JP2006526159A - Method and system for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for efficiently transmitting map information of a plurality of levels to the mobile communication terminal so that the map can be enlarged or reduced on the mobile communication terminal. The present invention provides a method of providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, maintaining a map information database including a plurality of map data elements (each of the map data elements is associated with coordinate information and level information), Receiving a map information request from the mobile communication terminal; identifying the map data element associated with location information corresponding to the map information request; and identifying the identified map data element to the identified map. And transmitting to the mobile communication terminal together with the level information associated with a data element. According to the present invention, when a map relating to one area is divided into a plurality of levels when providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, the map information data common to the respective levels is shared and transmitted, The amount of data transmitted can be minimized.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to efficiently move map information at a plurality of levels so that a map can be enlarged or reduced on the mobile communication terminal. The present invention relates to a method for transmission to a communication terminal.

  Recently, the provision of services using a communication network has increased opportunities for information retrieval in wireless communication environments such as portable computers and mobile phones. Therefore, the user can search and receive a necessary information service anywhere and anytime while moving freely.

  A navigation system is a system that provides traffic information of a vehicle such as a car using an artificial satellite, and is also referred to as an automatic navigation system. Such a navigation system receives predetermined data from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite floating on the earth using a GPS receiver, and calculates its position based on the received data. Many GPS satellites are floating on the earth, but the navigation system can receive GPS signals from three GPS satellites in any region on the earth, and GPS signals received from the three GPS satellites. You can calculate your position based on The navigation system provides various travel information to the transport device such as the vehicle based on the position information calculated in this way. Such navigation systems have been mainly used for position calculation and navigation of large moving bodies such as airplanes and ships, but have recently been widely used for automobiles and the like. The navigation system includes a wide variety of information such as current position information of the transport device, route information from the current position of the transport device to the destination of the transport device, information related to the position information and route information, and traffic status information. Provides information to the user.

  In such a navigation device, if a map is used when transmitting information such as the current position of the transport device to the user, the user can more easily recognize information such as the current position, so that the map information Generally provided.

  According to the prior art, such map information has been provided via a storage medium such as a CD ROM or a DVD ROM. Such a conventional navigation apparatus reads map information stored in a storage medium such as a CD ROM and displays it on a predetermined display means whenever necessary. However, when the map information has to be updated with such a conventional navigation device, the storage medium such as the CD ROM must be replaced, which is very inconvenient at the time of the subsequent update. That is, there is an economic burden and a time burden that the user has to purchase additional CD ROM continuously from the provider of the CD ROM including the map information. In addition, since it is impossible to produce a CD ROM etc. reflecting the map information changed by the map information provider in real time and to provide it to the user, the changed map information (for example, roads, buildings, etc. is newly generated). Or disappeared) could not be provided to the user in real time.

  According to still another conventional technique called so-called telematics, a navigation service using a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone is provided. The telematics service uses the voice to guide the road or automatically tracks the location of the accident vehicle using a GPS satellite when the vehicle is in a traffic accident. Rescue activities are simplified by communicating the information to rescue teams and hospitals. However, a navigation service using a mobile phone according to the prior art has a problem that map information cannot be stored in the mobile phone because the memory size of the mobile phone is limited. As a result, according to the prior art, the map cannot be provided to the user when providing vehicle position information, driving information, etc. to the user, and the map is provided in the form of voice or text. There was inconvenience in using the navigation system.

  Accordingly, there is a demand for a navigation system capable of reflecting changes in map information such as roads in real time by providing map information to mobile communication terminals using a communication network.

  In addition, in order to support expansion and reduction of a map related to geographic information in a mobile communication terminal, it is necessary to provide map information corresponding to each level. Referring to FIG. 3, the user desires to be provided with a plurality of levels of maps for the same area. In addition, such a map of each level includes information different from a map image of a certain level that is simply enlarged or reduced. For example, the “Shoin Building” shown in FIG. 3b is not displayed on other levels of map images. Therefore, when transmitting map information from the map information providing server to the user terminal, a method for efficiently transmitting such multiple levels of map information is required.

  The present invention has been devised to improve the prior art as described above, and displays a map relating to one area divided into a plurality of levels when providing map information to a mobile communication terminal. An object of the present invention is to provide a map information providing method and apparatus capable of minimizing the amount of data transmitted by sharing and transmitting common map information data at each level.

  In addition, when a map image of a plurality of levels is provided to a user, a map information providing method and apparatus for displaying appropriate information for each level instead of simply enlarging or reducing the image of a certain level of the map is provided. For other purposes.

  In addition, when providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, when displaying a map related to one area in a plurality of levels, the mobile communication terminal maintains the map data element in association with the plurality of levels, thereby A map information providing method and apparatus for displaying a map of another level immediately after the terminal receives map information for one region without displaying the map of another level when the map is displayed. The other purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object and solve the problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a method for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, and maintaining a map information database including a plurality of map data elements ( Each of the map data elements is associated with coordinate information and level information), receiving a map information request from the mobile communication terminal, and the map data element associated with position information corresponding to the map information request. And identifying and transmitting the identified map data element to the mobile communication terminal together with the level information associated with the identified map data element.

  A method for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal according to one aspect of the present invention includes receiving display level information from a user, and a map data element associated with the display level information among the stored map data elements. And displaying a map image associated with the identified map data element on the display means of the mobile communication terminal.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, a step of requesting map information from a predetermined map information providing server (the map information is associated with position information), and a map associated with the position information from the map information providing server. Receiving a data element (each of the map data elements is associated with coordinate information and level information); storing the received map data element; and a map displayed on the display means of the mobile communication terminal. Determining a display level of an image; identifying a map data element associated with the display level information among the stored map data elements; and moving the map image associated with the identified map data element A method for providing map information including a step of displaying on a display means of a communication terminal is provided.

  The map information providing method according to one aspect of the present invention includes a step of maintaining a plurality of map data elements associated with the display level information for each display level information in a map information database, and a map information request from the mobile communication terminal. Receiving, identifying the map data elements by the display level information associated with the position information corresponding to the map information request, and moving the map data elements by the identified display level information Transmitting to a communication terminal.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a map information providing system, a map information database for maintaining a plurality of map data elements associated with the display level for each display level, and a map information request including position information from the mobile communication terminal. A receiving unit for receiving, a search unit for responding to the map information request and identifying the map data element associated with the position information from the map information database, and the identified map data element for the identified map data And a transmission unit for transmitting the level information associated with the element to the mobile communication terminal.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal using a communication network according to the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the map information providing server (110) includes a map information database (111) that stores a plurality of map data elements, and an icon database (112) that stores icons and icon identifiers. A server-side database, a server-side receiving unit (113) that receives a map information request including location information from the mobile communication terminal (121) via the communication network (130), and the map in response to the map information request A server side search unit (114) for identifying the map data element associated with the position information from an information database, and the map data element identified by the search unit (114) associated with the identified map data element A server-side transmission unit (115) that transmits to the mobile communication terminal (121) together with the level information.

  The map information database (111) includes a polygon database, a polyline database, and a point database. The map information database (111) and the icon database (112) will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

  The system of the mobile communication terminal (120) includes a terminal receiver (122) that receives the map data element from the map information providing server (110) via the communication network (130), and the received map data element. A terminal storage unit (123) for storing, a terminal search unit (124) for identifying a map data element associated with predetermined display level information among the map data elements stored in the terminal storage unit, A terminal display unit (125) for displaying a map image associated with the identified map data element on the mobile communication terminal.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a conceptual configuration of a map information database and an icon database of a map information providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  According to one embodiment of the present invention, the map information is composed of vector map information. The map data elements included in the map information are broadly divided into polygon map data elements, polyline map data elements, and point information map data elements.

  The polygon map data element is a map data element in which a constant area such as a river or a park is filled with a predetermined hue when displayed on a map, and is indicated by a plurality of coordinate points. That is, a map data element constituted by connecting all of the plurality of coordinate points in order and connecting the final coordinate point to the first coordinate point again, and then filling the generated polygon with a predetermined hue. is there. The polyline map data element is a map data element that is displayed as a fixed line when displayed on a map like a road, and is indicated by a plurality of coordinate points. That is, the map data element is formed by connecting the plurality of coordinate points in order. Additional line width information may be included to vary the line width in the polyline map data element. A point information map data element is a map data element that is displayed with a predetermined icon when displayed on a map such as a specific building, a gas station, a canteen, a movie theater, or a POI (Point of Interest). Consists of coordinate points and corresponding icon identifiers. Point information is displayed by displaying an icon associated with the icon identifier at the coordinate point of the point information map data element. FIG. 2a shows information about polygon map data elements stored in the polygon database. The polygon map data element includes a polygon identifier, a hue value, a level index, the number of polygon vertices, and polygon vertex coordinates.

  A polygon identifier is an identifier for identifying individual polygons. For example, a polygon identifier “0100” is assigned to “Seolleung Park”, or a polygon identifier “0101” is assigned to “A apartment complex”. The hue value is a color value satisfying the inside of the closed curve in which all the vertex coordinates of the polygon are connected. Hue information is associated with each hue value. For example, “00FF00” is designated as green, “CC6600” is designated as brown, and the hue value is stored in the polygon database. The level index is information regarding the level at which the polygon is displayed, and the level index “9, 10” corresponding to the polygon identifier “0100” means that the polygon is displayed at the 9th level and the 10th level. . According to an embodiment of the present invention, the level index may be implemented in the form of a flag. For example, in the case of having a 3-bit level index for the 9, 10, and 11 levels, the most significant bit corresponds to the 9th level, the second bit corresponds to the 10th level, and the least significant bit corresponds to the 11th level. In this case, the level index corresponding to the “9, 10” level is “110”, and the level index corresponding to the “9, 11” level is “101”. The number of vertices is the number of vertices that determine the line of the polygon, and the coordinates of the vertices are the coordinates of the vertices that determine the line of the polygon. After the vertex coordinates are connected in order, the last vertex coordinate and the first vertex coordinate are connected, and the interior is filled with the hue by the hue value, a polygon map data element corresponding to the polygon identifier is displayed.

  FIG. 2b shows information about the polyline map data elements stored in the polyline database. The information of the polyline map data element includes a polyline identifier, a hue value, a level index, the number of vertices, coordinates of the vertices, and line width information.

  The polyline identifier (poly-line identifier) is an identifier for identifying individual polylines. The hue value is a color value for a line connecting all the vertex coordinates of the polyline, and the level index is information on the level at which the polyline is displayed. The number of vertices is the number of vertex coordinates that form a polyline, and the vertex coordinates are the coordinates of vertices that form a polyline. A line that is connected in order with the vertices and displayed in the hue value is a polyline. The width of the line is a value relative to the width of the line connecting the vertices. The width of the line is used to indicate a large width on a map on a wide road such as an expressway, and to narrow a width on a map on a narrow road such as a local road.

  FIG. 2c shows information relating to the point information data element stored in the point information database. The information of the point information data element includes a point identifier, a level index, an icon identifier, output coordinates, text, and the length of the text.

  A point identifier is an identifier for identifying individual point information, and a level index is information on a level at which the point information is displayed. An icon identifier is an identifier for an icon displayed as an image when the point information is displayed on a map. The output coordinates are information relating to coordinates on the map on which icons corresponding to the point information are displayed. The text is text information displayed on the map in association with the point information. For example, referring to FIG. 3, texts such as “Pearl Station” and “Movie Plaza” correspond to this. The text length is information relating to the length of the text.

  FIG. 2d shows the relationship between icons and icon identifiers stored in the icon database. For example, an icon corresponding to a building corresponds to the icon identifier “1”, and an icon corresponding to a subway station corresponds to the icon identifier “2”. When displaying point information such as a building on a map, an icon corresponding to the point information can be identified from the icon database using an icon identifier stored in the point information database.

  FIG. 3 is a map displayed for each level based on the map data elements of FIG. 2 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3a is 9 levels, FIG. 3b is 10 levels, and FIG. 3c is 11 levels. It shows a map.

  The drawing code (301) is the Ewha Womans University campus displayed with polygon data elements, the drawing code (302) is the road displayed with polyline data elements, and the drawing code (303) is “Movie Square”. Is displayed as a point information data element.

  The relationship between the 9th, 10th, and 11th level map images is a relationship that provides different map information for the same region. For example, when the user requests “enlargement” while viewing a 10-level map, the user is provided with an 11-level map, and “reduced” while the user is viewing a 10-level map. If requested, a nine-level map is provided to the user. It should be noted that the map provided at the time of the “enlargement” or “reduction” request is not a map image provided through simple image enlargement or reduction. That is, the 9th level map indicates a region that includes a 10th level map, but the 9th level map does not display the point information “movie square” and is displayed at the 10th level. . The present invention is to efficiently support the case where a plurality of map images must be provided for the same area in the mobile communication terminal.

  If the map is examined in detail, “Movie Plaza” which is one of the point information is displayed only at the 10th and 11th levels. Accordingly, the point information data element relating to the “movie plaza” has level indexes for the 10th level and the 11th level. Similarly, the point information data element for 10 levels of “Shoin Building” has a level index for 10 levels. Therefore, it is displayed only at 10 levels.

  FIG. 4 shows a predetermined map data element stored in the map information database by the map information providing server when the mobile communication terminal connects to the map information providing server and requests the predetermined map information according to the embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an order of searching and transmitting information to the mobile communication terminal and storing the map data elements transmitted to the mobile communication terminal.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  In step S401, the mobile communication terminal 121 requests a connection to the map information providing server 110. In step S402, the map information providing server 110 confirms the connection request of the mobile communication terminal 121 and authenticates the connection at the mobile communication terminal 121. After the authentication of the mobile communication terminal (121) is completed, the map information providing server (110), in step (S403), stores all icons and icons stored in the icon database (112) in the mobile communication terminal (121). Transmit icon identifier. In step S403, since the map information providing server 110 transmits all icons, it is not necessary to transmit the icon image again when the mobile communication terminal 121 requests the map again. The mobile communication terminal 121 stores the transmitted icon image in a predetermined storage unit (step S404). If the mobile communication terminal (121) has to display the icon on the display means of the mobile communication terminal (121) after that, the icon stored in the mobile communication terminal (121) can be searched using the icon identifier and displayed. Because it is good, there is no need to download additional icon images. Since icon images are usually very small and their data size is not large, even if the entire icon image necessary for providing map images is stored in the mobile communication terminal, it occupies a large storage space of the mobile communication terminal. There is nothing.

  In step S405, the mobile communication terminal 121 requests map information including position information from the map information providing server 110. That is, the mobile communication terminal (121) requests the map information providing server (110) for map information required by itself. At this time, in order to receive only the map information of the specified area, the position information associated with the area is included in the map information and transmitted. The position information may be constant coordinate information (for example, coordinate information for four vertices of the area when the area is divided by a rectangle), or position information using an administrative district name. Or it may be the information regarding a specific point. For example, when the location information “Shinmura Station” is included in the map information request and transmitted to the map information providing server (110), the map information providing server (110) has a map within a certain range centered on the “Shinmura Station”. Information related to the mobile communication terminal 121 is transmitted.

  In step (S406), the map information providing server (110) receives the map information request and searches the map information database (111). Since the map information request includes position information, a map data element is searched from the map information database (111) based on the position information. For example, if the position information is the four vertex coordinates of the map requested by the mobile communication terminal 121, all map data elements having coordinates included within the boundary coordinates of the map are searched. A polygon database, a polyline database, and a point information database are searched, and all map data elements associated with the position information are searched.

  In step S407, the map information providing server 110 transmits the retrieved map data element to the mobile communication terminal 121. In step S408, the mobile communication terminal 121 receives the transmitted map data element and stores it in the terminal storage unit 123 of the mobile communication terminal 121.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data packet format when the map data element searched in step S407 is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal.

  The transmission data packet is mainly composed of a header and map data. The header includes the number of polygons, the number of polylines, the number of points (point information number), and group information. The number of polygons is the number of polygon map data elements in the transmitted map data element, the number of polylines is the number of polyline map data elements in the transmitted map data element, and the number of point information is the transmitted map data element The number of point information map data elements. The group information includes the number of levels, enlargement / reduction ratio, grid number, and the like. The number of levels is the number of levels associated with the transmitted map data element, the enlargement / reduction factor is the enlargement / reduction factor associated with each level, and the grid number is the map information in units of multiple squares. This is an identification number for the quadrangle unit in the case of transmission.

  The map data includes point map data elements, polygon data elements, and polyline data elements. The point information map data includes as many point information map data elements as the number of points included in the header. The information contained in the point information map data element is the same as the information contained in the point information database described with reference to FIG. The polygon map data elements include as many polygon map data elements as the number of polygons included in the header. The information contained in the polygon map data element is the same as the information contained in the polygon database described with reference to FIG. 2a. The polyline map data element includes as many polyline map data elements as the number of polylines included in the header. The information contained in the polyline map data element is the same as the information contained in the polyline database described with reference to FIG. 2b.

  The mobile communication terminal 121 receives the data packet including the map data element described above and stores it in the terminal storage unit 123. The data format stored in the terminal storage unit 123 may be stored in the form of the data packet, or may be stored in a changed form reflecting the characteristics of the mobile communication terminal 121.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a sequence of methods for displaying a map image based on map data elements stored in a mobile communication terminal.

  In step (S601), the mobile communication terminal (121) maintains the map information data element received from the map information providing server (110) in the terminal storage unit (123). The map information data element is received by the mobile communication terminal 121 in response to the map information request by transmitting a map information request associated with the location information to the map information providing server 110. Each of the received map data elements is associated with coordinate information and level information.

  In step (S602), the display level of the map image displayed on the terminal display unit (125) of the mobile communication terminal (121) is determined. If the user requests a 9-level map image, the display level is 9 levels. In addition, when map information corresponding to another region adjacent to the user who is providing a 10-level map image to the user must be displayed on the terminal display unit (125) (for example, while the vehicle is running, In the case of entering another region that is adjacent beyond the range of the displayed region), a map image having the same display level as that currently provided to the user can be provided.

  In step S603, the mobile communication terminal 121 identifies a map data element corresponding to the display level among the stored map data elements. Since the map data element is associated with level information, the map data element associated with level information matching the display level may be identified.

  In step S604, a map image associated with the identified map data element is displayed on the terminal display unit (125) of the mobile communication terminal (121). The terminal display unit 125 is a liquid crystal display (LCD) of a mobile communication terminal. When the map data element is composed of a map image, the map data element identified immediately can be displayed on the terminal display unit (125) without a separate conversion procedure. In some cases, a map image is generated based on the map data element, and the map image is displayed on the terminal display unit (125). When displaying the point information, the icon is displayed with reference to the icon information received in advance. Since the icon identifier and the icon image information are stored in the terminal storage unit (123) of the mobile communication terminal (121) in step (S404), the terminal display unit (125) The stored icon image information is searched using an icon identifier associated with the information, and the icon image information is displayed at the corresponding coordinates.

  Steps (S605) to (S607) are for explaining steps for assisting the user of the mobile communication terminal (121) to enlarge or reduce the map.

  In step S605, the receiving unit of the mobile communication terminal receives a display level from the user. For example, if a user enters an “enlarge” command while viewing the 10-level map image of FIG. 3b, the 11-level map image must be provided to the user. In this case, the receiving unit (122) of the mobile communication terminal receives information that the display level is "11 level". Similarly, if the user enters a “shrink” command while viewing the 10-level map image of FIG. 3b, the 9-level map image must be provided to the user. In this case, the receiving unit (122) of the mobile communication terminal receives information indicating that the display level is “9 levels”.

  In step S606, the terminal search unit (124) responds to the reception of the display level information, and map data associated with the display level information among the map data elements stored in the terminal storage unit (123). Identifies the element. In step (S607), a map image associated with the identified map data element is displayed on the terminal display unit (125) of the mobile communication terminal (121). According to an embodiment of the present invention, since the map data element is composed of vector information, an image enlarged or reduced based on the vector information can be obtained through calculation. Of course, in this case as well, information regarding map data elements that are displayed or not displayed for each display level is based on display level information such as a level index.

  The map data elements of other levels displayed on the terminal display unit 125 in the steps S605 to S607 are already transmitted from the map information providing server 110 and stored in the terminal storage unit 123. Therefore, it is not necessary to connect to the map information providing server (110) again in order to obtain the map data element at the other level, and only the map data element stored in the terminal is sufficient. Can be generated. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, even when the user requests a map image of another level, it is not necessary to download the map data element from the map information providing server again every time. Map information can be provided. In addition, since map data elements common to different levels of map information are not duplicated and transmitted from the map information providing server to the mobile communication terminal, the efficiency of data transmission is improved.

  FIG. 7 is a view showing a map information database according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

  In the map information database shown in FIG. 2, the map data elements are mainly composed of polygon map data elements, polyline map data elements, and point information map data elements, but the map data elements shown in FIG. It is organized by information. That is, FIG. 2 stores information about which level the map data element is associated with for each map data element, but FIG. 7 shows information about what map data element belongs to the level for each level. Store. FIG. 7a is a map information database storing 9-level map data elements, FIG. 7b is a map information database storing 10-level map data elements, and FIG. 7c is map information storing 11-level map data elements. It is a database. The map data element may be image map information or vector map information.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the map information database (111) maintains a plurality of map data elements associated with the display level information for each display level information.

  Even when the map data element required by the user is a 9-level map data element, the mobile communication terminal 121 displays position information associated with the map data element (a map image associated with the map data element is displayed). The map information request including the information regarding the position to be transmitted is transmitted to the map information providing server (110). That is, the map information request is associated with position information, and the position information is information regarding a position associated with a map image displayed on the mobile communication terminal 121.

  The map information providing server (110) that has received the map information request from the mobile communication terminal (121) identifies map data elements by display level information associated with the position information corresponding to the map information request. When the map data element associated with the same position information is associated with a plurality of display levels, the terminal search unit (124) of the mobile communication terminal (121) retrieves all the map data elements associated with the plurality of display levels. To do. That is, even if the data element that the user needs immediately is a 9-level map data element, the 9-level, 10-level, and 11-level map data elements associated with the position information are identified.

  Next, the map information providing server (110) transmits the identified map data element to the mobile communication terminal (121). The transmission unit (115) of the map information providing server (110) transmits all the map data elements associated with the searched display levels to the mobile communication terminal (121). According to this embodiment, if the user subsequently needs another level of map data element, there is no need to download again.

  FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method for maintaining a map data element and transmitting it to a mobile communication terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

  According to this embodiment, the display level information is associated with group information, and each of the group information is associated with a plurality of display level information. That is, a plurality of display levels are bundled to form one group. As shown in FIG. 8, the display levels of 1, 2, 3 and 4 constitute one group, the display levels of 5, 6 and 7 constitute 2 groups, and the display levels of 8, 9 and 10 are 3 Configure a group. The group information is stored in association with each level in the map information database (111), or the relationship between each level and group is stored separately in a separate database.

  A drawing code (807) indicates map data elements stored in the map information providing server (111). Drawing symbols (801, 803, 804, 805, 806) indicate map data elements, and drawing symbols (802) indicate level information associated with the map data elements (801). The map data element (801) is a map data element displayed only at the first level and the second level, and the map data element (803) is a map data element displayed only at the fifth level and the sixth level. Map data elements (804) are 6 and 7 levels, map data elements (805) are 8 and 9 levels, map data elements (806) are map data elements displayed at 9 and 10 levels. is there.

  A map information request including the display level information and position information specified by the mobile communication terminal (121) is transmitted to the map information providing server (110). For example, the mobile communication terminal 121 requests a 9-level map data element. The map information providing server (110) identifies the group information to which the 9th level belongs. In this embodiment, there are 3 groups to which 9 levels belong. Then, the search unit (114) of the map information providing server (110) searches for map data elements belonging to the three groups and associated with the position information. In this embodiment, map data elements (805, 806) associated with levels 8, 9, 10 belonging to three groups.

  Accordingly, the map information providing server (110) transmits the map data elements (805, 806) to the mobile communication terminal (121). Reference numeral (808) indicates map data elements (805, 806) stored in the terminal storage unit (123) of the mobile communication terminal (121).

  When the display level displayed on the terminal display unit (809) of the mobile communication terminal (121) is 9, the map data elements (805, 806) are displayed on the terminal display unit (809). When the user inputs a “magnify” command to request 10-level map image display, it is not necessary to request the map information providing server to download a separate map data element, and map data elements associated with 10 levels. Only (806) may be displayed on the terminal display unit (810).

  According to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to download an additional map data element even when a map of another level belonging to one group has to be displayed. Further, by transmitting only map data elements at a level near the display level that the user is currently viewing to the mobile communication terminal, unnecessary transmission of map data elements that are not used can be prevented. . In addition, it is possible to prevent the same map data element from being repeatedly transmitted for each level.

  According to another embodiment of the present invention, a map image is stored in a map information providing server for each level, and when a user requests an image map of a specific level in a mobile communication terminal, in response thereto There is a method in which the map information providing server provides the specific level image map. For example, when the mobile communication terminal requests a 9-level map around Shinmura Station, the map information providing server provides a 9-level map corresponding to the area. The mobile communication terminal displays the received nine-level map. When a user requests enlargement or reduction of the map at the mobile communication terminal, the mobile communication terminal connects to the map information providing server and requests a new level map for the same area again.

  However, according to the embodiment, even if the maps are in the same area, each time the user requests a map of another level, there is a problem that new map information must be downloaded from the map information providing server each time. . In FIG. 3, the map data element related to “movie plaza” is included in both level 10 and level 11, but in this embodiment, the map information related to “movie plaza” is transmitted when the map information of level 10 is transmitted. When transmitting level 11 map information, map information relating to the “movie plaza” is transmitted again. Such redundant transmission of data has a problem of increasing communication charges. In addition, when requesting map information of another level, it is necessary to wait until the map information of the other level is downloaded. Therefore, there is a problem that the display of the map information is delayed due to the circumstances of the communication network. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, there is an advantage that map information at a level not seen by the user is not transmitted.

  According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is a service method in which basic image map information is transmitted according to a type desired by the user and the image map information is displayed on the user's mobile communication terminal. In this embodiment, image map information larger than the map area that the user wants to see on the screen of the mobile communication terminal is transmitted, and when the user wants to see the enlarged or reduced map information, the larger image map information The method of displaying a part of the inside is used. The present embodiment is a method for enlarging or reducing an image map that has already been transmitted, and has a problem that map data elements that are displayed only when associated with a specific level cannot be appropriately represented. However, according to the present embodiment, the implementation is simple.

  Embodiments of the present invention also include a computer readable medium including program instructions for performing operations embodied in various computers. The computer readable medium includes program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. In the medium, program instructions may be specially designed and configured for the present invention, or may be known and usable by those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and floppy disks. Hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions such as magneto-optical media such as ROM), ROM, RAM, flash memory, etc. Is included. The medium may be a transmission medium such as an optical or metal line or a waveguide including a carrier wave for transmitting a signal designating a program command, a data structure, or the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine language codes such as those generated by a compiler, but also high-level language codes that are executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like.

  FIG. 9 is an internal block diagram of a general-purpose computer system that is employed to construct a map information providing server according to the present invention.

  The computer system (900) includes one or more processors (901) coupled to a main storage device including a RAM (Random Access Memory) (902) and a ROM (Read Only Memory) (903). The processor (901) is also called a central processing unit (CPU). As is well known in the art, ROM (903) serves to transmit data and instructions to the CPU in a unidirectional manner, and RAM (902) normally transmits data and instructions. Used to transmit in both directions. Ram (902) and ROM (903) include any suitable form of computer readable media. A mass storage device (904) is bi-directionally coupled to the processor (901) to provide additional data storage capability, and corresponds to any of the computer-readable recording media described above. The mass storage device (904) is used to store programs, data, and the like, and is usually an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk that is slower than the main storage device. A specific mass storage device such as CD ROM (906) may be used. The processor (901) is a video monitor, trackball, mouse, keyboard, microphone, touch screen display, card reader, magnetic or paper tape reader, voice or handwriting recognizer, joy stick, or other known Coupled with one or more input / output interfaces (905) such as computer input / output devices. Finally, the processor (901) is coupled to a wired or wireless communication network via a network interface (907). The procedure of the above-described method can be performed through such network connection. The devices and tools described above are well known to those skilled in the computer hardware and software arts.

  The hardware device described above may also be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention.

  As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the limited embodiments and drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and those having ordinary knowledge in the field to which the present invention belongs. Various modifications and variations will be possible from such description. Accordingly, the inventive idea must be understood only by the appended claims, and it goes without saying that all equivalent or equivalent modifications belong to the scope of the inventive idea.

  According to the present invention, when a map relating to one area is divided into a plurality of levels when providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, the map information data common to the respective levels is shared and transmitted, The amount of data transmitted can be minimized.

  In addition, when a map image of a plurality of levels is provided to the user, appropriate information can be displayed at each level instead of simply enlarging or reducing the image of a map at a certain level.

  In addition, when providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, when displaying a map related to one region in a plurality of levels, the mobile communication terminal maintains the map data element in association with the plurality of levels. If the aircraft displays map information for one area and then displays another level of map, the map of another level can be displayed immediately without additional download.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal using a communication network according to the present invention. It is the figure which showed the conceptual structure of the map information database and icon database of the map information provision server by one Example of this invention. FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a map displayed for each level based on the map data element of FIG. 2 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an order for transmitting map information from a map information providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention to the mobile communication terminal. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data packet format when transmitting a searched map data element to a mobile communication terminal. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a sequence of methods for displaying a map image based on map data elements stored in a mobile communication terminal. It is the figure which showed the map information database by other Example of this invention. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method for maintaining a map data element and transmitting it to a mobile communication terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention. It is an internal block diagram of the general purpose computer system employ | adopted as comprising the map information provision server by this invention.

Claims (22)

In a method for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal,
Maintaining a map information database including a plurality of map data elements, each of the map data elements being associated with coordinate information and level information, maintaining the map information database;
Receiving a map information request from the mobile communication terminal;
Identifying the map data element associated with location information corresponding to the map information request;
Transmitting the identified map data element to the mobile communication terminal together with the level information associated with the identified map data element.   The map according to claim 1, wherein the level information is information regarding whether the map data element is displayed when a map of any level is displayed on the display means of the mobile communication terminal. Information provision method.   The map information providing method according to claim 2, wherein the level information includes information on a plurality of levels associated with the map data element.   3. The level information according to claim 2, wherein the level information includes an identifier associated with each of the plurality of displayed maps when a plurality of maps relating to the same region are displayed on the display unit of the mobile communication terminal. How to provide map information.   The method according to claim 1, wherein the level information is associated with group information, and each of the group information is associated with a plurality of level information. The map information request received from the mobile communication terminal includes the group information,
Identifying the map data element associated with location information corresponding to the map information request,
6. The map information providing method according to claim 5, wherein the map data element associated with the position information corresponding to the map information request and the group information is identified. The map information request received from the mobile communication terminal includes the level information;
Identifying the map data element associated with location information corresponding to the map information request,
Identifying group information associated with the level information included in the map information request;
6. The map information providing method according to claim 5, further comprising identifying the map data element associated with the position information corresponding to the map information request and the group information.   The map information providing method according to claim 1, wherein the map data element includes polygon, polyline, and point information.   9. The map information providing method according to claim 8, wherein when the map data element is a polygon or polyline, the coordinate information associated with the map data element is one or more vertex coordinates of the polygon or polyline. . Maintaining an icon associated with the point information;
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: transmitting an icon associated with the point information to the mobile communication terminal. The step of transmitting an icon associated with the point information to the mobile communication terminal includes:
The map information of claim 10, further comprising: transmitting all icons associated with the point information to the mobile communication terminal when the mobile communication terminal is connected to a predetermined map information providing server. How to provide. In a method for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal,
Requesting map information from a predetermined map information providing server, wherein the map information is associated with position information, and requesting the map information;
Receiving map data elements associated with the position information from the map information providing server, each of the map data elements being associated with coordinate information and level information; receiving the map data elements;
Storing received map data elements;
Determining a display level of a map image displayed on the display means of the mobile communication terminal;
Identifying a map data element associated with the display level information among the stored map data elements;
Displaying the map image associated with the identified map data element on the display means of the mobile communication terminal. Receiving the display level information from a user;
Identifying a map data element associated with the display level information among the stored map data elements in response to receiving the display level information;
The method of claim 12, further comprising: displaying a map image associated with the identified map data element on a display unit of the mobile communication terminal. In a method for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal,
Maintaining a plurality of map data elements associated with the display level information for each display level information in a map information database;
Receiving a map information request from the mobile communication terminal;
Identifying the map data element by display level information associated with location information corresponding to the map information request;
Transmitting the map data element for each of the identified display level information to the mobile communication terminal. The map information request received from the mobile communication terminal is associated with the location information,
The method of claim 14, wherein the location information is location information associated with a map image displayed on the mobile communication terminal.   The map information providing method according to claim 14, wherein the display level information is associated with group information, and each of the group information is associated with a plurality of display level information information.   A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a computer-implemented method according to any one of claims 1 to 16. In a map information providing system for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal,
A map information database storing a plurality of map data elements, each of the map data elements being associated with coordinate information and level information;
A receiving unit for receiving a map information request including location information from the mobile communication terminal;
A search unit for identifying the map data element associated with the location information from the map information database in response to the map information request;
A map information providing system comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits the identified map data element to the mobile communication terminal together with the level information associated with the identified map data element.   The map information providing system according to claim 18, further comprising an icon database storing an icon associated with point information and an icon identifier for identifying the icon. The mobile communication terminal is
A terminal input unit for receiving the transmitted map data element from the map information providing system;
A terminal storage unit for storing the received map data element;
A terminal search unit for identifying a map data element associated with display level information among the stored map data elements;
19. The map information providing system according to claim 18, further comprising a terminal display unit that displays a map image associated with the identified map data element on the mobile communication terminal. In a map information providing system for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal,
A map information database that maintains a plurality of map data elements associated with the display level for each display level;
A receiving unit for receiving a map information request including location information from the mobile communication terminal;
A search unit for identifying the map data element associated with the location information from the map information database in response to the map information request;
A map information providing system comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits the identified map data element to the mobile communication terminal together with the level information associated with the identified map data element. When the map data element associated with the same position information is associated with a plurality of display levels, the search unit retrieves all the map data elements associated with the plurality of display levels,
The map information providing system according to claim 21, wherein the transmitting unit transmits all map data elements associated with the searched display levels to the mobile communication terminal.