Method and apparatus for providing precise location information through a communications network
First Claim
1. A method of obtaining a geographic location of a mobile station, comprising the steps of:
- obtaining a digital image of a geographic location proximate the mobile station;
wirelessly transmitting said digital image from said mobile station to a mobile communications network;
contacting a computer network through said mobile communications network;
obtaining a general location identifier of the mobile station from said mobile communications network; and
comparing the general location identifier and information corresponding to said digital image to pre-stored data accessible through said computer network to determine the geographic location of the mobile station.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for obtaining information about an object through interaction between a mobile station (MS) and a computer network such as the Internet, and communicating the information to the MS. A digital camera obtains an image of an object, such as a geographic region proximate the MS, which is then transmitted through the mobile communications system to the computer network. A converter server such as an Optical Character Reader (OCR) server interfaced with the global computer network converts the digital image to a text format which is then compared, along with a general location identifier of the MS to geographic data stored in a location database connected to the global computer network. Based on a comparison of the converted text data and the general location identifier of the MS to the geographic data stored in the location server, a precise location of the MS is determined and transmitted to the MS.
134 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of obtaining a geographic location of a mobile station, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining a digital image of a geographic location proximate the mobile station;
wirelessly transmitting said digital image from said mobile station to a mobile communications network;
contacting a computer network through said mobile communications network;
obtaining a general location identifier of the mobile station from said mobile communications network; and
comparing the general location identifier and information corresponding to said digital image to pre-stored data accessible through said computer network to determine the geographic location of the mobile station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus for obtaining a geographic location of a mobile station comprising:
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a digital camera capable of interfacing with the mobile station for obtaining a digital image of a geographic area proximate the mobile station and for conveying the digital image to the mobile station;
a mobile communications network for receiving the digital image from the mobile station, said network having means for determining a general location identifier of the mobile station;
a computer network in communication with said mobile communications network for receiving the digital image and the general location identifier of the mobile station from said mobile communications network;
a location server having access to a library of stored geographic location data; and
means for comparing the text data and general location identifier to the stored geographic location data to identify the geographic location of the mobile station. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of obtaining information using a mobile station, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining a digital image of an object proximate the mobile station;
wirelessly transmitting said digital image from said mobile station to a mobile communications network;
contacting a computer network through said mobile communications network;
analyzing the transmitted digital image to obtain desired information; and
transmitting the obtained desired information to the mobile station. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification