US 7,062,480 B2 · System and method for caching and utilizing flight availability data

Abstract

A system (10) operable to cache and retrieve flight availability data comprises a cache database (50) for storing flight availability data, an airline cache control (60) for configuring the cache database (50) for a plurality of airlines, a subscriber cache control (70) for configuring the cache database (50) for a plurality of subscribers (20), a cache query utility (80) for interacting with the cache database (50). The system (10) further comprises a data display utility (90) for displaying flight availability data stored in the cache database (50), a success rate utility (100) for tracking statistics associated with use of the cache database (50), and a dual mode processing utility (110) that allows a technician to access flight availability data from either the cache database (50) or a real-time response. The system (10) is preferably used as an intermediary between the subscribers (20) and a plurality of airline servers (25).

Claims21

Dependent claims

A system for caching and utilizing flight availability data for specific subscribers, the system comprising:

a server for receiving and processing availability requests from the subscribers;
a cache database for temporarily storing flight availability data for the subscribers;
a cache query utility for adding flight availability data from an airline server to the cache database, querying the cache database, returning flight availability data from the cache database that was stored in response to an availability request if a communication failure occurs with the airline server, and deleting flight availability data from the cache database after a shelf-life has expired;
an airline cache control for configuring a minimum seat count for the flight availability data stored in the cache database for the airline server, wherein the minimum seat count specifies how many seats must be available on each flight in order to use the flight availability data stored in the cache database, the server communicating with the airline server to retrieve flight availability data if the minimum seat count is not satisfied.

1 more element

A computer program product for caching and utilizing flight availability data for specific subscribers comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable code embedded therein, the computer readable medium comprising:

a cache database for temporarily storing flight availability data and configured to only store flight availability data for subscribers and airline servers that have been configured to use the cache database;
a cache query utility for adding flight availability data to the cache database from an airline server, querying the cache database, returning flight availability data from the cache database in response to an availability request if a communication failure with the airline server occurs, deleting flight availability data from the cache database after a shelf-life has expired;
and
an airline cache control for configuring a minimum seat count for using the flight availability data stored in the cache database for each airline, wherein the minimum seat count specifies how many seats must be available on each flight in order to use the flight availability data stored in the cache database, and communicating with the airline server to retrieve flight availability data if the minimum seat count is not satisfied.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

System and method for caching and utilizing flight availability data

Life of this patent

System and method for caching and utilizing flight availability data

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims21