US 7,584,079 B2Granted

Method of configuring a product

AssigneeConfigit Software A/S

InventorsJakob Lichtenberg, Henrik Reif Andersen, Henrik Hulgaard, Jesper Møller, Anders Steen Rasmussen

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Abstract

A complex product is composed of several parts, where each part may depend on the other. As a consequence of these inter-dependencies, the selection of one part might exclude other parts from being included in the finished product. A consistent configuration is a selection of parts where all inter-dependencies are satisfied. A computer program for computer-assisted configuration helps an end-user to make choices that will lead to a consistent product. The preferred embodiment of the present invention, Virtual Tabulation, is a method for keeping track of inter-dependencies among a large number of parts, to allow for the construction of an efficient and exact configuration program. Such a program allows interactive configuration over networks (e.g., the Internet). Another aspect of the invention, called Smart Search, allows a set of inter-dependencies among parts to be computed from a product database.

A method of configuring a product assisted by a computer comprising a number of components, the method comprising:

providing, for each component, information relating to a group of alternatives for the component,
defining rules relating to compatibilities between alternatives from different components, representing the rules in a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), the DAG including at least one node having at least two pointers pointing to the node, and
iteratively configuring the product assisted by the computer by repeatedly:
choosing a current component,
when at least one of alternatives for the current component is selectable by a user, selecting selectable one of alternatives for the current component,
checking the DAG whether the selected alternative is compatible with other selected alternatives of other chosen components, thereby the product being configured using all of the selected alternatives for all of the components,
wherein the iterative configuring is ended when an alternative is chosen for each component and when the chosen alternatives of the components are compatible, and
wherein the step of iteratively configuring the product further comprises:
for each pair of component and alternative providing a classification of the state of the pair,
adopting the classification to one of a list of outcomes comprising blocked, selectable, user selected, system selected, or forceable,
providing a classification of blocked when the alternative cannot be chosen for the component even without considering choices of alternatives for other components,
providing a classification of selectable when the alternative for the component is compatible with the chosen alternatives from the other components,
providing a classification of user selected when the alternative has already been chosen for the component,
providing a classification of system selected when the alternative is the only choice for the component that is compatible with the chosen alternatives from the other components and the alternative has not been chosen by the user,
providing a classification of forceable when the alternative can be chosen for the component but is incompatible with some of the other choices of alternatives of the other components, and
providing information on the classification to the user.

13 more elements

Facts

Application

09/996,745Filed 30 Nov 2001 · us provisional application

Priority

8 Dec 2000

Published

US 2002/0165701 A17 Nov 2002

Granted

1 Sep 2009

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification11 codes

G06Q 10/04
Administration; Management: forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or…
G06F 30/15
Geometric CAD: vehicle, aircraft or watercraft design
G06Q 10/00
Administration
G06Q 30/02
Commerce: marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Claims38