KR100540397B1 - Method and System for Providing Map Information to Mobile Device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for efficiently transmitting a plurality of levels of map information to the mobile communication terminal so that the mobile communication terminal can display an enlarged or reduced map.

A method for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, the method comprising: maintaining a map information database comprising a plurality of map data elements, each of the map data elements associated with coordinate information and level information; Receiving a map information request from a mobile communication terminal, identifying the map data element associated with the location information corresponding to the map information request, and mapping the identified map data element to the identified map data element. And transmitting to the mobile communication terminal.

According to the present invention, when providing map information to a mobile communication terminal and displaying a map of one area divided into a plurality of levels, the amount of data transmitted by sharing and transmitting map information data common to each level. Can be minimized.

Map data element, map level information

Description

Method and System for Providing Map Information to Mobile Device {Method and System for Providing Map Information to Mobile Device}

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

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.

3 illustrates a map displayed for each level based on the map data element of FIG. 2 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for transmitting map information from a map information providing server to the mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram illustrating a data packet format in the case of transmitting a retrieved map data element to a mobile communication terminal.

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

7 illustrates a map information database according to another embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method of maintaining and transmitting a map data element to a mobile communication terminal in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

9 is an internal block diagram of a general purpose computer system that may be employed to construct a map information providing server in accordance with the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

110: map information providing server 111: map information database

112: icon database 113: server-side receiving unit

114: server-side search unit 115: server-side transmitter

121: mobile communication terminal 122: terminal receiving unit

123: terminal storage unit 124: terminal search unit

125: terminal display unit 130: communication network

The present invention relates to a method for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to efficiently map a plurality of levels of map information to the mobile communication terminal so as to enlarge or reduce the display of the map in the mobile communication terminal. Relates to a method of transmission.

Recently, due to the provision of services using a communication network, information search opportunities have increased in wireless communication environments such as portable computers and mobile phones. Therefore, users can move freely and search for and receive necessary information services anytime and anywhere.

The navigation system is a system that provides information for driving a vehicle such as a vehicle by using a satellite and is also called an automatic navigation system. Such a navigation system uses a GPS receiver to receive certain data from a global positioning system (GPS) satellite floating on the earth and calculate its location based on the received data. There are a number of GPS satellites floating on the earth, and the transportation device can receive GPS signals from three GPS satellites in any region of the earth and calculate its location based on the GPS signals received from the three GPS satellites. It will be possible. The navigation system provides various driving information to a transportation device such as the vehicle based on the calculated position information thereof. Such a navigation system has been used mainly for calculating and navigating a large moving object such as an aircraft or a ship, but has recently been widely used in automobiles and the like. The navigation system provides a variety of information to the user, such as current location information of the transportation device, route information from the current location of the transportation device to a destination of the transportation device, map information related to the location information and the route information, and traffic condition information. Providing.

In such a navigation device, when a map is used to transmit information, such as the current location of the transportation device, to a user, map information is generally provided together because the user can easily recognize the information such as the current location.

According to the prior art, this map information has been provided via a storage medium such as a CD ROM or a DVD ROM. The navigation apparatus according to the related art reads out map information stored in a storage medium such as a CD ROM whenever necessary and displays it on predetermined display means. However, when the map information needs to be updated in the navigation device of the related art, it is very inconvenient for the later update because the storage medium such as a CD ROM must be replaced. In other words, the user has an economic burden and a time burden to continue to purchase the CD ROM additionally from the provider of the CD ROM including the map information. In addition, since it is impossible for the map information provider to produce a CD ROM that reflects the changed map information in real time and provide the same to the user, the changed map information (for example, when a road or a building is newly created or disappeared) is real time. Could not be provided to the user.

In addition, according to another conventional technology called tele-matics, a navigation service using a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone is provided. The telematics service uses the voice to guide the user's way, or if the vehicle has a traffic accident, automatically tracks the location of the accident vehicle using GPS satellites and provides the information to the nearest 119 rescue team or hospital. By conveying, it facilitates rescue activities. However, in the navigation service using a mobile phone according to the prior art, there is a problem in that the map information cannot be stored in the mobile phone due to the limitation due to the memory size of the mobile phone. Accordingly, according to the prior art, when providing the vehicle location information, driving information, etc. to the user, the map is not provided to the user but provided in the form of voice or text, so that the user uses the navigation system according to the prior art. There was discomfort in.

Accordingly, there is a demand for a navigation system that can reflect changes in map information such as roads in real time by providing map information to a mobile communication terminal using a communication network.

In addition, in order to support expansion and contraction 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 wants to receive a map of the same area at a plurality of levels. In addition, the maps of each of these levels contain information different from simply enlarging or reducing the map image of one level. For example, the " West building " shown in FIG. 3B is not displayed on the map image of other levels. Therefore, when the map information is transmitted from the map information providing server to the user terminal, there is a demand for a method of efficiently transmitting such map information of a plurality of levels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to improve the prior art as described above. When providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, when a map of one region is divided and displayed in a plurality of levels, the map information common to each level is displayed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for providing map information that can minimize the amount of data transmitted by sharing data.

In addition, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for providing map information for providing a user with a plurality of levels of map images, instead of simply enlarging or reducing images of a map of one level. It aims to provide.

In addition, the present invention is to provide a map information to the mobile communication terminal when displaying a map of a region divided into a plurality of levels, by maintaining a map data element associated with the plurality of levels, the mobile communication terminal is one An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for providing map information, which enables a user to display a map of another level without additional download, after receiving map information about a region of the user.

In order to achieve the above object and to solve the problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a method for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, the method comprising: maintaining a map information database comprising a plurality of map data elements-the map data elements Each associated with coordinate information and level information, and receiving a map information request from the mobile communication terminal, identifying the map data element associated with the location information corresponding to the map information request, and the identified map. Transmitting a data element to the mobile communication terminal along with the level information associated with the identified map data element.

A method for providing map information in a mobile communication terminal according to an aspect of the present invention comprises the steps of: receiving display level information from a user and identifying map data elements associated with the display level information among the stored map data elements; And displaying on the display means of the mobile communication terminal a map image associated with the identified map data element.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, requesting map information from a predetermined map information providing server, wherein the map information is associated with location information, receives a map data element associated with the location information from the map information providing server. -Each of the map data elements is associated with coordinate information and level information-storing the received map data elements, determining a display level of a map image to be displayed on display means of the mobile communication terminal, Identifying 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 display means of the mobile communication terminal; Is provided.

In addition, the method for providing map information according to an aspect of the present invention includes 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 the display level information associated with the location information corresponding to the map information request and transmitting the map data element by the identified display level information to the mobile communication terminal.

In addition, a map information providing system according to an aspect of the present invention receives 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 location information from the mobile communication terminal. A receiving unit, a retrieving unit identifying the map data element associated with the location information from the map information database in response to the map information request, and the identified map data element together with the level information associated with the identified map data element And a transmitter for transmitting to the mobile communication terminal.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described an embodiment of the present invention;

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 server-side database including a map information database 111 storing a plurality of map data elements, an icon database 112 storing an icon, and an icon identifier; A server-side receiver 113 receiving a map information request including location information from the mobile communication terminal 121 via the communication network 130, the map associated with the location information from the map information database in response to the map information request A server side retrieval unit 114 identifying a data element, and a server side transmitting the map data element identified by the retrieval unit 114 to the mobile communication terminal 121 together with the level information associated with the identified map data element. The transmitter 115 is comprised.

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. 2.

The system of the mobile communication terminal 120 includes a terminal receiver 122 for receiving the map data element from the map information providing server 110 through the communication network 130 and a terminal storage unit 123 for storing the received map data element. A terminal retrieval unit 124 for identifying map data elements associated with predetermined display level information among the map data elements stored in the terminal storage unit, and a map image associated with the identified map data elements displayed on the mobile communication terminal. The terminal display unit 125 is configured.

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 invention, the map information consists of vector map information. The map data elements included in the map information are largely divided into polygon map data elements, polyline map data elements, and periodic information map data elements.

The polygon map data element is a map data element that is filled with a predetermined color inside a predetermined area such as a river or a park when displayed on a map, and may be represented by a plurality of coordinate points. That is, the map data element is configured by connecting all of the plurality of coordinate points sequentially and then connecting the end coordinate point to the starting coordinate point and filling the inside with a predetermined color. The polyline map data element is a map data element displayed as a certain line when displayed on a map such as a road, and may be represented by a plurality of coordinate points. That is, the map data element is configured by sequentially connecting the plurality of coordinate points. The width information of the line may be further included to change the width of the line in the polyline map data element. The periodic information map data element is a map data element represented by a predetermined icon when displayed on a map such as a specific building, a gas station, a restaurant, a movie theater, or a point of interest (POI), and includes one coordinate point and a corresponding icon identifier. do. The period information is displayed by displaying an icon associated with the icon identifier at a coordinate point of the period information map data element. 2A is information about polygon map data elements stored in a polygon database. The polygon map data element comprises a polygon identifier, a color value, a level index, a polygon vertex count and polygon vertex coordinates.

Polygon identifiers are identifiers for identifying individual polygons. For example, polygon identifier '0100' may be assigned to "Seonreung Park" and polygon identifier '0101' may be assigned to "A apartment complex". The color value is the value of the color that fills the interior of the closed curve that connects all the vertex coordinates of the polygon. Color information is associated with each of the color values. For example, '00FF00' is designated as green, 'CC6600' is designated as brown, and the color value is stored in the polygon database. The level index is information on the level at which the polygon is displayed. The level index '9, 10' corresponding to the polygon identifier '0100' means that the polygon is displayed at the 9th and 10th levels. 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 level index of 3 bits for the 9th, 10th, and 11th levels, the most significant bit is configured to correspond to the 9th level, the second bit to the 10th level, and the least significant bit 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, and as many vertex coordinate information as the number of the vertices is included in the polygon database. After the vertex coordinates are sequentially connected, the last vertex coordinate and the first vertex coordinate are connected, and then filled with the color according to the color value, the polygon map data element corresponding to the polygon identifier is displayed.

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

Poly-line identifiers are identifiers for identifying individual polylines. The color value is a color value for a line connecting all the vertex coordinates of the polyline, and the level index is information about the level at which the polyline is displayed. The number of vertices is the number of vertex coordinates that form the polyline, and the vertex coordinates are the coordinates of the vertices that form the polyline. By connecting the vertices in sequence, a line represented by the color of the color value becomes a polyline. The width of the line is a value for the width of the line connecting the vertices. In the case of roads, wide roads such as highways are used to show large widths on a map, and narrow roads such as local roads are used to show narrow widths on a map.

2C is information about periodic information data elements stored in a periodic information database. The information of the period information data element includes a point identifier, a level index, an icon identifier, an output coordinate, text and a length of the text.

A point identifier is an identifier for identifying individual period information, and a level index is information about a level at which the period information is displayed. An icon identifier is an identifier for an icon displayed as an image when the period information is displayed on a map. The output coordinates are information about coordinates on a map on which an icon corresponding to the period information is displayed. Text is text information displayed on a map in association with the period information. For example, referring to FIG. 3, texts such as “two bands” and “movie theater” correspond to this. The text length is information about the length of the text.

2D illustrates the relationship between an icon and icon identifiers stored in an icon database. For example, an icon corresponding to a building corresponds to an icon identifier '1', and an icon corresponding to a subway station corresponds to an icon identifier '2'. When displaying periodic information such as a building on a map, an icon corresponding to the periodic information may be identified from the icon database using an icon identifier stored on the periodic information database.

3 is a map displayed for each level based on the map data element of FIG. 2 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows 9 levels, FIG. 3B shows 10 levels, and FIG. 3C shows an 11 level map. will be.

Reference numeral 301 denotes the campus of Ewha Womans University as a polygon data element, reference numeral 302 denotes the road as a polyline data element, and reference numeral 303 denotes a "movie yard". It is expressed as period information data element.

The relationship between the map images of the 9th, 10th and 11th levels is to provide different map information for the same area. For example, if a user views a map of 10 levels and requests "Zoom", the user is provided with an 11-level map, and the user views a map of 10 levels and then requests "Zoom out." In this case, the user is provided with nine levels of maps. However, it should be noted here that the map provided in the request of "enlargement" or "reduction" is not a map image provided by simply enlarging or reducing the image. That is, although the nine-level map shows a region including a ten-level map locally, the nine-level map is displayed at the tenth level without the periodic information “movie yard” being displayed. The present invention is to efficiently support the case where a plurality of map images for the same area in the mobile communication terminal should be provided.

Looking at the maps, one of the periodic information 'movie yard' is displayed only at the 10th and 11th levels. Therefore, the periodic information data element related to the 'movie yard' has level indexes for 9 levels and 10 levels. Similarly, the periodic information data element relating to the ten-level 'western building' has a level index for ten levels, and thus is displayed only at ten levels.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for retrieving predetermined map data elements stored in a map information database by a map information providing server when a mobile communication terminal accesses a map information providing server and requests predetermined map information according to an embodiment of the present invention. A flowchart illustrating a procedure of transmitting information to the mobile communication terminal and storing the map data element received from the mobile communication terminal.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4.

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 in the mobile communication terminal 121. The map information providing server 110 transmits all icons and icon identifiers stored in the icon database 112 to the mobile communication terminal 121 in step S403 after the authentication of the mobile communication terminal 121 ends. . Since the map information providing server 110 transmits all the icons in step S403, 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 received icon in a predetermined storage unit (step S404). When the mobile communication terminal 121 needs to display an icon later on the display means of the mobile communication terminal 121, the mobile communication terminal 121 may search for and display an already stored icon image using an icon identifier, and thus need to download an additional icon image. There is no. Since the icon image is usually very small and its data size is not large, even if the entire icon image required for providing the map image is stored in the mobile communication terminal, it does not occupy much storage space of the mobile communication terminal.

In operation S405, the mobile communication terminal 121 requests map information including location 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 the mobile communication terminal 121. At this time, in order to receive only map information of a specific region, location information associated with the region is included in the map information and transmitted. The location information may be constant coordinate information (for example, coordinate information about four vertices of the area when the area is divided into quadrangles) or location information using an administrative district name. Or information about a specific point. For example, when the location information "Sinchon Station" is included in the map information request and transmitted to the map information providing server 110, the map information providing server 110 may be located in a predetermined range of maps centered on the "Shinchon Station". Information about 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 location information, a map data element is retrieved from the map information database 111 based on the location information. For example, when the location information is 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 period information database are searched to retrieve all map data elements associated with the location information.

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 retrieved in step S407 is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal.

The transport data packet is largely composed of a header and map data. The header includes a polygon count, a polyline count, a point count (number of period information), and group information. The number of polygons is the number of polygon map data elements among the transmitted map data elements, the number of polylines is the number of polyline map data elements among the transmitted map data elements, and the number of period information is the period information map data among the transmitted map data elements. Number of elements The group information may include the number of levels, the magnification of the zoom, the grid number, and the like. The number of levels is the number of levels associated with the transmitted map data element, the magnification of the zoom is the magnification of the zoom associated with each level, and the grid number is the rectangle when the map information is transmitted in a plurality of square units. Identification number for the unit.

The map data includes point map data elements (cycle information map data elements), polygon data elements, and polyline data elements. The period information map data element includes as many period information map data elements as the number of points included in the header. The information included in the periodic information map data element is the same as the information included in the periodic information database described with reference to FIG. 2C. The polygon map data element includes as many polygon map data elements as the number of polygons included in the header. The information included in the polygon map data element is the same as the information included 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 included in the polyline map data element is the same as the information included 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.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a method of displaying a map image based on a stored map data element 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 to transmit a map information request associated with the location information to the map information providing server 110 and in response to the map information request. 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 to be displayed on the terminal display unit 125 of the mobile communication terminal 121 is determined. If the user requested 9 levels of map image, the display level is 9 levels. In addition, when providing the user with 10 levels of map image and displaying map information corresponding to another adjacent area on the terminal display unit 125 (for example, driving a vehicle, the range of the area currently displayed) In the case of entering the other area beyond, the map image having the same display level as that provided to the current user may 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 the level information matching the display level may be identified.

In step S604, the 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 mobile communication terminal liquid crystal display (LCD). If the map data element is composed of a map image, the identified map data element may be immediately displayed on the terminal display unit 125 without a separate conversion procedure. If the map data element is vector map information or the like, the map is based on the map data element. An image is generated and the map image is displayed on the terminal display unit 125. When the period information is displayed, 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 uses the icon identifier associated with the period information when displaying the period information. Search for the stored icon image information and display the icon image information in the corresponding coordinates.

Steps S605 to S607 are for explaining a step for supporting a case where the user of the mobile communication terminal 121 enlarges or reduces the map.

In step S605, the receiving unit of the mobile communication terminal receives the display level from the user. For example, if a user sees a map image of level 10 of FIG. 3B and inputs an "enlargement" command, the user should provide the map image of level 11 to the user. In this case, the receiver 122 of the mobile communication terminal may Information indicating that the display level is "11 levels" is received. Similarly, if the user is viewing the 10-level map image of FIG. 3B and inputs a "reduce" command, the user must provide the 9-level map image, in which case the receiver 122 of the mobile communication terminal displays the display level. The information "level 9" is received.

In operation S606, in response to receiving the display level information, the terminal searching unit 124 identifies a map data element associated with the display level information among the map data elements stored in the terminal storage unit 123. In step S607, the map image associated with the identified map data element is displayed on the terminal display unit 125 of the mobile communication terminal 121. In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, since the map data element is composed of vector information, a map image that is enlarged or reduced based on the vector information may be obtained through calculation. Of course, even in this case, the information about the map data element displayed or not displayed for each display level is based on display level information such as a level index.

Since the map data elements of the different levels displayed on the terminal display unit 125 in steps S605 to S607 are already received from the map information providing server 110 and maintained in the storage unit 123 of the terminal, The map image elements stored in the terminal can be sufficiently generated without the need to access the map information providing server 110 again to obtain the map data elements of the different levels. Therefore, according to this embodiment, even if the user requests a map image of a different level, there is no need to download map data elements from the map information providing server every time, thereby providing the user with different levels of map information in a short time. can do. In addition, since the map data elements common to the different levels are duplicated and are not transmitted from the map information providing server to the mobile communication terminal, the data transmission efficiency is increased.

7 is a diagram illustrating a map information database according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In the map information database shown in FIG. 2, the map data element is composed around a polygon map data element, a polyline map data element, and a period information map data element. However, the map data element shown in FIG. 7 is configured for display level information. have. That is, in FIG. 2, information about which level the map data element is associated with is stored for each map data element. In FIG. 7, information about what map data element belongs to the level is stored for each level. 7A is a map information database for storing map data elements of 9 levels, FIG. 7B is a map information database for storing map data elements of 10 levels, and FIG. 7C is a map information database for storing map data elements of 11 levels . 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 may provide location information associated with the map data element (information on a location where a map image associated with the map data element is displayed). Sending a map information request including a to the map information providing server 110. That is, the map information request is associated with location information, and the location information is information about a location associated with a map image to be displayed on the mobile communication terminal 121.

The map information providing server 110 receiving the map information request from the mobile communication terminal 121 identifies the map data element for each display level information associated with the location information corresponding to the map information request. When the map data element associated with the same location information is associated with a plurality of display levels, the terminal search unit 124 of the mobile communication terminal 121 searches all of the map data elements associated with the plurality of display levels. In other words, even if the map data element that the user needs right now is a map data element of 9 levels, the map data elements of 9, 10 and 11 levels associated with the location information are identified.

The map information providing server 110 then sends the identified map data element to the mobile communication terminal 121. The transmitter 115 of the map information providing server 110 transmits all of the map data elements associated with the retrieved plurality of display levels to the mobile communication terminal 121. According to the present embodiment, if the user needs another level of map data elements later, there is no need to download again.

8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method of maintaining and transmitting a map data element 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 group is formed by grouping a plurality of display levels. As shown in Fig. 8, the display levels of 1, 2, 3, and 4 constitute 1 group, the display levels of 5, 6, and 7 constitute 2 groups, and the display levels of 8, 9, and 10 are 3 groups. Configure The group information may be stored in association with each level in the map information database 111, or may separately store a relationship between each level and a group in a separate database.

Reference numeral 807 denotes map data elements stored in the map information providing server 111. Reference numerals 801, 803, 804, 805, and 806 denote map data elements, and reference numeral 802 denotes level information associated with the map data element 801. The map data element 801 is a map data element displayed only at one level and two levels, and the map data element 803 is a map data element displayed only at five and six levels. Map data elements 804 are at 6 and 7 levels, map data elements 805 at 8 and 9 levels, and map data elements 806 are at 9 and 10 levels.

The mobile communication terminal 121 transmits a map information request including specific display level information and location information to the map information providing server 110. For example, the mobile communication terminal 121 requests nine levels of map data elements. The map information providing server 110 identifies group information to which the nine levels belong. In the present embodiment, the group to which 9 levels belong is 3 groups. The search unit 114 of the map information providing server 110 then searches for map data elements belonging to the three groups and associated with the location information. In this embodiment, the map data elements 805 and 806 are associated with 8, 9 and 10 levels belonging to 3 groups.

Thus, the map information providing server 110 transmits the map data elements 805 and 806 to the mobile communication terminal 121. Reference numeral 808 shows the map data elements 805 and 806 stored in the terminal storage 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 levels, the map data elements 805 and 806 are displayed on the terminal display unit 809. If the user enters a "Zoom In" command to request to display a map image at 10 levels, there is no need to request a download of a separate map data element from the map information providing server, but only the map data element 806 directly associated with the 10 levels. The terminal may be displayed on the display unit 810.

According to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to download additional map data elements even when the maps of different levels belonging to one group are to be displayed. In addition, by transmitting only the map data elements of the level close to the display level currently viewed by the user to the mobile communication terminal, unnecessary transmission of the map data elements that will not be used can be prevented. In addition, the same map data element is repeatedly transmitted at each level.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a map image for each level is stored in a map information providing server, and when a user requests an image map of a specific level from a mobile communication terminal, the map information providing server is responded to in response thereto. There is a method of requesting an image map of the particular level. For example, when the mobile communication terminal requests a map around a 9-level Sinchon 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 the user requests to enlarge or reduce the map in the mobile communication terminal, the mobile communication terminal accesses the map information providing server and requests a new level map for the same area.

However, according to the present embodiment, even if the user requests a map of a different level even in a map of the same region, there is a problem that new map information must be downloaded from the map information providing server each time. In FIG. 3, although the map data element related to the "movie yard" is included in both the level 10 and the level 11, in the present embodiment, the map information about the "movie yard" is transmitted when the level 10 map information is transmitted, and again, the level 11 When the map information is transmitted, the map information regarding the "movie yard" is repeatedly transmitted. Redundant transmission of such data has a problem of increasing communication fees. In addition, there is a problem that the display of the map information is delayed depending on the circumstances of the communication network because it is necessary to wait until the map information of the other level is downloaded when requesting the map information of another level. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, there is an advantage that the map information of the level that is not viewed by the user is not transmitted.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is a service method of transmitting basic image map information according to a type desired by a user, and displaying the image map information on a user's mobile communication terminal. The present embodiment transmits image map information larger than a map area that a user wants to view on a screen of a mobile communication terminal, and displays a part of the large image map information when the user wants to view the enlarged or reduced map information. Is to use This embodiment has a problem in that it is not possible to properly represent a map data element displayed only in association with a specific level by a method of enlarging or reducing an image map that has already been transmitted. However, according to this embodiment, the implementation is simplified.

Embodiments of the invention also include computer-readable media containing program instructions for performing various computer-implemented operations. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. The medium or program instructions may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and magnetic disks, such as floppy disks. Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. The medium may be a transmission medium such as an optical or metal wire, a waveguide, or the like including a carrier wave for transmitting a signal specifying a program command, a data structure, or the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like.

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

Computer system 900 includes one or more processors 901 coupled with a main memory including random access memory (RAM) 902 and read only memory (ROM) 903. The processor 901 is also called a central processing unit (CPU). As is well known in the art, the ROM 903 serves to pass data and instructions to the CPU unidirectionally, and the RAM 902 typically transfers data and instructions bidirectionally. Used to. RAM 902 and ROM 903 may include any suitable form of computer readable media. Mass storage 904 is bidirectionally coupled to processor 901 to provide additional data storage capabilities, and may be 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 typically an auxiliary memory device such as a hard disk which is slower than the main memory device. Certain mass storage devices such as CD ROM 906 may be used. The processor 901 may include one or more input / output devices, such as a video monitor, trackball, mouse, keyboard, microphone, touchscreen display, card reader, magnetic or paper tape reader, voice or handwriting reader, joystick, or other known computer input / output device. Is connected to the interface 905. Finally, the processor 901 may be connected to a wired or wireless communication network through the network interface 907. Through this network connection, the procedure of the method described above can be performed. The apparatus and tools described above are well known to those skilled in the computer hardware and software arts.

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

According to the present invention, when providing map information to a mobile communication terminal and displaying a map of one area divided into a plurality of levels, the amount of data transmitted by sharing and transmitting map information data common to each level. Can be minimized.

In addition, according to the present invention, when providing a map image of a plurality of levels to a user, it is possible to display information appropriate for each level, not merely to enlarge or reduce an image of a map of one level.

According to the present invention, when providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, when a map of one region is divided and displayed in a plurality of levels, by maintaining a map data element in association with the plurality of levels, the mobile communication terminal is maintained. After receiving map information for one region and displaying a map of another level, the map may display another level of the map directly without additional download.

As described above, the present invention has been described by way of limited embodiments and drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, which can be variously modified and modified by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Modifications are possible. Accordingly, the spirit of the present invention should be understood only by the claims set forth below, and all equivalent or equivalent modifications thereof will belong to the scope of the present invention.

Claims (22)

In the method for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, Maintaining a map information database comprising a plurality of map data elements, each of the map data elements 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 Transmitting the identified map data element with the level information associated with the identified map data element to the mobile communication terminal. Including, The level information is associated with group information, 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 the location information corresponding to the map information request And identifying the map data element associated with the group information and location information corresponding to the map information request. The method of claim 1, And the level information is information on which level of the map data element is displayed when the level of the map is displayed on the display means of the mobile communication terminal. The method of claim 2, And the level information includes information about a plurality of levels with which the map data element is associated. The method of claim 2, And said level is an identifier associated with each of said displayed plurality of maps when the display means of said mobile communication terminal displays a plurality of maps of the same area. delete delete The method of claim 1, The map information request received from the mobile communication terminal includes the level information, Identifying the map data element associated with the location information corresponding to the map information request Identifying group information associated with the level information included in the map information request; And Identifying the location data corresponding to the map information request and the map data element associated with the group information. Map information providing method comprising a. The method of claim 1, And the map data element comprises polygon, polyline and period information. The method of claim 8, And if the map data element is a polygon or polyline, coordinate information associated with the map data element is one or more vertex coordinates of the polygon or polyline. The method of claim 8, Maintaining an icon associated with the periodic information; And Transmitting an icon associated with the period information to the mobile communication terminal; Map information providing method comprising a. The method of claim 10, Transmitting the icon associated with the period information to the mobile communication terminal, When the mobile communication terminal accesses a predetermined map information providing server, transmitting all of the icons associated with the period information to the mobile communication terminal; Map information providing method comprising a. In the method for providing map information in the mobile communication terminal, Requesting map information from a predetermined map information providing server, wherein the map information is associated with location information; Receiving a map data element associated with the location information from the map information providing server, each of the map data elements associated with coordinate information and level information; Storing the received map data element; Determining a display level of the map image to be 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; And Displaying a map image associated with the identified map data element on display means of the mobile communication terminal Map information providing method comprising a. The method of claim 12, Receiving the display level information from a user; Identifying a map data element of the stored map data elements associated with the display level information in response to receiving the display level information; And Displaying a map image associated with the identified map data element on display means of the mobile communication terminal Map information providing method further comprises a. In the 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 for each display level information associated with location information corresponding to the map information request; And Transmitting the map data element for each of the identified display level information to the mobile communication terminal. Including, And 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. The method of claim 14, The map information request received from the mobile communication terminal is associated with location information, And the location information is location information associated with a map image to be displayed on the mobile communication terminal. delete A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and 7 to 15 on a computer. delete delete delete In the map information providing system for providing map information to a mobile communication terminal, A map information database for maintaining 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 retrieval unit identifying the map data element associated with the location information from the map information database in response to the map information request; And A transmitter for transmitting the identified map data element to the mobile communication terminal along with the level information associated with the identified map data element Including, When the map data element associated with the same location information is associated with a plurality of display levels, the search unit searches for all of the map data elements associated with the plurality of display levels. And the transmitting unit transmits all of the map data elements associated with the retrieved plurality of display levels to the mobile communication terminal. delete

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