METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CREATING UNIVERSAL LOCATION REFERENCING OBJECTS
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Abstract
A method and system for creating and/or using a universal location referencing object (ULRO) with electronic files including electronic maps. ULROs establish traversable links between a file-of-reference and third-party-files. In accordance with an embodiment, the ULRO comprises a universal location referencing code uniquely corresponding to the location, together with several optional components, including: a set of name information; a super-set of coordinates; a file-of-reference pointer field comprising a file-of-reference pointer; a third-party-file pointer field comprising one or more third-party-file pointers; a file-of-reference back-pointer field comprising a file-of-reference back-pointer; a third-party-file back-pointer field comprising one or more third-party-file back-pointers; and a metadata field. ULROs allow recognition of equivalence of features in different maps, and facilitate dynamic combination or linking of multiple maps into one virtual map, with traversable connectivity for a wide variety of map formats.
70 Citations
42 Claims
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1-20. -20. (canceled)
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21. A system that uses universal location referencing objects to provide geographic item information for a location, comprising:
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an interface to a file-of-reference, wherein the file-of-reference comprises geographic item information, including a geographic item associated with a location; an interface to a third-party file, wherein the third-party file comprises additional geographic item information that may be associated with the location; a universal location reference object, wherein the universal location reference object comprises a universal location reference code that uniquely identifies the location, and further comprises identifying information for the location; an interface that provides links to the additional geographic item information in the third-party file; and a logic that, in response to a request for information for a particular location, retrieves a universal location reference object for the particular location, traverses links for that particular location, associates the geographic item information in the file-of-reference with the additional geographic item information in the third-party file, to create a resultant information, and provides the resultant information as a response to the request. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for providing geographic item information for a location, using universal location referencing objects, comprising the steps of:
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accessing a file-of-reference that comprises geographic item information, wherein the file-of-reference comprises geographic item information, including a geographic item associated with a location; accessing a third-party file, wherein the third-party file comprises additional geographic item information that may be associated with the location; and in response to a request for information for a particular location, retrieving a universal location reference object for the particular location, wherein the universal location reference object comprises a universal location reference code that uniquely identifies the particular location, and further comprises identifying information for the particular location, traversing links to the additional geographic item information in the third-party file, associating the geographic item information in the file-of-reference with the additional geographic item information in the third-party file, to create a resultant information, and providing the resultant information as a response to the request. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A data structure that uses universal location referencing objects to enable the providing of geographic item information for a location, comprising:
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a pointer to a file-of-reference, wherein the file-of-reference comprises geographic item information, including a geographic item associated with a location; a pointer to a third-party file, wherein the third-party file comprises additional geographic item information that may be associated with the location; a universal location reference object that includes a universal location reference code that uniquely identifies the location, identifying information for the location, and links to the additional geographic item information in the third-party file; and wherein the combination of pointer to a file-of-reference, pointer to a third-party file, and universal location reference object, allows a universal location reference object to be retrieved for a particular location, and the links traversed in that universal location reference object to associate the additional geographic item information in the third-party file with the geographic item information in the file-of-reference for that particular location.
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42. A method of creating a data structure that uses universal location referencing objects to enable the providing of geographic item information for a location, comprising:
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storing in a data structure a pointer to a file-of-reference, wherein the file-of-reference comprises geographic item information, including a geographic item associated with a location; storing in the data structure a pointer to a third-party file, wherein the third-party file comprises additional geographic item information that may be associated with the location; storing in the data structure a universal location reference object, wherein the universal location reference object includes a universal location reference code that uniquely identifies the location, identifying information for the location, and links to the additional geographic item information in the third-party file; and using the combination of pointer to a file-of-reference, pointer to a third-party file, and universal location reference object, to allow a universal location reference object to be retrieved for a particular location, and the links traversed in that universal location reference object to associate the additional geographic item information in the third-party file with the geographic item information in the file-of-reference for that particular location.
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Specification