System and method for obtaining and using location specific information

Abstract

A location information system uses a positioning system, such as the civilian Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS), in combination with a distributed network. The location information system includes a radio transceiver for communicating to the distributed network and a GPS receiving system. The GPS receiving system receives a signal from the GPS and converts it into a coordinate entry. The coordinate entry is transmitted to the distributed network for retrieval of corresponding location specific information. The location specific information may reside on a web page. The coordinate entry may be incorporated into the web page address that supports the coordinate entry or linked to an existing web page associated with the coordinate entry. The web page and associated information is displayed. Bar code labels, infrared beacons and other labeling systems may also be used in the location information system in place of or in addition to the GPS receiving system to supply location identification information.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A location information system that displays location specific information, the location information system, comprising:
 a receiver that receives location identification information from at least one site specific object identifying a location, where the at least one site specific object is a beacon; and 
 a transceiver that transmits the location identification information to a distributed network and that receives the location specific information about the specified location from the distributed network based on the location identification information, 
 wherein the location specific information provides information corresponding to the location. 
 
     
     
       2. The location information system of  claim 1 , further comprising a display that displays the location specific information. 
     
     
       3. The location information system of  claim 1 , wherein the location identification information includes at least one coordinate entry corresponding to the at least one site specific object. 
     
     
       4. The location information system of  claim 3 , wherein the at least one coordinate entry includes a latitude, a longitude, and an altitude entry. 
     
     
       5. The location information system of  claim 1 , wherein the location identification information resides on at least one of a local node and a remote node of the distributed network. 
     
     
       6. The location information system of  claim 1 , wherein the location identification information is associated with web pages having the location specific information residing thereon, the web pages residing on at least one of a local node and a remote node. 
     
     
       7. The location information system of  claim 6 , further comprising at least one directory page that resides on at least one of the local node and the remote node, the directory pages linking the location identification information to the web pages when the web pages reside on the remote node. 
     
     
       8. The location information system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the at least one site specific object is a label beacon associated with the specified location; and 
 the receiver includes at least is a scanner receiver, the scanner receiver reading the location identification information from the label a signal transmitted by the beacon. 
 
     
     
       9. The location information system of  claim 8 , wherein the location information includes one of a unique URL and a coordinate entry associated with the specified location. 
     
     
       10. The location information system of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the specified location is a particular document, the label is affixed to the particular document, and   the location specific information being information about the particular document.   
     
     
       11. The location information system of  claim 10 , wherein the information about the particular document is an electronic version of the particular document. 
     
     
       12. The location information system of  claim 8 , wherein the label is selected from the group consisting of a vericode label, a bar code label, a printed label, an RF tag and a two dimensional bar code label. 
     
     
       13. The location information system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the at least one site specific object is a low-range electromagnetic transmitter transmitting an electromagnetic signal on a predetermined frequency, the electromagnetic signal containing the location identification information, the electromagnetic transmitter associated with the specified location, and 
 the receiver includes at least an electromagnetic receiver tuned to the predetermined frequency, the receiver receiving the electromagnetic signal. 
 
     
     
       14. The location information system of  claim 13 , wherein the location identification information includes one of a unique URL and a coordinate entry associated with the specified location. 
     
     
       15. The location information system of  claim 13 , wherein:
 the electromagnetic transmitter is one of an infrared transmitter and a radio frequency transmitter, and 
 the receiver is a corresponding one of an infrared receiver and a radio frequency receiver. 
 
     
     
       16. A location information system that provides location specific information, the location information system comprising:
 location receiving means for receiving location identification information from at least one site specific object identifying a location, where the at least one site specific object is a beacon; and 
 transmitting means for transmitting the location identification information to a distributed network and for receiving location specific information from the distributed network corresponding to the location identification information, 
 wherein the location specific information provides information corresponding to the location. 
 
     
     
       17. The location information system of  claim 16 , wherein the location identification information is one of a coordinate entry and a unique URL associated with the location specific information. 
     
     
       18. The location information system of  claim 16 , further comprising displaying means for displaying the location specific information. 
     
     
       19. The location information system of  claim 16 , wherein the location identification information resides on at least one of a local node and a remote node of the distributed network. 
     
     
       20. The location information system of  claim 16 , wherein the location identification information is associated with at least one web page, the web pages containing the location specific information and residing on at least one of a local node and a remote node. 
     
     
       21. The location information of  claim 20 , further comprising linking means for linking the location identification information to the web pages when the web pages reside on the remote node, the linking means residing on at least one of the local node and the remote node. 
     
     
       22. The location information of  claim 16 , wherein the location receiving means includes at least one of a bar code scanner and an infrared beacon interface, the at least one of the bar code scanner and the infrared beacon interface sensing the location identification information. 
     
     
       23. The location information system of  claim 22 , wherein the location specific information includes one of a unique URL and a coordinate entry associated with the location identification information. 
     
     
       24. A method of receiving location information about a specified location comprising:
 receiving location identification information from at least one site specific object identifying the specific location, where the at least one site specific object is a beacon; 
 transmitting the location identification information to a distributed network where the location specific information resides; and 
 receiving the location specific information associated with the location identification information from the distributed network 
 wherein the location information provides information corresponding to the location. 
 
     
     
       25. The method of claim  25  24, further comprising displaying the location information on a display. 
     
     
       26. The method of  claim 24 , wherein the location information resides on at least one web page. 
     
     
       27. The method of  claim 24 , further comprising:
 linking the location identification information to at least one web page that resides on a remote node of the distributed network, the linking page residing on at least one of a local node and the remote node of the distributed network. 
 
     
     
       28. The method of  claim 24 , further comprising:
 receiving a unique URL associated with the location identification information; 
 transmitting the unique URL to the distributed network; and 
 receiving web pages associated with the unique URL from the distributed network, the web pages including the location specific information. 
 
     
     
       29. The method of claim 24, where the beacon is a radio frequency beacon.