Refining location estimates and reverse geocoding based on a user profile

Abstract

The present invention pertains to enhancement or refinement of estimated locations based upon user-specific information. Upon user authorization, geographical information is extracted from a number of user-related sources, including the web browser history, search history, maps history, address book, e-mail archives and calendar entries. Such information is used to build a spatial index of specific physical locations for a geocoded result set. From this, heat maps identifying particular locations from the user-related sources are created for different periods of time. The heat maps may be used to refine an initial location estimate of the user. This may be done by determining whether one or more positions in a given heat map provide a more accurate position of the user than the initial estimate. If so, a best position is selected. This can be used to provide enhanced driving directions to the user.

1 . A method for refining physical location information for a place of interest, comprising:
 analyzing at least one electronic database containing information about a selected user to determine whether the at least one electronic database includes geographical information;   extracting a result set from the at least one electronic database, the result set including the geographical information;   performing geopoint extraction on the result set to obtain specific physical locations for each item of geographical information in the result set;   constructing a spatial index containing the specific physical locations and time information for one or more of the specific physical locations; and   creating at least one heat map containing selected ones of the specific physical locations based upon the time information.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising ranking results in the spatial index to indicate a confidence in the specific physical locations. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the confidence is determined by accuracy of the geopoint extraction. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the time information indicates at least one of a time an event occurred and a time that selected information about the event expired. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein different heat maps display different ones of the selected specific physical locations based upon the ranked results in the spatial index and the method further comprises presenting at least one of the heat maps on a display device. 
     
     
         6 . A processing system for processing geographical information, comprising:
 at least one processor;   a geolocation module associated with the at least one processor; and   memory for storing data, the memory electrically coupled to the at least one processor;   wherein the geolocation module is configured to analyze at least one electronic database containing information about a selected user to determine whether the at least one electronic database includes geographical information, to extract a result set from the at least one electronic database, the result set including the geographical information, to perform geopoint extraction on the result set to obtain specific physical locations for each item of geographical information in the result set, to construct a spatial index containing the specific physical locations and time information for one or more of the specific physical locations, to store the spatial index in the memory of the processing system, and to create at least one heat map containing selected ones of the specific physical locations based upon the time information.   
     
     
         7 . The processing system of  claim 6 , wherein the geolocation module is further configured to transmit the at least one heat map to an authorized user for presentation on a display of a user device. 
     
     
         8 . The processing system of  claim 6 , wherein the geolocation module includes a protected data fetcher for communicating with the at least one electronic database, the protected data fetcher being configured to search the at least one electronic database for geographical data contained in web pages and search histories. 
     
     
         9 . The processing system of  claim 6 , wherein the specific physical locations maintained in the spatial index correspond to latitude and longitude coordinates of physical addresses. 
     
     
         10 . The processing system of  claim 6 , wherein each heat map presents the selected ones of the specific physical locations displays as ranked points of interest based upon the time information. 
     
     
         11 . A method for refining a location estimate of a user's physical location, comprising:
 estimating a current location of the user;   comparing the estimated current location with one or more heat maps identifying specific physical locations in a predetermined geographical area, the one or more heat maps containing time information associated with one or more of the specific physical locations associated with the user, each heat map being derived from at least one electronic database containing information about the user;   determining a set of relevant matching addresses from a selected one of the heat maps;   analyzing the set of relevant matching addresses of the selected heat map that are within a preset distance of the estimated current location;   determining whether a given one of the relevant matching addresses provides a more accurate location than the estimated current location; and   if the given one of the relevant matching addresses provides a more accurate location than the estimated current location, selecting the given address as a refined position of the user.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the user's current location is estimated from historical user information stored in the at least one electronic database. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the relevant matching addresses is selected based upon a frequency ranking representing how often the at least one relevant matching address appears in the at least one electronic database. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the relevant matching addresses is selected based upon a timeliness ranking representing how often the at least one relevant matching address appears in the at least one electronic database at a given point in time. 
     
     
         15 . A location estimation system, comprising:
 a processor;   a geolocation module associated with the at least one processor for executing operations; and   memory for storing data, the memory electrically coupled to the processor;   wherein the geolocation module is configured to estimate a current location of the user; compare the estimated current location with one or more heat maps identifying specific physical locations in a predetermined geographical area, the one or more heat maps containing time information associated with one or more of the specific physical locations associated with the user, each heat map being derived from at least one electronic database containing information about the user; determine a set of relevant matching addresses from a selected one of the heat maps; analyze the set of relevant matching addresses of the selected heat map that are within a preset distance of the estimated current location; determine whether a given one of the relevant matching addresses provides a more accurate location than the estimated current location; and if the given one of the relevant matching addresses provides a more accurate location than the estimated current location, select the given address as a refined position of the user.   
     
     
         16 . The location estimation system of  claim 15 , wherein the processor is configured to prefetch data associated with the user's estimated current location from a remote database and to store the prefetched data in the memory. 
     
     
         17 . The location estimation system of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is operable to present the refined position in the selected heat map on a display device. 
     
     
         18 . The location estimation system of  claim 15 , wherein at least one of the relevant matching addresses is selected based upon a frequency ranking representing how often the at least one relevant matching address appears in the at least one electronic database. 
     
     
         19 . The location estimation system of  claim 15 , wherein at least one of the relevant matching addresses is selected based upon a timeliness ranking representing how often the at least one relevant matching address appears in the at least one electronic database at a given point in time.