Method and system for creating universal location referencing objects
First Claim
1. A method for providing geographic item information for a location, using universal location referencing objects, comprising the steps of:
- accessing a file-of-reference that comprises geographic item information, including a geographic item associated with a location;
accessing a third-party file that comprises additional geographic item information that is optionally associated with the location; and
in response to a request for information for a particular location,retrieving a universal location reference object for the particular location, wherein the universal location reference object includes (a) a universal location reference code that uniquely identifies the location, (b) identifying information for the location, and (c) links to the additional geographic item information in the third-party file;
traversing the links, and associating the additional geographic item information in the third-party file with the geographic item information in the file-of-reference, andproviding resultant information, including additional geographic item information about the particular location, as a response to the request.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for creating and/or using a universal location referencing object (ULRO) with electronic files including electronic maps. ULROs establish traversable links between a file-of-reference and third-party-files. In accordance with an embodiment, the ULRO comprises a universal location referencing code uniquely corresponding to the location, together with several optional components, including: a set of name information; a super-set of coordinates; a file-of-reference pointer field comprising a file-of-reference pointer; a third-party-file pointer field comprising one or more third-party-file pointers; a file-of-reference back-pointer field comprising a file-of-reference back-pointer; a third-party-file back-pointer field comprising one or more third-party-file back-pointers; and a metadata field. ULROs allow recognition of equivalence of features in different maps, and facilitate dynamic combination or linking of multiple maps into one virtual map, with traversable connectivity for a wide variety of map formats.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for providing geographic item information for a location, using universal location referencing objects, comprising the steps of:
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accessing a file-of-reference that comprises geographic item information, including a geographic item associated with a location; accessing a third-party file that comprises additional geographic item information that is optionally associated with the location; and in response to a request for information for a particular location, retrieving a universal location reference object for the particular location, wherein the universal location reference object includes (a) a universal location reference code that uniquely identifies the location, (b) identifying information for the location, and (c) links to the additional geographic item information in the third-party file; traversing the links, and associating the additional geographic item information in the third-party file with the geographic item information in the file-of-reference, and providing resultant information, including additional geographic item information about the particular location, as a response to the request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of creating a data structure that uses universal location referencing objects to enable the providing of geographic item information for a location, comprising:
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storing in a data structure a pointer to a file-of-reference that comprises geographic item information, including a geographic item associated with a location; storing in the data structure a pointer to a third-party file that comprises additional geographic item information that is optionally associated with the location; storing in the data structure a universal location reference object that includes (a) a universal location reference code that uniquely identifies the location, (b) identifying information for the location, and (c) links to the additional geographic item information in the third-party file; and wherein the combination of the pointer to a file-of-reference, pointer to a third-party file, and universal location reference object, allows a universal location reference object to be retrieved for a particular location, and the links traversed to associate the additional geographic item information in the third-party file with the geographic item information in the file-of-reference. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification