Geographical comparison system and method

#This patent application is co-pending with a related patent application entitled “Location Encoder”, having the same inventors as this patent application and filed concurrently herewith, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

#1. Field

#The methods and systems relate generally to encryption systems and methods, and more particularly to encrypting geographic or location data.

#FIG. 1 is an architectural system diagram of the venue token generation process;

#FIG. 2 is a diagram of a system that can be utilized to generate the venue tokens of FIG. 1;

#FIG. 3 is a diagram of venue token processing that can occur after the generation and collection process indicated by FIG. 1; and,

#To provide an overall understanding, certain illustrative embodiments will now be described; however, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the systems and methods described herein can be adapted and modified to provide systems and methods for other suitable applications and that other additions and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the methods and systems described herein.

#Referring now to FIG. 1, there is a block diagram 10 of a system as related to the generation of venue tokens, wherein venue tokens can generated from a variety of sources that can be referenced herein collectively as providers 12. A provider 12 can be understood as an entity with a geographic location that can be referred to or described either individually (e.g., “McDonald's”) or collectively (e.g., “Restaurant”, “Fast Food”, “Hamburgers”). In some embodiments, such as an embodiment illustrated by FIG. 1, providers 12 can be suppliers of services of goods, whether such goods are at wholesale, consumer, or other levels. As used herein, geographic information can be understood to include information that can relate to a location or reference to a reference or coordinate system, using a reference system within the coordinate system, and includes but is not limited to one or more of addresses, parcel numbers, wards, plot numbers, zip codes, area codes, Is latitude, and/or longitude, etc.

#In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, the providers 12 are service stations 14, restaurants 16, pharmacies 18, network service providers 20, and other similar providers, for which the aforementioned providers merely serve as a representative and not an exhaustive example. For the purposes of the methods and systems disclosed herein, a provider 12 can also be understood as an entity that can be associated with geographic information as defined herein.