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US 6,047,236 AGranted
Geographic location referencing system and method
AssigneeGO2 Software, Inc.
InventorsS. Lee Hancock, Peter H. Dana
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for defining grid and proprietary addresses of selected locations within a geographical area is described, characterized in that the grid addresses are defined in relation to a grid and can be easily converted to global coordinates defined in relation to a known global referencing system, and the proprietary addresses are unique to the geographical area.
Claims29
A method for defining and using an improved locational referencing system comprising the steps of:
- defining a plurality of arbitrarily-shaped districts, each associated with a particular location having a unique district name, and each associated with a reference point defined in terms of a well-known geographic referencing system;
- sub-dividing each of said districts into a plurality of cells having an arbitrary orientation and scale, wherein each of said cells is identified by a first unique cell number in accordance to its relative position within the associated district;
- and
- saving said reference point, said unique district name, and factors associated with said arbitrary orientation and scale for each of said districts.
1 more element
Navigational apparatus comprising:
- a GPS receiver by means of which global coordinates of a first selected location within a geographical area can be provided;
- an input device by means of which a locational address of a second selected location within the geographical area can be provided, the locational address comprising a specific locational address appended to general position information;
- a storage device in which data descriptive of a plurality of pre-defined grids is stored, each of the grids corresponding to a geographical area and having
- a plurality of cells;
- a reference location;
- global coordinates of the reference location;
- and
- at least one parameter defining cell size and orientation;
- a processor coupled to the GPS receiver, the input device and the storage device, said processor being configured such that
- at least one of the plurality of grids is selectable based on the general position information;
- the global coordinates of the second selected location are determinable based on the data descriptive of the selected grid and the specific locational address;
- and
- an indicator which is determinable by comparing the global coordinates of the first selected location with the global coordinates of the second selected location;
- and
- an output device coupled to the processor, wherein the indicator can be output by means of the output device.
12 more elements
A method of indicating a direction towards a desired location comprising the following steps:
- providing global coordinates of a first selected location within a geographical area;
- providing a locational address of a second selected location within the geographical area, the locational address comprising a specific locational address appended to general position information;
- storing data descriptive of a plurality of pre-defined grids, each of the grids corresponding to a geographical area and having
- a plurality of cells;
- a reference location;
- global coordinates of the reference location;
- and
- at least one parameter defining cell size and orientation;
- selecting one of the plurality of grids based on the general position information;
- determining the global coordinates of the second selected location based on the data descriptive of the selected grid and the specific locational address;
- determining an indicator by comparing the global coordinates of the first selected location with that of the second selected location;
- and
- outputting the indicator.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.