Travel route planner system and method
First Claim
1. A method of planning a travel route, comprising the steps of:
- maintaining in computer memory a reference database comprising a plurality of travel data sets, at least one travel data set representing a travel option from a travel origin to a travel destination and comprising an origin identifier and a destination identifier;
obtaining one or more travel preferences for a travel route from a user, at least one travel preference including a user significance value;
retrieving one or more travel data sets from the reference database to construct one or more candidate travel plans substantially complying with the travel preference(s);
calculating penalty values based on the user travel preferences for respective travel data sets in the candidate travel plans;
ranking the candidate travel plans based on the sum of the penalty values associated with the travel data sets of respective candidate travel plans; and
displaying the ranked candidate travel plans to a user.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a method of planning a travel route including maintaining in a memory a reference database comprising one or more travel data sets, each travel data set representing a travel option from a travel origin to a travel destination and including an origin identifier and a destination identifier, obtaining one or more travel preferences for a travel route from a user, retrieving one or more travel data sets from the reference database to construct one or more candidate travel plans, calculating a plurality of penalty values based on the user travel preferences, each penalty value associated with a corresponding travel data set, and selecting one or more candidate travel plans so as to minimize the sum of penalty values associated with the travel data sets of a candidate travel plan. The present invention encompasses hardware, software and firmware suitable to accomplish the method.
89 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method of planning a travel route, comprising the steps of:
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maintaining in computer memory a reference database comprising a plurality of travel data sets, at least one travel data set representing a travel option from a travel origin to a travel destination and comprising an origin identifier and a destination identifier;
obtaining one or more travel preferences for a travel route from a user, at least one travel preference including a user significance value;
retrieving one or more travel data sets from the reference database to construct one or more candidate travel plans substantially complying with the travel preference(s);
calculating penalty values based on the user travel preferences for respective travel data sets in the candidate travel plans;
ranking the candidate travel plans based on the sum of the penalty values associated with the travel data sets of respective candidate travel plans; and
displaying the ranked candidate travel plans to a user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A travel route planner, comprising:
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a reference database maintained in computer memory, the reference database comprising a plurality of travel data sets, at least one travel data set representing a travel option from a travel origin to a travel destination and comprising an origin identifier and a destination identifier;
a data entry component configured to obtain one or more travel preferences for a travel route from a user, at least one travel preference including a user significance value;
a retrieval component configured to retrieve one or more travel data sets from the reference data base to construct one or more candidate travel plans substantially complying with the travel preference(s);
a penalty calculator configured to calculate a plurality of penalty values based on the user travel preferences for respective travel data sets in the candidate travel plans; and
a display configured to rank the candidate travel plans based on the sum of the penalty values associated with the travel data sets of respective candidate travel plans and to display the ranked candidate travel plans to a user. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A travel route planner computer program, comprising:
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a reference database maintained in computer memory, the reference database comprising a plurality of travel data sets, at least one travel data set representing a travel option from a travel origin to a travel destination and comprising an origin identifier and a destination identifier;
a data entry form programmed to obtain one or more travel preferences for a travel route from a user, at least one travel preference including a user significance value;
a retrieval query programmed to retrieve one or more travel data sets from the reference database to construct one or more candidate travel plans substantially complying with a travel preference(s);
a penalty calculation function programmed to calculate a plurality of penalty values based on the user travel preferences for respective travel data sets in the candidate travel plans; and
a display programmed to rank the candidate travel plans based on the sum of the penalty values associated with the travel data sets of respective candidate travel plans and to display the ranked candidate travel plans to a user. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification