| 摘要 |
Embodiments of the invention arc concerned with scheduling resources to perform tasks requiring a plurality of capabilities or capabilities and capacities, and has particular application to highly changeable or uncertain environments in which the status and the composition of tasks and/or resources changes frequently. Embodiments provide a method for use in a scheduling process for scheduling allocation of resources to a task, each resource having a plurality of attributes, wherein the task has one or more operational constraints including a required plurality of capabilities, and a performance condition associated therewith. The method comprises:
receiving data indicative of a change to the status of the scheduling process;
in response to receipt of the status data, reviewing the attributes of individual resources so as to identify combinations of resources able to collectively satisfy said capability requirements of the task;
evaluating each identified combination of resources in accordance with a performance algorithm so as to identify an associated performance cost;
selecting a combination of resources whose identified performance cost meets the performance condition; and
scheduling said task on the basis of said selected combination of resources. In embodiments of this aspect of the invention, changes to resource configurations are effected as part of the scheduling process. These changes can be made dynamically, in response to the occurrence of events that have a bearing on the scheduling process, and involve aggregating resources together so as to create, essentially, a new resource pool from which selection can be made. |
