Geographic tagging of network access points
First Claim
1. A method for geographically tagging a wireless network access point, the method comprising:
- determining a location of the wireless network access point including a latitude value and a longitude value of the access point;
generating a first string by multiplying the latitude value by a first constant and converting it to base 60;
generating a second string by multiplying the longitude value by the first constant and converting it to base 60;
creating a geographic code by appending a first character produced by multiplying a highest order character of the second string by a second constant and adding it to a highest order character of the first string, a second to fifth characters using four lowest order characters of the first string and a sixth to ninth characters using four lowest order characters of the second string to represent the location of the wireless network access point; and
broadcasting the geographic code as part of a beacon signal normally output by the wireless network access point,wherein base 60 is a number system that uses 60 digits.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for geographic tagging of network access points comprises a plurality of access points that have been configured to provide location information as part of their beacon. Each access point provides a service set identifier (SSID) that includes an encoded value that represents the location of the access point. The use of an encoded location value in the SSID of the access point is particularly advantageous because it does not require any additional hardware be added to the access point or the portable computing device. Moreover, location can be determined by any portable device without establishing a connection to the access point. The portable computing devices are adapted to receive the beacon, extract the location information from the beacon and decode the beacon. The present invention also includes a variety of methods including: a method for geographic tagging of network access points, a method for encoding a location into a geographic code, a method for decoding a geographic code into a location, a method for encoding height into a geographic code, a method for decoding height from a geographic code and a method for determining the location using a plurality of geographic codes.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method for geographically tagging a wireless network access point, the method comprising:
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determining a location of the wireless network access point including a latitude value and a longitude value of the access point; generating a first string by multiplying the latitude value by a first constant and converting it to base 60; generating a second string by multiplying the longitude value by the first constant and converting it to base 60; creating a geographic code by appending a first character produced by multiplying a highest order character of the second string by a second constant and adding it to a highest order character of the first string, a second to fifth characters using four lowest order characters of the first string and a sixth to ninth characters using four lowest order characters of the second string to represent the location of the wireless network access point; and broadcasting the geographic code as part of a beacon signal normally output by the wireless network access point, wherein base 60 is a number system that uses 60 digits. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for generating a geographic code for an access point, the method comprising:
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receiving location information corresponding to the access point including a latitude value and a longitude value of the access point; generating a first string by multiplying the latitude value by a first constant and converting it to base 60; generating a second string by multiplying the longitude value by the first constant and converting it to base 60; and creating a geographic code by encoding the location information using a compact encoding scheme including appending a first character produced by multiplying a highest order character of the second string by a second constant and adding it to a highest order character of the first string, a first plurality of characters from the first string and a second plurality of characters from the second string, wherein base 60 is a number system that uses 60 digits. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for decoding a geographic code to produce a location, the method comprising:
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receiving a geographic code including a plurality of characters; determining a first multiplier and a second multiplier from a first character of the geographic code; determining a latitude of the location by retrieving four characters following the first character of the geographic code, converting the four characters from base 60 to an integer and adding the first multiplier to the integer; and determining a longitude of the location by retrieving a last four characters of the geographic code, converting the last four characters from base 60 to an integer and adding the second multiplier to the integer, wherein base 60 is a number system that uses 60 digits. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification