System and method for the selection of a unique geographic feature

• US 20070061072A1
• Filed: 09/12/2005
• Published: 03/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IPOINTER, INC.
• Original Assignee: Intelligent Spatial Technologies
• Inventors: Frank, Christopher, Wuersch, Markus, Martin, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 7,418,341 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/210
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence

Abstract

The present invention includes a system and method for selecting a unique geographic feature, including a mobile device that uses position and orientation sensors to determine a user position and a user orientation. The mobile device is adapted for wireless communication with a database that houses or has access to data concerning geographic features, as well as processing and computing means for calculating specific geographic relations discussed in further detail below. The system of the present invention further includes means for selecting among those features that are topologically related to the polygon. These include means for defining the geometry of the polygon, means for filtering those features that should not be within the geometry of the polygon, and means for ranking those features within the polygon. The method of the present invention is operable in conjunction with the system through the system hardware and software.

Claims

1. A mobile geographic information system comprising:

a database containing geographic information including information related to a set of geographic features or a single geographic feature, the database accessible via a network connection; and

a mobile device connectable to the database from a remote location, the mobile device having a controller and a position sensor for determining a first location and an orientation sensor for determining a first direction, the first location and the first direction defining a polygon usable for selecting a unique geographic feature from the set of geographic features,

wherein the controller is adapted to retrieve the geographic information from the database based upon a predetermined coincidence of the polygon and a geographic feature, the database further adapted to employ a first filter including means for determining whether a user can point at a geographic feature within the set of geographic features.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the database is further adapted to employ a second filter

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the database is further adapted to employ a third filter

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the database is further adapted to define a there polygon comprising a position error portion and an orientation error portion.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the database is further adapted to define a length of the there polygon.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the length of the there polygon is determined as a function of a minimum number of features that must be contained therein.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the minimum number of features is determined by the database in response to the geographic density of the user position.

8. The system of claim 5 wherein the first filter is a topological filter, and further comprising a second filter and a third filter, wherein the second filter is a field of view filter and the third filter is a pointing filter.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the database is further adapted to rank the set of geographic features utilizing ranking means.

10. A computer-implemented method for selecting a unique geographic feature, the method comprising the steps of:

inputting data representing a user position;

inputting data representing a user orientation;

defining a polygon in response to the user position data and the user orientation data;

providing a set of geographic features coinciding with the polygon;

filtering the set of geographic features to determine a unique geographic feature, including determining whether a selected geographic feature is selectable by the polygon.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of filtering the set of geographic features includes determining whether a selected geographic feature bears a predetermined topological relationship to the polygon in combination with the user position to determine whether a user can be located in such a position to select the selected geographic feature.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of filtering the set of geographic features includes determining whether a selected geographic feature is within a field of view of the user.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of filtering the set of geographic features includes determining whether a user can be located such that a pointing device is disposed between the user and a selected geographic feature.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of defining a there polygon in response to the user position data and the user orientation data, the there polygon having a defined length.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of defining the there polygon includes defining the length of the there polygon as a function of a predetermined number of geographical features enclosed within the there polygon.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of defining the there polygon includes defining the length of the there polygon as a function of a density of geographical features enclosed within the there polygon.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of defining the there polygon includes defining the length of the there polygon as a function of the quality of geographical features enclosed within the there polygon.

18. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of ranking the set of geographic features in such a manner that a highly ranked geographic feature is a likely selection of the user.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of ranking the set of geographic features includes selecting the highly ranked geographic feature as a function of distance to the user.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of ranking the set of geographic features includes selecting the highly ranked geographic feature as a function of distance to an orientation ray.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of ranking the set of geographic features includes selecting the highly ranked geographic feature as a function of the relative width of a geographic feature and the width of the there polygon at the intersection between the geographic feature and the there polygon.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of ranking the set of geographic features includes selecting the highly ranked geographic feature as a function of the width of a geographic feature relative to the distance between the user and the geographic feature.

23. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of ranking the set of geographic features includes selecting the highly ranked geographic feature as a probability function determining the probability that a geographic feature was selected by the user.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the probability function includes a maximum likelihood function.