Car separation control in multi-car elevator system

An elevator system comprising:

• an elevator car;
• a system to impart force to the elevator car in a hoistway;
• a motion controller operable to command the system to impart force to the elevator car;
• and
• a controller in communication with the motion controller, the controller configured to execute operations comprising:
• initiating a change in a profile of a target elevator car;
• determining that N elevators cars are affected by the change in the profile of the target elevator car, wherein elevator car N is an elevator car farthest from the target elevator car;
• calculating for each of the N elevator cars an updated profile;
• for each of the N elevator cars, beginning with the Nth elevator car and ending with the target elevator car, performing:
• determining if the updated profile for the elevator car will provide separation between the elevator car and a neighboring elevator car;
• and
• when the updated profile for the elevator car will provide separation between the elevator car and the neighboring elevator car, executing an elevator car profile update process for the elevator car.