TRANSPORTATION NETWORK SCHEDULING SYSTEM AND METHOD
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a scheduling module configured to generate schedules for vehicles to concurrently travel in a transportation network formed of interconnected routes over which the vehicles travel; and
a monitoring module configured to determine financial costs of fuel at refueling locations within the transportation network that are used by one or more of the vehicles to acquire additional fuel;
wherein the scheduling module is configured to coordinate the schedules of the vehicles based on the financial costs of the fuel while maintaining a throughput parameter of the transportation network above a designated nonzero threshold, the throughput parameter representative of adherence by the vehicles to the schedules as the vehicles travel through the transportation network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system includes a scheduling module and a monitoring module. The scheduling module is configured to generate schedules for vehicles to concurrently travel in a transportation network formed of interconnected routes over which the vehicles travel. The monitoring module is configured to determine financial costs of fuel at refueling locations within the transportation network that are used by one or more of the vehicles to acquire additional fuel. The scheduling module is configured to coordinate the schedules of the vehicles based on the financial costs of the fuel while maintaining a throughput parameter of the transportation network above a designated threshold. The throughput parameter represents adherence by the vehicles to the schedules as the vehicles travel through the transportation network.
13 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a scheduling module configured to generate schedules for vehicles to concurrently travel in a transportation network formed of interconnected routes over which the vehicles travel; and a monitoring module configured to determine financial costs of fuel at refueling locations within the transportation network that are used by one or more of the vehicles to acquire additional fuel; wherein the scheduling module is configured to coordinate the schedules of the vehicles based on the financial costs of the fuel while maintaining a throughput parameter of the transportation network above a designated nonzero threshold, the throughput parameter representative of adherence by the vehicles to the schedules as the vehicles travel through the transportation network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method comprising:
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determining financial costs of fuel at refueling locations within a transportation network formed of interconnected routes over which vehicles travel; and generating schedules for the vehicles to concurrently travel in the transportation network, one or more of the schedules including a refueling stop for one or more of the vehicles at one or more of the refueling locations; wherein generating the schedules includes coordinating the schedules with each other based on financial costs of the fuel at the refueling locations while maintaining a throughput parameter of the transportation network above a non-zero threshold, the throughput parameter representative of adherence by the vehicles to the schedules as the vehicles travel through the transportation network. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method comprising:
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determining financial costs of fuel at refueling locations within a transportation network formed of interconnected routes over which vehicles travel; and communicating respective initial schedules to the vehicles for the vehicles to concurrently travel in the transportation network, the initial schedules including at least one of the financial costs or refueling stops for the vehicles that are determined based on the financial costs; receiving respective initial trip plans from the vehicles responsive to the initial schedules; and communicating respective modified schedules of the initial schedules to the vehicles, the modified schedules generated based at least in part on the initial trip plans and the financial costs of the fuel. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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26. A method comprising:
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receiving, at a vehicle, an initial schedule for the vehicle to concurrently travel with other vehicles in a transportation network formed of interconnected routes, the initial schedule including a refueling stop for the vehicle or other fuel information relating to one or more of plural refueling locations in the transportation network, wherein the initial schedule is received from an off-board source; determining if the refueling stop for the vehicle or other fuel information meets one or more priority criteria relative to other designated trip objectives of the vehicle, and if not, generating a trip plan for controlling the vehicle along a route based on the other designated trip objectives having priority over the refueling stop for the vehicle or other fuel information, and if so, generating the trip plan based on the refueling stop for the vehicle or other fuel information having priority over the other designated trip objectives; and communicating the trip plan to the off-board source.
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27. A system comprising:
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an energy management module configured to be disposed on-board a vehicle that travels in a transportation network formed from interconnected routes, the energy management module configured to generate a trip plan for a control unit of the vehicle that is used to control tractive efforts of the vehicle as the vehicle travels in the transportation network; and a control module configured to track an amount of fuel carried by the vehicle and to communicate the amount of fuel to a network scheduling system; wherein the energy management module is configured to generate the trip plan based on a schedule that is received from the network scheduling system and that is based on the amount of fuel tracked by the control module, the trip plan directing the vehicle to stop to refuel at one or more refueling locations in the transportation network based on financial costs of the fuel provided by the one or more refueling locations. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification