System and method for providing information based on geographic position

• US 7,457,628 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2003
• Issued: 11/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Smarter Agent LLC
• Original Assignee: Smarter Agent LLC
• Inventors: Blumberg, Brad W., Blumberg, Eric M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harper; Vincent P
• Assistant Examiner(s): Figueroa; Marisol
• Application Number:
  US10/644,060
• Publication Number:
  US 20040110515A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,924 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/456.2, 455/414.1, 455/457
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 Item locations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/16 Real estate
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/163 Real estate management
• 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 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A system and method for providing position information using a three-dimensional based grid is provided. The position information may be relayed to an electronic device by providing location information to a database and receiving location-centric information at the electronic device. The system may include a network for continuously updating the database in real-time.

Claims

1. A processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to cause a processor to perform a process, the code comprising code to:

provide to an information system information related to a geographic location associated with a position of an electronic device, the geographic location being located within a base grid;

receive from the information system a location identifier associated with a property at the geographic location;

receive a first menu of location-centric information associated with the property directly from the information system, the first menu having a plurality of selectable icons including an icon to search for a property for sale;

transmit to the information system data associated with a selection of the icon to search for a property for sale;

receive directly from the information system a second menu of location-centric information associated with the property based on the selection of the icon to search for a property for sale, the second menu having a plurality of selectable search icons including an icon to search based on the geographic location of the electronic device; and

transmit to the information system data associated with a selection of the search icon to search based on the geographic location of the electronic device.

2. The processor-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising code to:

receive directly from the information system a third menu of location-centric information associated with the property based on the selection of the search icon to search based on the geographic location of the electronic device, the third menu having a plurality of selectable icons including at least one icon associated with a search radius relative to the geographic location of the electronic device; and

transmit to the information system data associated with a selection of one of the icons from the plurality of icons from the third menu of location-centric information.

3. The processor-readable medium of claim 2, further comprising code to:

receive directly from the information system a fourth menu of location-centric information associated with the property based on at least one of the selection of the icon to search based on the geographic location of the electronic device or the selection of one icon from the plurality of icons from the third menu of location-centric information, the fourth menu having a plurality of selectable icons including at least one icon associated with a price-range of properties available for sale; and

transmit to the information system data associated with a selection of one of the icons from the plurality of icons from the fourth menu of location-centric information.

4. The processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the location identifier is a geocode associated with the geographic location.

5. The processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the receiving a location identifier includes receiving information that has been dynamically updated via a network, the dynamically updated information being associated with the identified geographic location.

6. The processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the receiving a location identifier includes receiving information based on sensor data that has been dynamically updated via a network, the dynamically updated information being associated with the identified geographic location.

7. The processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the code is configured to associate geocode based on the geographic location with the first menu of location-centric information.

8. The processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the information system is located at a geographic location different from the geographic location of the electronic device.

9. The processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the information system is located at a geographic location different from the geographic location of the identified property.

10. A method, comprising:

providing to an information system information related to a geographic location associated with a position of an electronic device, the geographic location being located within a base grid;

receiving from the information system a location identifier associated with a property at the geographic location;

receiving a first menu of location-centric information associated with the property directly from the information system, the first menu having a plurality of selectable icons including an icon to search for a property for sale;

transmitting to the information system data associated with a selection of the icon to search for a property for sale;

receiving directly from the information system a second menu of location-centric information associated with the property based on the selection of the icon to search for a property for sale, the second menu having a plurality of selectable search icons including an icon to search based on the geographic location of the electronic device; and

transmitting to the information system data associated with a selection of the search icon to search based on the geographic location of the electronic device.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving directly from the information system a third menu of location-centric information associated with the property based on the selection of the search icon to search based on the geographic location of the electronic device, the third menu having a plurality of selectable icons including at least one icon associated with a search radius relative to the geographic location of the electronic device; and

transmitting to the information system data associated with a selection of one of the icons from the plurality of icons from the third menu of location-centric information.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving directly from the information system a fourth menu of location-centric information associated with the property based on at least one of the selection of the icon to search based on the geographic location of the electronic device or the selection of one icon from the plurality of icons from the third menu of location-centric information, the fourth menu having a plurality of selectable icons including at least one icon associated with a price-range of properties available for sale; and

transmitting to the information system data associated with a selection of one of the icons from the plurality of icons from the fourth menu of location-centric information.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the location identifier is a geocode associated with the geographic location.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving a location identifier includes receiving information that has been dynamically updated via a network, the dynamically updated information being associated with the identified geographic location.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving a location identifier includes receiving information based on sensor data that has been dynamically updated via a network, the dynamically updated information being associated with the identified geographic location.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the geographic identifier is a geocode based on the geographic location and associated with the first menu of location-centric information.

17. The processor-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the information system is located at a geographic location different from the geographic location of the electronic device.

18. The processor-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the information system is located at a geographic location different from the geographic location of the identified property.

19. A method, comprising:

receiving information related to a geographic location associated with a position of an electronic device, the geographic location being located within a base grid;

transmitting to the electronic device a location identifier associated with a property at the geographic location;

transmitting directly to the electronic device a first menu of location-centric information associated with the property, the first menu having a plurality of selectable icons including an icon to search for a property for sale;

receiving from the electronic device data associated with a selection of the icon to search for a property for sale;

transmitting directly to the electronic device a second menu of location-centric information associated with the property based on the selection of the icon to search for a property for sale, the second menu having a plurality of selectable search icons including an icon to search based on the geographic location of the electronic device; and

receiving from the electronic device data associated with a selection of the search icon to search based on the geographic location of the electronic device.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

transmitting directly to the electronic device a third menu of location-centric information associated with the property based on the selection of the search icon to search based on the geographic location of the electronic device, the third menu having a plurality of selectable icons including at least one icon associated with a search radius relative to the geographic location of the electronic device; and

receiving from the electronic device data associated with a selection of one of the icons from the plurality of icons from the third menu of location-centric information.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

transmitting directly to the electronic device a fourth menu of location-centric information associated with the property based on at least one of the selection of the icon to search based on the geographic location of the electronic device or the selection of one icon from the plurality of icons from the third menu of location-centric information, the fourth menu having a plurality of selectable icons including at least one icon associated with a price-range of properties available for sale; and

receiving from the electronic device data associated with a selection of one of the icons from the plurality of icons from the fourth menu of location-centric information.