Location-based web browsing

• US 7,573,843 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2003
• Issued: 08/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Koss, Michael C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid; Lester
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lim; Steven
• Application Number:
  US10/675,025
• Publication Number:
  US 20040062213A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,142 Days
• Field of Search: 370/310, 370/328, 370/349, 455/456.6
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Described herein is a hyperlink browsing system that includes a plurality of mobile hyperlink browsers that communicate wirelessly with a plurality of servers having geographically-dependent information content. The hyperlink browsers have access to positioning receivers that generate varying geographical coordinates indicating the varying locations of the hyperlink browsers. When submitting HTTP requests, the hyperlink browsers include the geographical coordinates. The servers recognize the parameters and customize returned content in accordance with the geographic locations of the requesting users.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that are executable by a computer to perform steps comprising:

sending an Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request that includes geographical coordinates of a mobile client in a header of the request;

receiving a response from a server, the response comprising;

a geographically-dependent content that is customized to the geographical coordinates in the HTTP request, and

a header including the geographical coordinates, and a valid radius indicator indicating a radius from the geographical coordinates within which the geographically-dependent content is displayed on the mobile client;

comparing a current location of the mobile client to the valid radius indicator;

determining, by the mobile client, that the geographically-dependent content is no longer valid based on the comparing when the mobile client leaves an area encompassed by the radius; and

sending a new HTTP request that includes new geographical coordinates of the mobile client in a header of the new HTTP request.

2. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 1, the steps further comprising:

receiving from a server, new geographically-dependent content that is customized to the new geographical coordinates of the mobile client, the new geographically-dependent content including a new valid radius indicator indicating a new area in which the new geographically-dependent content is valid.

3. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the sending an HTTP request comprises:

accepting a designation of hyperlinked content from a user; and

obtaining the geographical coordinates of the mobile client from a global positioning receiver associated with the mobile client.

4. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the mobile client is a mobile automobile computer comprising an interface with an automobile diagnostics module.

5. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 1, wherein a valid geographically-dependent content is displayed on the mobile client.

6. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a hyperlink browser program, the hyperlink browser program being executable by a mobile computer to perform steps comprising:

accepting a designation of hyperlinked content from a user;

obtaining current geographical coordinates of the mobile computer from a global positioning receiver associated with the mobile computer;

in response to user designation of hyperlinked content, sending a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request to a hyperlinked content network over a wireless transmission medium;

including the current geographical coordinates of the mobile computer in a header of the HTTP request; and

receiving and rendering a reply from the hyperlinked content network as a result of the HTTP request, the reply comprising;

a geographically-dependent content, and

a header including a valid zone specification that is returned to the hyperlink browser program indicating a range relative to the geographical coordinates in which the geographically-dependent content is valid, and the current geographical coordinates of the mobile computer.

7. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 6, wherein geographically-dependent content that is valid is displayed by the hyperlink browser program and the geographically-dependent content that is not valid is not displayed by the hyperlink browser program.

8. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 6, the steps further comprising:

receiving geographically-dependent content from the hyperlinked content network as a result of the HTTP request, wherein a valid radius is returned to the hyperlink browser program in conjunction with the geographically-dependent content, the valid radius indicating a radius from the current geographical coordinates within which the geographically-dependent content is considered valid; and

invalidating the geographically-dependent content when the mobile computer leaves an area encompassed by the radius.

9. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 6, wherein the mobile computer is a mobile automobile computer comprising an interface with an automobile diagnostics module.

10. A mobile information system comprising:

a mobile client running a mobile hyperlink browser to communicate with one or more remote servers, wherein a geographically-dependent hyperlinked content is available from the servers;

wherein the mobile hyperlink browser sends resource requests to the servers;

wherein a header of a resource request from the mobile hyperlink browser includes geographical coordinates indicating a current location of the mobile client;

wherein the servers return a response comprising;

a geographically-dependent content having a valid zone specification indicating a geographical zone within which the geographically-dependent content is displayed by the mobile hyperlink browser, and

a header including the geographical coordinates and the valid zone specification; and

wherein the mobile hyperlink browser invalidates geographically-dependent content when the mobile client leaves the geographical zone specified by the valid zone specification.

11. A mobile information system as recited in claim 10, wherein the servers return valid zone specifications in conjunction with returned geographically-dependent content, the valid zone specifications indicating geographical zones within which the returned geographically-dependent content is valid;

and

the mobile hyperlink browser resubmits the resource request when the mobile hyperlink browser leaves the geographical zone specified for particular returned geographically-dependent content.

12. A mobile information system as recited in claim 10, wherein the mobile client is a mobile automobile computer comprising an interface with an automobile diagnostics module.

13. A mobile information system comprising:

a computer;

a wireless communications interface that provides communications between the computer and a remote server over a wireless communications medium;

a hyperlink browser that executes on the computer, the hyperlink browser sending resource requests to the remote server over the wireless communications medium;

a positioning receiver that generates varying geographical coordinates indicating a varying location of the computer;

wherein the hyperlink browser includes the varying geographical coordinates in a header of at least some of the resource requests;

wherein the remote server returns a header including the varying geographical coordinates and a valid zone specification in conjunction with a returned geographically-dependent content, the valid zone specification indicating a geographical zone around the varying geographical coordinates within which the returned geographically-dependent content is displayed by the hyperlink browser; and

wherein the hyperlink browser invalidates returned geographically-dependent content when the computer leaves the geographical zone specified for that returned geographically-dependent content.

14. A mobile information system as recited in claim 13, wherein the remote server returns a valid zone specification in conjunction with returned geographically-dependent content, the valid zone specification indicating a geographical zone within which the returned geographically-dependent content is valid;

and

the hyperlink browser sends a new resource request when the computer leaves the geographical zone specified for particular returned geographically-dependent content.

15. A mobile information system as recited in claim 13, wherein the computer is a mobile automobile computer comprising an interface with an automobile diagnostics module.

16. A hyperlink browsing system comprising:

a plurality of servers that provide geographically-dependent hyperlinked content on a wide-area network;

a plurality of mobile clients that communicate with the wide-area network over a wireless communications medium, each mobile client having a varying location, a positioning receiver that generates varying geographical coordinates indicating the varying location of the mobile client, and a hyperlink browser that is responsive to user designations of hyperlinked content to send an HTTP request to servers and to render content that is returned in response to the HTTP request;

wherein a header of the HTTP request includes current geographical coordinates of the mobile client;

wherein the servers select and return responses comprising;

a geographically-dependent content to the hyperlink browser in response to the HTTP request depending on the geographical coordinates in the HTTP request; and

a header including the current geographical coordinates of the mobile client and a valid zone specification in conjunction with the geographically-dependent content, the valid zone specification indicating a geographical zone around the current geographical coordinates of the mobile client within which the returned geographically-dependent content is displayed on the mobile client.

17. A mobile information system as recited in claim 16, wherein the mobile clients are mobile automobile computers comprising an interface with an automobile diagnostics module.

18. A hyperlink browsing system comprising:

a plurality of servers that provide hyperlinked content on a wide-area network, wherein at least some of the hyperlinked content is geographically-dependent;

a plurality of mobile clients that communicate with the wide-area network over a wireless communications medium, the mobile clients having varying locations;

the mobile clients having positioning receivers that generate varying geographical coordinates indicating the varying locations of the mobile clients;

the mobile clients having hyperlink browsers that are responsive to user designations of hyperlinked content to send UTIP requests to servers and to render content that is returned in response to the HTTP requests;

wherein the hyperlink browser of a particular mobile client includes current geographical coordinates of that mobile client in an HTTP requests header along with each HTTP request;

wherein the servers select and return responses comprising;

a geographically-dependent content to the hyperlink browsers in response to the HTTP requests depending on the geographical coordinates in the HTTP requests; and

a header including the current geographical coordinates of that mobile client and valid zone specifications in conjunction with the geographically-dependent content, the valid zone specifications indicating geographical zones within which the returned geographically-dependent content is displayed on the mobile client.

19. A hyperlink browsing system as recited in claim 18, wherein the responses further comprise advertising supplements, and wherein at least one of the servers is configured to select advertising supplements returned to a particular mobile client based on the geographical location of that particular mobile client.

20. A hyperlink browsing system as recited in claim 18, wherein the servers return valid radii specifications in conjunction with returned geographically-dependent content, each valid radius specification indicating a radius from the geographical coordinates of an HTTP request, within which a returned geographically-dependent content is valid.

21. A hyperlink browsing system as recited in claim 18, wherein:

the servers return valid zone specifications in conjunction with returned geographically-dependent content, the valid zone specifications indicating geographical zones within which the returned geographically-dependent content is considered valid; and

the hyperlink browser of a particular mobile client sends a new resource request when that mobile client leaves the geographical zone specified for particular returned geographically-dependent content.

22. A hyperlink browsing system as recited in claim 18, wherein the returned geographically-dependent content comprises a listing of mobile users in proximity to requesting mobile clients.

23. A hyperlink browsing system as recited in claim 18, wherein at least one of the servers maintains a database indicating current locations of different mobile clients based on the HTTP requests submitted by the clients, and wherein the returned geographically-dependent content comprises a listing of mobile clients in proximity to requesting mobile clients.

24. A mobile information system as recited in claim 18, wherein the mobile class or mobile automobile computers comprising an interface with an automobile diagnostics module.