SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING LOCATION INFORMATION SERVICE USING MOBILE CODE

• US 20130122942A1
• Filed: 01/04/2013
• Published: 05/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: LEE, Ji-Hye, JUN, Hae-Young, CHOI, Seok-Hoon
• Granted Patent: US 8,588,823 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/457
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/16 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

An apparatus and method for providing a location information service using a mobile code in a Mobile Station (MS) are provided. The method includes obtaining a mobile code scanned by an input device of the MS; acquiring location information if the location information is included in the obtained mobile code; matching coordinates of the acquired location information on a first cyber map in the MS if cyber map information corresponding to the coordinates of the acquired location information is included in the first cyber map in the MS; and if the cyber map information corresponding to the coordinates of the acquired location information is not included in the first cyber map in the MS, updating the first cyber map with cyber map information corresponding to coordinates of corresponding location information obtained from a second cyber map in a server and matching the acquired location information on the updated first cyber map.

Claims

1. A method for providing a location information service using a mobile code in a Mobile Station (MS), comprising:

obtaining a mobile code scanned by an input device of the MS;

acquiring location information if the location information is included in the obtained mobile code;

matching coordinates of the acquired location information on a first cyber map in the MS if cyber map information corresponding to the coordinates of the acquired location information is included in the first cyber map in the MS; and

updating, if the cyber map information corresponding to the coordinates of the acquired location information is not included in the first cyber map in the MS, the first cyber map with cyber map information corresponding to coordinates of corresponding location information obtained from a second cyber map in a server and matching the acquired location information on the updated first cyber map.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprises:

extracting identifier information from the obtained mobile code if the location information is not included in the obtained mobile code;

determining whether the extracted identifier information corresponds to other information that was stored in the MS; and

acquiring, upon a determination that the identifier information corresponds to the other information stored in the MS, location information indicating a location associated with the mobile code according to the other information stored in the MS corresponding to the identifier information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the extracted identifier information corresponds to the other information that was stored in the MS comprises determining whether the identifier information is included in a location search table of the MS, and

wherein acquiring the location information comprises:

upon a determination that the location information is included in the location search table of the MS, acquiring the location information of the identifier information to match the identifier information on the first cyber map in the MS, when the identifier information is included in the location search table of the MS, and

upon a determination that the identifier is not included in the location search table of the MS, transmitting the identifier information to the server and acquiring the location information by downloading location information corresponding to the identifier information from the server.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

sending the identifier information to the server along with a request for additional information corresponding to the identifier information; and

acquiring the additional information from the server.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprises:

displaying the matched first cyber map on an output device of the MS; and

calculating a moving distance and a path using at least one location corresponding to the acquired location information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein calculating the moving distance and the path comprises:

calculating the moving distance and the path using the at least one location corresponding to the acquired location information using a path calculation module in the MS; and

displaying the calculated moving distance and the calculated path on the first cyber map.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when information representing a current location is to be updated while the mobile terminal searches for a location along a path displayed on the MS, scanning a mobile code of a nearest building or goods and setting location information acquired using an identifier included in the mobile code as the current location information; and

re-calculating the moving distance and the path using the set current location information and previously stored destination location information

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information included in the obtained mobile code includes a latitude, a longitude, and an altitude, which represent a desired location.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information included in the obtained mobile code is in the form of a text or a picture.

10. An apparatus for providing a location information service using a mobile code in a Mobile Station (MS), comprising:

a code reading module for obtaining a mobile code scanned by an input device of the MS;

a code decoding module for acquiring location information if the location information is included in the obtained mobile code; and

a location management module for matching coordinates of the acquired location information on a first cyber map in the MS if cyber map information corresponding to the coordinates of the acquired location information is included in the first cyber map in the MS,

wherein if the cyber map information corresponding to the coordinates of the acquired location information is not included in the first cyber map in the MS, the location management module updates the first cyber map with cyber map information corresponding to coordinates of corresponding location information obtained from a second cyber map in a server and matching the acquired location information on the updated first cyber map.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the code decoding module extracts identifier information from the obtained mobile code if the location information is not included in the obtained mobile code, and

the location management module determines whether the extracted identifier information corresponds to other information that was stored in the MS, and acquires, upon a determination that the identifier information corresponds to the other information stored in the MS, location information indicating a location associated with the mobile code according to the other information stored in the MS corresponding to the identifier information.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the location management module determines whether the identifier information is included in a location search table of the MS, and acquires, upon a determination that the location information is included in the location search table of the MS, the location information of the identifier information to match the identifier information on the first cyber map in the MS, when the identifier information is included in the location search table of the MS, and

wherein the location management module transmits, upon a determination that the identifier is not included in the location search table of the MS, the identifier information to the server and acquires the location information by downloading location information corresponding to the identifier information from the server.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the location management module sends the identifier information to the server along with a request for additional information corresponding to the identifier information, and acquires the additional information from the server.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

a display module for displaying the matched first cyber map on an output device of the MS; and

a path calculation module for calculating a moving distance and a path using at least one location corresponding to the acquired location information.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the path calculation module calculates the moving distance and the path using the at least one location corresponding to the acquired location information using a path calculation module in the MS, and the display module displays the calculated moving distance and the calculated path on the first cyber map.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein when information representing a current location is to be updated while the mobile terminal searches for a location along a path displayed on the MS, a mobile code of a nearest building or goods is scanned and location information acquired using an identifier included in the mobile code is set as the current location information, and

wherein the path calculation module re-calculates the moving distance and the path using the set current location information and previously stored destination location information

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the location information included in the obtained mobile code includes a latitude, a longitude, and an altitude, which represent a desired location.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the location information included in the obtained mobile code is in the form of a text or a picture.