Method and apparatus for pre-fetching place page data based upon analysis of user activities

• US 9,275,374 B1
• Filed: 11/15/2011
• Issued: 03/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Mendis, Charles, Nourse, Thomas G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilles, Jude Jean
• Assistant Examiner(s): Means, Jaren M
• Application Number:
  US13/296,668
• Time in Patent Office: 1,568 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 9/00 Image coding bandwidth or redundancy reduction for static pictures H04N1/41; coding or decoding of static colour picture signals H04N1/64; methods or arrangements for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 9/20 Contour coding, e.g. using detection of edges

Abstract

A computer-implemented method and system for pre-fetching label and place page data from a remote, backend mapping system, and subsequently displaying the pre-fetched data, is disclosed. User activity data generated by execution of an application on the mobile device may be analyzed to determine geographic locations that indicate places the user is likely to be in the future. The user activity data may be analyzed at either the frontend or the backend to determine these geographic locations. Label and place page data corresponding to the geographic locations may then be retrieved from the mapping system and stored in a cache memory of the mobile computing device. The label and place page data may describe map features and include plain text, a data feed, or a URL. During periods of reduced connectivity to the mapping system, the mobile device may retrieve the stored label and place page data from the cache memory.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for pre-fetching label and place page data from a remote mapping system for subsequent display on a client computing device, the method comprising:

analyzing user activity data indicative of multiple past activities of a user to determine geographic location data, wherein the user activity data includes data generated by execution of an application at the client computing device and the user activity data indicates a geographic location;

receiving the geographic location data at the remote mapping system, wherein the remote mapping system includes (i) vector data specifying geometric shapes for map features to be rendered on the client computing device and (ii) label and place page data describing each map feature, the label and place page data including one or more of plain text, a data feed, and a URL, and both the vector data and the label and place page data correspond to the geographic location data;

matching the geographic location data to label and place page data;

sending the matched label and place page data to the client computing device, including not sending the vector data to the client computing device at the same time as sending the label and place page data;

storing the matched label and place page data in a cache memory of the client computing device; and

subsequently retrieving the matched label and place page data from the cache memory of the client computing device without further communication between the remote mapping system and the client computing device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application includes one or more of a mapping application, a web browser, a trip planning application, an e-mail application, and a social networking application.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the user activity data includes one or more of a history file corresponding to a log of mapping application searches, web page requests, locations, flight information, e-mail discussions, and social networking profile information.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the geographic location data includes one or more of a city name, an address, an airport code, or global positioning system coordinates.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising determining if the matched geographic location data is relevant, wherein relevant geographic location data includes a number of geographic location indications above a threshold.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein receiving the geographic location data includes receiving relevant geographic location data at the remote mapping system and matching the geographic location data to the label and place page data includes matching the relevant geographic location data to the label and place page data.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user activity data includes data generated by execution of a plurality of different applications at the client computing device.

7. A computer-implemented method for pre-fetching label and place page data from a remote mapping system for subsequent display on a client computing device during conditions of no connectivity between the remote mapping system and the client computing device, the method comprising:

periodically analyzing user activity data, indicative of multiple past activities of a user, at the client computing device to determine geographic location data corresponding to the user activity data, wherein the user activity data includes data generated by execution of an application at the client computing device, the user activity data indicates a geographic location, the application includes one or more of a mapping application, a web browser, a trip planning application, an e-mail application, and a social networking application, the user activity data includes one or more of a history file corresponding to a log of mapping application searches, web page requests, locations, flight information, e-mail discussions, and social networking profile information, and the determined geographic location data includes one or more of a city name, an address, an airport code, or global positioning system coordinates;

sending the determined geographic location data to the remote mapping system;

receiving label and place page data corresponding to the determined geographic location data at the client computing device, the label and place page data describing graphic map features and including one or more of plain text, a data feed, and a URL, including not receiving vector data specifying geometric shapes for rendering the graphic map features from the remote mapping system at the same time as receiving the label and place page data;

storing the corresponding label and place page data in a cache memory of the client computing device; and

subsequently retrieving the corresponding label and place page data from the cache memory of the client computing device without further communication between the remote mapping system and the client computing device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the remote mapping system matches the determined geographic location data to the corresponding label and place page data stored within a data repository of the remote mapping system.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising determining if the corresponding geographic location data is relevant, wherein relevant geographic location data includes a number of geographic location indications above a threshold and sending the determined geographic location data includes sending relevant geographic location data from the client computing device to the remote mapping system and the remote mapping system matches the relevant geographic location data to the corresponding label and place page data.

10. A client computing device comprising:

a processor;

a memory storing an application and instructions for execution by the processor, the instructions for using the processor to periodically cause user activity data, indicative of multiple past activities of a user, to be sent to a remote mapping system via a network connection, wherein the user activity data indicates a geographic location and includes data generated by execution of the application using the processor, the remote mapping system includes (i) vector data specifying geometric shapes for map features to be rendered on the client computing device, and (ii) label and place page data describing each map feature, the label and place page data including one or more of plain text, a data feed, and a URL, and both the vector data and the label and place page data correspond to the geographic location data;

a transceiver for receiving label and place page data from the remote mapping system via the network connection, including not receiving the vector data from the remote mapping system at the same time as receiving the label and place page data;

a cache memory to store the label and place page data received by the transceiver; and

a mapping module including instructions to cause the processor to display the received label and place page data from the cache memory without further communication between the remote mapping system and the client computing device.

11. The client computing device of claim 10, wherein the user activity data includes one or more of a history file corresponding to a log of mapping application searches, web page requests, locations, flight information, e-mail discussions, and social networking profile information.

12. The client computing device of claim 10, wherein the geographic location data includes one or more of a city name, an address, an airport code, or global positioning system coordinates, and wherein the backend mapping system includes instructions for execution by a processor for determining if the geographic location data is relevant, wherein relevant geographic location data includes a number of geographic location indications above a threshold.

13. A client computing device comprising:

a processor;

a memory storing an application and instructions for execution by the processor, the instructions for using the processor to analyze user activity data, indicative of multiple past activities of a user, to determine geographic location data, wherein the user activity data includes data generated by execution of an application at the client computing device and the user activity data indicates a geographic location;

a transceiver for sending a request for label and place page data to a remote mapping system and to receive label and place page data in response to the request, wherein the request includes the determined geographic location data, the remote mapping system includes (i) vector data specifying geometric shapes for map features to be rendered on the client computing device and (ii) label and place page data describing each map feature, the label and place page data including one or more of plain text, a data feed, and a URL, and both the vector data and the label and place page data correspond to the geographic location data;

a cache memory to store the requested label and place page data received by the transceiver, wherein the transceiver does not receive the vector data from the remote mapping system at the same time as receiving the label and place page data; and

a mapping module including instructions to cause the processor to display the received label and place page data from the cache memory without further communication between the remote mapping system and the client computing device.

14. The client computing device of claim 13, wherein the user activity data includes one or more of a history file corresponding to a log of mapping application searches, web page requests, locations, flight information, e-mail discussions, and social networking profile information, and the geographic location data includes one or more of a city name, an address, an airport code, or global positioning system coordinates.

15. The client computing device of claim 13, wherein the memory includes further instructions for determining if the geographic location data is relevant, wherein relevant geographic location data includes a number of geographic location indications above a threshold.

16. A non-transitory tangible computer readable medium storing instructions adapted for execution on a processor of a mobile computing device, the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to:

analyze user activity data to determine geographic location data, wherein the user activity data includes data generated by execution of an application at the mobile computing device and the user activity data indicates a geographic location;

receive the geographic location data at the remote mapping system, wherein the remote mapping system includes (i) vector data specifying geometric shapes for map features to be rendered on the mobile computing device and (ii) label and place page data describing each map feature, the label and place page data including one or more of plain text, a data feed, and a URL, and both the vector data and the label and place page data correspond to the geographic location data;

match the geographic location data to label and place page data;

send the matched label and place page data to the mobile computing device, including not send the vector data to the client computing device at the same time as sending the label and place page data;

store the matched label and place page data in a cache memory of the mobile computing device; and

subsequently retrieve the matched label and place page data from the cache memory of the mobile computing device without further communication between the remote mapping system and the mobile computing device.

17. The non-transitory tangible computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the application includes one or more of a mapping application, a web browser, a trip planning application, an e-mail application, and a social networking application, the user activity data includes one or more of a history file corresponding to a log of mapping application searches, web page requests, locations, flight information, e-mail discussions, and social networking profile information, and the geographic location data includes one or more of a city name, an address, an airport code, or global positioning system coordinates.

18. The non-transitory tangible computer readable medium of claim 16, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to determine if the matched geographic location data is relevant, wherein relevant geographic location data includes a number of geographic location indications above a threshold.

19. The non-transitory tangible computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to send the matched label and place page data to the mobile computing device, further cause the processor to send relevant geographic location data to the mobile computing device.

20. A non-transitory tangible computer readable medium storing instructions adapted for execution on a processor of a mobile computing device, the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to:

periodically analyze user activity data, indicative of multiple past activities of a user, at the mobile computing device to determine geographic location data corresponding to the user activity data, wherein the user activity data includes data generated by execution of an application at the mobile computing device, the user activity data indicates a geographic location, the application includes one or more of a mapping application, a web browser, a trip planning application, an e-mail application, and a social networking application, the user activity data includes one or more of a history file corresponding to a log of mapping application searches, web page requests, locations, flight information, e-mail discussions, and social networking profile information, and the determined geographic location data includes one or more of a city name, an address, an airport code, or global positioning system coordinates;

send the determined geographic location data to the remote mapping system;

receive label and place page data corresponding to the determined geographic location data at the mobile computing device, the label and place page data describing graphic map features and including one or more of plain text, a data feed, and a URL, including not receive vector data specifying geometric shapes for rendering the graphic map features from the remote mapping system at the same time as receiving the label and place page data;

store the corresponding label and place page data in a cache memory of the mobile computing device; and

subsequently retrieve the corresponding label and place page data from the cache memory of the mobile computing device without further communication between the remote mapping system and the client computing device.

21. The tangible computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the remote mapping system matches the determined geographic location data to the corresponding label and place page data stored within a data repository of the remote mapping system.

22. The tangible computer readable medium of claim 20, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to determine if the corresponding geographic location data is relevant, wherein relevant geographic location data includes a number of geographic location indications above a threshold and the instructions to send the determined geographic location data include instructions to send relevant geographic location data from the client computing device to the remote mapping system and the instructions further cause the remote mapping system to match the relevant geographic location data to the corresponding label and place page data.