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AssigneeNavteq North America, LLC
InventorsIldiko Hegedus, Matthias Thorner, William Gale, Lawrence M. Kaplan
Estimating the term…
An improved method and system for specifying physical locations when using applications run on navigation systems or other computer platforms that provide navigation- or map-related functions. When requesting a navigation- or map-related function from such an application, a user specifies a physical location using a keyword instead of specifying the physical location conventionally, such as by street address. A keyword database relates keywords to physical locations. The application uses the keyword database, or a copy thereof, to find data indicating the physical location associated with the keyword specified by the user. Preferably, physical locations are defined in the keyword database in terms of data in a corresponding geographic database. The application then performs the requested navigation- or map-related function using the data indicating the physical location associated with the keyword. The keyword database is built using input from users. An on-line system is provided that users can access to associate keywords with physical locations. A user accessing the on-line system is presented with a map from which a physical location can be selected. A keyword, which may be selected by the user, is associated with the selected physical location. The keyword is stored in the keyword database along with data indicating the associated physical location.
A keyword database that includes data regarding unique identifiers associated with physical locations that can be used for location referencing, wherein the physical locations are represented by data in a plurality of geographic databases, comprising:
A method of location referencing using data contained in a database that represents geographic features in a region, wherein the location is represented by data in a plurality of geographic databases, comprising:
A method of facilitating specification of an off-road location by end users for obtaining navigation-related or map-related features, comprising:
A method of location referencing using data contained in a database that represents geographic features in a region, comprising
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.