IP Geolocation via Landmark Network Delay Sequencing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for determining the geographical location of a device associated with an IP address are limited by accuracy due to database inconsistencies, exponential growth requirements, and non-linear correspondence between geographical and internet distances, resulting in significant errors.
Innovation Solution
A method involving landmark devices with known locations, where network-communication delays are measured and used to sort and rank devices relative to a target device, allowing for the determination of geographical location with increased accuracy through sequence-matching and network tomography.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional IP geolocation database methods are used, then implementation is simple, but location accuracy deteriorates due to database inconsistencies and non-linear correspondence between geographical and internet distances
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the geolocation problem by introducing multiple landmark devices distributed across different geographical locations. Instead of relying on a single centralized database, the system divides the measurement task into multiple distributed measurements of network communication delays between the target device and each landmark device. This segmentation enables more precise location determination through triangulation while distributing the complexity across multiple independent components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces landmark devices as intermediary elements with known geographical locations. These landmarks serve as mediators between the target device and the location determination system. By measuring network communication delays to multiple landmarks, the system can infer the target device's location through sequence-matching operations, thereby achieving high accuracy without requiring direct satellite-based positioning or complex centralized databases.
2Measurement precision
If more landmark devices are added to improve location accuracy, then measurement precision improves, but the number of measurements and processing complexity increases exponentially
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by measuring network communication delays to a strategically selected subset of landmark devices rather than requiring comprehensive coverage of all possible landmarks. The sequence-matching operation identifies the optimal subset of landmarks that provides sufficient accuracy for location determination, avoiding the need to measure to every possible landmark and thereby reducing the exponential growth of measurements while maintaining high precision.
3Measurement precision
If network communication delays are measured to multiple landmark devices, then location determination accuracy improves through sequence-matching, but measurement time and network resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs periodic action by using sequence-matching operations that can process delay measurements in an organized sequence rather than requiring all measurements to be completed simultaneously. The algorithm processes landmark devices in a systematic order, comparing sequences of delays to determine relative positions, which allows for more efficient time management and reduces total measurement time while maintaining accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods of the present disclosure provide techniques to locate target devices. An electronic message is sent to a set of landmark devices, signaling each landmark device to transmit echo-request packets to a target device and to other landmark devices and measure network-communication delays. Indications of the network-communication delays are received from the set landmark devices. A first sequence is formed by sorting the set of landmark devices relative to the network-communication delays between the target device and each landmark device. For each respective landmark device, an additional sequence is formed by sorting other landmark devices relative to the network-communication delays between the respective landmark device and the other landmark devices. A sequence-matching operation is applied to the first sequence and the additional sequences to form a ranking of the set of landmark devices relative to the target device.