Instead, a resource makes a looser commitment on the start and stop time of a job while still maintaining a full commitment to complete the job, retaining greater flexibility in managing change. Current schedulers define a fixed window where the job will execute. In DESK, each resource builds a commitment density graph that reflects the fraction of its total capacity that it has committed at any given time. This is based on the sum of all its commitments, which may include many overlapping jobs in the same time window. Figure 1 shows an example where the resource has over-committed capacity.
Densities detect over-commitment on a resource.
The agent does not have to change any commitments that it made previously. It only tightens the constraints on individual jobs. Without that flexibility, the agents would have been forced to renegotiate new commitments. Resource adjusts commitment windows to resolve overcommitment. It can be applied to any problem that involves allocating resources across time, such as work flow management, personal calendar management, or logistical planning.