Patent ID: 7869936

Claim:
A method of route determination for mobile elements in a network comprising a plurality of paths each path having a predetermined path capacity, said method comprising: registering centrally a plurality of route requests from a corresponding plurality of mobile elements each of said requests defining a journey between an origin and a destination; registering centrally for each route request a journey start time; and performing, for a first journey in said journeys, further steps of centrally determining a routing instruction for a first part of the first journey, the routing instruction being sufficient to enable a corresponding mobile element to begin the first part of the first journey, issuing said routing instruction to the corresponding first mobile element, and said first mobile element adapting its route to comply with said routing instruction; computing a second routing instruction for a second part of the first journey such that the second routing instruction causes the first mobile element to use a path in the network, transmitting the second routing instruction to the first mobile element, computing whether a second journey by a corresponding second mobile element coincides with the second part of the first journey over the path during a time period common to the first and second journeys, evaluating, responsive to the computing being affirmative, that the coincidence of the first and the second journeys causes the times for traversing the path to increase for the first and the second mobile elements, selecting the first journey for rerouting by comparing an effects of rerouting on the first and second journeys, recomputing the second routing instruction to cause the first mobile element to utilize a second path, issuing the recomputed second routing instruction to the first mobile element while the first mobile element is in transit on the first part of the first journey, and the first mobile element adapting its route to comply with the recomputed second routing instruction, thereby allowing optimal use of the path to the second mobile element.