DYNAMIC POWER ALLOCATION FOR ATTAINING AN OBJECTIVE

• US 20140195060A1
• Filed: 01/09/2013
• Published: 07/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kritt, Barry A., Rakshit, Sarbajit K.
• Granted Patent: US 10,102,594 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/291
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 90/00 Systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes, not involving significant data processing

Abstract

Mandatory and optional consumption points are identified to support management of power allocation. A mandatory consumption point is a consumption point required to function at a given time and an optional consumption point is a discretionary consumption point. The energy required for mandatory consumption points to complete their designated functions is calculated. An energy quota is designated for power allocation to the optional consumption points in response to the mandatory consumption point calculation, and the identification of available energy. Energy required for optional consumption points to complete their designated functions is calculated. The optional consumption points are dynamically prioritized and power is allocated to the optional consumption points responsive to this prioritization and with respect to the designated energy quota.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying and distinguishing a mandatory consumption point from an optional consumption point, wherein a mandatory consumption point is a consumption point required to operate at a given time and an optional consumption point is a discretionary consumption point;

calculating energy required to reach an objective, including the identified mandatory consumption point;

responsive to the energy calculation for reaching the objective and an identified available energy, designating an energy quota for including the optional consumption point;

calculating energy required to include one or more optional consumption points within the objective;

dynamically prioritizing the one or more optional consumptions points; and

autonomously allocating power in order of priority to at least one of the prioritized optional consumption points with respect to the designated energy quota.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising in response to the energy calculation for reaching the objective exceeding energy available, autonomously identifying a location for acquiring additional energy.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising selecting one of the optional consumption points as a preferred consumption point and autonomously identifying the location for acquiring additional energy when allocated power is removed from the preferred consumption point.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the objective is a destination on a route, and further comprising selecting one of the optional consumption points as a preferred consumption point, and in response to removing allocated power from the preferred consumption point, re-selecting the route to accommodate the preferred consumption point and re-designating the quota responsive to the re-selected route.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising re-designating the quota in response to a consumption point change, wherein a consumption point change is selected from the group consisting of:

a mandatory consumption point changing to an optional consumption point, and an optional consumption point changing to a mandatory consumption point.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the designated quota is responsive to a selected quantity of energy to be reserved.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing allocated power from an optional consumption point of lowest priority responsive to exceeding the designated quota.

8. A computer program product for use with at least one consumption point, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon, which when executed causes a computer to implement the method comprising:

identifying and distinguishing a mandatory consumption point from an optional consumption point, wherein a mandatory consumption point is a consumption point required to operate at a given time and an optional consumption point is a discretionary consumption point;

calculating energy required to reach an objective, including the identified mandatory consumption point;

responsive to the energy calculation for reaching the objective and an identified available energy, designating an energy quota for including the optional consumption point;

calculating energy required to include one or more optional consumption points within the objective;

dynamically prioritizing the one or more optional consumptions points; and

autonomously allocating power in order of priority to at least one of the prioritized optional consumption points with respect to the designated energy quota.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising program code to identify a location for acquiring additional energy in response to the energy calculation for reaching the objective exceeding energy available.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, further comprising program code to identify the location for acquiring additional energy when allocation power is remove from a preferred consumption point in response to selecting one of the optional consumption points as the preferred consumption point.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the objective is a destination on a route, and further comprising program code to select one of the optional consumption points as a preferred consumption point, and in response to removal of an allocated power from the preferred consumption point, re-select the route to accommodate the preferred consumption point and re-designate the quota responsive to the re-selected route.

12. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising program code to re-designate the quota in response to a consumption point change, wherein a consumption point change is selected from the group consisting of:

a mandatory consumption point changing to an optional consumption point, and an optional consumption point changing to a mandatory consumption point.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the quota designated by the computer program product is responsive to a selected quantity of energy to be reserved.

14. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising the computer program product to remove allocated power from an optional consumption point of lowest priority responsive to exceeding the designated quota.

15. A system comprising:

a processing unit in communication with memory;

a functional unit in communication with the processing unit, the functional unit having tools to support autonomous power allocation, the tools comprising;

an identification manager to identify consumption points, including the identification manager to distinguish a mandatory consumption point from an optional consumption point, wherein a mandatory consumption point is a consumption point required to operate at a given time and an optional consumption point is a discretionary consumption point;

a calculation manager in communication with the identification manager, the calculation manager to calculate energy required to reach an objective, including the identified mandatory consumption point, and calculate energy required to include one or more optional consumption points on the route;

a quota manager in communication with the calculation manager, the quota manager to designate an energy quota for including the optional consumption point in response to the energy calculation for reaching the objective and an identified available energy;

a prioritization manager in communication with the identification manager, the prioritization manager to prioritize at least two optional consumption points; and

a power allocation manager in communication with the prioritization manager and the quota manager, the power allocation manager to allocate power in order of priority to at least one of the prioritized optional consumption points with respect to the designated energy quota.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a location manager in communication with the calculation manager, the location manager to identify a location for acquiring additional energy in response to the allocation of power to a consumption point exceeding energy available.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the objective is a destination on a route, and further comprising a location manager in communication with the calculation manager, the location manager to select one of the optional consumption points as a preferred consumption point, and in response to the removal of allocated power from the preferred consumption point, re-select the route to accommodate the preferred consumption point, and the quota manager to re-designate the quota responsive to the re-selected route.

18. The system of claim 15, further comprising the quota manager to re-designate the quota in response to a consumption point change, wherein a consumption point change is selected from the group consisting of:

a mandatory consumption point changing to an optional consumption point, and an optional consumption point changing to a mandatory consumption point.

19. The system of claim 15, further comprising the quota manager to manually decrease the designated energy quota to conserve more energy for mandatory consumption points.

20. The system of claim 15, further comprising the power allocation manager to remove allocated power from an optional consumption point of lowest priority responsive to exceeding the designated quota.