Geographic location referencing system and method

• US 6,047,236 A
• Filed: 11/04/1998
• Issued: 04/04/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: WGRS Licensing Company, LLC
• Original Assignee: GO2 Software Incorporated
• Inventors: Hancock, S. Lee, Dana, Peter H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli, Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US09/188,153
• Time in Patent Office: 517 Days
• Field of Search: 701/201, 701/211, 701/213, 701/300, 701/208, 342/357, 342/457, 342/357.06, 342/357.08, 342/357.13, 342/357.17, 340/988
• US Class Current: 701/208
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3878 Hierarchical structures, e.g. layering
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3881 Tile-based structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/106 using electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

A method and apparatus for defining grid and proprietary addresses of selected locations within a geographical area is described, characterized in that the grid addresses are defined in relation to a grid and can be easily converted to global coordinates defined in relation to a known global referencing system, and the proprietary addresses are unique to the geographical area.

Claims

1. A method for defining and using an improved locational referencing system comprising the steps of:

defining a plurality of arbitrarily-shaped districts, each associated with a particular location having a unique district name, and each associated with a reference point defined in terms of a well-known geographic referencing system;

sub-dividing each of said districts into a plurality of cells having an arbitrary orientation and scale, wherein each of said cells is identified by a first unique cell number in accordance to its relative position within the associated district; and

saving said reference point, said unique district name, and factors associated with said arbitrary orientation and scale for each of said districts.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

selecting a first selected location by identifying one of said cells within one of said districts; and

creating a first universal location address (ULA) by appending said unique cell number to said unique district name associated with said first selected location.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of:

converting said first ULA to the well-known geographical referencing system by mathematically applying said unique cell number to said reference point corresponding to said associated unique district name in accordance with the arbitrary orientation and scale factors from said saving step.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

dividing at least one of said cells into a plurality of smaller cells, each having a predefined size, wherein each of said smaller cells is identified by a second unique cell number in accordance to its relative position within said at least one of said cells; and

storing said predefined size of said smaller cells.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

selecting a second particular address by identifying one of said smaller cells; and

creating a second ULA by appending said second unique cell number of said one of said smaller cells to said first ULA.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said dividing and storing steps are repeated until a desired address resolution is achieved.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

selecting a second selected location by identifying one of said smaller cells;

creating a second ULA by appending each of said second unique cell numbers associated with said second selected location to said first ULA in an order corresponding to the second selected cell'"'"'s hierarchy.

8. Navigational apparatus comprising:

a GPS receiver by means of which global coordinates of a first selected location within a geographical area can be provided;

an input device by means of which a locational address of a second selected location within the geographical area can be provided, the locational address comprising a specific locational address appended to general position information;

a storage device in which data descriptive of a plurality of pre-defined grids is stored, each of the grids corresponding to a geographical area and having

a plurality of cells;

a reference location;

global coordinates of the reference location; and

at least one parameter defining cell size and orientation;

a processor coupled to the GPS receiver, the input device and the storage device, said processor being configured such that

at least one of the plurality of grids is selectable based on the general position information;

the global coordinates of the second selected location are determinable based on the data descriptive of the selected grid and the specific locational address; and

an indicator which is determinable by comparing the global coordinates of the first selected location with the global coordinates of the second selected location; and

an output device coupled to the processor, wherein the indicator can be output by means of the output device.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the specific locational address consists of a plurality of hierarchical codes.

10. Apparatus according claim 9, wherein each grid cell is subdivided into a plurality of sub-cells.

11. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the specific locational address is a proprietary name,

locational information of the second selected location associated with the proprietary name is stored in the storage device, and

the global coordinates of the second selected location are determinable further based on the locational information.

12. Apparatus according claim 11, wherein each grid cell is subdivided into a plurality of sub-cells.

13. Apparatus according claim 8, wherein each grid cell is subdivided into a plurality of sub-cells.

14. Apparatus according to any of the claims 13 to 12, wherein

a specific locational address of a third selected location within the geographical area can be provided by means of the input device;

the processor is further configured such that

the global coordinates of the third selected location are determinable based on the data descriptive of the selected grid and the specific locational address of the third selected location; and

a second indicator which is determinable by comparing the global coordinates of the first selected location with the global coordinates of the third selected location and;

the second indicator can be output by means of the output device.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the global coordinates are latitude and longitude coordinates.

16. Apparatus according claim 15, wherein a specific location address is acceptable by means of the input device, and said processor being further configured such that a complete locational address can be created by combining the known general position information with the specific locational address.

17. Apparatus according to claim 14 wherein the second indicator is selected from the group comprising a distance indicator, a direction indicator, and a distance and direction indicator.

18. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the indicator is selected from the group comprising a distance indicator, a direction indicator, and a distance and direction indicator.

19. A method of indicating a direction towards a desired location comprising the following steps:

providing global coordinates of a first selected location within a geographical area;

providing a locational address of a second selected location within the geographical area, the locational address comprising a specific locational address appended to general position information;

storing data descriptive of a plurality of pre-defined grids, each of the grids corresponding to a geographical area and having

a plurality of cells;

a reference location;

global coordinates of the reference location; and

at least one parameter defining cell size and orientation;

selecting one of the plurality of grids based on the general position information;

determining the global coordinates of the second selected location based on the data descriptive of the selected grid and the specific locational address;

determining an indicator by comparing the global coordinates of the first selected location with that of the second selected location; and

outputting the indicator.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the specific locational address consists of a plurality of hierarchical codes.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein each grid cell is subdivided into a plurality of sub-cells.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein

the specific locational address is a proprietary name,

the method further comprises the step of storing locational information of the second selected location associated with the proprietary name, and wherein

the step of determining the global coordinates of the second selected location is further based on the locational information.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein each grid cell is subdivided into a plurality of sub-cells.

24. The method according to claim 19, wherein each grid cell is subdivided into a plurality of sub-cells.

25. The method according to any of the claims 24 to 23, further comprising the steps of

providing a specific locational address of a third selected location within the geographical area;

determining the global coordinates of the third selected location based on the data descriptive of the selected grid and the specific location address of the third selected location;

determining a second indicator by comparing the global coordinates of the first selected location with the global coordinates of the third selected location; and

outputting the second indicator.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the global coordinates are latitude and longitude coordinates.

27. The method according to claim 26, further comprising the steps of accepting a specific locational address, and creating a complete locational address by combining the known general position information with the specific locational address.

28. The method of claim 25 wherein the second indicator is selected from the group comprising a distance indicator, a direction indicator, and a distance and direction indicator.

29. The method of claim 19 wherein the indicator is selected from the group comprising a distance indicator, a direction indicator, and a distance and direction indicator.