Method and system for acquiring and distributing location-related information

• US 10,268,701 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2017
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Original Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Inventors: Huang, Tieming
• Primary Examiner(s): Taylor, Barry W
• Application Number:
  US15/812,848
• Publication Number:
  US 20180067969A1
• Time in Patent Office: 525 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/30 Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes

Abstract

The present application provides a method for acquiring and distributing location-related information performed at a computer system. The method includes: receiving a positioning request from a client device, wherein the positioning request includes a network address of the client device and a unique identifier of a mobile terminal; determining a first location of the client device according to the network address of the client device and a second location of the mobile terminal according to the unique identifier of the mobile terminal; choosing one of the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal as a current location of the client device; identifying a plurality of search results according to the current location of the client device; and sending the plurality of search results and the current location of the client device to the client device for display.

Claims

1. A method for acquiring and distributing location-related information performed at a server having memory and one or more processors, the method comprising:

receiving a positioning request from a client device, wherein the positioning request includes a network address of the client device and a unique identifier of a mobile terminal;

determining a first location of the client device according to the network address of the client device and a second location of the mobile terminal according to the unique identifier of the mobile terminal;

choosing one of the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal as a current location of the client device, wherein choosing one of the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal as a current location of the client device further comprises;

determining a difference between the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal;

choosing the first location of the client device as the current location of the client device when the difference exceeds a predefined threshold;

choosing the second location of the mobile terminal as the current location of the client device when the difference does not exceed the predefined threshold;

identifying a plurality of search results according to the current location of the client device; and

sending the plurality of search results and the current location of the client device to the client device for display.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying a plurality of search results according to the current location of the client device further comprises:

determining a set of search results according to the first location of the client device;

reordering the set of search results by the second location of the mobile terminal; and

selecting at least a subset of the reordered set of search results as the plurality of search results according to the current location of the client device.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein reordering the set of search results by the second location of the mobile terminal further comprises:

determining a difference between the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal;

reordering the set of search results by the second location of the mobile terminal in accordance with a determination that the difference is less than a predefined threshold.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining a second location of the mobile terminal according to the unique identifier of the mobile terminal further comprises:

generating a positioning instruction including the unique identifier of the mobile terminal;

pushing the positioning instruction to the mobile terminal, wherein the mobile terminal is configured to determine its current location and return a response including the current location to the server; and

extracting the current location from the response as the second location of the mobile terminal.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining a second location of the mobile terminal according to the unique identifier of the mobile terminal further comprises:

generating a positioning instruction including the unique identifier of the mobile terminal;

pushing the positioning instruction to a wireless service carrier associated with the mobile terminal, wherein the wireless service carrier is configured to determine a current location of the mobile terminal and return a response including the current location to the server; and

extracting the current location from the response as the second location of the mobile terminal.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

after sending the plurality of search results and the current location of the client device to the client device for display;

receiving a download request from the client device, wherein the download request is associated with one of the plurality of search results; and

in response to the download request, sending geographic location service information of the corresponding search result to the client device.

7. A computer system for acquiring and distributing location-related information, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory; and

a plurality of program instructions stored in the memory, wherein the plurality of program instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform a plurality of operations including;

receiving a positioning request from a client device, wherein the positioning request includes a network address of the client device and a unique identifier of a mobile terminal;

determining a first location of the client device according to the network address of the client device and a second location of the mobile terminal according to the unique identifier of the mobile terminal;

choosing one of the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal as a current location of the client device, wherein choosing one of the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal as a current location of the client device further comprises;

determining a difference between the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal;

choosing the first location of the client device as the current location of the client device when the difference exceeds a predefined threshold;

choosing the second location of the mobile terminal as the current location of the client device when the difference does not exceed the predefined threshold;

identifying a plurality of search results according to the current location of the client device; and

sending the plurality of search results and the current location of the client device to the client device for display.

8. The computer system according to claim 7, wherein the operation for identifying a plurality of search results according to the current location of the client device further comprises operations for:

determining a set of search results according to the first location of the client device;

reordering the set of search results by the second location of the mobile terminal; and

selecting at least a subset of the reordered set of search results as the plurality of search results according to the current location of the client device.

9. The computer system according to claim 8, wherein the operation for reordering the set of search results by the second location of the mobile terminal further comprises operations for:

determining a difference between the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal;

reordering the set of search results by the second location of the mobile terminal in accordance with a determination that the difference is less than a predefined threshold.

10. The computer system according to claim 7, wherein the operation for determining a second location of the mobile terminal according to the unique identifier of the mobile terminal further comprises operations for:

generating a positioning instruction including the unique identifier of the mobile terminal;

pushing the positioning instruction to the mobile terminal, wherein the mobile terminal is configured to determine its current location and return a response including the current location to the server; and

extracting the current location from the response as the second location of the mobile terminal.

11. The computer system according to claim 7, wherein the operations for determining a second location of the mobile terminal according to the unique identifier of the mobile terminal further comprises operations for:

generating a positioning instruction including the unique identifier of the mobile terminal;

pushing the positioning instruction to a wireless service carrier associated with the mobile terminal, wherein the wireless service carrier is configured to determine a current location of the mobile terminal and return a response including the current location to the server; and

extracting the current location from the response as the second location of the mobile terminal.

12. The computer system according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of operations further comprise operations for:

after sending the plurality of search results and the current location of the client device to the client device for display;

receiving a download request from the client device, wherein the download request is associated with one of the plurality of search results; and

in response to the download request, sending geographic location service information of the corresponding search result to the client device.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a plurality of program instructions for acquiring and distributing location-related information, wherein the plurality of program instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, causes the computer system to perform a plurality of operations including:

receiving a positioning request from a client device, wherein the positioning request includes a network address of the client device and a unique identifier of a mobile terminal;

determining a first location of the client device according to the network address of the client device and a second location of the mobile terminal according to the unique identifier of the mobile terminal;

choosing one of the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal as a current location of the client device, wherein choosing one of the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal as a current location of the client device further comprises;

determining a difference between the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal;

choosing the first location of the client device as the current location of the client device when the difference exceeds a predefined threshold;

choosing the second location of the mobile terminal as the current location of the client device when the difference does not exceed the predefined threshold;

identifying a plurality of search results according to the current location of the client device; and

sending the plurality of search results and the current location of the client device to the client device for display.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 13, wherein the operation for identifying a plurality of search results according to the current location of the client device further comprises operations for:

determining a set of search results according to the first location of the client device;

reordering the set of search results by the second location of the mobile terminal; and

selecting at least a subset of the reordered set of search results as the plurality of search results according to the current location of the client device.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein the operation for reordering the set of search results by the second location of the mobile terminal further comprises operations for:

determining a difference between the first location of the client device and the second location of the mobile terminal;

reordering the set of search results by the second location of the mobile terminal in accordance with a determination that the difference is less than a predefined threshold.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 13, wherein the operation for determining a second location of the mobile terminal according to the unique identifier of the mobile terminal further comprises operations for:

generating a positioning instruction including the unique identifier of the mobile terminal;

pushing the positioning instruction to the mobile terminal, wherein the mobile terminal is configured to determine its current location and return a response including the current location to the server; and

extracting the current location from the response as the second location of the mobile terminal.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 13, wherein the operations for determining a second location of the mobile terminal according to the unique identifier of the mobile terminal further comprises operations for:

generating a positioning instruction including the unique identifier of the mobile terminal;

pushing the positioning instruction to a wireless service carrier associated with the mobile terminal, wherein the wireless service carrier is configured to determine a current location of the mobile terminal and return a response including the current location to the server; and

extracting the current location from the response as the second location of the mobile terminal.