System and method for providing dynamic location information

• US 20040098464A1
• Filed: 11/15/2002
• Published: 05/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Koch, Zeke, Stewart, David Edward
• Granted Patent: US 7,383,316 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A system and method for providing the dynamic geographic location of a computing device to location aware applications. This system and method enables the location aware applications to enhance the user experience by taking the dynamic geographic location of a user into account in its operations. Location providers associated with the computing device provide dynamic geographic data associated with the geographic location of the user. The dynamic geographic data is converted to a common format that is recognized by the location aware applications. The location aware applications incorporate the dynamic location in presenting information to the user.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing data to an application executing on a computing device, the method comprising:

obtaining dynamic geographic data from at least one location provider, wherein the dynamic geographic data identify a geographic location of the computing device;

converting the dynamic geographic data into a common format recognized by a plurality of applications; and

providing the converted dynamic geographic data to at least one of the applications.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an accuracy associated with the dynamic geographic data; and

providing the accuracy to the application.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein providing the converted dynamic geographic data further comprises:

determining whether the application has permission to receive the converted dynamic geographic data to the application; and

if the application has permission, providing the converted dynamic geographic data to the application.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein determining whether the application has permission to receive the converted dynamic geographic data to the application further comprises prompting a user for the permission.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a personal computer.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a mobile communication device.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the location provider is a component of the computing device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining geographic data further comprises selecting the one location provider from among a plurality of location providers.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein selecting the one location provider is performed based on priorities associated with the plurality of location providers.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising repeating the obtaining step, the converting step, and the providing step at a predetermined interval.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the common format is recognized by a plurality of location aware applications executing on the computing device.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of location aware applications recognize the geographic data in the common format without possessing knowledge of the location provider.

13. A computer-implemented method for presenting information related to instant messaging to a user of a computing device comprising:

determining at least one remote party capable of sending instant messages to the user;

receiving geographic data associated with the remote party, wherein the geographic data includes a geographic location of the remote party;

determining geographic data associated with the user, wherein the geographic data includes a geographic location of the user; and

presenting location information to the user based on the geographic data associated with the remote party and the geographic data associated with the user.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the geographic data associated with the user is dynamically provided by a location provider.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising providing the geographic data associated with the user to the remote party.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining whether a permission exists for sending the geographic data associated with the user to the remote party;

if permission is not found, not sending the geographic data associated with the user to the remote party.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein determining whether a permission exists includes determining whether the remote party is included in a location permission list.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein presenting location information to the user further comprising:

calculating the distance between the user and the remote party based on the geographic data associated with the remote party and the geographic data associated with the user; and

presenting the calculated distance to the user.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein presenting location information to the user further comprising:

calculating the distance between the user and the remote party based on the geographic data associated with the remote party and the geographic data associated with the user; and

if the calculated distance is greater than a predetermined value, determine a city and a state where the remote party is located and presenting the city and the state to the user.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising:

calculating the distance between the user and the remote party based on the geographic data associated with the remote party and the geographic data associated with the user;

determining an accuracy of the geographic data associated with the computing device; and

if the calculated distance is less than the determined accuracy, presenting to the user that the distance between the remote party and the user is less than the value of the accuracy.

21. A computing device for providing information to a user comprising:

a processor;

a location provider for generating dynamic geographic data associated with the geographic location of the user;

a network interface for data communication through a network, and a memory into which a plurality of computer executable components are loaded, wherein at least one of the computer executable components is configured to perform the following steps;

determining at least one remote party connected to the network;

receiving geographic data associated with the remote party, wherein the geographic data includes a geographic location of the remote party;

obtaining the dynamic geographic data associated with user from the location provider, the dynamic geographic data includes a geographic location of the user; and

presenting location information to the user based on the geographic data associated with the remote party and the user.

22. The computing device of claim 21, wherein the one executable component is an instant messaging application configured to enable the user to interactively exchange data messages with the remote party through the network.

23. The computing device of claim 21, wherein the one executable component is a map application configured to present a map that depicts the geographic location of the user and the geographic location of the remote party.

24. The computing device of claim 21, wherein the one executable component is a driving direction application configured to present instructions for traveling between the geographic location of the user and the geographic location the remote party.

25. The computing device of claim 21, wherein the one executable component is an Internet browser application configured to present information to the user by taking into account the dynamic geographic data associated with the user.

26. The computing device of claim 21, wherein the computing device is a personal computer.

27. The computing device of claim 21, wherein the computing device is a mobile communication device.

28. The computing device of claim 27, wherein the mobile communication device is configured to communicate with a wireless telephone network.

29. The computing device of claim 21, further comprising a plurality of location providers for generating dynamic geographic data associated with the geographic location of the user

30. The computing device of claim 29, wherein at least one of the location providers is a component of the computing device.

31. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the plurality of location providers include a GPS device.

32. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the plurality of location providers include a cellular device.

33. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the plurality of location providers include a network location device.