Internet based geographic location referencing system and method

A method for automatically providing informational services based on a geographical location of a client computer system, wherein said informational services are provided by a server attached to a computer network, said method comprising the steps of:

• executing an application program on said client computer system for collecting user data and location information representative of the geographical location of the client computer system, said application program including a user interface module, a web browser module, a data packet module and an ALI polling module, said user interface module comprises the steps of:
• location prompting for accepting parameters for defining a particular location, wherein location prompting includes the step of prompting the user to specify whether said location information is based on a current or projected location;
• and
• user preference prompting for accepting one or more user preferences;
• constructing a data packet comprising said user data and location information;
• connecting to the server;
• transmitting said data packet to the server;
• parsing said data packet to extract said user data and location information;
• formulating a database query from said user data and location information;
• issuing a database query on a database coupled to the server;
• and
• downloading a result from said database query relating to the geographical location of the client computer system to said client.

A method for automatically providing informational services relevant to a geographical location of a client computer system, wherein said geographical location is described in terms of a grid referencing system comprising a plurality of pre-defined grids, each of said grids corresponding to a geographical area and having a plurality of cells, a reference location, global coordinates of said reference location, and at least one parameter defining cell size and orientation, said method comprising the steps of:

• executing an application program on said client computer system for collecting user data and location information representative of the geographical location of the client computer system;
• constructing a data packet comprising said user data and location information;
• connecting to a server coupled with a computer network;
• transmitting said data packet to said server;
• parsing said data packet to extract said user data and location information;
• formulating a database query from said user data and location information;
• issuing a database query on a database coupled to the server;
• and
• downloading a result from said database query relating to the geographical location of the client computer system to said client.

A system for automatically providing informational services based on a geographical location of a client computer system, wherein said informational services are provided by a server attached to a computer network, said system comprising:

• executing means for collecting user data and location information on said client computer system, said location information representative of the geographical location of the client computer system;
• constructing means for generating a data packet on said client computer system comprising said user data and location information;
• connecting means for connecting to the server;
• transmitting means for sending said data packet to the server;
• parsing means for parsing said data packet on said server for extracting said user data and location information;
• formulating means for formulating a database query from said user data and location information;
• converting means for converting said location information into a grid coordinate system comprising a plurality of pre-defined grids, each of said grids corresponding to a geographical area and having:
• a plurality of cells;
• a reference location;
• global coordinates of said reference location;
• and
• at least one parameter defining cell size and orientation;
• issuing means for issuing a database query on a database coupled to the server;
• and
• downloading means for transmitting a result from said database query relating to the geographical location of the client computer system to said client.

A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program logic stored therein, said computer program logic enabling a computer to automatically provide informational services based on a geographical location of a client computer system, wherein said informational services are provided by a server attached to a computer network, wherein said computer program logic comprising:

• executing means enabling the computer to collect user data and location information on said client computer system, said location information representative of the geographical location of the client computer system;
• constructing means for enabling the computer to generate a data packet on said client computer system comprising said user data and location information;
• connecting means for enabling the computer to connect to the server;
• transmitting means for enabling the computer to send said data packet to the server;
• parsing means for enabling the computer to parse said data packet on said server for extracting said user data and location information;
• formulating means for enabling the computer to formulate a database query from said user data and location information;
• issuing means for enabling the computer to issue a database query on a database coupled to the server;
• and
• enabling means for enabling the computer to convert said location information into a grid coordinate system comprising a plurality of pre-defined grids, each of said grids corresponding to a geographical area and having:
• a plurality of cells;
• a reference location;
• global coordinates of said reference location;
• and
• at least one parameter defining cell size and orientation;
• downloading means for enabling the computer to transmit a result from said database query relating to the geographical location of the client computer system to said client.

In a computational apparatus, a method of addressing a selected location within a geographical area comprising the following steps:

• selecting a geographical area from a plurality of geographical areas;
• defining a grid corresponding to the selected geographical area, the grid having a plurality of grid cells, a reference point, global coordinates defined in accordance with a known global referencing system, and a name;
• subdividing a cell corresponding to the selected location into as many levels of hierarchically-arranged sub-cells as necessary to obtain a desired addressing precision;
• associating each sub-cell with a sub-cell code;
• identifying each sub-cell with a hierarchical arrangement of codes;
• addressing the selected location within the geographical area with an address formed by appending to the name of the grid a hierarchical arrangement of codes corresponding to the selected location;
• and
• appending a predefined alpha code to said hierarchical arrangement of codes, said predefined alpha code representing a specific object associated with said address to further identify a specific characteristic of said address.