Robotic process automation system with queue orchestration and task prioritization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10908950-B1
Application number	US-201816146485-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 28, 2018
Priority date	Apr 20, 2018
Publication date	Feb 2, 2021
Grant date	Feb 2, 2021

Abstract

A robotic process automation (RPA) system receives task prioritization inputs that specify prioritization for processing of a set of RPA tasks. The tasks are performed in accordance with the specified priorities. The RPA system also receives queue orchestration commands that specify conditions under which tasks processed from a first queue are sent to another queue for subsequent processing. The RPA system also provides service level automation in accordance with specified parameters. Further task prioritization may be specified to provide quality of service performance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A robotic process automation system comprising:
data storage for storing,
a plurality of sets of task processing instructions, each set of task processing instructions comprising a plurality of task processing instructions operable to be executed at a user level by one or more user level application programs to execute a corresponding work item; and
a plurality of sets of work items, each set of work items stored for subsequent execution by a corresponding device pool comprising a plurality of devices executing a corresponding set of task processing instructions, wherein each set of work items is a plurality of work items of a specific type characterized by a schema comprising a plurality of attributes, wherein each work item within a set of work items contains a value for each attribute in the schema corresponding to the set of work items to control execution of the work item, and wherein the device pools are provisioned and deployed by the robotic process automation system; and

a processor operatively coupled to the data storage and configured to execute processor instructions that when executed cause the processor to:
create a first queue for storing a first set of work items from the plurality of sets of work items based on one or more user inputs;
assign the first set of work items from the data storage to the first queue based on one or more user inputs;
identify as one or more prioritization attributes, one or more attributes within a first schema corresponding to the first set of work items based on one or more user inputs;
prioritize execution of the first set of work items in the first queue that have a value of the identified one or more prioritization attributes corresponding to a user defined prioritization value or prioritization range based on one or more user inputs; and
transmit, from the data storage, a first set of the task processing instructions corresponding to the first set of work items to a corresponding first device pool for execution, wherein the first device pool executes the first set of work items in the first queue by executing the transmitted first set of task processing instructions at a user level with one or more first user level application programs on the first device pool according to the identified one or more prioritization attribute values, and wherein the robotic process automation system recommends the size of the device pools and redeploys the first device pool with additional work items as the first device pool completes execution of the first set of work items.

2. The robotic process automation system of claim 1 wherein the processor instructions that when executed cause the processor to further prioritize execution of work items in the first queue that have a value of the one or more prioritization attributes that is greater than the user defined prioritization value.

3. The robotic process automation system of claim 1 wherein the processor instructions that when executed cause the processor to further prioritize execution of work items in the first queue that have a value of the one or more prioritization attributes that is within the prioritization range.

4. The robotic process automation system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to execute processor instructions that when executed cause the processor to:
receive device requests originating from one or more devices in the device pools, wherein each of the device pools is executing a corresponding set of task processing instructions from the plurality of sets of task processing instructions;
receive requests from individual users performing one or more actions via corresponding computerized user interfaces pertaining to the robotic process automation system;
identify the device requests and requests from the individual users; and
prioritize execution of the requests submitted by the individual users over execution of the device requests.

5. The robotic process automation system of claim 4 wherein the processor is further configured to execute processor instructions that when executed cause the processor to prioritize execution of the requests submitted by the individual users over execution of device requests by:
storing the requests submitted by the individual users to an individual user queue;
storing the device requests to at least a first device queue; and
transferring the requests from the individual user queue and the first device queue to a dynamic queue by assigning the requests from the individual user queue with higher priority for execution than requests from the first device queue.

6. The robotic process automation system of claim 5 wherein the processor is further configured to execute processor instructions that when executed cause the processor to:
further identify device requests seeking a security token update; and
prioritize execution of the device requests seeking a security token update over execution of other device requests.

7. The robotic process automation system of claim 6 wherein the processor is further configured to execute processor instructions that when executed cause the processor to:
further identify device requests seeking to transfer files to or from the data storage; and
prioritize execution of the device requests seeking to transfer files to or from the data storage behind execution of the device requests seeking a security token update, and over execution of other device requests.

8. The robotic process automation system of claim 7 wherein the processor is further configured to execute processor instructions that when executed cause the processor to prioritize execution of the device requests seeking to transfer files to or from the data storage behind execution of device requests seeking a security token update, and over execution of other device requests by:
storing the device requests seeking a security token update to a first device queue;
storing the device requests seeking to transfer information to or from the data storage to a second device queue;
storing the device requests seeking any service other than a security token update and to transfer information to or from the data storage to a third device queue; and
transferring requests from the first, second and third device queues to a dynamic queue by assigning requests from the first device queue with higher priority for execution than requests from the second and third device queues and assigning requests from the second device queue with higher priority for execution than requests from the third device queue.

9. The robotic process automation system of claim 8 wherein the processor instructions that cause the processor to further identify device requests seeking to transfer files to or from the data storage cause the processor to execute a device request seeking to download a file from the data storage by:
accessing the data storage to identify the size of the file sought to be downloaded, wherein the file is segmented for download into one or more chunks of predetermined size; and
transmitting the size of the file sought to be downloaded in the form of chunk size and number of chunks, to the device seeking to download the file information from the data storage, the device seeking to download the file from the data storage submitting one or more requests to transfer one at a time, a chunk of information from the data storage.

10. The robotic process automation system of claim 9 wherein the device seeking to download the file from the data storage awaits receipt of all data associated with a requested chunk of information before submitting a request for a subsequent chunk of information.

11. The robotic process automation sy

Assignees

• Automation Anywhere Inc

Inventors

• Dennis James
• Anand V J
• Kakhandiki Abhijit

Classifications

• G06F9/4881 Primary

  Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues · CPC title