Multi-Passenger Travel Planning with Independent Query Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional travel planning systems struggle to plan trips for multiple passengers when they do not have exactly the same flights, as they can only produce answers where all passengers fly exactly the same flights, making it difficult to find joint solutions that meet complex travel requirements or preferences.
Innovation Solution
The method involves sending independent queries to a travel planning system for each passenger group, combining the responses to provide joint solutions, and constraining queries based on derived constraints to ensure that joint travel requirements are met, including examining unsatisfied requirements and modifying queries to prioritize shared flight options.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional travel planning systems require all passengers to fly exactly the same flights, then the system complexity is reduced and ease of operation is improved, but the adaptability to meet diverse joint travel requirements deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the travel planning process into independent queries for each passenger group, allowing each group to have customized flight options while still identifying joint solutions where groups share common flights. This segmentation enables the system to handle diverse travel requirements without requiring all passengers to fly identical routes.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system allows multiple passenger groups to have different flight options, then the adaptability to meet diverse travel requirements is improved, but the device complexity and difficulty of finding joint solutions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary process that takes independent query results for multiple passenger groups and identifies joint solutions by finding common flights across groups. This intermediary layer manages the complexity of coordinating multiple groups with different requirements by systematically comparing and matching flight options, rather than requiring direct complex coordination between all groups.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary independent queries for each passenger group before combining results to find joint solutions. By pre-processing each group's options separately and identifying potential common flights in advance, the system reduces the complexity of the overall coordination problem and makes it easier to identify viable joint solutions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If independent queries are sent for each passenger group without constraints, then the diversity of individual solutions is increased, but the likelihood of finding acceptable joint solutions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the system sends independent queries to multiple passenger groups, identifies joint solutions from the responses, and if insufficient joint solutions are found, resends queries with derived constraints based on the joint travel requirements. This iterative feedback process gradually refines the search space to increase the likelihood of finding acceptable joint solutions while maintaining solution diversity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes query parameters by adding derived constraints based on joint travel requirements when initial independent queries do not yield sufficient joint solutions. By adjusting the constraints and parameters of subsequent queries based on feedback from previous results, the system maintains solution diversity while improving the reliability of finding acceptable joint solutions.
Data Source
AI summary
Multiple passenger multiple route techniques are disclosed including sending independent queries to a travel planning system for each of a plurality of passenger groups and receiving lists of individual solutions appropriate for the passenger groups in response to the independent queries. The lists are combined to provide joint solutions according to joint travel requirements/preferences and if there are not a sufficient number of joint solutions, the individual queries are resent with constraints on features of the resent individual queries.