1539 results about "Linear programming" patented technology

The present invention relates to a method for workforce scheduling in which workload and workload types vary during scheduling period. The method acquires agent and skill requirements for all periods and contact types; acquires the contact center information including agent skill groups, agent work groups, tour and shift scheduling rules, agent availability, objective criterion to be optimized and its parameters; develops a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model for the scheduling environment; applied an optimization algorithm that uses the Branch and Bound algorithm with a Rounding Algorithm to improve performance; and locates a globally optimal or near optimal workforce schedule in total cost or paid time or agent satisfaction. Detailed schedules may be developed by assigning daily shifts to work patterns, and breaks scheduled to daily shifts.

This invention is a means both to allocate all types of resources for commercial, governmental, or non-profit organizations and to price such resources. A linear programming process makes fulfillment allocations used to produce product units. A Resource-conduit process governs the linear programming process, uses two-sided shadow prices, and makes aperture allocations to allow Potential-demand to become Realized-demand. A strict opportunity cost perspective is employed, and the cost of buyable resources is deemed to be the opportunity cost of tying up cash. Resource available quantities, product resource requirements, and Potential-demand as a statistical distribution are specified in a database. The invention reads the database, performs optimization, and then writes allocation directives to the database. Also determined and written to the database are resource marginal (incremental) values and product marginal costs. The database can be viewed and edited through the invention's Graphical User Interface. Monte Carlo simulation, along with generation of supply and demand schedules, is included to facilitate analysis, explore "what if," and interact with the user to develop product offering, product pricing, and resource allocation strategies and tactics.

Systems and methods for presenting user-generated content in an easily accessible manner using an interactive media guide are provided. In particular, a user may be able to peruse user-generated content through an interactive media guide which is also used to access non-user-generated media content such as linear programming (e.g., over-the-air broadcast, cable, and satellite scheduled programming) and on-demand media. The interactive media guide may include a provider of user-generated content populated with user-generated content according to the user's interests or most recently added to the provider.

The invention provides systems and methods for layout decomposition to produce exposure layouts that can be used to perform double patterning lithography (DPL). Preferred embodiment methods of the invention are executed by a computer and provide alternate methods for layout decomposition for double patterning lithography (DPL) using integer linear programming (ILP) formulations. Embodiments of the invention meet a key optimization goals, which is to reduce the total cost of layout decomposition, considering the abovementioned aspects that contribute to cost of prior conventional DPL techniques. Embodiments of the invention provide integer linear programming (ILP), phase conflict detection (PCD) and node election bipartization (NBD) formulations for the optimization of DPL layout decomposition, with a process-aware cost function that avoids small jogging line-ends, and maximizes overlap at dividing points of polygons. The cost function can also make preferential splits at landing pads, junctions and long runs.

A system generates optimal global set points for an environmental management system. The system comprises a system model for modeling components of a thermal plant, an objective function for modeling a parameter of the thermal plant, and an optimization engine for optimizing the parameter modeled by the objective function. The system model is coupled to an input data collector for receiving building data and weather data corresponding to a particular site. The system model includes models for thermal plant system components that may be implemented using classical models or artificial intelligence models. Classical models are those models that are implemented using linear programming, unconstrained non-linear programming, or constrained non-linear programming methodologies. The artificial intelligence models are those models that may be implemented using a fuzzy expert control system with crisp and fuzzy rules, genetic algorithms for optimization, or neural networks.

A system and method for dispatching a plurality of vehicles operating in a work area among a plurality of destination locations and a plurality of source locations includes implementing linear programming that takes in an optimization function and constraints to generate an optimum schedule for optimum production, utilizing a reinforcement learning algorithm that takes in the schedule as input and cycles through possible environmental states that could occur within the schedule by choosing one possible action for each possible environmental state and by observing the reward obtained by taking the action at each possible environmental state, developing a policy for each possible environmental state, and providing instructions to follow an action associated with the policy.

This invention is a means both to allocate all types of resources for commercial, governmental, or non-profit organizations and to price such resources. A linear programming process makes fulfillment allocations used to produce product units. A Resource-conduit process governs the linear programming process, uses two-sided shadow prices, and makes aperture allocations to allow Potential-demand to become Realized-demand. A strict opportunity cost perspective is employed, and the cost of buyable resources is deemed to be the opportunity cost of tying up cash. Resource available quantities, product resource requirements, and Potential-demand as a statistical distribution are specified in a database. The invention reads the database, performs optimization, and then writes allocation directives to the database. Also determined and written to the database are resource marginal (incremental) values and product marginal costs. The database can be viewed and edited through the invention's Graphical User Interface. Monte Carlo simulation, along with generation of supply and demand schedules, is included to facilitate analysis, explore “what if,” and interact with the user to develop product offering, product pricing, and resource allocation strategies and tactics.

Many business problems involve too many complex and interacting variables for a person to solve them, unassisted. Linear programming, statistical and probability analyses provide effective tools for solving such problems, but until now, use of these tools has not been practical for persons without extensive mathematical training. The present invention provides an understandable user interface to these tools, enabling even mathematically unsophisticated users to effectively solve complex problems. The invention also incorporates sensitivity analyses, thereby permitting the user to explore how changes in input data would affect the results of the program calculations. In addition to a data-input program module, respective program modules are disclosed for managing a company product line, a securities portfolio, and a short-selling portfolio.

In one embodiment, a wireless-resource broker employs a self-enforcing spectrum-sharing policy, e.g., the expected utility (e.g., rate) a user obtains by following the policy provided by the broker is not less than the expected utility that the user obtains by switching to some other strategy. Each user is associated with one or more transmitter-receiver pairs, e.g., a transmitter of a wireless device and a receiver of a base station in communication via a wireless channel. The broker receives, as input, user parameters characterizing one or more of the transmitters and/or receivers and resource parameters characterizing one or more available spectrum blocks. The broker solves a linear-programming problem to generate and transmit a recommended policy for one or more users. The policy for each user includes information such as the spectrum block(s) to which the user is assigned, the transmission power for the user, and the transmission rate for the user.

The present invention provides a system, method and apparatus for allocating resources with a linear programming model comprising an objective function and a set of constraints describing feasible allocations of the resources. The method ranks constraints based on a numerical measure derived from criteria selected from at least a first and second group and selects one or more of the top-ranked constraints. A new problem is determined from the model's objective function, the previously selected constraints, and the newly selected constraints, and a tentative resource allocation is determined based on the new problem. Whenever the tentative resource allocation violates a model constraint not in the current problem, one or more of the top-ranked such violated constraints are selected, and the new problem determination and tentative resource allocation steps are repeated. The resources are allocated according to the tentative resource allocation when it does not violate any model constraints.

A method and system for efficient allocation of limited manufacturing resources over time to meet customer demand. At the enterprise planning level this typically requires determination of a feasible production schedule for an extended supply chain. The method and system utilizes a new and unique type of systematic decomposition based on both product and process considerations. This approach simultaneously reduces the model size (and therefore computation time) and increases modeling flexibility from strictly linear programming based decision making to include more general nonlinear programming characteristics.

A “smart parking” system and method for an urban environment based on a dynamic resource allocation approach. The system assigns and reserves an optimal resource (parking space) for a discrete user based on the user's objective function that combines proximity to destination with parking cost, while also ensuring that the overall parking capacity is efficiently utilized. The solution of each Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) is an optimal allocation based on current state information and subject to random events such as new user requests or parking spaces becoming available.

A plurality of printing jobs associated with a printing environment can be initially evaluated. Such a printing environment can be implemented as a print shop or another lean document production environment. A set of minimal resource capacities can then be calculated as a multi-objective optimization using a linear programming (LP) analysis. Alternatively, in a generalized geometrical algorithm, at least one peak-demand production rate associated with the most critical resource can first be estimated, in response to evaluating the plurality of printing jobs. Thereafter, minimal resource capacities of the plurality of resources of the printing environment can be hierarchically calculated based on estimating the previously determined peak-demand production rate of higher priority.

An improved system and method for optimizing online advertising auctions is provided by applying linear programming using special ordered sets. A linear programming model using special ordered sets of bids may first be created offline for the web page placements of advertisements for advertising campaigns. An expected number of impressions of advertisements for alternative bid levels may be determined for web page placements for advertising campaigns for a time period. Ordered sets of bid levels may be generated for web page placements of advertising campaigns and linear programming may be applied to determine optimal bid values for web page placements of advertising campaigns. Branching and cutting techniques may also be applied to the special ordered sets of bid values to rapidly obtain an optimal bid value for each special ordered set. Advertising campaigns may be updated with the optimal bid values for bidding in an online advertising auction.

The invention provides a method based on linear programming for locating near-field targets and a system thereof, particularly a method for locating near-field targets on the basis of the compressivesensing theory. The method comprises the following steps: selecting a reference array element under the condition that the signal form is unknown, allowing the reference array element to work at the normal sampling frequency, and the other array elements to work at far below the Nyquist sampling frequency; taking the output signal of the reference array element as the reference target signal, to acquire the sample data of all the array elements; generating a time-delay table and a sparse basis array; generating a random mapping array and obtaining a coefficient array; obtaining a sparse vectorby linear programming solution; and acquiring the location information of the near-field target from the predetermined location-distance collection on the basis of the acquired estimation results ofthe sparse vector. According to the invention, the sensor does not need to work beyond the Nyquist sampling frequency, thereby greatly reducing the sampling rate, reducing the operating energy consumption of the sensor and improving the resource utilization rate of the system; and the method has no limits to the target bandwidth, so that the method is applicable to the target location of both narrowband and wideband, and the method is further applicable to non-Gaussian target location.

The invention discloses an SDN multi-controller deployment novel method for reducing management load overhead, belonging to the technical field of the software defined network (SDN). The method is characterized in that the management load of a software defined network (SDN) controller is used as a decision variable, and a mathematical model about controller management load is constructed. An original SDN network multi-controller deployment problem is abstracted to be a graph theory problem, the graph theory problem is converted into an integer linear programming problem through establishing the mathematical model, and an NP difficult problem is solved by using an approximate algorithm. According to the method, in the process of constructing the mathematical model of the multi-controller deployment problem, the network performance and the management load of the SDN controller are creatively taken into consideration, effective deployment schemes can be provided for different SDN networks, the reasonable selection and effective deployment of the number of multiple controllers are realized, and the normal and effective operation of the SDN network in the condition of the satisfaction of certain network performance and minimum cost are ensured.

The invention relates to an overlay network layered multicast optimal resource allocation method for a scalable video stream, and provides a new measurement standard for the multicast performance, namely layer extensity which is used for measuring end-to-end time delay of video layers during data distribution aiming at layered multicast communication of the scalable video stream in the overlay network. In order to realize the overall minimization of the layer extensity, the method carries out the combined optimization on the network code of relay nodes, the receiving end driven flow control, and multi-path route strategy, and adopts a linear programming method to establish a layered multicast resource optimum allocation model for the overlay network. On one hand, the method adaptively matches the interlayer dependency of the scalable video code; on the other hand, the method allows a receiving node to decide and regulate the required video quality of own accord. In addition, the invention also provides a distributed heuristic algorithm which has low complexity, approaches the globally optimal solution and is applied to the construction of a scalable video flow distribution network.