cascaded cost for individual possible solutions; and

means for selecting a solution to the disruption based on the cascaded cost.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein the means for calculating a cascaded cost comprises:

means for simulating servicing of the schedule; and

means for continuing the simulation to a selected level of cascading effects.

40. A system of handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules used by an airline, the method comprising:

a module that receives information describing disruptions;

a module that prioritizes the disruptions in a list by simulating the effects of the disruptions if left unattended;

for the highest priority disruption in the list;

a module that generates a set of possible solutions to the disruption;

a module that calculates a cascaded cost for individual possible solutions; and

a module facilitating selection of a solution to the disruption based on the cascaded cost.

41. The system of claim 40 and further comprising:

determining the total delay of remaining flights in pattern and multiplying by a cost function;

computing the total delay of passengers and multiply by a cost function;

identifying passenger connections and multiplying a number of connected passengers with a cost function; and

a module that receives the amounts so calculated and determines the cost of a flight disruption if left unattended.

42. A system for handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules, the method comprising:

a module that prioritizes the disruptions in a list;

for the highest priority disruption in the list;

a module that generates a set of possible solutions to the disruption;

a module that calculates a cascaded cost for individual possible solutions; and

a module that selects a solution to the disruption based on the cascaded cost.

43. The system of claim 42 wherein disruptions are prioritized based on affect of the disruption on servicing the schedules.

45. The system of claim 42 wherein calculating a cascaded cost comprises:

a module that simulates servicing of the schedule; and

a module that continues the simulation to a selected level of cascading effects.

46. The system of claim 42 wherein the related schedules comprise airline schedules.

47. The system of claim 42 wherein the schedules are determined by finding patterns in airline flights and assigning aircraft to the schedules.

48. The system of claim 42 wherein the module that prioritizes disruptions is based on the impact such disruptions have if left unattended.

49. A system for handling disruptions to a plurality of related schedules, the system comprising:

a module that generates a set of possible solutions to a selected disruption;

a module that calculates a cascaded cost for individual possible solutions; and

a module that selects a solution to the disruption based on the cascaded cost.

50. A computer readable medium having a colored Petri Net for execution by a computer to perform a method of handling disruptions to a schedule, the Petri Net comprising:

multiple tokens having multiple data items representing resources used to service the schedule; and

multiple transitions for processing the data items to provide a solution to disruptions that is optimized based on cascading costs of the solution.

51. The computer readable medium of claim 50 and further comprising at least one token representative of a disruption.

52. The computer readable medium of claim 50 wherein the transitions provide multiple solutions.