Peer-to-peer geolocation system

Abstract

A method and apparatus for location sharing, consisting of sending a location report by a location determining device to a plurality of network enabled devices over a peer-to-peer network, the location determining device being associated with a first digital key pair. A first of the plurality of network enabled devices, associated with a second digital key pair, performs a validation computation on the location report and submits a validation computation result and the location report to a remainder of the plurality of network enabled devices for inclusion in a shared ledger. Including the location report creates commercially-valued credits associated with the public key of the second digital key pair recorded in the shared ledger. A transfer of commercially-valued credits from association with the first public key of the first digital key pair to the public key of the second digital key pair is also recorded in the shared ledger.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for recording location information on a shared ledger, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a first device of a plurality of network devices connected to a peer-to-peer network, a location report, the first device being associated with a first network address and a first public-private key pair, wherein the location report includes a symmetrically encrypted section, encrypted by a symmetric key, containing information regarding at least one of:
 a longitude of the first device, 
 a latitude of the first device, 
 an altitude of the first device, 
 a time of determining a location of the first device, 
 a longitude of the first device, and 
 an accuracy of the determined location of the first device; 
   performing, by the first device, a validation computation on the location report to generate a first validation result;   transmitting, by the first device, the first validation result and the location report through the peer-to-peer network, to a remainder of the plurality of network devices connected to the peer-to-peer network; and   decrypting, by a network device of the plurality of network devices, the location report using the symmetric key.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 producing, by the first device, the first validation result before any of the remainder of the plurality of network devices connected to the peer-to-peer network produce a validation result.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the validation computation comprises a proof of work algorithm based on one or more of:
 a SHA hash, a RIPEMD hash, a Whirlpool hash, a Scrypt hash, a HAS- 160  hash, or another cryptographic hash function.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 creating a record of a number of commercially-valued credits associated with a public key of a private-public key pair associated with the first device; and   including the record of the number of commercially-valued credits in the shared ledger along with the first validation result and the location report.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 signing the location report with the private key of the public-private key pair of the first device.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 extracting from the location report, an offering of a number of commercially-valued credits associated with a second public key of a second private-public key pair; and   transferring the number of commercially-valued credits to a third public key of a third public-private key pair associated with the first device, when including the first validation result and the location report in the shared ledger.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 constructing a collection comprising a plurality of received location reports;   determining a validation result for the collection; and   adding the collection to the shared ledger.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising: associating the commercially-valued credits with one or more of:
 a network address, a cryptographic key, or an email address.   
     
     
         9 . A system comprising:
 a plurality of network devices connected to a peer-to-peer network, each network device comprising:
 one or more processors; and 
 storage media comprising computer instructions; 
 wherein, on receiving, by a first device of the plurality of network devices, a location report, the computer instructions are executed on the one or more processors of the first device and on the one or more processors of a one or more of the plurality of network devices, such that operations are caused comprising: 
 wherein the location report includes a symmetrically encrypted section, encrypted by a symmetric key, containing information regarding at least one of:
 a longitude of the first device, 
 a latitude of the first device, 
 an altitude of the first device, 
 a time of determining a location of the first device, 
 a longitude of the first device, and 
 an accuracy of the determined location of the first device; 
 
 performing, by the first device, a validation computation on the location report to generate a first validation result; 
 transmitting, by the first device, the first validation result, and the location report through the peer-to-peer network, to a remainder of the plurality of network devices connected to the peer-to-peer network; and
 decrypting, by a network device of the plurality of network devices, the location report using the symmetric key. 
 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the first device is associated with a first network address and a first public-private key pair. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 producing, by the first device, the first validation result before any of the remainder of the plurality of network devices connected to the peer-to-peer network produce a validation result.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the first validation result comprises:
 a proof of work algorithm based on one or more of: a SHA hash, a RIPEMD hash, a Whirlpool hash, a Scrypt hash, a HAS-160 hash, or another cryptographic hash function.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 creating, by the first device, a record of a number of commercially-valued credits associated with a first public key of the first private-public key pair associated with the first device; and   including, by the remainder of the plurality of network devices, the record of the number of commercially-valued credits in the shared ledger along with the first validation result.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 signing the location report, by the first device, with the first private key of the first public-private key pair of the first device.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 extracting, by the first device, and from the location report, an offering of a number of commercially-valued credits associated with a second public key of a second private-public key pair;   generating, by the first device, a transfer notification of the number of commercially-valued credits to the first public key of the first public-private key pair associated with the first device;   submitting, by the first device, the transfer notification along with the first validation result to the remainder of the plurality of network devices; and   including in the shared ledger, by the remainder of the plurality of network devices, the first validation result, the location report, and the transfer notification.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 constructing, by the first device, a collection comprising a plurality of received location reports;   determining, by the first device, a validation result for the collection; and   adding the collection, by the remainder of the network devices, to the shared ledger.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 associating, by the plurality of network devices, the commercially-valued credits with one or more of:   a network address, a cryptographic key, or an email address.   
     
     
         18 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions when read by a processor cause the processor to perform:
 receiving, by a first device of a plurality of network devices connected to a peer-to-peer network, a location report, the first device being associated with a first network address and a first public-private key pair, wherein the location report includes a symmetrically encrypted section, encrypted by a symmetric key, containing information regarding at least one of:
 a longitude of the first device, 
 a latitude of the first device, 
 an altitude of the first device, 
 a time of determining a location of the first device, 
 a longitude of the first device, and 
 an accuracy of the determined location of the first device; 
   performing, by the first device, a validation computation on the location report to generate a first validation result;   transmitting, by the first device, the first validation result and the location report through the peer-to-peer network, to a remainder of the plurality of network devices connected to the peer-to-peer network; and   decrypting, by a network device of the plurality of network devices, the location report using the symmetric key.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform:
 producing, by the first device, the first validation result before any of the remainder of the plurality of network devices connected to the peer-to-peer network produce a validation result.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform:
 creating a record of a number of commercially-valued credits associated with a public key of a private-public key pair associated with the first device; and   including the record of the number of commercially-valued credits in the shared ledger along with the first validation result and the location report.