Using local networks for location information and image tagging

• US 20060095540A1
• Filed: 11/01/2004
• Published: 05/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Scenera Technologies LLC (Scenera Research LLC)
• Original Assignee: Scenera Technologies LLC (Scenera Research LLC)
• Inventors: Morris, Robert P., Anderson, Eric C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,707,239 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5838 using colour
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00281 with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal details of transmission H04N1/00095; establishing a communication with one of a facsimile machine or another apparatus sharing a single line H04N1/32704; interfacing cordless telephone terminals with an accessory to increase the functionality of user interface H04M1/72409
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3205 of identification information, e.g. name or ID code H04N2201/3209 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3226 of identification information or the like, e.g. ID code, index, title, part of an image, reduced-size image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3253 Position information, e.g. geographical position at time of capture, GPS data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/185 by embedding added-value information into content, e.g. geo-tagging

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for establishing a location for a digital image without the use of a GPS unit. Aspects of the invention include broadcasting over a network a location identifier (ID) identifying a location of the network; detecting the location ID by a digital image capture device coupled to the network; and in response to the image capture device capturing a digital image when in communication with the network, associating the location ID with the digital image.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a location for a digital image, comprising:

broadcasting over a network a location identifier (ID) identifying a location of the network;

detecting the location ID by a digital image capture device coupled to the network; and

in response to the image capture device capturing a digital image when in communication with the network, associating the location ID with the digital image.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing the location ID as a text and/or audio tag.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

providing the digital image capture device with a location tagging application for detecting the location ID and for associating the location ID with the captured image.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the network is wireless and the digital image capture device comprises a wireless mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the location ID comprises a network identifier (ID) identifying at least a portion of the network, the method further comprising:

utilizing the network ID to establish a location of the network portion.

6. The method of claim 5 further including:

utilizing the network identifier to retrieve a location tag of the network portion that includes a text description of the location, and

associating the location tag with the digital image.

7. The method of claim 6 further including:

displaying the digital image and the corresponding location tag, thereby automatically indicating a general capture location of the digital image.

8. The method of claim 6 further including:

uploading the network ID to a network-based location information service, and receiving the location tag in response.

9. The method of claim 8 further including:

uploading the network ID to the location information service from a location tagging application.

10. The method of claim 9 further including:

running the location tagging application on the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 9 further including:

running the location tagging application on a PC and downloading the digital image and the detected network ID to the PC prior to transmitting the network ID to the location information service.

12. The method of claim 9 further including:

in response to a server of the location information service receiving the network ID from the location tagging application, querying a database with the received network ID to retrieve the corresponding location tag, and returning the location tag to the requesting location tagging application.

13. The method of claim 12 further including:

in response to receiving the location tag from the location information service, the location tagging application stores the location tag as image metadata.

14. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

providing the location information service with a plurality of reference images of items in view of, one or more wireless networks, and storing the reference images in association with a corresponding network ID and a description tag indicating the content of the image;

in response to the mobile device capturing digital images while in range of at least one wireless network, uploading the digital images and detected network ID of the at least one wireless network from the location tagging application to the location information service;

invoking an image recognition application to compare the uploaded images with relevant reference images associated with a same network ID as the detected network ID associated with the uploaded images, and retrieving the description tags of any matching reference images; and

if a matching reference image is found, returning the corresponding description tag from the server to the requesting location tagging application, otherwise, returning the corresponding location tag, thereby automatically indicating a specific content of the image, or otherwise a general capture location of the image.

15. The method of claim 14 further including:

paying an owner of each participating wireless network a fee to become part of the location information service, wherein the fee may be a one time lump sum or an incremental fee based on the number of location tag requests for the network that the location service receives over some period of time.

16. The method of claim 15 further including:

paying a fee for any reference images submitted to the location information service.

17. A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for establishing a location for a digital image, the program instructions for:

broadcasting over a network a location identifier (ID) identifying a location of the network;

detecting the location ID by a digital image capture device coupled to the network; and

in response to the image capture device capturing a digital image when in communication with the network, associating the location ID with the digital image.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

providing the location ID as a text and/or audio tag.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

providing the digital image capture device with a location tagging application for detecting the location ID and for associating the location ID with the captured image.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the network is wireless and the digital image capture device comprises a wireless mobile device.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the location ID comprises a network identifier (ID) identifying at least a portion of the network, the method further comprising:

utilizing the network ID to establish a location of the network portion.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim further including instructions for:

utilizing the network identifier to retrieve a location tag of the network portion that includes a text description of the location, and

associating the location tag with the digital image.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 22 further including instructions for:

displaying the digital image and the corresponding location tag, thereby automatically indicating a general capture location of the digital image.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 22 further including instructions for:

uploading the network ID to a network-based location information service, and receiving the location tag in response.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24 further including instructions for:

uploading the network ID to the location information service from a location tagging application.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 25 further including instructions for:

running the location tagging application on the mobile device.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 25 further including instructions for:

running the location tagging application on a PC and downloading the digital image and the detected network ID to the PC prior to transmitting the network ID to the location information service.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 25 further including instructions for:

in response to a server of the location information service receiving the network ID from the location tagging application, querying a database with the received network ID to retrieve the corresponding location tag, and returning the location tag to the requesting location tagging application.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 further including instructions for:

in response to receiving the location tag from the location information service, the location tagging application stores the location tag the image metadata.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 24 further comprising:

providing the location information service with a plurality of reference images of items in view of, one or more wireless networks, and storing the reference images in association with a corresponding network ID and a description tag indicating the content of the image;

in response to the mobile device capturing digital images while in range of at least one of wireless network, uploading the digital images and detected network ID of the at least one wireless network from the location tagging application to the location information service;

invoking an image recognition application to compare the uploaded images with relevant reference images associated with a same network ID as the detected network ID associated with the uploaded images, and retrieving the description tags of any matching reference images; and

if a matching reference image is found, returning the corresponding description tag from the server to the requesting location tagging application, otherwise, returning the corresponding location tag, thereby automatically indicating a specific content of the image, or otherwise a general capture location of the image.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 30 further including instructions for:

paying an owner of each participating wireless network a fee to become part of the location information service, wherein the fee may be a one time lump sum or an incremental fee based on the number of location tag requests for the network that the location service receives over some period of time.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 31 further including instructions for:

paying a fee for any reference images submitted to the location information service.

33. A system for providing location information for digital images using one or more wireless networks that broadcast network IDs that are detectable through a wireless protocol, the system comprising:

a mobile device configured to detect the wireless networks and the network IDs, the mobile device further configured to capture digital images and to associate the captured images with a network ID detected at the time of image capture;

a network-based service that maintains a database of the wireless networks, their network IDs, and a location tag describing a location of the network;

means for transmitting the network IDs associated with each of the captured images to the network-based service for retrieval of the corresponding location tags;

means for receiving the retrieved location tags from the network-based service and for associating the location tags with the captured images; and

means for displaying the captured images and their corresponding location tags.

34. A system for providing location information for digital images using one or more wireless networks that broadcast network IDs that are detectable through a wireless protocol, the system comprising:

a mobile device configured to detect the wireless networks and the network IDs, the mobile device further configured to capture digital images and to associate the captured images with a network ID detected at the time of image capture;

a network-based service that maintains a database of reference images, a network ID identifying where each reference image was captured, and a description tag describing contents of each respective reference image;

a location tagging application for transmitting the images captured by the mobile device and the network ID associated with each of the captured images to the network-based service for retrieval of the corresponding location tags; and

an image recognition application accessible to the network-based service for comparing the uploaded images with relevant reference images associated with a same network ID as the uploaded images, and retrieving the description tags of any matching reference images, wherein if a matching reference image is found, the network-based service returns the corresponding description tag to the requesting location tagging application, thereby automatically indicating a specific content of the image.