US6684250B2 — Method and apparatus for estimating a geographic …

Claim 1

Independent Claim 112 words

A computer-implemented method to estimate a geographic location associated with a network address, the method including: performing at least one data collection operation to obtain information pertaining to a network address; processing of the retrieved information to identify a plurality of geographic locations potentially associated with the network address, and to attach a confidence factor to each of the plurality of geographic locations; and selecting an estimated geographic location from the plurality of geographic locations as being a best estimate of a true geographic location of the network address, where the selection of the estimated geographic location is based upon a degree of confidence-factor weighted agreement within the plurality of geographic locations.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 112 words

A computer-implemented method to estimate a geographic location associated with a network address, the method including: performing at least one data collection operation to obtain information pertaining to a network address; processing of the retrieved information to identify a plurality of geographic locations potentially associated with the network address, and to attach a confidence factor to each of the plurality of geographic locations; and selecting an estimated geographic location from the plurality of geographic locations as being a best estimate of a true geographic location of the network address, where the selection of the estimated geographic location is based upon a degree of confidence-factor weighted agreement within the plurality of geographic locations.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 18 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the at least one data collection operation comprises a traceroute operation.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 51 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the at least one data collection operation includes retrieving any one of a group of registry records, the group of registry records including a Net Whois records, a Domain Name Server (DNS) Whois record, an Autonomous System Network (ASN), and a DNS Location record.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 40 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the processing of the retrieved information includes performing a plurality of geographic location operations, each of the plurality of geographic location operations implementing a unique process to generate at least one geographic location.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 30 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 4 wherein each of the plurality of geographic location operations is to associate a confidence factor with the at least one geographic location generated thereby.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 44 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 5 wherein the association of the confidence factor with the at least one geographic location by each of the plurality of geographic location operations comprises applying a confidence map that relates at least one parameter to a confidence factor.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 22 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the confidence map relates multiple parameters derived from the retrieved information to a confidence factor.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 55 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 5 wherein the association of the confidence factor with the at least one geographic location by each of the plurality of geographic location operations comprises applying a plurality of confidence maps, associated with the respective geographic location operation, that each relate at least one parameter to a respective confidence factor.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 39 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 8 wherein each of the plurality of confidence maps has a confidence weight, the confidence weight indicative of a relative importance attributed to the at least one parameter by the respective geographic location operation.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 25 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 8 including combining a plurality of confidence factors generated by the plurality of confidence maps into a combined confidence factor.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 28 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 10 wherein the combining of the plurality of confidence factors is performed utilizing weights attributed to each of the plurality of confidence factors.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 79 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 11 wherein the combining of the plurality of confidence factors is performed by a weighted arithmetic mean, and according to the following formula: C   C   F = ∑ i = 1 n  cf i  w i ∑ i = 1 n  w i where cf i is the i th of n confidence factors generated by the i th confidence map with associated weight w i .

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 50 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 1 including designating at least one geographic location generated by a first geographic location operation as a filter geographic location, and filtering from the plurality of graphics locations those geographic locations that do not exhibit a predetermined degree of agreement with the filter geographic location.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 54 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 13 wherein the filter geographic location is of a first geographic resolution, and wherein inconsistent geographic locations, of the plurality of geographic locations and having a lower geographic resolution than the first geographic resolution, are filtered on the basis of a failure to fall within the filter geographic location.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 36 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 14 wherein the filter geographic location is a first country, and wherein the inconsistent geographic locations are filtered on the basis of a failure to be located within the first country.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 36 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 14 wherein the filter geographic location is a first continent, and wherein the inconsistent geographic locations are filtered on the basis of a failure to be located within the first continent.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 36 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the selecting of the estimated geographic location includes generating a separate confidence factor for each of a plurality of levels of geographic resolution associated with the estimated geographic location.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 22 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 17 wherein the plurality of levels of geographic resolution include continent, country, state, and city geographic resolutions.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 39 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 4 wherein the selecting of the estimated geographic location includes comparing each of the plurality of geographic locations potentially associated with the network address against further geographic locations of the plurality of geographic locations.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 40 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 19 wherein at least one of the plurality of geographic location operations generates a set of geographic locations, and wherein geographic locations within the set are not compared against other geographic locations within the set.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 33 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the selecting of the estimated geographic location includes collapsing at least some of the confidence factors associated with the geographic locations into a confirmation confidence factor.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 29 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein the collapsing includes combining the plurality of confidence factors for a geographic location that exhibit a correspondence into the confirmation confidence factor.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 73 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 22 wherein the collapsing includes combining the plurality of confidence factors to generate the confirmation confidence factor according to the following equation: C   C   F = 100 × [ 1 - ∏ i = 1 n  ( 1 - mcf i 100 ) ] where mcf i is the i th of n confidence factors for the geographic locations that exhibit the correspondence.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 78 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 22 wherein the correspondence is detected at a plurality of levels of geographic location resolution, and wherein the combining of the confidence factors of the geographic locations is performed at each of the plurality of levels of geographic location resolution at which the correspondence is detected, to thereby generate a respective confirmation confidence factor for each of the plurality of geographic locations at each of the plurality of levels of geographic location resolution.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 28 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 24 wherein the plurality of levels of geographic location resolution include continent, country, state, province, city, region, MSA, PMSA, and DMA geographic resolutions.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 46 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 24 wherein the selecting of the estimated geographic location includes combining the respective confirmation confidence factors for each of the geographic locations at each of the plurality of levels of geographic location resolution, to thereby generate a combined confirmation confidence factor.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 58 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 26 wherein the combining of the respective confirmation confidence factors comprises assigning each of the plurality of levels of geographic location resolution a respective weighting, and calculating the combined confirmation confidence factor by weighing each of the confirmation confidence factors with the respective weighting assigned to a corresponding level of geographic location resolution.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 31 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 26 wherein the selecting of the estimated geographic location comprises identifying a geographic location with a highest combined confirmation confidence factor as the estimated geographic location.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 43 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 4 wherein a first geographic location operation of the plurality of geographic location operations utilizes a string pattern within a host name associated with the at least one network address to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 64 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 29 wherein the string pattern includes any one of a group including a full city name, a full state name, a full country name, a city name abbreviation, a state name abbreviation, a country name abbreviation, initial characters of a city name, an airport code, day, abbreviation for a city name, and an alternative spelling for a city name.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 35 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 4 wherein a first geographic location operation of the plurality of geographic location operations utilizes a record obtained from a network registry to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 40 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 31 wherein the network registry includes any one of a group of registries including an Internet Protocol (IP) registry, a Domain Name Server (DNS) registry, an Autonomous System Registry, and a DNS Location Record registry.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 38 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 4 wherein a first geographic location operation of the plurality of geographic location operations utilizes a traceroute generated against the at least one network address to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 29 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 33 wherein the first geographic location operation utilizes a Last Known Host determined from the traceroute to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 29 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 33 wherein the first geographic location operation utilizes a Next Known Host determined from the traceroute to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 37 words

The computer implemented method of claim 33 wherein the first geographic location operation utilizes a combination of a Next Known Host and a Last Known Host from the traceroute to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 29 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 33 wherein the first geographic location operation utilizes at least one suffix of a host name to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 39

Dependent Claim 32 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a connectivity index indicating a degree of connectivity for the at least one geographic location.

Claim 40

Dependent Claim 39 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a hop ratio indicating a relative position of a hop relative to an end node within a traceroute against the network address.

Claim 41

Dependent Claim 37 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a string length indicating the number of characters within a string interpreted as indicating the at least one geographic location.

Claim 42

Dependent Claim 31 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a number of geographic locations generated by the at least one geographic location operation.

Claim 43

Dependent Claim 27 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a population value for the at least one geographic location.

Claim 44

Dependent Claim 31 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a distance to a Last Known Host from the at least one geographic location.

Claim 45

Dependent Claim 37 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a number of hops within a trace route between a Last Known Host and the at least one geographic location.

Claim 46

Dependent Claim 32 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a minimum population of the at least one geographic location and a Last Known Host.

Claim 47

Dependent Claim 33 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a minimum connectivity index of the at least one geographic location and a Last Known Host.

Claim 48

Dependent Claim 31 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a distance to a Next Known Host from the at least one geographic location.

Claim 49

Dependent Claim 36 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a hop ratio indicating a relative position of a Next Known Host within a traceroute against the network address.

Claim 50

Dependent Claim 31 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a distance between a Next Known Host and the at least one geographic location.

Claim 51

Dependent Claim 41 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a number of hops between a Next Known Host and the at least one geographic location within a trace route against the network address.

Claim 52

Dependent Claim 32 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a minimum population of a Next Known Host and the at least one geographic location.

Claim 53

Dependent Claim 33 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a minimum connectivity index between the at least one geographic location and a Next Known Host.

Claim 54

Dependent Claim 39 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a mean of connectivity indices for a Last Known Host and a Next Known Host within a traceroute against the network address.

Claim 55

Dependent Claim 38 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a position of a first character of a word indicative of the at least one geographic location within a host name.

Claim 56

Dependent Claim 29 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a number of network addresses within a registered block of network addresses.

Claim 57

Dependent Claim 45 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 1 including identifying a block of network addresses, identifying a first geographic location for at least one network address within the block of network addresses, and recording the first geographic location as being associated with the block of network addresses.

Claim 58

Dependent Claim 36 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 56 wherein the recording of the geographic location as being associated with the block of network addresses is performed within a record within a database for the block of network addresses.

Claim 59

Dependent Claim 104 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 56 including: performing a plurality of data collection operations to obtain block information pertaining to a plurality of network addresses within the block of network addresses; processing the retrieved block information to identify a plurality of geographic locations potentially associated with the plurality of network addresses within the block of network addresses, and attaching a confidence factor to each of the plurality of geographic locations; and selecting an estimated block location from the plurality of geographic locations, wherein the selection of the estimated block geographic location is based upon a confidence-factor weighted agreement within the plurality of geographic locations.

Claim 60

Dependent Claim 54 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 58 wherein the identification of the block of network addresses is performed utilizing a divide-and-conquer blocking algorithm that identifies common information between a subject network address and a test network address to determine whether the subject and test network addresses are within a common network block of network addresses.

Claim 61

Dependent Claim 40 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 59 wherein the identification of the common information between the subject network address and the test network address comprises identifying a common geographic location associated with each of the subject and the test network addresses.

Claim 62

Dependent Claim 44 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 59 wherein the identification of the common information between the subject network address and the test network address comprises identifying a substantially common traceroute generated responsive to traceroute operations performed against each of the subject and test network addresses.

Claim 63

Dependent Claim 37 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 60 wherein the identification of the common information between the subject network address and the test network address comprises determining whether the subject and test network addresses utilizing a common DNS server.

Claim 64

Dependent Claim 32 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 58 wherein the identification of the block of network addresses is performed utilizing a netmask blocking algorithm that utilizes a netmask associated with a subject network address.

Claim 65

Dependent Claim 21 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 58 wherein the identification of the block of network addresses is performed utilizing a topology map.

Claim 66

Dependent Claim 47 words

The computer-implemented method of claim 56 wherein the block of network addresses is identified as being a subnet, and wherein the recording of the first geographic location as being associated with the block of network addresses is recorded in a record within the database for the subnet.

Claim 67

Dependent Claim 22 words

The computer implemented method of claim 56 wherein the block of network addresses is identified by respective start and end network addresses.

Claim 68

Independent Claim 128 words

A system to estimate a geographic location associated with a network address, the system including: a plurality of data collection agents to perform at least one data collection operation to obtain information pertaining to a network address; a plurality of geographic location processes to process the retrieved information to identify a plurality of geographic locations potentially associated with the network address, and to attach a confidence factor to each of the plurality of geographic locations; and a selection process to select an estimated geographic location from the plurality of geographic locations as being a best estimate of a true geographic location of the network address, where the selection process utilizes a degree of confidence-factor weighted agreement within the plurality of geographic locations to select the estimated geographic location.

Claim 69

Independent Claim 128 words

A system to estimate a geographic location associated with a network address, the system including: a plurality of data collection agents to perform at least one data collection operation to obtain information pertaining to a network address; a plurality of geographic location processes to process the retrieved information to identify a plurality of geographic locations potentially associated with the network address, and to attach a confidence factor to each of the plurality of geographic locations; and a selection process to select an estimated geographic location from the plurality of geographic locations as being a best estimate of a true geographic location of the network address, where the selection process utilizes a degree of confidence-factor weighted agreement within the plurality of geographic locations to select the estimated geographic location.

Claim 70

Dependent Claim 16 words

The system of claim 67 wherein the plurality of data collection agents include a traceroute process.

Claim 71

Dependent Claim 53 words

The system of claim 67 wherein the plurality of data collection agents include registry retrieval agents to retrieved any one of a group of registry records, the group of registry records including a Net whois records, a Domain Name Server (DNS) Whois record, an Autonomous System Network (ASN), and a DNS Location record.

Claim 72

Dependent Claim 26 words

The system of claim 67 wherein the each of the plurality of geographic location processes implements a unique process to generate at least one geographic location.

Claim 73

Dependent Claim 33 words

The system of claim 67 wherein a first geographic location process of the plurality of geographic location processes is to associate a confidence factor with the at least one geographic location generated thereby.

Claim 74

Dependent Claim 43 words

The system of claim 71 wherein the first geographic location process is to apply a confidence map that relates at least one parameter to a confidence factor to thereby generate the confidence factor associated with the at least one geographic location generated thereby.

Claim 75

Dependent Claim 17 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the confidence map relates multiple parameters derived to a confidence factor.

Claim 76

Dependent Claim 38 words

The system of claim 71 wherein the first geographic location process is to apply a plurality of confidence maps, associated with the first geographic location process, that each relate at least one parameter to a respective confidence factor.

Claim 77

Dependent Claim 38 words

The system of claim 74 wherein each of the plurality of confidence maps has a confidence weight, the confidence weight indicative of a relative importance attributed to the at least one parameter by the first geographic location process.

Claim 78

Dependent Claim 31 words

The system of claim 75 wherein the first geographic location process is to combine a plurality of confidence factors generated by the plurality of confidence maps into a combined confidence factor.

Claim 79

Dependent Claim 28 words

The system of claim 76 wherein first geographic location process utilizes weights attributed to each of the plurality of confidence factors to combine the plurality of confidence factors.

Claim 80

Dependent Claim 81 words

The system of claim 77 wherein the first geographic location process is to combine the plurality of confidence factors utilizing a weighted arithmetic mean, and according to the following formula: C   C   F = ∑ i = 1 n  cf i  w i ∑ i = 1 n  w i where cf i is the i th of n confidence factors generated by the i th confidence map with associated weight w i .

Claim 81

Dependent Claim 54 words

The system of claim 67 including a filter process to designate at least one geographic location generated by a selected geographic location process as a filter geographic location, and to filter from the plurality of graphics locations those geographic locations that do not exhibit a predetermined degree of agreement with the filter geographic location.

Claim 82

Dependent Claim 57 words

The system of claim 79 wherein the filter geographic location is of a first geographic resolution, and wherein the filter process is to filter inconsistent geographic locations, of the plurality of geographic locations and having a lower geographic resolution than the first geographic resolution, on the basis of a failure to fall within the filter geographic location.

Claim 83

Dependent Claim 39 words

The system of claim 80 wherein the filter geographic location is a first country, and wherein the filter process is to filter the inconsistent geographic locations on the basis of a failure to be located within the first country.

Claim 84

Dependent Claim 39 words

The system of claim 80 wherein the filter geographic location is a first continent, and wherein the filter process is to filter the inconsistent geographic locations on the basis of a failure to be located within the first continent.

Claim 85

Dependent Claim 32 words

The system of claim 67 wherein the selection process is to generate a separate confidence factor for each of a plurality of levels of geographic resolution associated with the estimated geographic location.

Claim 86

Dependent Claim 21 words

The system of claim 83 wherein the plurality of levels of geographic resolution include continent, country, state, and city geographic resolutions.

Claim 87

Dependent Claim 35 words

The system of claim 67 wherein the selection process is to compare each of the plurality of geographic locations potentially associated with the network address against further geographic locations of the plurality of geographic locations.

Claim 88

Dependent Claim 39 words

The system of claim 85 wherein at least one of the geographic location processes is to generate a set of geographic locations, and wherein geographic locations within the set are not compared against other geographic locations within the set.

Claim 89

Dependent Claim 29 words

The system of claim 67 wherein the selection process is to collapse at least some of the confidence factors associated with the geographic locations into a confirmation confidence factor.

Claim 90

Dependent Claim 30 words

The system of claim 87 wherein the selection process is to combine the plurality of confidence factors for a geographic location that exhibit a correspondence into the confirmation confidence factor.

Claim 91

Dependent Claim 75 words

The system of claim 88 wherein the selection process is to combine the plurality of confidence factors to generate the confirmation confidence factor (CCF) according to the following equation: C   C   F = 100 × [ 1 - ∏ i = 1 n  ( 1 - mcf i 100 ) ] where mcf i is the i th of n confidence factors for the geographic locations that exhibit the correspondence.

Claim 92

Dependent Claim 77 words

The system of claim 88 wherein the selection process is to detect the correspondence at a plurality of levels of geographic location resolution, and to combine the confidence factors of the geographic locations at each of the plurality of levels of geographic location resolution at which the correspondence is detected, to thereby generate a respective confirmation confidence factor for each of the plurality of geographic locations at each of the plurality of levels of geographic location resolution.

Claim 93

Dependent Claim 29 words

The system of claim 90 wherein the plurality of levels of geographic location resolution include continent, country, state, province, city, region, MSA, PMSA, and DMA levels of geographic resolution.

Claim 94

Dependent Claim 42 words

The system of claim 90 wherein the selection process is to combine the respective confirmation confidence factors for each of the geographic locations at each of the plurality of levels of geographic location resolution, to thereby generate a combined confirmation confidence factor.

Claim 95

Dependent Claim 53 words

The system of claim 92 wherein the selection process is to assign each of the plurality of levels of geographic location resolution a respective weighting, and to calculate the combined confirmation confidence factor by weighing each of the confirmation confidence factors with the respective weighting assigned to a corresponding level of geographic resolution.

Claim 96

Dependent Claim 27 words

The system of claim 93 wherein the selection process is to identify a geographic location with a highest combined confirmation confidence factor as the estimated geographic location.

Claim 97

Dependent Claim 44 words

The system of claim 67 wherein a first geographic location process of the plurality of geographic location processes is to utilize a string pattern within a host name associated with the at least one network address to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 98

Dependent Claim 63 words

The system of claim 95 wherein the string pattern includes any one of a group including a full city name, a full state name, a full country name, a city name abbreviation, a state name abbreviation, a country name abbreviation, initial characters of a city name, an airport code, day, abbreviation for a city name, and an alternative spelling for a city name.

Claim 99

Dependent Claim 36 words

The system of claim 67 wherein a first geographic location process of the plurality of geographic location processes is to utilize a record obtained from a network registry to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 100

Dependent Claim 39 words

The system of claim 97 wherein the network registry includes any one of a group of registries including an Internet Protocol (IP) registry, a Domain Name Server (DNS) registry, an Autonomous System Registry, and a DNS Location Record registry.

Claim 101

Dependent Claim 39 words

The system of claim 67 wherein a first geographic location process of the plurality of geographic location processes is to utilize a traceroute generated against the at least one network address to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 102

Dependent Claim 30 words

The system of claim 67 wherein the first geographic location process is to utilize a Last Known Host determined from the traceroute to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 103

Dependent Claim 30 words

The system of claim 67 wherein the first geographic location process is to utilize a Next Known Host determined from the traceroute to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 104

Dependent Claim 37 words

The system of claim 67 wherein the first geographic location process is to utilize a combination of a Next Known Host and a Last Known Host from the traceroute to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 105

Dependent Claim 30 words

The system of claim 67 wherein the first geographic location process is to utilize at least one suffix of a host name to generate the at least one geographic location.

Claim 106

Dependent Claim 31 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a connectivity index indicating a degree of connectivity for the at least one geographic location.

Claim 107

Dependent Claim 37 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a hop ratio indicating a relative position of the at least one geographic location within a traceroute against the network address.

Claim 108

Dependent Claim 28 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the hop ratio indicates the at least one geographic location as being at a beginning or at an end of the traceroute.

Claim 109

Dependent Claim 36 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a string length indicating the number of characters within a string interpreted as indicating the at least one geographic location.

Claim 110

Dependent Claim 30 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a number of geographic locations generated by the at least one geographic location process.

Claim 111

Dependent Claim 26 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a population value for the at least one geographic location.

Claim 112

Dependent Claim 30 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a distance to a Last Known Host from the at least one geographic location.

Claim 113

Dependent Claim 36 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a number of hops within a trace route between a Last Known Host and the at least one geographic location.

Claim 114

Dependent Claim 31 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a minimum population of the at least one geographic location and a Last Known Host.

Claim 115

Dependent Claim 32 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a minimum connectivity index of the at least one geographic location and a Last Known Host.

Claim 116

Dependent Claim 30 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a distance to a Next Known Host from the at least one geographic location.

Claim 117

Dependent Claim 35 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a hop ratio indicating a relative position of a Next Known Host within a traceroute against the network address.

Claim 118

Dependent Claim 30 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a distance between a Next Known Host and the at least one geographic location.

Claim 119

Dependent Claim 40 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a number of hops between a Next Known Host and the at least one geographic location within a trace route against the network address.

Claim 120

Dependent Claim 31 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a minimum population of a Next Known Host and the at least one geographic location.

Claim 121

Dependent Claim 32 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a minimum connectivity index between the at least one geographic location and a Next Known Host.

Claim 122

Dependent Claim 38 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a mean of connectivity indices for a Last Known Host and a Next Known Host within a traceroute against the network address.

Claim 123

Dependent Claim 37 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a position of a first character of a word indicative of the at least one geographic location within a host name.

Claim 124

Dependent Claim 28 words

The system of claim 72 wherein the at least one parameter of the confidence map is a number of network addresses within a registered block of network addresses.

Claim 125

Dependent Claim 50 words

The system of claim 67 including a blocking process to identify a block of network addresses, to identify a first geographic location for at least one network address within the block of network addresses, and to record the first geographic location as being associated with the block of network addresses.

Claim 126

Dependent Claim 35 words

The system of claim 123 wherein the recording of the geographic location as being associated with the block of network addresses is performed within a record within a database for the block of network addresses.

Claim 127

Dependent Claim 117 words

The system of claim 124 wherein: the plurality of data collection agents is to obtain block information pertaining to a plurality of network addresses within the block of network addresses; the plurality of geographic location processes is to process the retrieved block information to identify a plurality of geographic locations potentially associated with the plurality of network addresses within the block of network addresses, and to attach a confidence factor to each of the plurality of geographic locations; and the selection process is to select an estimated block location from the plurality of geographic locations, wherein the selection of the estimated block geographic location is based upon a confidence-factor weighted agreement within the plurality of geographic locations.

Claim 128

Dependent Claim 47 words

The system of claim 123 wherein the blocking process comprises a divide-and-conquer blocking algorithm to identify common information between a subject network address and a test network address and to determine whether the subject and test network addresses are within a common network block of network addresses.

Claim 129

Dependent Claim 28 words

The system of claim 126 wherein the divide-and-conquer blocking algorithm is to identify a common geographic location associated with each of the subject and the test network addresses.

Claim 130

Dependent Claim 32 words

The system of claim 126 wherein the divide-and-conquer blocking algorithm is to identify a substantially common traceroute generated responsive to traceroute operations performed against each of the subject and test network addresses.

Claim 131

Dependent Claim 25 words

The system of claim 126 wherein the divide-and-conquer blocking algorithm is to identify whether the subject and test network addresses utilizing a common DNS server.

Claim 132

Dependent Claim 24 words

The system of claim 126 wherein the blocking process comprises a netmask blocking algorithm that utilizes a netmask associated with a subject network address.

Claim 133

Dependent Claim 22 words

The system of claim 123 wherein the blocking process is to utilize a topology map to identify the block of network addresses.

Claim 134

Dependent Claim 46 words

The system of claim 123 wherein the blocking process is to identify the block of network addresses has been a subnet, and to record the first geographic location as being associated with the block of network addresses within a record within the database for the subnet.

Claim 135

Dependent Claim 24 words

The system of claim 123 wherein the blocking process is to identify the block of network addresses by respective start and end network addresses.

Claim 136

Dependent Claim 110 words

A machine-readable medium storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by machine, caused machine to: perform at least one data collection operation to obtain information pertaining to a network address; process the retrieved information to identify a plurality of geographic locations potentially associated with the network address, and attach a confidence factor to each of the plurality of geographic locations; and select an estimated geographic location from the plurality of geographic locations as being a best estimate of a true geographic location of the network address, where the selection of the estimated geographic location is based upon a degree of confidence-factor weighted agreement within the plurality of geographic locations.

Claim 137

Dependent Claim 110 words

A machine-readable medium storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by machine, caused machine to: perform at least one data collection operation to obtain information pertaining to a network address; process the retrieved information to identify a plurality of geographic locations potentially associated with the network address, and attach a confidence factor to each of the plurality of geographic locations; and select an estimated geographic location from the plurality of geographic locations as being a best estimate of a true geographic location of the network address, where the selection of the estimated geographic location is based upon a degree of confidence-factor weighted agreement within the plurality of geographic locations.

Claim 138

Independent Claim 119 words

A system to estimate a geographic location associated with a network address, the system including: first means for performing at least one data collection operation to obtain information pertaining to a network address; second means for processing the retrieved information to identify a plurality of geographic locations potentially associated with the network address, and for attaching a confidence factor to each of the plurality of geographic locations; and third means for selecting an estimated geographic location from the plurality of geographic locations as being a best estimate of a true geographic location of the network address, where the third means utilizes a degree of confidence-factor weighted agreement within the plurality of geographic locations to select the estimated geographic location.

Claim 139

Independent Claim 119 words

A system to estimate a geographic location associated with a network address, the system including: first means for performing at least one data collection operation to obtain information pertaining to a network address; second means for processing the retrieved information to identify a plurality of geographic locations potentially associated with the network address, and for attaching a confidence factor to each of the plurality of geographic locations; and third means for selecting an estimated geographic location from the plurality of geographic locations as being a best estimate of a true geographic location of the network address, where the third means utilizes a degree of confidence-factor weighted agreement within the plurality of geographic locations to select the estimated geographic location.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2007-01-26	2007-07-28	2008-01-27	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2011-01-26	2011-07-28	2012-01-27	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2015-01-26	2015-07-28	2016-01-27	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Method and apparatus for estimating a geographic location of a networked entity

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