Method And System For Searching An Information Retrieval System According To User-Specified Location Information
First Claim
1. A method for searching a database in an information retrieval system according to user-specified geographical location information using a mobile communications device operating on a wireless network, comprising the steps of:
- (a) creating a database for storing at least geographical location information for each of a plurality of items of interest;
(b) receiving geographical location information corresponding to a location of a user'"'"'s mobile communications device;
(c) receiving a request to search the database for items of interest located in a vicinity of a geographical location specified by a user, wherein the specified geographical location corresponds to the received geographical location information; and
(d) generating a search query for items of interest within a radial distance of the geographical location.
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Abstract
A method and system for searching an information retrieval system for items of interest that are in proximity to geographical locations provided by the user. The information retrieval system can perform a search for specified types of businesses or items of interest that surround or are in close proximity to the user'"'"'s present geographical location, or a geographical location that the user has pre-configured in a database. The system receives geographical location information concerning the user'"'"'s position from the wireless network carrier, which tracks the location of the user'"'"'s mobile communications device. When the user desires to store a geographical location and geographical name for a future search, the information is entered into the pre-configured database. When conducting an information search at a later time, the user can narrow a search request to a geographical area in the vicinity of the stored geographical location.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for searching a database in an information retrieval system according to user-specified geographical location information using a mobile communications device operating on a wireless network, comprising the steps of:
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(a) creating a database for storing at least geographical location information for each of a plurality of items of interest; (b) receiving geographical location information corresponding to a location of a user'"'"'s mobile communications device; (c) receiving a request to search the database for items of interest located in a vicinity of a geographical location specified by a user, wherein the specified geographical location corresponds to the received geographical location information; and (d) generating a search query for items of interest within a radial distance of the geographical location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An information retrieval system for identifying items of interest located within a vicinity of a user-specified geographical location, comprising:
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(a) a database records unit for storing a plurality of information about a plurality of items of interest, including a name of each item of interest search, criteria associated with each item of interest, and a corresponding geographical location for each item of interest, and a corresponding geographical location for each item of interest; (b) a geographic locations processor for receiving a user-specified geographical location for searching the database records unit; and (c) a database index for generating a search query including the user-specified geographical location. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for performing a search on an information retrieval system to identify items of interest in a vicinity of a user-specified geographical location, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing informative prompts to prompt a user to provide search criteria; (b) detecting a request by the user to search for items of interest in a vicinity of the user'"'"'s present location; (c) requesting geographical location information from a user'"'"'s communication network carrier, representing a present geographical location of the user'"'"'s communication device; (d) receiving geographical location information provided by the user'"'"'s network carrier; and (e) generating a search query for items of interest within a radial distance of the present location of the user'"'"'s communication device. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for performing a search on an information retrieval system to identify items of interest in a vicinity of a user-specified geographical location, comprising the steps of:
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(a) configuring a table of names of geographical locations specified by a user and geographical locations corresponding to the names; (b) detecting a request by the user to search for items of interest in a vicinity of a location stored in the table; (c) receiving a name of a geographical location; (d) searching the table for the named geographical location and the corresponding location information; and (e) generating a search query for items of interest in the vicinity of the named geographical location.
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25. A method for searching an information retrieval system for items of interest in a vicinity of a user-specified location, comprising the steps of:
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(a) detecting a request by a user to search for items of interest in a vicinity of a user-specified location; (b) determining whether the user requests to search according to the user'"'"'s present location or a location stored in a table of locations pre-configured by the user; and (i) if the user request is to search according to the present location, requesting location information from a network carrier for the user'"'"'s mobile communications device, and (ii) if the user request is to search according to geographical location information provided in the pre-configured table of locations, requesting location information from the pre-configured table of locations; and (c) generating a search query using the provided geographical location information.
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Specification