KR101005306B1 - Method and apparatus for providing map information - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method of providing map information is disclosed. Method of providing a map information according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: receiving a request for a map information including information on a request point from a terminal; extracting digital map information including a request point; Generating route information for the terminal and providing the generated route information to the terminal.

According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically generate readability information having high readability from a digital map, and there is an advantage of providing the generated map information to a user.

Digital map, map information, automatic map generation, orthogonalization, phase correction

Description

Method and apparatus for providing map information {Method and apparatus for providing map information}

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing map information, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for generating a map of a region requested by a user and providing the generated map.

Recently, with the rapid development of electronic engineering, communication engineering, and terminal technology, mobile terminals have various functions. That is, with the rapid development of wireless communication and wireless data processing technology, people can use not only voice calls but also data communication such as internet connection and content download using mobile terminals.

In an information society where the amount of information is enormous, the quality of life is determined by how much valid information is available. Among the various types of information, schematized data is becoming more important in the sense that it is an integrated of many information. Representative schematic data includes maps. Maps have comprehensive data on geography, including climate and population, as well as road networks and location information.

As the rapid development of wireless communication technology and wireless equipment technology continues, a user is provided with a service that provides an electronic map service through a wireless communication network. This map information is provided as a bitmap (bitmap) of the data containing the image.

However, such map information has a large amount of data, and it is difficult to recognize the information easily from the viewpoint of the user who views the map.

That is, the map information is composed of a vector image of the road network and surrounding buildings, a bitmap image to easily grasp the surrounding geography, and attribute information of the image. There was a limit. The map information includes not only text information but also a large amount of information, for example, spatial data. In particular, in the case of spatial data, since its volume is quite large, there is a problem in that a large amount of information to be transmitted takes a long time to transmit and the memory and processing capacity of the mobile terminal to receive the same are turned on.

In addition, the map information has a problem that readability is poor from the user's point of view. Indeed, humans can quickly and easily perceive path and spatial information through orthogonal roads (ie, directions). Therefore, if the actual map is not represented as a map, there was a problem that is unsuitable for road guidance.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for providing a map information of a specific area at the request of the user.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to automatically generate a highly readable map information from the digital map.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method of providing map information is disclosed.

Method of providing a map information according to an embodiment of the present invention (a) receiving a request for a map information including information on the request point from the terminal (b) extracting the digital map information including the request point (c) generating map information on the request point from the extracted digital map information, and (d) providing the generated map information to the terminal.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for providing drug information is disclosed.

The apparatus for providing map information according to another embodiment of the present invention may include a query processing unit for reading a request point from a request for map information received from the terminal, and a digital map manager for extracting numerical map information including the request point and the read numerical value. It includes a map information management unit for generating map information on the request point from the map information, and provides the map information to the terminal.

Therefore, the present invention has the effect of providing a method and apparatus for providing map information of a specific region at the request of a user.

In addition, there is an effect that can automatically generate a high readability information from the digital map.

As the invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms including ordinal numbers, such as second and first, may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the second component may be referred to as the first component, and similarly, the first component may also be referred to as the second component. The term and / or includes any item of a plurality of related items or a combination of a plurality of related items.

When a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but it may be understood that other components may be present in between. Should be. On the other hand, when a component is said to be "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there is no other component in between.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "having" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined in this application. Do not.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the same or corresponding components will be denoted by the same reference numerals regardless of the reference numerals and redundant description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a block diagram of a system for providing drug information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the emotional message transmission system may include a terminal 110, a communication network 120, and a device for providing map information 130.

In this specification, the terminal 110 is a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), cellular phone, PCS (Personal Communication Service) phone, WCDMA phone, CDMA-2000 phone, Mobile Broad and System (MBS) to communicate with the mobile communication network 120 In addition to the phone, the terminal 110 may include a terminal 110 that communicates with a wired or wireless Internet network, such as a personal computer (PC), a hand-held PC, a notebook PC, and the like.

Hereinafter, a description will be given on the assumption that the terminal 110 is a mobile terminal 110 such as a WCDMA phone implemented to use a communication service while moving, but it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the terminal 110 is not limited to this type. .

The terminal 110 receives map information from the map information providing device 130 to be described later. In detail, the terminal 110 requests the map information providing apparatus 130 to the map information providing apparatus 130 and receives the map information from the map information providing apparatus 130. The terminal 110 may display the received map information on the display area.

The communication network 120 includes not only CDMA or WCDMA, but also all wired and wireless communication networks 120 capable of performing data communication with the terminal 110. In particular, in the present invention, the communication network 120 may transmit and receive a request for directions information and directions to the terminal 110 through data communication.

The communication network 120 will now be described using WCDMA as an example. A WCDMA network providing map information according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a radio base station (Node B), a radio control station (RNC), a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN), a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), and the like. Message transmission server (eg, SMSC, MMSC, etc.). Since the WCDMA network is a known technology, detailed descriptions are omitted to clarify the gist of the present invention.

The map information providing apparatus 130 receives a map information request from the terminal 110. Here, the map information request includes a specific point (hereinafter referred to as a "request point").

In addition, the map information providing apparatus 130 extracts the digital map information including the request point from the storage area. Thereafter, the map information providing device 130 generates the map information from the extracted digital map information.

The map information providing apparatus 130 provides the generated map information to the corresponding terminal 110 (the terminal 110 requesting the map information).

Hereinafter, the configuration of the schematic information providing apparatus 130 will be described in detail by dividing it into functional units.

So far, the system for providing map information according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to FIG. 1. Hereinafter, the schematic information providing apparatus 130 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

2 is a block diagram of an apparatus 130 for providing location information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the apparatus 130 for providing direction information includes a communication unit 210, a query processor 220, a digital map manager 230, a map information manager 240, a map information converter 250, and a storage unit ( 260).

The communication unit 210 performs communication with an external device such as the terminal 110. The communication unit 210 receives a request for directions information from the terminal 110. In addition, the communication unit 210 may transmit the map information corresponding to the request to the terminal 110.

The query processor 220 reads the request point from the request for directions information received from the terminal 110. Here, the received map information request may include coordinate information including a longitude and latitude, an area name, a business name, an address, a telephone number, and a branch number. Therefore, the query processor 220 may read the request point based on the above information.

The digital map manager 230 extracts the digital map including the request point read by the query processor 220. Here, the numerical map means a figure displayed on a plane with a promise symbol by reducing the surface of the earth (including roads, intersections, buildings, etc.) at a predetermined rate by a predetermined amount.

In detail, the digital map management unit 230 extracts the digital map of the portion including the request point from the database storing the digital map. Here, the database storing the numerical map may be included in the map information providing apparatus 130. Alternatively, the database storing the numerical map may be provided outside the map information providing apparatus 130. In this case, the digital map manager 230 may request and receive a digital map through the communication unit 210 to a database storing an external digital map. However, in the present specification, for convenience of understanding and explanation of the present invention, a database storing a digital map will be described as being included in the map information providing apparatus 130.

The map information manager 240 generates the map information on the requested point by using the read numerical map information and provides the generated map information to the terminal 110.

In detail, the map information manager 240 generates the map information by simplifying the numerical map. First, the map information management unit 240 performs orthogonalization of the main roads included in the digital map. Here, the main road may be all roads included in the numerical map, or roads of three or more lanes. Alternatively, the road to be orthogonalized may be set as a main road in advance.

In addition, the map information manager 240 performs phase correction of nodes requiring correction according to the orthogonalization described above. Here, the node may be destination information, public transportation information, intersection information, bridge information, road-related major facility information, point of interest information (POI), and the like.

The orthogonalization and the phase correction of the node described above will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

For example, suppose that the terminal 110 requests the map information by setting Gangnam Station as a request point. In this case, the map information management unit 240 receives the digital map near the Gangnam station from the digital map management unit 230. The map information manager 240 orthogonalizes the main roads included in the received digital map. Map information is generated by correcting the phase of a display (node) of a building or the like according to an orthogonal main road. The generated map information is transmitted to the terminal 110 through the communication unit 210 described above, and the user can view information around the Gangnam station as a map with high readability.

In addition, the map information manager 240 may generate a map including the route information. That is, the map information manager 240 may generate the map information including the route information from the origin to the destination requested by the terminal 110.

In detail, the above-described query processing unit 220 further reads information on the origin from the request for directions information received from the terminal 110. The map information manager 240 selects a point corresponding to the corresponding starting point from the generated map information. Thereafter, the map information management unit 240 may display a request point at a point corresponding to the corresponding starting point in the generated map information, calculate a path between both points, and further display the map at the map.

Here, the route information may be a display through the road. Alternatively, the route information may be a display using a road name (for example, a straight turn after 5 km from National Highway No. 46). In addition, the route information may further include information about arrival time.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus for providing directions information 130 may collect location information of the corresponding terminal 110. The map information manager 240 may generate the map information including the route information as described above by setting the collected location information as a starting point. In this case, the location information of the terminal 110 may be collected through the LBS server or the GPS information of the terminal 110 may be collected.

The map information converting unit 250 converts the generated map information based on the graphic attribute information received from the terminal 110. In detail, the map information converting unit 250 receives graphic attribute information of the terminal 110 requesting the map information. Here, the graphic attribute information is information such as an image size and the number of colors. The map information converting unit 250 converts the map information to fit the received graphic attribute information. Thereafter, the map information converting unit 250 may transfer the converted map information to the map information managing unit 240 so as to be transmitted to the corresponding terminal 110.

In addition, the map information converting unit 250 may convert the generated map information into a Graphic User Interface (GUI) requested by the terminal 110.

For example, when the terminal 110 requests the graphic information in 3D while requesting the map information, the map information converter 250 converts the generated map information into 3D.

That is, the map information converting unit 250 converts the map information generated in the style of the map requested by the terminal 110. The style of the map may be the above-described 3D, but may be a style according to various choices such as building display, road name display, contour display, speed detection camera position display, always north upward display, and a progress direction upward display.

Therefore, the user of the terminal 110 has an advantage in that it can be provided in the form of a convenient map information.

The storage unit 260 stores the numerical map information. In addition, the storage unit 260 may further store Point of Interest (POI) information and road information. The storage unit 260 may store a predetermined program, input / output data, and various data processed to control the overall operation of the map information providing apparatus 130.

In detail, the storage unit 260 may include a numerical map storage unit 262, a POI storage unit 264, and a road information storage unit 266.

The digital map storage unit 262 includes information about the digital map. For example, the numerical map storage unit 262 may store a numerical map displaying roads, subway stations, intersections, bridges, and the like. In addition, the digital map storage unit 262 may provide the digital map of the request point by the digital map manager 230 described above.

The POI storage unit 264 stores POI information. Here, the point of interest information may include information about an address, a trade name, a phone number, and a land number included in map information of a terrain such as a building. The POI storage unit 264 may provide a request point corresponding to the information about the request point in response to a request of the query processor 220.

The road information storage unit 266 stores road traffic conditions and route information (shortest distance, arrival time, etc.) between specific points. Here, the road information may be updated through a predetermined period, and the information for updating may be provided from a server that provides external road traffic information. The road information storage unit 266 may provide route information between specific points at the request of the map information management unit 240. In other words, the map information management unit 240 is a road information from the departure point (the current position of the terminal 110 or the departure point included in the request of the terminal 110) to the request point (road information, such as the shortest distance and arrival time) Can be read from the storage unit 266.

In the present specification, the storage unit 260 is divided into the numerical map storage unit 262, the POI storage unit 264, and the road information storage unit 266 according to the type of information to be stored. However, the storage unit 260 may be implemented as one storage means (hard disk, etc.).

In the present specification, the communicator 210, the query processor 220, the digital map manager 230, the map information manager 240, the map information converter 250, and the storage 260 are expressed functionally. That is, each functional part is represented separately. However, this is for convenience of description and may be implemented in one circuit.

In particular, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the digital map manager 230, the map information manager 240, and the map information converter 250 may be implemented in a microcircuit as one logic unit.

So far, the apparatus for providing outline information 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to FIG. 2. Hereinafter, the process of providing map information will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing map information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The map information providing apparatus 130 generates the map information including a specific point in response to the request for providing the map information received from the terminal 110. In addition, the map information generating apparatus transmits the generated map information to the corresponding terminal 110. Accordingly, the user of the terminal 110 may be provided with high readability instead of a complicated numerical map.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 3, a method of providing map information will be described.

In operation S310, the direction information providing apparatus 130 receives a direction information request from the terminal 110. For example, a user of the terminal 110 may access the wireless internet (data communication) using the terminal 110. In this case, the user of the terminal 110 may request a map information by selecting a predetermined menu of the wireless Internet.

Subsequently, in step S320, the map information providing apparatus 130 reads out a request point from the map information request. For example, the request for directions information may include information regarding the location of Gangnam Station, 02-565-6727, Gulsan-dong, Gwangmyeong-si, and the like. Through this, the map information providing device 130 reads out a request point.

Subsequently, in operation S330, the map information providing apparatus 130 may extract a numerical map including a request point. As described above, when the information on the digital map is included, the map information providing apparatus 130 may extract a part of the digital map including the request point from the storage area. Alternatively, a required digital map may be extracted from a database that stores information about an external digital map.

Subsequently, in step S340, the map information providing apparatus 130 generates the map information from the extracted numerical map. The map information providing device 130 generates the map information by orthogonalizing the main roads of the digital map and correcting the phases of the nodes. Orthogonalization of the main road and phase correction of the nodes will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

In addition, although not shown in the drawing, the generated route information may include route information. Here, the route information includes information about a route from a departure point to an arrival point, for example, road and public transportation information.

In this case, the starting point may request the specific terminal 110. Alternatively, the starting point may be set to the current location of the terminal 110. The current location of the terminal 110 may be set using information collected through the LBS server included in the mobile communication network 120 or GPS information received from the terminal 110.

Subsequently, in step S350, the apparatus for providing directions information 130 provides the information about the generated route to the terminal 110. As described above, when the terminal 110 requests the route information by accessing the wireless Internet, the route information may be provided to the data communication line connected to the terminal 110. Alternatively, if the connection is lost, the apparatus 130 for providing map information may provide the map information to the terminal 110 in the form of a multimedia message service (MMS) message. That is, the map information providing apparatus 130 transmits a short message including a URL (uniform resource locator) address in which the map information is stored to the terminal 110 through the short message center (in the mobile communication network 120), and the terminal 110 may be connected to the received URL address to download the map information.

In addition, although not shown in the drawing, the apparatus 130 for providing location information may convert the location information to be suitable for graphic attribute information of the terminal 110 and transmit the converted information to the corresponding terminal 110. Alternatively, the map information providing apparatus 130 may convert the generated map information into a style requested by the terminal 110 and provide the map information. For example, the map information providing apparatus 130 may convert the map information in accordance with various requirements such as 3D, always displaying north upward and upward direction.

So far, the process of providing map information according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to FIG. 3. Hereinafter, a method of generating map information from a digital map will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

4 is an exemplary diagram for describing an orthogonalization process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a method of providing a highly readable map to a user of the terminal 110, and includes a technique of automatically generating map information from a digital map.

Therefore, the orthogonalization process of the main roads for generating high readability map information will be described with reference to FIG. 4. 4 shows a process of generating the direction information 403 orthogonal to the main road from the numerical map (example 401).

The map information providing apparatus 130 sets intersection points 410 and 420 of each road in the numerical map. Referring to FIG. 4, the first intersection 410 and the second intersection 420 are set.

In addition, the map information providing device 130 moves the first intersection 410 and the second intersection 420 along the road. For example, the map information providing apparatus 130 may include a first intersection point such that a line connecting the moved first intersection point 411 and the moved second intersection point 411 is perpendicular to the main road. 410 and the second intersection 420 is moved. Thereafter, the map information providing apparatus 130 sets an imaginary line connecting the moved first intersection 411 and the moved second intersection 422.

Exemplary FIG. 403, the map information providing apparatus 130 changes the virtual line connecting the moved first intersection 411 and the moved second intersection 422 to a road.

The map information providing device 130 performs the above-described process to generate the map information 403 on the digital map 401. Referring to the generated map information 403, it can be seen that the main roads are perpendicular to each other. This orthogonal map provides high readability to the user.

The above-mentioned map information needs to readjust the phase of a building according to the orthogonalization of the main road. Hereinafter, a method of readjusting information such as a building will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

5 is an exemplary view for explaining a phase correction process of a node according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the schematic information providing apparatus 130 performs phase correction of nodes 520 that need correction according to orthogonalization of a main road. Here, the node 520 may include destination information, public transportation information, intersection information, bridge information, road-related major facility information, point of interest information (POI), and the like.

5 illustrates a process of generating the direction information orthogonal to the main road from the numerical map 501 and then generating the direction information 503 correcting the phase of the node 520.

Exemplary Figure 502, the predetermined node 520 was located on the right side of the road before orthogonalization is performed, but after performing orthogonalization, it can be seen that it is located on the left side of the road. Therefore, the map information providing device 130 needs to correct the phase of the node 520.

The map information providing apparatus 130 sets an intersection point 510 of a road. In addition, the map information providing apparatus 130 calculates a distance d between the node 520 and a road (before orthogonalization) adjacent to the node 520. In addition, the map information providing apparatus 130 calculates a distance L between the intersection point 510 and the node 520.

After the map information providing device 130 performs orthogonalization of the road, the map information providing device 130 sets the intermediate node 530 to a point separated by L from the intersection point 510 on the road changed to orthogonalization. Thereafter, the schematic information providing apparatus 130 performs phase correction on the node 520 to a point 540 away from the intermediate node 530 by d.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 503, the predetermined node 520 is changed to the phase correction point 540 to be located on the right side of the changed road even after orthogonalization.

As described above, the map information providing apparatus 130 corrects the phase of the nodes according to the orthogonalization of the road.

So far, the method of generating the map information by performing the orthogonalization of the main road from the numerical map has been described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 through a specific example.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto. In addition to the above-described example, the present invention calculates an angle between a node before orthogonalization and an intersection point, and displays a node position as a point moved by an angle calculated at an intersection point from a road after orthogonalization. It includes all methods of generating the weakness information through orthogonalization and node phase correction.

The invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored.

For example, the computer-readable recording medium may include a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like.

It may also include the implementation in the form of a carrier wave (for example, transmission over the Internet).

The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

And functional programs, codes and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily inferred by programmers in the art to which the present invention belongs.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. It will be understood that the invention may be varied and varied without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 is a block diagram of a system for providing drug information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram of an apparatus for providing drug information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a flow chart for the process of providing map information in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is an exemplary view for explaining an orthogonalization process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is an exemplary view for explaining a phase correction process of a node according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

110: terminal 120: communication network

130: device for providing map information 210: communication unit

220: query processing unit 230: digital map management unit

240: map information management unit 250: map information conversion unit

260: storage unit 262: digital map storage unit

264: POI storage unit 266: road information storage unit

Claims (12)

In the method of providing a map information providing device information requested by the terminal, (a) receiving a route information request including information on a request point from the terminal; (b) extracting numerical map information including the request point; (c) generating map information on the request point from the extracted digital map information; And (d) providing the generated route information to the terminal, In step (c), (c-1) generating the map information through orthogonalization of main roads included in the extracted digital map information; Step (c-1), (c-2) generating the map information through phase correction of nodes included in the numerical map information corresponding to orthogonalization of the main road, The node may include at least one of destination information, public transportation information, intersection information, bridge information, road-related major facility information, and point of iterate (POI) information. delete delete The method of claim 1, In step (c), (c-3) performing road orthogonalization for changing a first road perpendicular to two roads among roads included in the numerical map information; (c-4) calculating a distance D between a node included in the numerical map information and the first road before the orthogonalization; (c-5) calculating a distance L between the intersection point of the first road and the second road and the node; And (c-6) a step of setting a point away from the intersection by L on the first road as an intermediate node, and correcting a phase of the node to a point away from the intermediate node by the distance D; How to Provide Information. The method of claim 1, In step (b), (b-1) obtaining location information of the terminal by querying a location providing server connected to the map information providing apparatus, and extracting digital map information further including location information of the terminal, The map information further comprises route information from the location of the terminal to the request point. The method of claim 1, Information about the request point, Method for providing directions information comprising the coordinates, including the longitude and latitude, area name, business name, address, telephone number and branch number. In the map information providing device for providing map information to the terminal, A query processing unit which reads a request point from the request for map information received from the terminal; A digital map manager for extracting digital map information including the request point; And A map information management unit for generating map information on the request point from the read numerical map information and providing the map information to the terminal; The map management unit generates the map information through orthogonalization of main roads included in the extracted digital map information, The map management unit generates the map information through phase correction of nodes included in the numerical map information corresponding to orthogonalization of the road, The node may include at least one of destination information, public transportation information, intersection information, bridge information, road related main facility information, and point of iterate (POI) information. delete delete The method of claim 7, wherein The map information, Direction information providing apparatus comprising the route information from the source requested from the terminal to the destination. The method of claim 7, wherein Based on the graphic attribute information requested from the terminal, further comprising a map information converting unit for converting the generated map information, The map information management unit provides the converted map information to the terminal. The method of claim 7, wherein The received map information request, Coordinate information including a longitude and latitude, a location information providing apparatus comprising a region name, business name, address, telephone number and branch number.

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