Method of selecting one or more bids in a combinatorial auction
First Claim
1. A method of selecting one or more winning bids in a combinatorial auction comprising the steps of:
- (a) receiving a plurality of bids each comprising one or more items and an associated value for the one or more items;
(b) designating a subset of the bids as a current allocation, wherein, when the current allocation includes two or more bids, each bid of the current allocation has no item in common with another bid of the current allocation;
(c) determining a plurality of neighboring allocations, each neighboring allocation comprising a combination of the current allocation and a new bid selected from the bids not part of the current allocation or any other neighboring allocation, each neighboring allocation excluding each bid that has at least one item in common with the new bid;
(d) replacing the current allocation with one of the neighboring allocations, where a computer selects the one neighboring allocation from the plurality of neighboring allocations stochastically or based on a heuristic value determined for the one neighboring allocation;
(e) updating a best allocation with the current allocation if a sum of the values of the bids of the current allocation is greater than or equal to a sum of the values of the bids of the best allocation; and
(f) repeating steps (c)–
(e) M times, wherein in step (d) the one neighboring allocation is selected stochastically a first part of M times and is selected based on the heuristic value a second part of M times.
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Abstract
A method of selecting a winning allocation of bids in a combinatorial auction includes receiving a plurality of bids and designating a subset of the received bids as a current allocation having no overlap in the items of its bids. For each bid not part of the current allocation, a neighboring allocation is determined by combining the bid with the current allocation and deleting from such combination any bid of the current allocation having an item that overlaps an item of the bid combined with the current allocation. A heuristic is determined for each neighboring allocation and one of the neighboring allocations is selected stochastically or based on its heuristic. If this one neighboring allocation is greater than the value of the best allocation, the current allocation is substituted for the best allocation.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of selecting one or more winning bids in a combinatorial auction comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving a plurality of bids each comprising one or more items and an associated value for the one or more items; (b) designating a subset of the bids as a current allocation, wherein, when the current allocation includes two or more bids, each bid of the current allocation has no item in common with another bid of the current allocation; (c) determining a plurality of neighboring allocations, each neighboring allocation comprising a combination of the current allocation and a new bid selected from the bids not part of the current allocation or any other neighboring allocation, each neighboring allocation excluding each bid that has at least one item in common with the new bid; (d) replacing the current allocation with one of the neighboring allocations, where a computer selects the one neighboring allocation from the plurality of neighboring allocations stochastically or based on a heuristic value determined for the one neighboring allocation; (e) updating a best allocation with the current allocation if a sum of the values of the bids of the current allocation is greater than or equal to a sum of the values of the bids of the best allocation; and (f) repeating steps (c)–
(e) M times, wherein in step (d) the one neighboring allocation is selected stochastically a first part of M times and is selected based on the heuristic value a second part of M times. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of selecting a winning allocation of bids in a combinatorial auction comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving a plurality of bids each comprising one or more items and a value; (b) designating a subset of the bids as a current allocation, the current allocation having no overlap in the items of its bids; (c) determining a neighboring allocation for each bid not part of the current allocation by combining the bid with the current allocation and deleting from such combination any bid associated with the current allocation having an item that overlaps an item of the bid combined with the current allocation; (d) determining for each neighboring allocation a heuristic indicative of a capacity of the neighboring allocation to increase a sum of the values of the bids of the current allocation; (e) causing a computer to select one of the neighboring allocations stochastically a part of M times or based on the heuristics determined in step (d) the remainder of M times; (f) replacing the current allocation with the selected one of the neighboring allocations; (g) if the sum of the values of the bids of the current allocation is greater than or equal to a sum of the values of the bids of a best allocation, substituting the current allocation for the best allocation; and (h) repeating steps (c)–
(g) M times. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of selecting one or more bids in a combinatorial auction comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving a plurality of bids each comprising one or more items and a value; (b) designating a subset of the bids as a current allocation; (c) combining each bid not part of the current allocation with the current allocation to form a corresponding neighboring allocation for each bid; (d) causing a computer to select one of the neighboring allocations stochastically or based on a heuristic determined for the selected neighboring allocation, said heuristic indicative of a capacity of the selected neighboring allocation to affect a sum of the values of the bids of the current allocation; (e) replacing the current allocation with the selected neighboring allocation; and (f) repeating steps (c)–
(e) M times, with the selected neighboring allocation being selected stochastically a first part of M times and with the selected neighboring allocation being selected based on the heuristic a second part of M times. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification