Granted Patent B2

US 12,674,676 · App. 18/790,291 · Granted Jul 7, 2026

Inventors: Alice Jane Bernheim Brush (Redmond, WA); John Charles Krumm (Redmond, WA); Shahriyar Amini (Waltham, MA); Amy Karlson (Bellevue, WA); Jaime Teevan (Bellevue, WA); Nissanka Arachchige Bodhi Priyantha (Redmond, WA)

Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.

G01C21/3617G01C21/3476G01C21/3484G01C21/3492G01C21/362G01C21/3673G06F16/24575G06F16/248G06F16/29G06F16/9535G06F16/9537H04W4/02H04W4/029

Abstract

Claims (63)

1 . A method, comprising:

receiving, at a server from a computing device, one or more search terms;

predicting a location based on a location history associated with the computing device, the predicting comprising:

identifying one or more destination elements in a geographic region;

determining probabilities that the one or more destination elements are a future location of the computing device; and

identifying the predicted location based on the probabilities;

creating a trajectory-aware search query based on the one or more search terms and the predicted location;

triggering a search engine to perform a search using the trajectory-aware search query to obtain one or more trajectory-aware search results;

triggering the search engine to perform a search using a trajectory-unaware search query to obtain one or more trajectory-unaware search results, the trajectory-unaware query being based on the one or more search terms without the predicted location; and

causing display of the one or more trajectory-unaware search results and the one or more trajectory-aware search results on the computing device, the trajectory-unaware search results being displayed visually different than the trajectory aware search results.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicted location is at least partly based on a travel time estimate, the travel time estimate being based on a time to travel from a current location to the predicted location.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the travel time estimate is based on one of travel by foot, travel by motorcycle, travel by car, or travel by public transportation.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

accessing an updated location history of the computing device that indicates movement of the mobile computing device from a first location to a second location;

generating at least one updated search result; and

causing display of the at least one updated search result on the computing device.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more destination elements are identified based on being reachable from a current location of the computing device within a predetermined amount of time.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

based on the location history, predicting a route of the computing device, wherein the predicted location comprises a point on the predicted route of the computing device.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

based on the predicted route, pre-fetching content likely to be retrieved by a user of the computing device.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying a speed of the computing device based on timestamps associated with the location history, wherein one or more of the trajectory-aware search results are based at least in part on the computed speed of the computing device.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying a speed of the computing device based on timestamps associated with the location history; and

based on the speed being above a threshold, searching for results associated with one or more exits of a highway associated with the predicted location.

10 . A system comprising:

one or more hardware processors; and

a memory device storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more hardware processors, cause the one or more hardware processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a computing device, one or more search terms;

predicting a location based on a location history associated with the computing device, the predicting comprising:

identifying one or more destination elements in a geographic region;

determining probabilities that the one or more destination elements are a future location of the computing device; and

identifying the predicted location based on the probabilities;

creating a trajectory-aware search query based on the one or more search terms and the predicted location;

triggering a search engine to perform a search using the trajectory-aware search query to obtain one or more trajectory-aware search results;

triggering the search engine to perform a search using a trajectory-unaware search query to obtain one or more trajectory-unaware search results, the trajectory-unaware query being based on the one or more search terms without the predicted location; and

causing display of the one or more trajectory-unaware search results and the one or more trajectory-aware search results on the computing device, the trajectory-unaware search results being displayed visually different than the trajectory aware search results.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the predicted location is at least partly based on a travel time estimate, the travel time estimate being based on a time to travel from a current location to the predicted location.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:

accessing an updated location history of the computing device that indicates movement of the mobile computing device from a first location to a second location;

generating at least one updated search result; and

causing display of the at least one updated search result on the computing device.

13 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more destination elements are identified based on being reachable from a current location of the computing device within a predetermined amount of time.

14 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:

based on the location history, predicting a route of the computing device, wherein the predicted location comprises a point on the predicted route of the computing device.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise:

based on the predicted route, pre-fetching content likely to be retrieved by a user of the computing device.

16 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:

identifying a speed of the computing device based on timestamps associated with the location history, wherein one or more of the trajectory-aware search results are based at least in part on the computed speed of the computing device.

17 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:

identifying a speed of the computing device based on timestamps associated with the location history; and

based on the speed being above a threshold, searching for results associated with one or more exits of a highway associated with the predicted location.

18 . A storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more hardware processors, causes the one or more hardware processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a computing device, one or more search terms;

predicting a location based on a location history associated with the computing device, the predicting comprising:

identifying one or more destination elements in a geographic region;

determining probabilities that the one or more destination elements are a future location of the computing device; and

identifying the predicted location based on the probabilities;

creating a trajectory-aware search query based on the one or more search terms and the predicted location;

triggering a search engine to perform a search using the trajectory-aware search query to obtain one or more trajectory-aware search results;

triggering the search engine to perform a search using a trajectory-unaware search query to obtain one or more trajectory-unaware search results, the trajectory-unaware query being based on the one or more search terms without the predicted location; and

causing display of the one or more trajectory-unaware search results and the one or more trajectory-aware search results on the computing device, the trajectory-unaware search results being displayed visually different than the trajectory aware search results.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (6)

References Cited (400)