Patent ID: 7647592

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of assigning objects to processing units, the processing units having storage capacities, the method comprising the steps, performed by a processor, of: providing an ordered sequence of the objects; providing an initial assignment of the objects to the processing units, wherein the processing units have aggregated sizes equal to the numbers of objects assigned to the processing units; and processing the ordered sequence of objects, the processing comprising: determining a first set of processing units comprising the processing units with an aggregated size above a threshold, determining a second set of processing units comprising the processing units with an aggregated size below the threshold, determining whether there exists, for objects initially assigned to processing units of the first set, processing units in the second set with storage capacities sufficient to store the objects; when it is determined there exists exactly one processing unit in the second set with a storage capacity sufficient to store an object initially assigned to a processing unit of the first set: tentatively reassigning the object to the determined processing unit in the second set, calculating a first statistical measure for the tentative reassignment of the object to the determined processing unit in the second set, and permanently reassigning the object to the determined processing unit in the second set when the first statistical measure indicates an improvement in smoothness of the tentative reassignment; and when it is determined there exists more than one processing unit in the second set with a storage capacity sufficient to store the object: determining a plurality of tentative reassignments by tentatively reassigning the object to the processing units in the second set with storage capacities sufficient to store the object, calculating second statistical measures for the plurality of tentative reassignments, and permanently reassigning the object to a processing unit of the second set corresponding to the tentative reassignment having the second statistical measure indicating the largest improvement in smoothness.