METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AN ITINERARY PLANNER
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus to create an itinerary comprising:
- a memory to store a plurality of user preferences and a plurality of possible plan elements, each element having one or more categories associated with the element;
a processor coupled to the memoryto calculate a user value for each plan element,to automatically generate a conditional plan comprising a plurality of plan items and defining at least one decision point to detect during execution of the conditional plan whether a user is following an original plan item that is associated with the decision point, wherein the conditional plan is generated based on the calculated user values for the plan elements and the at least one decision point is defined prior to execution of the conditional plan and has an associated original plan item and at least one associated alternative plan item that are pre-determined prior to execution of the conditional plan,to present the conditional plan in a user system,to detect the at least one defined decision point during execution of the conditional plan,to determine at the defined decision point that a user is not following the original plan item that is associated with the defined decision point, andto present during execution of the conditional plan the pre-determined alternative plan item that is associated with the defined decision point in the user system based on the determination that the user is not following the original plan item that is associated with the defined decision point.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for providing an itinerary planner is described. The itinerary planner generates itineraries for visiting locations which are personalized to the user'"'"'s preferences. Unknown conditions are handled by contingency plans that the itinerary planner generates in an anytime manner. The first itineraries are derived in a short time, and as more computation time is allowed, additional itineraries that better suit the preferences of the user are obtained.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An apparatus to create an itinerary comprising:
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a memory to store a plurality of user preferences and a plurality of possible plan elements, each element having one or more categories associated with the element; a processor coupled to the memory to calculate a user value for each plan element, to automatically generate a conditional plan comprising a plurality of plan items and defining at least one decision point to detect during execution of the conditional plan whether a user is following an original plan item that is associated with the decision point, wherein the conditional plan is generated based on the calculated user values for the plan elements and the at least one decision point is defined prior to execution of the conditional plan and has an associated original plan item and at least one associated alternative plan item that are pre-determined prior to execution of the conditional plan, to present the conditional plan in a user system, to detect the at least one defined decision point during execution of the conditional plan, to determine at the defined decision point that a user is not following the original plan item that is associated with the defined decision point, and to present during execution of the conditional plan the pre-determined alternative plan item that is associated with the defined decision point in the user system based on the determination that the user is not following the original plan item that is associated with the defined decision point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus to generate an itinerary comprising:
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a means to store a plurality of user preferences and a plurality of possible plan elements, each element having one or more categories associated with the element; a means to receive a plurality of user preferences; a retrieving means to retrieve a plurality of possible plan elements from a memory, each element having one or more categories associated with the element; a calculation means to calculate a user value for each plan element; a generation means to automatically generate a conditional plan comprising a plurality of plan items and defining at least one decision point to detect during execution of the conditional plan whether a user is following an original plan item that is associated with the decision point, wherein the conditional plan is generated based on the calculated user values for the plan elements and the at least one decision point is defined prior to execution of the conditional plan and has an associated original plan item and at least one associated alternative plan item that are pre-determined prior to execution of the conditional plan; a detection means to detect the at least one defined decision point during execution of the conditional plan and to determine at the defined decision point that a user is not following the original plan item that is associated with the defined decision point; and a presentation means to present the conditional plan in a user system; and
to presenting during execution of the conditional plan the pre-determined alternative plan item that is associated with the defined decision point in the user system based on the determination that the user is not following the original plan item that is associated with the defined decision point.
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14. A non-transitory machine readable medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions, which when executed by a computer system, cause said computer system to create an itinerary, by performing the steps of:
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receiving a plurality of user preferences through an interface; retrieving a plurality of possible plan elements, each element having one or more categories associated with the element; calculating a user value for each plan element; automatically generating a conditional plan comprising a plurality of plan items and defining at least one decision point to detect during execution of the conditional plan whether a user is following an original plan item that is associated with the decision point, wherein the conditional plan is generated based on the calculated user values for the plan elements and the at least one decision point is defined prior to execution of the conditional plan and has an associated original plan item and at least one associated alternative plan item that are pre-determined prior to execution of the conditional plan; presenting the conditional plan in a user system; detecting the at least one defined decision point during execution of the conditional plan; determining at the defined decision point that a user is not following the original plan item that is associated with the defined decision point; and presenting during execution of the conditional plan the pre-determined alternative plan item that is associated with the defined decision point in the user system based on the determination that the user is not following the original plan item that is associated with the defined decision point. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification