Location-based data communications system and method

• US 8,832,121 B2
• Filed: 02/01/2006
• Issued: 09/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accuweather Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Accuweather Incorporated
• Inventors: Smith, Steven, Steinberg, Michael Alan, Patti, Christopher, Yule, Douglas
• Primary Examiner(s): SYED, FARHAN M
• Application Number:
  US11/344,043
• Publication Number:
  US 20060178140A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,142 Days
• US Class Current: 707/751
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/14 with services dependent on location where the service is an information service H04M2242/15; services independent of location H04M3/42229
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42348 Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4872 Non-interactive information services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

A communications system and method for communicating geographic location-based information to a client computer operating in a communications network is disclosed. The system involves the use of a geographic location-based records database, a client profile database containing at least one user preference, a means for receiving at least one request from a client computer, the request including information about a location of the client computer, and a means for parsing the request to identify the location of the client computer. The system and method involve identifying a set of information records from the database that are relevant to the location of the client computer and the user'"'"'s preferences, an algorithm that computes a statistical result from the information records, and a communications network for communicating the result to the client computer.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for communicating geographic location-based information to a client computer operating in a communications network comprising the steps of:

receiving, by way of a first communications network, at least one request from a client computer, wherein the at least one request includes information about the location of the client computer, at least one user preference, and at least one query;

parsing the at least one request to identify the location of the client computer, the at least one user preference, and the at least one query;

identifying a set of information records, from a database of information records, associated with a plurality of geographic locations based on the location of the client computer;

selecting at least some of the information records for each of the plurality of geographic locations from the set of information records based on the at least one query;

computing a weighted statistical value for the location of the client computer using a plurality of weights and each of the selected information records for each of the plurality of geographic locations, wherein the plurality of weights are calculated from relative linear distances between the location of the client computer and at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, and wherein the weighted statistical value is a weighted statistical average of the selected information records for said at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, weighted in accordance with the weights, and wherein the weighted statistical value takes into account at least one of geographic factors or historical trends;

adjusting the computed value to account for at least one specific geographic characteristic of the location of the client computer and the geographical location associated with the selected information records; and

responding to the request, by way of the first or second communications network, by delivering or providing the adjusted value to the client computer.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the database of information comprises one or more records of weather information, weather forecast information, news, sports, quotes, and advertisements.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the database of information contains records stored in a format selected from audio, video, and text.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the location of the client computer is determined using global navigation positioning system telemetry data, wireless communications repeater towers, or both.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computed value is in the form of binary and graphical information and wherein the request is in the form of one or more Internet Protocol data packets.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first communications network is a packet-switched network such as the Internet.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of weights are calculated from relative linear distances between the location of the client computer and at least three of the plurality of geographic locations, and wherein the weighted statistical value is a weighted statistical average of the selected information records for said at least three of the plurality of geographic locations, weighted in accordance with the weights.

7. A computer-implemented method for communicating geographic location-based information to a client computer operating in a communications network comprising the steps of:

providing a client profile database including at least one record of a client location of interest, a client computer identifier, and at least one alert condition;

receiving, in a geographic location-based information database, geographic location-based information covering a geographic area, the area including a plurality of geographical locations, at least some of the geographic location-based information determined using a weighted statistical value for at least some of the plurality of geographical locations, the weighted statistical value being computed using a plurality of weights and the geographic location-based information, wherein the plurality of weights are calculated from relative linear distances between a location of the client computer and at least two of the plurality of geographical locations, and wherein the weighted statistical value is a weighted statistical average of the selected information records for said at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, weighted in accordance with the weights, and wherein the weighted statistical value takes into account at least one of geographic factors or historical trends;

parsing the client profile database to identify the client location of interest and the at least one alert condition;

identifying a set of information records, from a database of information records, associated with a plurality of geographic locations based on the client location of interest;

computing a change in the geographic location-based information covering the geographic area;

determining whether the change satisfies the at least one alert condition;

determining whether the covered geographic area includes the client location of interest;

formulating a data packet containing information based on at least some of the geographic location-based information for each of the plurality of geographic locations relevant to the computed change, wherein the at least some of the geographic location-based information is adjusted to account for at least one specific geographic characteristic of the client location of interest and the geographical location associated with the geographic location-based information; and

sending the data packet to the client computer associated with the client computer identifier.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the geographic location-based information comprises weather information and weather forecast information.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the at least one alert condition is one of a wind speed, temperature, visibility, precipitation amount, precipitation accumulation, and precipitation effect, or a combination of two or more of those alert conditions.

10. A system for providing geographic location-based information to a client computer operating in a communications network comprising:

a geographic location-based records database in data communication with an information server;

a client profile database in data communication with the information server, wherein the client profile database contains at least one user preference;

a receiving device for receiving at least one request from a client computer, wherein the at least one request includes information about a location of the client computer;

a parsing subsystem for extracting from the request the location of the client computer;

an identifying subsystem for selecting a set of information records from the database of information records associated with a plurality of geographic locations and that are relevant to the at least one user preference and the location of the client computer;

a computing device for computing a weighted statistical value for the location of the client computer using a plurality of weights and the selected information records for each of the plurality of geographic locations, wherein the plurality of weights are calculated from relative linear distances between the location of the client computer and at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, and wherein the weighted statistical value is a weighted statistical average of the selected information records for said at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, weighted in accordance with the weights, and wherein the weighted statistical value takes into account at least one of geographic factors or historical trends, wherein the computed value is adjusted to account for at least one specific geographic characteristic of the location of the client computer and the geographical location associated with the selected information records; and

a communications network for communicating one or more geographic location-based records from the geographic location-based records database and the adjusted value to a client computer.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the geographic location-based records database comprises one or more records of weather information, weather forecast information, news, sports, quotes, and advertisements.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the geographic location-based records database contains records stored in a format selected from audio, video, and text.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the location of the client computer is determined using global navigation positioning system telemetry data, wireless communications repeater towers, or both.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the computed value is in the form of binary and graphical information.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the communications network is a packet-switched network such as the Internet.

16. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer causes the computer to perform a method for communicating geographic location-based information to a client computer operating in a communications network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, by way of a first communications network, at least one request from a client computer, wherein the at least one request includes information about the location of the client computer, at least one user preference, and at least one query;

parsing the at least one request to identify the location of the client computer, the at least one user preference, and the at least one query;

identifying a set of information records, from a database of information records, associated with a plurality of geographic locations based on the location of the client computer;

selecting at least some of the information records for each of the plurality of geographic locations from the set of information records based on the at least one query;

computing a weighted statistical value for the location of the client computer using a plurality of weights and each of the selected information records for each of the plurality of geographic locations, wherein the plurality of weights are calculated from relative linear distances between the location of the client computer and at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, and wherein the weighted statistical value is a weighted statistical average of the selected information records for said at least two of the plurality geographic locations, weighted in accordance with the weights, and wherein the weighted statistical value takes into account at least one of geographic factors or historical trends;

adjusting the computed value to account for at least one specific geographic characteristic of the location of the client computer and the geographical location associated with the selected information records; and

responding to the request, by way of the first communications network or by way of a second communications network, by delivering or providing the adjusted value to the client computer.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the database of information comprises one or more records of weather information, weather forecast information, news, sports, quotes, and advertisements.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the first communications network is a packet-switched network such as the Internet.

19. A computer-implemented method for communicating geographic location-based information to a client computer operating in a communications network comprising the steps of:

outputting, by way of a first communications network, to a client computer a set of geographic locations corresponding to respective locations where geographic location-based information is available;

receiving at least one request from the client computer, wherein the at least one request includes information identifying from the set of geographic locations a plurality of geographic locations closest to the geographic location of the client computer, at least one user preference, and at least one query, wherein said request does not include an actual location of the client computer;

parsing the at least one request to identify the geographic locations from the set of geographic locations closest to the client computer, the at least one user preference, and the at least one query;

identifying a set of information records, from a database of information records, associated with the set of geographic locations closest to the client computer;

selecting at least some of the information records based on the at least one request;

computing a weighted statistical value using a plurality of weights and each of the selected information records, wherein the plurality of weights are calculated from relative linear distances between the location of the client computer and at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, and wherein the weighted statistical value is a weighted statistical average of the selected information records for said at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, weighted in accordance with the weights, and wherein the weighted statistical value takes into account at least one of geographic factors or historical trends; and

responding to the request, by way of the first or a second communications network, by delivering or providing the computed value to the client computer.

20. A computer-implemented method for communicating geographic location-based information to a client computer operating in a communications network comprising the steps of:

receiving, by way of a first communications network, location information about the geographic location of a client computer;

parsing the location information to identify the geographic location of the client computer;

identifying a set of information records, from a database of information records, associated with a plurality of geographic locations based on the location of the client computer;

selecting at least some of the information records for each of the plurality of geographic locations from the set of information records based on the location of the client computer;

outputting to the client computer the selected information records;

computing, on the client computer, a weighted statistical value for the location of the client computer using a plurality of weights and each of the selected information records for each of the plurality of geographic locations, wherein the plurality of weights are calculated from relative linear distances between the location of the client computer and at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, and wherein the weighted statistical value is a weighted statistical average of the selected information records for said at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, weighted in accordance with the weights, and wherein the weighted statistical value takes into account at least one of geographic factors or historical trends;

automatically adjusting the computed value to account for at least one specific geographic characteristic of the location of the client computer and the geographical location associated with the selected information records; and

outputting on the client computer the adjusted value.

21. A computer-implemented method for communicating geographic location-based information to a client computer operating in a communications network comprising the steps of:

automatically and continuously storing on a server updated location information concerning a geographic location of at least one client computer;

receiving at the server at least one request from the at least one client computer, wherein the at least one request includes at least one user preference and at least one query;

parsing the at least one request to identify the at least one user preference and the at least one query;

identifying a set of information records, from a database of information records, associated with a plurality of geographic locations based on the most updated location information concerning the location of the client computer;

selecting at least some of the information records for each of the plurality of geographic locations from the set of information records based on the at least one query;

computing a weighted statistical value for the location of the client computer using a plurality of weights and each of the selected information records for each of the plurality of geographic locations, wherein the plurality of weights are calculated from relative linear distances between the location of the client computer and at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, and wherein the weighted statistical value is a weighted statistical average of the selected information records for said at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, weighted in accordance with the weights, and wherein the weighted statistical value takes into account at least one of geographic factors or historical trends;

adjusting the computed value to account for at least one specific geographic characteristic of the location of the client computer and the geographical location associated with the selected information records; and

responding to the request, by way of the first or second communications network, by delivering or providing the adjusted value to the client computer.

22. A computer-implemented method for communicating geographic location-based information to a client computer operating in a communications network comprising the steps of:

automatically and continuously storing on a server updated location information concerning a geographic location of at least one client computer;

executing on the client computer an application program adapted to allowing a user to pre-select at least one category or genre of geographic location-based and non-geographic location-based information of interest;

receiving at least one request from the application program, wherein the at least one request includes at least one user preference and at least one query;

parsing the at least one request to identify the at least one user preference and the at least one query;

identifying a set of information records, from a database of information records, associated with a plurality of geographic locations based on the most updated location information concerning the location of the client computer, wherein the set of information records corresponds to the pre-selected at least one category or genre of geographic location-based and non-geographic location-based information of interest;

selecting at least some of the information records for each of the plurality of geographic locations from the set of information records based on the at least one query;

computing a weighted statistical value for the location of the at least one client computer using a plurality of weights and each of the selected information records for each of the plurality of geographic locations, wherein the plurality of weights are calculated from relative linear distances between the location of the client computer and at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, and wherein the weighted statistical value is a weighted statistical average of the selected information records for said at least two of the plurality of geographic locations, weighted in accordance with the weights, and wherein the weighted statistical value takes into account at least one of geographic factors or historical trends;

adjusting the computed value to account for at least one specific geographic characteristic of the location of the at least one client computer and the geographical location associated with the selected information records; and

responding to the request by delivering or providing the adjusted value to the at least one client computer.