Linking Mobile Communication Logs with Location Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional GPS-enabled mobile phones and navigation devices lack integration of communication and location data, failing to provide synergistic operational features that link communication events with geographic locations, making it difficult for users to recall caller information based on memory of locations.
Innovation Solution
A portable electronic device combining a communication component, a location-determining component, and a computing device that links identification information from communications with location data by adding geocodes or cross-referencing in a database, allowing users to display communication logs on maps and sort by distance, enabling users to retrieve caller information based on remembered locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If GPS receiver and mobile phone are combined into a single device, then portability and integration are improved, but functional synergy and operational efficiency remain insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines GPS receiver, mobile phone, and communication functions into a single integrated device. The GPS receiver determines location data while the mobile phone handles communications, and the computing device links both functions through a unified interface, enabling seamless operation between navigation and communication features.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated device performs multiple functions including location determination, communication reception, data processing, and display. The single device can navigate, receive calls, access communication history, and provide location-based information, making it a universal tool that replaces separate GPS and phone functions.
2Device complexity
If communication and location data are kept separate, then device simplicity is maintained, but user ability to retrieve information based on location memory is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The computing device merges communication identification information with location data by linking them through a common database structure. This allows the system to associate phone calls, messages, and other communication events with their corresponding geographic locations, enabling unified search and retrieval operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The computing device acts as an intermediary that processes and links communication data with location information. It receives identification information from the communication component and location data from the GPS receiver, then integrates them into a unified structure that can be queried and displayed to users.
3Ease of manufacture
If communication log is displayed without location context, then display simplicity is maintained, but user recall accuracy based on location memory is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The display interface merges communication log entries with location information by superimposing location markers on map displays. Each communication event is associated with a geographic location marker that can be selected to display detailed information about the communication, providing both contextual and detailed information simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds a geographic dimension to the traditional communication log display by mapping communications onto a spatial representation. Instead of a linear chronological list, communications are distributed across a map according to their location, allowing users to visualize and search based on spatial relationships.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device includes a communication component; a location-determining component; a display; and a computing device all housed within a portable, handheld housing or other enclosure. The communications component transmits and receives mobile communications over a wireless communication network or path and provides identification information to the computing device. The location determining component determines locations of the electronic device as it is carried or driven from place to place and provides corresponding location data to the computing device. The computing device links the identification information with the location data to indicate the location of the device when a communication was made or received. The identification information and location data may be linked by adding a geocode or geotag to the identification information or by cross-referencing the information and data in a database. The computing device may also display a representation of the location data alongside a representation of the communication on a cartographic map and then display some of the identification information for the communication when a user scrolls over or otherwise selects either of the representations.