Location mapping for key-point based services
First Claim
1. A system for providing one or more mobile user devices with locally relevant information, comprising:
- automatically determining an approximate position of at least one user device;
reporting the approximate position to a remote server;
querying a database of geographic points of interest to identify a set of one or more geographic points of interest within a predetermined distance from the approximate position of the at least one user device;
wherein each geographic point of interest has been assigned to a predetermined grid section approximately corresponding to a known physical location of that geographic point of interest;
returning the set of one or more geographic points of interest to one or more of the user devices;
rendering a grid-based display of the grid sections which illustrates graphical representations of each of the returned geographic points of interest on a display device of one or more of the user devices, wherein a representation of each geographic point of interest is rendered in a corresponding one of the rendered grid sections; and
wherein a representation of the approximate position is rendered in one of the grid sections corresponding to the approximate position of the at least one user device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A “Proxi-Mapper” combines location based services (LBS), local searching capabilities, and relative mapping in a way that minimizes bandwidth requirements and maximizes user experience. The Proxi-Mapper automatically determines approximate locations of one or more local user devices (cell phones, PDA'"'"'s, media players, portable computing devices, etc.) and returns a lightweight model of local entities (“key-points”) representing businesses, services or people to those devices. Key-points are maintained in one or more remote databases in which key-points are assigned to predetermined grid sections based on the locations of the corresponding entities. Metadata associated with the key-points provides the user with additional information relating to the corresponding entities. In various embodiments, user query options allow the Proxi-Mapper to pull or push relevant local key-point based information to user devices via one or more wired or wireless networks.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for providing one or more mobile user devices with locally relevant information, comprising:
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automatically determining an approximate position of at least one user device; reporting the approximate position to a remote server; querying a database of geographic points of interest to identify a set of one or more geographic points of interest within a predetermined distance from the approximate position of the at least one user device; wherein each geographic point of interest has been assigned to a predetermined grid section approximately corresponding to a known physical location of that geographic point of interest; returning the set of one or more geographic points of interest to one or more of the user devices; rendering a grid-based display of the grid sections which illustrates graphical representations of each of the returned geographic points of interest on a display device of one or more of the user devices, wherein a representation of each geographic point of interest is rendered in a corresponding one of the rendered grid sections; and wherein a representation of the approximate position is rendered in one of the grid sections corresponding to the approximate position of the at least one user device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon for providing location-based services via an electronic device, comprising instructions for:
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determining an approximate position of a user device; querying a database of location-based services to determine which of the location-based services are within a predetermined distance from the approximate position of the user device; returning a set of available location-based services to the user device, said set comprising one or more of the location-based services that are within the predetermined distance from the approximate position of the user device; assigning each available location-based service in the returned set to a particular one of a plurality of grid sections corresponding to a physical location of each of those location-based services; and rendering a grid-based display on the user device comprising the grid sections for illustrating graphical representations of each available location-based service in a corresponding one of the rendered grid sections. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for dynamically providing location-based service information to a user device, comprising;
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dynamically determining a current geographic position of a user device, said current geographic position being periodically updated over time; determining a current set of possible location-based services within a known distance of the geographic position of the user device, said current set of possible location-based services being updated whenever the current geographic position of the user device is updated; providing a subset of available location-based services to the user device from the current set of possible location-based services, said subset of available location-based services being updated whenever the current geographic position of the user device is updated; assigning each available location-based service a grid section corresponding to a physical location of each of those location-based services; rendering a grid-based display on the user device comprising the grid sections for providing a graphical representation of each available location-based service in a corresponding one of the rendered grid sections; and rendering a representation of the approximate position of the user device in one of the grid sections corresponding to the approximate position of the user device. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification