×

Autonomous distributed control involving constraint on resources

  • US 8,347,298 B2
  • Filed: 10/02/2007
  • Issued: 01/01/2013
  • Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2006
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
Patent Images

1. A method for use in a system including:

  • a plurality of entities (agents) each adapted to exhibit a specific performance while consuming a resource;

    a mechanism adapted to supply the resource to each of said entities;

    a mechanism provided in each of said entities to accept the resource; and

    means provided in each of said entities to carry out a committing function of effecting said specific performance, or an actuation device provided in each of said entities to effect said specific performance, said method being designed to satisfy a constraint on an aggregated resource to be input from said resource supply mechanism into the entire system, and simultaneously control the respective specific performances of said entities, said method comprising;

    providing a network adapted to connect between respective ones of said entities so as to allow data about the resource consumption and the specific performance in each of said entities to be exchanged therebetween, and communication means having a function of transmitting and receiving said data;

    assigning to each of said entities a target index with which said specific performance is to be brought into conformity within an allowable range around said target index;

    assigning to each of said entities an interval reference index during which the resource is input into said entity;

    providing means for carrying out a function of measuring the specific performance or the resource consumption in each of said entities;

    providing to each of said entities means for carrying out a software function of autonomously and cooperatively determining a strategy;

    allowing said entities to take turns to perform said software function,wherein said software function includes, when each of said entities is assigned with an initial index of said interval reference index, and dynamically shifted between two roles of a server and a client, dynamically performing four actions of said server consisting of bidding, evaluating, committing and shifting, or an action of said client consisting of reporting, so as to allow said entities to distributedly perform a processing of determining a strategy for the entire system; and

    wherein the software function in any selected one of said entities to whom said role of said server is delegated according to said shifting action, further comprises;

    performing said committing the resource consumption in said selected entity to bring said specific performance into conformity to said target index or maintain said specific performance at said target index;

    performing said bidding action to collect first data about a difference index between an actual specific performance and said target index in each of the remaining entities and second data about a difference index between said assigned interval reference index allowing the resource to be consumed at a predetermined index, and an actual number of time-frames in an elapsed time period after the latest turn-on instance in each of said remaining entities;

    performing said evaluating action to select one of said remaining entities which is to be allowed to commit the resource consumption in a subsequent time-frame; and

    performing said shifting action to delegate an authority to determine said strategy.

View all claims
  • 1 Assignment
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×