Method and system for transit characteristic prediction
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- performing by one or more computers, each comprising at least a processor and a memory;
collecting empirical transit data for a plurality of previously-shipped shipments of material;
from said empirical transit data, determining respective transit characteristics from a source location to a plurality of destination locations, wherein each of said respective transit characteristics indicates an empirically-observed aspect of a transit of material between said source location and a corresponding one of said destination locations;
grouping said plurality of destination locations according to a similarity criterion into a plurality of subsets corresponding to respective geographical regions, wherein respective transit characteristics of destination locations grouped into a given respective geographical region each satisfy said similarity criterion, and wherein each of the geographical regions is geographically defined by a respective set of dimensions, such that said grouping of destination locations into subsets occurs dependent upon the empirical transit data;
storing, in a tree data structure to improve runtime performance of the one or more computers, representations of the subsets corresponding to geographical regions as mappings of the plurality of destination locations;
determining a respective distribution associated with each of said geographical regions, wherein a given respective distribution correlates a given transit characteristic from said source location to a given geographical region with a respective surety factor, wherein said respective surety factor includes a cumulative probability that said given transit characteristic will be achieved; and
dynamically updating said respective transit characteristics, said grouping of destination locations into geographical regions and said respective distributions dependent upon collecting empirical transit data;
wherein dynamically updating said respective transit characteristics comprises collecting additional empirical transit data for one or more previously-shipped shipments of material subsequent to said determining said respective transit characteristics, and, based on said additional empirical transit data, updating one or more of said respective transit characteristics to indicate an additional empirically-observed aspect of a transit of material between said source location and a corresponding one of said destination locations; and
wherein for at least a given one of the geographical regions, dynamically updating a grouping of destination locations into said given geographical region comprises, in response to updating said respective transit characteristics to reflect additional empirical transit data that is different from previous empirical transit data, regrouping at least some of said destination locations dependent upon said additional empirical transit data and, based on said additional empirical transit data, changing the respective set of dimensions that geographically define the given geographical region; and
in response to receiving, via a network, a request for a predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dynamically updated dimensions of the region,providing, via the network, the predicted transit characteristic, wherein the predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dynamically updated dimensions of the region is different from a predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dimensions of the region prior to the dynamic update.
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Abstract
A method and system for transit characteristic prediction. In one embodiment, a method may include determining respective transit latencies from a source location to a number of destination locations, and grouping the destination locations according to a similarity criterion into a number of subsets corresponding to respective geographical regions, where transit characteristics of locations grouped into a geographical region may each satisfy the similarity criterion. The method may further include determining a respective distribution associated with each of the geographical regions, where a given respective distribution correlates a given transit characteristic from the source location to a given geographical region with a respective surety factor, where the respective surety factor includes a cumulative probability that the given transit characteristic will be achieved. The method may also include dynamically updating the respective transit characteristic, the grouping of destination locations into geographical regions and the respective distributions dependent upon collecting empirical transit data.
14 Citations
52 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
performing by one or more computers, each comprising at least a processor and a memory; collecting empirical transit data for a plurality of previously-shipped shipments of material; from said empirical transit data, determining respective transit characteristics from a source location to a plurality of destination locations, wherein each of said respective transit characteristics indicates an empirically-observed aspect of a transit of material between said source location and a corresponding one of said destination locations; grouping said plurality of destination locations according to a similarity criterion into a plurality of subsets corresponding to respective geographical regions, wherein respective transit characteristics of destination locations grouped into a given respective geographical region each satisfy said similarity criterion, and wherein each of the geographical regions is geographically defined by a respective set of dimensions, such that said grouping of destination locations into subsets occurs dependent upon the empirical transit data; storing, in a tree data structure to improve runtime performance of the one or more computers, representations of the subsets corresponding to geographical regions as mappings of the plurality of destination locations; determining a respective distribution associated with each of said geographical regions, wherein a given respective distribution correlates a given transit characteristic from said source location to a given geographical region with a respective surety factor, wherein said respective surety factor includes a cumulative probability that said given transit characteristic will be achieved; and dynamically updating said respective transit characteristics, said grouping of destination locations into geographical regions and said respective distributions dependent upon collecting empirical transit data; wherein dynamically updating said respective transit characteristics comprises collecting additional empirical transit data for one or more previously-shipped shipments of material subsequent to said determining said respective transit characteristics, and, based on said additional empirical transit data, updating one or more of said respective transit characteristics to indicate an additional empirically-observed aspect of a transit of material between said source location and a corresponding one of said destination locations; and wherein for at least a given one of the geographical regions, dynamically updating a grouping of destination locations into said given geographical region comprises, in response to updating said respective transit characteristics to reflect additional empirical transit data that is different from previous empirical transit data, regrouping at least some of said destination locations dependent upon said additional empirical transit data and, based on said additional empirical transit data, changing the respective set of dimensions that geographically define the given geographical region; and in response to receiving, via a network, a request for a predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dynamically updated dimensions of the region, providing, via the network, the predicted transit characteristic, wherein the predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dynamically updated dimensions of the region is different from a predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dimensions of the region prior to the dynamic update. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A non-transitory computer-accessible medium that stores program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable to:
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collect empirical transit data for a plurality of previously-shipped shipments of material; from said empirical transit data, determine respective transit characteristics from a source location to a plurality of destination locations, wherein each of said respective transit characteristics indicates an empirically-observed aspect of a transit of material between said source location and a corresponding one of said destination locations; group said plurality of destination locations according to a similarity criterion into a plurality of subsets corresponding to respective geographical regions, wherein respective transit characteristics of destination locations grouped into a given respective geographical region each satisfy said similarity criterion, and wherein each of the geographical regions is geographically defined by a respective set of dimensions, such that the program instructions are executable to group said destination locations into subsets dependent upon the empirical transit data; store, in a tree data structure to improve runtime performance of one or more computers, representations of the subsets corresponding to geographical regions as mappings of the plurality of destination locations; determine a respective distribution associated with each of said geographical regions, wherein a given respective distribution correlates a given transit characteristic from said source location to a given geographical region with a respective surety factor, wherein said respective surety factor includes a cumulative probability that said given transit characteristic will be achieved; dynamically update said respective transit characteristics, said grouping of destination locations into geographical regions and said respective distributions dependent upon collecting empirical transit data; wherein to dynamically update said respective transit characteristics, the instructions are further executable to collect additional empirical transit data for one or more previously-shipped shipments of material subsequent to determining said respective transit characteristics, and, based on said additional empirical transit data, to update one or more of said respective transit characteristics to indicate an additional empirically-observed aspect of a transit of material between said source location and a corresponding one of said destination locations; wherein for at least a given one of the geographical regions, to dynamically update a grouping of destination locations into said given geographical region, the instructions are further executable to, in response to updating said respective transit characteristics to reflect additional empirical transit data that is different from previous empirical transit data, regroup at least some of said destination locations dependent upon said additional empirical transit data and, based on said additional empirical transit data, change the respective set of dimensions that geographically define the given geographical region; and in response to receipt of a request for a predicted transit characteristic that is determined based at least in part on the dynamically updated dimensions of the region, provide via a network, the predicted transit characteristic, wherein the predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dynamically updated dimensions of the region is different from a predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dimensions of the region prior to the dynamic update. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A system, comprising:
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one or more computer systems each including at least a memory and a processor configured to execute instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more computer systems to implement; an application program; a web services interface; and a transit characteristic model; wherein said application program is configured to request from said transit characteristic model via said web services interface a prediction of a transit characteristic from a source location to a given destination location; wherein said transit characteristic model is configured to; collect empirical transit data for a plurality of previously-shipped shipments of material; from said empirical transit data, determine respective transit characteristics from said source location to a plurality of destination locations, wherein each of said respective transit characteristics indicates an empirically-observed aspect of a transit of material between said source location and a corresponding one of said destination locations; group said plurality of destination locations according to a similarity criterion into a plurality of subsets corresponding to respective geographical regions, wherein respective transit characteristics of destination locations grouped into a given respective geographical region each satisfy said similarity criterion, and wherein each of the geographical regions is geographically defined by a respective set of dimensions, such that the transit characteristic model is configured to group said destination locations into subsets dependent upon the empirical transit data; store, in a tree data structure to improve runtime performance of the one or more computer systems, representations of the subsets corresponding to geographical regions as mappings of the plurality of destination locations; determine a respective distribution associated with each of said geographical regions, wherein a given respective distribution correlates a given transit characteristic from said source location to a given geographical region with a respective surety factor, wherein said respective surety factor includes a cumulative probability that said given transit characteristic will be achieved; predict said transit characteristic to said given destination location, wherein said predicting includes determining that said particular destination location falls within a particular one of said geographical regions, evaluating said respective distribution associated with said particular geographical region to determine said predicted transit characteristic, and returning said predicted transit characteristic to said application; and dynamically update said respective transit characteristics and said grouping of destination locations into geographical regions dependent upon collecting empirical transit data; wherein to dynamically update said respective transit characteristics, the transit characteristic model is further configured to collect additional empirical transit data for one or more previously-shipped shipments of material subsequent to determining said respective transit characteristics, and, based on said additional empirical transit data, to update one or more of said respective transit characteristics to indicate an additional empirically-observed aspect of a transit of material between said source location and a corresponding one of said destination locations; wherein for at least a given one of the geographical regions, to dynamically update a grouping of destination locations into said given geographical region, the transit characteristic model is further configured to, in response to updating said respective transit characteristics to reflect additional empirical transit data that is different from previous empirical transit data, regroup at least some of said destination locations dependent upon said additional empirical transit data and, based on said additional empirical transit data, change the respective set of dimensions that geographically define the given geographical region; and wherein in response to receipt of a request from said application via said web services interface for a predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dynamically updated dimensions of the region, the transit characteristic model is further configured to provide, via said web services interface, the predicted transit characteristic to said application, wherein the predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dynamically updated dimensions of the region is different from a predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dimensions of the region prior to the dynamic update. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A system, comprising:
one or more computer systems each including at least a memory and a processor configured to execute instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more computer systems to implement; a transit characteristic model determined dependent upon collected empirical data for a plurality of previously-shipped shipments of material, wherein the transit characteristic model includes representations of geographical regions as mappings of a plurality of destination locations, the representations stored in a tree data structure to improve runtime performance of the one or more computer systems, and wherein the transit characteristic model is configured to; predict respective transit characteristics from a given source location to each a plurality of geographical regions, wherein each of said plurality of geographical regions is represented within said transit characteristic model by one or more coordinates, and wherein respective transit characteristics from said given source location to a plurality of destination locations within a given geographical region satisfy a similarity criterion; determine a respective distribution associated with each of said geographical regions, wherein a given respective distribution correlates a given transit characteristic from said source location to a given geographical region with a respective surety factor, wherein said respective surety factor includes a cumulative probability that said given transit characteristic will be achieved; dynamically update said respective transit characteristics dependent upon empirical observations of said respective transit characteristics, wherein to dynamically update said respective transit characteristics, the transit characteristic model is further configured to collect additional empirical transit data for one or more previously-shipped shipments of material and, based on said additional empirical transit data, to update one or more of said respective transit characteristics to indicate an additional empirically-observed aspect of a transit of material between said source location and a corresponding one of said destination locations; and for at least a given one of the geographical regions, in response to dynamically updating said respective transit characteristics to reflect additional empirical transit data that is different from previous empirical transit data, regroup at least some of said destination locations dependent upon said additional empirical data and, based on said additional empirical transit data, change one or more of the coordinates representing said given geographical region; and in response to receipt of a request for a predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dynamically updated dimensions of the region, provide, via a network, the predicted transit characteristic, wherein the predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dynamically updated dimensions of the region is different from a predicted transit characteristic that is determined at least in part on the dimensions of the region prior to the dynamic update. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
Specification