{"schema_version":"1.0","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-8494549","patent":{"patent_number":"US-8494549","title":"Network client location obscurity","assignee":null,"inventors":[],"filing_date":"2009-02-18T00:00:00.000Z","publication_date":"2013-07-23T00:00:00.000Z","cpc_codes":["G06Q","H04W","H04W","H04W"],"num_claims":19,"abstract":"A service may request the location of a network client in order to deliver advertisements for goods and services that are geographically near the client. It is desirable for the network to provide an obscured, or approximate, location to protect the privacy of the client. The network queries the client for its PN list. From the PN list, the network determines the active cell sectors and active cell towers. The network determines all cell sectors associated with the active cell towers, and excludes the sectors that encompass the client. From the non-excluded sectors, a cell sector is randomly selected. A geographic location is randomly selected from within the cell sector. A region that encompasses the geographic location is determined, and an identifier associated with the region, such as a ZIP code, is sent to the service. The exact location of the client cannot be determined from the regional identifier."},"analysis":{"summary":null,"layman_explanation":null,"technical_analysis":null,"business_analysis":null,"faqs":null,"topics":[],"tech_cluster":null},"seo":{"title":"Network client location obscurity","description":"A service may request the location of a network client in order to deliver advertisements for goods and services that are geographically near the client. It is desirable for the network to provide an ","keywords":[]},"attribution":{"source":"Patentable","source_url":"https://patentable.app","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-8494549","license":"CC-BY-4.0-like","license_terms":"AI-generated analysis on this page (summary, layman_explanation, technical_analysis, business_analysis, faqs) may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL above. Patent abstracts, claims, and bibliographic data are USPTO public domain.","required_link":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-8494549","citation_suggestion":"Patentable. \"Network client location obscurity\" (US-8494549). https://patentable.app/patents/US-8494549","copyright_holder":"Nomic Interactive Technology LLC"},"links":{"html":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-8494549","json":"https://patentable.app/api/llm-context/US-8494549","site":"https://patentable.app","llms_txt":"https://patentable.app/llms.txt"},"generated_at":"2026-05-30T15:35:20.468Z"}