Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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CARRIER PATH PREDICTION BASED ON DYNAMIC INPUT DATA
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a system and method for carrier path prediction of
the type which may be
used to predict the paths of vehicles or vessels which can accept cargo for
shipment, to enable
third parties to select a carrier for shipping cargo.
BACKGROUND
[0001] Generally described, computing devices and communication
networks can be
utilized to exchange data and/or information. In a common application, a
computing device can
request content from another computing device via the communication network.
For example, a
user at a personal computing device can utilize a browser application to
request a content page
(e.g., a network page, a Web page, etc.) from a server computing device via
the network (e.g.,
the Internet). In such embodiments, the user computing device can be referred
to as a client
computing device and the server computing device can be referred to as a
content provider.
[0002] With regard to the shipping industry, various content providers
may provide
information regarding the location, destination or general availability for
identifiable carrier
equipment, such as cargo carriers or shipping vessels. For organizations
wishing to understand a
path of travel, such as destinations, waypoints, etc., for any particular
carrier or carrier equipment,
information available from different content providers, or sources, may be
incomplete or
otherwise inconsistent. Additionally, information provided to different
organizations may vary
based on availability or business relationships.
[0003] Generally described, a carrier organization can provide carrier
equipment, or
cargo carriers, such as vehicles or vessels, that can accept cargo for
shipment. With regard to
ocean going vessels, individual travels of a vessel may be associated with a
set of data, generally
referred to as a voyage, that is defined by a starting location and an ending
location. In between
the starting location and the ending location, the set of data corresponding
to a voyage can also
include loading locations that define specific locations for taking on cargo,
waypoints that define
locations in which the vessel may pass during travel, discharge locations that
define specific
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location for discharging at least portions of cargo, and stopping locations
that define specific
locations in which vessel travel may be temporarily paused. In some
embodiments, voyages can
be dynamic in nature as a carrier organization may adjust one or more
locations (e.g., waypoints,
stopping locations, etc.) during a voyage.
[0004] To maximize revenue, carrier organizations will attempt to
contract with one
or more third parties to transport cargo during a defined voyage. In a typical
scenario, the
capacity of individual vessels to accept cargo throughout different aspects of
a voyage can
change. For example, an individual vessel may have no capacity at the
beginning of a voyage by
taking on a full cargo load at the starting location. During the voyage, the
vessel may traverse
one or more discharge locations in which the vessel gains capacity to accept
additional cargo as it
travels to additional locations in the voyage, such as waypoints, discharge
locations, stopping
locations, etc. In this example, the carrier organization may wish to take on
additional cargo
contracts to supplement or replace cargo as it is discharged throughout the
voyage. In another
example, a vessel may have full capacity to accept cargo as the vessel begins
a voyage and travels
to an established loading location to take on cargo. In this example, the
carrier organization may
wish to take on additional cargo that can be transported and discharged prior
to arriving at the
loading location.
[0005] Various third-party organizations wishing to secure shipping
services for cargo
("third-party shipper") to transport a specific cargo from a first location to
a second location
attempt to obtain as much information as possible to negotiate and secure
cargo shipping
contracts with individual carrier organizations. Third-party shippers can
request information
regarding expected voyage locations from a carrier organization. Third-party
shippers can also
request information associated with individual vessels such as an Automatic
Identification System
("MS") system. Illustratively, MS systems can include static information, such
as ship size,
dynamic information, such as current speed, course, and position, and voyage
information, such as
estimated time of arrival predicted by a captain. Additionally, third-party
shippers can request
information from various organizations that may be involved in aspects of the
vessel or shipping,
such as brokers utilized to negotiated cargo contracts, ports of call, and the
like in order to locate
a vessel suitable for the cargo and route they require.
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[0006] Third-party shippers may have access to different types of
information or
different levels of information from a specific information source. For
example, a larger volume
third-party shipper or carrier organization may negotiate with shipping
organizations to get more
detailed voyage information, such as hourly reports regarding current location
and path of travel.
In contrast, a lower volume third-party shipper or carrier organization may
only have access to
general publicly available voyage information that is provided once a day or
once a week.
Information sources do not typically confirm to a defined format or standard
and are often
transmitted via different forms of communication (e.g., textual information
via electronic mail and
online communication platforms vs. published in a Web site).
[0007] In some known designs for ship location prediction systems, such
as described
in Parolas et al., Prediction of Vessels' Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA)
Using Machine
Learning ¨ A Port of Rodderdam Case Study, 6th Annual Meeting of the
Transportation
Research 46 Board (January 2017), a potential path or ETA for a vessel can be
predicted using a
single source of information, such as MS information. Such systems attempt to
supplement
inherent errors associated with a single source of information.
[0008] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONS
[0009] An aspect of at least one of the embodiments disclosed herein
includes the
realization that carrier path prediction systems that rely on a single source
of information suffer
from drawbacks that can be overcome by analyzing information from a plurality
of sources and
identifying and compensating for incomplete or inconsistent information
regarding voyages for
individual carriers. For example, a shipping professional might receive from
one or more
information sources, general information that a particular vessel will be in
Asia, without any
details regarding specific ports of call or timeframes for travel. In another
example, a generally
public report may indicate that a vessel nearby the southern portion of the
United States is
traveling toward Central American or South American ports of call while
alternative sources may
indicate that the path of travel is toward the European ports of call.
Accordingly, single
information source systems do not attempt to address inherent issues
associated with multiple
information sources or dynamically variable information sources. Rather,
single source systems
typically attempt to correct issues associated with weather induced delays or
other delays
experienced during a voyage.
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[0010] The
dynamic and incomplete nature of carrier information also presents various
technical problems for third-party shippers attempting to contract with
carriers to transport cargo.
For example, individual information sources about one or more carrier
organizations or vessels
can be formatted and provided in manner that requires specialized knowledge or
procedures.
Such diversity in formatting and sources creates inefficiencies in processing
the vessel voyage
information and in providing available information in a way that facilitates
assessment of carrier
availability. Additionally, the potential for inconsistent or incomplete
information creates
additional processing and decision making inefficiencies for selecting carrier
organizations and
individual vessels. Still further, the potential variances in accessibility or
availability of carrier
information provided by third-party shippers create additional inefficiencies
by varying carrier
information available to individual third-party shippers.
These and other factors make the
prediction of routes of potentially available carrier vessels process
intensive and often lacking in
accuracy. Other problems and technical difficulties may be apparent to one
skilled in the relevant
art and accordingly are not limited to the illustrative inefficiencies
described above.
[0011]
Another aspect of at least one of the embodiments disclosed herein includes
the
realization that methods and systems for predicting cargo ship voyage paths
can be improved to
provide significantly faster and more accurate results by analyzing vessel
voyage information from
multiple sources and identifying common anchor points among a plurality of
initial partial voyage
paths, then resolving complete path scenarios based at least in part the
identified common anchor
points.
[0012]
Another aspect of at least one of the embodiments disclosed herein includes
the
realization that providing a system that can generate voyage path and shipment
availability
predictions for more than one hundred vessels for at least two weeks into the
future in less than
one-half hour can provide a shipping professions with a significant advantage
in the ability to
identify the best vessel for a particular proposed shipment. For example, some
modern shipping
professionals can be provided with vessel information updates as frequently as
every one-half
hour, from multiple vessel information sources, regarding over one hundred
vessels. Currently,
some such professionals compete with other similarly positioned professionals,
each attempting to
find a vessel that can satisfy a particular shipment as quickly as possible.
Such a shipping
professional might receive information regarding a number of vessels that
could potentially satisfy
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a shipment, one-half hour later, and before the professional contracts with an
appropriate vessel,
new information arrives indicating a different set of vessels that might be
available. This higher
frequency cycle of information flow can make it difficult for a shipping
professional to
successfully investigate potential vessel availability with the best, most
recently updated
information.
[0013] Another aspect of at least one of the embodiments disclosed
herein includes the
realization that process of analyzing and indexing vessel information received
by shipping
professionals, and subsequent prediction of vessel voyage paths, can be
significantly improved by
providing a service for indexing non-indexed vessel information. For example,
some shipping
professionals receive large numbers of communications with vessel information,
many of which
can be in for form of non-indexed full text, images of text, and can be
formatted in various
different ways. Some such communications can come be transmitted to shipping
professional in
the form of emails, faxes, or other forms of communications.
[0014] Thus, in some embodiments, a (system/method) for predicting
shipping vessel
availability can include a natural language vessel information parser
configured to index, non-
indexed vessel information from a plurality of different sources and formatted
in a plurality of
different formats into at least vessel name data, port name data, and vessel
status data. In some
embodiments, the methods and systems can recognize abbreviations and acronyms
that are unique
to the shipping industry. As such, a professional can input large numbers of
emails into the vessel
availability prediction system, including emails that might have non-indexed,
variably formatted,
full text or images of text relating to a large number of vessels, and receive
predicted availability
solutions with only a short wait. For example, in some embodiments, the
systems and methods
can provide predicted availability results for over a thousand vessels,
extending more than two
weeks into the future, using computer hardware that is currently widely
available on the
commercial market. Further improvements can be obtained by streamlining the
prediction process
by identifying common anchor points among a plurality of initial skeleton
voyage paths and using
such anchor points to reduce the number of calculations required for
determining complete
voyage paths. For example, using such anchor point analysis can reduce
processing time for
predicting vessel availability for over one hundred vessels for greater than
two weeks into the
future, using computer hardware that is currently widely available on the
commercial market.
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Such rapidly generated results can further better enable a shipping
professional to investigate
potential shipping contracts based on up-to-date information with the vessel
operators likely to
agree to the most favorable terms for shipment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] Throughout the drawings, reference numbers may be re-used to
indicate
correspondence between referenced elements. The drawings are provided to
illustrate example
embodiments described herein and are not intended to limit the scope of the
disclosure.
[0016] FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a carrier planning environment
that includes one
or more user devices, one or more carrier information sources, a carrier path
and shipment
planning system and carrier organizations in accordance with some embodiments;
[0017] FIGS. 1B1 and 1B2 are block diagrams illustrative of voyage
state diagrams
defining one or more locations for a vessel in accordance with some
embodiments;
[0018] FIG 2 is a block diagram illustrative of components of user
device for
requesting and receiving content associated with carrier path determinations
in accordance with
some embodiments;
[0019] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrative of components of a
carrier path and
shipment planning system in accordance with some embodiments;
[0020] FIGS. 4A-4B are block diagrams of the carrier planning
environment of FIG. 1
illustrating the collection of carrier information sources and processing of
carrier information to
generate carrier path information in accordance with some embodiments;
[0021] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrative of a carrier information
processing and
planning routine implemented by a carrier path and shipment planning system in
accordance with
some embodiments;
[0022] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrative of data input processing
routine
implemented by a carrier path and shipment planning system in accordance with
some
embodiments;
[0023] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrative of a path generation
routine implemented
by a carrier path and shipment planning system in accordance with some
embodiments;
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[0024] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrative of a full path scenario
processing routine
implemented by a carrier path and shipment planning system in accordance with
some
embodiments;
[0025] FIG 9 is a block diagram illustrative of a user interface
generated on a user
device identifying carrier information in accordance with some embodiments;
and
[0026] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrative of a user interface
generated on a user
device identifying carrier information in accordance with some embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0027] To address at least in part some of the above-described
deficiencies associated
with managing one or more aspects of carrier organizations and third-party
shippers, aspects of
the present application correspond to a method and system for managing carrier
vessel
information. More specifically, aspects of the present application correspond
to a carrier path and
shipment planning system for processing carrier information sources to predict
one or more paths
for one or more carrier vessels. The carrier information sources can
correspond to at least partial
information related to one or more carrier equipment, such as vessels. For any
given vessel, the
carrier information can illustratively include one or more of an automatic
identification system
("ATS") information source relating to location information for vessels,
market intelligence ("MI")
information source(s) related to information regarding a next
destination/operation of vessels,
fixtures information source(s) related to loading and discharging information
for vessels, port
authorities information source(s) related to loading and discharging
information for vessels,
customer user information source(s) related to information about own vessels
and historical
voyage information related to previous voyage information for vessels.
[0028] Based on the carrier information source information, the carrier
path and
shipment planning system processes the carrier information to generate a set
of skeleton scenario
paths that identify possible voyage information corresponding to individual
carrier information
sources. Illustratively, the carrier path and shipment planning system further
identifies anchoring
information along with the skeleton scenario paths that serves as reference
information for
comparing and further processing the skeleton scenario paths.
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[0029] Utilizing the generated skeleton scenario paths and anchoring
information, the
carrier path and shipment planning system processes the set of skeleton
scenario paths to create
one or more complete scenarios. The complete scenarios represent various
combinations of the
skeleton scenario paths that may be possible. The carrier path and shipment
planning system can
further process any outstanding skeleton scenario paths and assess penalty
models for completed
paths. The penalty models illustratively characterize weights or scores for
possible completed
paths that characterize the potential for errors in the calculated path. These
penalty scores may be
based on the amount of information used to generate each skeleton path and
thus relate to the
likelihood of that skeleton path being accurate. Based on the penalty models,
the carrier path and
shipment planning system utilizes control rules that reflect specific business
rules and assigns a
score that determines the degree of suitability/matching of the rule onto the
path. The carrier path
and shipment planning system also assigns scores that define whether a future
path is feasible or
not.
[0030] Based on the further processing, the carrier path and shipment
planning system
then ranks the paths and determines one or more candidate paths. The carrier
path and shipment
planning system can then generate various interfaces for identifying selected,
ranked paths,
information associated with a competitive marketplace and availability
information for contracting
for cargo shipment. A user can then further manipulate the user interfaces for
scenario planning
or filtering available selections.
[0031] In accordance with one or more aspects of the present
application, the carrier
path and shipment planning system can continue to leverage the information
sources and level of
information that is available to individual third-parties. Accordingly, it may
be possible for the
results of the processing of the shipping information sources to have
different outcomes for
different third-parties based on different shipping information or levels of
shipping information.
For example, a first third-party shipper may have detailed access to waypoint
location information
or destination location information while a second third-party shipper may
have only generic
access to the same type of information.
[0032] Based on aspects of the present application, the carrier path
and shipment
planning system will be described as facilitating various applications or
examples for associating
paths for various vessels based on a dynamic set of carrier information
sources. Such examples
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are illustrative in nature and should not be construed as limiting or
exhaustive of all possible
applications of one or more aspects of the present application.
[0033] FIG. 1A illustrates a general carrier planning environment 100
for managing
information associated with one or more carrier organizations and one or more
third-party
shipping organizations. The carrier planning environment 100 includes a
plurality of user
devices 102 utilized by individual users, generally referred to as user
computing devices, to
request access to carrier and shipping information from a carrier path and
shipment planning
system 120. Illustratively, the carrier path and shipment planning system 120
receives carrier and
shipping information from a plurality of information sources 130 available to
each individual third-
party and generates one or more paths for carrier equipment such as vessels to
facilitate the
selection and contracting of vessels by third-party shippers. The carrier path
and shipment
planning system may receive carrier and shipping information specific to a
third party to be
processed in response to a request from a third party shipper. Additionally,
the carrier path and
shipment planning system 120 can receive configuration information, such as
data processing
rules, from computing devices associated with one or more carrier
organizations 150.
[0034] With reference to FIGS 1B1 and 1B2, as described above,
individual vessel
voyages can be defined as a series of locations. Illustratively, individual
locations in a voyage can
be further characterized based on one or more actions that relate, or
otherwise impact, the ability
for the vessel to contract with third-party shippers. In one aspect, as
illustrated in FIG. 1B1, a
voyage can include a set of locations that are well-established or have
otherwise already occurred
in the past. For example, a vessel may begin a voyage by a set of load
locations 160, 162 in which
the vessel takes on cargo. In this illustrative example, the vessel may be
attributed to no capacity
or little capacity to take on additional cargo. Additionally, the voyage can
include one or more
waypoint locations 164 in which the vessel has passed or which have been
attributed to the vessel.
Thereafter, the voyage can include one or more discharge locations 166, 168 in
which cargo has
been discharged. In this illustrative example, upon completion of the
discharge, the vessel can
take on increasing ability to take on cargo.
[0035] For purposes of illustration, for purposes of predicting future
locations, after
discharge location 168, a carrier path and shipment planning system 120 can
receive information
that may be indicative of one or more different types of activities for a
possible location that may
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be attributed to the illustrated voyage. More specifically, illustratively,
for a next location, the
location, can be a waypoint location 170, a stop location 172, an orders stop
location 174, a
repair location 176. Each of these potential illustrative location types
represent different
branches/possibilities for the voyage, which can influence other possible
future locations. As will
be described in greater detail below, if carrier information is incomplete,
inconsistent or otherwise
ambiguous, the carrier path and shipment planning system 120 can generate
multiple potential
paths representing different branching outcomes and attribute confidence and
feasibility scores for
the different modeled paths.
[0036] Turning to FIG. 1B2, assume that branch discussed above with
regard to
FIG. 1B1, corresponds to a waypoint location 170. Based on this determination,
the carrier path
and shipment planning system 120 can project additional future locations 178,
such as
waypoint 180 and 182. The complete path illustrated in FIG. 1B2, can then be
ranked and
provided graphically to a user to facilitate the selection of a carrier vessel
for shipment. One
skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that voyages do not necessarily
need to be in the order
illustrated in FIG. 1B1 and 1B2.
[0037] Returning to FIG. 1A, user computing devices 102 may include any
number of
different computing devices capable of communicating with a communication
network 140 via a
direct connection or via an intermediary. For example, individual accessing
computing devices
may correspond to a laptop or tablet computer, personal computer, wearable
computer, server,
personal digital assistant ("PDA"), hybrid PDA/mobile phone, mobile phone,
electronic book
reader, set-top box, camera, electronic appliance, controller, digital media
player, watch, eyewear,
a home or car device, Internet of Things ("IoT") devices, virtual reality or
augmented reality
devices, and the like. Each user computing device 102 may optionally include
one or more data
stores (not shown in FIG. 1) including various applications or computer-
executable instructions,
such as web browsers, used to implement the embodiments disclosed herein.
Illustrative
components of a user computing device 102 will be described with regard to
FIG. 2.
[0038] The communication network 140 may be any wired network, wireless
network,
or combination thereof. In addition, the network 140 may be a personal area
network, local area
network, wide area network, cable network, fiber network, satellite network,
cellular telephone
network, data network or combination thereof. In the example environment of
FIG. 1,
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network 140 is a global area network ("GAN"), such as the Internet. Protocols
and components
for communicating via the other aforementioned types of communication networks
are well
known to those skilled in the art of computer communications and thus, need
not be described in
more detail herein. While user devices 102 are depicted as having a single
connection to the
network 140, individual components of the user devices 102 may be connected to
the
network 140 at disparate points. Accordingly, communication times and
capabilities may vary
between the components of FIG. 1.
[0039] The content delivery environment 100 can include a plurality of
carrier
information sources 130 for delivering input signals to the carrier path and
shipment planning
system 120. The carrier information sources 130 may include one or more
servers for delivering
content, a data store for maintaining content and a communication manager for
facilitating
communications to the carrier path and shipment planning system 120 over
network140.
Additionally, the carrier information sources 130 can provide carrier
information to the carrier
path and shipment planning system 120, such as via an API (Application
Programming Interface).
[0040] In accordance with embodiments, the carrier path and shipment
planning
system 120 includes a set of computing components that implement a carrier
information
processing service 122 for receiving and processing content provided by the
carrier information
sources 130 (or other sources). Aspects of the carrier information processing
service 122 will be
described with regard to FIG. 3. The carrier path and shipment planning system
120 can include
one or more data stores 128 for receiving and maintaining carrier information,
such as a database
in which carrier information for each individual carrier can be maintained.
[0041] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the
carrier path and
shipment planning system 120 may have fewer or greater components than are
illustrated in
FIG. 1. Thus, the depiction of the carrier path and shipment planning system
120 in FIG. 1 should
be taken as illustrative. For example, in some embodiments, components of the
carrier path and
shipment planning system 120 may be executed by one more virtual machines
implemented in a
hosted computing environment. A hosted computing environment may include one
or more
rapidly provisioned and released computing resources, which computing
resources may include
computing, networking or storage devices. Additionally, the data stores 124
may be implemented
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in a distributed manner that encompasses multiple computing devices
geographically or logically
distinct.
[0042] FIG. 2 depicts one embodiment of an architecture of an
illustrative user
computing device 102 that can generate content requests and process metric
information in
accordance with the present application. The general architecture of the user
computing
device 102 depicted in FIG. 2 includes an arrangement of computer hardware and
software
components that may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure. As
illustrated, the
user computing device 102 includes a processing unit 204, a network interface
206, an
input/output device interface 209, an optional display 202, and an input
device 224, all of which
may communicate with one another by way of a communication bus.
[0043] The network interface 206 may provide connectivity to one or
more networks
or computing systems, such as the network 140 of FIG. 1A and the carrier path
and shipment
planning system 120. The processing unit 204 may thus receive information and
instructions from
other computing systems or services via a network. The processing unit 204 may
also
communicate to and from memory 210 and further provide output information for
an optional
display 202 via the input/output device interface 209. The input/output device
interface 209 may
also accept input from the optional input device 224, such as a keyboard,
mouse, digital pen, etc.
In some embodiments, the user computing device 102 may include more (or fewer)
components
than those shown in FIG. 2.
[0044] The memory 210 may include computer program instructions that
the
processing unit 204 executes in order to implement one or more embodiments.
The memory 210
generally includes RAM, ROM, or other persistent or non-transitory memory. The
memory 210
may store an operating system 214 that provides computer program instructions
for use by the
processing unit 204 in the general administration and operation of the user
computing device 102.
The memory 210 may further include computer program instructions and other
information for
implementing aspects of the present disclosure. For example, in one
embodiment, the
memory 210 includes interface software 212 for requesting and receiving
content from the carrier
path and shipment planning system 120
[0045] FIG. 3 depicts one embodiment of an architecture of an
illustrative carrier
information processing service 122 for implementing the carrier path and
shipment planning
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system 120 described herein. The general architecture of the carrier
information processing
service 122 depicted in FIG. 3 includes an arrangement of computer hardware
and software
components that may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure. As
illustrated, the
carrier information processing service 122 of the carrier path and shipment
planning system 120
includes a processing unit 304, a network interface 306, a computer readable
medium drive 308,
an input/output device interface 309, all of which may communicate with one
another by way of a
communication bus. The components of the carrier information processing
service 122 may be
physical hardware components or implemented in a virtualized environment.
[0046] The network interface 306 may provide connectivity to one or
more networks
or computing systems, such as the network 14of FIG. 1A. The processing unit
304 may thus
receive information and instructions from other computing systems or services
via a network.
The processing unit 304 may also communicate to and from memory 310 and
further provide
output information for an optional display via the input/output device
interface 309. In some
embodiments, the carrier information processing service 122 may include more
(or fewer)
components than those shown in FIG. 3.
[0047] The memory 310 may include computer program instructions that
the
processing unit 304 executes in order to implement one or more embodiments.
The memory 310
generally includes RAM, ROM, or other persistent or non-transitory memory. The
memory 310
may store an operating system 312 that provides computer program instructions
for use by the
processing unit 304 in the general administration and operation of the carrier
path and shipment
planning system 120.
[0048] The memory 310 may further include computer program instructions
and other
information for implementing aspects of the present disclosure. For example,
in one embodiment,
the memory 310 includes interface software 314 for receiving and processing
requests from user
devices 102, configuration information from carrier organizations 150 and
carrier information
from carrier information sources 130. Memory 310 includes three components for
processing
carrier information to generate processed path information as will be
described below. More
specifically, the memory 310 includes a path generation component 316 to
generate skeleton
scenario paths from carrier information, a path evaluation component 318 to
process a set of
skeleton scenario paths into complete paths and a path ranking component 320
to score, sort and
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rank possible paths. These components represent various logical components
implementing one
or more of the processes identified in the present application. However, such
components are
illustrative in nature and the functionality associated with the various
components can be
implemented in separate computing devices or in various combinations thereof.
[0049] Turning now to FIGS. 4A-4B, an illustrative interaction for the
processing of
carrier information by the components of the carrier planning environment 100
will be described.
For purposes of illustration, the components of carrier planning environment
100 have been
simplified. However, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that
interaction between the
components can include additional communications and may involve additional
components not
specifically illustrated in the FIGS. 4A and 4B.
[0050] With reference to FIG. 4A, the initial configuration of the
carrier information
processing service 122 will be described. As previously described, in one
aspect of the present
application, each user of the carrier information processing service 122, such
as a third-party
shipper, can have different access to carrier information in the form of
different sets of carrier
information sources 130 or different levels or types of information from the
same carrier
information source. For example, a first user may have access to shipping
reports identifying
available to carriers at a port provided by a specific third party broker
while a second user may
not have access to the same report. In another example, two users may have
access to the same
report/information provided by an information source. However, the first user
may only have
access to generally public information available to large set of users
(including public
information). A second user may have access to much more detailed information
from the same
source that can include additional or alternative information not available to
the first user (or
similar users).
[0051] As illustrated in FIG. 4A, in one embodiment, to access the
carrier information
processing service 122, at (1), the user device 102 transmits a carrier path
and planning request to
the carrier information processing service 122. Illustratively, the
transmission of the request can
include various protocols to establish secure communications and authenticate
the user computing
device with the carrier information processing service 122. Additionally, the
request can identify
potential carrier information sources (or credentials), levels of information
access (or credentials),
and the like. In some embodiments, the carrier information processing service
122 can maintain
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and utilize profiles so that the request from user device 102 would not
necessarily require the
transmission of credentials each time. Additionally, for purposes of the
illustration, the request
can also identify search criteria (or access default criteria) that can
identify particular ports of
interest, dates of shipping, types of cargo, and the like.
[0052] At (2), the carrier information processing service 122 processes
the request
from the user device 102 and identifies the carrier information sources 130.
Illustratively, the
identification of the carrier information sources can be based on credentials
included in the request
or maintained in a profile. In other embodiments, the carrier information
processing service 122
can process information about the user computing device 102 request to
identify information
sources including information sources not identified by the user or user
request. For example,
individual information sources may provide criteria that indicate user
eligibility for information.
[0053] At (3), the carrier information processing service 122
configures conditional
access rules that identify the level or type of information that users are
able to access. As
described above, in one embodiment, the carrier information processing service
122 can filter or
otherwise assign information provided by carrier information sources 130 based
on conditional
accesses rules. The conditional access rules illustratively facilitate the
carrier information
processing service 122 processing received carrier information based on user
credentials, time of
day, and other criteria. The conditional access rules can be maintained on a
per user basis, per
carrier information source basis or both.
[0054] Turning now to FIG. 4B, illustrative interaction for the
processing of carrier
information will be described. At (1), the carrier information processing
service 122 and a
plurality of information sources 130 exchange raw information sources related
to the travel of
carrier equipment, such as vessels. By way of example, the plurality of
information sources can
include one or more MS information sources that described various information
about the vessels,
including vessel attributes, location, movement, direction and stated voyage.
The plurality of
information sources can also include marketing intelligence system information
sources that can
include various information regarding the intended voyage locations for
identifiable vessels or
carriers provided by independent third-parties, such as broker reports. The
plurality of information
can also include one or more fixture information sources that identify
information regarding cargo
loading/discharging and capacity for identifiable vessels. The plurality of
information sources can
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further include one or more port authority information sources that identify
various information
regarding actions associated with identifiable vessels, cargo and attributable
actions (e.g., loading,
discharging, etc.). The plurality of information sources can also include one
or more user input
information sources that correspond to custom or manually entered information
about identifiable
vessels. The plurality of information sources can also include one or more
historical information
sources for relaying information regarding historical voyages for identifiable
vessels or carriers.
[0055] As
will be explained below, the carrier information processing service 122 can
receive multiple information, process the information to form one or more
target voyages for
identifiable vessels. In some embodiments, the information sources can include
conflicting or
incomplete information. Although the operation of the carrier information
processing service 122
will be described with regard to the plurality of information sources, one
skilled in the relevant art
will appreciate that the plurality of information sources is not required to
be any particular
combination of the illustrative sources utilized in the illustrative examples.
In some embodiments,
the information sources 130 may transmit raw information sources directly to
the carrier
information processing service 122 based on a request (pull) or registration
(push). Such
transmissions may be based on receipt of new information, time of day, and the
like. Additionally,
in other embodiments, the information sources 130 can implement various
additional interactions
or communication protocols, such as APIs, to facilitate the transmission of
carrier information.
[0056] At
(2), the carrier information processing service 122 processes the various
raw information sources from the carrier information source 130.
Illustratively, each raw
information source can be formatted and transmitted in a different manner.
Accordingly,
processing the raw information to extract or parse relevant information for
forming potential
voyage paths may be unique for each type of information source. For example,
MS information
can include vessel location information and additional information about the
vessel. MI
information can include unique codes or other nomenclature for each third-
party reports.
Processing can include extraction and removal of redundant information.
Fixture information can
also include unique codes or other nomenclature for each fixture report. Port
authority or line up
system information can include unique codes or other nomenclature. Processing
can include
extraction, aggregation and removal of redundant information. The historical
information can
include previous locations and actions for identifiable vessels.
Processing can include
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determination most probably operation at locations, allowed operations, port
distributions, and
the like.
[0057] In each of the above examples, the carrier information may be
encoded in a
difficult to read specific format or in a form requiring additional processing
to be read. For
example, MI information may be transmitted in plaintext format, such as email,
in which location
information is referenced according to a multi-letter code. Such codes may not
be readily
discernable by a layperson without specific knowledge. Additionally, the
carrier information
source may not provide labels or markers that separate different portions of
the carrier
information. Accordingly, processing the carrier information can include
parsing the different
portions of the information, translating specific coding, or supplementing
information included in
the carrier information with additional contextual information. In some
embodiments, the carrier
information processing service 122 can generate user interfaces or information
utilized by the user
devices 102 that correspond to a human readable or human interpretable version
of the processed
carrier information.
[0058] At (3), the carrier information processing service 122 generates
path scenarios
from processed raw information. Illustratively, the carrier information
processing service 122 can
utilize the processed raw information to form one or more skeleton scenario
paths that identify
one or more locations and possible actions at each location for identifiable
vessels. Each skeleton
scenario path can include various anchor points that will function as
identifiable reference points
for combining or aggregating the skeleton scenario paths. Illustratively, the
anchor points can
include identifiable locations in voyage information that can be matched when
compared. Each
different type of information source can be processed to generate the skeleton
scenario path. For
example, the carrier information processing service 122 can utilized the MS
information to
identify future destinations and any action that can be attributed to the
identifiable location. For
MI information, the carrier information processing service 122 can identify
different types of
locations (e.g., ports, waypoints, shipyards, etc.) and attempts to associate
a different activity
based on the type of location. For fixture information, the carrier
information processing
service 122 can utilize complete load and discharge information to generate
the skeleton scenario
paths. For Port Authority information, the carrier information processing
service 122 can utilize
complete load and discharge information to generate the skeleton scenario
paths. For each of the
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above information examples and for custom user, the carrier information
processing service 122
can include estimations or guesses for possible next scenarios.
[0059] At
(4), the carrier information processing service 122 evaluates the path
scenarios. Illustratively, the carrier information processing service 122 can
first combine the
various skeleton scenario paths by associating the anchor points in the
scenario skeleton paths. If
the combined paths contain only port level information, the path is considered
complete. For any
remaining paths that are not combinable, the carrier information processing
service 122 can create
a graph of all possible permissible paths and assign weights to each graph
based on probability of
each variation/alternative.
The weights can illustratively be based on historical voyage
information as input or other expert information sources. The resulting path
with the least (or
most) weight will be considered the least (or most) probable path.
[0060]
Illustratively, for each completed path, the carrier information processing
service 122 can then assign or apply a penalty model related to the locations
and activities
associated with the identified locations and activities in each target
completed path. For example,
the carrier information processing service 122 can assign penalties for
certain activities, such as
repairs or stops, that may not be indicative of vessels in voyage. In another
example, the carrier
information processing service 122 can associate penalties for multiple
discharge and loading
activities that exceed a threshold or that otherwise are not indicative of
typical activities. The
carrier information processing service 122 can also utilize control rules that
associate a degree of
suitability of the locations and actions in the complete target path and
associate a score
attributable to the control rules. The control rules attempt to score
locations and actions that are
matched from multiple sources, which increases the likelihood that the
location and actions are
correct. Still further, the carrier information processing service 122 can
also attribute feasibility of
the target paths. Illustratively, feasibility attributes the likelihood that
the associated actions are
feasible. For example, the carrier information processing service 122 can
penalize a path in which
a load operation is identified for a vessel that is attributed with a full
load. In another example,
carrier information processing service 122 can penalize a path in which
discharge operation
occurs prior to load operations for the cargo. Based on the processing, the
carrier information
processing service 122 attributes a score for each complete target path.
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[0061] At (5), the carrier information processing service 122 generates
a ranked set of
path scenarios for each identifiable vessel. The set of paths are ranked.
Additionally, the ranked
set of paths can also include a confidence value indicative of the attributed
strength of the sorting.
[0062] At (6), the carrier information processing service 122 generates
path scenario
interfaces for display on the user device 102. Illustratively, the path
scenario interfaces are
responsive to the request received from the user device 102. Such interfaces
can include an
identification of paths for identified vessels, an identification of possible
vessels attributable to a
defined port within a time range, a density function associated with the
estimated number of
possible vessels relative to historical and current information. For example,
values below one are
indicative of a lower number of available vessels than historically available.
Values above one are
indicative of a higher number of available vessels. Accordingly, users can
utilize the density
information to attribute shipping freight values/prices based on available
supply. At (7), the user
device 102 and carrier information processing service 122 can interact via the
interface for
additional searching, processing requests and the like.
[0063] Turning now to FIG. 5, a routine 500 for processing carrier
information
implemented by the carrier information processing service 122 will be
described. At block 502,
the carrier information processing service 122 receives a request for carrier
planning and
information source identification. Illustratively, the user device 102
transmits a carrier path and
planning request to the carrier information processing service 122. The
transmission of the
request can include various protocols to establish secure communications and
authenticate the
user computing device with the carrier information processing service 122.
Additionally, the
request can identify potential carrier information sources (or credentials),
levels of information
access (or credentials), and the like. In some embodiments, the carrier
information processing
service 122 can maintain and utilize profiles so that the request from user
device 102 would not
necessarily require the transmission of credentials each time. Additionally,
for purposes of the
illustration, the request can also identify search criteria (or access default
criteria) that can identify
particular ports of interest, dates of shipping, types of cargo, and the like.
[0064] As described above, the carrier information processing service
122 processes
the request from the user device 102 and identifies the carrier information
sources 130.
Illustratively, the identification of the carrier information sources can be
based on credentials
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included in the request or maintained in a profile. In other embodiments, the
carrier information
processing service 122 can process information about the user computing device
102 request to
identify information sources including information sources not identified by
the user or user
request. For example, individual information sources may provide criteria that
indicate user
eligibility for information.
[0065] Still further, the carrier information processing service 122
configures
conditional access rules that identify the level or type of information that
users may access for
path planning. As described above, in one embodiment, the carrier information
processing
service 122 can filter or otherwise assign information provided by carrier
information sources 130
based on conditional accesses rules. The conditional access rules
illustratively facilitate the carrier
information processing service 122 processing received carrier information
based on user
credentials, time of day, and other criteria. The conditional access rules can
be maintained on a
per user basis, per carrier information source basis or both.
[0066] At block 504, the carrier information processing service 122 and
a plurality of
information sources 130 exchange raw information sources related to the travel
of carrier
equipment, such as vessels. By way of example, the plurality of information
sources can include
one or more MS information sources that described various information about
the vessels,
including vessel attributes, location, movement, direction and stated voyage.
The plurality of
information sources can also include marketing intelligence system information
sources that can
include various information regarding the intended voyage locations for
identifiable vessels or
carriers provided by independent third-parties, such as broker reports. The
plurality of
information can also include one or more fixture information sources that
identify information
regarding cargo loading/discharging and capacity for identifiable vessels. The
plurality of
information sources can further include one or more port authority information
sources that
identify various information regarding actions associated with identifiable
vessels, cargo and
attributable actions (e.g., loading, discharging, etc.). The plurality of
information sources can also
include one or more user input information sources that correspond to custom
or manually
entered information about identifiable vessels. The plurality of information
sources can also
include one or more historical information sources for relaying information
regarding historical
voyages for identifiable vessels or carriers.
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[0067] Illustratively, the carrier information processing service 122
can receive
multiple information, process the information to form one or more target
voyages for identifiable
vessels. In some embodiments, the information sources can be attributed to
conflicting or
incomplete information. Although the operation of the carrier information
processing service 122
will be described with regard to the plurality of information sources, one
skilled in the relevant art
will appreciate that the plurality of information sources is not required to
be any particular
combination of the illustrative sources utilized in the illustrative examples.
In some embodiments,
the information sources 130 may transmit raw information sources directly to
the carrier
information processing service 122 based on a request (pull) or registration
(push). Such
transmissions may be based on receipt of new information, time of day, and the
like. Additionally,
in other embodiments, the information sources 130 can implement various
additional interactions
or communication protocols, such as APIs, to facilitate the transmission of
carrier information.
[0068] At block 506, the carrier information processing service 122
processes the
various raw information sources from the carrier information source 130.
Illustratively, each raw
information source can be formatted and transmitted in a different manner.
Accordingly,
processing the raw information to extract or parse relevant information for
forming potential
voyage paths may be unique for each type of information source. For example,
MS information
can include vessel location information and additional information about the
vessel. MI
information can include unique codes or other nomenclature for each third-
party reports. Fixture
information can also include unique codes or other nomenclature for each
fixture report. Port
authority system information can include unique codes or other nomenclature.
As described
above, for the above-described information, the processing of the information
can include
extraction, aggregation and removal of redundant information. Additionally,
each of the carrier
information sources can be in a format that is encoded in an industry specific
format. The
historical information can include previous locations and actions for
identifiable vessels.
Processing can include a determination of most probable operation at
locations, allowed
operations, port distributions, and the like. An illustrative data processing
routine will be
described with regard to FIG. 6.
[0069] At block 508, the carrier information processing service 122
generates path
scenarios from processed raw information. Illustratively, the carrier
information processing
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service 122 can utilize the processed raw information to form one or more
skeleton scenario paths
that identify one or more locations and possible actions at each location for
identifiable vessels.
Each skeleton scenario path can include various anchor points that will
function as identifiable
reference points, such as identifiable locations, for combining or aggregating
the skeleton scenario
paths. Each different type of information source can be processed to generate
the skeleton
scenario path. For example, the carrier information processing service 122 can
utilize the MS
information to identify future destinations and any action that can be
attributed to the identifiable
location. For MI information, the carrier information processing service 122
can identify different
types of locations (e.g., ports, waypoints, shipyards, etc.) and attempts to
associate a different
activity based on the type of location. For fixture information, the carrier
information processing
service 122 can utilize complete load and discharge information to generate
the skeleton scenario
paths. For Port Authority information, the carrier information processing
service 122 can utilize
complete load and discharge information to generate the skeleton scenario
paths. For each of the
above information examples and for custom user, the carrier information
processing service 122
can include estimations or guesses for possible next scenarios. An
illustrative path generation
process will be described with regard to FIG. 7. In some embodiments, the
scale of the processed
information can generate an initial set of skeleton scenario paths that
includes a large number of
potential paths.
[0070] At
block 510, the carrier information processing service 122 evaluates the path
scenarios. Illustratively, the carrier information processing service 122 can
first combine the
various skeleton scenario paths by associating the anchor points in the
scenario skeleton paths.
Illustratively, the combination of skeleton scenario paths by utilizing common
anchor points (e.g.,
common reference locations) can substantially reduce the set of potential
paths that will require
additional evaluation/scoring as described herein.
Such combination results in increased
processing efficiency by reducing the redundant evaluation of skeleton
scenario paths.
Additionally, the reduction of the skeleton scenario paths can decrease the
overall processing time
of routine 500, which provides overall improved performance of the carrier
information
processing service 122 and can increase the perception of a real-time response
to incoming carrier
information. If the combined paths contain complete information for
evaluation, such as location
information and attributed actions, the path is considered complete. For any
remaining paths that
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are not combinable, the carrier information processing service 122 can create
a graph of all
possible permissible paths and assign weights to each graph based on
probability of each
variation/alternative. The weights can illustratively be based on historical
voyage information as
input or other expert information sources. The resulting path with the least
(or most) weight will
be considered the least (or most) probable path. For example, the carrier
information processing
service 122 can utilize graph analysis to find the shortest graphical path
based on the graphed
probabilities.
[0071] Illustratively, for each completed path, the carrier information
processing
service 122 can then assign or apply a penalty model related to the locations
and activities
associated with the identified locations and activities in each target
completed path. For example,
the carrier information processing service 122 can assign penalties for
certain activities, such as
repairs or stops, that may not be indicative of vessels in voyage. In another
example, the carrier
information processing service 122 can associate penalties for multiple
discharge and loading
activities that exceed a threshold or that otherwise are not indicative of
typical activities. The
carrier information processing service 122 can also utilize control rules that
associate a degree of
suitability of the locations and actions in the complete target path and
associate a score
attributable to the control rules. The control rules attempt to score
locations and actions that are
matched from multiple sources, which increased the likelihood that the
location and actions are
correct. Still further, the carrier information processing service 122 can
also attribute feasibility of
the target paths. Illustratively, feasibility attributes the likelihood that
the associated actions are
feasible. For example, the carrier information processing service 122 can
penalize a path in which
a load operation is identified for a vessel that is attributed with a full
load. In another example,
carrier information processing service 122 can penalize a path in which
discharge operation
occurs prior to load operations for the cargo. Based on the processing, the
carrier information
processing service 122 attributes a score for each complete target path. An
illustrative path
evaluation process will be described with regard to FIG. 8.
[0072] At block 512, the carrier information processing service 122
generates a
ranked set of path scenarios for each identifiable vessel. The ranked set of
paths includes a
sorting for each path. Additionally, the ranked set of paths can also include
a confidence value
indicative of the attributed strength of the sorting.
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[0073] At block 514, the carrier information processing service 122
generates path
scenario interfaces for display on the user device 102. Illustratively, the
path scenario interfaces
are responsive to the request received from the user device 102. Such
interfaces can include an
identification of paths for identified vessels, an identification of possible
vessels attributable to a
defined port within a time range, a density function associated with the
estimated number of
possible vessels relative to historical information. For example, values below
one are indicative of
a lower number of available vessels than historically available. Values above
one are indicative of
a higher number of available vessels. Accordingly, users can utilize the
density information to
attribute shipping values/prices based on available supply. Illustrative
interfaces generated by the
carrier information processing service 122 will be described with regard to
FIGS. 9 and 10. At
block 516, the routine 500 terminates.
[0074] Turning now to FIG. 6, a routine 600 implemented by the carrier
information
processing service 122 for processing raw information sources will be
described. At block 602,
the carrier information processing service 122 and a plurality of information
sources 130 exchange
raw information sources related to the travel of carrier equipment, such as
vessels. By way of
example, the plurality of information sources can include one or more MS
information sources
that described various information about the vessels, including vessel
attributes, location,
movement, direction and stated voyage. The plurality of information sources
can also include
marketing intelligence system information sources that can include various
information regarding
the intended voyage locations for identifiable vessels or carriers provided by
independent
third-parties, such as broker reports. The plurality of information can also
include one or more
fixture information sources that identify information regarding cargo loading
and capacity for
identifiable vessels. The plurality of information sources can further include
one or more port
authority information sources that identify various information regarding
actions associated with
identifiable vessels, cargo and attributable actions (e.g., loading,
discharging, etc.). The plurality
of information sources can also include one or more user input information
sources that
correspond to custom or manually entered information about identifiable
vessels. The plurality of
information sources can also include one or more historical information
sources for relaying
information regarding historical voyages for identifiable vessels or carriers.
At block 604, the
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carrier information processing service 122 stores the raw information sources
and indexes for
future use.
[0075] As
described previously, the carrier information processing service 122 can
receive multiple information, process the information to form one or more
target voyages for
identifiable vessels. In some embodiments, the information sources can be
attributed to
conflicting or incomplete information. Although the operation of the carrier
information
processing service 122 will be described with regard to the plurality of
information sources, one
skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the plurality of information
sources is not required to
be any particular combination of the illustrative sources utilized in the
illustrative examples. In
some embodiments, the information sources 130 may transmit raw information
sources directly to
the carrier information processing service 122 based on a request (pull) or
registration (push).
Such transmissions may be based on receipt of new information, time of day,
and the like.
Additionally, in other embodiments, the information sources 130 can implement
various additional
interactions or communication protocols, such as APIs, to facilitate the
transmission of carrier
information.
[0076] At
block 606, the carrier information processing service 122 processes the
various raw information sources from the carrier information source 130.
Illustratively, each raw
information source can be formatted and transmitted in a different manner.
Accordingly,
processing the raw information to extract or parse relevant information for
forming potential
voyage paths may be unique for each type of information source. For example,
MS information
can include vessel location information and additional information about the
vessel. MI
information can include unique codes or other nomenclature for each third-
party reports. Fixture
information and port authority system can also include unique codes or other
nomenclature for
each fixture report. Processing can include extraction and removal of
redundant information.
As described above, for the above-described information, the processing of the
information can
include extraction, aggregation and removal of redundant information.
Additionally, each of the
carrier information sources can be encoded in an industry specific format.
Processing can include
extraction, aggregation and removal of redundant information. The historical
information can
include previous locations and actions for identifiable vessels.
Processing can include
determination most probably operation at locations, allowed operations, port
distributions, and
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the like. At block 608, the carrier information processing service 122
generates processed reports
for utilization in the generation of paths. At block 610, the routine 600
terminates.
[0077] With reference to FIG. 7, a routine 700 implemented by the
carrier information
processing service 122 for generation of target paths will be described.
Illustratively, the carrier
information processing service 122 can utilize the processed raw information
to form one or more
skeleton scenario paths that identify one or more locations and possible
actions at each location
for identifiable vessels.
[0078] Accordingly, at block 702, the carrier information processing
service 122
enters into an iterative loop by selecting the next processing information. At
block 704, the
carrier information processing service 122 generates path scenarios from
processed raw
information. Each skeleton scenario path can include various anchor points
that will function as
identifiable reference points for combining or aggregating the skeleton
scenario paths. Each
different type of information source can be processed to generate the skeleton
scenario path. For
example, the carrier information processing service 122 can utilize the MS
information to identify
future destinations and any action that can be attributed to the identifiable
location. For MI
information, the carrier information processing service 122 can identify
different types of locations
(e.g., ports, waypoints, shipyards, etc.) and attempts to associate a
different activity based on the
type of location. For fixture information, the carrier information processing
service 122 can
utilize complete load and discharge information to generate the skeleton
scenario paths. For Port
Authority information, the carrier information processing service 122 can
utilize complete load
and discharge information to generate the skeleton scenario paths. For each of
the above
information examples and for custom user, the carrier information processing
service 122 can
include estimations or guesses for possible next scenarios. At block 706, the
carrier information
processing service 122 defines anchor points in each skeleton scenario path.
At decision
block 708, a test is conducted to determine whether additional processed raw
information sources
are available. If so, the routine 700 returns to block 702.
[0079] Once all the information sources have been processed, at block
710, the carrier
information processing service 122 combines the various skeleton scenario
paths by associating
the anchor points in the scenario skeleton paths. If the combined paths
contain only port level
information, the path is considered complete. For any remaining paths that are
not combinable, at
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block 712, the carrier information processing service 122 can create a graph
of all possible
permissible paths and assign weights to the graph based on estimated
probabilities of each
variation/alternative. The weights can illustratively be based on historical
voyage information as
input or other expert information sources. The resulting path with the least
(or most) weight will
be considered the least (or most) probable path.
[0080]
Illustratively, for each completed path, at block 714, the carrier information
processing service 122 can then assign or apply a penalty model related to the
locations and
activities associated with the identified locations and activities in each
target completed path. For
example, the carrier information processing service 122 can assign penalties
for certain activities,
such as repairs or stops, that may not be indicative of vessels in voyage. In
another example, the
carrier information processing service 122 can associated penalties for
multiple discharge and
loading activities that exceed a threshold or that otherwise are not
indicative of typical activities.
At block 716, the routine 700 terminates.
[0081]
With reference now to FIG. 8, a routine 800 implemented by the carrier
information processing service 122 will be described. At block 802, the
carrier information
processing service 122 obtains the processed target paths. As described above,
the carrier
information processing service 122 can also utilize control rules that
associate a degree of
suitability of the locations and actions in the complete target path and
associate a score
attributable to the control rules. The control rules attempt to score
locations and actions that are
matched from multiple sources, which increased the likelihood that the
location and actions are
correct. Accordingly, at block 806, the carrier information processing service
122 determines the
suitability score based on application of the controls rules.
[0082]
Still further, the carrier information processing service 122 can also
attribute
feasibility of the target paths. Illustratively, feasibility attributes the
likelihood that the associated
actions are feasible. At block 808, the carrier information processing service
122 assigns a score
of future path suitability. For example, the carrier information processing
service 122 can
penalize a path in which a load operation is identified for a vessel that is
attributed with a full load.
In another example, carrier information processing service 122 can penalize a
path in which
discharge operation occurs prior to load operations for the cargo. Based on
the processing, the
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carrier information processing service 122 attributes a score for each
complete target path. At
block 810, the routine 810 terminates.
[0083] Turning now to FIGS. 9 and 10, illustrative interfaces generated
by the carrier
information processing service 122 will be described. With reference to FIG.
9, a first
interface 902 can be utilized to search information from a user.
Illustratively, the screen
interface 902 can include controls for identify shipping ports 904, 906,
shipping dates 908, 910,
destination ports 912, 914 and cargo types 916, 918. The fields can include
various information
that can be manually entered into the interface, extracted from profiles or
populated with default
information. Additionally, the interface 902 can include alternative fields or
data entry models for
obtaining the information.
[0084] The screen interface 902 can also include an identification of
set of vessels 920
that have an estimated path that is predicted to be able to satisfy the
entered search criteria. The
list may be stacked ranked based on the calculated score, which can be
indicative of the
confidence value of the predicated path. The list may also be stack ranked
based on user
preferences for specific carriers or vessels or based on historical use of a
carrier or vessel. The
screen interface can further include a description of value index. As
described above, the value
index can correspond to a density function associated with the estimated
number of possible
vessels relative to historical information. For example, values below one are
indicative of a lower
number of available vessels than historically available. Values above one are
indicative of a higher
number of available vessels. Accordingly, users can utilize the density
information to attribute
shipping values/prices based on available supply.
[0085] With reference now to FIG. 10, an interface 1002 generated by
the carrier
information processing service 122 for display on a user device 102 will be
described.
Interface 1002 corresponds to details about the estimate voyage of an
identified vessel. The
interface includes fields for identifying the vessel 1004 and a confidence
value for the estimated
path 1006. As described above, the confidence value can correspond to the
ranking score
generated by the carrier information processing service 122.
[0086] The interface can also include a graphical representation of the
projected
voyage 1006. The graphical representation can identify one or more locations,
actions associated
with each location and possible alternatives if multiple paths have been
identified. In one
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embodiment, the different alternatives may be identifying or characterized
using different visual
cues to identify confidence values for each alternative. Illustratively, the
confidence value can be
representative of the penalty values, the suitability scores, the feasibility
scores or other
calculation. The visual cues can be based on different colors, line weights,
fonts, and the like.
Additionally, the screen interface can include additional graphical icons or
cues that graphically
represent attributes of the path locations (e.g., types of actions, etc.).
[0087] One or more aspects of the present application can include the
following:
Clause 1: A system for determining availability of shipping vessels for future
shipping voyages
based on a dynamic set of vessel information sources comprising:
one or more computing devices associated individual vessel information
sources,
wherein the individual vessel information sources transmit vessel information
associated
with individual vessels;
one or more computing devices associated with a vessel path and shipment
planning service, wherein the vessel path and shipment planning service is
configured to:
obtain a request for vessel planning and information source identification
corresponding to possible vessels for contracting;
receive a set of vessel information from a plurality of vessel information
sources including at least a first set of non-indexed vessel data from a first
vessel
information source and a second set of non-indexed vessel data from a second
vessel information source, the first and second sets of vessel data being
formatted
differently;
index the first and second sets of non-indexed vessel data with vessel
identity data portions, vessel location data portions, and vessel loading
status data
portions, so as to generate first and second sets of indexed vessel data;
process the set of vessel information including the first and second sets of
indexed vessel data to form a number of skeleton scenario paths for
identifiable
vessels, wherein individual skeleton scenario paths for a vessel are defined
by one
or more anchor points;
combine the plurality of skeleton scenario paths to form a number of target
paths for individual identifiable vessels, wherein the plurality of skeleton
scenario
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paths are combined according to common anchor points such that the number of
resulting target paths is fewer than the number of skeleton scenario paths;
determining feasibility of target paths based on vessel size and forecast
weather conditions along each of the target paths according to control rules,
wherein individual target paths are scored according to the control rules;
apply a penalty model to the target paths, the penalty model reflective of
the location information included in the target paths;
generate a ranked list of the target paths for the individual identifiable
vessels; and
for a requested location, generate an interface responsive to the request for
vessel planning and information source identification identifying at least a
subset of
the identified individual vessels based on the generated ranked list of target
paths
and a value indicator associated with a density of the at least a subset of
the
identified individual vessels.
Clause 2: The system of Claim 1, wherein the individual vessel information
sources transmit two
or more types of vessel information associated with individual vessels and
wherein access to
individual types of vessel information is based on one or more attributes
associated with a user.
Clause 3: The system of Claim 2, wherein the vessel path and shipment planning
service receives
the set of vessel information from the plurality of vessel information sources
based on submitted
attributes associated with the user.
Clause 4: The system of Claim 1, wherein the control rules applied by the
vessel path and
shipment planning service associate a score to a target path based on a
determined degree of
suitability for the target path.
Clause 5: A system for managing interaction with carriers based on a dynamic
set of carrier
information sources comprising:
one or more computing devices associated individual carrier information
sources,
wherein the individual carrier information sources transmit carrier
information
associated with individual vessels;
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one or more computing devices associated with a carrier path and shipment
planning service, wherein the carrier path and shipment planning service is
configured to:
obtain a request for carrier planning and information source identification
corresponding to possible vessels for contracting;
receive a set of carrier information from a plurality of carrier information
sources;
process the set of carrier information to form a plurality of skeleton
scenario paths for identifiable vessels, wherein individual skeleton scenario
paths for a vessel are defined by one or more anchor points;
combine the plurality of skeleton scenario paths to form target paths for
individual identifiable vessels, wherein the plurality of skeleton scenario
paths are combined according to common anchor points and wherein
individual target paths are scored according to control rules;
apply a penalty model to the target paths, the penalty model reflective of
the location information included in the target paths;
generate a ranked list of the target paths for the individual identifiable
vessels; and
for a requested location, generate an interface responsive to the request for
carrier planning and information source identification identifying at least a
subset of the identified individual vessels based on the generated ranked list
of target paths and a value indicator associated with a density of the at
least
a subset of the identified individual vessels.
Clause 6: The system of Claim 5, wherein the individual carrier information
sources transmit two
or more types of carrier information associated with individual vessels and
wherein access to
individual types of carrier information is based on one or more attributes
associated with a user.
Clause 7: The system of Claim 6, wherein the carrier path and shipment
planning service receives
the set of carrier information from the plurality of carrier information
sources based on submitted
attributes associated with the user.
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Clause 8: The system of Claim 5, wherein the control rules applied by the
carrier path and
shipment planning service associate a score to a target path based on a
determined degree of
suitability for the target path.
Clause 9: The system of Claim 5, wherein the control rules applied by the
carrier path and
shipment planning service associate a score to a target path based on a
determined degree of
feasibility for the target path.
Clause 10: The system of Claim 5, wherein the interface includes at least one
display
characteristic indicative of a degree of confidence associated with a target
path for the identified
individual vessels.
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Clause 11: A computer-implemented method for generating an interface from
information
associated with carriers comprising:
obtaining a request for carrier planning and information source identification
corresponding to possible vessels for contracting at a defined location;
processing a set of carrier information for identifiable vessels to form one
or more
target paths for individual identifiable vessels, wherein individual target
paths are
scored according to control rules;
generating a ranked list of the target paths for the individual identifiable
vessels;
and
for the defined location, generating an interface responsive to the request
for
carrier planning and information source identification identifying at least a
subset
of the identified individual vessels based on the generated ranked list of
target
paths.
Clause 12: The computer-implemented method as recited in Claim 11 further
comprising
receiving a set of carrier information from a plurality of carrier information
sources, wherein the
individual carrier information sources transmit carrier information associated
with the individual
identifiable vessels.
Clause 13: The computer-implemented method of Claim 12, wherein the individual
carrier
information sources transmit two or more types of carrier information
associated with individual
vessels and wherein access to individual types of carrier information is based
on one or more
attributes associated with a user.
Clause 14: The computer-implemented method of Claim 13, wherein receiving the
set of carrier
information from the plurality of carrier information sources includes
receiving at least one of the
two or more types of carrier information based on submitted attributes
associated with the user.
Clause 15: The computer-implemented method of Claim 11, wherein processing a
set of carrier
information for identifiable vessels to form one or more target paths for
individual identifiable
vessels includes:
forming a plurality of skeleton scenario paths for identifiable vessels,
wherein
individual skeleton scenario paths for a vessel are defined by one or more
anchor
points; and
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combining the plurality of skeleton scenario paths to form target paths for
individual identifiable vessels, wherein the plurality of skeleton scenario
paths are
combined according to common anchor points.
Clause 16: The computer-implemented method of Claim 11, wherein the control
rules applied by
the carrier path and shipment planning service associate a score to a target
path based on a
determined degree of suitability for the target path.
Clause 17: The computer-implemented method of Claim 16, wherein the degree of
suitability
corresponds to matching location information for locations included in the
target path.
Clause 18: The computer-implemented method of Claim 11, wherein the control
rules applied by
the carrier path and shipment planning service associate a score to a target
path based on a
determined degree of feasibility for the target path.
Clause 19: The computer-implemented method of Claim 18, wherein the degree of
feasibility
corresponds to processing activities associated with locations included in the
target path.
Clause 20: The computer-implemented method of Claim 11, wherein the interface
includes at
least one display characteristic indicative of a degree of confidence
associated with a target path
for the identified individual vessels.
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Clause 21: A computer-implemented method for managing information associated
with carriers
comprising:
processing a set of carrier information for identifiable vessels to form one
or more
target paths for individual identifiable vessels, wherein individual target
paths are
scored according to control rules;
generating a ranked list of the target paths for the individual identifiable
vessels;
and
characterizing at least a subset of the identified individual vessels as
associated
with specified locations and dates based on the generated ranked list of
target
paths.
Clause 22: The computer-implemented method as recited in Claim 21 further
comprising
receiving a set of carrier information from a plurality of carrier information
sources, wherein the
individual carrier information sources transmit carrier information associated
with the individual
identifiable vessels.
Clause 23: The computer-implemented method of Claim 22, wherein the individual
carrier
information sources transmit two or more types of carrier information
associated with individual
vessels and wherein access to individual types of carrier information is based
on one or more
attributes associated with a user.
Clause 24: The computer-implemented method of Claim 22, wherein receiving the
set of carrier
information from the plurality of carrier information sources includes
receiving at least one of the
two or more types of carrier information based on submitted attributes
associated with the user.
Clause 25: The computer-implemented method of Claim 22 further comprising
filtering at least
one of the two or more types of carrier information based on submitted
attributes associated with
the user.
Clause 26: The computer-implemented method of Claim 22, wherein processing the
set of carrier
information for identifiable vessels to form one or more target paths for
individual identifiable
vessels includes:
forming a plurality of skeleton scenario paths for identifiable vessels,
wherein
individual skeleton scenario paths for a vessel are defined by one or more
anchor
points; and
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combining the plurality of skeleton scenario paths to form target paths for
individual identifiable vessels, wherein the plurality of skeleton scenario
paths are
combined according to common anchor points.
Clause 27: The computer-implemented method of Claim 21, wherein the control
rules applied by
the carrier path and shipment planning service associate a score to a target
path based on a
determined degree of suitability for the target path.
Clause 28: The computer-implemented method of Claim 27, wherein the degree of
suitability
corresponds to matching timing information for locations included in the
target path.
Clause 29: The computer-implemented method of Claim 21, wherein the control
rules applied by
the carrier path and shipment planning service associate a score to a target
path based on a
determined degree of feasibility for the target path.
Clause 30: The computer-implemented method of Claim 29, wherein the degree of
feasibility
corresponds to matching predicted activities with one or more historic
activities in the target path.
Clause 31: The computer-implemented method of Claim 21, wherein characterizing
at least a
subset of the identified individual vessels as associated with specified
locations and dates based on
the generated ranked list of target paths includes generating an interface
responsive to the request
for carrier planning and information source identification identifying at
least a subset of the
identified individual vessels based on the generated ranked list of target
paths.
Clause 32: The computer-implemented method of Claim 31, wherein the interface
includes at
least one display characteristic indicative of a degree of confidence
associated with a target path
for the identified individual vessels.
Clause 33: The computer-implemented method of Claim 31, wherein the interface
includes a
value indicator associated with a density of the at least a subset of the
identified individual vessels.
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Clause 34: A system for managing interaction with carriers based on a dynamic
set of carrier
information sources comprising:
one or more computing devices associated individual carrier information
sources,
wherein the individual carrier information sources transmit carrier
information
associated with individual vessels;
one or more computing devices associated with a carrier path and shipment
planning service, wherein the carrier path and shipment planning service is
configured to:
process a set of carrier information for a plurality of vessels to form one or
more target paths for individual identifiable vessels, wherein individual
target paths are scored according to control rules;
generate a ranked list of the target paths for the individual identifiable
vessels; and
characterize at least a portion of the plurality of individual vessels as
associated with specified locations and dates based on the generated ranked
list of target paths.
Clause 35: The system of Claim 34, wherein the individual carrier information
sources transmit
two or more types of carrier information associated with individual vessels
and wherein access to
individual types of carrier information is based on one or more attributes
associated with a user.
Clause 36: The system of Claim 35, wherein the carrier path and shipment
planning service
receives the set of carrier information from the plurality of carrier
information sources based on
submitted attributes associated with the user.
Clause 37: The system of Claim 34, wherein the control rules applied by the
carrier path and
shipment planning service associate a score to a target path based on a
determined degree of
suitability for the target path.
Clause 38: The system of Claim 34, wherein the control rules applied by the
carrier path and
shipment planning service associate a score to a target path based on a
determined degree of
feasibility for the target path.
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Clause 39: The system of Claim 34, wherein the interface includes at least one
display
characteristic indicative of a degree of confidence associated with a target
path for the identified
individual vessels.
Clause 40: The system of Claim 34, wherein the carrier path and shipment
planning service is
further configured to obtain a request for carrier planning and information
source identification
corresponding to possible vessels for contracting;
Clause 41: The system of Claim 34, wherein the carrier path and shipment
planning service
processes the set of carrier information for the plurality of vessels to form
one or more target
paths for individual identifiable vessels by processing the set of carrier
information to form a
plurality of skeleton scenario paths for identifiable vessels, wherein
individual skeleton scenario
paths for a vessel are defined by one or more anchor points;
Clause 42: The system of Claim 41, wherein the carrier path and shipment
planning service
processes the set of carrier information for a plurality of vessels to form
one or more target paths
for individual identifiable vessels by combining the plurality of skeleton
scenario paths to form
target paths for individual identifiable vessels, wherein the plurality of
skeleton scenario paths are
combined according to common anchor points and wherein individual target paths
are scored
according to control rules;
Clause 43: The system of Claim 34, wherein the carrier path and shipment
planning service
processes the set of carrier information for a plurality of vessels to form
one or more target paths
for individual identifiable vessels by applying a penalty model to the target
paths, the penalty
model reflective of the location information included in the target paths;
Clause 44: The system of Claim 34, wherein the carrier path and shipment
planning service
characterizes at least a subset of the identified individual vessels as
associated with specified
locations and dates based on the generated ranked list of target paths
includes generating an
interface responsive to the request for carrier planning and information
source identification
identifying at least a subset of the identified individual vessels based on
the generated ranked list
of target paths.
Clause 45: The system of Claim 44, wherein the interface includes at least one
display
characteristic indicative of a degree of confidence associated with a target
path for the identified
individual vessels.
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Clause 46: The system of Claim 44, wherein the interface includes a value
indicator
associated with a density of the at least a subset of the identified
individual vessels.
[0088] All of the methods and tasks described herein may be performed
and fully
automated by a computer system. The computer system may, in some cases,
include multiple
distinct computers or computing devices (e.g., physical servers, workstations,
storage arrays,
cloud computing resources, etc.) that communicate and interoperate over a
network to perform
the described functions. Each such computing device typically includes a
processor (or multiple
processors) that executes program instructions or modules stored in a memory
or other non-
transitory computer-readable storage medium or device (e.g., solid state
storage devices, disk
drives, etc.). The various functions disclosed herein may be embodied in such
program
instructions, or may be implemented in application-specific circuitry (e.g.,
ASICs or FPGAs) of
the computer system. Where the computer system includes multiple computing
devices, these
devices may, but need not, be co-located. The results of the disclosed methods
and tasks may be
persistently stored by transforming physical storage devices, such as solid
state memory chips or
magnetic disks, into a different state. In some embodiments, the computer
system may be a
cloud-based computing system whose processing resources are shared by multiple
distinct
business entities or other users.
[0089] Depending on the embodiment, certain acts, events, or functions
of any of the
processes or algorithms described herein can be performed in a different
sequence, can be added,
merged, or left out altogether (e.g., not all described operations or events
are necessary for the
practice of the algorithm). Moreover, in certain embodiments, operations or
events can be
performed concurrently, e.g., through multi-threaded processing, interrupt
processing, or multiple
processors or processor cores or on other parallel architectures, rather than
sequentially.
[0090] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, routines, and
algorithm steps
described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be
implemented as electronic
hardware (e.g., ASICs or FPGA devices), computer software that runs on
computer hardware, or
combinations of both. Moreover, the various illustrative logical blocks and
modules described in
connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented or
performed by a
machine, such as a processor device, a digital signal processor (DSP), an
application specific
integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other
programmable logic
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device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or
any combination
thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A processor device
can be a
microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor device can be a
controller, microcontroller,
or state machine, combinations of the same, or the like. A processor device
can include electrical
circuitry configured to process computer-executable instructions. In another
embodiment, a
processor device includes an FPGA or other programmable device that performs
logic operations
without processing computer-executable instructions. A
processor device can also be
implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a
DSP and a
microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in
conjunction with
a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Although described herein
primarily with respect to
digital technology, a processor device may also include primarily analog
components. For
example, some or all of the rendering techniques described herein may be
implemented in analog
circuitry or mixed analog and digital circuitry. A computing environment can
include any type of
computer system, including, but not limited to, a computer system based on a
microprocessor, a
mainframe computer, a digital signal processor, a portable computing device, a
device controller,
or a computational engine within an appliance, to name a few.
[0091]
The elements of a method, process, routine, or algorithm described in
connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodied directly in
hardware, in a
software module executed by a processor device, or in a combination of the
two. A software
module can reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory,
EEPROM
memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of
a non-transitory
computer-readable storage medium. An exemplary storage medium can be coupled
to the
processor device such that the processor device can read information from, and
write information
to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium can be integral
to the processor
device. The processor device and the storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The
ASIC can
reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor device and the
storage medium can
reside as discrete components in a user terminal.
[0092]
Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, "can," "could,"
"might," "may," "e.g.," and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or
otherwise understood
within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain
embodiments include,
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while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements or steps.
Thus, such
conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features,
elements or steps are in any
way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments
necessarily include
logic for deciding, with or without other input or prompting, whether these
features, elements or
steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment. The
terms "comprising,"
"including," "having," and the like are synonymous and are used inclusively,
in an open-ended
fashion, and do not exclude additional elements, features, acts, operations,
and so forth. Also, the
term "or" is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so
that when used, for
example, to connect a list of elements, the term "or" means one, some, or all
of the elements in
the list.
[0093] Disjunctive language such as the phrase "at least one of X, Y,
or Z," unless
specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as
used in general to
present that an item, term, etc., may be either X, Y, or Z, or any combination
thereof (e.g., X, Y,
or Z). Thus, such disjunctive language is not generally intended to, and
should not, imply that
certain embodiments require at least one of X, at least one of Y, and at least
one of Z to each be
present.
[0094] While the above detailed description has shown, described, and
pointed out
novel features as applied to various embodiments, it can be understood that
various omissions,
substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the devices or
algorithms illustrated can be
made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. As can be
recognized, certain
embodiments described herein can be embodied within a form that does not
provide all of the
features and benefits set forth herein, as some features can be used or
practiced separately from
others. The scope of certain embodiments disclosed herein is indicated by the
appended claims
rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the
meaning and range
of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
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