Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-27
2001-05-29
Alam, Hosain T. (Department: 2172)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C701S208000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06240425
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to database search engines, more particularly, to a search engine and associated database for searching for locations by distance and direction from a specified location.
2. The Prior Art
There are many situations where a person wants to find a geographic location relative to another. For example, a person may need to find a child care center within 2 miles of her home, or new office space within 5 miles of the downtown district of a city. Databases and programs for searching databases to find real properties are known and programs to find geographic locations are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,989, issued to Tornetta, discloses a database of properties for sale, rent, and lease and a means for viewing the information in the database in graphical form based on distance from a central location. It does not allow the user to select specific minimum and maximum ranges for distances from the central location, nor does it allow the user to narrow the search based upon direction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a person searching for geographically-organized locations a means to search by specifying a range of distances and a range of directions from a specified central location.
The present invention includes three basic components: (1) a computer network, (2) a database, and (3) a search program. The computer network is a collection of computers that communicate to exchange information. All types of networks are contemplated, including local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), and internets, including the Internet. Various elements of the other components of the present invention reside on nodes of the network, including a database node, a control node, a search node, and a user interface node. Any of these nodes may be contained on any number of computers. For example, the database and control will typically reside on the same computer.
The second component, the database, includes a record for each property that can be included in the search. The actual information in the record and consequently, the structure of the record and database, depends upon the type of search to be performed. Regardless of the type of search, every record includes the physical location of the property. The physical location is relative to a known location on the Earth so that the search program can determine its distance and direction from a specified hub, and is preferably denoted as the latitude from the equator and the longitude from the prime meridian at Greenwich, England.
There are provisions for database maintenance, which include adding, removing, and modifying records. The present invention contemplates that different entities may have different security levels of access to the database for maintenance purposes.
The third component, the search program, takes as minimum inputs a selected hub, a range of distances, and a range of directions. Any other input parameters depend upon the database to be searched. The range of distances may be specified in one of two ways, including a minimum and maximum distance pair and a single distance and deviation. The range of directions can also be specified in one of two ways, including a pair of boundary directions and a single direction with a deviation. Both define an arc about the hub that is to be searched. It is preferred that the direction be specified by compass points.
The basic steps to performing a search include: (1) a user gaining access to the search program via the user interface computer; (2) the user entering the search parameters, including the hub, the range of distances, and the range of directions, at the user interface computer; (3) the search program executing by iterating through all of the appropriate records of the database on the database computer, checking each record to determine if it falls within the parameters; and (4) the search program sending the search results for display to the user on the user interface computer. A record is checked by first calculating the its distance relative to the hub and determining whether or not it falls within the selected range. If it does, the direction of the record relative to the hub is calculated and compared to determine whether or not it falls within the range of directions. If it does, the remainder of the search parameters are checked, and if these parameters match, the record is added to the result list.
Other objects of the present invention will become apparent in light of the following drawings and detailed description of the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5032989 (1991-07-01), Tornetta
patent: 5543788 (1996-08-01), Mikuni
patent: 5551024 (1996-08-01), Waters
patent: 5559707 (1996-09-01), DeLorme et al.
patent: 5584025 (1996-12-01), Keithley et al.
patent: 5754850 (1998-05-01), Janssen
patent: 5781773 (1998-07-01), Vanderpool et al.
patent: 5794216 (1998-08-01), Brown
patent: 5852810 (1998-12-01), Sotiroff et al.
patent: 5944769 (1999-08-01), Musk et al.
patent: 5956716 (1999-09-01), Kenner et al.
“The Dynamic HomeFinder: Evaluating Dynamic Queries in a Real-Estate Information Exploration System,” Williamson et al., Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in information retrieval, Jun. 21, 1992.
Alam Hosain T.
Morse, Altman & Martin
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