Patent ID: 7020617

Claim:
A computer program residing in memory and executable by a processor, said computer program being configured to characterize relationships between a primary goal and an auxiliary goal to optimize a primary objective function to yield one of a plurality of sets of operational decisions, said computer program instructing said processor to perform operations comprising: representing said primary goal by said primary objective function, said primary objective function being dependent upon a set of operational variables; resolving said objective function to yield a plurality of sets of operational decisions; presenting, in a data structure, a plurality of auxiliary goal values associated with a plurality of primary goal values in response to said plurality of sets of operational decisions; selecting a subset of said relationships, each of said relationships including one of said plurality of auxiliary goal values associated with one of said plurality of primary goal values; and for each of said subset of said relationships, optimizing said objective function to yield said one of said plurality of sets of operational decisions.