Collaborative Bidding Servers for Automated Auctions

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional automated auction systems face challenges in collaborative bidding, particularly for companies or organizations, as they struggle with coordinating bid prices among geographically dispersed employees speaking different languages and operating under different time zones, leading to non-optimal bids and increased resource demands on central servers, making the systems economically unfeasible as the number of users grows.

Innovation Solution

The introduction of a system with separate collaborative servers that coordinate bidding among users, optimizing bids based on real-time information, historical data, and other factors, while distributing processing loads from central servers to client entity servers, allowing for simultaneous handling of multiple auctions and languages, and managing resources more efficiently.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Device complexity

If a single central auction server is used to administer automated auctions, then the system structure is simple and easy to manage, but the computational burden increases significantly with the number of users, making the system economically unfeasible for large numbers of clients

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem structureVSAvoidcomputational burden

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the centralized auction server system into multiple collaborative servers, each handling specific bidding entities. This segmentation distributes the computational burden across multiple servers while maintaining manageable system structure through modular architecture.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a new dimensional layer by adding collaborative servers between the central auction server and bidding entities. This creates a hierarchical structure that distributes processing loads without increasing the complexity of the core auction management system.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Adaptability or versatility

If collaborative bidding is implemented for companies with geographically dispersed employees, then more comprehensive bid decisions can be made, but coordination difficulties arise due to time zones, languages, and communication barriers

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebid decision comprehensivenessVSAvoidcoordination difficulty

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The collaborative server automatically manages bid coordination by collecting bids from multiple users, applying collaborative rules, and generating optimized bids without requiring manual coordination between geographically dispersed employees. The system serves itself by handling time zone differences, language barriers, and communication coordination automatically.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The collaborative server acts as an intermediary between geographically dispersed bidding entities and the auction server. It facilitates coordination by receiving inputs from multiple users, processing them according to collaborative rules, and submitting unified bids, thereby eliminating direct coordination requirements between distant employees.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Loss of information

If multiple users from the same bidding entity participate in collaborative bidding, then more information and perspectives are available for bid decisions, but the resource demands on the central server increase quadratically

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinformation availabilityVSAvoidserver resource consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSUse of energy by stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the collaborative processing function from the central auction server and places it in dedicated collaborative servers. This removes the quadratic resource demand from the central server while preserving the information gathering benefits of multiple user inputs for bid decisions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS8744916B2Methods and systems for collaborative bidding in automated actions

Publication Date: 2014.06.03 SAP SE

AI summary

Systems and methods are provided for controlling automated auctions and other collaborative tasks. In one exemplary implementation, a system is provided that includes an administrative server running software operative to coordinate an automated auction among a plurality of collaborative bidding entities. One or more collaborative bidding servers are also provided, each running software operative to coordinate collaborative bidding in the automated auction on behalf of a respective collaborative bidding entity. By providing collaborative bidding servers that are separate from the administrative server running the auction, individual users wishing to collaborate on a particular bid may do so using the software running on a respective collaborative server, which is specifically provided to facilitate and coordinate collaborative bidding. Generalized collaborative communication systems and methods are also set forth herein.