APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PREDICTING ARRIVAL TIMES IN A TRANSPORTATION NETWORK
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented system for predicting arrival times at nodes within a transport network for each of a plurality of objects moving between said nodes, said objects moving along travel routes between said nodes, said computer-implemented system having at least one computer including a processor and associated memory from which computer instructions are executed by said processor, said system comprising:
- a tracking module for receiving real-time, location data indicating a physical location of each object and associating an object identifier with each object;
an object database, accessible by said tracking module, for storing historical tracking information including previous travel routes of objects within said network, said object database further storing said real-time location data and information regarding physical attributes of each of said objects;
an artificial neural network module associated with a travel route between an origination node and a destination node, said artificial neural network module being trained by said historical tracking information of objects including previous travel routes of objects travelling between said origination and destination nodes, said artificial neural network module accessing said object database and predicting an arrival time at said destination node of one of said objects travelling on said travel route based on said physical attributes of said object;
a scheduling module coupled to a schedule database, said schedule database storing said predicted arrival time and detecting deviations from an expected arrival time;
a routing system for executing routing instructions based on said detected deviations; and
a feed-back module for retraining said artificial neural network module based on a completed travel route of said object.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A scheduling system is provided for improving the routing performance of a plurality of objects moving through a transportation network. In one preferred application, a train scheduling system is improved by using an artificial neural network (ANN) to determine the trains'"'"' arrival times at various points in the network. Real-time data collection is minimized by training the ANN using stored data regarding historical, previously run train routes. A train'"'"'s particular physical characteristics are input to the ANN to predict the trains'"'"' arrival times at the particular destination within the network. Scheduling and routing functions may then be applied to the ANN output data to determine modified, train arrival times and to make routing changes to optimize the scheduling. Completed route information is continuously fed back to the ANN and the scheduling system to retrain the ANN, assimilate the latest route data and further optimize the system'"'"'s scheduling performance.
41 Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A computer-implemented system for predicting arrival times at nodes within a transport network for each of a plurality of objects moving between said nodes, said objects moving along travel routes between said nodes, said computer-implemented system having at least one computer including a processor and associated memory from which computer instructions are executed by said processor, said system comprising:
-
a tracking module for receiving real-time, location data indicating a physical location of each object and associating an object identifier with each object; an object database, accessible by said tracking module, for storing historical tracking information including previous travel routes of objects within said network, said object database further storing said real-time location data and information regarding physical attributes of each of said objects; an artificial neural network module associated with a travel route between an origination node and a destination node, said artificial neural network module being trained by said historical tracking information of objects including previous travel routes of objects travelling between said origination and destination nodes, said artificial neural network module accessing said object database and predicting an arrival time at said destination node of one of said objects travelling on said travel route based on said physical attributes of said object; a scheduling module coupled to a schedule database, said schedule database storing said predicted arrival time and detecting deviations from an expected arrival time; a routing system for executing routing instructions based on said detected deviations; and a feed-back module for retraining said artificial neural network module based on a completed travel route of said object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A method of predicting arrival times at nodes within a transport network for each of a plurality of objects moving between said nodes, said objects moving along travel routes between said nodes, said method performed using a computer-implemented system having at least one computer including a processor and associated memory from which computer instructions are executed by said processor, said method comprising:
-
receiving real-time, input data regarding physical locations of each of the plurality of objects; associating an object identifier with each object; accessing an object database to obtain historical tracking information regarding previous travel routes of objects between origination nodes and destination nodes and physical attributes of said objects; predicting with an artificial neural network module an arrival time of one of said objects at a destination node based on said physical attributes, said artificial neural network being associated with a travel route between an origination node and said destination node; detecting deviations between expected arrival times of said objects based and said predicted arrival times with a schedule of arrival times for said objects, said schedule of arrival times and said expected arrival times being stored in a schedule database; executing routing instructions based on said detected deviations; and modifying said schedule of arrival times based on said detected deviations. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A computer-implemented system for predicting an arrival time of an object at a destination node within a transport network of a moving objects, said object moving along a travel route between an origination node and said destination node, said computer-implemented system having at least one computer including a processor and associated memory from which computer instructions are executed by said processor, said system comprising:
an artificial neural network module associated with said travel route between said origination node and said destination node, said artificial neural network module being trained by historical tracking information including previous travel routes of objects travelling between said origination and destination nodes, said artificial neural network predicting an arrival time at said destination node of said object based on physical attributes of said object. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
Specification