Compact text encoding of latitude/longitude coordinates

Abstract

Methods are disclosed for encoding latitude/longitude coordinates within a URL in a relatively compact form. The method includes converting latitude and longitude coordinates from floating-point numbers to non-negative integers. A set of base-N string representations are generated for the integers (N represents the number of characters in an implementation-defined character set being utilized). The latitude string and longitude string are then concatenated to yield a single output string. The output string is utilized as a geographic indicator with a URL.

1 . A computer implemented method of reducing the number of characters contained in a geographically-oriented string, the method comprising: 
 converting a floating-point coordinate value represented in the geographically-oriented string to an integer value; and    converting the integer value to a base-N string, wherein N represents the number of characters in an implementation-defined character set; and    using the base-N string as a reduced-character component of the geographically-oriented string.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the geographically-oriented string is a geographically-oriented Uniform Resource Locator associated with a web page.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein converting a floating-point coordinate value to an integer value comprises converting a floating-point representation of a latitude or longitude coordinate to an integer value.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein converting a floating-point coordinate value to an integer value comprises applying a mapping algorithm that preserves a desired level of accuracy.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein applying a mapping algorithm comprises applying a mapping algorithm based at least in part on the circumference of the earth.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein applying a mapping algorithm further comprises applying a mapping algorithm based at least in part on a desired error level in describing a position on the earth.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 converting a second floating-point coordinate value represented in the geographically-oriented string to a second integer value;    converting the second integer value to a second base-N string, wherein N represents the number of characters in an implementation-defined character set;    concatenating the base-N string and the second base-N string to form a concatenated string; and    using the concatenated string as part of a Uniform Resource Locator.    
   
   
       8 . A method of reducing the number of characters associated with a set of latitude and longitude coordinates, the method comprising: 
 converting a floating-point latitude value to a latitude integer value; and    converting the latitude integer value to a first base-N string, wherein N represents the number of characters in an implementation-defined character set;    converting a floating-point longitude value to a longitude integer value; and    converting the longitude integer value to a second base-N string, wherein N represents the number of characters in an implementation-defined character set.    
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising concatenating the first and second base-N strings to form a concatenated string.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein converting a floating-point latitude value to a latitude integer value comprises applying a mapping algorithm that is based at least in part on a desired level of accuracy.