Field of Invention
The instant invention deals with method and system for providing enhanced defivery of location based search services so as to integrate the best breed of Location Based Search services available on the internet and bring them together on a single integrated platform.
Background
Developments in Location based Services is one of the most discussed and happening topics of the day. There are many platform integrators and content providers offering Location Based Search Services (LBSS). Location-based services (LBS) are services offered by some companies as a way to send location specific messages and other information to a mobile-communication device, computer, laptop, PDA and like capable of receiving such messages. The services range from real estate to photos, movies, maps, traffic, weather, gas prices etc. There are several permutations and combinations in v^ich these players of the space have bundled their offerings. But the key question at this juncture from a user's perspective is how easily the user can get all relevant location based information.
US Patent number 6957393 titled "Mobile Valef provides a method for enhanced delivery of services provided through a wireless mobile device and one or more location service channels, preferably at the direction of the user of the mobile device requesting the desired service through common context-based user interfaces. Though this invention discloses a t>etter way of presenting the data, using kiosk etc, it does not disclose any method of delivering aggregated location based infomnation at the display screen available with the user. The US Patent proposes methods to provide location based services and is primarily aimed at target customers. But the key question of providing the user with Location Based Services that the user desires still remain unanswered.

Presently, as illustrated in Figure 1. when a user is looking for Location Specific Information on a particular Feature of Interest (FOI), the user has to first conduct a search using a search engine. The user has to then find relevant web-sites by perusing the results so found. If a relevant website/s is found the user then has to "log-on" to these sites individually and find the location specific inforrhation that satisfies the requirement. If the user concludes that the location specific information so desired has been found, the user has an option to take a print out of the same. If relevant websites are not found or if the user is not satisfied with the information delivered by various LBS, the user has to use a search engine and search again.
The problem with this conventional system is that the user needs to visit multiple websites to arrive at his location specific needs. No such method exists to aggregate alt location based service provider and display the same as an aggregated method..
Summary of the Invention
The objective of the instant invention is to obviate the above drawback and provide a method and system that provides enhanced and aggregated delivery of location based search services.
Yet another objective of the instant invention is to provide a map overlaying feature so that the user can compare routes provided by plurality of LBS providers and select the;best route.
It is yet another objective of the instant invention is to create an itinerary for the user
\t is yet another objective of the instant invention a user can access the system and retrieve the [results on mobile communication device or any node capable of retiieving information from the Web. The node includes a laptop, desktop computer, PDA and the like.

In yet another objective of the instant invention the system so created has the ability to integrate with multiple LBS providers offering services In plurality of platforms.
The instant invention provides a method for providing enhanced delivery of location based search services, said method comprising the steps of generating at-teast one query including a location tag for searching the desired information, fonvarding said query to a server; accessir^ and retrieving the profile and user preferences from said server, if any; identifying atleast one preferred location based service provider based on user preferences and fonvarding the said query to said location based service provider; retrieving the results of the said query search and aggregating the retrieved results and delivering the said aggregated results to the user node.
The instant invention also provides a system for providing enhanced delivery of location based search services system comprising a user node including means for generating atleast one query having a location tag for searching the desired information that is connected over a network .a main server that is in communication with servers of a plurality of location based service providers, the said main server comprising means configured to access and retrieve the profile and user preferences, identification means for identifying atleast one location based search provider based upon said user preferences and fonvarding the query to the Location Based Search Provider, means for retrieving the results of the said query results and an aggregator for compiling and aggregating the retrieved results to the user node.
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The instant invention also provides a system a computer program product that resides in the server.
Brief description of the accompanying drawings
The invention, together with its objects and advantages thereof may be best understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction, in

which: i
■i ii
Figure 1 shows the worl? flow in the current scenario
<\ Figure 2 shows the workflow of the implementation of the instant invention
Figure 3 is the continuation of figure 2
Figure 4 shows the main emt>odiments of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a graphical display of the way the instant invention implements the aggregation.
i Figure 6-14 are screensl>ots.
T
Figure 16 is representative diagram showing the aggregated ou^ut on a
mobile device. ■!
Detailed description of the Invention
In the preferred embodiment, as shown by figure (2) a user first accesses the server node (201) through a user node(200). A user node is a device including a mobile communication device, desktop computer laptop and the like capable of connecting with the aggregator service node which is a device including a desktop computer, server and the like capable of receiving, interpreting and manipulating data; either through mobile communication network or through web. I
The server then checks if the user is a new user or a registered user (202). An already registered user/is then required to "signin" (203). By "signin" one means that the user is asked to enter a unique login ID and password. Once the user signs in the server checks if user preferences corresponding to the ID exists (205), if they exist the same are retrieved (206) and a homepage(207) as per user preferences is displayed.

If user is not a registered user he is given an option (208) either to continue as a Guest user or "Signup''(209). By "signing up" the user creates unique loginID and password. All the preferences and other details regarding a user can be are saved in the database (406) against this unique loginID The user may then choose to "signup"(209) or continue as a guest user Incase the user has no preferences saved or the user is a guest use. default preferences from the server (210) would be retrieved and a default home page based on those preferences would be displayed to the user.(211). The user may then enter plurality of location based query (212).the query can be in the form of SMS. voice or text. These queries must contain a location tag, i.e. the query should contain atleast one location (place) according to which the search is supposed to be conducted. The system sends these queries to location based service providers (LBS) as per the preferences retrieved from the server (213). If results are found (214), the same are displayed as single aggregated results either via web. webified desktop or via short messaging service (SMS) .depending on the node used by ttie user to access the system(215).
The user is also given an option to create an itinerary of various location specific searches queries (216). If the user chooses tiiis option, an itinerary is created (217) which is displayed or printed as per the choice of the user. At any given point while the user is accessing the system, the user can change the preferences and select a new set of Location Based Service providers (220). To change these preferences user has to access the server (301)(Figure 3) and updates the preferences(302).
While retrieving the results there is a probability that no results are fetched using the user preferences (221). This may happen due to numerous reasons like a particular LBS provider may not have mapped a particular location. In such a case where no results are found, the user is communicated that no results are found (303) and the user is given an option wherein the user is asked if the user wants results witii default preferences (304) as set by the system. If user chooses this option, the system sends the query to default Location Based service providers.

Figure 4 illustrates the relationship between user, administrator, server and the LBS providers. A user (401) accesses the system using a user node (402). As defined earlier a user node includes mobile communication devices, desktop computer, laptops and the like, the user may interact with the server (404) of the present invention using voice or text. If the user chooses SMS as a medium of interaction, all SMS messages are routed through a telecom service provider TSP (403). User is allowed to interact with the server and make modifications to his preferences stored in various tables of the database(406) and make queries through an application program for the user(405). Based on the preferences retrieved by the application program, the queries so made by the user are forwarded to respective LBS(407) providers. These LBS providers process the query and return the result to the application program. The application program then aggregates and sends a single consolidated result to the user node.
The default preferences and other entries of the table can be modified by the administrator (410) who access the server through the admin node (409).The admin node is a device capable of connecting and accessing the server and includes desktop computer , laptop, PDA and like. This node connects with the server via Admin application program (408). Through the admin application program the administrator can change various entries of the database stored in the server. An administrator can for example change the default LBS, reset the password of the user, add or delete the number of location based service providers available through the server.
Figure 5 is a graphical depiction of how the aggregation is implemented. It shows that as and when results are fetched the same are shown on the user node layer by layer (502-504) on a base map (501). The base map is a map fetched by nte server either from the preferred LBS or from the defeult LBS. This results so placed in the layered structures do not obstruct the visibility of each other. For example if the user has queried for all petrol pumps in a location and all movie halls in the same vicinity, the same are displayed on the base map layer by layer but the user sees them as a single aggregated result.

In one of the preferred embodiments of the invention, the system allows the user to use more than one LBS provider to provide alternate routes between pluralities of destinations. This allows the user to compare the results of the LBS providers and choo^se ttie best route.
The instant invention can be better understood with the help of following examples:
Using the conventional system if a user wants to go for a movie in Seattle, the user has to visit maps.google.com™ with a search query "movies. Seattie'. Here Seattle is the location tag. The results are from maps.google.com™(an LBSS) are shown in figui'e 6
As the user finds the result inrelevarit, the user visits www.Qooqle.com ™
(an LBSS) to make the same search query "movies, Seattie". Results as
shown in figure 7 are displayed.
i
Now to get a detailed view user clicks the Showtimes for Seattie URL and
■ I gets the results as shown in figure 8.
To get the map from home to the movie theater, the user has to click on the MAP URL i.e. open a map specific website. The results of the same would be as seen on figure 9.
To get directions the user will click on GetDirection URL. type the residence/ hotel address and will get the directions. The Result of this query is as shown in figure 10.
If the user wants to check the weather too, the user needs to visit another LBS provider like weather.com™ to find out the weather condition in Seattle.
With one of tiie prefen-ed embodiments of the instant invention , the user have to just type the location! and user will get the theaters and movie details and location infomiation as a single aggregated result as shown in Figure 11

The most relevant Infomiation is presented to users by "aggregating services' from various LBS providers .For example. If the user has to find the gas prices, user will to google.com™(an LBS) and inputs the query "Gas prices, Boston, MA" search query(figure12). The user will get the following results as shown in figure 12, and the user has to further visit bostongasprices.com™ (an LBS provider) to check the latest gas prices, and again visit maps.google.com™ to find the route from his location to the gas stations.
Using one of the preferred embodiments of the instant invention, the queries provide a result as shown in figure 13. It can be seen that all the result is displayed on a single screen where a base map fom^s the background of the aggregated result.
The present invention implements access to multiple features of interest on finger tips, based on user preference over various LBS providers through a quick launch bar (1401) .This toolbar contains icons which are context sensitive image buttons which the user can press to include that field of search in the query. The context sensitive pushpins [icons con^esponding to each of the features of interest] help the users in identifying the results of the each of the features without getting confused with others. Users can search for traffic, weather, real-estate, events, photos etc and see all the results at once on the
map without getting confused. This toolbar can be customized at the instance of the user.
In the other example, the user chooses to use mobile device to access Location Based Search Services. By sending a single query the user can get the desired result. An illustration of the same can be seen on figure 15. in this case too if the server finds preferences corresponding to the mobile no( uniquelD) the query would be forwarded as per the preferences set by the user,

For example, if User-Xi sets Yahoo™ (an LBS provider) for Local Search, Goo9le™(an LBS provider) for traffic, Weather.com™(an LBS provider) for Weather and MSN™(an LBS provider) for movies, whenever the user queries for a location specific information, these settings are fetched from the server and the query is forwarded to the respective LBS providers as per these setting.
Currently, for providing SMS message search ,the Teleconi Service providers(TSP) ties-up with one platform service(an LBS) provider for all SMS message Search queries in the Location Based Search services arena. Platform service (Location Based service) providers might be Microsoft, Yahoo!™, and Google™ etc.
With the instant invention the user can use multiple platform service providers for various services via a single query (unique SMS search).
It will readily be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments shown herein. Thus variations may be made within the scope and spirit of the accompanying cfaims without sacrificing the principal advantages of the invention.

We Claim
1. A system for providing enhanced delivery of location based search services system comprising
a) a user node including means for generating atieast one query having
a location tag for searching the desired information that is connected
over a network,
I
b) a main server that is in communication with servers of a plurality of
location based service providers, the said main server comprising
means configured to access and retrieve the profile and user
preferences,
c) identification means for identifying atieast one location based search
provider based upon said user preferences and fonwarding the query to
the Location Based Search Provider,
d) means for retrieving the results of the said query results and
I e) an aggregator for compiling and aggregating the retrieved results to the
user node.
2. System as claimed in claim 1 wherein the user node is a device including a mobile phone, mobile PDAs*, desktop computers, laptops and like that is capable of connecting with the aggregator service server node either through mobile communication network or through web.
3. A method for providing enhanced delivery of location based search services .said method comprising the steps of

a) generating atleast one query including a location tag for searching the desired information,
b) fonwarding said query to a server;
c) accessing and retrieving the profile and user preferences from said server, if any;
d) identifying atleast one preferred location based service provider based on user preferences and fonwarding the said query to said location based service provider;
e) retrieving the results of the said query search and
f) Aggregating the retrieved results and delivering the said aggregated
results to the user node.
1
4. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the query is generated as an SMS message.
5. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein said query comprises of voice or text data.

6. The method as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5 wherein prior to the step of forwarding said query to the server, the query is forwarded to a telecommunication service provider (TSP).
7. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the results of the query
comprise of voice or text data.
i|
8. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the user node is a device
including a mobile phone, mobile PDAs' . desktop computers, laptops
and like that is capable of connecting with the aggregator service
server node either through mobile communication network or through
web.
9. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein if no user preference has been identified by the user, default preferences are used to identify preferred location based service provider.

10. The method as Claimed in claim 3 wherein the results of said query
provides alternate routes for various destinations.
11. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the aggregation of results
would happen for atleasttwo location service providers.
12. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the map overlay feature
allows the users to geographically compare the results of sard query
using two or more map service providers.
13. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the context sensitive
pushpins allow users to easily differentiate the results of multiple
features of interest of said query.
14. A computer program product for providing enhanced delivery of
tocation based search, said computer program product comprising:
- a computer readable means configured for
- generating atleast one
query including a location tag for searching the desired information;
- fonwarding said query to a server;
- for accessing and retrieving the profile and user preferences from said
server;
- identifying atleast one prefen-ed location based service provider based
on user preferences and fonwarding the said query to said location
based service provider,
- retrieving the results of the said query search and
- aggregating the retrieved results and delivering the said aggregated
results to the user node.