System and method for forecasting the composition of an outbound train in a switchyard
First Claim
1. A system for forecasting the outbound workload in a switchyard having a switch, said system comprising:
- a. a data processing entity including a CPU and a machine readable storage encoded with software for execution by the CPU, the data processing entity;
i. processing railcar data conveying information on individual railcars yet to be switched by the switch, the railcars having respective destinations outside of the switchyard;
ii. computing for the railcars respective approximate times indicating when the railcars are expected to be available for pickup by a departure train;
iii. associating the railcars to respective departure trains, the departure trains being characterized by respective estimated departure times (EDTs) and destinations, the associating including;
1. comparing the respective approximate times with the EDTs of the departure trains;
2. selecting for each railcar a departure train on the basis of the comparing and that also has a destination that corresponds with the destination of the railcar;
iv. generating for at least one of the departure trains a railcar traffic forecast data identifying one or more of the railcars associated to the at least one departure train; and
b. the data processing entity having an output for releasing the forecast data.
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Abstract
A system for forecasting the outbound workload in a switchyard. The system has a processing entity for which receives information on railcar traffic for handling by the switchyard, wherein the railcar traffic includes railcars that are yet to be switched into classification tracks of the switchyard. For every departure train of two or more departure trains, the processing entity applies logic rules to the information to compute a forecast of railcar traffic that will be available to the departure train for transport out of the switchyard. An output releases data derived from the forecast of railcar traffic, describing the traffic available for each train of the two or more departure trains.
97 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A system for forecasting the outbound workload in a switchyard having a switch, said system comprising:
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a. a data processing entity including a CPU and a machine readable storage encoded with software for execution by the CPU, the data processing entity; i. processing railcar data conveying information on individual railcars yet to be switched by the switch, the railcars having respective destinations outside of the switchyard; ii. computing for the railcars respective approximate times indicating when the railcars are expected to be available for pickup by a departure train; iii. associating the railcars to respective departure trains, the departure trains being characterized by respective estimated departure times (EDTs) and destinations, the associating including; 1. comparing the respective approximate times with the EDTs of the departure trains; 2. selecting for each railcar a departure train on the basis of the comparing and that also has a destination that corresponds with the destination of the railcar; iv. generating for at least one of the departure trains a railcar traffic forecast data identifying one or more of the railcars associated to the at least one departure train; and b. the data processing entity having an output for releasing the forecast data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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4. A system for forecasting the outbound workload in a switchyard including a switch and classification tracks, said system comprising:
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a) a data processing entity including a CPU and a machine readable storage encoded with software for execution by the CPU, for; i) processing with the input data conveying information about railcars that have not yet been switched into classification tracks of for assigning the railcars to respective departure trains; ii) computing with the software a forecast of railcar traffic that will be available to individual ones of the departure trains for transport out of the switchyard at least in part on the basis of said assigning, the forecast of railcar traffic in connection with a particular one of the departure trains including an identification of one or more of the railcars assigned to the particular one of the departure trains; b) an output for releasing output data describing the computed forecast of railcar traffic available for at least one of the departure trains. - View Dependent Claims (5, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A system for forecasting the outbound workload in a switchyard including a switch and classification tracks, said system comprising:
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a) a data processing entity including a CPU and a machine readable storage encoded with software for execution by the CPU, for; i) processing with the software data conveying information about railcars yet to be switched in the switchyard, for matching the railcars to departure trains, said matching including forecasting for a railcar the departure train that will be available to transport the railcar out of the switchyard when a processing of the railcar by the switchyard will be completed; ii) computing with the software a forecast of railcar traffic that will be available to individual ones of the departure trains for transport out of the switchyard at least in part on the basis of said matching, the forecast of railcar traffic in connection with a particular one of the departure trains including an identification of one or more of the railcars assigned to the particular departure train; b) the data processing entity including an output for releasing data describing the computed forecast of railcar traffic available for at least one of the departure trains.
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Specification