Patent Publication Number: US-2013253823-A1

Title: Method and Apparatus for Reducing Location Coordinate String Length

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This non-provisional patent application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 12/632,153, filed on Dec. 7, 2009, the entirety of which is expressly hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark office, patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present inventive subject matter relates generally to a coordinate system for navigation, and more particularly to an improved International Address System. 
     2. Background 
     The presently existing navigation and positioning technology uses various forms of latitude and longitude (lat/long) coordinates, or alternatively an area&#39;s postal address system, to locate an exact position on the Earth. However, both of these methods have certain disadvantages for the average layperson. 
     Usage-wise, systems utilizing lat/long coordinates are not frequently used by lay people to locate a position due to several limiting factors. One factor is the complexity of the lat/long number system. Under this system, it generally takes seventeen or more digits and the use of cardinal directions to locate a position on the earth. Use of cardinal directions (i.e., north, south, east, and west) can be intimidating and disorienting for many users. For example, the current lat/long number system relies on the standard radix of ten in its character strings and a radix of two when considering the cardinal directions of either north or south and east or west. With current computer abilities, it may be beneficial to create a system that uses a radix greater than ten and remove the need for cardinal directions altogether. 
     Another complexity of the lat/long number system lies in the excessive precision of the current system. The number and values of the various lat/long digits changes frequently from destination to destination within a relatively small area. This can cause difficulty in pin-pointing a location. 
     Use of an area&#39;s postal address system is not any more accessible to the average lay person. If one is attempting to locate a position anywhere on the earth, the postal address systems currently in place for individual cities have several shortcomings. The most obvious among these is a lack of standardization between cities, and even within a city itself. This causes complications and errors in locating a position. Also, these address systems generally do not provide sufficient accuracy to locate loading docks or separate entrances at large facilities. Occasionally, the actual postal address of a building may be a relatively long distance from the entrance of the facility. These postal address systems do not allow for the location of different sites within a location (e.g., parking lots, tennis courts, hunting or camping spots, etc.) and these systems do not effectively locate new construction if media is not regularly updated. When using current postal address systems, one must also input a large quantity of data (e.g., state, city, zip code, street, street number) into navigation sources to locate a position, which can be time-consuming and frustrating. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,554 teaches a system of converting two or more existing universal and national coordinate systems into a single string of characters. The system requires more than ten digits to communicate a location within 129 square feet or less. The system cannot reduce the number of digits in the string without losing a degree of precision. It also teaches the conversion of cardinal directions into numerical values, then converting them back to cardinal directions after communications to use them as coordinates. Thus, the system still relies on the use of cardinal directions. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 7,089,022 teaches a method for obtaining information related to services within a certain area using a mobile communication device. The mobile communication device may download a menu of services based on a coarse determination of the position of the mobile device via GPS; however it does not provide an alternate coordinate system. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,236 teaches a method for defining grid and proprietary addresses of selected locations within a geographical area. The grid addresses are defined in relation to a grid and can be easily converted to global coordinates defined in relation to known global referencing system. However, the system does not provide an alternate coordinate system. 
     U.S. Patent Application No. 2008/0133124 teaches a method to identify a particular geographical location by means other than the postal address. However, these codes are unable to reduce the number of digits in the string without losing a degree of precision and often rely upon the use of cardinal directions. 
     A considerable need remains for inventive solutions that improve upon the current navigation and positioning systems in place. All patents and applications referred herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Furthermore, where a definition or use of a term in a reference, which is incorporated by reference herein, is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention described herein is an international address system which assigns a unique value (i.e., address of location) based on the intersection of five digits for south-to-north (S/N) coordinates and five digits for east-to-west (E/W) coordinates. This address provides the end user with a more user-friendly, efficient way to communicate, locate, and navigate to an actual, physical location. 
     Additionally, the present invention uses a radix or base greater than 10 to reduce the number of digits required to communicate a location without reducing accuracy, and does not require the use of cardinal directions (i.e., north, south, east, and west). This system may be carried out by a non-transitory computer readable medium which stores the program to be performed, and a processor which operates the program conversions from memory. The system may be used in pre-existing navigation or GPS units. 
     Other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will become more apparent and be more readily understood from the following detailed description, which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements. Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of the Earth showing latitude lines dividing the Earth from south to north into its most significant digit; 
         FIG. 2  shows a cutaway view of the selected region of  FIG. 1 , showing the most significant digit as it would be divided by the next most significant digit; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates one embodiment of the present invention showing conversion for a radix of 35 where the numerical values of 0-34 equal the variables of A-Z and 1-9; 
         FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of the Earth&#39;s northern hemisphere showing the lines of longitude that divide the Earth into its most significant digit; and 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of system components for an embodiment of an apparatus usable with the methods of  FIGS. 1-4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DISCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary aspects of the present invention which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. 
     The present invention contemplates a system, method, and/or computer program code for expressing a geographical location or position based upon a number of digits representing south-to-north (S/N) coordinates and a number of digits for east-to-west (E/W) coordinates that does not require the use of cardinal directions, i.e., north, south, east or west. In one embodiment of the system, the system utilizes five (5) digits to represent the south-to-north coordinates and five (5) digits to represent the east-to-west coordinate. In this embodiment as well as others not specifically disclosed herein, a radix greater than ten (10) eliminates the need for cardinal directions and reduces the number of digits to ten (10) without reducing the precision of the location. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-4 , and demonstrating one embodiment of the present invention, the invention, referred to as the International Address System, has a combination of alpha/numeric digits in a string, which can include any suitable number of position-identifying digits, and in one embodiment the string can include from six (6) to twenty (20) digits, and in the illustrated embodiment includes ten (10) digits. The first five (5) digits of the string represent the south-to-north (S/N) coordinate and the last five (5) digits of the string represent the east-to-west (E/W) coordinate. A radix of 35 is used to eliminate the number of required digits where the numerical values of 0-34 equal or corresponding to the variables or digits of A-Z and 1-9. The ten (10) alpha/numeric digit code is defined as follows. 
     As represented in  FIG. 1 , the first digit is determined by dividing the Earth  100  into five 36-degree sections ( 102 ,  104 ,  106 ,  108 ,  110 ). Each section  102 - 110  is measured by determining a first thirty-six degree (36°) angle with one leg of the angle running from the South Pole to the vertex of the angle located at the Earth&#39;s center and the other leg spaced from the one leg and extending outwardly from the vertex at the Earth&#39;s center to form the thirty-six degree angle (36°) therebetween. Each successive section  104 - 110  is formed by determining additional thirty-six degree (36°) angles across one half of the circumference (180°) of the Earth, each section having one leg formed by the immediately adjacent leg of the adjacent section, and another leg spaced from the adjacent section at the thirty-six degree (36°) angle. The sections  102 - 110  are defined in this manner until reaching the final section  110  which has a leg extending from the North Pole to the Earth&#39;s center, which is directly opposite the first leg of the section  102 . The intersections of the legs of each angle determined in this manner are then extended horizontally across the entire width of the Earth, thus delineating the five (5) horizontal sections  102 - 110  of the Earth. Each section ( 102 ,  104 ,  106 ,  108 ,  110 ) is labeled with a letter A-E starting from the section closest to the South Pole and moving toward the North Pole. This letter defines the first digit. By calculating from pole to pole of the Earth  100  and not from the equator, as in the current art, there is no need for the use of the cardinal directions of north and south. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  is a cutout enlargement of a portion of  FIG. 1  and shows how the second digit is determined. The 36-degree sections ( 102 ,  104 ,  106 ,  108 ,  110 ) created from the determination of the first digit are divided into thirty-five (35) equal subsections  112 . Each of the thirty-five (35) subsections  112  are assigned a letter or number according to a radix of 35, as will be described in  FIG. 3 . This alpha/numeric digit for each subsection  112  is the second digit. 
     As also shown in  FIG. 2 , the third digit is determined by dividing each resulting subsection  112 , resulting from the determination of the second digit, into thirty-five (35) equal subsections  113  again, forming subsections  113 . Each of the thirty-five (35) subsections  113  are assigned a letter or number according to a radix of 35, as is shown in  FIG. 3  and similar to that done for subsections  112 . The assigned alpha/numeric digit for each subsection  113  represents the third digit. 
     As also shown in  FIG. 2 , the fourth digit is determined by dividing each previously generated subsection  113 , resulting from the determination of the third digit, into thirty-five (35) equal subsections  115  one more time. Each of the thirty-five (35) subsections  115  are assigned a letter or number according to a radix of 35, as shown in  FIG. 3  and similar to that done for subsections  112 ,  113 . The assigned alpha/numeric digit represents the fourth digit. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the method of assigning each of the thirty-five (35) subsections in sets  112 ,  113  and  115  an alpha/numeric digit is as follows. Each unit of thirty-five (35) sections  112 ,  113  and  115  is assigned a letter of A-Z (0=A, 1=B . . . 25=Z) followed by a numeric value of 1-9 (26=1, 27=2 . . . 34=9) when all the letters A-Z have been used. Therefore, each of the thirty-five (35) subsections  112 ,  113  and  115  is separately identified by an alpha/numeric digit, with each of the second to fourth digits having a radix of 35. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the fifth digit is determined by dividing the section  115  represented by the fourth digit into twenty-six (26) subsections  117  and assigning each of these twenty-six (26) subsections  117  a letter from A-Z, respectively, such that the fifth digit has a radix of twenty-six (26). In this embodiment of the system, the five digit south-to-north (S/N) coordinate will always begin and end with a letter resulting from the identification of the sections  102 - 110  and of the sections  117  forming the first and fifth digits of the coordinate, respectively. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the sixth thru tenth digits represent the east-to-west (E/W) coordinate.  FIG. 4  shows the northern hemisphere  114  of the Earth and how in this embodiment the sixth digit is derived by dividing the entire circumference of the Earth into eight 45-degree sections ( 116 ,  118 ,  120 ,  122 ,  124 ,  126 ,  128 ,  130 ) which are sliced perpendicular to a plane “X” through the center of the Earth running east to west. These sections  116 - 130  are labeled with the numbers 1-8 starting with the Prime Meridian and moving eastward. As shown in  FIG. 4 , similarly to the process for determining the second through fifth digits of the south-to-north coordinate detailed above in  FIG. 3 , for the seventh thru ninth digits of the east-to-west coordinate, the sections  116 - 130  are each successively divided into thirty-five (35) equal subsections  132 , which are also each divided into thirty-five (35) equal subsections  134 , which are also divided into thirty-five (35) equal subsections  136 , where each set of subsections  132 ,  134  and  136  are assigned a letter A-Z (0=A, 1=B . . . 25=Z) followed by a numeric value of 1-9 (26=1, 27=2 . . . 34=9), to produce the seventh through ninth digits each having a radix of thirty-five (35). Each subsection  136  is subdivided into twenty-six (26) equal subsections  138  labeled with a letter from A-Z, respectively, to provide the tenth digit having a radix of twenty-six (26) for the east-to-west coordinate, which will always begin with a numeric value. 
     The embodiment detailed above provides ten (10) digits (digits 1-5 for the south-to-north coordinate and digits 6-10 for the east-to-west coordinate, e.g., D2C4A 4KB5Z) that communicate a location with a minimum resolution or accuracy of 129 square feet as a result of the subdivision of the sections of the Earth  100  in the manner described above. Therefore, a location may be determined utilizing this coordinate system within an area of one hundred twenty-nine (129) square feet or less. In other embodiments, the number of subsections  112 ,  113 ,  115  and  117  for the south-to-north coordinate and the number of subsections  132 ,  134 ,  136  and  138  for the east-to-west coordinate can be altered in order to change the accuracy of the location or navigation system  200 , as desired. For example, the radix for each corresponding digit in the coordinate other than the first and sixth digits can be selected to be at least above ten (10), preferably at least equal to or above fifteen (15), more preferably equal to or at least above twenty-six (26), and most preferably equal to or at least above thirty-five (35). 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , this process uses a navigation or international address system  200  with non-transitory computer readable medium to store the information and a processor to operate the conversions from memory, as are generally known in the art. Some examples of a system  200  of this type are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,236 and U.S. Patent Application No. 2008/0133124, each of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In another example, shown in  FIG. 5 , the non-transitory computer readable medium and processor may be found in a navigation system  200 . A user may acquire their position on the earth from a position source  210  such as but not limited to, e.g., a GPS device, map, or survey. This position source  210  information is then the entered into an input device  220  and supplied to the central processing unit (CPU)  240  through a communication port  230 . The CPU  240  uses read only memory (R.O.M. Memory)  250  and/or random access memory (R.A.M. Memory)  260  to store this information. The CPU  240  can then use a conversion program  270  stored in R.O.M. Memory  250  and/or R.A.M. Memory  260  (or optionally separate from but operably connected to the CPU  240 , such as a wireless connection to a separate global positioning system database) to process this information into a unique character string for this location, as described in  FIGS. 1-4 . Based on the mathematical algorithms stored in the conversion program  270 , some or all of the characters in the string may represent a numerical value with a radix greater than 10, such as in the embodiment where the digits represent a value having a radix of 35 corresponding to the particular subsection of the south-to-north or east-to-west coordinate. This character string can then be transmitted through the communication port  230  to an output device  280  for identification of the location. 
     If desired, the user may use the same output device  280  to convert the unique character string, which in the illustrated embodiment has ten (10) digits corresponding the to the south-to-north and east-to-west coordinates for the particular location, into a conventional base ten latitude and longitude system. Appropriate hardware and software elements are known to those skilled in the art. It should be noted that other hardware configurations are possible and not all of the components illustrated may be needed for other embodiments. 
     In addition, the number of digits used in the system  200  can be altered. For example, the most significant digits for south-to-north and east-to-west components can be combined into a single digit, thereby reducing the digit string for a particular location to nine (9) digits. Also, the system  200  can be set up to enable an individual to use a touch screen device  210  to mark a point of interest on a map displayed on the device. The system  200  can then determine the location of that point, which can be beneficial especially where the position does not have an existing postal address. This address from the system  200  can then be transmitted to another device, such as to provide another person with the location in order to enable that other person to obtain directions to the location. Further, it is also contemplated to group certain digits of the two strings together in combinations to create new strings for display by the system  200  other than simply the south-to-north and east-to-west coordinates. For example, it is contemplated to group similar significant digits from the two strings together to create a new string corresponding to a particular geographic region, similar to an area code, that represents a known area within which the remaining digits represent a particular location. Furthermore, if an embodiment of the system  200  is not required to provide a location with a precision of 129 square feet, as in the illustrated embodiment, the number of digits utilized in the location string can be varied to provide the desired precision or resolution to the location provided by the system  200 . For example, if a larger area is sufficient for the location to be provided by the system  200 , those digits in the string providing greater precision than that required can be left off of the string, as desired, resulting in a string that has fewer than the ten (10) digits in the illustrated embodiment. This optional resolution function can be hardwired into the system  200  to be fixed or to be variable based on user inputs. 
     Having fully described at least one embodiment of the present invention, other equivalent or alternative methods according to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The invention has been described by way of summary, detailed description and illustration. The specific embodiments disclosed in the above drawings are not intended to be limiting. Implementations of the present invention with various different configurations are contemplated as within the scope of the present invention. The invention is thus to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the following claims.