ASSIGNING RESOURCES TO RESOURCE-UTILISING ENTITIES

摘要

A method of assigning a resource from amongst a plurality of resources (12) to a resource-utilising entity from amongst a plurality of resource-utilising entities (D1, D2, D3), wherein a resource-to-resource-utilising entity assignment has an associated cost. The method includes computing (304) network flow costs (Cf) of assignments for assigning said resources to said resource-utilising entities. The method constructs (306) a flow network (200) including source nodes (203) corresponding to the resources, transhipment nodes (205) corresponding to the assignments and a demand node (207), the flow network having arcs (209) representing flow between the nodes, each said arc having an associated said network flow cost (Cf). The method then solves (308) a Minimum Cost Flow problem for the flow network with negated arc costs to obtain flow values (Xf) for the assignments, and assigns (310, 312) a said resource to a said resource- utilising entity dependent on the flow value obtained.