SCHEDULING SYSTEM
First Claim
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1. A method for scheduling comprising:
- receiving information relating to activities to be performed and information relating to the availability of resources needed to perform the activities; and
processing the information with a processor to create a schedule with a sequence of activities and a selection of resources for each activity, including;
performing a backward scheduling process to schedule activities based on a target period defined for each activity as a last time that each activity can be started to meet a desired completion time for the activity, the backward scheduling process starting with activities that have earlier target periods, and further determining the availability of resources to perform the activities for each of a number of time periods, the backward scheduling process producing a list of activities arranged at least in part based on a latest resource period defined for each activity as a later of the target period and latest period resources have been allocated to the activity, andautomatically proceeding from the backward scheduling process to a forward scheduling process using the results of the backward scheduling process, including defining a scheduling zone for a set of activities that use a resource, with activities to be performed during each zone and determining an order in which the activities should be scheduled during each zone starting with activities with earlier latest resource periods and allocating resources forward in time.
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Abstract
A scheduler combines characteristics of a forward and backward schedulers to determine a schedule for activities that require the use of resources. The system handles conflicting requirements for resources by considering target dates and the relative priority of the activities. As a result, higher priority activities are more likely to be scheduled to complete on or before their target date than are lower priority activities.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for scheduling comprising:
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receiving information relating to activities to be performed and information relating to the availability of resources needed to perform the activities; and processing the information with a processor to create a schedule with a sequence of activities and a selection of resources for each activity, including; performing a backward scheduling process to schedule activities based on a target period defined for each activity as a last time that each activity can be started to meet a desired completion time for the activity, the backward scheduling process starting with activities that have earlier target periods, and further determining the availability of resources to perform the activities for each of a number of time periods, the backward scheduling process producing a list of activities arranged at least in part based on a latest resource period defined for each activity as a later of the target period and latest period resources have been allocated to the activity, and automatically proceeding from the backward scheduling process to a forward scheduling process using the results of the backward scheduling process, including defining a scheduling zone for a set of activities that use a resource, with activities to be performed during each zone and determining an order in which the activities should be scheduled during each zone starting with activities with earlier latest resource periods and allocating resources forward in time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A scheduling system comprising:
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storage for storing information relating to activities to be performed and to the availability of resources needed to perform the activities; and a processor for processing the information to create a schedule with a sequence of activities and a selection of resources for each activity, the processing including; performing a backward scheduling process to schedule activities based on a desired completion time for each activity for producing a list of activities arranged at least in part based on a target period for each activity indicating the time that the activity is to be started to be completed on time, the backward scheduling process starting with activities that have earlier target periods, and determining for each activity a latest resource period defined as a later of the target period and a latest period resources have been allocated to the activity, and automatically proceeding from the backward scheduling process to a forward scheduling process using the results of the backward scheduling process including defining a scheduling zone for each set of activities that use a resource, with activities to be performed during each zone and determining an order in which the activities should be scheduled during each zone starting with activities with earlier latest resource periods and allocating resources forward in time. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer program product for scheduling, residing on a computer-readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
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receive information relating to activities to be performed and information relating to the availability of resources needed to perform the activities; and process the information with a processor to create a schedule with a sequence of activities and a selection of resources for each activity, including; performing a backward scheduling process to schedule activities based on their priorities and a target period defined for each activity as a last time that each activity can be started to meet the desired completion time for the activity, the backward scheduling process starting with activities that have higher priorities and earlier target periods, and further determining the availability of resources to perform the activities for each of a number of time periods, the backward scheduling process producing a list of activities arranged at least in part based on a latest resource period defined for each activity as a later of the target period and a latest period resources have been allocated to the activity, and automatically proceeding from the backward scheduling process to a forward scheduling process using the results of the backward scheduling process including defining a scheduling zone for each set of activities that use a resource, with activities to be performed during each zone and determining an order in which the activities should be scheduled during each zone starting with activities with earlier latest resource periods and allocating resources forward in time.
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23. A computer program product for scheduling, residing on a computer-readable medium, comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
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receive information relating to activities to be performed and information relating to the availability of resources needed to perform the activities; and process the information with a processor in an automated manner to create a schedule with a sequence of activities and a selection of resources for each activity, including; performing a backward scheduling process to schedule activities based on their priorities and a target period defined for each activity as a last time that each activity can be started to meet the desired completion time for the activity, the backward scheduling process starting with activities that have higher priorities and earlier target periods, and determining for each activity a latest resource period defined as a later of the target period and the latest period resources have been allocated to the activity, automatically proceeding from the backward scheduling process to a forward scheduling process using the results of the backward scheduling process including defining a scheduling zone for each set of activities that use a resource, with activities to be performed during each zone and determining an order in which the activities should be scheduled during each zone and starting with the activities with earlier latest resource periods, and after the forward scheduling process, determining whether an activity with a higher priority was scheduled later than its target period and thus is a late activity, and if an activity with a lower priority and target period has been scheduled before the late activity within the same zone as the late activity, then repeating forward scheduling having moved every such lower priority activity to follow the late activity in the list of activities to schedule.
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Specification