WO2011064445A1

WO2011064445A1 - Method and apparatus for agricultural resource mapping

Info

Publication number: WO2011064445A1
Application number: PCT/FI2010/050928
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jan Otto Blom; Dhaval Jitendra Joshi; Vijay Narayanan-Saroja
Original assignee: Nokia Corporation
Priority date: 2009-11-25
Filing date: 2010-11-17
Publication date: 2011-06-03

Abstract

An approach is provided for retrieving agricultural information corresponding to an area of land. Reception of location information associated with a mobile device is caused, at least in part. A boundary of an area of land is determined based on the location information. Agricultural information corresponding to the area of land is retrieved. An agricultural development plan is generated for the area of land based on the agricultural information.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR

AGRICULTURAL RESOURCE MAPPING

BACKGROUND

Service providers (e.g., wireless, cellular, etc.) and device manufacturers are continually challenged to deliver value and convenience to consumers by, for example, providing compelling network services. Important differentiators in such industries include application and network services. In particular, these services can include agricultural service applications that can be used to improve farming practices by utilizing mobile devices. These improved farming practices may, for instance, result in increased productivity, efficiency, and profitability. However, such technology has traditionally been underutilized because users often find the technology difficult or cumbersome to use in a farming or agricultural environment. Accordingly, service providers and device manufacturers face significant technical challenges in making such services easy to use.

SOME EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Therefore, there is a need for an approach for automatically mapping agricultural resources via mobile devices.

According to one embodiment, a method comprises causing, at least in part, reception of location information associated with a mobile device. The method also comprises determining a boundary of an area of land based on the location information. The method further comprises retrieving agricultural information corresponding to the area of land. The method additionally comprises generating an agricultural development plan for the area of land based on the agricultural information.

According to another embodiment, an apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause, at least in part, the apparatus to cause, at least in part, reception of location information associated with a mobile device. The apparatus is also caused to determine a boundary of an area of land based on the location information. The apparatus is further caused to retrieve agricultural information corresponding to the area of land. The apparatus is additionally caused to generate an agricultural development plan for the area of land based on the agricultural information.

According to another embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause, at least in part, an apparatus to cause, at least in part, reception of location information associated with a mobile device. The apparatus is also caused to determine a boundary of an area of land based on the location information. The apparatus is further caused to retrieve agricultural information corresponding to the area of land. The apparatus is additionally caused to generate an agricultural development plan for the area of land based on the agricultural information.

According to another embodiment, an apparatus comprises means for causing, at least in part, reception of location information associated with a mobile device. The apparatus also comprises means for determining a boundary of an area of land based on the location information. The apparatus further comprises means for retrieving agricultural information corresponding to the area of land. The apparatus further comprises means for generating an agricultural development plan for the area of land based on the agricultural information.

Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description, simply by illustrating a number of particular embodiments and implementations, including the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention. The invention is also capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details can be modified in various obvious respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system capable of mapping agricultural resources via user equipment, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2A is a diagram of the components of a data capture module, according to one embodiment; FIG. 2B is a diagram of the components of an agricultural services module, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process for mapping agricultural resources to an area of land, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process for generating an agricultural development plan for an area of land, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process for utilizing an agricultural development plan to receive goods and services, according to one embodiment;

FIGs. 6A-6E are diagrams of user interfaces utilized in the processes of FIG. 3-5, according to various embodiments;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of hardware that can be used to implement an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 8 is a diagram of a chip set that can be used to implement an embodiment of the invention; and FIG. 9 is a diagram of a mobile terminal (e.g., handset) that can be used to implement an embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS

Examples of a method, apparatus, and computer program for mapping agricultural resources via mobile devices are disclosed. In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention. It is apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details or with an equivalent arrangement. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system capable of mapping agricultural resources via user equipment (e.g., mobile devices), according to one embodiment. Despite great advances in the application of information technology to almost all fields of endeavor, the information technology revolution has for the most part left the agricultural industry, particularly in developing regions of world, far behind. In many cases, farming practices remain rooted in age-old practices that lack coordination and planning among groups or regions of farmers. For example, the lack of transparency (e.g., information sharing among farmers) of farming resources (e.g., agricultural products, available man power, farming supplies, physical assets, etc.) associated with individual farms make it difficult for individual farmers to coordinate or plan future agricultural uses of their land. The lack of transparency also hinders the collection and distribution of agricultural information among the farmers, thereby further contributing to a low level of centralized understanding of available farming resources. In other words, there is no central knowledge store of what agricultural uses, practices, resources, and the like are in place in a specific region or country. This low level of understanding further prevents farmers from maximizing the full potential of their land. For example, it may be difficult for farmers to survey their property to determine plots of land to agriculturally develop. Due to this difficulty, farmers and their workers may not be able to fully utilize the potential of the farm land. Further, in certain countries, there may be a lack of centralized access to what is being grown and where. Moreover, farmers may have inadequate information of how farming resources (e.g., what crops are being planted on what land, manpower to cultivate the land, seeds to sow the land, etc.) are being utilized in the region that the farmer is located. As such, the farmers are unable to develop plans for their areas of land while accounting for how other resources are being utilized. That is, the farmers are unable to centrally coordinate to maximize returns on the use of their farming resources. As such, the farmer as well as consumers and suppliers of the farmer's resources are unable to receive up to date information about the status of the farmer's products and resources. To address this problem, a system 100 of FIG. 1 introduces the capability to automatically map agricultural resources (e.g., farming area) via user equipment (UEs) lOla-lOln and obtain agricultural information specific to the mapped agricultural resources for use in creating an agricultural development plan. In certain embodiments, the agricultural development plans of a group of farmers may be shared via a service (e.g., a social networking service, proprietary service, etc.) of a communication network to share and coordinate information on agricultural uses, practices, resources, etc. In one embodiment, the UE 101 (e.g., associated with a farmer, farm worker, etc.) may collect information (e.g., boundary and area specific information) about an area of land and transmit the information to an agricultural platform 103 via a communication network 105. The information may be captured using an application 107 (e.g., an agricultural application) utilizing a data capture module 109 including, for instance, location sensors and/or other environmental sensors. An agricultural services module 1 11 associated with the UE 101 or the agricultural platform 103 may be used to coordinate activities associated with the collected boundary and area specific information between multiple farmers, suppliers, consumers, a combination thereof, etc. As such, the agricultural platform 103 may store the collected information in an agricultural database 113. Moreover, the agricultural platform 103 may have access to a regional database 115 that stores information (e.g., historical information, contextual information such as weather, land properties, etc.) about one or more regions of land. The regional database 1 15 information may be collected from various sources such as governmental databases and service providers. The agricultural database 113 and the regional database 1 15 advantageously centralize agricultural information to contribute to an increase in the overall understanding of agricultural practices within a region.

In certain embodiments, the user can demarcate a boundary of an area (e.g., farm land or a portion of the farm land) using the agricultural application 107. The user may implement this by activating the data capture module 109 to capture location information (e.g., global positioning system (GPS) coordinates) of the UE 101 while the user traverses the boundary from a starting point. It is contemplated that the user may traverse the boundary with the UE 101 using any form of transportation (e.g., walking, driving, etc.). This location information may be associated with time or sequenced to determine the boundary. As such, the location information may include GPS coordinates associated with timestamps or a list of ordered GPS coordinates without timestamps that lead back to the starting point. These coordinates may then be utilized to mark the boundary. In some embodiments, the user need not traverse the boundary to demarcate an area. Instead, the user may delineate an area within the boundary by moving and recording location information within the area. The agricultural application 107 can then derive or compute a boundary that encompasses the delineated area. For example, a farmer may define a boundary of land by plowing the area of land and recording location of the areas that are plowed. The agricultural can then determine the boundary by calculating the outer boundaries of the area that was plowed and defining the outer boundaries as the demarcation for the land. Once the boundary is marked, the user may view the boundary via the agricultural application 107. The agricultural application 107 may present the boundary on a map associated with the captured location information as illustrated in FIGs. 6A-6E. Further, the user may be allowed to augment the boundary and/or select from shapes (e.g., rectangle, triangle, hexagon, etc.) that may be associated with the boundary. Moreover, the user may advantageously associate the bounded area with agricultural information (e.g., one or more types of crop planted on the land, a type of animal associated with the land, etc.). In certain embodiments, a crop is already planted in the bounded area. In other words, the bounded area has already been put to an agricultural use (e.g., planting of the crop). In these embodiments, the agricultural services module 11 1 stores the information in the agricultural database 1 13 about the crop or agricultural use. In certain embodiments, the bounded area can be identified based on the location information and the crop information may be associated as metadata or in a data structure associated with the bounded area. In other embodiments, the user may have unutilized land in the bounded area, or the land has not yet been put to a desired agricultural use. The user may request, via the agricultural application 107, that the agricultural services module 1 11 retrieve agricultural information (e.g., from the databases 113 and/or 1 15) and provide advice as to what crops to sow on the land. In certain embodiments, the agricultural services module 11 1 makes a recommendation based on information about other crops planted by farmers stored in the agricultural database 1 13 and/or the regional database 1 15. This agricultural information includes, for instance spatio-temporal information about specific crops associated with the bounded area of land. In one embodiment, this spatio-temporal information on weather conditions, agricultural uses, crop selection, etc. that is correlated to a specific location and time.

An agricultural development plan may include recommendations of agricultural use for the bounded area. In this scenario, the agricultural development plan may include a type of crop to sow, the resources needed to successfully grow the crop, timing information for planting crops (e.g., plant certain crops before monsoon season, plant other crops at another time, etc.), expected yield rates of crops, expected yields of crops, expected income from the crops, and other information associated with the planting, growing, marketing, and selling of the crop. By way of example, the spatio-temporal information may indicate that at the bounded area, the farmer can expect an average of 1 inch of rain per week during the spring. The agricultural application 107 then determine that based on the expected available of rain, the farmer should plant a particular type of crop during that time period. Moreover, the agricultural services module 1 11 may take into account historical economic information and anticipated current production from other farmers to determine an estimate on the value of each of the crops based on an economic model (e.g., a supply and demand model, stochastic model, etc.) as well as logistics in transporting the crop yield to other regions that may have more favorable economic conditions. Additionally or alternatively, the agricultural services module 11 1 may provide the user with statistical and/or survey information of crops being cultivated by other farmers in the farmer's region as well as other regions. Moreover, the agricultural services module 11 1 may provide resource requirements (e.g., water requirements, fertilizer requirements, weather requirements, harvesting requirements etc.) for potential crops that the user may want to plant in the bounded area. This information may include a macro view of comparisons of different crops and resource requirements as well as a micro view of planting the specific crops in the bounded area. With this information, the farmer may determine an agricultural development plan for the bounded area.

Moreover, once the agricultural development plan is determined, the user may request that the agricultural services module 111 publish all or parts of the agricultural development plan to other users. In one embodiment, the agricultural development plans are shared over a service (e.g., a social network service, proprietary service, etc.) (not shown) of the communication network 105. These other users may include suppliers of resources needed for the development of the bounded area, consumers of products generated from the bounded area, other farmers, and other users that may be interested in the agriculture. From the publication or sharing of the agricultural development plans, suppliers of resources may be solicited or solicit the selling of supplier products (e.g., water, fertilizer, seeds, etc.) to the user. Moreover, the agricultural services module 11 1 may interact as a brokerage for consumers (e.g., individuals, retail stores, wholesale stores, etc.) to provide a marketplace for users to sell goods to the consumers. In this manner, certain consumers may pre -buy crops in the bounded area before planting. As such, the consumer may provide incentives for farmers to plant certain crops and thus affect a user's agricultural development plan.

In another embodiment, the agricultural application 107 may retrieved agricultural development plans that are developed by other users for other areas of land. The application 107 may then use the retrieved plans to modify or create an agricultural development plan for one of the users. For example, the application 107 may extract information on the agricultural uses of the other areas of land from the respective plans and based recommended agricultural uses on the extracted information.

By way of example, the communication network 105 of system 100 includes one or more networks such as a data network (not shown), a wireless network (not shown), a telephony network (not shown), or any combination thereof. It is contemplated that the data network may be any local area network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), wide area network (WAN), a public data network (e.g., the Internet), or any other suitable packet-switched network, such as a commercially owned, proprietary packet-switched network, e.g., a proprietary cable or fiber- optic network. In addition, the wireless network may be, for example, a cellular network and may employ various technologies including enhanced data rates for global evolution (EDGE), general packet radio service (GPRS), global system for mobile communications (GSM), Internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), etc., as well as any other suitable wireless medium, e.g., worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), wireless fidelity (WiFi), satellite, mobile ad-hoc network (MANET), and the like. In addition, the wireless network may be, for example, a short range network, such a Bluetooth® network, ultra wide band (UWB) network, radio frequency identification (RFID) network or infrared network (IrDA). Additionally, the communication network 105 could, in one embodiment, include a peer-to-peer distributed system that is locally organized by user (e.g., the farmers) over UEs 101.

The UE 101 is any type of mobile terminal, fixed terminal, or portable terminal including a mobile handset, station, unit, device, multimedia computer, multimedia tablet, Internet node, communicator, desktop computer, laptop computer, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), or any combination thereof. It is also contemplated that the UE 101 can support any type of interface to the user (such as "wearable" circuitry, etc.). The UE 101 may have a user interface, which can include various methods of communication to view and control the agricultural application 107. For example, the user interface can have outputs including a visual component (e.g., a screen), an audio component (e.g., a verbal instructions), a physical component (e.g., vibrations), and other methods of communication. User inputs can include a touch-screen interface, microphone, camera, a scroll-and-click interface, a button interface, etc.

By way of example, the UE 101 and the agricultural platform 103 communicate with each other and other components of the communication network 105 using well known, new or still developing protocols. In this context, a protocol includes a set of rules defining how the network nodes within the communication network 105 interact with each other based on information sent over the communication links. The protocols are effective at different layers of operation within each node, from generating and receiving physical signals of various types, to selecting a link for transferring those signals, to the format of information indicated by those signals, to identifying which software application executing on a computer system sends or receives the information. The conceptually different layers of protocols for exchanging information over a network are described in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model. Communications between the network nodes are typically effected by exchanging discrete packets of data. Each packet typically comprises (1) header information associated with a particular protocol, and (2) payload information that follows the header information and contains information that may be processed independently of that particular protocol. In some protocols, the packet includes (3) trailer information following the payload and indicating the end of the payload information. The header includes information such as the source of the packet, its destination, the length of the payload, and other properties used by the protocol. Often, the data in the payload for the particular protocol includes a header and payload for a different protocol associated with a different, higher layer of the OSI Reference Model. The header for a particular protocol typically indicates a type for the next protocol contained in its payload. The higher layer protocol is said to be encapsulated in the lower layer protocol. The headers included in a packet traversing multiple heterogeneous networks, such as the Internet, typically include a physical (layer 1) header, a data-link (layer 2) header, an internetwork (layer 3) header and a transport (layer 4) header, and various application headers (layer 5, layer 6 and layer 7) as defined by the OSI Reference Model.

In one embodiment, the agricultural application 107 and the agricultural platform 103 may interact according to a client-server model. According to the client-server model, a client process sends a message including a request to a server process, and the server process responds by providing a service (e.g., agricultural services). The server process may also return a message with a response to the client process. Often the client process and server process execute on different computer devices, called hosts, and communicate via a network using one or more protocols for network communications. The term "server" is conventionally used to refer to the process that provides the service, or the host computer on which the process operates. Similarly, the term "client" is conventionally used to refer to the process that makes the request, or the host computer on which the process operates. As used herein, the terms "client" and "server" refer to the processes, rather than the host computers, unless otherwise clear from the context. In addition, the process performed by a server can be broken up to run as multiple processes on multiple hosts (sometimes called tiers) for reasons that include reliability, scalability, and redundancy, among others.

FIG. 2A is a diagram of the components of a data capture module 109 associated with a UE 101 , according to one embodiment. By way of example, the data capture module 109 includes one or more components for capturing information associated with agricultural land. It is contemplated that the functions of these components may be combined in one or more components or performed by other components of equivalent functionality. In this embodiment, the data capture module 109 includes a location module 201 that can determine the position of the UE 101 , a magnetometer module 203 that can determine orientation of the UE 101, an accelerometer module 205 that may determine orientation and/or other movement data, and an image capture module 207. In certain embodiments, control logic of the UE 101 executing an agricultural application 107 may control the components of the data capture module 109.

In one embodiment, the location module 201 can determine a user's location and can be utilized by the agricultural application 107 to determine a boundary for an area that may be utilized for agriculture. The user's location can be determined by a triangulation system such as GPS, assisted GPS (A-GPS), Cell of Origin, wireless local area network triangulation, or other location extrapolation technologies. Standard GPS and A-GPS systems can use satellites to pinpoint the location (e.g., longitude, latitude, and altitude) of the UE 101. A Cell of Origin system can be used to determine the cellular tower that a cellular UE 101 is synchronized with. This information provides a coarse location of the UE 101 because the cellular tower can have a unique cellular identifier (cell-ID) that can be geographically mapped and multiple cell-IDs may be triangulated to determine more precise location. The location module 201 may also utilize multiple technologies to detect the location of the UE 101. GPS coordinates can provide finer detail as to the location of the UE 101 for determining a more precise boundary for the agricultural application 107.

The magnetometer module 203 can include an instrument that can measure the strength and/or direction of a magnetic field. Using the same approach as a compass, the magnetometer is capable of determining the direction of a UE 101 using the magnetic field of the Earth. The front of an image capture device (e.g., a camera of the image capture module 207) can be marked as a reference point in determining direction. Thus, if the magnetic field points north compared to the reference point, the angle the UE 101 reference point is from the magnetic field is known. Simple calculations can be made to determine the direction of the UE 101. In one embodiment, horizontal directional data obtained from a magnetometer is stored when an image is captured. This directional information may be correlated with the location information of the UE 101 to determine an area (e.g., a bounded area) that may be associated with the image. Moreover, the directional orientation information may be utilized by the agricultural application 107 to determine more precise boundary information when correlated with location information.

Further, the accelerometer module 205 may include an instrument that can measure acceleration. Using a three-axis accelerometer, with axes X, Y, and Z, provides the acceleration in three directions with known angles. Once again, the front of the image capture device can be marked as a reference point in determining direction. Because the acceleration due to gravity is known, when a UE 101 is stationary, the accelerometer module 205 can determine the angle the UE 101 is pointed as compared to Earth's gravity. In certain embodiments, the agricultural application 107 may correlate accelerometer information to determine a more precise boundary associated with an area by utilizing acceleration information when location information is not available (e.g., if GPS satellites are not within range for certain location data points). Moreover, the accelerometer module 205 may be used as a pedometer to determine a measure of distance covered by the UE 101 while marking a boundary.

Images or video can be captured using an image capture device associated with the image capture module 207. The image capture device may include a camera, a video camera, a combination thereof, etc. In one embodiment, visual media is captured in the form of an image or a series of images. The agricultural application 107 can obtain an image from the image capture module 207 and associate the image with location information from the location module 201 and orientation information from the accelero meter module 205 and magnetometer module 203 to associate the image with a plot of land (e.g., a bounded area) and/or agricultural products (e.g., crops) associated with the plot of land. A single or multiple files can be created to include the captured images. Images can be taken in various formats, including, but not limited to, bitmap (BMP), Joint Photographies Experts Group (JPEG), tagged image file format (TIFF), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), and other image formats. The images of the agricultural product can be based on color, shape, etc. to determine quality of the agricultural product. Additionally, the analysis can utilize other sensed data, such as sound/ultrasound sensor systems to gather data about the product.

Moreover, the data capture module 109 may be utilized to collect additional information about a bounded area or other plot of land. The data capture module 109 may include sensors to measure various parameters, such as temperature, wind, ultraviolet light (UV), humidity, soil humidity, soil pH, and soil mineral level sensors or soil nutrient level sensors as well as external sensor input logic and tuning logic. Additionally, the data capture module 109 may include a communications interface to capture information from external sensor input logic, both wired and wireless, to communicate with sensors. The input data can be processed or unprocessed.

FIG. 2B is a diagram of the components of an agricultural services module 111 , according to one embodiment. By way of example, the agricultural services module 111 includes one or more components for mapping agricultural resources to an area of land. It is contemplated that the functions of these components may be combined in one or more components or performed by other components of equivalent functionality. In this embodiment, the agricultural services module 1 11 includes a data collection module 221 to obtain information about one or more plots or bounded areas, an analysis module 223 to determine value added information for a farmer, and a communications module 225. In certain embodiments, the agricultural services module 11 1 is executed by the agricultural platform 103 and communicates with UEs 101 via a client server interface. In other embodiments, all or portion of the agricultural services module 1 11 are performed directly on the UE 101.

The data collection module 221 of the agricultural services module 11 1 can collect user equipment data from a UE 101, agricultural data from an agricultural database 113, and historical or current regional information (e.g., spatio-temporal information, economic information, supply and demand information, weather information, etc.) from a regional database 115. The UE data may include information stored in a memory of the UE 101 associated with one or more bounded areas and/or location information associated with a user. The user may input additional information associated with the bounded areas or plots, such as crops associated with the area, an expected yield of agricultural products from the area, etc., into the UE 101. Additionally or alternatively, the user may enter the resources available to the user (e.g., farming equipment, manpower, irrigation services, etc.). Further, the use of these resources may be measured by the UE 101 to determine the efficiency and/or estimated time to complete certain farming activities based on the resources used (e.g., the time it takes to plow a field using a particular farming equipment or a particular farm worker). This information may be stored by the agricultural services module 1 11 in the agricultural database 1 13. Moreover, the information may be stored based on associated location information. A collection of the information may be created based on one or more plots associated with one or more farms. The stored information for a plot may include the size of the plot (e.g., by an analysis of the boundary), the location of the plot utilizing location information (e.g., GPS coordinates), information as to if and/or when a crop was planted or earmarked for planting on the plot (e.g., input by a user), an estimated time to harvest of the crop (e.g., input by the user or determined based on image data/seasonal planting data associated with the crop), an indication as to whether part or all of the yield of the plot has been sold and/or harvested, etc. Additionally, the data collection module 221 has access to regional data from a regional database 1 15. The regional database 115 may include information collected about plots by farmers. Certain information in the regional database 115 may include information from the agricultural database 1 13 or historical information associated with previous plots and/or crop information. Regional database 115 may additionally include weather data (e.g., an early monsoon season, a dry season, an estimated dry season, etc.) which may be sorted by regions. Such environmental data can be collected by external services such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Moreover, the regional database 1 15 may include general farming information such as crop resource requirements (e.g., amount of water needed for a crop, the amount of land needed for each plant, an amount of fertilizer required for producing the crop, etc.), services (e.g., manpower, animal- power, machine -power, etc.) needed to plant and/or harvest the crop, environmental requirements (e.g., temperature requirements, sun requirements) for the crop, etc. This farming information may be stored in a format that may be scaled to be utilized in different scenarios (e.g., the amount of water required may be stored in a volume of water per square meter or acre of a plot). Moreover, the requirements may correspond to a non-linear equation. Additionally, historical data regarding the economics of crop sales of fruits (e.g., plums, tomatoes, corn, apples, berries, oranges, etc.), vegetables (e.g., okra, peppers, peas, celery, potatoes, etc.), grasses (e.g., wheat, rice, rye, barley, sugar cane, oats, etc.) or other agricultural products may be stored in the regional database 115. This historical data may include the shift in prices and profits for farmers based on the supply and/or demand of the various agricultural products.

The analysis module 223 utilizes the collected data to provide analysis for farmers. This analysis may include agricultural management analysis as well as resource determination analysis. Agricultural management analysis can include the generation of an agricultural development plan. As previously noted, the agricultural development plan may include a type of crop to sow, the resources needed to successfully grow the crop, and other information associated with the planting, growing, marketing, and selling of the crop. Analysis of the databases may be utilized to develop the agricultural development plan. For example, the user may request for an agricultural development plan for a bounded area. An economic analysis of the supply of other farmers and historical demand may be utilized to determine whether planting certain crops would be profitable for the farmer. Moreover, as part of the agricultural development plan, the analysis module 223 may determine the resources needed to implement the sowing and harvesting of one or more crops. Further, the analysis module 223 may determine where the user may obtain some or all of the resources (e.g., by buying from local merchants, by allocating resources available to the user, etc.). In this manner, the user may choose to obtain an agricultural development plan customized to the user and the resources available to the user.

The communications module 225 can be utilized to cause presentation of analysis and data associated with the agricultural services module 11 1. In certain embodiments, the user interface of a UE 101 is utilized to present the analysis and data. Moreover, communications module 225 can transmit audio, icons, text, or other data to be communicated to the user. The UE 101 may process the information to present at the UE 101. Further, the communications module 225 may have a social communications component. Using the social communications component, a UE (e.g., UE 101a) may execute a master agricultural application 107 and collect information from other user equipment (e.g., UE 101η). In this manner, a farmer may have other workers utilize one or more UEs 101η to collect data for the farmer (e.g., determine plot on the farmer's land that may be utilized) and send the data to the farmer's UE 101a. In certain embodiments, the information may be transferred over the communication network 105. In other embodiments, the information is collected and stored on a memory of the UE 101 and transferred over a wireless communication technology (e.g., BLUETOOTH, wireless LAN, etc.), by transferring memory chips, wired communication (e.g., universal serial bus (USB)), etc.

Moreover, the social communications component of the communications module 225 may be utilized for publishing or sharing information associated with agricultural products. For example, a farmer may utilize the system to publish or share the farmer's plan for crops and harvesting for a season over a communication service (e.g., social networking service). Additionally, the farmer may solicit other users to either buy or sell products or supplies to the farmer based on the farmer's requirements (e.g., requirements that may be determined by the farmer or by the analysis module 223). Other users may respond to solicitations or may solicit the farmer to buy/sell products and services. Further, in one example, a consumer may notice that a farmer has an agricultural plan with a plot that has not yet been seeded. The consumer may request that the farmer plant a certain crop for the consumer. The farmer may utilize the analysis module 223 to calculate estimated costs, profits, resources, etc. needed for growing the crop for the consumer as well as estimated costs, profits, etc. for growing other crops on the plot so that the farmer can make an economical decision on selecting what crop to produce on the farmer's land.

Further, in one embodiment, the analysis module 223 may simulate the outcomes of different agricultural scenarios that the user may apply on the land. For example, the user may specify different combinations of crops as inputs for each of the simulated scenarios. Then, the analysis module 223 may determine estimated investment information (e.g., estimated cost and labor requirements, as well as expected yield, profits, and investment return) for each simulated scenario. As part of the simulation, the analysis module 223 may also present the user with graphs, charts, tables, and other presentations for comparing the various simulated scenarios. In this way, the analysis module 223 advantageously provides the user with comparative information to assist the user in deciding an agricultural use for the land.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process for mapping agricultural resources to an area of land, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, the agricultural services module 111 performs the process 300 and is implemented in, for instance, a chip set including a processor and a memory as shown FIG. 8. In step 301 , the agricultural services module 111 is caused, at least in part, to receive location information associated with a UE 101 (e.g., mobile device). The location information may be associated GPS coordinates of the UE 101.

The location information may be utilized to determine a boundary of an area of land (step 303). This may occur by a user (e.g., a farmer) of the UE 101 traversing the boundary while an agricultural application 107 collects the location information. Under certain scenarios, GPS coordinates may not be available throughout the boundary determination process. In these scenarios, additional sensors (e.g., magnetometer sensors and accelerometer sensors) may be utilized to estimate the location of the UE 101 while awaiting the next GPS coordinate. Moreover, alternative location information may be utilized to determine the boundary. For example, the user may utilize an accelerometer as a pedometer to determine the amount of steps taken while oriented in a certain direction (e.g., using a magnetometer) to determine the boundary. This information may be associated with longitude and latitude coordinates of a starting point to determine the bounded area. In certain embodiments, a portion of the bounded area is not complete because the user does not wish to completely traverse the boundary. In this embodiment, the user may be offered an option to automatically complete the boundary (e.g., if the boundary is for a square plot and three lengths are already determined, the boundary may be completed by connecting the current location to the start point. Demarcating the boundary in this manner can be useful because farmers may choose to change the sizes of their plots season over season and/or may not utilize all or part of certain plots in certain seasons. Moreover, this allows for the dynamic changing of the area of land and/or boundary. Further, in this manner, irregularly shaped plots may be created and stored to be used by the agricultural services module 1 11. As discussed, previously, the boundary of an area may also be demarcated by traversing or otherwise delineating the area within the boundary. The agricultural application 107 can then calculate the boundary encompassing the area.

Moreover, the agricultural services module 11 1 can cause, at least in part, presentation of the bounded area, as well as other previously bounded areas or plots on a map to the user. Additionally or alternatively, the user is able to enter information associated with the bounded area (e.g., an identifier for the area of land). The information may be textual, selected based on icons, etc. In certain embodiments, the information includes a type of crop the user is growing, expecting to grow, or thinking about growing on the land. Moreover, the agricultural services module 11 1 may receive the location information and/or associated information at a pre-defined interval, based on a manual request for transmission, etc. A sample set of information that can be collected by the agricultural services module 11 1 is presented in Table 1.

Table 1 :

In the above table, a session ID can represent a session of collecting the location information. Moreover, the data/time can be collected using a clock from the UE 101. The GPS data set may include a complete set of coordinates to determine the boundary. The area of the bounded land can be determined using conventional means (e.g., integrating the bounded area). The crop grown field may include the type of crop grown and/or contemplated to be grown. Moreover, the user may select a seed subtype. This seed subtype may be a type of crop (e.g., a cherry tomato crop is different from a beefsteak tomato or a genetically altered seed). Moreover, the fertilizer used may be selected by the user. The seed subtype yield field, estimated harvest time, estimated harvest quantity as well as other information may be determined by the agricultural services module 1 11.

Once the area of land is determined, agricultural information corresponding to the area of land can be retrieved (step 305). In certain embodiments, agricultural information may include information stored in the agricultural database 113 and/or the regional database 115 that may be utilized to present information that may be relevant to a user determining an agricultural development plan for the area of land. The agricultural information may include some or all of the types of information in Table 1. For example, if the user indicates that the user is contemplating planting tomatoes on the bounded area, the agricultural services module 1 11 may retrieve information associated with tomatoes grown in the region. In certain embodiments, this agricultural information is presented to the user. In certain embodiments, the agricultural information is utilized as a basis to generate an agricultural development plan for the area of land (step 307). As noted previously, the agricultural development plan may be recommendations for the user for ways to utilize the land (e.g., by suggesting agricultural products, such as crops, to utilize the land). The generation of the agricultural development plan is further described in the processes of FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process for generating an agricultural development plan for an area of land, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, the agricultural services module 1 11 performs the process 400 and is implemented in, for instance, a chip set including a processor and a memory as shown FIG. 8. In step 401, the agricultural development plan for the area of land is generated based on agricultural information. Further, the agricultural development plan may be based on agricultural information that relates to spatio-temporal information associated with the land. The spatio-temporal information may include information in the agricultural database 113 and regional database 1 15 that are related to the land in based on time and space (e.g., previous use of the land and/or current use of other land in the same region as the land). The user of a UE 101 may request the agricultural development plan to be generated for the area of land. As noted previously, the agricultural development plan may include a recommendation on a type of crop to plant, resources needed to successfully grow the crop, and other information associated with the planting, growing, marketing, and selling of the crop. In certain embodiments, the user may request an agricultural development plan for a specific type of agricultural product (e.g., a crop). The crop may be specified by the agricultural services module 1 1 1. In this scenario, the agricultural services module 111 may determine what will need to be accomplished to grow the crop. The agricultural services module 11 1 may determine area of usable land associated with the land. The land may have unusable portions if the land is shaped irregularly. Based on the area, as well as other agricultural information, the agricultural services module 11 1 can determine the resources necessary to grow the crop. Historical information as to what crops have successfully been harvested in the region in past years may be utilized to determine an estimate of successful harvesting of the crop. Moreover, the resources can be specific to various types of seeds available to the farmer. In certain scenarios, the seeds include genetically modified seeds, seeds of the crop that are bred to live longer, etc. The seeds may have different yields per area of land and may require different resources (e.g., certain tomato seeds may require less water, a greater crop yield may require more harvesting manpower, etc.). Resource information for the land may be gathered from the agricultural database 113 and regional database 115. This information may additionally be specific to the region that the land is associated. Moreover, the databases and information about the user (e.g., resources the user already has) may be utilized to determine where to obtain the resources. For example, only certain seeds may be available in the area nearby the user. Costs for obtaining the resources may additionally be determined. For example, if the user has certain tomato seeds in the user's inventory, the user may have no additional cost for this resource, while the cost of obtaining seeds from a merchant may be more expensive.

Moreover, resource information may be utilized to plan for hiring additional manpower or buying tools to make harvesting and growing more efficient. The use of these resources may be measured by the UE 101 to determine the efficiency and/or estimated time to complete certain farming activities or agricultural use based on the resources used (e.g., the time it takes to plow a field using a particular farming equipment or a particular farm worker). This resource information may be provided to the user as a part of the agricultural development plan.

Further, the agricultural development plan may include an analysis about the estimated profitability of the crop (or other agricultural products or uses) based on the agricultural information. The agricultural services module 11 1 may determine an estimate of the total yield of the crop based on the agricultural information (e.g., the yield per area for a particular seed) and the size of the area of land. The total yield may be utilized in conjunction with sale prices for the particular crop to determine estimated revenue for the crop. The costs may be subtracted from the revenue to determine a profitability of selecting to plant the crop. Additionally or alternatively, the estimated revenue may be determined based on other agricultural development plans associated with other land. These agricultural development plans may belong to other farmers in the region and may be retrieved from the agricultural database 113 (step 403). Then, the agricultural services module 111 may determine the profitability again based on the other agricultural development plans (e.g., utilizing information as to the crops that other farmers have planted and their estimated yields). Using a historical supply and demand curve for the region or other economic evaluation, the agricultural services module 1 11 can adjust the revenue estimate and additionally the profitability of the crop. As such, the agricultural development plan can be modified to account for the other agricultural development plans (step 405). As noted above, the analysis module 223 may be utilized to determine and present simulations of one or more combinations of uses (e.g., planting crops) of the farmer's land based on cost, revenue, and profitability estimations.

Moreover, the agricultural services module 111 may determine the agricultural development plans for multiple crops. As such, an agricultural development plan may be selected for presentation to the user based on profitability of planting the crop on the land. Further, the agricultural development plan may include the estimated costs, resources, revenue, profitability, etc. about the crop. In some embodiments, more than one agricultural development plans are presented to the user so the user may determine which option the user wishes to utilize. Additionally, the agricultural development plan, or portions of the agricultural development plan may be utilized to receive goods and services as discussed in the processes of FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process for utilizing an agricultural development plan to receive goods and services, according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, the agricultural services module 1 1 1 performs the process 500 and is implemented in, for instance, a chip set including a processor and a memory as shown FIG. 8. In step 501 , an agricultural development plan associated with a user is shared with other users over a service provided by an agricultural platform 103. The agricultural development plan may be shared over a forum or via other applications. For example, a mapping interface may be utilized to share information of one or more farmers and one or more bounded areas or plots associated with the farmers. The shared information may include the resources required to as part of implementing the agricultural development plan (step 503) as previously discussed as well as estimated yield of the land. Resource providers (e.g., goods providers and services providers) are able to view resources needed and output produced by the farmer based on the plots or in a more macro view of multiple plots of the farmer. As such, goods providers (e.g., sellers of seed, farming equipment, etc.) and services providers (e.g., a harvesting service, bank lenders to provide money for resource costs, etc.) may solicit the farmer to buy their products and services. Thus, the agricultural services module 11 1 receives offers for goods and services based on the shared information (step 505). Potential buyers of goods may additionally buy the crops from the farmer. Additionally, the farmer may set privacy settings to determine if the farmer wishes to be solicited and/or can request for bids of providing the services or goods the farmer needs. In certain embodiments, the sellers or goods and/or services are charged a fee (e.g., a membership fee or commission) for using the agricultural services module 1 11 to conduct transactions.

Moreover, consumers may order products from the farmer based on the farmer's expected yield. In this manner, the agricultural services module 1 11 may act as a broker between the supplier (e.g., farmer) and consumers. Media, such as images, videos and audio may be associated with the agricultural development plan. For instance, images of crops (e.g., plants) may be captured and uploaded by the farmer. This information may be shared via the agricultural services module 1 11. Agricultural experts may examine the images as a service to the farmer. The farmer may request such an opinion if the farmer anticipates a particular kind of plant disease to be affecting his crop. Additionally, to recognize how much a certain plant has grown within a certain time interval, an image of the same object (e.g. apple tree) can also be captured at successive intervals. Because the UE 101 can include GPS, and magnetometer, it is possible to recognize a particular object from pictures taken at different times. Additionally, agricultural development plan may include the pictures as being associated with a particular plot. In this manner, estimates can be derived as to how much the crop has grown since the last picture was taken. This type of information may be useful to generate precision farming tips for the farmers, estimating a time of harvest, and/or sharing information with potential buyers.

In certain embodiments, the shared information is associated with an agricultural development plan for a bounded area that has not yet been confirmed to produce a particular crop. In these embodiments, information can be shared to prospective buyers. The buyers may request that the farmer earmark the plot for a particular type of crop. The buyers may further contract to purchase an amount of the crop from the plot as an incentive to the farmer to sow a particular type of crop.

FIGs. 6A-6E are diagrams of user interfaces utilized in the processes of FIG. 3-5, according to various embodiments. As show in FIG. 6A, the user may activate an agricultural application 107 on the user's UE 101. The user interface 600 may display an image of the user on the screen based on GPS coordinates. From this position, the user may activate a boundary routine to begin encompassing an area of land (e.g., a plot). Then, the user navigates the boundary until the user reaches the starting point or another location that may be utilized to complete the boundary. As shown in FIG. 6B, user interface 620 displays the user while marking the boundary 621 , which may be presented to the user. The position of the UE 101 may be periodically or continuously updated using GPS coordinates. The agricultural application 107, via the agricultural services module 11 1, may then determine agricultural information about the plot (e.g., the area of the plot, estimated climate information based on historical records, etc.). Then, the agricultural application 107 may display, on user interface 640, options associated with crops that may be planted on the plot. Such crops may be presented using text or icons 641 for convenient selection. In this example, corn may be selected as the crop. Once a crop is selected, additional information (e.g., the estimated production yield 661) about the crop is presented to the user via the user interface 660. Moreover, as shown in user interface 680, this information may be shared with other farmers, suppliers, and buyers so that a balanced production of crops may be accomplished for the region that the farmers are located. Moreover, the user may be able to determine view the other farmers' plans to develop their plots 681 , 683, 685. Further, this information may be available over the UE 101 or other UEs 101 (e.g., a computing device UE) associated with the agricultural platform 103 to view agricultural information.

With the above approaches, a user (e.g., farmer, worker, etc.) is able to demarcate land for use in farming. Using the above approaches, the farmer need not utilize a surveyor to mark the land and users of user equipment may be able to arrive at a particular plot based on GPS location and receive information about the plot. This mobilization capability advantageously offers the ability to plan for an agricultural life cycle of a plot of land based on mobile equipment with no additional required infrastructure. Further, agricultural platform 103 may act as an intermediary to parties utilizing the service to buy or sell products using shared information. Additionally, this approach allows for farmers to coordinate what crops to grow and where to grow the crops based on a macro view of what other farmers are cultivating.

The processes described herein for providing mapping of agricultural resources may be advantageously implemented via software, hardware (e.g., general processor, Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), etc.), firmware or a combination thereof. Such exemplary hardware for performing the described functions is detailed below. FIG. 7 illustrates a computer system 700 upon which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented. Although computer system 700 is depicted with respect to a particular device or equipment, it is contemplated that other devices or equipment (e.g., network elements, servers, etc.) within FIG. 7 can deploy the illustrated hardware and components of system 700. Computer system 700 is programmed (e.g., via computer program code or instructions) to map agricultural resources as described herein and includes a communication mechanism such as a bus 710 for passing information between other internal and external components of the computer system 700. Information (also called data) is represented as a physical expression of a measurable phenomenon, typically electric voltages, but including, in other embodiments, such phenomena as magnetic, electromagnetic, pressure, chemical, biological, molecular, atomic, sub- atomic and quantum interactions. For example, north and south magnetic fields, or a zero and non-zero electric voltage, represent two states (0, 1) of a binary digit (bit). Other phenomena can represent digits of a higher base. A superposition of multiple simultaneous quantum states before measurement represents a quantum bit (qubit). A sequence of one or more digits constitutes digital data that is used to represent a number or code for a character. In some embodiments, information called analog data is represented by a near continuum of measurable values within a particular range. Computer system 700, or a portion thereof, constitutes a means for performing one or more steps of mapping agricultural resources.

A bus 710 includes one or more parallel conductors of information so that information is transferred quickly among devices coupled to the bus 710. One or more processors 702 for processing information are coupled with the bus 710.

A processor 702 performs a set of operations on information as specified by computer program code related to mapping agricultural resources. The computer program code is a set of instructions or statements providing instructions for the operation of the processor and/or the computer system to perform specified functions. The code, for example, may be written in a computer programming language that is compiled into a native instruction set of the processor. The code may also be written directly using the native instruction set (e.g., machine language). The set of operations include bringing information in from the bus 710 and placing information on the bus 710. The set of operations also typically include comparing two or more units of information, shifting positions of units of information, and combining two or more units of information, such as by addition or multiplication or logical operations like OR, exclusive OR (XOR), and AND. Each operation of the set of operations that can be performed by the processor is represented to the processor by information called instructions, such as an operation code of one or more digits. A sequence of operations to be executed by the processor 702, such as a sequence of operation codes, constitute processor instructions, also called computer system instructions or, simply, computer instructions. Processors may be implemented as mechanical, electrical, magnetic, optical, chemical or quantum components, among others, alone or in combination.

Computer system 700 also includes a memory 704 coupled to bus 710. The memory 704, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, stores information including processor instructions for mapping agricultural resources. Dynamic memory allows information stored therein to be changed by the computer system 700. RAM allows a unit of information stored at a location called a memory address to be stored and retrieved independently of information at neighboring addresses. The memory 704 is also used by the processor 702 to store temporary values during execution of processor instructions. The computer system 700 also includes a read only memory (ROM) 706 or other static storage device coupled to the bus 710 for storing static information, including instructions, that is not changed by the computer system 700. Some memory is composed of volatile storage that loses the information stored thereon when power is lost. Also coupled to bus 710 is a non-volatile (persistent) storage device 708, such as a magnetic disk, optical disk or flash card, for storing information, including instructions, that persists even when the computer system 700 is turned off or otherwise loses power.

Information, including instructions for mapping agricultural resources, is provided to the bus 710 for use by the processor from an external input device 712, such as a keyboard containing alphanumeric keys operated by a human user, or a sensor. A sensor detects conditions in its vicinity and transforms those detections into physical expression compatible with the measurable phenomenon used to represent information in computer system 700. Other external devices coupled to bus 710, used primarily for interacting with humans, include a display device 714, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or a liquid crystal display (LCD), or plasma screen or printer for presenting text or images, and a pointing device 716, such as a mouse or a trackball or cursor direction keys, or motion sensor, for controlling a position of a small cursor image presented on the display 714 and issuing commands associated with graphical elements presented on the display 714. In some embodiments, for example, in embodiments in which the computer system 700 performs all functions automatically without human input, one or more of external input device 712, display device 714 and pointing device 716 is omitted. In the illustrated embodiment, special purpose hardware, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 720, is coupled to bus 710. The special purpose hardware is configured to perform operations not performed by processor 702 quickly enough for special purposes. Examples of application specific ICs include graphics accelerator cards for generating images for display 714, cryptographic boards for encrypting and decrypting messages sent over a network, speech recognition, and interfaces to special external devices, such as robotic arms and medical scanning equipment that repeatedly perform some complex sequence of operations that are more efficiently implemented in hardware. Computer system 700 also includes one or more instances of a communications interface 770 coupled to bus 710. Communication interface 770 provides a one-way or two-way communication coupling to a variety of external devices that operate with their own processors, such as printers, scanners and external disks. In general the coupling is with a network link 778 that is connected to a local network 780 to which a variety of external devices with their own processors are connected. For example, communication interface 770 may be a parallel port or a serial port or a universal serial bus (USB) port on a personal computer. In some embodiments, communications interface 770 is an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card or a digital subscriber line (DSL) card or a telephone modem that provides an information communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line. In some embodiments, a communication interface 770 is a cable modem that converts signals on bus 710 into signals for a communication connection over a coaxial cable or into optical signals for a communication connection over a fiber optic cable. As another example, communications interface 770 may be a local area network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN, such as Ethernet. Wireless links may also be implemented. For wireless links, the communications interface 770 sends or receives or both sends and receives electrical, acoustic or electromagnetic signals, including infrared and optical signals, that carry information streams, such as digital data. For example, in wireless handheld devices, such as mobile telephones like cell phones, the communications interface 770 includes a radio band electromagnetic transmitter and receiver called a radio transceiver. In certain embodiments, the communications interface 770 enables connection to the communication network 105 for the UE 101.

The term "computer-readable medium" as used herein to refers to any medium that participates in providing information to processor 702, including instructions for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to computer-readable storage medium (e.g., non-volatile media, volatile media), and transmission media. Non-transitory media, such as nonvolatile media, include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device 708. Volatile media include, for example, dynamic memory 704. Transmission media include, for example, coaxial cables, copper wire, fiber optic cables, and carrier waves that travel through space without wires or cables, such as acoustic waves and electromagnetic waves, including radio, optical and infrared waves. Signals include man-made transient variations in amplitude, frequency, phase, polarization or other physical properties transmitted through the transmission media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, CDRW, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, optical mark sheets, any other physical medium with patterns of holes or other optically recognizable indicia, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other medium from which a computer can read. The term computer-readable storage medium is used herein to refer to any computer-readable medium except transmission media. Logic encoded in one or more tangible media includes one or both of processor instructions on a computer-readable storage media and special purpose hardware, such as ASIC 720.

Network link 778 typically provides information communication using transmission media through one or more networks to other devices that use or process the information. For example, network link 778 may provide a connection through local network 780 to a host computer 782 or to equipment 784 operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). ISP equipment 784 in turn provides data communication services through the public, world-wide packet-switching communication network of networks now commonly referred to as the Internet 790. A computer called a server host 792 connected to the Internet hosts a process that provides a service in response to information received over the Internet. For example, server host 792 hosts a process that provides information representing video data for presentation at display 714. It is contemplated that the components of system 700 can be deployed in various configurations within other computer systems, e.g., host 782 and server 792.

At least some embodiments of the invention are related to the use of computer system 700 for implementing some or all of the techniques described herein. According to one embodiment of the invention, those techniques are performed by computer system 700 in response to processor 702 executing one or more sequences of one or more processor instructions contained in memory 704. Such instructions, also called computer instructions, software and program code, may be read into memory 704 from another computer-readable medium such as storage device 708 or network link 778. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in memory 704 causes processor 702 to perform one or more of the method steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hardware, such as ASIC 720, may be used in place of or in combination with software to implement the invention. Thus, embodiments of the invention are not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software, unless otherwise explicitly stated herein.

The signals transmitted over network link 778 and other networks through communications interface 770, carry information to and from computer system 700. Computer system 700 can send and receive information, including program code, through the networks 780, 790 among others, through network link 778 and communications interface 770. In an example using the Internet 790, a server host 792 transmits program code for a particular application, requested by a message sent from computer 700, through Internet 790, ISP equipment 784, local network 780 and communications interface 770. The received code may be executed by processor 702 as it is received, or may be stored in memory 704 or in storage device 708 or other non-volatile storage for later execution, or both. In this manner, computer system 700 may obtain application program code in the form of signals on a carrier wave.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequence of instructions or data or both to processor 702 for execution. For example, instructions and data may initially be carried on a magnetic disk of a remote computer such as host 782. The remote computer loads the instructions and data into its dynamic memory and sends the instructions and data over a telephone line using a modem. A modem local to the computer system 700 receives the instructions and data on a telephone line and uses an infra-red transmitter to convert the instructions and data to a signal on an infra-red carrier wave serving as the network link 778. An infrared detector serving as communications interface 770 receives the instructions and data carried in the infrared signal and places information representing the instructions and data onto bus 710. Bus 710 carries the information to memory 704 from which processor 702 retrieves and executes the instructions using some of the data sent with the instructions. The instructions and data received in memory 704 may optionally be stored on storage device 708, either before or after execution by the processor 702.

FIG. 8 illustrates a chip set 800 upon which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented. Chip set 800 is programmed to map agricultural resources as described herein and includes, for instance, the processor and memory components described with respect to FIG. 7 incorporated in one or more physical packages (e.g., chips). By way of example, a physical package includes an arrangement of one or more materials, components, and/or wires on a structural assembly (e.g., a baseboard) to provide one or more characteristics such as physical strength, conservation of size, and/or limitation of electrical interaction. It is contemplated that in certain embodiments the chip set can be implemented in a single chip. Chip set 800, or a portion thereof, constitutes a means for performing one or more steps of mapping agricultural resources.

In one embodiment, the chip set 800 includes a communication mechanism such as a bus 801 for passing information among the components of the chip set 800. A processor 803 has connectivity to the bus 801 to execute instructions and process information stored in, for example, a memory 805. The processor 803 may include one or more processing cores with each core configured to perform independently. A multi-core processor enables multiprocessing within a single physical package. Examples of a multi-core processor include two, four, eight, or greater numbers of processing cores. Alternatively or in addition, the processor 803 may include one or more microprocessors configured in tandem via the bus 801 to enable independent execution of instructions, pipelining, and multithreading. The processor 803 may also be accompanied with one or more specialized components to perform certain processing functions and tasks such as one or more digital signal processors (DSP) 807, or one or more application- specific integrated circuits (ASIC) 809. A DSP 807 typically is configured to process real-world signals (e.g., sound) in real time independently of the processor 803. Similarly, an ASIC 809 can be configured to performed specialized functions not easily performed by a general purposed processor. Other specialized components to aid in performing the inventive functions described herein include one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) (not shown), one or more controllers (not shown), or one or more other special-purpose computer chips.

The processor 803 and accompanying components have connectivity to the memory 805 via the bus 801. The memory 805 includes both dynamic memory (e.g., RAM, magnetic disk, writable optical disk, etc.) and static memory (e.g., ROM, CD-ROM, etc.) for storing executable instructions that when executed perform the inventive steps described herein to map agricultural resources. The memory 805 also stores the data associated with or generated by the execution of the inventive steps.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of exemplary components of a mobile terminal (e.g., handset) for communications, which is capable of operating in the system of FIG. 1, according to one embodiment. In some embodiments, mobile terminal 900, or a portion thereof, constitutes a means for performing one or more steps of mapping agricultural resources. Generally, a radio receiver is often defined in terms of front-end and back-end characteristics. The front-end of the receiver encompasses all of the Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry whereas the back-end encompasses all of the base-band processing circuitry. As used in this application, the term "circuitry" refers to both: (1) hardware-only implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry), and (2) to combinations of circuitry and software (and/or firmware) (such as, if applicable to the particular context, to a combination of processor(s), including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions). This definition of "circuitry" applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application and if applicable to the particular context, the term "circuitry" would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) and its (or their) accompanying software/or firmware. The term "circuitry" would also cover if applicable to the particular context, for example, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit in a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a cellular network device or other network devices.

Pertinent internal components of the telephone include a Main Control Unit (MCU) 903, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) 905, and a receiver/transmitter unit including a microphone gain control unit and a speaker gain control unit. A main display unit 907 provides a display to the user in support of various applications and mobile terminal functions that perform or support the steps of mapping agricultural resources. The display 9 includes display circuitry configured to display at least a portion of a user interface of the mobile terminal (e.g., mobile telephone). Additionally, the display 907 and display circuitry are configured to facilitate user control of at least some functions of the mobile terminal. An audio function circuitry 909 includes a microphone 911 and microphone amplifier that amplifies the speech signal output from the microphone 911. The amplified speech signal output from the microphone 911 is fed to a coder/decoder (CODEC) 913.

A radio section 915 amplifies power and converts frequency in order to communicate with a base station, which is included in a mobile communication system, via antenna 917. The power amplifier (PA) 919 and the transmitter/modulation circuitry are operationally responsive to the MCU 903, with an output from the PA 919 coupled to the duplexer 921 or circulator or antenna switch, as known in the art. The PA 919 also couples to a battery interface and power control unit 920.

In use, a user of mobile terminal 901 speaks into the microphone 911 and his or her voice along with any detected background noise is converted into an analog voltage. The analog voltage is then converted into a digital signal through the Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) 923. The control unit 903 routes the digital signal into the DSP 905 for processing therein, such as speech encoding, channel encoding, encrypting, and interleaving. In one embodiment, the processed voice signals are encoded, by units not separately shown, using a cellular transmission protocol such as global evolution (EDGE), general packet radio service (GPRS), global system for mobile communications (GSM), Internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), etc., as well as any other suitable wireless medium, e.g., microwave access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), wireless fidelity (WiFi), satellite, and the like.

The encoded signals are then routed to an equalizer 925 for compensation of any frequency- dependent impairments that occur during transmission though the air such as phase and amplitude distortion. After equalizing the bit stream, the modulator 927 combines the signal with a RF signal generated in the RF interface 929. The modulator 927 generates a sine wave by way of frequency or phase modulation. In order to prepare the signal for transmission, an up- converter 931 combines the sine wave output from the modulator 927 with another sine wave generated by a synthesizer 933 to achieve the desired frequency of transmission. The signal is then sent through a PA 919 to increase the signal to an appropriate power level. In practical systems, the PA 919 acts as a variable gain amplifier whose gain is controlled by the DSP 905 from information received from a network base station. The signal is then filtered within the duplexer 921 and optionally sent to an antenna coupler 935 to match impedances to provide maximum power transfer. Finally, the signal is transmitted via antenna 917 to a local base station. An automatic gain control (AGC) can be supplied to control the gain of the final stages of the receiver. The signals may be forwarded from there to a remote telephone which may be another cellular telephone, other mobile phone or a land-line connected to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or other telephony networks.

Voice signals transmitted to the mobile terminal 901 are received via antenna 917 and immediately amplified by a low noise amplifier (LNA) 937. A down-converter 939 lowers the carrier frequency while the demodulator 941 strips away the RF leaving only a digital bit stream. The signal then goes through the equalizer 925 and is processed by the DSP 905. A Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) 943 converts the signal and the resulting output is transmitted to the user through the speaker 945, all under control of a Main Control Unit (MCU) 903-which can be implemented as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) (not shown).

The MCU 903 receives various signals including input signals from the keyboard 947. The keyboard 947 and/or the MCU 903 in combination with other user input components (e.g., the microphone 911) comprise a user interface circuitry for managing user input. The MCU 903 runs a user interface software to facilitate user control of at least some functions of the mobile terminal 901 to map agricultural resources. The MCU 903 also delivers a display command and a switch command to the display 907 and to the speech output switching controller, respectively. Further, the MCU 903 exchanges information with the DSP 905 and can access an optionally incorporated SIM card 949 and a memory 951. In addition, the MCU 903 executes various control functions required of the terminal. The DSP 905 may, depending upon the implementation, perform any of a variety of conventional digital processing functions on the voice signals. Additionally, DSP 905 determines the background noise level of the local environment from the signals detected by microphone 911 and sets the gain of microphone 91 1 to a level selected to compensate for the natural tendency of the user of the mobile terminal 901. The CODEC 913 includes the ADC 923 and DAC 943. The memory 951 stores various data including call incoming tone data and is capable of storing other data including music data received via, e.g., the global Internet. The software module could reside in RAM memory, flash memory, registers, or any other form of writable storage medium known in the art. The memory device 951 may be, but not limited to, a single memory, CD, DVD, ROM, RAM, EEPROM, optical storage, or any other non-volatile storage medium capable of storing digital data.

An optionally incorporated SIM card 949 carries, for instance, important information, such as the cellular phone number, the carrier supplying service, subscription details, and security information. The SIM card 949 serves primarily to identify the mobile terminal 901 on a radio network. The card 949 also contains a memory for storing a personal telephone number registry, text messages, and user specific mobile terminal settings.

While the invention has been described in connection with a number of embodiments and implementations, the invention is not so limited but covers various obvious modifications and equivalent arrangements, which fall within the purview of the appended claims. Although features of the invention are expressed in certain combinations among the claims, it is contemplated that these features can be arranged in any combination and order.

Claims

CLAIMS WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method comprising:

facilitating a processing of data and/or at least one signal that is based at least in part on the following:

location information associated with a mobile device;

a determination of a boundary of an area of land based at least in part on the

location information;

agricultural information that is associated at least in part with the area of land; and an agricultural development plan associated with the area of land based on the agricultural information.

2. A method of claim 1 , wherein the boundary is determined before an agricultural use of the area of land, the method further comprising facilitating a processing of data and/or at least one signal that is based at least in part on the following:

extraction of spatio-temporal information from the agricultural information;

generation of a recommendation of one or more of agricultural products as the agricultural use based on the spatio-temporal information; and

including the recommendation in the agricultural development plan.

3. A method of claim 2, further comprising facilitating a processing of data and/or at least one signal that is based at least in part on the following

an extraction of supply and demand information for the one or more agricultural products; generation of another recommendation of one or more of the agricultural products as the agricultural use based on the supply and demand information; and

including the another recommendation in the agricultural development plan.

4. A method of any of claims 2 to 3, further comprising facilitating a processing of data and/or at least one signal that is based at least in part on the following:

one or more other agricultural development plans associated with a respective one or more other areas of land;

generation of another recommendation of one or more of the agricultural products as the agricultural use based on the one or more other agricultural development plans; and including the another recommendation in the agricultural development plan.

5. A method of any of claims 1 to 4, further comprising facilitating a processing of data and/or at least one signal that is based at least in part on the following:

a sharing of the agricultural development plan over a service; and a receiving one or more offers of goods, services, or a combination thereof based on the sharing.

6. A method of claim 1 , wherein the boundary is determined after an agricultural use of the area of land, the method further comprising facilitating a processing of data and/or at least one signal that is based at least in part on the following:

association of information on the agricultural use with the area of land;

estimation of a time for completing the agricultural use; and

including the association and the estimated time in the agricultural development plan.

7. A method of any of claims 1 to 6, further comprising facilitating a processing of data and/or at least one signal that is based at least in part on the following:

estimation of a resource requirement for utilizing the agricultural development plan; and including information on the estimated resource requirement in the agricultural development plan.

8. A method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the location information is generated by tracking movement of the mobile device or a user of the mobile device along the boundary.

9. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,

cause, at least in part, reception of location information associated with a mobile device;

determine a boundary of an area of land based on the location information; retrieve agricultural information corresponding to the area of land; and

generate an agricultural development plan for the area of land based on the agricultural information.

10. An apparatus of claim 9, wherein the boundary is determined before an agricultural use of the area of land, and the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to:

extract spatio-temporal information from the agricultural information;

generate a recommendation of one or more of agricultural products as the agricultural use based on the spatio-temporal information; and

include the recommendation in the agricultural development plan.

11. An apparatus of claim 10, wherein the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to: extract supply and demand information for the one or more agricultural products; generate another recommendation of one or more of the agricultural products as the agricultural use based on the supply and demand information; and

include the another recommendation in the agricultural development plan.

12. An apparatus of any of claims 10 to 1 1, wherein the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to:

retrieve one or more other agricultural development plans associated with a respective one or more other areas of land;

generate another recommendation of one or more of the agricultural products as the

agricultural use based on the one or more other agricultural development plans; and include the another recommendation in the agricultural development plan.

13. An apparatus of any of claims 9 to 12, wherein the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to:

cause, at least in part, sharing of the agricultural development plan over a service; and receive one or more offers of goods, services, or a combination thereof based on the sharing.

14. An apparatus of claim 9, wherein the boundary is determined after an agricultural use of the area of land, and the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to:

associate information on the agricultural use with the area of land;

estimate a time for completing the agricultural use; and

include the association and the estimated time in the agricultural development plan.

15. An apparatus of any of claims 9 to 14, wherein the apparatus is further caused, at least in part, to:

estimate a resource requirement for utilizing the agricultural development plan; and include information on the estimated resource requirement in the agricultural development plan.

16. An apparatus of any of claims 9 to 15, wherein the location information is generated by tracking movement of the mobile device or a user of the mobile device along the boundary.

17. An apparatus of any of claims 9 to 16, wherein the apparatus is a mobile phone further comprising:

user interface circuitry and user interface software configured to facilitate user control of at least some functions of the mobile phone through use of a display and configured to respond to user input; and

a display and display circuitry configured to display at least a portion of a user interface of the mobile phone, the display and display circuitry configured to facilitate user control of at least some functions of the mobile phone.

18. A computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to at least perform the following steps:

process of location information associated with a mobile device;

display and/or facilitate display of at least one user interface element that is related at least in part to or based at least in part on the following:

a determination of a boundary of an area of land based at least in part on the

location information;

agricultural information that is associated at least in part with the area of land; and

an agricultural development plan associated with the area of land based on the agricultural information.

19. A computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the boundary is determined before an agricultural use of the area of land, and the apparatus is caused, at least in part, to further perform display and/or facilitate display of at least one user interface element that is related at least in part to or based at least in part on the following

extraction of spatio-temporal information from the agricultural information;

including the recommendation in the agricultural development plan.

20. A computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the apparatus is caused, at least in part, to further perform display and/or facilitate display of at least one user interface element that is related at least in part to or based at least in part on the following:

extraction of supply and demand information for the one or more agricultural products;

generation of another recommendation of one or more of the agricultural products as the agricultural use based on the supply and demand information; and

including the another recommendation in the agricultural development plan.

21. A computer program product comprising one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to perform at least the method of any of claims 1 to 8.

22. An apparatus comprising means for performing the method of any of claims 1 to 8.