Method and system to associate a geographic location information with a network address using a combination of automated and manual process

• US 20040078489A1
• Filed: 10/14/2003
• Published: 04/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NeuStar IP Intelligence, Inc. (Neustar Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: NeuStar IP Intelligence, Inc. (Neustar Incorporated)
• Inventors: Anderson, Mark, Bansal, Ajay, Herringshaw, Christopher, Muniz, Derald, Doctor, Brad, Karplus, Eli E., Hadjiyiannis, George
• Granted Patent: US 9,021,080 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/245
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/30 Types of network names
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/10 of different types
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/3015 Name registration, generation or assignment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/35 involving non-standard use of addresses for implementing network functionalities, e.g. coding subscription information within the address or functional addressing, i.e. assigning an address to a function
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/107 wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

A method and a system map a geographic location to a network address. At least one automated process is performed to identify a geographic location for the network address. A determination is made whether the automated process provided satisfactory geographic location information for the network address. If the automated process did not provided satisfactory geographic location information for the network address, then the network address is forwarded for manual resolution.

Claims

1. A method to map a geolocation to a network address, the method including:

performing at least one automated process to generated geolocation information for the network address;

determining whether the at least one automated process generated satisfactory geolocation information for the network address; and

if the automated process did not generate satisfactory geolocation information for the network address, then forwarding of the network address for manual resolution.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one automated process includes determining whether the network address is likely to fall within a consolidated domain of network addresses maintained within a database of a geolocation system.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the consolidated domain of network addresses maintained within the database includes any one of a group of domains including an educational, a business, a service provider and a government domain.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one automated process includes identifying a network address block around the network address.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one automated process includes running an exact geolocation process to generate the geolocation information for the network address.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one automated process includes running an exact geolocation process to generate the geolocation information for the identified network address block around the network address.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the exact geolocation process includes any one of a group of geolocation processes including a traceroute, a latency calculation, a hostname matching operation and a DNS process.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one automated process includes running an inexact geolocation process to generate the geolocation information for the network address.

9. The method of claim 1, including performing a sequence of automated processes to generate the geolocation information for the network address, wherein the network address is advanced through the sequence of automated processes until the geolocation information for the network address is satisfactory, or until the network address is forwarded for manual resolution.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the sequence of automated processes include both exact and inexact automated mapping operations, the exact and inexact automated mapping operations providing different levels of confidence for the geolocation information generated for the network address by the respective mapping operations.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the network address is received from an external entity at a geolocation system, and a mapping process is initiated, at the geolocation system responsive to the receipt of the network address, to map the network address to a geolocation, wherein the query is received from the external entity responsive to a user accessing a website operated by the external entity, and the network addresses is a network address associated with a machine of the user.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the network address is received as part of a query at a geolocation system, the query being received via an Application Program Interface (API).

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the network address is received as part of a query at a geolocation system, wherein the query is received via a customer extranet.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one automated process identifies a plurality of possible geolocations, and the manual process is to resolve amongst the plurality of possible geolocations.

15. A geolocation system to map a geolocation to a network address, the geolocation system including:

a first system to receive a network address; and

a second system to perform at least one automated process to generate geolocation information for the network address, to determine whether the geolocation information generated by the at least one automated process for the network address is satisfactory, and, if the geolocation information for the network address is not satisfactory, to forward the network address for manual resolution.

16. The geolocation system of claim 15, wherein the second system is to determine whether the network address is likely to fall within a consolidated domain of network addresses maintained within a database of the geolocation system.

17. The geolocation system of claim 16, wherein the consolidated domain of network addresses maintained within the database includes any one of a group of domains including an educational, a business, a service provider and a government domain.

18. The geolocation system of claim 15, wherein the second system is to identify a network address block around the network address included within the query.

19. The geolocation system of claim 15, wherein the at least one automated process includes running an exact geolocation process to generate the geolocation information for the network address.

20. The geolocation system of claim 18, wherein the at least one automated process includes running an exact geolocation process to generate the geolocation information for the identified network address block around the network address.

21. The geolocation system of claim 19, wherein the exact geolocation process includes any one of a group of geolocation processes including a traceroute, a latency calculation, a hostname matching operation and a DNS process.

22. The geolocation system of claim 15, wherein the at least one automated process includes running an inexact geolocation process to generate the geolocation information for the network address.

23. The geolocation system of claim 15, wherein the second system is to perform a sequence of automated processes to generate the geolocation information for the network address, wherein the network address is advanced through the sequence of automated processes until satisfactory geolocation information is associated with the network address, or until the network address is forwarded for manual resolution.

24. The geolocation system of claim 23, wherein the sequence of automated processes include both exact and inexact automated mapping operations, the exact and inexact automated mapping operations providing different levels of confidence for the geographic location information generated for the network address by the respective operations.

25. The geolocation system of claim 15, wherein the network address is received from an external entity at the geolocation system, and the second system is to initiate a mapping process, at the geolocation system responsive to the receipt of the network address, to map the network address to a geolocation, wherein the query is received from the external entity responsive to a user accessing a website operated by the external entity, and the network addresses is a network address associated with a machine of the user.

26. The geolocation system of claim 15, wherein a query, including the network address, is received at the geolocation system via an Application Program Interface (API).

27. The geolocation system of claim 15, wherein a query, including the network address, is received via a customer extranet.

28. The geolocation system of claim 15, wherein the second system is to identify a plurality of geolocations, and to forward the plurality of geolocations for manual resolution amongst the plurality of geolocations.

29. A machine-readable medium storing a set of instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method to map a geolocation to a network address, the method including:

performing at least one automated process to generate geolocation information for the network address;

determining whether the geolocation information generated for the network address by the at least one automated process is satisfactory; and

if the automated process did not generate satisfactory geolocation information for the network address, then forwarding of the network address for manual resolution.

30. A geolocation system to map a geolocation to a network address, the geolocation system including:

first means for saving a network address; and

second means for performing at least one automated process to generate geographic location information for the network address, for determining whether the geopgraphic location information generated by the at least one automated process is satisfactory, and, if the automated process did not generate satisfactort geolocation information for the network address, for forwarding the network address for manual resolution.