Strategy driven planning system and method of operation

A digital computer executing a software system for automatic execution of planning strategies, comprising:

• a data storage device operable to store data representing a plan, an environment and a plurality of automatic strategies, wherein the plan defines a scheduled operation of a user environment, the environment defines behavior and constraints of the user environment, and each of the plurality of automatic strategies defines a plan domain, problem selection criteria, plan optimality criteria, and termination criteria;
• each plan domain defining a portion of the plan that the automatic strategy can adjust;
• each problem selection criteria defining problems within the plan domain that the automatic strategy can attempt to resolve;
• each plan optimality criteria defining a level of optimality to be achieved by the automatic strategy;
• and
• each termination criteria defining a termination point for execution of the automatic strategy;
• an execution memory operable to store data representing a software system;
• a display operable to provide a user interface to a user to allow a user to select and initiate execution of an automatic strategy;
• and
• a processor coupled to the data storage device, the execution memory and the display, the processor executing the software system to provide;
• a planning engine operable to identify a plurality of problems by comparing the plan to the behavior and constraints defined by the environment and operable to execute the selected automatic strategy and to adjust the plan automatically according to the selected automatic strategy.

A method of automatically operating a strategy driven planning system in a digital computer to execute planning strategies, comprising:

• providing a plan defining a scheduled use of a user environment;
• providing an environment defining behavior and constraints of the user environment;
• providing a plurality of automatic strategies each defining a plan domain, problem selection criteria, plan optimality criteria, and termination criteria;
• each plan domain defining a portion of the plan that the automatic strategy can adjust;
• each problem selection criteria defining problems within the plan domain that the automatic strategy can attempt to resolve;
• each plan optimality criteria defining a level of optimality to be achieved by the automatic strategy;
• and
• each termination criteria defining a termination point for execution of the automatic strategy;
• identifying a plurality of problems by comparing the plan with the behavior and constraints defined by the environment;
• executing a selected automatic strategy and adjusting the plan according to the selected automatic strategy;
• and
• repeating the steps of identifying and executing to create an acceptable plan.