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 sharing location information comprising:
 determining, by a network connected location determining device, a location status of the network connected location determining device, said location status comprising two or more of: location coordinates of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the location coordinates of the network connected location determining device, an altitude of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the altitude of the network connected location determining device, a heading of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the heading of the network connected location determining device, a velocity of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the velocity of the network connected location determining device, an acceleration of the network connected location determining device, an accuracy of the acceleration of network connected location determining device; and   generating, by the network connected location determining device, a location report comprising the location status; and   transmitting, by the network connected location determining device, the location report to a distributed ledger maintained by a plurality of network connected devices, for inclusion in the distributed ledger.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the location coordinates of the network connected location determining device are determined by the network connected location determining device using one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, an altimeter, a magnetometer, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the heading of the network connected location determining device is determined by the network connected location determining device using one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, a magnetometer, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein an accuracy of a one or more of: the location coordinates of the network connected location determining device, the altitude of the network connected location determining device, the heading of the network connected location determining device, the velocity of the network connected location determining device, the acceleration of the network connected location determining device, are determined by the network connected location determining device through the use of a one or more of a plurality of wireless components comprising one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module by determining a one or more of: a time difference of arrival of data frames, a signal strength determination, a signal trilateration, an other wireless position accuracy determination technique. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a plurality of location reports, by the network connected location determining device; and   transmitting, by the network connected location determining device, the plurality of location reports to the distributed ledger maintained by the plurality of network connected devices, for inclusion in the distributed ledger.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 encrypting an at least part of an at least one of the plurality of location reports by the network connected location determining device using a cryptographic key.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of location reports, in combination, comprise the location status of the network connected location determining device. 
     
     
         8 . A client device comprising: a location determining component; a network connectivity component; a plurality of wireless components comprising one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module; one or more processors; and storage media comprising computer instructions, wherein when computer instructions are executed on the one or more processors of the network connected location determining device, operations are caused comprising:
 determining, by the client device, a location status of the client device, said location status comprising two or more of: location coordinates of the client device, an accuracy of the location coordinates of the client device, an altitude of the client device, an accuracy of the altitude of the client device, a heading of the client device, an accuracy of the heading of the client device, a velocity of the client device, an accuracy of the velocity of the client device, an acceleration of the client device, an accuracy of the acceleration of the client device; and   generating, by the client device, a location report comprising the location status; and   transmitting, by the client device, the location report to a distributed ledger maintained by a plurality of network connected devices, for inclusion in the distributed ledger.   
     
     
         9 . The client device of  claim 8 , wherein the location coordinates of the client device are determined by the client device using one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, an altimeter, a magnetometer, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module. 
     
     
         10 . The client device of  claim 8 , wherein the heading of the client device is determined by the client device using one or more of: a global navigation satellite system receiver, a magnetometer, a gyroscopic sensor, an accelerometer, a wireless local area network module, a wireless wide area network module, a Bluetooth module. 
     
     
         11 . The client device of  claim 8 , wherein the accuracy of a one or more of: the location coordinates of the client device, the altitude of the client device, the heading of the client device, the velocity of the client device, the acceleration of the client device, are determined by the client device through the use of a one or more of the plurality of wireless components to determine: a time difference of arrival of data frames, a signal strength determination, a signal trilateration, an other wireless position accuracy determination technique. 
     
     
         12 . The client device of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 generating a plurality of location reports, by the client device; and   transmitting, by the client device, the plurality of location reports to the distributed ledger maintained by the plurality of network connected devices, for inclusion in the distributed ledger.   
     
     
         13 . The client device of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 encrypting an at least part of an at least one of the plurality of location reports by the client device using a cryptographic key.   
     
     
         14 . The client device of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of location reports, in combination, comprise the location status of the client device.