Abstract:
Disclosed are various embodiments for generating a location-based ranking for a set of measurements. Client devices located within a geographic area are identified. The geographic area is expanded when the quantity of client devices identified within the geographic area fails to meet or exceed a predefined threshold. Additional client devices are identified within the expanded geographic area. A performance ranking of task measurements associated with a performance of a task performed by the client devices within the expanded geographic area is generated.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, co-pending U.S. Patent Application entitled “LOCATION-BASED RANKING,” filed on May 24, 2010, and assigned application Ser. No. 12/785,847, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Users of client devices execute a plurality of tasks such as, for instance, read electronic books, play electronic games, communicate through electronic mail, listen to electronic music files and/or other tasks. These tasks typically record a variety of measurements associated with the execution of the task such as, for instance, a high score for an electronic game. Users may sometimes want to get a ranking of the high score with respect to a specified geographic area. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0003]    Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
           [0004]      FIG. 1  is a drawing of networked environment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
           [0005]      FIGS. 2 and 3  are drawings of an example of a user interface rendered by a client in the networked environment of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
           [0006]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating one example of functionality implemented as portions of geographic rank application executed in a computing device in the networked environment of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
           [0007]      FIG. 5  is a schematic block diagram that provides one example illustration of a computing device employed in the networked environment of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0008]    The present disclosure relates to generating location based rankings. Various embodiments disclosed herein provide for the generation of a geographic ranking of measurements taken in association with the execution of a particular task. In the following discussion, a general description of the system and its components is provided, followed by a discussion of the operation of the same. 
         [0009]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , shown is a networked environment  100  according to various embodiments. The networked environment  100  includes a computing device  103 , a client device  106  and a network  109 . The network  109  includes, for example, the Internet, intranets, extranets, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wired networks, wireless networks, or other suitable networks, etc., or any combination of two or more such networks. 
         [0010]    The computing device  103  may comprise, for example, a server computer or any other system providing computing capability. Alternatively, a plurality of computing devices  103  may be employed that are arranged, for example, in one or more server banks or computer banks or other arrangements. For example, a plurality of computing devices  103  together may comprise, for example, a cloud computing resource, a grid computing resource, and/or any other distributed computing arrangement. Such computing devices  103  may be located in a single installation or may be dispersed among many different geographical locations. In one embodiment, the computing device  103  represents a virtualized computer system executing on one or more physical computing systems. For purposes of convenience, the computing device  103  is referred to herein in the singular. Even though the computing device is referred to in the singular, it is understood that a plurality of computing devices  103  may be employed in the various arrangements as described above. 
         [0011]    Various applications and/or other functionality may be executed in the computing device  103  according to various embodiments. Also, various data is stored in a data store  113  that is accessible to the computing device  103 . The data store  113  may be representative of a plurality of data stores as can be appreciated. The data stored in the data store  113 , for example, is associated with the operation of the various applications and/or functional entities described below. 
         [0012]    The components executed on the computing device  103 , for example, include geographic rank application  116 , and other applications, services, processes, systems, engines, or functionality not discussed in detail herein. The geographic rank application  116  is executed to generate a ranking for a set of task measurements associated with a specific task from client devices within a geographic area, as will be described. 
         [0013]    The data stored in the data store  113  includes, for example, client device data  119  that is associated with a plurality of users, task list  137  that contains a list of tasks available to generate the geographic ranking and potentially other data. The data store  113  may include a plurality of client device data  119  specific to a given user. The client device data  119  contains a user account  125 , a device ID  126 , a device location  129 , and task data  133 . In one embodiment, the user account  125  represents a unique user ID used by the geographic rank application  116 , such as, for instance, a username, a first and last name, and/or other identifying information. The device ID  126  represents a unique identifier for the client  106 , such as, for instance, a media access control (MAC) address. The device location  129  represents a geographic location of the client  106 . 
         [0014]    Further, the task data  133  specifies a task measurement  136  and a task  135 . In one embodiment, the client device data  119  may contain a plurality of task data  133  entries wherein each entry is specific to a given task  135 . The task  135  may be a name or other unique identifier for an application that may be executed on the client  106 . The task measurement  136  may represent the data collected in association with the execution of the task  135  that indicates a degree of performance of the task  135 . The data stored in the data store  113  may be gathered in a variety of ways. In one embodiment, the device ID  126 , device location  129 , task  135  and task measurement  136  values may be obtained from a plurality of clients  106  by an algorithm administered by the geographic rank application  116  on a periodic basis, as will be described. Finally, the task list  137  may be a list of tasks that are executed by clients  106  for which a task measurement  136  is generated. 
         [0015]    The client  106  is representative of a plurality of client devices that may be coupled to the network  109 . The client  106  may comprise, for example, a processor-based system such as a computer system. Such a computer system may be embodied in the form of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant, a cellular telephone, set-top box, music players, web pads, tablet computer systems, game console or other devices with like capability. 
         [0016]    The client  106  may be configured to execute various applications such as a client side application  139 , a position system  143  and/or other applications. The client side application  139  may be executed in a client  106 , for example, to access and render network pages, such as web pages, or other network content served up by the computing device  103  and/or other servers. For example, the client side application  139  may be a browser that renders a network page  146  on a display screen  149  or it may be a dedicated system to render content such as network page(s)  146 . The position system  143  may be executed in a client  106 , for example, to determine a global position of the device. In one embodiment, the global position of the device may be determined by a system of global positioning satellites, triangulation by a network of cell phone towers, and/or other methods. The client  106  may be configured to execute applications beyond client side application  139  and position system  143  such as, for example, email applications, instant message applications, and/or other applications. 
         [0017]    Further, the client  106  may also be configured to include device data  153  such as the device ID  126 , the device location  129  and the task measurement  136 . In one embodiment, the device ID  126  may represent a unique identifier such as a media access control (MAC) address that may be used to distinguish the client  106  from other devices. The device location  129  may represent the exact position of the device and may be determined by the position system  143 . As an example, the device location  129  may be the latitude and longitude of the device, the address, the town, city, state and/or other information indicating the location of the device. Finally, the task measurement  136  may represent a measurement associated with the execution of a specific task  135 . In one embodiment, a user having a user account  125  may request the client side application  139 , and/or other applications, to execute a plurality of tasks  135 . The client side application  139  may store task measurements  136  in the device data  153  for each of the plurality of tasks  135 . For example, a task measurement  136  may represent a high score, a time period, a number of chapters read, an amount of data transmitted, and/or any other measurement that may be taken by a task. 
         [0018]    Next, a general description of the operation of the various components of the networked environment  100  is provided. To begin, a multitude of users employ various applications on clients  106  to execute or otherwise perform a plurality of tasks  135 . The client side application  139  records task measurements  136  associated with the execution of one or more tasks  135  on a given client  106 . As an example, the client  106  comprises an electronic book reader. The client side application  139  comprises a back-end application that is configured to generate or access a measurement of the degree of performance of the task  135  on the client  106 . In one embodiment, the client side application  139  generates the measurement itself. In another embodiment, the client side application  139  interacts with the application executing the task  135  to obtain the measurement. For example, the task  135  may be rendering chapters on the client, and the task measurement  136  may be total number of chapters rendered. In one embodiment, the task measurement  136  and the corresponding task  135  are automatically obtained by the geographic rank application  116  on a periodic basis and stored in the client device data  119  ( FIG. 1 ). Some users may wish to compare their performance for a particular task to performance by other users of the same task. A ranking of the task measurements  136  for a specific geographic area may be obtained from the geographic rank application  116 . For instance, the user may wish to obtain a geographic ranking for the total number of chapters read of a predefined book on the electronic book reader. 
         [0019]    To obtain this ranking, the client side application  139  sends a request for a ranking based at least in part on the task measurement  136  for a specific geographic area via the network  109 . As an example, the request sent by the client side application  139  may contain the user account  125 , the device ID  126 , the device location  129 , the task  135  and the task measurement  136  taken by the client side application  139 . As another example, the request for the ranking may include the geographic area for the ranking and the task  135 . Upon receiving the request, the geographic rank application  116  may obtain the user account  125 , the device ID  126 , the device location  129  and the task measurement  136  from the client  106  if these components are not included in the request. For instance, the computing device  103  may execute an algorithm that periodically obtains the user account  125 , the device ID  126 , the device location  129  and the task measurement  136 . In one embodiment, the automatic algorithm may be administered periodically so that the geographic rank application  116  may have unrestricted access to the above-identified components. Other variations for the content of the ranking request may be used, as can be imagined. 
         [0020]    The geographic rank application  116  of the computing device  103  receives and processes the ranking request sent by the client side application  139 . The geographic rank application  116  determines the user account  125 , the device ID  126 , the device location  129 , the task  135  and the task measurement  136  from the request and/or in response to the request as described above. In one embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may store these components in the data store  113  upon receipt. 
         [0021]    The geographic rank application  116  also receives the geographic area specified by the client side application  139  to perform the ranking and begins processing the ranking request. In one embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  creates a geographic subset  156   a  of device IDs  126  that includes those devices found within the geographic area specified by the request. For example, the geographic rank application  116  may create the geographic subset  156   a  by analyzing the device location  129  for each device ID  126  and placing the device ID  126  in the geographic subset  156   a  if it is within the specified geographic area. In another embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may create a geographic subset  156   a  of user accounts  125  that includes those users found within the geographic area specified by the request. In this example, the geographic subset  156   a  may be created in a similar manner where the geographic rank application  116  analyzes the device location  129  for each user account  125  and includes the user account  125  in the geographic subset  156   a  if it is within the specified geographic area. 
         [0022]    Upon creating the geographic subset  156   a,  the geographic rank application  116  may then narrow the geographic subset  156   a  by identifying a plurality of clients  106  within the geographic subset that executed the task  135  specified in the ranking request. With the narrowed geographic subset  156   a,  the geographic rank application  116  may then generate the requested ranking. In one embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may gather the task measurement  136  associated with each of the user accounts  125  and/or the device IDs  126  in the geographic subset  156   a  that executed the task  135 . For example, the geographic rank application  116  may search the client device data  119  by the user accounts  125  and/or the device IDs  126  found in the geographic subset  156   a  and identify any clients or users that have a task measurement  136  associated with the execution of the specified task  135 . Upon identifying these clients and/or users, the geographic rank application  116  may then gather the corresponding task measurements  136 . In one embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may expand the geographic area if a minimum number of clients and/or users are not identified within the specified geographic area. The geographic rank application  116  generates the ranking from the task measurements  136 . For example, the geographic rank application  116  may rank the task measurements  136  based on the magnitude of the measurements or other characteristic of the measurements. Finally the geographic rank application  116  returns the geographic ranking to the client side application  139  of the requesting client  106 . 
         [0023]    In another embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  generates the geographic ranking of the task measurements  136  using a different method, as can be appreciated. For instance, the geographic rank application  116  may first create a task subset  156   b  by identifying the device IDs  126  from the client device data  119  that are currently executing, or have executed the task  135  specified by the ranking request. As another example, the geographic rank application  116  may create the task subset  156   b  by identifying the user accounts  125  from the client device data  119  that have executed the task  135  from the client device data  119 . Upon creating the task subset  156   b,  the geographic rank application  116  may then narrow the task subset  156   b  based at least in part on whether the clients and/or users are located within the specified geographic area. In one embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may expand the geographic area if a minimum number of clients and/or users are not identified within the specified geographic area. With the narrowed list of device IDs  126  and/or user accounts  125 , the geographic rank application  116  may then generate the ranking of the corresponding task measurements  136  to return to the client side application  139 . For example, the geographic rank application  116  may return a geographically ranked list of task measurements  136 , a geographically ranked list of device IDs  126 , a geographically ranked list of user accounts  125 , and/or other information revealing the geographic ranking to the requesting client  106 . 
         [0024]    Examples of rendered network page  146  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 2-3 . Beginning with  FIG. 2 , shown is an example of a network page  146  ( FIG. 1 ), denoted herein as network page  146   a,  that may be viewed on client  106  ( FIG. 1 ) according to various embodiments. According to one embodiment, the network page  146   a  may include a task measurement block  203  and a rank request block  206 . The task measurement block  203  displays a task measurement  136  ( FIG. 1 ) recorded in association with the execution of a task  135  ( FIG. 1 ). In this example, the task measurement  136  represents a high score achieved while executing a task  135 , such as, for instance, playing a game called “Space Pillagers!” on the client  106 . 
         [0025]    The rank request block  206  allows a user to generate a geographic ranking request for the task measurement  136  recorded in association with the execution of the task  135 . In one embodiment, the rank request block  206  may include a geographic area field  209 , a device inclusion toggle  213  and a rank button  216 . The geographic area field  209  allows the user to specify a geographic area for which to perform the geographic ranking. For instance, the geographic area may be a neighborhood, a town, a city, a zip code, a state, a country, a continent, a hemisphere, a planet, and/or another geographic area. In one embodiment, the user may specify the geographic area to be based at least in part on the current location of the client  106 . For example, the user may specify the geographic area to be the city, zip code, county, state or other area where the client  106  is located. In another embodiment, the user may define the geographic area to be an area determined by a radius around the location of the client  106 . For example, the user may define the geographic area to include the area within a 10-mile radius around the location of the client  106 . In a further embodiment, the geographic area field  209  may display a map for the user to define the geographic area. In this example, the user may trace an area on the map and outline the boundary of the geographic area. The user may use other methods to specify the geographic area in the rank request block  206 , as can be appreciated. 
         [0026]    The device inclusion toggle  213  allows the user to specify whether to include the data in the task measurement block  203  in generating the geographic ranking. For instance, the user may request the geographic rank application  116  to include the client  106  in generating the geographic ranking even if the geographic area in the geographic area field  209  does not include the current location of the client  106 . Finally, activating the rank button  216  allows the client side application  139  ( FIG. 1 ) to submit the geographic ranking request to the geographic rank application  116 . 
         [0027]    Turning now to  FIG. 3 , shown is an example of a network page  146  ( FIG. 1 ), denoted herein as network page  146   b,  that may be viewed on client  106  ( FIG. 1 ) according to various embodiments. According to one embodiment, the network page  146   b  may include a task block  303 , a geographic area field  306 , a device inclusion toggle  309  and a rank button  313 . The task block  303  displays a categorical list of tasks  135  ( FIG. 1 ) that may be executed by the client side application  139  ( FIG. 1 ). In this example, the task block  303  is organized categorically based on the types of tasks that may be executed by the client side application  139 . For instance, the categories of tasks may be entitled read category  316 , play category  319 , watch category  323 , listen category  326 , data category  329  and/or other types of categories. 
         [0028]    In one embodiment, the user may select a category from the list of tasks in the task block  303 . As an example, selecting the read category  316  may prompt the user to choose a task from a list of tasks in the reading category such as, for instance, most chapters read, most books read, fastest to read a book, and/or other tasks in the read category. Selecting the play category  319  may prompt the user to choose a task from a list of tasks in the playing category such as, for instance, highest score in a game, most games played, and/or other tasks in the play category. Selecting the watch category  323  may prompt the user to choose a task from a list of tasks in the watching category such as, for instance, most videos watched, longest video watched, and/or other tasks in the watch category. Selecting the listen category  326  may prompt the user to choose a task from a list of tasks in the listening category such as, for instance, most songs listened to, most number of times listened to one particular song, and/or other tasks in the listen category. Finally, selecting the data category  329  may prompt the user to choose a task from a list of tasks in the data category such as, for instance, amount of data transmitted, amount of data received, and/or other tasks in the data category. In another embodiment, by selecting a category from the task block  303 , the user may choose all of the tasks in the category for which to generate the geographic rank. Further, in one embodiment, the user may configure the task block  303  to include other categories of tasks  125  and/or add new tasks  125  to the task block  303 . For instance, the client side application  129  ( FIG. 1 ) may provide an appropriate network page  146  to facilitate user specification of tasks. 
         [0029]    The geographic area field  306  allows the user to specify a geographic area for which to perform the geographic ranking. For instance, the geographic area may be a neighborhood, a town, a city, a zip code, a state, a country, a continent, a hemisphere, a planet, and/or another geographic area. The user may specify the geographic area using various methods, as discussed above. The device inclusion toggle  309  allows the user to specify whether to include the data from client  106  corresponding to task selected in task block  303  in generating the geographic ranking. For instance, the user may request the geographic rank application  116  ( FIG. 1 ) to include the client  106  in generating the geographic ranking even if the geographic area in the geographic area field  306  does not include the current location of the client  106 . As another example, the user may request that the geographic rank application  116  exclude the client  106  and the geographic rank application  116  may generate the ranking without accounting for the client  106 . In one embodiment, the device inclusion toggle  309  has a “yes” selection that allows the user to include the client  106  in the geographic ranking and a “no” selection that allows the user to not include the client  106  in the geographic ranking. Finally, activating the rank button  313  allows the client side application  139  to submit the geographic ranking request to the geographic rank application  116 . 
         [0030]    Referring next to  FIG. 4 , shown is a flowchart that provides one example of the operation of a portion of the geographic rank application  116  according to various embodiments. It is understood that the flowchart of  FIG. 4  provides merely an example of the many different types of functional arrangements that may be employed to implement the operation of the portion of the geographic rank application  116  as described herein. As an alternative, the flowchart of  FIG. 4  may be viewed as depicting an example of steps of a method implemented in the computing device  103  ( FIG. 1 ) according to one or more embodiments. 
         [0031]    Beginning with box  403 , the geographic rank application  116  receives a request for a geographic ranking for a task measurement  136  ( FIG. 1 ) associated with the execution of a particular task  135  ( FIG. 1 ). The request may include the geographic area for the geographic ranking and a task designation for which to generate the geographic ranking. The geographic area may be represented by the name of a neighborhood, a town, a city, a zip code, a state, a country, a continent, a hemisphere, a global area, and/or another geographic area. In one embodiment, the request may define the geographic area to be an area determined by a radius around a location of the client  106 . In another embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may determine the geographic area based at least in part on the location of the client  106 . For example, the geographic rank application  116  may acquire the device location  129  ( FIG. 1 ) from the client  106  and determine the geographic area to be the city where the client  106  is located. Other variations to determine the geographic area for performing the geographic ranking may be used, as can be appreciated. 
         [0032]    The task designation represents the task  135  ( FIG. 1 ) on which the geographic rank application  116  generates the geographic ranking. In one embodiment, the user may specify the task  135  for which to generate the geographic ranking. For example, the user may select a task from a task list  137  ( FIG. 1 ) for which to generate the geographic ranking. In another embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may obtain the task designation from the requesting client  106 . In a further embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may provide a task list  137  to the requesting client  106  for which to generate the geographic ranking. The user of the requesting client  106  may then select one or more tasks  135  from the task list  137  for the geographic ranking. 
         [0033]    Next, in box  406 , the geographic rank application  116  obtains the device ID  126  ( FIG. 1 ) that uniquely identifies the client  106  and obtains corresponding task measurement  136  ( FIG. 1 ) associated with the task designation. In one embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may acquire the device ID  126  and task measurement  136  from the client  106  upon receiving the geographic ranking request. For example, the geographic rank application  116  may execute an algorithm to automatically acquire these components from the client  106 . In another embodiment, these components may be included in the ranking request. In yet another embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may obtain the user account  125  from the client  106  to uniquely identify the client. In a further embodiment, the task measurement  136  may already be stored in the client device data  119  ( FIG. 1 ) as part of an automatic data acquiring algorithm administered by the geographic rank application  116 . 
         [0034]    Once the specified inputs have been obtained, the geographic rank application  116  identifies all the client devices associated with the selected geographic area, as shown in box  409 . In one embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may identify these devices by the user account  125  and/or the device ID  126 . For example, the geographic rank application  116  may identify devices by the device ID  126  that are associated with the specified geographic area and create a geographic subset  156   a.  As another example, the geographic rank application  116  may identify devices by the user account  125  that are associated with the specified geographic area and create the geographic subset  156   a.  With the geographic subset  156   a,  the geographic rank application  116  may then narrow the subset of device IDs  126  further by identifying only those devices that have a task measurement  136  associated with the specified task  135 . Then, as shown in box  413 , the geographic rank application  116  may gather the task measurements  136  from the devices found in the narrowed geographic subset  156   a.    
         [0035]    In another embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may first identify all devices and/or users that may have recorded a task measurement  136  for the task  135  specified in the ranking request and create a task subset  156   b.  With the task subset  156   b,  the geographic rank application  116  may then narrow the subset further by identifying only those devices and/or users that are associated with the specified geographic area. For instance, the geographic rank application  116  may identify the devices by the user account  125  and/or the device ID  126 . Once the geographic rank application  116  has narrowed the task subset  156   b,  the geographic rank application  116  may then gather the task measurements  136  from those devices found in the narrowed task subset  156   b.    
         [0036]    Next, in box  416 , the geographic rank application  116  ranks the task measurements  136  gathered from the devices that executed the task  135  and are located in the geographic area specified by the ranking request. In one example, the geographic rank application  116  may rank the task measurements  136  based on a magnitude of the measurement. For instance, the task measurement  136  may be a high score achieved while playing a task  135  that may be a game called “Space Pillagers!” The geographic rank application  116  may rank the task measurements  136  from the highest measurement to the lowest measurement. As another example, the geographic rank application  116  may rank the task measurements  136  from the lowest measurement to the highest measurement. 
         [0037]    Next, in box  419 , the geographic rank application  116  may generate a network page  146  ( FIG. 1 ) that includes the geographic ranking. In one embodiment, the geographic rank application  116  may identify the client  106  that originated the measurements in the geographic ranking by the device ID  126  and/or the user account  125 . The generated network page may depict the geographic ranking by showing task measurements  136  and the corresponding user account  125  and/or device ID  126  associated with the task measurement  136 . Then, in box  423 , the geographic rank application  116  sends the network page  146  to the requesting client  106 . The client side application  139  of the requesting client  106  may then receive the network page  146  and render it on the display screen  149 . 
         [0038]    With reference to  FIG. 5 , shown is a schematic block diagram of the computing device  103  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The computing device  103  includes at least one processor circuit, for example, having a processor  503  and a memory  506 , both of which are coupled to a local interface  509 . To this end, the computing device  103  may comprise, for example, at least one server computer or like device. The local interface  509  may comprise, for example, a data bus with an accompanying address/control bus or other bus structure as can be appreciated. 
         [0039]    Stored in the memory  506  are both data and several components that are executable by the processor  503 . In particular, stored in the memory  506  and executable by the processor  503  are geographic rank application  116 , and potentially other applications. Also stored in the memory  506  may be a data store  113  and other data. In addition, an operating system may be stored in the memory  506  and executable by the processor  503 . 
         [0040]    It is understood that there may be other applications that are stored in the memory  506  and are executable by the processors  503  as can be appreciated. Where any component discussed herein is implemented in the form of software, any one of a number of programming languages may be employed such as, for example, C, C++, C#, Objective C, Java, Javascript, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic, Python, Ruby, Delphi, Flash, or other programming languages. 
         [0041]    A number of software components are stored in the memory  506  and are executable by the processor  503 . In this respect, the term “executable” means a program file that is in a form that can ultimately be run by the processor  503 . Examples of executable programs may be, for example, a compiled program that can be translated into machine code in a format that can be loaded into a random access portion of the memory  506  and run by the processor  503 , source code that may be expressed in proper format such as object code that is capable of being loaded into a random access portion of the memory  506  and executed by the processor  503 , or source code that may be interpreted by another executable program to generate instructions in a random access portion of the memory  506  to be executed by the processor  503 , etc. An executable program may be stored in any portion or component of the memory  506  including, for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard drive, solid-state drive, USB flash drive, memory card, optical disc such as compact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, magnetic tape, or other memory components. 
         [0042]    The memory  506  is defined herein as including both volatile and nonvolatile memory and data storage components. Volatile components are those that do not retain data values upon loss of power. Nonvolatile components are those that retain data upon a loss of power. Thus, the memory  506  may comprise, for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard disk drives, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, memory cards accessed via a memory card reader, floppy disks accessed via an associated floppy disk drive, optical discs accessed via an optical disc drive, magnetic tapes accessed via an appropriate tape drive, and/or other memory components, or a combination of any two or more of these memory components. In addition, the RAM may comprise, for example, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM) and other such devices. The ROM may comprise, for example, a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or other like memory device. 
         [0043]    Also, the processor  503  may represent multiple processors  503  and the memory  506  may represent multiple memories  506  that operate in parallel processing circuits, respectively. In such a case, the local interface  509  may be an appropriate network  109  ( FIG. 1 ) that facilitates communication between any two of the multiple processors  503 , between any processor  503  and any of the memories  506 , or between any two of the memories  506 , etc. The local interface  509  may comprise additional systems designed to coordinate this communication, including, for example, performing load balancing. The processor  503  may be of electrical or of some other available construction. 
         [0044]    Although geographic rank application  116 , and other various systems described herein may be embodied in software or code executed by general purpose hardware as discussed above, as an alternative the same may also be embodied in dedicated hardware or a combination of software/general purpose hardware and dedicated hardware. If embodied in dedicated hardware, each can be implemented as a circuit or state machine that employs any one of or a combination of a number of technologies. These technologies may include, but are not limited to, discrete logic circuits having logic gates for implementing various logic functions upon an application of one or more data signals, application specific integrated circuits having appropriate logic gates, or other components, etc. Such technologies are generally well known by those skilled in the art and, consequently, are not described in detail herein. 
         [0045]    The flowchart of  FIG. 4  shows the functionality and operation of an implementation of portions of the geographic rank application  116 . If embodied in software, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that comprises program instructions to implement the specified logical function(s). The program instructions may be embodied in the form of source code that comprises human-readable statements written in a programming language or machine code that comprises numerical instructions recognizable by a suitable execution system such as a processor  503  in a computer system or other system. The machine code may be converted from the source code, etc. If embodied in hardware, each block may represent a circuit or a number of interconnected circuits to implement the specified logical function(s). 
         [0046]    Although the flowchart of  FIG. 4  shows a specific order of execution, it is understood that the order of execution may differ from that which is depicted. For example, the order of execution of two or more blocks may be scrambled relative to the order shown. Also, two or more blocks shown in succession in  FIG. 4  may be executed concurrently or with partial concurrence. Further, in some embodiments, one or more of the blocks shown in  FIG. 4  may be skipped or omitted. In addition, any number of counters, state variables, warning semaphores, or messages might be added to the logical flow described herein, for purposes of enhanced utility, accounting, performance measurement, or providing troubleshooting aids, etc. It is understood that all such variations are within the scope of the present disclosure. 
         [0047]    Also, any logic or application described herein, including geographic rank application  116 , that comprises software or code can be embodied in any non-transitory computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system such as, for example, a processor  503  in a computer system or other system. In this sense, the logic may comprise, for example, statements including instructions and declarations that can be fetched from the computer-readable medium and executed by the instruction execution system. In the context of the present disclosure, a “computer-readable medium” can be any medium that can contain, store, or maintain the logic or application described herein for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system. The computer-readable medium can comprise any one of many physical media such as, for example, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor media. More specific examples of a suitable computer-readable medium would include, but are not limited to, magnetic tapes, magnetic floppy diskettes, magnetic hard drives, memory cards, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, or optical discs. Also, the computer-readable medium may be a random access memory (RAM) including, for example, static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM). In addition, the computer-readable medium may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or other type of memory device. 
         [0048]    It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.