Scenario Versioning via Incremental Change Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional scenario management products are inefficient in terms of memory and computational performance due to copying full data for each scenario, limiting the number of scenarios that can be run effectively.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for scenario management that uses a database to store incremental changes in a supply chain network, allowing access and modification of scenario data through a server, which generates and stores hashtables for each scenario, only storing changes relative to its immediate parent scenario, thereby optimizing memory and computational efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If full data is copied into memory for each scenario, then scenario management functionality is achieved, but memory usage and computational burden increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments scenario data into two parts: (1) a base scenario containing the full supply chain network data, and (2) scenario-specific modifications containing only the changes. This segmentation allows the system to store and process scenarios efficiently by separating common data from unique variations, directly reducing memory usage while maintaining full scenario management functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a nested structure where scenario modifications are nested within the base scenario framework. Each scenario consists of a reference to the base scenario plus a nested layer of specific modifications. This nested approach allows scenarios to inherit common data from the base while storing only their unique changes, significantly reducing overall memory requirements.
2Reliability
If full data is copied into memory for each scenario, then complete scenario data is available for processing, but computational performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary modifications from each scenario rather than copying the entire data set. By taking out and storing only the scenario-specific changes (such as modified parameters, added constraints, or altered configurations), the system maintains data completeness for processing while dramatically reducing computational overhead associated with copying and managing full data sets.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by storing and processing only the portion of data that differs between scenarios. Instead of performing full data copying and processing for each scenario, the system processes only the necessary modifications, reducing computational effort while ensuring that all required scenario-specific information is available for accurate processing.
3Ease of operation
If traditional scenario management approaches are used, then scenario processing is straightforward, but the number of scenarios that can be run is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the base scenario data with scenario-specific modifications to create complete scenario representations during processing. This combining approach allows the system to maintain a manageable number of stored objects (base scenario plus modification sets) while enabling the creation and processing of numerous scenarios by dynamically combining the shared base data with different modification layers, thus increasing the number of runnable scenarios without proportionally increasing storage requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method is disclosed for scenario management. The system includes a database configured to store data describing a plurality of scenarios, each scenario comprising one or more fields and data describing the supply chain network comprising a plurality of network components, each network component configured to supply one or more items to satisfy demand. The system further includes a server coupled with the database; the server accesses the data describing the plurality of scenarios and accesses the data describing the supply chain network. The server further traverses the one or more fields of the plurality of scenarios until a value is determined and stores the determined value in the database for each of the one or more fields of the plurality of scenarios.