Compact text encoding of latitude/longitude coordinates

• US 20080046169A1
• Filed: 10/10/2007
• Published: 02/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Beatty, Bryan
• Application Number:
  US11/973,654
• Publication Number:
  US 20080046169A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

Methods are disclosed for encoding latitude/longitude coordinates within a URL in a relatively compact form. The method includes converting latitude and longitude coordinates from floating-point numbers to non-negative integers. A set of base-N string representations are generated for the integers (N represents the number of characters in an implementation-defined character set being utilized). The latitude string and longitude string are then concatenated to yield a single output string. The output string is utilized as a geographic indicator with a URL.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of reducing the number of characters contained in a geographically-oriented string, the method comprising:

converting a floating-point coordinate value represented in the geographically-oriented string to an integer value; and

converting the integer value to a base-N string, wherein N represents the number of characters in an implementation-defined character set; and

using the base-N string as a reduced-character component of the geographically-oriented string.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographically-oriented string is a geographically-oriented Uniform Resource Locator associated with a web page.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein converting a floating-point coordinate value to an integer value comprises converting a floating-point representation of a latitude or longitude coordinate to an integer value.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein converting a floating-point coordinate value to an integer value comprises applying a mapping algorithm that preserves a desired level of accuracy.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein applying a mapping algorithm comprises applying a mapping algorithm based at least in part on the circumference of the earth.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein applying a mapping algorithm further comprises applying a mapping algorithm based at least in part on a desired error level in describing a position on the earth.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

converting a second floating-point coordinate value represented in the geographically-oriented string to a second integer value;

converting the second integer value to a second base-N string, wherein N represents the number of characters in an implementation-defined character set;

concatenating the base-N string and the second base-N string to form a concatenated string; and

using the concatenated string as part of a Uniform Resource Locator.

8. A method of reducing the number of characters associated with a set of latitude and longitude coordinates, the method comprising:

converting a floating-point latitude value to a latitude integer value; and

converting the latitude integer value to a first base-N string, wherein N represents the number of characters in an implementation-defined character set;

converting a floating-point longitude value to a longitude integer value; and

converting the longitude integer value to a second base-N string, wherein N represents the number of characters in an implementation-defined character set.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising concatenating the first and second base-N strings to form a concatenated string.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein converting a floating-point latitude value to a latitude integer value comprises applying a mapping algorithm that is based at least in part on a desired level of accuracy.