System and method for providing location information service using mobile code

• US 8,374,626 B2
• Filed: 09/10/2009
• Issued: 02/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Jun, Hae-Young, Choi, Seok-Hoon, Lee, Ji-Hye
• Primary Examiner(s): Arevalo, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US12/557,093
• Publication Number:
  US 20110059750A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,251 Days
• Field of Search: 455/465.5, 455/456.3, 455/456.36, 455/456.1, 342/357.07, 235/462.08, 235/377, 235/462.46, 235/385, 235/462.16
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/16 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

An apparatus and method for providing a location information service using a mobile code in a Mobile Station (MS). The method includes scanning, by an input device of the MS, a mobile code; analyzing identifier information of the scanned mobile code; determining whether the identifier information corresponds to other information stored in the MS; if the identifier information corresponds to other information stored in the MS, acquiring location information, to be matched on a first cyber map in the MS, corresponding to the identifier information; matching the acquired location information on the first cyber map and displaying the matched first cyber map on an output device of the MS; and calculating a moving distance and a path using at least one location corresponding to the acquired location information.

Claims

1. A method for providing a location information service using a mobile code in a Mobile Station (MS), comprising:

scanning, by an input device of the MS, a mobile code;

analyzing identifier information of the scanned mobile code;

determining whether the analyzed identifier information corresponds to other information that was stored in the MS before the scanning of the mobile code;

acquiring, upon a determination that the identifier information corresponds to the other information stored in the MS, location information indicating a location of a building or shop associated with the mobile code, to be matched on a first cyber map in the MS, according to the other information stored in the MS corresponding to the identifier information;

matching coordinates of the acquired location information on the first cyber map in the MS; and

if cyber map information corresponding to the coordinates of the acquired location information does not exist in the first cyber map in the MS, updating the first cyber map with cyber map information corresponding to coordinates of corresponding location information obtained from a second cyber map in a server and matching the acquired location information on the updated first cyber map;

displaying the matched first cyber map on an output device of the MS; and

calculating a moving distance and a path using at least one location corresponding to the acquired location information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the scanning the mobile code comprises:

scanning the mobile code, checking all information stored in the mobile code; and

if location information requested by a user is stored in the mobile code, matching the requested location information on the first cyber map in the MS and displaying the matched location information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the location information stored in the mobile code includes a latitude, a longitude, and an altitude, which represent a desired location.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the location information is stored in the mobile code in the form of a text or a picture.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the identifier information corresponds to information previously stored in the MS comprises determining whether the identifier information is included in a location search table of the MS, and

wherein acquiring the location information comprises:

upon a determination that the location information is included in the location search table of the MS, acquiring the location information of the identifier information to match the identifier information on the first cyber map in the MS, when the identifier information is included in the location search table of the MS, and

upon a determination that the identifier is not included in the location search table of the MS, transmitting the identifier information to a server and acquiring the location information by downloading location information corresponding to the identifier information from the server.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

sending the identifier information to the server along with a request for additional information corresponding to the identifier information; and

acquiring the additional information from the server.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the moving distance and the path comprises:

calculating the moving distance and the path using the at least one location corresponding to the acquired location information using a path calculation module in the MS; and

displaying the calculated moving distance and the calculated path on the first cyber map.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when information representing a current location is to be updated while the mobile terminal searches for a location along a path displayed on the MS, scanning a mobile code of a nearest building or goods and setting location information acquired using an identifier included in the mobile code as the current location information; and

re-calculating the moving distance and the path using the set current location information and previously stored destination location information.

9. An apparatus for providing a location information service using a mobile code, comprising:

a code reading module for receiving the mobile code from at least one of a camera module mounted in a Mobile Station (MS) and an independent code reader;

a code decoding module for analyzing an identifier stored in the received mobile code;

a location management module for acquiring, based upon the identifier information, location information indicating a location of a building or shop associated with the mobile code;

a first memory for mapping the acquired location information on a first cyber map in the MS using the analyzed identifier, and storing the mapped location information, wherein if cyber map information corresponding to coordinates of the acquired location information does not exist in the first cyber map in the MS, updating the first cyber map with cyber map information corresponding to coordinates of corresponding location information obtained from a second cyber map in a server and matching the acquired location information on the updated first cyber map; and

a path calculation module for calculating a moving distance and a path using the mapped location information.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein when the analyzed identifier is not included in the first memory before the mobile code is received, the MS accesses a server, and updates and maps data corresponding to location information of the analyzed identifier using a second memory in the server.