Geointerface — The interface between Real world and Cyber world

IP (Internet protocol) address is the identification of a mobile or fixed terminal in cyber world when it lands on the Internet while the coordinate of the terminal in a geographic reference frame is the location of the terminal in real world. Then, is there any type of approach that could make relationship between real world and cyber world through IP address and geographic information? The IP number is allocated and a diversity of relationships that could be established between IP address and spatial entity. Based on these relationships and some advantages of several successful databases, we bring out a new type of database—GeoInterface, intending to argue the possibility to establish a mode to match the IP address with geographic coordinate. In addition, introductionss of some specific information about GeoInterface, for instance, where to obtain the huge amount of data that is indispensable, the concrete procedure of establishing GeoInterface and daily update and maintenance of the database. Finally, in the coming decade, accompanying with the new Internet protocol, IP v6, there is no doubt that significant changes would take place in cyber world. In that case, the approach how GeoInterface should be established and the responsibilities of GeoInterface would be different.
While your computer is on the Internet, no matter what kind of computer you are operating on and no matter what type of way the computer land on the cyber world, there are two rules that are definite: firstly, the computer is following TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internet protocol); secondly, the computer has been provided an exclusive IP (Internet protocol) address. If we regard all computers that land on the Internet as concrete entities, the specific IP address used by the computers could be seen as their identification in cyber world. In the meanwhile, in case that the computers are indeed concrete spatial entities in real world, we could locate them with geographic coordinate. From this point of view, if we could establish correspondence relationship between IP address and geographic coordinate of the spatial entity, with the help of GIS, which could store and display digital image, it is possible for us to bring the geographic reference frame in cyber world, making the invisible IP address visible.
In nowadays, many famous corporations are placing more and more emphasis on the fields of establishing IP address database, online spatial-identity database and so on. The IP address database of Tencent Corporation adopts the way of ‘users’ submission and systematic test’, establishing the correspondence relationship between IP address and geographic attributes while the GeoIP database could realize the marching of IP address and the name of concrete cities. Google map could provide a online digital map that could change scales according to the requests of users. Users could fix their own positions on the map and submit some personal information to the database. Nevertheless, although these database achieve success in their own fields, they have their own limitation：IP address database could match IP address with geographic attribute but it can not do the task of fixing position while the spatial-identity does well in displaying and visualization but does not establish correspondence relationship between IP address and geographic coordinate.
Under this circumstance, we would argue the possibility of establishing a new type of database, GeoInterface. Based on the analysis of different correspondence relationships between IP address and spatial entity and the experiences of establishing database from several successful databases, the chief function of GeoInterface database is to combine IP address database and spatial-identity database, achieving the marching of cyber world and real world .