System and method for determining the geographic location of internet hosts
First Claim
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1. A computer-implemented method of determining a location of an Internet host using a computer system, comprising the following computer-executable acts:
- obtaining a router label associated with a host IP address associated with the Internet host;
extracting a location code from the router label;
consulting a data store comprising at least one data set having location codes and corresponding location information;
obtaining location information from the data store corresponding to the location code;
providing a location estimate of the location of the Internet host according to the location information from the data store corresponding to the location code; and
determining a dispersion metric representative of an accuracy of the location estimate of the location of the Internet host and selectively providing the location estimate.
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Abstract
A system and methodologies are disclosed for determining the geographic location of an Internet host. A first method infers host location based on the DNS names of the host of interest or other nearby network nodes. A second method employs network delay measurements from geographically distributed locations to triangulate the coordinates of the host. A third method couples partial host-to-location mapping information obtained from one or more sources with BGP or other routing information in order to infer location of the host of interest.
68 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of determining a location of an Internet host using a computer system, comprising the following computer-executable acts:
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obtaining a router label associated with a host IP address associated with the Internet host; extracting a location code from the router label; consulting a data store comprising at least one data set having location codes and corresponding location information; obtaining location information from the data store corresponding to the location code; providing a location estimate of the location of the Internet host according to the location information from the data store corresponding to the location code; and determining a dispersion metric representative of an accuracy of the location estimate of the location of the Internet host and selectively providing the location estimate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of determining a location of an Internet host, comprising the following computer-executable acts:
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measuring a first delay time relating to a transmission from a first computer system to receipt of the transmission at the Internet host along a first network path between a host IP address associated with the Internet host and the first computer system; providing a location estimate of the location of the Internet host according to the first delay time; and computing a dispersion metric representative of an accuracy of the location estimate of the location of the Internet host and selectively providing the location estimate based upon the dispersion metric, wherein the location estimate is at least one of stored on a computer readable storage medium, employed by a process executing on a processor, displayed on a display device, or transmitted between one or more processes executing on one or more computers. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for determining a location of an Internet host, the instructions to, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
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measuring a first delay time relating to a transmission from a first computer system to receipt of the transmission at the Internet host along a first network path between a host IP address associated with the Internet host and the first computer system; providing a location estimate of the location of the Internet host according to the first delay time; and computing a dispersion metric representative of an accuracy of the location estimate of the location of the Internet host and selectively providing the location estimate based upon the dispersion metric, wherein the location estimate is at least one of stored on a computer readable storage medium, employed by a process executing on a processor, displayed on a display device, or transmitted between one or more processes executing on one or more computers. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification