Location-Aware Search System with Server-Side Caching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional navigation devices are limited in their ability to perform searches based on terms not stored in their databases, requiring users to either focus on the road or pull over to perform searches, and manufacturers are reluctant to incorporate external communication capabilities due to cost concerns.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that uses a location-aware device to send search terms to a server, which caches and consolidates search results, and may forward requests to web sites for location-based searching, allowing for sponsored listings and automatic repeat searches without user input.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a navigation device incorporates external communication capability to perform searches beyond its database, then search capability is improved, but communication costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The server performs preliminary actions by maintaining a cache of search results for multiple search terms and locations. When a device sends a search request, the server checks its cache first and returns cached results without performing new searches, thereby reducing communication costs while maintaining enhanced search capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The server acts as an intermediary between multiple navigation devices and external search sources. It consolidates search requests from multiple devices, performs searches once, caches the results, and distributes them to multiple devices, thereby reducing redundant communication costs while providing enhanced search capability to all devices.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a user performs searches using a conventional laptop computer, then search flexibility is improved, but additional costs are incurred
Solution Approach 1:
The server provides universal search services to multiple navigation devices simultaneously. By consolidating search requests and caching results, it enables multiple users to access flexible location-based search functionality through their navigation devices without each user incurring separate communication costs, effectively making the service universally accessible at reduced cost.
3Measurement precision
If a navigation device requires user input for each search, then search relevance is improved, but user convenience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically performs repeat searches at periodic intervals based on the vehicle's location changes. When the navigation device detects that the vehicle has moved to a new location, it automatically sends search requests without requiring user input, maintaining search relevance to the current location while improving convenience by eliminating manual search initiation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from the navigation device's location data to automatically determine when and what to search. The device monitors its own location and automatically initiates searches when location changes indicate the user may need updated search results, maintaining relevance while removing the burden of manual search initiation from the user.
4Speed
If the server caches search results for multiple locations, then response speed is improved, but memory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The server implements local quality by organizing its cache to store search results specifically structured for different geographic locations. It caches results with location-based indexing and retrieves only the relevant cached results matching the device's current location, thereby improving response speed for location-specific queries while optimizing memory usage by not storing all possible search results uniformly.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method provides location-aware search results from a navigation or other device and provides one or more enhanced listings or advertisements with the results to offset the communication cost of the search. The sponsor may be charged for the listing or advertisement and the charge may be based on whether the device arrives in an area around the sponsor location within a threshold amount of time.