Techniques for server-controlled tiling of location-based information

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a location-based request from a client application, the location-based request comprising a geographic area and a search term;

mapping the received location-based request to a category of location types;

determining a plurality of tiles that cover the geographic area according to the mapped category of location types, each tile of the plurality of tiles specific to a category of location types, covering a portion of the geographic area,. and comprising a set of locations;

flagging a first subset of locations in the set of locations as relevant to the search term and a second subset of locations in the set of locations as irrelevant to the search term; and

transmitting the plurality of tiles including the first and second subsets of locations to the client application.

2. The method of claim 1 , the location-based request received from the client application on a mobile device, the geographic area containing a current location of the mobile device, the transmitted plurality of tiles for display on the mobile device as an overlay on a map including a display of the current location of the mobile device in relation to the received sets of locations.

3. The method of claim 1 , the location-based request specifying a zoom level, each tile of the plurality of tiles associated with a range of zoom levels, further comprising:

determining the plurality of tiles by matching the specified zoom level to the range of zoom levels associated with each of the plurality of tiles.

4. The method of claim 1 , the plurality of tiles comprising a first tile, the first tile covering a first geographic area, the first tile comprising a first set of locations within the first geographic area, the first set of locations selected from a total set of locations according to a relative importance of the selected first set of locations within the total set of locations.

5. The method of claim 1 , the plurality of tiles comprising a first tile and a second tile, the first tile covering a first geographic area, the second tile covering a second geographic area distinct from the first geographic area, the first geographic area larger than the second geographic area.

6. The method of claim 5 , the first geographic area constructed as larger than the second geographic area in response to a determination that the first geographic area contains a lower density of relevant locations.

7. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

determining a second plurality of tiles related to the location-based request covering a distinct adjacent geographic area or covering at least a portion of the geographic area at a different zoom level;

instructing the client application to request the second plurality of tiles;

receiving a request from the client application for the second plurality of tiles; and

transmitting the second plurality of tiles to the client application.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

receiving a second location-based request from the client application, the second location-based request comprising a second geographic area, the second location-based request comprising the location-based request and geographic area tagged as a previous location-based request, the second geographic area overlapping the geographic area from the previous location-based request;

determining a second plurality of tiles that covers a remaining area and excludes tiles that would be used to cover the geographic area from the previous location-based request;

transmitting the second plurality of tiles to the client application.

9. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor circuit on a device;

a communication component operative on the processor circuit to receive a location-based request from a client application, the location-based request comprising a geographic area and a search term, and to transmit a plurality of tiles to the client application; and

a tile component operative on the processor circuit to map the received location-based request to a category of location types, determine the plurality of tiles as a set of tiles according to the mapped category of location types that cover the geographic area, each tile of the plurality of tiles specific to a category of location types, covering a portion of the geographic area, and comprising a set of locations, and to flag a first subset in the set of locations as relevant to the search term and a second subset of locations as irrelevant to the search term, wherein the transmitted plurality of tiles includes the first and second subsets of locations.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , the location-based request specifying a zoom level, each tile of the plurality of tiles associated with a range of zoom levels, the tile component operative to determine the plurality of tiles by matching the specified zoom level to the range of zoom levels associated with each of the plurality of tiles.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , the plurality of tiles comprising a first tile, the first tile covering a first geographic area, the first tile comprising a first set of locations within the first geographic area, the first set of locations selected from a total set of locations according to a relative importance of the selected first set of locations within the total set of locations.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , the plurality of tiles comprising a first tile and a second tile, the first tile covering a first geographic area, the second tile covering a second geographic area distinct from the first geographic area, the first geographic area larger than the second geographic area.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 , comprising:

the tile component operative to determine a second plurality of tiles related to the location-based request covering a distinct adjacent geographic area or covering at least a portion of the geographic area at a different zoom level; and

the communication component operative to instruct the client application to request the second plurality of tiles, receive a request from the client application for the second plurality of tiles, and transmit the second plurality of tiles to the client application.

14. The apparatus of claim 9 , comprising:

the communication component operative to receive a second location-based request from the client application, the second location-based request comprising a second geographic area, the second location-based request comprising the location-based request and geographic area tagged as a previous location-based request, the second geographic area overlapping the geographic area from the previous location-based request, and to transmit a second plurality of tiles to the client application; and

a second tile component operative to determine the second plurality of tiles that covers a remaining area and excludes tiles that would be used to cover the geographic area from the previous location-based request.

15. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a system to:

receive a location-based request from a client application, the location-based request comprising a geographic area, a search term, and a zoom level;

map the received location-based request to a category of location types;

determine a plurality of tiles that cover the geographic area according to the mapped category of location types, each tile of the plurality of tiles specific to a category of location types, covering a portion of the geographic area, associated with a range of zoom levels including the zoom level, and comprising a set of locations;

flag a first subset of locations in the set of locations as relevant to the search term and a second subset of locations in the set of locations as irrelevant to the search term; and

transmit the plurality of tiles including the first and second subsets of locations to the client application.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , the plurality of tiles comprising a first tile, the first tile covering a first geographic area, the first tile comprising a first set of locations within the first geographic area, the first set of locations selected from a total set of locations according to a relative importance of the selected first set of locations within the total set of locations.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , the plurality of tiles comprising a first tile and a second tile, the first tile covering a first geographic area, the second tile covering a second geographic area distinct from the first geographic area, the first geographic area larger than the second geographic area.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 comprising further instructions that, when executed, cause a system to:

determine a second plurality of tiles related to the location-based request covering a distinct adjacent geographic area or covering at least a portion of the geographic area at a different zoom level;

instruct the client application to request the second plurality of tiles;

receive a request from the client application for the second plurality of tiles; and

transmit the second plurality of tiles to the client application.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 comprising further instructions that, when executed, cause a system to:

receive a second location-based request from the client application, the second location-based request comprising a second geographic area and the zoom level, the second location-based request comprising the location-based request, geographic area, and zoom level tagged as a previous location-based request, the second geographic area overlapping the geographic area from the previous location-based request;

determine a second plurality of tiles at the zoom level that covers a remaining area and excludes tiles that would be used to cover the geographic area from the previous location-based request;

transmit the second plurality of tiles to the client application.