International IT Conferences in Toronto on October 14-16, 2003 NAC Geographic Products Inc. How NAC Enhance Wireless LBS Applications Xinhang Shen NAC

International IT Conferences in Toronto on October 14-16, 2003 NAC Geographic Products Inc.

How NAC Enhance Wireless LBS Applications

Xinhang Shen

NAC Geographic Products Inc.

www.nacgeo.com


CURRENT PROBLEMS


Specify LocationsCurrent location based services usually use street addresses to specify locations that has many problems:

Most locations do not have street addresses

It’s difficult to input addresses with foreign characters

It’s time-consuming to input street addresses

An address database is always outdated & incomplete


Specify AreasCurrently, location based services usually specify areas by names of political entities, postal codes, map sheet numbers, street addresses plus ranges or geographic coordinates. These methods are

Incomplete

Inefficient

Language dependent

Non-standard


Wireless LBSDue to the lack of efficient, standard and complete methods to specify locations and areas, wireless LBS services are facing serious problems:

It’s extremely time consuming to input addresses on cellphones with telephone keypads

It requires many screens to specify locations or areas on a cellphone

It’s almost impossible to input foreign characters on cellphones


The Natural Area Coding System


ObjectiveThe new system is to standardize, optimize and unify

Geodetic datums

Geographic coordinates

Geographic area codes

Map grids

Addresses

Postal codes


ApproachesTo reach the objective, the new system:

Unifies the concepts of geographic areas and geographic locations because any point can be represented by a relative small area

Uses more characters (the 30 most popular characters in the world) instead of digits to compress the representation

0123456789BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXZ

Introduces a standard, highly efficient, flexible and unified representation for both an area and a location


DefinitionThe Natural Area Coding System is defined by a series of grids called NAC Grids to divide the world:

Level 1 Grid: divide the world into 30 divisions in both longitude and latitude directions.

Level 2 Grid: divide each cell on Level 1 Grid into 30 divisions in both directions.

Level n Grid: divide each cell on Level n-1 Grid into 30 divisions in both directions, where n = 2, 3, ....

Each division is assigned a NAC character accordingly.


Representation – Simple NACA Natural Area Code (NAC) is written in a strict format that starts with: “NAC: ” followed by two character strings representing longitude and latitude respectively separated by a blank space, e.g.

NAC: 8CNB Q7Z4

Where:

8 and Q represent Level 1 NAC Grid coordinatesC and 7 represent Level 2 NAC Grid coordinatesN and Z represent Level 3 NAC Grid coordinatesB and 4 represent Level 4 NAC Grid coordinates


Representation – Complex NACA series of neighboring NACs forming a rectangular area on a NAC Grid can be written as a complex NAC, e.g.

NAC: 8CNB Q7Z4 8CNB Q7Z4 8CNC Q7Z4 + NAC: 8CNC Q7Z4 + NAC: 8CNB Q7Z5 8CNB Q7Z5 8CNC Q7Z5 + NAC: 8CNC Q7Z5 = NAC: 8CNB-C Q7Z4-5 8CNB-C Q7Z4-5

With complex NAC, any area can be specified by a NAC.


NAC Cell SizesEach simple NAC represents a NAC cell anywhere in the world with an area approximately equal to:

LEVEL Sample NAC AREA

1 NAC: 8 Q 1000x700 km

2 NAC: 8C Q8 33x23 km

3 NAC: 8CN Q8Z 1.1x0.8 km

4 NAC: 8CNB Q8Z4 35x25 m

5 NAC: 8CNBD Q8Z4H 1.2x0.8 m


APPLICATIONS


Universal AddressAn eight or ten character NAC representing an area about 25x35 meters or 0.8x1.2 meters anywhere in the world is called a Universal Address that can specify uniquely in the world:

Each buildingEach house Our addressEach gate/doorEach parking meter 1608-45 Huntingdale Blvd.Each fire hydrant Toronto, ON M1W 2N8Each sewage exit CanadaEach tree NAC: 8CNB Q8Z4Each street lightEach bus stop Our Universal Address


Universal Address (cont’d)Compared with traditional addresses, the Universal Address has many advantages:

Standard in the entire worldLanguage independentDefined everywhereEasy to display, read, remember and communicateFit small spaces of business cards, yellow pages, etcPinpointed on all maps with Universal Map GridsNavigated with GPS receiversMake emergency services faster and more reliableAs Global Postal Code to sort both domestic and international mail to final mailboxes automatically


Business CardsThe Universal Address can perfectly fit the limited space of a business card as part of an address to help people to reach the location more efficiently:

Get direction and distance from street signsPinpoint the location on mapsNavigate to the location with GPS receiversSpecify the location on location based services quickly Universal Address

NAC Geographic Products Inc.http://www.nacgeo.com

Xinhang Shen, Ph.D.President & CEO

1608-45 Hintingdale Blvd. Tel: (416) 496 6110Toronto, ON M1W 2N8 Fax: (416) 496 9241Canada NAC: 8CNB Q8Z4 [email protected]


GPS WatchDisplaying Universal Addresses instead of other geographic coordinates can eliminate the need of maps and make it:

Smaller

Lighter

Longer battery life

Less expensive

Easier to use

Widely using GPS watches will start a new era for using digital spatial information


GPS Watch (cont’d)


GPS Cellphone Manufacturers are reluctant to display

geographic coordinates on a cellphone even if it has a GPS inside because they are useless to consumers.

This will be changed by Universal Address because they are directly related to addresses, postal codes, street signs, maps, yellow pages, etc.

Displaying Universal Addresses on cellphones will turn cellphones into powerful navigation tools.


Universal Map GridsStreet maps use locally defined grids because accurate geographic grids based on UTM or longitude/latitude will produce long coordinates that are difficult for consumers to use.

NAC Grids called Universal Map Grids can solve the problem. They can be applied on all kinds of maps and the resulted grid coordinates are highly efficient Natural Area Codes.

Universal Addresses can be directly pinpointed on all maps with NAC Grids. The location information on these maps are directly connected.






Phone BooksUniversal Addresses can be easily listed with telephone numbers on telephone books so that people can:

Directly pinpoint the locations on all mapsNavigate to the locations with GPS receiversEfficiently use all location based servicesConveniently use all other GIS applications


Driving Directions ServicesUsing Universal Addresses instead of street addresses to specify locations can

Reduce 80% of input keys

Avoid inputting foreign characters

Eliminate errors of address databases

Extend the services to all locations

It can also make a multi-page interface for driving directions on a cellphone fit into a single page.


Retrieving MapsUsing Natural Area Codes instead of longitude/latitude coordinates to retrieve maps on GIS and map servers can save 80% of input keys and also make the map codes much easier to remember and communicate.

Bottom left corner longitude -79.6417 degrees

Bottom left corner latitude 43.5167 degrees

Top right corner longitude -79.1917 degrees

Top right corner latitude 43.8167 degrees

Get Map

NAC: 8C Q8

Get Map


Location Based Search Using Natural Area Codes instead of street addresses to specify a searching area can save 90% of input keys and make the searching available on all areas no matter whether there are addresses or not.

Type Restaurant

Street 45 Huntingdale Blvd.

City Toronto

State Ontario

ZIP M1W 2N8

Country Canada

Range 1 KM

Search

Type Restaurant

NAC: 8CB Q8Z

Search


Global Postal CodesUniversal Addresses can be used as Global Postal Codes for all countries to sort both domestic and international mail to final mailboxes automatically with many advantages:

Defined at all addresses and locations in the worldNever used upNo need to be assigned and maintainedSelf-error detectionPolitical neutralMultiple uses


Global Postal Code on Mail

Global Postal Code


Street SignsUniversal Addresses can be marked on all street signs and highway sections so that people can

Directly estimate the distance and direction from the current street sign to any destination by comparing the two Universal Addresses

Record accurate locations for accidents, events, parking locations, etc


Universal Property Identifier

Universal Address can be used as Universal Property Identifiers with many advantages such as:

Valid in the entire worldNever used up and always well alignedRepresenting accurate locationSaving space in storing geographic coordinatesEfficient for communication


Emergency ServicesUsing Universal Addresses instead of street addresses in dispatching and communicating location information can significantly enhance emergency services and make them faster and more reliable because they can be:

directly pinpointed on all maps.efficiently input and displayed on all GPS deviceseasily remembered and communicated


CASE STUDY


Mobile Location Based Service NetworkA five-star wireless LBS providing

Cross-nation turn-by-turn driving directions

Maps from detail street maps to world maps

Location based searching of restaurants, hotels, gas stations, parking places, amusement places, etc

of 26 countries in eight language for all kinds of wireless devices.


Mobile Location Based Service NetworkDriving directions service


Mobile Location Based Service NetworkMap service


Mobile Location Based Service NetworkLocation based business searching


SUMMARY


Accomplishments

The Natural Area Coding System has unified geographic coordinates, geographic area codes, map grids, addresses, postal codes and property identifiers.

It makes all location related products, services and technologies highly efficient and closely related.

This is even more significant on small wireless devices which have very small screens and telephone keypads.


A Universal Address is a highly efficient and unified representation of an address, postal code, area code, map grid coordinates and geographic coordinates.

As Global Postal Codes to sort all mail from world level to final mailboxes

Listed on telephone books to enhance location information

As Universal Property Identifiers to unify identifiers and coordinates

As part of an address perfectly fit a business card

Displayed instead of meaningless longitude and latitude on GPS watches and cellphones to turn them into time-spatial clocks and navigation tools

They can be directly pinpointed on all kinds of maps in any scales and projections

To specify locations on any LBS to reduce 80% input keys, avoid inputting foreign characters, eliminate errors from address databases and extend services to all locations with and without addresses.

Marked on street signs to help travelers determine the distance and direction of any destination


Quotations from the Globe and Mail

“The Holy Grail in terms of addresses is a simple system that will work in all countries.” – Tim Evangelatos, Strategic Technologies and Policy Advisor for GeoConnections at Natural Resources Canada

“This is an elegant solution that seems to supply something that is becoming necessary as the world becomes more globalized,” – Matt Ball, Editor of GwoWorld magazine. “It’s only a matter of time before something like this will be implemented.”


Thank you!

Documents

International IT Conferences in Toronto on October 14-16, 2003 NAC Geographic Products Inc. How NAC Enhance Wireless LBS Applications Xinhang Shen NAC