Location aware resource locator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9686364-B2
Application number	US-201113992393-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2011
Priority date	Dec 21, 2011
Publication date	Jun 20, 2017
Grant date	Jun 20, 2017

Abstract

Systems and methods providing a location-aware resource locator model for facilitating communication with networked electronic devices are generally disclosed herein. One embodiment includes a resource locator using a standard Uniform Resource Locator (URL) format, but enabling identification of one or more devices based on logical location information provided in the resource locator. The resource locator may also enable identification of the one or more devices based on logical proximity information (such as a logical term indicating a location property) relative to a dynamic location. Further disclosed embodiments include uses of a hierarchical structure to define logical terms and classes for use with a resource locator, and various location determination and lookup techniques used in connection with accessing an electronic device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computing device, comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations that:
determine, based on location coordinates received from a positioning system, a respective physical location for each of a respective one or more devices in a network of devices;
associate the respective physical locations for the one or more devices with a respective one or more location-based identifiers in a device information database in communication with the computing device;
interpret a resource locator used to communicate with the one or more devices, the resource locator providing one or more location-based terms, wherein the resource locator comprises an extended Uniform Resource Locator syntax and includes:
a respective domain identifier associated with the respective physical location for each of the respective one or more devices; and
a respective proximity criterion term for identifying each of the respective one or more devices based on a predetermined distance to the respective physical location of the respective one or more devices;

access device information from the device information database using the location-based terms; and
identify the one or more devices in the network of devices using the device information.

2. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the location-based terms include one or more proximity criterion terms for identifying the one or more devices in the network of devices based on proximity to a dynamic location.

3. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is a smartphone configured to communicate with the one or more devices in the network of devices using a wireless network connection.

4. The computing device of claim 1 , the plurality of instructions further causing the at least one processor to perform operations that:
establish communication with the identified one or more devices using the device information.

5. A method, comprising:
determining, by a computing device based on location coordinates received from a positioning system, a physical location in a defined environment for a particular device, the particular device connected to a network of devices;
associating, in a data store, the physical location of the particular device with one or more location-based identifiers;
receiving and interpreting a resource locator, the resource locator providing one or more terms correlated to at least one of the one or more location-based identifiers, wherein the resource locator comprises an extended Uniform Resource Locator syntax and includes:
a respective domain identifier associated with the respective physical location for each of the respective one or more devices; and
a respective proximity criterion term for identifying each of the respective one or more devices based on a predetermined distance to the respective physical location of the respective one or more devices; and

identifying the particular device in the network of devices using the location-based identifiers.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining proximity of devices in the network of devices relative to a dynamic location in the defined environment;
wherein the resource locator provides one or more proximity-based terms to indicate a criterion for identifying the one or more devices by proximity to the dynamic location; and
wherein identifying the particular device in the network of devices includes identifying the one or more devices including the particular device based on the proximity to the dynamic location.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
determining a physical location in the defined environment of an originator of the resource locator;
wherein the dynamic location comprises the physical location of the originator of the resource locator.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the originator of the resource locator comprises a mobile device operated by a user, and wherein the dynamic location comprises a location of the mobile device operated by the user.

9. The method of claim 5 , further comprising generating a listing of one or more devices associated with the resource locator using the location-based identifiers, the listing of the one or more devices including the identification of the particular device.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining the physical location in the defined environment of the particular device includes determining a physical location of the particular device in a three-dimensional space of a building.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the location-based identifiers are logical terms defining spaces or objects within the three-dimensional space of the building.

12. The method of claim 5 , wherein associating the physical location of the particular device includes storing data representing the physical location of the particular device in a device information database.

13. The method of claim 5 , wherein the resource locator is correlated to at least one of the one or more location-based identifiers in a location-based hierarchy, the location-based hierarchy providing a mapping of locations in the defined environment.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions, which when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to:
determine, based on location coordinates received from a positioning system, a respective physical location for each of a respective one or more devices in a network of devices;
associate the respective physical locations for the one or more devices with a respective one or more location-based identifiers in the device information database;
interpret a resource locator string, the resource locator string providing one or more terms associated with location-based information maintained for the one or more devices, wherein the resource locator string comprises an extended Uniform Resource Locator syntax and includes:
a respective domain identifier associated with the respective physical location for each of the respective one or more devices; and
a respective proximity criterion term for identifying each of the respective one or more devices based on a predetermined distance to the respective physical location of the respective one or more devices; and

identify the one or more devices among devices within the network of devices based on the association between the location-based information and the one or more terms.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the medium further stores instructions for causing the computing device to:
determine location criterion of proximity-based terms provided by the one or more terms, the location criterion evaluated relative to a dynamic location and used to identify the one or more devices in the network of devices satisfying the location criterion.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the dynamic location comprises a location of an originator of the resource locator string.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the resource locator string is provided from a mobile device operated by a user, and wherein the dynamic location comprises a location of the mobile device operated by the user.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the location-based information comprises logical terms associated with coordinates in a three-dimensional space of a

Assignees

• Bahnsen Robert Bruce
• Bulusu Mallik
• Zimmer Vincent J
• Gittins Robert S
• Swanson Robert
• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Bahnsen Robert Bruce
• Bulusu Mallik
• Zimmer Vincent J
• Gittins Robert S
• Swanson Robert

Classifications

• G01S5/0295

  Proximity-based methods, e.g. position inferred from reception of particular signals · CPC title

• H04L47/70

  Admission control; Resource allocation · CPC title

• H04W64/003

  locating network equipment · CPC title

• H04W4/02 Primary

  Services making use of location information · CPC title

• H04L67/18 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic