SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPROVED MAPPING AND ROUTING

• US 20100027527A1
• Filed: 07/30/2008
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Davis, Marc Eliot, Higgins, Christopher William, Kalaboukis, Chris, Martinez, Ronald, Athsani, Athellina, O'Sullivan, Joseph James, Paretti, Christopher T.
• Granted Patent: US 10,230,803 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/351
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

A system and method for improved mapping and routing. A request for the determination of a route is received over a network. The request comprises an identification of a requesting user, and at least one objective. Spatial, temporal, topical, and social data available to the network which relating to the requesting user and the request objectives are retrieved using a global index of data available to the network. At least one entity which satisfies at least one request objective and which has a physical location known to the network is selected using the retrieved spatial, temporal, topical, and social data. At least one physical route is mapped between a starting location and the selected entity and is displayed on a display medium. Sponsored and recommended content available to the network which relates to the requesting user, and at least one objective can additionally be displayed on the display medium.

Claims

1. A method comprising the steps of:

receiving, over a network, a request for the determination of a route, wherein the request comprises an identification of a requesting user, and at least one objective;

retrieving spatial, temporal, topical, and social data available to the network relating to the requesting user and the at least one objective using a global index of data available to the network;

selecting, via the network, at least one entity which satisfies the at least one objective, wherein the at least one entity is selected using the retrieved spatial, temporal, topical, and social data, the at least one entity has a physical location known to the network;

mapping at least one physical route between a starting location and the at least one entity;

displaying, on a display medium, each of the at least one physical routes.

2. The method of claim 1 comprising the additional steps of:

determining, via the network, a personalized distance for each of the at least one physical routes;

displaying, on a display medium, for each of the at least one routes, a representation of the personalized distance determined for the at least one route.

3. The method of claim 2 comprising the additional steps of:

selecting, via the network, at least one of the at least one physical routes that have the most favorable personalized distance, wherein only the selected routes are displayed on the display medium.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiving, retrieving, selecting, mapping, and displaying steps are repeated on occurrence of a trigger condition.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the trigger condition is selected from the list:

a time, a date, the passage of a fixed time interval, and a calendar event.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the trigger condition is selected from the list:

proximity of the requesting user to a location, proximity of the requesting user to an object, proximity of the requesting user to an event, and proximity of the requesting user to a person.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the trigger condition is specified by the request for the determination of a route.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the at least one objectives is a social objective.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the at least one objectives is a topical objective.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the starting location is the current location of the requesting user.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the request for the determination of a route specifies the starting location.

12. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for a method comprising the steps:

receiving, over a network, a request for the determination of a route, wherein the request comprises an identification of a requesting user, and at least one objective;

retrieving spatial, temporal, topical, and social data available to the network relating to the requesting user and the at least one objective using a global index of data available to the network;

selecting, via the network, at least one entity which satisfies the at least one objective, wherein the at least one entity is selected using the retrieved spatial, temporal, topical, and social data, the at least one entity has a physical location known to the network;

mapping at least one physical route between a starting location and the at least one entity;

displaying, on a display medium, each of the at least one physical routes.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 comprising the additional steps of:

determining, via the network, a personalized distance for each of the at least one physical routes;

displaying, on a display medium, for each of the at least one routes, a representation of the personalized distance determined for the at least one route.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 comprising the additional steps of:

selecting, via the network, at least one of the at least one physical routes that have the most favorable personalized distance, wherein only the selected routes are displayed on the display medium.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein the receiving, retrieving, selecting, mapping, and displaying steps are repeated on occurrence of a trigger condition.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein the trigger condition is selected from the list:

a time, a date, the passage of a fixed time interval, and a calendar event.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein the trigger condition is selected from the list:

proximity of the requesting user to a location, proximity of the requesting user to an object, proximity of the requesting user to an event, and proximity of the requesting user to a person.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein the trigger condition is specified by the request for the determination of a route.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein at least one of the at least one objectives is a social objective.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein at least one of the at least one objectives is a topical objective.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein the starting location is the current location of the requesting user.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein the request for the determination of a route specifies the starting location.

23. A system comprising:

a request receiving module that receives requests over a network for the determination of routes, wherein each requests comprises an identification of a requesting user, and at least one objective;

a request data retrieval module that retrieves, for each request received by the request receiving module, spatial, temporal, topical, and social data relating to the requesting user and the at least one objective of requests using a global index of data available to the network;

an entity selection module that selects, for each request received by the request receiving module, least one entity which satisfies the at least one objective of the request, wherein the at least one entity is selected using spatial, temporal, topical, and social data retrieved by the request data retrieval module, and wherein the at least one entity has a physical location known to the network;

a route determination module that maps, for each request received by the request receiving module, at least one physical route between a starting location and the at least one entity selected for the request;

a route display module that displays, for each request received by the request receiving module, each of the at least one physical routes mapped for the request.

24. The system of claim 23 additionally comprising:

a personalized distance determination module that determines for each of the at least one physical routes mapped by the route determination module, wherein the route display module displays a representation of the personalized distance determined for each of the at least one routes.

25. The system of claim 24 comprising the additional steps of:

a route selection module that selects, for each request received by the request receiving module, at least one of the at least one physical routes mapped by the route determination module for the request that has the most favorable personalized distance, wherein only the selected routes are displayed by the route display module on the display medium.

26. The system of claim 23 wherein at least some of the requests received for the determination of routes by the request receiving module include at least one objective that is a social objective.

27. The system of claim 23 wherein at least some of the requests received for the determination of routes by the request receiving module include at least one objective that is a topical objective.

28. A method comprising the steps of:

receiving, over a network, a request for a map, wherein the request comprises an identification of a requesting user, and at least one map criteria;

retrieving spatial, temporal, topical, and social data available to the network relating to the requesting user and the at least one map criteria using a global index of data available to the network;

creating, via the network, a personalized targeting profile having at least one targeting profile criteria, wherein the personalized targeting profile is created using the retrieved spatial, temporal, topical, and social data;

matching content available to the network which relates to the at least one targeting profile criteria;

displaying, on a display medium, the content available to the network which relates to the at least one targeting profile criteria.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the request for a map is an objective-routing request and the at least one map criteria is an objective.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein the request for a map is a request for a map of a geographical area.

31. The method of claim 28 wherein the request for a map is a request for a map of a route between a starting location and an ending location.

32. The method of claim 28 wherein the content available to the network includes sponsored content.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the sponsored content includes advertisements.

34. The method of claim 28 wherein the content available to the network includes business profile information.

35. The method of claim 28 wherein at least one of the targeting profile criteria is a social criteria.

36. The method of claim 28 wherein at least one of the targeting profile criteria is a topical criteria.

37. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for a method comprising the steps:

receiving, over a network, a request for a map, wherein the request comprises an identification of a requesting user, and at least one map criteria;

retrieving spatial, temporal, topical, and social data available to the network relating to the requesting user and the at least one map criteria using a global index of data available to the network;

creating, via the network, a personalized targeting profile having at least one targeting profile criteria, wherein the personalized targeting profile is created using the retrieved spatial, temporal, topical, and social data;

matching content available to the network which relates to the at least one targeting profile criteria;

displaying, on a display medium, the content available to the network which relates to the at least one targeting profile criteria.

38. The computer-readable medium of claim 37 wherein the request for a map is an objective-routing request and the at least one map criteria is an objective.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 37 wherein the request for a map is a request for a map of a geographical area.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 37 wherein the request for a map is a request for a map of a route between a starting location and an ending location.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 37 wherein the content available to the network includes sponsored content.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 41 wherein the sponsored content includes advertisements.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 37 wherein the content available to the network includes business profile information.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 37 wherein at least one of the targeting profile criteria is a social criteria.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 37 wherein at least one of the targeting profile criteria is a topical criteria.

46. A system comprising the steps of:

a map request receiving module that receives, over a network, requests for maps, wherein each request comprises an identification of a requesting user, and at least one map criteria;

a map request data retrieval module that retrieves, for each request received by the request receiving module, spatial, temporal, topical, and social data available to the network relating to the requesting user and the at least one map criteria using a global index of data available to the network;

a personalized targeting profile creation module that creates, for each request received by the request receiving module, a personalized targeting profile having at least one targeting profile criteria, wherein the personalized targeting profile is created using spatial, temporal, topical, and social data retrieved by the map request data retrieval module;

a content matching module that matches, for each request received by the request receiving module, content available to the network which relates to the at least one targeting profile criteria within the personalized targeting profile created by the personalized targeting profile creation module;

a content display module that displays on a display medium, for each request received by the request receiving module, content matched by the content matching module.

47. The system of claim 46 wherein the request for a map is an objective-routing request and the at least one map criteria is an objective.

48. The system of claim 46 wherein the request for a map is a request for a map of a geographical area.

49. The system of claim 46 wherein the request for a map is a request for a map of a route between a starting location and an ending location.

50. The system of claim 46 wherein the content available to the network includes sponsored content.

51. The system of claim 50 wherein the sponsored content includes advertisements.

52. The system of claim 46 wherein the content available to the network includes business profile information.

53. The method of claim 46 wherein at least one of the targeting profile criteria is a social criteria.

54. The method of claim 46 wherein at least one of the targeting profile criteria is a topical criteria.