Route Selection via Dynamic Link Cost Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mapping systems do not effectively allow users to specify preferences for routes based on geographic regions, leading to routes that may not align with the user's desired path, even when alternative routes are available.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented mapping system that allows users to designate favored or disfavored geographic regions, influencing route selection by adjusting link costs based on proximity to these regions, thereby enabling the system to generate routes that better match user preferences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the mapping system determines a route by searching for an optimal path through a directed graph, then the route selection is automated and efficient, but the determined route may not align with the user's preferred path
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts link costs in the routing graph based on user-designated geographic regions. When a user designates a favored region, the system modifies the cost parameters of links passing through or near that region, allowing the route determination to adapt to user preferences while maintaining automated optimization. This dynamic parameter adjustment enables the system to balance computational efficiency with user-specific route preferences.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the cost parameters of links in the directed graph based on their proximity to user-designated geographic regions. By modifying these parameters, the route optimization algorithm naturally favors paths through favored regions while avoiding disfavored regions, thus incorporating user preferences into the automated route determination process without requiring manual route specification.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system allows users to specify geographic region preferences, then route selection becomes more personalized, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary processing layer between user input and route calculation. This intermediary component receives user designations of geographic regions, translates them into cost adjustments for relevant links in the routing graph, and then feeds the modified graph to the existing route optimization algorithm. This intermediary approach allows user preference integration without fundamentally restructuring the core routing system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies local modifications to the routing graph by adjusting costs only for links in proximity to user-designated regions, rather than globally modifying the entire graph structure. This localized approach to parameter adjustment maintains the overall system architecture while incorporating user preferences only where relevant, thus minimizing the increase in system complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system adjusts link costs based on proximity to designated regions, then routes closer to favored regions are preferred, but the computational overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by adjusting link costs only for those links that are in proximity to user-designated geographic regions, rather than uniformly modifying all links in the routing graph. This selective approach reduces the computational overhead associated with parameter adjustments while still achieving the desired effect of favoring routes through preferred regions.
Data Source
AI summary
A user may indicate a preference of a route when alternative routes are available between an origin and a destination. The mapping system may enable a user to identify a region, a point or a set of points to help control, guide or otherwise influence the determination of a route favored by the user. While the identified region, point or set of points may be included in the route, the identified region, point or set of points need not necessarily be included in the route.