Translating Search Strings into Physical Locations

• US 20100005076A1
• Filed: 07/01/2008
• Published: 01/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Roden, Barbara
• Granted Patent: US 9,378,289 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries

Abstract

This description provides tools and techniques for translating search strings into physical locations. These tools may provide methods that include retrieving search strings, and requesting translation of the search strings to one or more corresponding physical locations. These methods may also receive representations of the corresponding physical locations, and provide the representations of the physical locations as input to a navigation engine.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method comprising:

retrieving at least one search string;

requesting translation of the search string to at least one corresponding physical location;

receiving a representation of the corresponding physical location; and

providing the representation of the physical location as input to a navigation engine.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions for retrieving at least one search string include instructions for retrieving a phone number, wherein the instructions for receiving a representation of the corresponding physical location include instructions for receiving a representation of a street address, and wherein the instructions for providing the representation of the physical location include instructions for providing the street address to the navigation engine.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions for retrieving at least one search string include instructions for retrieving a phone number retrieved from an address book.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions for retrieving at least one search string include instructions for retrieving a phone number retrieved from a call log.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions for retrieving at least one search string include instructions for retrieving a name associated with a caller.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, as included within a device, and wherein the instructions for requesting translation of the search string include instructions for requesting translation services from a server that is remote from the device and accessible over a communications network.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, as included within a device, and wherein the instructions for requesting translation of the search string include instructions for requesting translation services from a service that is resident on the device.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions for:

receiving at least one search string for translation to a corresponding physical location;

searching at least one translation database for any occurrences of the search string; and

returning results of the search indicating whether the search string corresponds to at least one physical location suitable for input to a navigation engine.

9. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method comprising:

receiving at least one search string for translation to a corresponding physical location;

searching at least one translation database for any occurrences of the search string; and

returning results of the search indicating whether the search string corresponds to at least one physical location suitable for input to a navigation engine.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string include instructions for receiving at least a phone number for translation, wherein the instructions for searching at least one translation database include instructions for searching the translation database for occurrences of the phone number, and wherein the instructions for returning results of the search include instructions for indicating whether the search string corresponds to at least one street address suitable for input to the navigation engine.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string include instructions for receiving at least an e-mail address for translation to a corresponding physical location.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string include instructions for receiving at least a name for translation to a corresponding physical location.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string include instructions for receiving at least an account number for translation to a corresponding physical location.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string include instructions for receiving at least a network address for translation to a corresponding physical location.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, as incorporated into a server, and wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string for translation include instructions for receiving the search string from a device remote from the server.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, as incorporated into a device, and wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string for translation include instructions for receiving the search string from the device.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising instructions for:

retrieving at least one search string;

requesting translation of the search string to at least one corresponding physical location;

receiving a representation of the corresponding physical location; and

providing the representation of the physical location as input to a navigation engine.

18. A device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer readable storage medium coupled to communicate with the processor, wherein the storage medium includes at least a navigation application that includes computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the device to perform a method comprising;

retrieving at least one search string,

requesting translation of the search string to at least one corresponding physical location,

receiving a representation of the corresponding physical location, and

providing the physical location as input to a navigation engine.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the storage medium includes the navigation engine.

20. The device of claim 18, wherein the navigation application includes computer-executable instructions for retrieving the search string from an address book contained within the device.

21. The device of claim 18, wherein the navigation application includes computer-executable instructions for retrieving the search string from a call log contained within the device.

22. The device of claim 18, wherein the instructions for requesting translation of the search string include instructions for requesting translation services from a remote server.

23. The device of claim 18, wherein the instructions for requesting translation of the search string include instructions for requesting translation services from a service resident on the device.

24. The device of claim 18, wherein the instructions for retrieving at least one search string include instructions for retrieving a phone number retrieved from an address book.

25. The device of claim 18, wherein the instructions for retrieving at least one search string include instructions for retrieving a phone number retrieved from a call log.

26. The device of claim 18, wherein the instructions for retrieving at least one search string include instructions for retrieving a name associated with a caller.

27. A device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer readable storage medium coupled to communicate with the processor, wherein the storage medium includes at least a navigation application that includes computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the device to perform a method comprising;

receiving at least one search string for translation to a corresponding physical location,

searching at least one translation database for any occurrences of the search string, and

returning results of the search indicating whether the search string corresponds to at least one physical location suitable for input to a navigation engine.

28. The device of claim 27, wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string for translation include instructions for receiving the search string from a further device remote from the device.

29. The device of claim 27, wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string for translation include instructions for receiving the search string from the device.

30. The device of claim 27, wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string include instructions for receiving at least a phone number for translation to a corresponding physical location.

31. The device of claim 27, wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string include instructions for receiving at least an e-mail address for translation to a corresponding physical location.

32. The device of claim 27, wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string include instructions for receiving at least a name for translation to a corresponding physical location.

33. The device of claim 27, wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string include instructions for receiving at least an account number for translation to a corresponding physical location.

34. The device of claim 27, wherein the instructions for receiving at least one search string include instructions for receiving at least a network address for translation to a corresponding physical location.