Adaptive decision engine

• US 20040024721A1
• Filed: 03/13/2003
• Published: 02/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Michael Thomas Wilfrid Donovan, Sylvio Drouin
• Original Assignee: Michael Thomas Wilfrid Donovan, Sylvio Drouin
• Inventors: Wilfrid Donovan, Michael Thomas, Drouin, Sylvio
• Application Number:
  US10/387,133
• Publication Number:
  US 20040024721A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 706/46
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for selecting actions in an environment, comprising: a first store comprising a plurality of proposed series of actions; an environment interface providing at least one action to an environment and detecting at least one state value from the environment resulting, at least in part, from the action provided; an evaluation module calculating a global desirability value for an unvalued series of actions of the plurality according to the state value and storing the desirability value in the store; and a selection module for selecting one of the plurality according to the desirability value, and providing at least a first action of the selected series to the environment interface.

Claims

1. An apparatus for selecting actions in an environment, comprising:

a first store comprising a plurality of proposed series of actions;

an environment interface providing at least one action to an environment and detecting at least one state value from said environment resulting, at least in part, from said action provided;

an evaluation module calculating a global desirability value for an unvalued series of actions of said plurality according to said state value and storing said desirability value in said store; and

a selection module for selecting one of said plurality according to said desirability value, and providing at least a first action of the selected series to said environment interface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising one forecasting module for forecasting at least one state value that would be detected from said environment between a first moment at which a first action of said unvalued series would be provided to said environment and a second moment at which a last action of said unvalued series would be provided to said environment if each action of said unvalued series is provided to said environment, wherein said evaluation module calculates a global desirability value for said unvalued series according to said state value forecasted and stores said desirability value in said store.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a filter module deleting each one of said plurality of proposed series of actions that does not start with said at least one action, and removing at least a first action of proposed series of actions remaining in said store to provide a filtered plurality of proposed series of actions.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said filter module deletes each one of said plurality of proposed series of actions that do not start with said at least one action, deletes each one of said plurality of proposed series of actions having a global desirability value lower than a filtering threshold, and removes at least a first action of proposed series of actions remaining in said store to provide a filtered plurality of proposed series of actions.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said filter module further comprises a threshold calculator for calculating said filtering threshold.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a search module for generating a new plurality of proposed series of actions, and storing said new plurality in said store.

7. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a search module for generating a new plurality of proposed series of actions, and storing said new plurality in said store.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said search module comprises a genetic module for generating at least one of said new plurality by applying a genetic operator on one of said plurality of proposed series of actions.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said search module comprises a genetic module for generating at least one of said new plurality by applying a genetic operator on one of said plurality of proposed series of actions.

10. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising an input module for detecting an instruction, determining an evaluation parameter value according to said instruction, and setting said parameter value, wherein said evaluation module calculates said desirability value according to said parameter value.

11. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising an input module for detecting an instruction, determining an evaluation parameter value according to said instruction, and setting said parameter value, wherein said evaluation module calculates said desirability value according to said parameter value.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a third store comprising a series of previously selected actions and a series of previously detected state values, wherein said genetic module generates at least one of said new plurality by applying a genetic operation on a series of actions extracted from said series of previously selected actions.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a third store comprising a series of previously selected actions and a series of previously detected state values, wherein said genetic module generates at least one of said new plurality by applying a genetic operation on a series of actions extracted from said series of previously selected actions.

14. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a fourth store comprising a plurality of patterns, wherein said forecasting module forecasts said at least one state value that would be detected from said environment according to one of said plurality of patterns.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a fourth store comprising a plurality of patterns, wherein said forecasting module forecasts said at least one state value that would be detected from said environment according to one of said plurality of patterns.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a fourth store comprising a plurality of patterns associated with a plurality of environments, wherein said input module determines said environment according to said instruction, said plurality of environments comprises said environment, and said forecasting module forecasts said at least one state value according to one of said plurality of patterns associated with said environment, whereby said forecasting module is capable of adjusting its functionality according to said environment.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said forecasting module further comprises a pattern-recognizer for identifying at least one pattern in said series of previously selected actions and said series of previously detected state values, and storing said pattern in said fourth store.

18. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a store of rules comprising a set of requirements to be satisfied by said new plurality, wherein said search module generates said new plurality according to said requirements, whereby said new plurality is more likely to have a higher desirability.

19. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said at least one evaluation module comprises a local calculator for calculating local desirability values for actions comprised in said unvalued series of actions according to said at least one state value forecasted, and a global calculator for calculating a global desirability value from said local desirability values.

20. A computer program product for selecting actions in an environment comprising a computer usable storage medium having computer readable program code means embodied in the medium, the computer readable program code means comprising:

storage means for providing a plurality of proposed series of actions;

interfacing means for providing at least one action to the environment and detecting at least one state value from said environment resulting, at least in part, from said action provided;

evaluation means for calculating a global desirability value for an unvalued series of actions of said plurality according to said state value and providing said desirability value; and

selection means for selecting one of said plurality according to said global desirability value, and identifying at least a first action of the selected series of actions as said at least one action.