Patent Document ID: 9473354
Application ID: 13702782
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of assigning a resource from amongst a plurality of resources to a resource-utilising entity from amongst a plurality of resource-utilising entities, wherein a resource-to-resource-utilising entity assignment has an associated cost, the method comprising: computing network flow costs of assignments for assigning said resources to said resource-utilising entities; constructing/updating a flow network including source nodes corresponding to the resources, transhipment nodes corresponding to the assignments and a demand node, the flow network having arcs representing flow between the nodes, each said arc having an associated said network flow cost; computing said network flow cost of each said arc in accordance with at least one arc cost approximation scheme, wherein the computing of the network flow costs comprises: computing the network flow costs (C f ) for assignments satisfying an equation: C f ⁡ ( a , t ( m t + 1 ) ) = max ⁢ { 0 , U ⁡ ( t ) ⁢ ∏ m = 1 m t ⁢ ⁢ p f ⁡ ( a t ( m ) , l ) ⁢ p s ⁡ ( a , l ) - C a ⁡ ( a , t ) } wherein: a represents a resource from said plurality of resources; p s (a,t)=Probability that asset a successfully executes task t when it is assigned to it, a t(m) represents an assigned resource for the m t th transhipment node to entity t; t (m t ) represents said transhipment node in the flow network denoting a m t th assignment to entity t; U(t) represents a penalty cost U(t) if an entity t is not properly served by a resource; p f (a, t) represents a probability that said resource a will fail in properly serving an entity t when assigned to it; and C a (a, t) represents a cost for assigning a resource a to an entity t; solving a Minimum Cost Flow problem for the flow network with negated arc costs to obtain flow values for the assignments; and assigning said resource to said resource-utilising entity dependent on the flow value obtained for said assignment associated with said resource.