Dynamic capacity demand profile construction with a persisted capacity demand profile and a collision buffer

• US 8,024,355 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2004
• Issued: 09/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Suvernev, Andrei, Booss, Daniel, Soehner, Volkmar, Weber, Stephan
• Primary Examiner(s): Vy; Hung T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cao; Phuong-Thao
• Application Number:
  US11/027,872
• Publication Number:
  US 20060143062A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,456 Days
• Field of Search: 707/781, 707/802
• US Class Current: 707/781
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling

Abstract

A method is described that involves locking a capacity demand profile of a resource for the use of a transaction. The method also involves obtaining a portion of the locked capacity demand profile. The portion describes the capacity demand profile over a time interval in which a locked out transaction desired to implement a change to the capacity demand profile prior to the locking. The method involves implementing the change to the portion to form a changed portion. The method also involves, after the implementing, implementing a second change to the changed portion. The second change is desired by the transaction.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

storing in a database one or more changes desired for a capacity demand profile of a resource by one or more transactions that are locked out from using said capacity demand profile;

after storing said one or more desired changes in said database, locking said capacity demand profile of said resource for use by a transaction while locking out use by other transactions;

selecting from said database a change that a locked-out transaction desired to implement to said capacity demand profile prior to said locking and that was stored during a prior locking of said capacity demand profile;

obtaining a portion of said locked capacity demand profile by using one or more processors, said portion describing said capacity demand profile over a time interval in which said locked-out transaction desired to implement said change to said capacity demand profile prior to said locking;

implementing said change to said portion to form a changed portion; and

after said implementing, implementing a second change to said changed portion, said second change desired by said transaction.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said portion does not include any data outside said time interval.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said portion includes data outside said time interval, said data being only a next data point of said locked capacity demand profile outside an end of said time interval.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said next data point is only included with said portion because a data point did not exist in said locked capacity demand profile at said end of said time interval.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said method further comprises:

obtaining a second portion of said locked capacity demand profile after said implementing said change and prior to said implementing said second change, said second portion describing said capacity demand profile over a second time interval in which a second locked-out transaction desired to change said capacity demand profile prior to said locking.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said second time interval does not overlap said first time interval.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein said method further comprises implementing a change to said second portion to form a second changed portion, said implementing of said change to said second portion being prior to said implementing of said second change desired by said transaction to said changed portion.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein each of said change to said portion, said second change to said changed portion, and a change to said second portion are selected from the group consisting of:

a) an addition of a scheduled activity to said resource;

b) a removal of a scheduled activity from said resource;

c) a change in start time of a scheduled activity on said resource;

d) a change in end time of a scheduled activity on said resource; and

e) a change in start time and end time of a scheduled activity on said resource.

9. The method of claim 5 wherein said change from said locked-out transaction and a change from said second locked-out transaction were each specified in a same buffer.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein said method further comprises obtaining a second portion of said locked capacity demand profile after said implementing of said change, said second portion describing said capacity demand profile over a second time interval in which said transaction desires to implement said second change.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

before storing said one or more desired changes in said database, locking said capacity demand profile for use by a previously locking transaction while locking out use by other transactions; and

unlocking said capacity demand profile for said previously-locking transaction before locking said capacity demand profile for said transaction.

12. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory machine-readable medium that stores program code which, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform a method, the method comprising:

storing in a database one or more changes desired for a capacity demand profile of a resource by one or more transactions that are locked out from using said capacity demand profile;

after storing said one or more desired changes in said database, locking said capacity demand profile of said resource for use by a transaction while locking out use by other transactions;

selecting from said database a change that a locked-out transaction desired to implement to said capacity demand profile prior to said locking and that was stored during a prior locking of said capacity demand profile;

obtaining a portion of said locked capacity demand profile, said portion describing said capacity demand profile over a time interval in which said locked-out transaction desired to implement said change to said capacity demand profile prior to said locking;

implementing said change to said portion to form a changed portion; and

after said implementing, implementing a second change to said changed portion, said second change desired by said transaction.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein said locking a capacity demand profile further comprises locking a persisted capacity demand profile stored in a database.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 13 wherein said database is an object relational database system.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein said portion does not include any data outside said time interval.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein said portion includes data outside said time interval, said data being only a next data point of said locked capacity demand profile outside an end of said time interval.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 16 wherein said next data point is only included with said portion because a data point did not exist in said locked capacity demand profile at said end of said time interval.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein said method further comprises:

obtaining a second portion of said locked capacity demand profile after said implementing said change and prior to said implementing said second change, said second portion describing said capacity demand profile over a second time interval in which a second locked-out transaction desired to change said capacity demand profile prior to said locking.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 18 wherein said second time interval does not overlap said first time interval.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 18 wherein said method further comprises implementing a change to said second portion to form a second changed portion, said implementing of said change to said second portion being prior to said implementing of said second change desired by said transaction to said changed portion.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 18 wherein each of said change to said portion, said second change to said changed portion, and a change to said second portion are selected from the group consisting of:

a) an addition of a scheduled activity to said resource;

b) a removal of a scheduled activity from said resource;

c) a change in start time of a scheduled activity on said resource;

d) a change in end time of a scheduled activity on said resource; and

e) a change in start time and end time of a scheduled activity on said resource.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 18 wherein said change from said locked-out transaction and a change from said second locked-out transaction were each specified in a same buffer.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein said method further comprises obtaining a second portion of said locked capacity demand profile after said implementing of said change, said second portion describing said capacity demand profile over a second time interval in which said transaction desires to implement said second change.

24. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein said change and said second change are each selected from the group consisting of:

a) an addition of a scheduled activity to said resource;

b) a removal of a scheduled activity from said resource;

c) a change in start time of a scheduled activity on said resource; and

d) a change in end time of a scheduled activity on said resource.

25. The article of manufacture of claim 24 wherein said change is described by:

a) a first time;

b) a second time; and

c) a change to be made to said capacity demand profile.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 25 wherein said first time is a start time, said second time is an end time and said change is to further be made at said start time but not at said end time.

27. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein said implementing a second change to said changed portion forms a second changed portion, said method further comprising, after said implementing a second change, updating said locked capacity demand profile with said second changed portion and unlocking said locked capacity demand profile afterward.

28. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein said obtaining further comprises reading said portion into a memory local to said transaction.

29. The article of manufacture of claim 28 wherein said transaction is to handle a production order.

30. The article of manufacture of claim 28 wherein said memory keeps said portion while said portion existed and said changed portion.

31. The article of manufacture of claim 30 wherein said implementing a second change to said changed portion forms a second changed portion in said memory, said method further comprising, after said implementing a second change, updating said locked capacity demand profile with said second changed portion and unlocking said locked capacity demand profile afterward.

32. The article of manufacture of claim 31 wherein said locked capacity demand profile is persisted within a database.

33. The article of manufacture of claim 32 wherein said database is an Object-Relational Database Management System (ORDBMS) database.

34. The article of manufacture of claim 12, further comprising:

before storing said one or more desired changes in said database, locking said capacity demand profile for use by a previously locking transaction while locking out use by other transactions; and

unlocking said capacity demand profile for said previously-locking transaction before locking said capacity demand profile for said transaction.

35. A computing system comprising a virtual machine, a plurality of processors and instructions disposed on a computer readable medium, said instructions executed by said virtual machine to perform a method, said method comprising:

storing in a database one or more changes desired for a capacity demand profile of a resource by one or more transactions that are locked out from using said capacity demand profile;

after storing said one or more desired changes in said database, locking said capacity demand profile of said resource for use by a transaction while locking out use by other transactions;

selecting from said database a change that a locked-out transaction desired to implement to said capacity demand profile prior to said locking and that was stored during a prior locking of said capacity demand profile;

obtaining a portion of said locked capacity demand profile, said portion describing said capacity demand profile over a time interval in which said locked-out transaction desired to implement said change to said capacity demand profile prior to said locking;

implementing said change to said portion to form a changed portion; and

after said implementing, implementing a second change to said changed portion, said second change desired by said transaction.

36. The computing system of claim 35, wherein said method further comprises:

before storing said one or more desired changes in said database, locking said capacity demand profile for use by a previously locking transaction while locking out use by other transactions; and

unlocking said capacity demand profile for said previously-locking transaction before locking said capacity demand profile for said transaction.