API for obtaining geographic location data

• US 10,254,120 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2016
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Greenwood, Benjamin, Scarr, Joseph Laurence
• Primary Examiner(s): Weber, Tamara L
• Application Number:
  US15/290,903
• Publication Number:
  US 20180100742A1
• Time in Patent Office: 910 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/30 Map- or contour-matching
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3626 Details of the output of route guidance instructions traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3694 Output thereof on a road map
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications

Abstract

Provided are systems and methods for obtaining geographic location data. In one embodiment, an example method includes identifying, by the first software application running on one or more computing devices, one or more location parameters indicative of a geographic point of interest based at least in part on an application programming interface invoked by the first software application. The method includes generating, by the first software application running on the one or more computing devices, a query string including the one or more location parameters. The method includes requesting, by the first software application running on the one or more computing devices, location data associated with the geographic point of interest based at least in part on the query string. The method includes providing for display, on at least one display device, the location data associated with the geographic point of interest.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions that implement an application programming interface for obtaining geographic location data executed on one or more computing devices, the application programming interface comprising instructions for:

identifying, by a first software application associated with the one or more computing devices, a plurality of location parameters indicative of a geographic point of interest;

generating, by the first software application, a query string that comprises the location parameters indicative of the geographic point of interest, the location parameters comprising more than one of (i) a shared identifier associated with the geographic point of interest, (ii) an address associated with the geographic point of interest, (iii) a name associated with the geographic point of interest, and (iv) a latitude-longitude identifier associated with the geographic point of interest; and

requesting, by the first software application, location data associated with a geographic point of interest from a geographic data system based at least in part on the query string that comprises the plurality of location parameters, wherein the location data is retrievable from the geographic data system based at least in part on a prioritization of the plurality of location parameters, and the location data is displayable via a user interface,

wherein the prioritization is based at least in part on a first highest priority being associated with the shared identifier for retrieving the location data, a second highest priority being associated with at least one of the address associated with the geographic point of interest or the name associated with the geographic point of interest for retrieving the location data, and a lowest priority being associated with the labeled latitude-longitude identifier for retrieving the location data.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions for requesting, by the first software application, location data associated with the geographic point of interest from the geographic data system comprise instructions for:

invoking, by the first software application, a second software application, the invocation of the second software application causing the second software application to run on the one or more computing devices, the second software application being a geographic mapping software application; and

controlling, by the first software application, an interaction of the second software application with the geographic data system based at least in part on the query string, the query string being provided to the second software application by the first software application.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the location data associated with the geographic point of interest is identifiable based at least in part on the labeled latitude-longitude identifier.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein the labeled latitude-longitude identifier comprises a latitude-longitude coordinate pair associated with the geographic point of interest and one or more descriptors associated with the geographic point of interest.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein the location data associated with the geographic point of interest is identifiable based at least in part on a radial distance centered at the latitude-longitude coordinate pair and the one or more descriptors associated with the geographic point of interest.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the application programming interface further comprises instructions for:

parsing the plurality of location parameters for identification of the location data associated with the geographic point of interest.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the location data comprises at least one of navigation data associated with one or more travel routes to the geographic point of interest, traffic data associated with the geographic point of interest, or hours of operation associated with the geographic point of interest.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the location data comprises one or more visual representations of the one or more travel routes, wherein the visual representations are displayable on at least one display device via the user interface.

9. A computing device, comprising:

a display device;

one or more processors; and

one or more memory devices, wherein the one or more memory devices store computer-readable instructions that implement an application programming interface invoked by a software application to obtain location data to provide as part of the software application, the instructions comprising;

generating, by a first software application, a query string that comprises a plurality of location parameters indicative of a geographic point of interest, the location parameters comprising more than one of (i) a shared identifier associated with the geographic point of interest, (ii) an address associated with the geographic point of interest, (iii) a name associated with the geographic point of interest, and (iv) a latitude-longitude identifier associated with the geographic point of interest; and

requesting, by the first software application, location data associated with the geographic point of interest from a geographic data system based at least in part on the query string that comprises the plurality of location parameters, wherein the location data is retrievable from the geographic data system based at least in part on a prioritization of the plurality of location parameters,

wherein the prioritization is based at least in part on a first highest priority being associated with the shared identifier for retrieving the location data, a second highest priority being associated with at least one of the address associated with the geographic point of interest or the name associated with the geographic point of interest for retrieving the location data, and a lowest priority being associated with the labeled latitude-longitude identifier for retrieving the location data,

wherein the one or more processors are configured to provide for display the location data associated with the geographic point of interest via the display device.

10. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the instructions for requesting, by the first software application, the location data associated with the geographic point of interest from the geographic data system comprise instructions for:

invoking, by the first software application, a second software application; and

controlling, by the first software application, an interaction of the second software application with the geographic data system based at least in part on the plurality of location parameters,

wherein the one or more processors are configured to provide for display the location data associated with the geographic point of interest via the display device, the location data being determined based at least in part on the interaction of the second software application and the geographic data system.

11. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the location data associated with the geographic point of interest is identifiable based at least in part on at least one of the address associated with the geographic point of interest or the name associated with the geographic point of interest.

12. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the labeled latitude-longitude identifier comprises a latitude-longitude coordinate pair associated with the geographic point of interest and one or more descriptors associated with the geographic point of interest, and

wherein the location data associated with the geographic point of interest is identifiable based at least in part on a radial distance centered at the latitude-longitude coordinate pair and the one or more descriptors associated with the geographic point of interest.

13. A computer-implemented method of obtaining geographic location data, the method comprising:

identifying, by a first software application running on one or more computing devices, a plurality of location parameters indicative of a geographic point of interest based at least in part on an application programming interface invoked by the first software application;

generating, by the first software application running on the one or more computing devices, a query string comprising the plurality of location parameters indicative of the geographic point of interest, the location parameters comprising more than one of (i) a shared identifier associated with the geographic point of interest, (ii) an address associated with the geographic point of interest, (iii) a name associated with the geographic point of interest, and (iv) a latitude-longitude identifier associated with the geographic point of interest; and

requesting, by the first software application running on the one or more computing devices, location data associated with the geographic point of interest based at least in part on the query string comprising the plurality of location parameters indicative of the geographic point of interest, wherein a geographic data system is configured to determine the location data based at least in part on a prioritization of the plurality of location parameters,

wherein the prioritization is based at least in part on a first highest priority being associated with the shared identifier for retrieving the location data, a second highest priority being associated with at least one of the address associated with the geographic point of interest or the name associated with the geographic point of interest for retrieving the location data, and a lowest priority being associated with the labeled latitude-longitude identifier for retrieving the location data;

providing for display, on at least one display device, the location data associated with the geographic point of interest.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein requesting, by the first software application running on the one or more computing devices, location data associated with the geographic point of interest comprises:

providing, by the first software application running on the one or more computing devices, the query string comprising the plurality of location parameters indicative of the geographic point of interest to the geographic data system.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the geographic point of interest is identifiable based at least in part on a user interaction with a user interface of the first software application.