Availability processing in a travel planning system
First Claim
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1. A travel planning system comprises:
- a computer system, comprising;
a processor; and
a memory storing processes for executing on the processor, the processes, comprising;
a scheduling process to provide a set of instances of transportation that satisfy a user query; and
an availability process that accesses seat availability information from multiple sources of seat availability information, receives the instances of transportation and uses results from a first source of the multiple sources of seat availability information for a mode of transportation to determine a set of instances of transportation for which a seat is available from the received instances of transportation;
determines quality properties of the availability information from the first source of seat availability information, with the quality properties including at least one of confidence, precision and validity; and
determines, based on the quality properties, whether the first source of seat availability information is reliable, and if the results are not reliable, the availability process executes a second set of seat availability queries to the first source or a different one of the multiple sources of seat availability information based on the outcome of determining quality properties, to provide a second set of instances of transportation for which a seat is available.
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Abstract
A travel planning system that implements seat availability determinations is described. The planning system includes a scheduling process for determining a set of instances of transportation that satisfy a user query and a faring process that determines fares valid for at least some of the instances in the set of instances of transportation. The travel planning system also includes an availability process that uses results from a single source of seat availability for a mode of transportation to determine a set of available instances of transportation and determines whether the results from the single source are reliable.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A travel planning system comprises:
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a computer system, comprising; a processor; and a memory storing processes for executing on the processor, the processes, comprising; a scheduling process to provide a set of instances of transportation that satisfy a user query; and an availability process that accesses seat availability information from multiple sources of seat availability information, receives the instances of transportation and uses results from a first source of the multiple sources of seat availability information for a mode of transportation to determine a set of instances of transportation for which a seat is available from the received instances of transportation; determines quality properties of the availability information from the first source of seat availability information, with the quality properties including at least one of confidence, precision and validity; and determines, based on the quality properties, whether the first source of seat availability information is reliable, and if the results are not reliable, the availability process executes a second set of seat availability queries to the first source or a different one of the multiple sources of seat availability information based on the outcome of determining quality properties, to provide a second set of instances of transportation for which a seat is available. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer program product embodied on a computer readable medium for use with a travel planning system for determining availability of a seat for a mode of transportation, comprises instructions for causing a computer to:
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receive a set of instances of transportation that satisfy a user query; determine quality of a first set of seat availability information from a first source of availability information to guide a travel planning system to determine a subsequent set of instances of transportation for which a seat is available, and if the quality of the seat availability information is low, execute a second set of seat availability queries to the first source or a different source of seat availability information to provide a second set of seat availability information from the first source or the different source of seat availability information; and produce from the second set of seat availability information and a set of the instances of transportation, a set of instances of transportation, for which a seat is available. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method executed in a computer system for determining availability of a seat for a mode of transportation, comprises:
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producing in the computer system a first set of seat availability queries, to send to a first source of seat availability information for a first set of instances of transportation; evaluating in the computer system a quality measure of seat availability information received from the first source of seat availability information, to guide a travel planning system in determining a set of instances of transportation for which a seat is available by; producing in the computer system a second set of seat availability queries, to send to a different source of seat availability information based on evaluating quality of the availability information to provide the set of instances of transportation for which a seat is available. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification