Method and system for distributing geographical addresses across the surface of the earth

• US 6,826,385 B2
• Filed: 02/22/2002
• Issued: 11/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Kujala, Jouni
• Primary Examiner(s): CUMMING, WILLIAM D
• Application Number:
  US10/081,511
• Publication Number:
  US 20030162548A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,012 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.3, 455/13.1, 455/422, 455/428, 455/422.1, 342/350, 342/457, 340/573.1, 379/201.06, 701/207
• US Class Current: 455/13.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/604 Address structures or formats
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/35 involving non-standard use of addresses for implementing network functionalities, e.g. coding subscription information within the address or functional addressing, i.e. assigning an address to a function
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/20 based on geographic position or location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

Abstract

A method and system for increasing the number of geographical addresses for mobile devices in regions of the Earth nearer to the equator than those regions closer to the North and South poles and without significantly increasing the size (number of bits) of the addresses is provided. Typically, regions nearer to the equator have higher populations and a greater need for large amounts of geographical addresses than those regions found closer to the South and North poles. By using the sine of a latitude coordinate for a particular location instead of the actual latitude coordinate, the range of available geographical addresses for mobile devices in the most densely populated regions on Earth can be significantly increased while decreasing the number of addresses available in regions closer to the South or North poles.

Claims

1. A method for generating geographical addresses for mobile devices disposed on the surface of the Earth, comprising:

(a) determining at least a latitude coordinate and a longitude coordinate for a geographical position of a mobile device;

(b) determining at least one other coordinate that corresponds to the latitude coordinate of the mobile device, wherein the determining of the at least one other coordinate increases a resolution of the latitude coordinate and wherein a binary representation of the at least one other coordinate is-relatively the same size as a binary representation of the latitude coordinate for locating the mobile device in at least one region of the Earth; and

(c) generating a geographical address for the mobile device that includes the at least one other coordinate and the longitude coordinate wherein including the at least one other coordinate and longitude coordinate in the geographical address for the mobile device enables a substantially greater range of available geographical addresses to be generated for each mobile device disposed in the at least one region of the Earth than at least another region of the Earth of relatively the same size that is closer to one of the North and South poles than the Equator.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

(a) determining an altitude coordinate for the geographical position of the mobile device; and

(b) employing the altitude coordinate to generate the geographical address of the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, subparagraph (a), wherein the determining of the latitude coordinate and the longitude coordinate employs at least one of Assisted Global Positioning System, Global Positioning System, Enhanced Observed Time Difference, Cell Identifier, Service Area Identifier, Timing Advance, Base Station Subsystem and triangulation.

4. The method of claim 1, subparagraph (b), wherein determining the at least one other coordinate is the result of performing a sine function on the latitude coordinate.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one other coordinate is determinable with at least one equation, including latitudebits =(2^x−

1)/sin(latitude),

wherein x represents the number of bits reserved for the determined sine of the latitude coordinate in the geographical address, latitudebits represents the other coordinate and latitude represents the latitude coordinate.

6. The method of claim 1, subparagraph (b), wherein determining the at least one other coordinate includes accessing a table of other coordinates that are predetermined and correspond to latitude coordinates, wherein each predetermined other coordinate corresponds to each longitude coordinate that is determinable in at least one region of the Earth.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising employing the geographical address for the mobile device and another geographical address for another mobile device to establish communication between the mobile device and the other mobile device over a network.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising enabling each mobile device on the network to forward a request for communication between the mobile device and the other mobile device along a path that includes at least one other mobile device on the network.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising employing at least one geographical address of at least one other mobile device to determine the path between the mobile device and the other mobile device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein communication is established between the mobile device and the other mobile device by at least one other mobile device operating as a router disposed on the path between the mobile device and the other mobile device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing geographical addresses of each mobile device in a data store.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the data store is disposed in at least one mobile device.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the data store is disposed in at least one server accessible through a base station in communication with at least one mobile device on the network.

14. A computer readable medium including computer-executable instructions for generating geographical addresses for mobile devices disposed on the surface of the Earth, the instructions causing a computer to perform a plurality of actions comprising:

(a) determining at least a latitude coordinate and a longitude coordinate for a geographical position of a mobile device;

(b) determining at least one other coordinate that corresponds to the latitude coordinate of the mobile device, wherein the determining of the at least one other coordinate increases a resolution of the latitude coordinate and wherein a binary representation of the at least one other coordinate is relatively the same size as a binary representation of the latitude coordinate for locating the mobile device in at least one region of the Earth; and

(c) generating a geographical address for the mobile device based on the at least one other coordinate and the longitude coordinate, wherein employing the at least one other coordinate and the longitude coordinate to generate the geographical address for the mobile device enables a substantially greater range of available geographical addresses to be generated for each mobile device disposed in the at least one region of the Earth than at least another region of the Earth of relatively the same size that is closer to one of the North and South poles than the Equator.

15. A system for generating geographical addresses for mobile devices disposed in a network on the surface of the Earth, comprising

(a) a geographic module that determines at least a latitude coordinate and a longitude coordinate for a geographical position of a mobile device;

(b) a transform module that determines at least one other coordinate that corresponds to the latitude coordinate of the mobile device, wherein the determining of the at least one other coordinate increases a resolution of the latitude coordinate and wherein a binary representation of the at least one other coordinate is relatively the same size as a binary representation of the latitude coordinate for locating the mobile device in at least one region of the Earth; and

(c) an address module that generates a geographical address for the mobile device based on the at least one other coordinate and the longitude coordinate, wherein employing the at least one other coordinate and the longitude coordinate to generate the geographical address for the mobile device enables a substantially greater range of available geographical addresses to be generated for each mobile device disposed in the at least one region of the Earth than at least another region of the Earth of relatively the same size that is closer to one of the North and South poles than the Equator.

16. The system of claim 15, subparagraph (a), wherein the geographic module further employs at least one of Assisted Global Positioning System, Global Positioning System, Enhanced Observed Time Difference, Cell Identifier, Service Area Identifier, Timing Advance, Base Station Subsystem and triangulation to determine the latitude coordinate and the longitude coordinate of the mobile device.

17. The system of claim 15 subparagraph (b), wherein the transform module employs a sine function to determine the at least one other coordinate from the latitude coordinate.

18. A system for generating geographical addresses for mobile devices disposed on the surface of the Earth, comprising

(a) means for determining at least a latitude coordinate and a longitude coordinate for a geographical position of a mobile device;

(b) means for determining at least one other coordinate that corresponds to the latitude coordinate of the mobile device, wherein the determining of the at least one other coordinate increases a resolution of the latitude coordinate and wherein a binary representation of the at least one other coordinate is relatively the same size as a binary representation of the latitude coordinate for locating the mobile device in at least one region of the Earth; and

(c) means for generating a geographical address for the mobile device based on the at least one other coordinate and the longitude coordinate, wherein employing the at least one other coordinate and the longitude coordinate to generate the geographical address for the mobile device enables a substantially greater range of available geographical addresses to be generated for each mobile device disposed in the at least one region of the Earth than at least another region of the Earth of relatively the same size that is closer to one of the North and South poles than the Equator.