Distributed scheduling
First Claim
1. A method of scheduling an event, the event involving a plurality of resources, the method comprising performing a process in respect of each resource, the process comprising identifying a slot time corresponding to a time at which the resource is available;
- and creating a software component corresponding to the identified slot time, wherein the software component comprises communicating means arranged to communicate with other like software components, and storage arranged to store data in respect of the resource corresponding to the software component and data in respect of the identified slot time; and
wherein each software component so created communicates with another like software component in order to identify a time for the event that satisfies a predetermined criterion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention concerns the scheduling of activities that involve a plurality of distributed resources, such as scheduling meetings that involve a plurality of attendees or scheduling processor activity, where the processors are arranged to control devices and/or other processors. In each of these examples, the resources communicate with one another to identify times at which the actions and/or activities can be scheduled to occur. In the context of scheduling meetings, the invention is embodied in a method of selecting a time for an event, where the event involves a plurality of resources. A process is performed in respect of each resource. The process involves identifying a slot time corresponding to a time at which the resource is available and creating a software component corresponding to the identified slot. The software component comprises communicating means arranged to communicate with other like software components, and storage arranged to store data in respect of the resource corresponding to the software component and data in respect of the identified slot time. Each software component so created communicates with another like software component in order to identify a time for the event that satisfies a predetermined criterion. In the context of scheduling processing events, the invention is embodied in a method of distributing a plurality of tasks between a plurality of resources. Here, a process is performed in respect of each resource. This process comprises identifying a processing capability of the resource and creating a software component corresponding to the identified capability. The software component comprises communicating means arranged to communicate with other like software components, and storage arranged to store data (including the identified capability) in respect of the resource corresponding to the software component. Each software component so created communicates with another like software component in order to identify distribution of tasks that satisfies a predetermined criterion.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of scheduling an event, the event involving a plurality of resources, the method comprising performing a process in respect of each resource, the process comprising identifying a slot time corresponding to a time at which the resource is available;
- and creating a software component corresponding to the identified slot time, wherein the software component comprises communicating means arranged to communicate with other like software components, and storage arranged to store data in respect of the resource corresponding to the software component and data in respect of the identified slot time; and
wherein each software component so created communicates with another like software component in order to identify a time for the event that satisfies a predetermined criterion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
- and creating a software component corresponding to the identified slot time, wherein the software component comprises communicating means arranged to communicate with other like software components, and storage arranged to store data in respect of the resource corresponding to the software component and data in respect of the identified slot time; and
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14. A software component for use in selecting a time for an event, wherein the event involves a plurality of resources, the software component comprising
communicating means arranged to communicate with other lil< - e software components and
storage arranged to store data in respect of a resource corresponding to the software component, the data including a time at which the resource is available for the event, the software component being arranged, in use, to communicate with other software components to identify those software components storing data relating to the same time, and, for any software components so identified, the software component is arranged to store data relating to the identified software components in the storage and evaluate the suitability of the time for the event. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
- e software components and
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18. A method of selecting a time for an event, the event involving a plurality of resources, the method comprising the steps of
performing a process in respect of each resource, the process comprising identifying a slot time corresponding to a time at which the resource is available; -
creating a software component corresponding to the identified slot, the software component comprising communicating means arranged to communicate with other like software components and storage arranged to store data in respect of the resource corresponding to the software component and data in respect of the identified slot time;
for each slot time;
accessing the slot time data stored by the software components in order to identify software components corresponding thereto;
using stored data in respect of the resources corresponding to the identified software components to evaluate the suitability of the slot time for the event; and
selecting a time for the event in accordance with the evaluated suitabilities.
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19. A method of distributing a plurality of tasks between a plurality of resources, comprising
performing a process in respect of each resource, the process comprising identifying a processing capability of the resource; - and
creating a software component corresponding to the identified capability, wherein the software component comprises communicating means arranged to communicate with other like software components and storage arranged to store data in respect of the resource corresponding to the software component, the data including the identified capability;
wherein each software component so created is operable to communicate with another like software component in order to identify distribution of tasks that satisfies a predetermined criterion. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification