JP2005025215A - Image providing device and image providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a service with which scrolling operation of images can be smoothly performed and which can be easily used by a user. <P>SOLUTION: An image providing device is constituted such that the terminal device 3 of a map information providing system generates sectional information within a display range with the position of coordinates as a reference, when the position of the coordinates is designated on a map providing picture, and image data to be put in the sectional information are requested to a server device 2. The server device 2 transfers the image data for the portion of the sectional information string requested by the terminal device 3 to the terminal device 3. In the image providing device, when change of a display region is instructed on a menu screen (scrolling operation) for providing the map of the terminal device 3, the terminal device 3 generates sectional information string in the case of display change and requests the server device 2 to transfer the image data only for the sections except for the section where the image data are already present. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image providing apparatus and an image providing method for providing image information such as a map, a figure, and a circuit diagram using a communication line such as a telephone line.

  In the information providing service, a server device receives a request transmitted from a communication terminal device such as a PDA or a computer through a communication line, and provides information corresponding to the request. For example, services such as ticket purchase and reservation for tickets and theaters have already been implemented.

  As a system for realizing this kind of information providing service, a dial-up connection is made to a predetermined server device on the network, and a reservation screen stored in the server device is operated from a dedicated terminal. It was necessary.

  Therefore, in recent years, the development of the Internet technology and the development of the HTML language have made it possible to obtain desired information by accessing various server devices even from a general-purpose computer, and the convenience of the user has been improved.

  As a service for users using the Internet, for example, when considering a service that provides map information to users via a communication line, such as a telephone line, the names of major cities and stations on the map on the homepage published by the server device It is conceivable that the map information corresponding to the name selected by the user is transferred and the map information according to the name selected by the user is transferred. The analog telephone line that is used has a low transmission speed, and it takes time to transfer data using such a telephone line. For example, even with a transmission rate of about 32 kbps (4 Kbytes per second) such as PHS, it takes about 30 seconds to transfer gif data (120 Kbytes) of about 640 × 480 dots.

  By the way, as a user who uses this system, he / she accesses to know where he / she wants to go and where he / she wants to know. Based on the downloaded map information, he / she can scroll the information of the place he / she wants to know next. Become.

  However, conventionally, in the case of this type of information providing service, all data is transferred in units of one screen, so that it takes 30 seconds for each scroll operation. This is very difficult to call scrolling.

  In addition, it takes 30 seconds to download a piece of map information in this way, and repeating this process over and over again makes it difficult for users to use the service because of the communication cost. It was.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and provides an image providing apparatus and an image providing method capable of smoothly performing an image scrolling operation and providing a user-friendly service. It is aimed.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image providing apparatus of the present invention is an image providing apparatus that provides an image requested from an image display device, and a plurality of partial images constituting one image are included in the image. Image data storage means for assigning and storing position information of the partial image, position table storage means for associating and storing the identifier of the partial image and position information of the partial image in the image, and the image display device From the image identifier requested from the data processing means for acquiring the position information of the partial image from the position table storage means, and the request from the image centered on the position information obtained by the data processing means. Based on the result obtained by the cutout position calculating means and the cutout position calculating means for calculating the position to cut out the cut image, the image data storage means Cut a plurality of partial images constituting the requested image stored Te, and a data slicing means for transmitting to the image display device.

  In the data extraction unit of the image providing device, the arrangement of the plurality of partial images is shown, and the section information corresponding to each of the partial images is further transmitted to the image display device. The data extraction means of the image providing device receives a partition information sequence in which the partition information is arranged from the image display device, and transmits a partial image corresponding to the partition information described in the partition information sequence. In the data processing unit of the image providing apparatus, when there is blank section information in the section information string, only the partial image corresponding to the section information that is not blank is transmitted.

  In the data extraction unit of the image providing apparatus, a program for displaying a plurality of partial images constituting the requested image is further transmitted. The program further describes the identifier of the changed image when the requested image is changed. The program further describes a plurality of partial images constituting the changed image when the requested image is changed. The program further describes section information of partial images constituting the changed image. In the above program, partition information excluding the partition information of the partial image constituting the image before the change is described from the partition information of the partial image constituting the changed image.

  An image providing method of the present invention is an image providing method for providing an image requested from an image display device, and a plurality of partial images constituting one image are given position information of the partial images in the image. An image data storing step for storing the image, a position table storing step for storing a position table in which the identifier of the partial image is associated with the position information of the partial image in the image, and an identifier of the image requested from the image display device From the data processing step of acquiring the position information of the partial image from the position table, and calculating the position to cut out the requested image from the image with the position information obtained in the data processing step as the center A cut-out position calculating step and a result obtained in the cut-out position calculating step. It was cut a plurality of partial images constituting the requested image, and a data slicing step for transmitting to the image display device.

  In the data extraction step of the image providing method, the arrangement information of the plurality of partial images is shown, and the section information corresponding to each of the partial images is further transmitted to the image display device.

  In the data extraction step of the image providing method, a section information sequence in which the section information is arranged is received from the image display device, and a partial image corresponding to the section information described in the section information sequence is transmitted.

  In the data processing step of the image providing method, when there is blank section information in the section information sequence, only the partial image corresponding to the section information that is not blank is transmitted.

  In the data extraction step of the image providing method, a program for displaying a plurality of partial images constituting the requested image is further transmitted. The program further describes the identifier of the changed image when the requested image is changed. The program further describes a plurality of partial images constituting the changed image when the requested image is changed. The program further describes section information of partial images constituting the changed image. In the above program, partition information excluding the partition information of the partial image constituting the image before the change from the partition information of the partial image constituting the changed image is described.

  In the above invention, the image providing device transmits the partial image obtained by dividing the image information to be transmitted to the image display device to the image display device through the communication network, and the image display device divides the image information from the image providing device through the communication network. The multiple partial images sent as a result are displayed as a single image, so a small unit of image data will be sent to the communication network. For example, when a lack of image data is requested due to a scroll operation, etc. The providing device only needs to send the data, the data transfer time is shortened, and the delay time until the image is displayed when the scroll operation is performed can be reduced.

  Since the partial image to be transferred is smaller than the screen display area of the image display device, each partial image can be displayed smoothly.

  By adding expiration date information to the partial image to be transferred, the partial image data that has passed the expiration date can no longer be reused on the image display device side, and the image providing device can be accessed when necessary. The usage frequency can be increased.

  In addition, one image is divided into a plurality of partial images, and in response to a request from the image display device, a partial map composed of image data of several sections is transferred to the image display device, and then displayed. In the apparatus, when a scroll operation is performed to move the display area of the displayed partial map, the image providing apparatus sends only the partial image excluding the already transferred partial image, so the transfer amount of the image data is small. The data transfer time can be shortened.

  Further, when there is a program transfer request from the image display device, the corresponding program is transferred, whereby an image in which the partial images of the image data storage means are arranged is displayed on the image display device. When a partial image for which a link is set in this image is selected, a new image that partially overlaps this image is displayed. At this time, the image providing apparatus displays a partial image of the overlapping portion. Since the excluded partial images are transferred, the image transfer amount can be reduced.

  In addition, among the partial images described in the program received from the image providing device, the partial image stored in the storage unit is displayed first, and the partial image not stored in the storage unit is captured from the image providing device and displayed later. Thus, since the area of the part whose position is already known is displayed first, and the area of the newly captured part is displayed later, the user can follow the scroll direction while sequentially viewing the images. .

  As a result, it is possible to smoothly scroll the image and provide a service that is easy for the user to use.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the image providing apparatus transmits the partial image obtained by dividing the image information to be transmitted to the image display apparatus to the image display apparatus through the communication network, and the image display apparatus provides the image provision. Since a plurality of partial images sent separately from the apparatus via the communication network are displayed as one image, the image can be scrolled smoothly and a service that is easy for the user to use can be provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the map information providing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in the figure, this map information providing system is configured by connecting a center device 2 and a terminal device 3 to a communication line 1 such as a telephone line. The communication line 1 includes a wireless line and a wired line.

  The center device 2 includes a hard disk 21, a communication unit 22, a data processing unit 23, a cut position calculation unit 24, a data cut unit 25, and the like. The hard disk 21 stores various programs including an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) and various data (such as map data and a position table). The communication unit 22 is a modem or the like, and is connected to the communication line 1 such as a telephone line.

  The terminal device 3 includes a display device 31, a RAM 32, a pointing device 33 such as a mouse, a position information conversion unit 34, a movement counter 35, a data processing unit 36, a display control unit 37, a communication unit 38, and the like. The display device 31 is a display such as a CRT or LCD, and has an image display performance of about 1024 × 768 dots, for example. The RAM 32 stores image data downloaded from the center device 2 and section information. The pointing device 33 is for instructing a location or an image in the map providing screen displayed on the display device 31. The position information conversion unit 34 converts the location designated by the pointing device 33 and the position of the image into absolute coordinates on the map. When the movement direction of the display area is instructed on the map providing screen, the movement counter 35 counts the movement amount in that direction. The data processing unit 36 processes data transmitted and received between the center device 2 and the terminal device 3. The display control unit 37 performs control for displaying the data processed by the data processing unit 36 on the display device 31. The communication device 38 is a modem or the like, and is connected to the communication line 1 such as a telephone line.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the map data stored in the hard disk 21 is, for example, a wide range of map data covering the entire region of Japan. This map data is bitmap data, and data can be cut out in units of dots.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the location table 40 of the hard disk 21 includes location names of representative cities on a Japanese map, for example, city names such as Tokyo, Shizuoka, Osaka, etc., and location data (X coordinate, Are registered in association with each other.

  That is, in the position table 40, for example, the X coordinate x1, Y coordinate y1 on the map is registered as position information such as Tokyo, and the X coordinate x2, Y coordinate y2 on the map is registered as position information such as Shizuoka. In addition, X coordinate x3, Y coordinate y3, and the like on the map are registered as position information of Osaka and the like.

  The operation of the map information providing system according to the first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  In the case of this map information providing system, when the terminal device 3 is activated and a dial-up connection is made to the center device 2 (see FIG. 4), in the center device 2, the data processing unit 23 reads the menu data from the hard disk 21. The read menu data is transmitted to the terminal device 3 through the communication line 1.

  In the terminal device 3, when the communication unit 38 receives the menu data from the communication line 1, the menu data is sent to the display device 31 through the data processing unit 36 and the display control unit 37, and is sent to the display device 31 as shown in FIG. A menu 50, that is, a list of place names is displayed. In this menu 50, several point names such as Tokyo, Shizuoka, Osaka, etc. are shown.

  Here, when the pointing device 33 is used to select and operate a point name that is considered to be closest to the place that the user desires to browse, for example, the pointing device 33, the position information conversion unit 34 converts the position of Tokyo into coordinates, and the movement counter. 35 and the data processing unit 36. In this case, Tokyo is set as a reference position, and (0, 0) is set in the movement counter 35.

  The data processing unit 36 generates a section information sequence in which section information of divided images displayed on the display device 31 is arranged with Tokyo as a reference. As shown in FIG. 6, this section information string is a section in which Tokyo is set as a header and section information is arranged behind it. The order of the section information corresponds to the display section (display area) 51 partitioned by 4 × 4 in the screen of the menu 50 shown in FIG. 7, and the first four are in the first column and the next four are in the first column. The second column is in the order of the fourth column, and the order of the sections corresponds to the screen. The display section 51 is a section for displaying a partial map in a range of 640 × 480 dots, for example, with a plurality of small-area image data, for example, 16 pieces of image data. Each image data has a size of 160 × 120 dots because it is 1/4 in both the vertical and horizontal directions.

  The data processing unit 36 stores the generated section information sequence in the RAM 32 and passes it to the display control unit 37. The display control unit 37 displays the image at any position on the screen based on the received section information sequence. Determine what to do. Normally, the display control unit 37 checks whether the image data of Tokyo (−2, 2), Tokyo (−1, 2)... Is stored (cached) in the RAM 32 in the order of the section information sequence. The image data is displayed at the position of the corresponding section on the screen. Initially, since there is no image data in the RAM 32, nothing is displayed on the screen.

  Further, the data processing unit 36 processes the generated section information as a request message, generates a request message in which section information is arranged in order with Tokyo as a header, in the same manner as the section information sequence shown in FIG. The data is transmitted from the unit 38 to the center device 2. In the center apparatus 2, when the data processing unit 23 receives the request message through the communication unit 22, the data processing unit 23 first identifies the location as Tokyo from the received request message, and then searches the location table 40 of the hard disk 21 for Tokyo. The position coordinates x1 and y1 are extracted and the cutout position calculation unit 24 is instructed to calculate the cutout position with reference to Tokyo based on the map data shown in FIG. The cut-out position calculation unit 24 first calculates a section of Tokyo (0,0).

  In this case, the section of Tokyo (0,0) is a section with the (X1, y1) point (cutting start position) and the (x1 + 160, y1 + 120) point (cutting end position) as diagonal lines. (Cutout range), and other sections are calculated thereafter.

  When the cutout position is calculated by the cutout position calculation unit 24, the data cutout unit 25 divides the map data of the hard disk 21 into a matrix based on the cutout position data, as shown in FIG. A row number and a column number are added to each section with Tokyo as a reference, and the image data at the position of the section information in the request message is cut out and passed to the data processing unit 23 in order.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the data processing unit 23 generates a response message in which the received image data is associated with the section information, and transmits the response message to the terminal device 3 through the communication unit 22 and the communication line 1.

  In the terminal device 3, when the communication unit 38 receives the response message from the communication line 1, it passes the response message to the data processing unit 36. Then, the data processing unit 36 sends it to the display control unit 37.

  The display control unit 37 compares the section information included in the response message with the section information sequence, displays the image data in order at a predetermined position on the display section of the screen of the display device 31, and displays a plurality of images. The images are integrated and displayed as one image, and the image data is sent to the RAM 32 for storage.

  In the RAM 32, as shown in FIG. 10, the received and displayed place name (Tokyo, etc.), section information (-2,2)... (-2, -1) and section information (-2,2). -2, -1) corresponding to the divided image data is stored.

  Here, when the user selects an image portion on the desired direction side with the pointing device 33 in an attempt to scroll the partial map displayed on the menu 50 of the display device 31 in the desired direction, the selection information is converted into the position information conversion unit 34. Is output.

  The position information conversion unit 34 determines the movement amount of the partial map display range from the selection information and passes it to the data processing unit 36.

  Here, in order to determine the movement amount, as shown in FIG. 11, a movement direction table 60 is set in advance in the position information converter 34, and the movement amount is determined from this movement direction table. In the movement direction table 60, (0, 0), that is, no movement is set in the inner display section, and the amount of movement toward each outer side is set only in the peripheral display section.

  When the pointing device 33 selects, for example, the upper left corner image portion of the partial map, that is, the (-2, -2) section, (-1, -1) in FIG. 11 is determined as the movement amount. This movement amount (-1, -1) means that one block is moved to the left and one block is moved upward, and the movement counter 35 is updated from (0, 0) to (-1, -1).

  The data processing unit 36 adds the updated value (-1, -1) of the movement counter 35 to the block information sequence already stored in the RAM 32, and displays a new partial map as shown in FIG. A new section information sequence is generated for this purpose. This means that the display area of the partial map to be displayed is shifted by one block to the upper left.

  Subsequently, the data processing unit 36 determines whether or not the image data of the section information (−3, −3), (−2, −3)... In the newly generated section information sequence exists in the RAM 32. When the image data of the existing section is read out and sent to the display control unit 37 and the request message for requesting the center apparatus 2 for the image data not existing in the RAM 32 is generated, the corresponding section information column The part to be generated is replaced with a blank (blank).

  Thereby, as shown in FIG. 13, the request message from new division information is produced | generated. Then, this request message is transmitted, and a remaining non-blank part, that is, a part that is not cached is requested.

  In this case, segment information for which image data is not cached includes (-3,0), (-3, -1), (-3, -2), (-3, -3), (-2, -3), (-1, -3), and (0, -3), and issues a request to the center device 2 to transfer the seven image data, and is already cached in the RAM 32. 9 sections (0,0), (-1,0), (-2,0), (0, -1), (-1, -1), (-2, -1), (0, -2 ), (-1, -2), (-2, -2) image data is sent to the display control unit 37 and displayed on the display device 31.

  When the center device 2 receives the request message from the terminal device 3, the center device 2 cuts out seven pieces of image data having the requested section information and sends them back to the terminal device 3.

  In the terminal device 3, when the requested seven image data are received by the data processing unit 36 through the communication unit 38, the data processing unit 36 passes it to the display control device 37, and the nine image data that have already been displayed. The nine newly received image data are cached in the RAM 32 together with the partition information. In the above embodiment, all the image data is cached in the RAM 32. However, the image data may be recorded on a hard disk or the like, or the image data body may simply move the image on the screen. If image data is recorded on the hard disk, past display data remains, so there is a possibility that section information and image data may remain when the first request message is generated. The amount of transfer can be reduced.

  As described above, according to the map information providing system of the first embodiment, a part of images are overlapped before and after scrolling, and the map data is divided (subdivided) into small pieces on the center device 2 side, and the terminal device 3, the image data is transferred in units of small blocks together with the requested partition information in response to a data transfer request based on the partition information. Thereafter, when the partial map is scrolled, a new one generated by the scroll operation on the terminal device 3 side is transferred. Since the section information sequence is generated and the image transfer request is issued to the center apparatus 2 only with the section information that is different from the section information of the already cached image data, the amount of data to be sent back after the scroll operation can be reduced. Transfer time can be reduced.

In general, when the movement amount is 1 row / column in the division of m rows and n columns,
Diagonal movement: {m × n− (m−1) × (n−1)} / m × n
= (M + n-1) / m * n
Vertical movement: {m × n−m × (n−1)} / m × n
= 1 / n
Left / right movement: {m × n− (m−1) × n} / m × n
= 1 / m
Just do it.

  In the 16-segment display as in the first embodiment, the transfer amount is 7/16 in the case of oblique scrolling, compared to the case where the image is displayed again in units of one screen without being segmented, and scrolling up, down, left and right is performed. In this case, a transfer amount of 4/16 is sufficient.

  Further, for example, in 9-division display, a transfer amount of 5/9 is sufficient for oblique scrolling, and a transfer amount of 3/9 is sufficient for scrolling up, down, left, and right. Further, in the 4-split display, a transfer amount of 3/4 is sufficient for oblique scrolling, and a transfer amount of 2/4 is sufficient for scrolling up, down, left, and right. The same applies to the case where the number of vertical and horizontal divisions is different, that is, the case of 15 divisions divided by 3 × 5.

  When the scroll operation is performed on the terminal device 3, the already displayed image data is already cached in the hard disk 37 or RAM 33 on the terminal device 3 side, so that it is quickly displayed and newly displayed in the center device 2. The requested image data is displayed with a slight delay from the cached data due to the transfer speed of the communication line 1, so that the scrolled direction on the partial map without adding a timing control means such as a delay unit. Will be well understood by the user.

  In the first embodiment, the scroll operation on the terminal device 3, that is, the operation to change the display area is performed by selecting a peripheral image, but other than this, for example, on the display screen in the vertical, horizontal, and diagonal directions A plurality of arrows may be displayed and selected. Further, by arranging the arrows around the displayed image, the user can easily visually understand the direction in which the display area is scrolled.

  In addition, when collecting a usage fee from the user or the like for the information providing service as in the first embodiment according to the number of times of connection to the center device 2, all map data is mechanically stored by repeating scrolling in one connection. After that, there is a possibility that the usage fee cannot be collected without connection.

Therefore, it is necessary to take measures on the center device 2 side.
For example, when the value of the section information in the request message sent from the terminal device 3 to limit the map viewing range in one connection exceeds, for example, ± 10 from the initial position, the data of the center device 2 The request may be ignored by the processing unit 23, or a blank image may be sent. Further, in order to make it difficult to divert image data stored in a storage device such as a RAM or a hard disk to other uses, the data processing unit 23 may replace the numerical value of the partition information with a random number table. By replacing the section information at random, even if the data is read, the connection is not known, so the data does not make sense as a map.

  It is also conceivable to add information indicating usage restrictions to the image data in addition to the section information. As information indicating this use restriction, for example, the creation date of image data is good. By adding information on the expiration date such as the creation date to the image data in this way, it is possible to restrict the reading from the RAM or hard disk after the expiration date, so that reconnection to the center device can be expected. Become.

  Hereinafter, a map information providing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the configuration of the map information providing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in the figure, this map information providing system is connected to the Internet 101 via, for example, a telephone line, and is connected to the server apparatus 102 that publishes a home page described in the HTML language and the communication line 1 and is connected to the Internet. It comprises a terminal device 103 equipped with browser software for browsing a homepage published by various Uniform Resource Locators (hereinafter referred to as URL).

  The server device 102 includes a CPU 121, ROM 122, RAM 123, keyboard 124, mouse 125, display device 126, hard disk 127, communication device 128, and the like. The ROM 122 stores a basic program (such as a boot program). The hard disk 127 includes various programs including an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS), for example, a link program (HTML file) written in an HTML language for publishing a homepage or map as a map providing screen on the Internet, and this HTML. Stores a map database linked to a file. The RAM 123 is a work area for reading the OS and each of the above programs from the hard disk 127 after the apparatus is activated. The display device 126 is a monitor or the like. The communication device 128 is a terminal adapter (TA) or a modem, and is connected to a telephone line or the like.

  The terminal device 103 is a general computer including a CPU 131, a ROM 132, a RAM 133, a keyboard 134, a mouse 135, a display device 136, a hard disk 137, a communication device 138, and the like.

  The browser software stored in the hard disk 127 may be any program as long as it is browsing software that operates on the OS, accesses the server apparatus 102, and can download a desired program, image data, and the like in units of files. good. The display device 136 is a display such as a CRT or LCD, and has an image display performance of, for example, about 1024 × 768 dots.

  In the map database, as shown in FIG. 15, for example, a wide range of map data covering the entire region of Japan is stored. This map data is composed of data of a plurality of gif images in which one section is divided into a matrix of, for example, about 160 × 120 dots. As the file name of each gif image data, a name indicating each position (row and column) on the map is given. The image in the upper left corner of this Japanese map is the file name 001_001, and its neighbor is 002_001. The file name 001_002 is below the image 001_001 in the upper left corner. Therefore, the image in the lower right corner on the map of Japan has the file name 015_019.

  As the HTML file, for example, as shown in FIG. 16, a program (index.htm) for displaying an index screen for designating a location and a plurality of files displayed in the index screen as shown in FIG. Linked to a program (left.htm) that links points (for example, Tokyo, Shizuoka, Osaka, etc.) to different HTML files, and a partial map display program linked to each point on the index screen (for example, points (Tokyo)) As a partial map display program such as 010_013.htm in FIG. 18) and among the image data displayed by this partial map display program (010_013.htm), it is linked to the image data for which link information is set. This is a partial map display program (for example, 009_012.htm in FIG. 19 linked to 010_013.gif).

The operation of this map information providing system will be described below.
In the case of this map information providing system, the terminal device 3 is connected to the Internet by starting browser software, inputting the URL (http: // ...) of the homepage, and operating the execution button. A request for homepage display is made to the server apparatus 102, and the first HTML file (index.htm file shown in FIG. 16) for displaying the homepage is downloaded from the server apparatus 102 to the terminal apparatus 103 via the Internet, and the display apparatus 136 is downloaded. The homepage is displayed in the frame of the browser screen.

  As shown in FIG. 20, the homepage 150 includes a plurality of partial maps composed of a point selection screen 151 showing several point names, for example, Tokyo, Shizuoka, Osaka, etc., and a region such as 640 × 480 dots. Image data of a small area, for example, a map display screen 152 for displaying with 16 pieces of image data, a scroll bar 153 for selecting points, and the like. When the area of the entire partial map is 640 × 480 dots, the size of each image data is 160 × 120 dots (size of 1/16) because the size of each image data is divided vertically and horizontally into four.

  On this homepage 150, when a user selects a location name that is considered to be closest to the location that the user wants to browse, such as Tokyo (clicking the mouse), the Tokyo portion (the location of the left.htm file in FIG. 17 ( A transfer request for the second HTML file (010_013.htm) linked to Tokyo)) is sent to the server apparatus 102 on the Internet.

  When the server apparatus 102 receives a transfer request for the second HTML file (010_013.htm) from the terminal apparatus 103, the server apparatus 102 reads the second HTML file (010_013.htm) from the hard disk 27 and transfers it to the terminal apparatus 103. .

  In other words, the second HTML file (010_013.htm) includes four pieces of inner image data {(009_012.gif), (010_012.gif) including the image data (010_013.gif) of the section area of Tokyo. , (009_013.gif), (010_013.gif)} and twelve image data {(008_011.gif), (009_011.gif), (010_011.gif), (011_011.gif), (008_012.gif), (011_012.gif), (008_013.gif), (011_013.gif), (008_014.gif), (009_014.gif), (010_014.gif), (011_014.gif)} This program is displayed at a specified position on the display screen of the terminal device 103.

  In the terminal device 103, when the second HTML file (010_013.htm) is received from the server device 102, the browser software executes the program of the second HTML file (010_013.htm).

  As a result, the first column from the top in the map display screen 152 of the home page 150 shown in FIG. 20 in order from the left to the right, and so on in the same manner as the second, third, and fourth columns. Image data {(008_011.gif), (009_011.gif), (010_011.gif), (011_011.gif), (008_012.gif), (009_012.gif), (010_012.gif), (011_012.gif) , (008_013.gif), (009_013.gif), (010_013.gif), (011_013.gif), 008_014.gif), (009_014.gif), (010_014.gif), (011_014.gif)} A partial map of 640 × 480 dots is displayed, and a plurality of obtained image data is cached in the RAM 133.

  Here, on the home page 150, when the user moves the cursor on the partial map in order to scroll the partial map in a desired direction, the display state of the cursor is changed at the position of the surrounding image data in which the link information is set. Change.

  When the user clicks the mouse in the upper left corner of the partial map, for example, the browser software requests the server device 102 for the third HTML file (009_012.htm) linked to the image data (008_011.gif).

  When the server apparatus 102 receives this program transfer request, it reads the requested third HTML file (009_012.htm) from the hard disk 127 and transfers it to the terminal apparatus 3.

  This third HTML file (009_012.htm) is the inner image data {(008_011.gif), (009_011.gif), (008_012.gif) that does not have link information including the origin image (009_012.gif) , (009_012.gif)} and the surrounding 12 pieces of image data {(007_010.gif), (008_010.gif), (009_010.gif), (010_010.gif), (007_011. gif), (010_011.gif), (007_012.gif), (010_012.gif), (007_013.gif), (008_013.gif), (009_013.gif), (010_013.gif)} and the terminal device 103 This program is displayed at a specified position on the display screen.

  In other words, the third HTML file (009_012.htm) is displayed by shifting the image data of the same number of blocks as the second HTML file (010_013.htm) just downloaded by one block in the upper left direction. It is a program to do.

  In the terminal device 103, when the browser software receives the third HTML file (009_012.htm), the browser software executes the program of the third HTML file (009_012.htm) and is instructed to display by the program. If the image data is cached in the RAM 133, it is displayed. If the image data is not cached in the RAM 133, a transfer request for the image data is sent to the server device 102.

  In this case, since the image data displayed in the second HTML file (010_013.htm) is stored in the RAM 133, nine image data {(008_011.htm) are executed by executing the third HTML file (009_012.htm). gif), (009_011.gif), (010_011.gif), (008_012.gif), (009_012.gif), (010_012.gif), (008_013.gif), (009_013.gif), (010_013.gif) } Is displayed on the display device 136.

  The remaining image data which is not cached in the RAM 133 is 7 pieces of image data {(007_010.gif), (008_010.gif), (009_010.gif), (0) moved by 1 block in the column direction and / or row direction. 011_010.gif), (007_011.gif), (007_012.gif), (007_013.gif)}, and these seven pieces of image data are the targets of the transfer request. When the transfer request for the seven image data is received by the server device 102, the server device 102 transfers the seven image data to the terminal device 103.

  When the requested seven pieces of image data are received, the terminal device 103 displays the nine pieces of image data that have already been displayed, while the nine pieces of newly received image data are cached in the RAM 133. To do.

  In the above embodiment, all the downloaded image data is cached in the RAM 133, but may be stored in the hard disk 137 or simply moved on the screen.

  As described above, according to the map information providing system of the second embodiment, the second HTML file in the HTML language format that causes the server device to display a plurality of finely divided image data without gaps and the image file are overlapped therewith. By preparing the third HTML file linked to each other, a personal computer installed with general-purpose browser software without accessing a dedicated terminal device can access the server device 102 on the Internet to obtain the first embodiment. Similarly, a partial map can be read and the partial map can be smoothly scrolled.

  That is, normally, the browser software has a function of displaying the image data indicated by the link information when it is already cached in the RAM 133 and not requesting it to the server apparatus 102. By incorporating a plurality of link programs according to the function, the transfer amount, transfer time and transfer cost of image data can be reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, the display is divided into 16 divisions. When the display is divided into 16 divisions as described above, a transfer amount of 7/16 is sufficient in the case of oblique scrolling, and a transfer amount of 4/16 in the case of scrolling up, down, left and right. Just do it.

  Specifically, in the past, when scrolling a 640 x 480 dot gif image, it took about 30 seconds at a communication speed of 32 kbps for each download. 13.1 seconds, up / down / left / right scrolling can be downloaded at a speed of 7.5 seconds, and images already cached during that time will be displayed, allowing the user to scroll smoothly.

  Also, when the HTML file is read by the browser software, the first process executed by the HTML file program is the background color display process, and the transmitted background color image data is only displayed in order. . Even when interlace processing is performed to display the image data of this background color, only a rough image with a sense that the scanning line flew is displayed, so if the image to be sent is a map, the user Although the location and position cannot be recognized as a map even when viewed, in the present invention, small images are displayed so as to open sequentially, so the user can confirm the moving direction by following the open images in order. .

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which map data is stored in a map database as a partitioned area of about 160 × 120 dots, for example, has been described. Can be realized.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 21, map data P obtained by dividing one block at a position different from the original map data Q in advance is prepared in a map database. It is conceivable to specify latitude and longitude instead of major cities such as Shizuoka and Osaka.

  As a method of dividing the map data P and the map data Q, as shown in FIG. 22, the inner image (first image data) of the partial map is composed of four pieces of image data of 160 × 120 dots in one section. In this case, if the map data P for the map data Q is divided off-center at a position of 80 dots in the horizontal direction and 60 dots in the vertical direction (see FIG. 21), for example, the designated place is the maximum horizontal width of ± 80 dots. In the range of maximum vertical ± 60 dots (shaded line A in the figure), it can be put close to the center of the partial map.

  In this case, the point selection is different from the above embodiment, and when the point is instructed by the longitude and latitude on the terminal device 103 side, the server device 102 is designated from among a plurality of stored map data P and Q. By selecting the map data whose point is closest to the center of the first image data, and transferring the tag and image data of the map data to the terminal device 103, the user wishes to minimize the number of scroll operations. The location can be displayed.

  Also, instead of the above two map data P and Q, the center position (0,0) is more finely (40,0) dots, (0,30) dots, (40,30) dots, etc. By preparing the four types of map data, the specified location can be changed within the range of maximum horizontal ± 40 dots and maximum vertical ± 30 dots (shaded line B in the figure) as shown in FIG. You can put it close to the center of

  Further, in the above embodiment, the map data of the provider is preliminarily divided into a matrix, but when a desired point is instructed from the terminal device 3, the point is centered on the server device 2 side. Thus, the map data area may be divided (segmented) into a matrix.

  In this case, although the processing load of the server apparatus 102 increases, a partial map centered on a point desired by the user can be provided.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, there is no limitation on the range of scrolling the partial map. Therefore, after the user downloads all image data from the map database of the server device 102 using the home page 150, this service Is expected not to be used.

Therefore, the scroll operation may be limited as follows.
That is, as shown in FIG. 24, the server apparatus 2 does not link the image data of the section exceeding the predetermined range D from the center point C of the partial map composed of the image data of the 16 sections transferred first. A function restriction may be added by a method such as creating a simple HTML file.

  On the homepage 150, as shown in FIG. 25, two points E and F are input in advance, and only the range G between the partial map including the point E and the partial map including the point F is scrolled. You may set as possible range.

  In the above embodiment, the map of Japan is used as the image. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a map of a specific area, for example, a map near the station may be used.

The figure which shows the structure of the map information provision system of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows the map data stored in the server apparatus in this map information provision system. The figure which shows the position table stored in the server apparatus. The communication sequence figure which shows operation | movement of this map information provision system. The figure which shows the menu displayed on a terminal device. The figure which shows a request message. The figure which shows the display division divided into 4x4 in the screen of a menu. The figure which shows the state which divided | segmented the map data of FIG. 2 into the matrix form. The figure which shows a response message. The figure which shows the memory content of RAM. The figure which shows a moving direction table. The figure which shows the newly produced division information. The figure which shows the request message produced | generated from the new division information of FIG. The figure which shows the structure of the map information provision system of 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows the map data divided | segmented and stored beforehand. The figure which shows an index file (1st HTML file). The figure which shows the link file of each point. The figure which shows the content of a certain link file (2nd HTML file). The figure which shows the file (3rd HTML file) further linked with the link file of FIG. The figure which shows the display form of a homepage. The figure which shows the some map data which divided | segmented the area | region off-center. The figure which shows the range from which the designated point approaches the center of a partial map, when preparing two map data and carrying out the off-center of the half area | region with respect to the dot number of 1 division. The figure which shows the range where the designated point approaches the center of a partial map, when preparing the four map data, when the area | region of 1/4 with respect to the number of dots of 1 division is off-centered. The figure which shows the example in the case of restrict | limiting the range which can be scrolled from the center position on a partial map. The figure which shows the example in the case of restrict | limiting the range which can be scrolled between two points.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication line, 2 ... Center apparatus, 3 ... Terminal device, 21 ... Hard disk, 22 ... Communication part, 23 ... Data processing part, 24 ... Extraction position calculation part, 25 ... Data extraction part, 31 ... Display apparatus, 32 ... RAM, 33 ... Pointing device, 34 ... Position information conversion unit, 35 ... Moving counter, 37 ... Display control unit, 38 ... Communication unit, 101 ... Communication line, 102 ... Server device, 103 ... Terminal device, 121 ... CPU 122 ... ROM, 123 ... RAM, 124 ... keyboard, 125 ... mouse, 126 ... display device, 127 ... hard disk, 128 ... communication device, 131 ... CPU, 132 ... ROM, 133 ... RAM, 134 ... keyboard, 135 ... mouse DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 136 ... Display apparatus, 137 ... Hard disk, 138 ... Communication apparatus.

Claims (18)

An image providing device that provides an image requested from an image display device,
Image data storage means for storing a plurality of partial images constituting one image with position information of the partial images in the image being stored;
A position table storage means for associating and storing an identifier of the partial image and position information of the partial image in the image;
Data processing means for obtaining the position information of the partial image from the position table storage means from the identifier of the image requested from the image display device;
Centering on the position information obtained by the data processing means, a cut-out position calculating means for calculating a position for cutting out the requested image from the image;
Data cut-out means for cutting out a plurality of partial images constituting the requested image stored in the image data storage means based on the result obtained by the cut-out position calculating means and transmitting them to the image display device An image providing apparatus comprising:   2. The image provision according to claim 1, wherein in the data cutout unit, an arrangement of the plurality of partial images is indicated, and section information corresponding to each of the partial images is further transmitted to the image display device. apparatus.   The data cutting means receives a section information sequence in which the section information is arranged from the image display device, and transmits a partial image corresponding to the section information described in the section information sequence. Item 3. The image providing device according to Item 2.   4. The image providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, when there is blank section information in the section information sequence, the data processing unit transmits only a partial image corresponding to section information that is not blank. 5. .   5. The image providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data cut-out unit further transmits a program for displaying the plurality of partial images constituting the requested image. 6.   6. The image providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when the requested image is changed, the program further describes an identifier of the changed image.   7. The image providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the program further includes a plurality of partial images constituting the changed image when the requested image is changed.   The image providing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the program further describes section information of partial images constituting the changed image.   8. The program according to claim 7, wherein section information excluding section information of the partial image constituting the image before the change is described from the section information of the partial image constituting the changed image. The image providing apparatus according to the description. An image providing method for providing an image requested from an image display device,
An image data storage step of storing a plurality of partial images constituting one image with position information of the partial images in the image being stored;
A position table storing step for storing a position table in which the identifier of the partial image is associated with the position information of the partial image in the image;
A data processing step of acquiring position information of the partial image from the position table from an identifier of the image requested from the image display device;
With the position information obtained in the data processing step as a center, an extraction position calculation step for calculating a position for extracting the requested image from the image;
A data cut-out step of cutting out a plurality of partial images constituting the requested image stored in the image data based on the result obtained in the cut-out position calculating step and transmitting to the image display device An image providing method comprising: 11. The image provision according to claim 10, wherein in the data cutting step, the plurality of partial images are arranged, and section information corresponding to each of the partial images is further transmitted to the image display device. Method. The data cut-out step receives a section information sequence in which the section information is arranged from the image display device, and transmits a partial image corresponding to the section information described in the section information sequence. Item 12. The image providing method according to Item 11. 13. The image providing method according to claim 12, wherein, in the data processing step, when there is blank section information in the section information string, only a partial image corresponding to section information that is not blank is transmitted. . 14. The image providing method according to claim 10, further comprising transmitting a program for displaying the plurality of partial images constituting the requested image in the data cutting step. 15. The image providing method according to claim 14, wherein the program further includes an identifier of the changed image when the requested image is changed. The image providing method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the program further describes a plurality of partial images constituting the changed image when the requested image is changed. The image providing method according to claim 16, wherein the program further describes section information of a partial image constituting the changed image. 18. The program according to claim 17, wherein section information excluding section information of a partial image constituting an image before the change is described from the section information of the partial image constituting the changed image. The image providing method described.

Images