Rule-based shopping
View Patent ↗A system, method, and computer-readable medium for generating an itinerary in response to a request from a user are provided. The system includes a memory for storing a market table associated with a respective market, a rule table comprising rules associated with a respective fare class, and a fare table comprising fares associated with each fare class within a respective rule table. Each market table includes rule identifiers corresponding to at least one connection path, and each rule table is associated with a rule identifier corresponding to one of the rule identifiers contained within a respective market table. The system also includes a processing element for determining whether criteria associated with each connection path satisfies the rules within a respective rule table and determining a fare from a respective fare table for at least one connection path corresponding to each fare class associated with the satisfied rules within a respective rule table.
1. A method for generating an itinerary in response to a request from a user comprising:
receiving at least one requested criteria for an itinerary from at least one user;
generating a plurality of connection paths in response to the user's request;
determining, by a processing element, whether the at least one criteria satisfies a plurality of rules associated with each connection path;
determining the combinability of the connection paths for each of at least one fare class based at least in part on at least one combinability rule and in the absence of any information relating to a fare for the at least one connection path, an origin-destination for the at least one connection path, and scheduling for the at least one connection path; and
determining a fare for each connection path corresponding to each fare class associated with at least one satisfied rule, wherein the at least one satisfied rule comprises at least one satisfied combinability rule.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying a plurality of rule identifiers corresponding to each connection path based on the at least one criteria.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining comprises determining whether the at least one criteria satisfies a plurality of rules associated with each connection path for each rule identifier.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating comprises generating at least one connection path using a shortest-path algorithm and a weighted multi-dimensional objective function.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising combining a plurality of connection paths comprising a solution pattern of a sequence of pricing units, wherein each connection path is associated with a respective fare class.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising generating a priority queue for a plurality of combinations of connection paths based on a respective score associated with each fare class.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining a fare for each of the plurality of combinations of connection paths by combining a plurality of fare tables each associated with a respective fare class based on the scores within the priority queue.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising accumulating journey selection criteria based on any remaining rules.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising generating an itinerary for each of the plurality of combinations of connection paths based on the journey selection criteria.
10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the combinability rules comprise category rules, and wherein determining the combinability comprises determining whether the pricing units are combinable based solely on category rules and associated fare classes.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving comprises receiving at least one of origin, destination, and dates of travel from a user.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of determining whether the at least one criteria satisfies a plurality of rules associated with each connection path, determining the combinability of the connection paths for each of at least one fare class based at least in part on at least one combinability rule, and determining a fare for each connection path corresponding to each fare class associated with at least one satisfied rule is performed prior to determining scheduling and availability for the connection paths.
13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to perform a method for generating an itinerary in response to a request from a user comprising:
receiving at least one requested criteria for an itinerary from at least one user;
generating a plurality of connection paths in response to the user's request;
determining whether the at least one criteria satisfies a plurality of rules associated with each connection path;
determining the combinability of the connection paths for each of at least one fare class based at least in part on at least one combinability rule and in the absence of any information relating to a fare for the at least one connection path, an origin-destination for the at least one connection path, and scheduling for the at least one connection path; and
determining a fare for each connection path corresponding to each fare class associated with at least one satisfied rule, wherein the at least one satisfied rule comprises at least one satisfied combinability rule.
14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 , further comprising identifying a plurality of rule identifiers corresponding to each connection path based on the at least one criteria.
15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein determining comprises determining whether the at least one criteria satisfies a plurality of rules associated with each connection path for each rule identifier.
16. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein generating comprises generating at least one connection path using a shortest-path algorithm and a weighted multi-dimensional objective function.
17. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 , further comprising combining a plurality of connection paths comprising a solution pattern of a sequence of pricing units, wherein each connection path is associated with a respective fare class.
18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 , further comprising generating a priority queue for a plurality of combinations of connection paths based on a respective score associated with each fare class.
19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , further comprising determining a fare for each of the plurality of combinations of connection paths by combining a plurality of fare tables each associated with a respective fare class based on the scores within the priority queue.
20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 , further comprising accumulating journey selection criteria based on any remaining rules.
21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 , further comprising generating an itinerary for each of the plurality of combinations of connection paths based on the journey selection criteria.
22. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein receiving comprises receiving at least one of origin, destination, and dates of travel from a user.
23. A system for generating an itinerary in response to a request from a user comprising at least one processing element, the at least one processing element configured to:
receive at least one requested criteria for an itinerary from at least one user;
generate a plurality of connection paths in response to the user's request;
determine whether the at least one criteria satisfies a plurality of rules associated with each connection path;
determine the combinability of the connection paths for each of at least one fare class based at least in part on at least one combinability rule and in the absence of any information relating to a fare for the at least one connection path, an origin-destination for the at least one connection path, and scheduling for the at least one connection path; and
determine a fare for each connection path corresponding to each fare class associated with at least one satisfied rule, wherein the at least one satisfied rule comprises at least one satisfied combinability rule.
24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the at least one processing element is further configured to identify a plurality of rule identifiers corresponding to each connection path based on the at least one criteria.
25. The system of claim 24 , wherein the at least one processing element is further configured to determine whether the at least one criteria satisfies a plurality of rules associated with each connection path for each rule identifier.
26. The system of claim 23 , wherein the at least one processing element is configured to generate the plurality of connection paths at least in part by generating at least one connection path using a shortest-path algorithm and a weighted multi-dimensional objective function.
27. The system of claim 23 , wherein the at least one processing element is further configured to combine a plurality of connection paths comprising a solution pattern of a sequence of pricing units, wherein each connection path is associated with a respective fare class.
28. The system of claim 27 , wherein the at least one processing element is configured to determine whether the at least one criteria satisfies the plurality of rules associated with each connection path at least in part by determining the combinability of the connection paths for each fare class based at least in part on the at least one combinability rule.
29. The system of claim 27 , wherein the at least one processing element is further configured to generate a priority queue for a plurality of combinations of connection paths based on a respective score associated with each fare class.
30. The system of claim 29 , wherein the at least one processing element is further configured to determine a fare for each of the plurality of combinations of connection paths by combining a plurality of fare tables each associated with a respective fare class based on the scores within the priority queue.
31. The system of claim 23 , wherein the received at least one requested criteria comprises at least one of origin, destination, and dates of travel.
32. The system of claim 23 , wherein the at least one processing element is configured to determine whether the at least one criteria satisfies a plurality of rules associated with each connection path, determine the combinability of the connection paths for each of at least one fare class based at least in part on at least one combinability rule, and determine a fare for each connection path corresponding to each fare class associated with at least one satisfied rule prior to determining scheduling and availability for the connection paths.