Work allocation system
First Claim
1. A method of operating a work allocation system for allocating work items to worker resources including a plurality of groups of worker resources, each group comprising a plurality of individual worker resources, said work allocation system comprising a work allocation server;
- a group terminal for each group; and
a communication link between said work allocation server and each group terminal, said method of operation comprising;
storing in a group store, for each group of worker resources, a data structure identifying attributes of work items previously allocated to at least some of the worker resources in the group;
adding or removing from said data structure contributions from work items previously allocated to an individual worker resource when said individual worker resource respectively joins or leaves a group;
operating said work allocation server to send one or more offers of work items to each said group terminal via said communications link;
operating a group terminal for each group to;
i) receive an offer of a work item for the group, said offer including attributes of said work item;
ii) retrieve at least data relevant to said offer from said group store for the group;
iii) using at least one of said attributes of said work item to compare said work item with the data structure to evaluate the probability that one of the worker resources in the group will carry out the work item;
iv) compare the evaluated probability with a suitability criterion so as to identify whether one of the worker resources in said workgroup is suitable to carry out the work item;
v) generate a bid for said work item in response to said offer on finding that at least one of said worker resources is suitable to carry out the work item; and
vi) send said generated bid to said work allocation server via said communications link.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A work allocation system has a plurality of agents that bid for work in accordance with preferences and behavior of corresponding resources. Each agent represents a group of resources and is arranged to evaluate the likelihood that at least one resource in the group can carry out a work item. The evaluation is dependent on work items previously selected and/or carried out by the resource, so that the agent effectively models the preferences of its workers. The agent can use this preference information to decide a bidding strategy (i.e. to decide which work items it can bid for), and, having successfully bid for a work item, can allocate work based on individual characteristics and observed work preferences. The bidding for work between agents is, for example, conducted in accordance with contract net based negotiation.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A method of operating a work allocation system for allocating work items to worker resources including a plurality of groups of worker resources, each group comprising a plurality of individual worker resources, said work allocation system comprising a work allocation server;
- a group terminal for each group; and
a communication link between said work allocation server and each group terminal, said method of operation comprising;storing in a group store, for each group of worker resources, a data structure identifying attributes of work items previously allocated to at least some of the worker resources in the group; adding or removing from said data structure contributions from work items previously allocated to an individual worker resource when said individual worker resource respectively joins or leaves a group; operating said work allocation server to send one or more offers of work items to each said group terminal via said communications link; operating a group terminal for each group to; i) receive an offer of a work item for the group, said offer including attributes of said work item; ii) retrieve at least data relevant to said offer from said group store for the group; iii) using at least one of said attributes of said work item to compare said work item with the data structure to evaluate the probability that one of the worker resources in the group will carry out the work item; iv) compare the evaluated probability with a suitability criterion so as to identify whether one of the worker resources in said workgroup is suitable to carry out the work item; v) generate a bid for said work item in response to said offer on finding that at least one of said worker resources is suitable to carry out the work item; and vi) send said generated bid to said work allocation server via said communications link. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- a group terminal for each group; and
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8. A work allocation system for allocating work items to worker resources including a plurality of groups of worker resources, said allocation system comprising:
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a group store for each group of worker resources, each group comprising a plurality of individual worker resources, said store storing a data structure comprising values corresponding both to attributes of the worker resources in the group and attributes of work items previously allocated to at least some of the worker resources in the group; an interface enabling the addition to or removal from said data structure contributions from work items previously allocated to an individual worker resource when said individual worker resource respectively joins or leaves a group; a work allocation server; a group terminal for each group; a communication link between said work allocation server and said group terminal for each group, each of said group terminals being arranged in operation to; i) receive an offer of a work item for the group from said work allocation server via said communications link, said offer including attributes of said work item; ii) retrieve at least data relevant to said offer from said group store for the group; iii) using at least one of said attributes of said work item to compare said work item with the data structure to evaluate the probability that one of the worker resources in the group will carry out the work item based on said offer and said relevant data; iv) compare the evaluated probability with a suitability criterion so as to identify whether one of the worker resources in said workgroup is suitable to carry out the work item; v) generate a bid for said work item in response to said offer on finding that at least one of said worker resources is suitable to carry out the work item; and vi) send said generated bid to said work allocation server via said communications link. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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Specification