HK1071461A - Map with indexing for geographical information system and application to a system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates in general to geographic information systems and in particular to maps of the type bearing a graphic representation of cartographic information, broken down into a large number of elementary areas to which a large number of indices are respectively associated.

Two approaches are currently used in cartography which largely ignore each other.

The oldest approach, the use of maps with a graphical representation, is still very widely used, both for professional and mass applications. The maps give global information directly accessible and familiar to all potential users. They remain manageable down to large sizes, on the order of m2. When established by modern printing techniques, they allow very high fineness of stroke: many low-cost maps are made in polychrome by superimposing frames each made up of a matrix of points not less than 100 μm or (up to 25 μm), with a precision of positioning of the points of about 10 μm.

In contrast to these advantages, the traditional graphic map has limitations. In particular, the amount of useful information that can be written on a map without degrading its legibility is limited. This often leads to the reporting of most of the information in an appendix, i.e. an atlas.

The computer approach to geographic representation has so far been to define a point-by-point image, in the form of a table, in memory. Even if representation algorithms are used in simplified form, the information required requires very large memory spaces, up to several hundred million bytes for a single card. In addition, existing visual display devices are far from giving the same resolution as traditional graphics cards. A professional high-resolution monitor displays an image in the form of pixels each similar to a square of about 300 μm in side.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a map of the type defined above that can be used in a geographic information system to combine the graphical qualities of a traditional map with the advantages of electronic database addressing without degrading the readability of the map.

To this end, each index shall comprise a group of points on the map near the associated elementary zone and constitute a specific code for that zone, the set of indices constituting a location frame covering and superimposed on that graphic representation, each group of points being readable by optical reading devices cooperating with a computer system containing a data carrier which can be addressed by means of the indices.

Each location index serves as a key to access information that is not carried on the map, can differ depending on the destination of the map and can be easily updated. All the text of an atlas, all logical and topological relations, all calculation formulas can be stored on a computer data carrier belonging to a conventional architecture computer, possibly in pocket format.

The read-through address can be done in a simple way by using optical readers that are simply placed on the card at the location where information is being searched. These readers can be limited to an optical pencil with a scan field representing 2 to 5 times, in each direction, the footprint of an index. Although various coding modes are possible, it seems particularly interesting to use an index made up of a rectangular block of printed dots following several lines of the same length. These lines are separated by several blank lines and it is also advantageous to encode only one pixel on a block, the intermediate pixel remaining in a blank line.

Many safety inks are already known to have a response, i.e. a brightness, very low when illuminated in visible light and which have a response (reflectivity or fluorescence) strong in a specified spectrum when illuminated by light outside the visible spectrum, usually in the ultraviolet.

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Traditional maps are made up of a matrix of points arranged in a regular pattern, and in the common case of tetrachromatic maps, three colored lines, cyan (for water areas), green (for vegetation), yellow (for desert areas), are used to superimpose additional hues, and a black line, especially for inscriptions.

In the conventional printing process, each frame is materialized as a mask on a photographic film of variable transparency under the dots, or typon. Figure 1 shows, as an example, a fragment of map, greatly enlarged to make the dots of the frame appear.

The invention is also applicable to a graphic representation originally continuous but subsequently framed (aerial photograph, for example). In the case of digital photographs taken for example from aerial scanners or observation satellites and reproduced on photo-returners, the invention is particularly applicable to localization by inlay of the framing directly into digital files, prior to rendering.

The invention is implemented by superimposing disjoint codes on a frame which is superimposed on the graphic indications on the points of graphic representation. Conventional printing processes make it easy to print points of 50 to 100 μm diameter located at a distance of 10 μm closer to the inside of a pattern. In particular, a square pattern of about 1 mm x 1 mm consisting of points of about 100 μm diameter may be used. To facilitate locating and decoding, it is advantageous to adopt a pattern consisting of lines of coding points separated by blank lines, each slot for a coding point being separated from the adjacent slots by a blank space.

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The index in Figure 2 is therefore constructed from an elementary matrix of pixels composing a larger matrix, which constitutes the photosensitive side of an optical reading pencil, the points arranged on the elementary matrix performing a binary coding of certain active pixels of this matrix.

It should be noted that the square index of Figure 2 is considerably isotropic, the 30 points being distributed approximately in all directions around a centre of the index, which is also apparent from the observation of the different indices 10 in Figure 4: this arrangement allows for a near-point coding of a map. Conversely, an index as anisotropic as a dotted line would be less suitable for the coding sought.

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In the case of the use of a safe ink, which is not visible to the user, the appearance of the card is not degraded; the indexes are easily isolated by a reader; each index can be directly superimposed on the point to which it relates.

In areas of the map where there are many different indexes, each index can be printed only once at exactly the point concerned. In most cases, the blocks encode the Cartesian coordinate pair of their location; thus, all blocks in the location frame indicate a different code.

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It should be noted that the arrangement of the index points in Figure 2 in rows and columns facilitates the identification, these defining two orthogonal directions x, y (Figure 4), allowing the map to be oriented around the index under consideration.

The computer means associated with the card include a mass memory containing a database and addressable by the index, a processing unit for querying the database by means of an input organ such as a keyboard, and an alpha-digital display organ. Addressing to have information corresponding to a given index is done by electro-optical means such as a reading pencil with a matrix of charge-bearing sensors with a field diameter usually corresponding to about three times the dimension of the motif. When the patterns have the particular constitution described above, the pencil can have a field of about 5 millimeters in diameter and have a focusing position and a reference re-receptor.

The processing unit may be designed to allow the memory data to be addressed by keywords or standard questions, so that the answer to even complex questions can be read, such as: number of hotels in the city indicated by the index on which the pencil is pointed,cities with more than five thousand inhabitants within 100 kilometres by road in the department where the pencil is pointing to the prefecture,direction from the location indicated on the map to another location,also indicated on the map where the data is provided by means of the keyboard.

The use of a safe ink, which has no visible response, allows indexes to be printed on the map without degrading readability or deteriorating location. These advantages are of little interest in the case of homogeneous areas of the map, such as maritime areas. In these spaces, identified by a cyan frame, indexes can be printed, repeatedly or not, using patterns provided on the cyan frame, instead of those inscribed in safe ink or in addition to them, for example for maritime indications, such as bathymymia. More generally, on a map having a photographic image, it is sufficient that the frame is simply embedded in a visible background, if possible, to provide less inconvenience to the observation of the image.

The cards required for the implementation of the invention may be manufactured by a wide variety of processes, the choice of which will depend on the application.

These applications can be divided into three broad categories.

For professional applications, such as mission preparation, which generally require a card with specific mission information, the card may be created immediately before the mission, for example by using an inkjet printer, from a database extract required for the mission, and this base may be stored on a semiconductor memory.

The map can either be made by inscribing the indexes using a secure inkjet printer on an existing map or be made up in simplified form by extracting data from the existing map (made up from databases such as those of the National Geographic Institute, the Marine Hydrographic Service, the National Forestry Office, etc.), edited with the location frame on an inkjet printer in several passages.

For semi-professional applications, for example for navigators, the data no longer need to be prepared for a particular mission but distributed by geographical areas. In this case, the map simply needs to be indexed. The associated IT means will be the equivalent of nautical instructions, tide-giving books, etc. The association with a global positioning system or GPS receiver is of particular interest for this application.

Finally, mass applications are all those related to tourism and transport: they allow map, guide and map publishers to substitute computerised means for books and they also allow the diversity of maps to be reduced and the variety of information in thematic form to be developed, for example by providing databases on road traffic, historical monuments, points of sale and hotels.

In this case, the maps can be made in a completely traditional way, except that the edition requires a fifth typewriter, for printing indexes in secure ink.

A full-size example of a map drawn according to the invention is shown in Figure 5 which relates to a cadastral survey. The location drawing, superimposed on the map patterns consisting in particular of streets, contours of land, and houses, is composed of 10 indexes arranged in a checkered pattern uniformly covering the entire map, each appearing to the naked eye as a single point.

Claims (10)

1. System comprising an information medium with a plurality of adjacent patterns and an optical reading medium characterized by each pattern being made up of a block of dots (30) and the optical reading medium having a field of analysis covering a few adjacent patterns, the system also having a database accessible by these reading means.
2. System according to claim 1, The Court of First Instance held that the Commission had failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 85 (1) of the Treaty.
3. System according to claim 1, characterised by the optical reading means including a lighting means of selected wavelength to isolate the said motifs.
4. System according to claim 1, characterised by each pattern being a block of rectangular dots (30) separated by blank lines and spaces.
5. System according to claim 1, characterised by the fact that the points of the patterns are individually indistinguishable to the naked eye and that the patterns form a checkered framework with gaps separating the patterns.
6. A data carrier with a plurality of adjacent patterns, for implementation in a system conforming to at least one of the above claims, characterised by each pattern being a block of rectangular dots (30) separated by blank lines and spaces.
7. Information support according to the previous claim, characterised by the fact that the said patterns are one millimeter wide.
8. Information support according to claim 6 or 7, characterised by the fact that the said patterns are one millimeter high.
9. Information carrier according to at least one of claims 6 to 8, characterised by an image or text.
10. Information carrier according to at least one of claims 6 to 8, characterised by an image or text, excluding a map.