Systems, methods, and computer program products for generating reference geocodes for point addresses

• US 7,953,547 B2
• Filed: 10/15/2010
• Issued: 05/31/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Inventors: Jenkins, Rhesa, Thyagarjan, Prabhakar, Cutler, Mike, Klouda, Pamela, Graham, Craig, Snader, David, Shamel, Mike, Hock, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli; Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US12/905,477
• Publication Number:
  US 20110040696A1
• Time in Patent Office: 228 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for generating a reference location data set, such as a reference longitude and latitude point, for each of a plurality of point addresses. A reference location data set can be determined for a point address based on a history of prior geocode samples, such as GPS readings, that have been obtained using a portable computing device during a prior delivery to or pickup from the point address. A location data service collects such geocode samples and processes the samples to generate a reference location data set, such as a reference longitude and latitude and a zone of confidence around the reference longitude and latitude, for each unique point address. To determine whether an item is being delivered to a wrong address, current location data obtained during a delivery can be compared against the reference location data generated by the location data service for the delivery address.

Claims

1. A method of generating reference location data for a plurality of unique point addresses, the method comprising:

receiving, via one or more processors, a plurality of geocode samples associated with a unique point address, wherein each geocode sample is captured during a delivery or a pickup of an item addressed to or from the unique point address; and

computing, via the one or more processors, a reference geocode for the unique point address based on at least some of the plurality of geocode samples.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning, via the one or more processors, the reference geocode to the unique point address.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the geocode samples are captured in response to one of a plurality of types of trigger events associated with the delivery or pickup process, and wherein computing the reference geocode based on the plurality of geocode samples comprises:

weighting the plurality of geocode samples based on the type of trigger event associated with each geocode sample.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each geocode sample comprises latitude and longitude data, and wherein computing the reference geocode based on the plurality of geocode samples comprises:

calculating a reference latitude and a reference longitude using the latitude and longitude data of at least some of the plurality of geocode samples.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the geocode samples comprise latitude and longitude data, and wherein computing the reference geocode based on the plurality of geocode samples comprises:

weighting at least some of the plurality of geocode samples relative to each other based on one or more predefined rules; and

computing a mean latitude and a mean longitude by using the relative weights of the plurality of geocode samples to compute a weighted average of the latitude and longitude data associated with at least some of the plurality of geocode samples.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein computing the reference geocode based on the plurality of geocode samples comprises:

ignoring outlying geocode samples from the plurality of geocode samples; and

averaging the remaining geocode samples of the plurality of geocode samples in order to generate a mean-location-without-outliers point for the unique point address.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein ignoring outlying geocode samples comprises:

generating, for each geocode sample, a measure of the density of other geocode samples located in an area around the geocode sample; and

determining outlying geocode samples from the plurality of geocode samples based on the measure of the density.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein computing the reference geocode based on the plurality of geocode samples comprises:

averaging the plurality of geocode samples in order to generate a mean location point;

computing a mean distance by averaging the distances that each geocode sample is from the mean location point;

ignoring geocode samples of the plurality of geocode samples that are a greater distance from the mean location point than a factor of the computed mean distance; and

averaging any non-ignored geocode samples in order to generate the reference geocode.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

generating a circle of confidence, wherein generating a circle of confidence comprises;

using the reference geocode as the center of the circle of confidence; and

computing a radius of the circle of confidence by providing a predefined base radius and adding the base radius to the product of the mean distance and a predefined radius scale factor.

10. A system for generating reference location data for a plurality of unique point addresses, the system comprising:

a geocode sample receiving module configured to receive a plurality of geocode samples associated with a unique point address, each geocode sample having been captured during a delivery or a pickup of an item addressed to or from the unique point address; and

a reference location data generating system having one or more memory storage areas and one or more processors configured to;

compute a reference geocode for the unique point address based on the plurality of geocode samples.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the reference location data generating system is further configured to assign the reference geocode to the unique point address.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein each of the geocode samples were captured in response to one of a plurality of types of trigger events associated with a delivery or pickup process, and wherein the reference location data generating system is configured to compute the reference geocode by weighting the plurality of geocode samples based on the type of trigger event associated with each geocode sample.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein each geocode sample comprises latitude and longitude data, and wherein the reference location data generating system comprises:

an algorithm module configured to compute the reference geocode by calculating a reference latitude and a reference longitude using the latitude and longitude data of at least some of the plurality of geocode samples.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the geocode samples are recorded by a geocode sensor of a portable computing device, the geocode sensor sensing geocode information from a geocode system, wherein the portable computing device is configured to capture a geocode sample by recording the sensed geocode information in response to at least one predefined trigger event occurring during the delivery or pickup, and wherein the reference location data generating system comprises:

a business logic module configured to weight at least some of the geocode samples relative to each other based on an amount of time between when the geocode sensor sensed the geocode information and when the trigger event occurred.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein each of the geocode samples comprise latitude and longitude data, and wherein the reference location data generating system comprises:

a business logic module configured to weight at least some of the plurality of geocode samples relative to each other based on one or more predefined rules; and

an algorithm module configured to compute a mean latitude and a mean longitude by using the relative weights of the plurality of geocode samples to compute a weighted average of the latitude and longitude data associated with at least some of the plurality of geocode samples.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the reference location data generating system comprises:

an algorithm module configured to;

ignore outlying geocode samples from the plurality of geocode samples; and

average the remaining geocode samples of the plurality of geocode samples in order to generate a mean-location-without-outliers point for the unique point address.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the algorithm module is further configured to:

generate, for each geocode sample, a measure of the density of other geocode samples located in an area around the geocode sample; and

determine outlying geocode samples from the plurality of geocode samples based on the measure of the density.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the reference location data generating system comprises:

an algorithm module configured to;

average the plurality of geocode samples in order to generate a mean location point;

compute a mean distance by averaging the distances that each geocode sample is from the mean location point;

ignore geocode samples of the plurality of geocode samples that are a greater distance from the mean location point than a factor of the computed mean distance; and

average any non-ignored geocode samples in order to generate the reference geocode.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the reference location data generating system is further configured to generate a circle of confidence, and wherein the algorithm module is configured to:

use the reference geocode as the center of the circle of confidence; and

compute a radius of the circle of confidence by providing a predefined base radius and adding the base radius to the product of the mean distance and a predefined radius scale factor.

20. The system of claim 10, wherein the reference location data generating system comprises:

a get data module configured to reformat geocode sample data received by the geocode sample receiving module;

a business logic module configured to apply predefined business logic rules to the geocode sample data in order to generate a weighted database of geocode samples, each geocode sample weighted based on the predefined business logic rules;

an algorithm module configured to apply statistical algorithms to the plurality of weighted geocode samples in order to generate the reference geocode; and

a communication module for providing reference data to one or more other systems.

21. A computer program product for generating reference location data for a plurality of unique point addresses, the computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

an executable portion configured for receiving a plurality of geocode samples associated with a unique point address, wherein each geocode sample is captured during a delivery or a pickup of an item addressed to or from the unique point address; and

an executable portion configured for computing a reference geocode for the unique point address based on the plurality of geocode samples.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, further comprising:

an executable portion configured for assigning the reference geocode to the unique point address.

23. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein each of the geocode samples are captured in response to one of a plurality of types of trigger events associated with the delivery or pickup process, and wherein the computer-readable program code portions further comprise:

an executable portion configured for weighting the plurality of geocode samples based on the type of trigger event associated with each geocode sample.

24. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein each geocode sample comprises latitude and longitude data, and wherein the computer-readable program code portions further comprise:

an executable portion configured for calculating a reference latitude and a reference longitude using the latitude and longitude data of at least some of the plurality of geocode samples.

25. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the geocode samples are recorded by a geocode sensor of a portable computing device, wherein the geocode sensor senses geocode information from a geocode system, wherein the portable computing device captures a geocode sample by recording the sensed geocode information in response to at least one predefined trigger event occurring during the delivery or pickup, and wherein the computer-readable program code portions further comprise:

an executable portion configured for weighting at least some of the geocode samples relative to each other based on an amount of time between when the geocode sensor sensed the geocode information and when the trigger event occurred.

26. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein each of the geocode samples comprise latitude and longitude data, and wherein the computer-readable program code portions further comprise:

an executable portion configured for weighting at least some of the plurality of geocode samples relative to each other based on one or more predefined rules; and

an executable portion configured for computing a mean latitude and a mean longitude by using the relative weights of the plurality of geocode samples to compute a weighted average of the latitude and longitude data associated with at least some of the plurality of geocode samples.

27. The computer program product of claim 21, further comprising:

an executable portion configured for ignoring outlying geocode samples from the plurality of geocode samples; and

an executable portion configured for averaging the remaining geocode samples of the plurality of geocode samples in order to generate a mean-location-without-outliers point for the unique point address.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising:

an executable portion configured for generating, for each geocode sample, a measure of the density of other geocode samples located in an area around the geocode sample; and

an executable portion configured for determining outlying geocode samples from the plurality of geocode samples based on the measure of the density.

29. The computer program product of claim 21, further comprising:

an executable portion configured for averaging the plurality of geocode samples in order to generate a mean location point;

an executable portion configured for computing a mean distance by averaging the distances that each geocode sample is from the mean location point;

an executable portion configured for ignoring geocode samples of the plurality of geocode samples that are a greater distance from the mean location point than a factor of the computed mean distance; and

an executable portion configured for averaging any non-ignored geocode samples in order to generate the reference geocode.

30. The computer program product of claim 29, further comprising:

an executable portion configured for generating a circle of confidence, wherein the seventh code logic comprises;

an executable portion configured for using the reference geocode as the center of the circle of confidence; and

an executable portion configured for computing a radius of the circle of confidence by providing a predefined base radius and adding the base radius to the product of the mean distance and a predefined radius scale factor.