KR20100087946A - Method and apparatus for providing map information with the best reduced scale - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing map information, and to provide map information at an optimized scale so that a user can easily grasp desired information without having to adjust the scale. To this end, the method for providing map information according to the present invention comprises the steps of: receiving a map information request including information on a request point, generating map information including a request point at a predetermined scale, and required elements of the map information. Determining whether is included in the generated map information, changing the scale of the generated map information according to the determination result, and transmitting the map information whose scale has been changed.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING MAP INFORMATION WITH THE BEST REDUCED SCALE}

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing map information, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing map information at an optimized scale.

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 kinds of information, the schematized information is becoming more important in the sense that it is an integrated of information that has many meanings. An example of representative schematic information is a map. Maps can contain comprehensive information such as geography, climate, and population, as well as information on road networks, buildings, and locations.

As wireless communication technology and wireless equipment technology develop, a user may be provided with map information through a wireless communication network. Such map information may be provided to a user through a personal computer (PC), navigation, portable multimedia player (PMP), personal digital assistant (PDA), or the like.

In particular, with the rapid development of electronic engineering, communication engineering, and terminal technology, mobile communication terminals have various functions. Recent mobile communication terminals not only provide voice call services, but also provide various data communication services such as Internet access or content download. Accordingly, a technology for providing map information through a mobile communication terminal has been developed.

On the other hand, such map information is generally provided in the form of an electronic map. Electronic map refers to a representation of digital paper so that a conventional paper map can be used in a computer or the like. Electronic maps have the advantage that they can represent much more information than paper maps. In addition, since a Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, which is a database of various geographic information, is applied to an electronic map, a user can easily search for location information such as latitude, longitude, and address. In addition, as the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is applied to the electronic map, the user may be provided with the electronic map in which his location is displayed.

However, such map information has a problem in that readability is poor from a user's point of view of the map, or the recognition ability of the displayed information is low. That is, it is difficult for the user to obtain the desired information at a glance by viewing the map information.

For example, the electronic map provided through the map service of the portal site includes all the information about the terrain, roads, buildings, etc. so that there is no difference from the actual. In this case, the electronic map is excellent in terms of accuracy, but not in terms of user's convenience of information acquisition. In fact, if a user wants to know a route from a current location to a specific destination through map information, a map showing only a few orthogonal roads and a few land marks around the map may be more helpful than an electronic map as described above. Can be.

Accordingly, there is a need for a technology for providing map information so that a user can easily grasp desired information.

Also, in general, the map information is generated and provided at a uniformly determined scale, and then is provided at a scale changed according to a scale change request such as enlargement or reduction of the user. Such a conventional electronic map has a problem that makes it difficult for a user to grasp information or to request a change of scale in order to obtain desired information. For example, the map information generated for the map information request in which the remote mountainous area is the request point may include very little information for recognizing the location around the request point. If only one or two roads pass around the request point and there are no buildings or signs around, the user is very difficult to get information about the request point from the map information. Only after the user requests a change to make the scale smaller can the map information of the desired scale be provided, which is very cumbersome. In addition, in this case, since there is very little surrounding information that can recognize the location, it may be difficult for the user to even recognize where the map information represents, so that it is necessary to change the scale in order to receive proper map information. Sometimes it can be hard to know.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a map information at an optimized scale so that a user can easily grasp desired information without having to adjust the scale.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide map information by automatically adjusting the scale so that essential information to be provided to the user may be included in the map information in providing the map information.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects and advantages of the present invention which are not mentioned above can be understood by the following description, and will be more clearly understood by the embodiments of the present invention. It will also be readily apparent that the objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing map information, the method comprising: receiving a map information request including information on a request point, and setting map information including a request point on a preset scale; Generating, determining whether the essential elements required for the map information are included in the generated map information, changing the scale of the generated map information according to the determination result, and transmitting the map information whose scale has been changed. It includes.

In addition, the apparatus for providing map information according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a receiver for receiving a map information request including information on a request point, a map information generator for generating map information including a request point at a preset scale, An essential element determination unit for determining whether the essential elements required for the map information are included in the generated map information, a scale change unit for changing the scale of the generated map information according to the determination result, and transmitting the map information whose scale has been changed It includes a transmitter.

According to the present invention as described above, there is an effect that can provide the map information at the optimized scale so that the user can easily grasp the desired information without having to adjust the scale cumbersome.

According to the present invention, there is an effect that can provide the map information by automatically adjusting the scale so that the essential elements to be provided to the user is included in the map information.

The following merely illustrates the principles of the invention. Therefore, those skilled in the art, although not explicitly described or illustrated herein, can embody the principles of the present invention and invent various devices that fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Furthermore, all conditional terms and embodiments listed in this specification are, in principle, to be expressly intended only for the purpose of understanding the concept of the invention and are not limited to the embodiments and states so specifically listed. It must be understood.

It is also to be understood that the detailed description, as well as the principles, aspects and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific embodiments thereof, are intended to cover structural and functional equivalents thereof. In addition, these equivalents should be understood to include not only equivalents now known, but also equivalents to be developed in the future, that is, all devices invented to perform the same function regardless of structure.

Thus, for example, the block diagrams herein should be understood to represent a conceptual view of example circuitry embodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, all flowcharts, state transitions, pseudocodes, and the like are understood to represent various processes performed by a computer or processor, whether or not the computer or processor is substantially illustrated on a computer readable medium and whether the computer or processor is clearly shown. Should be.

The functionality of the various elements shown in the figures, including functional blocks represented by a processor or similar concept, can be provided by the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functionality may be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which may be shared.

In addition, the explicit use of the terms presented in terms of processor, control, or similar concept should not be interpreted exclusively as a citation of hardware capable of executing software, and without limitation, ROM for storing digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, software. (ROM), RAM, and non-volatile memory are to be understood to implicitly include. Other hardware for the governor may also be included.

In the claims of this specification, components expressed as means for performing the functions described in the detailed description include all types of software including, for example, a combination of circuit elements or firmware / microcode, etc. that perform the functions. It is intended to include all methods of performing a function which are combined with appropriate circuitry for executing the software to perform the function. The invention, as defined by these claims, is equivalent to what is understood from this specification, as any means capable of providing such functionality, as the functionality provided by the various enumerated means are combined, and in any manner required by the claims. It should be understood that.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: There will be. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the present invention, the map information is generated by changing the scale so that the essential elements required for the map information are included.

Essential elements are information that is set or requested as information to be included in the map information, and may be road information, point of interest (POI) information, road direction information, intersection information, building information, marker information, and the like. The map information including the request point should display certain information about the area around the request point so that the user can grasp the desired information. At this time, the information to be represented in the map information may be set or requested as an essential element.

The present invention provides a map information generated at an optimized scale, including a request point, for a map information request including information about a request point (a specific geographic location indicating a destination, a current location, a branch office, etc.). To this end, the scale of the map information is changed according to whether essential elements are included in the generated map information at a preset scale.

For example, if five pieces of building information are set as required or requested, if more than three pieces of building information are included in the map information generated at the preset scale, more building information is included because there is a lack of required elements. The scale of the map information can be changed as small as possible. On the contrary, if 20 pieces of building information are included in the map information generated at the preset scale, since the essential elements are excessively included, the scale of the map information may be greatly changed to include less building information.

Accordingly, by changing various criteria for determining whether essential elements are included, map information may be provided at an optimized scale so that a user may easily grasp desired information.

Hereinafter, the embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Map Information Provision Method>

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a map information providing method according to the present invention will be described.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing map information according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the method for providing map information includes receiving a map information request including information on a request point (102), generating map information including a request point at a preset scale (104), and a map. Determining whether the essential elements required for the information are included in the generated map information (106); changing the scale of the generated map information according to the determination result (108); and transmitting the changed map information. Step 110 is included.

In this case, the map information request may be requested from a user terminal that receives the generated map information. Thus, information about the request point can also be transmitted from the user terminal. The information about the request point transmitted by the user terminal may be received directly from the user terminal or may be received through an intermediate server such as a server of a contents provider (CP). Here, the user terminal collectively refers to an electronic device that can be used by a user, and includes a mobile communication terminal. The mobile communication terminal refers to a terminal that can use mobile communication, such as a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone.

The request point indicates a specific geographic location to be included in the map information. The request point may be a destination, a current location, a specific business point, or the like, depending on the embodiment. Information about the request point includes any form of information that can specify the request point. Examples of the type of information about the requested point include address, business name, telephone number, local name, keyword, location information including latitude and longitude, branch number, branch type, etc. of a specific geographical location.

Map information may be generated to indicate the surrounding area including the request point. The generated map information changes its scale depending on the inclusion of essential elements. The step 108 of changing the scale may be implemented by changing and displaying the scale of the generated map information, or by regenerating the map information at the changed scale. In addition, determining 106 and changing the scale 108 may be repeated several times. Finally, the map information generated at the changed scale may be transmitted to the user terminal that transmitted the map information request.

Meanwhile, the generating of the map information 104 may include extracting digital map information including a request point and generating map information on the request point by simplifying the extracted digital map information. The map information may be generated in the form of an electronic map, but in this case, the map information is generated in the form of a map. That is, in order to generate the map information in the form of a map, the digital map information including the request point can be extracted and simplified to generate the map information.

Here, the numerical map information means information displayed on a plane with a promised sign by reducing the surface of the earth (including roads, intersections, buildings, signs, etc.) at a predetermined scale at a predetermined ratio. Extraction of the digital map information may be performed by searching a digital map of a part including a request point from a database in which the digital map information is stored.

The generating of the map information may generate the map information by simplifying the numerical map. Here, the simplification may include, for example, adjusting the main roads included in the numerical map to be represented orthogonally, or straightening the main roads. The main road may be all roads included in the numerical map or a road including three or more lanes, and may be a highway or a road previously set as a main road.

Simplification may also include compensating for the node's phase according to orthogonalization or straightening of the main road. Nodes can be request points, public transit, intersections, bridges, major road-related facilities, points of interest, buildings, signs, and so on. When the orthogonalization or straightening of the main road is performed, the position of the node relative to the main road, that is, the phase of the node, may be changed, and the phase is compensated for to correct this. For example, when orthogonalizing road A and road B that intersects at an angle to each other results in a request point located on the left side of road A to the right side of road A, even after orthogonalization, the request point remains on the left side of road A. Compensation for location

Further, the simplification may include extracting main information from the numerical map information. The main information is information that must be included in the generated map information, and may be main road information, intersection information, road direction information, main IC (interchange) information, highway entrance information, information set as essential elements in advance.

As such, the map information may be generated in the form of a map that briefly expresses only the main information. When the map information is generated in the form of a map, it is not possible to hold a lot of information such as an electronic map, it is more necessary to generate the map information so that the information can be easily understood. Therefore, by providing the map information generated at the optimized scale in this case, the effect that the user can easily grasp the desired information is more prominent.

Map information provided in the form of a general electronic map may contain more information than map information provided in the form of a map. Therefore, map information in the form of an electronic map may include a relatively large amount of information around the request point at various scales, and there is little concern that too few essential elements may be included even at large scales. On the other hand, since the map information provided in the form of a map includes only the main information briefly, it is likely that the essential information is not included in the map information when the scale is increased. Therefore, the map information in the form of a map needs to be generated at an optimized scale.

On the other hand, the step 106 of determining whether the essential elements are included in the generated map information includes the steps of checking the number of essential elements included in the generated map information, and comparing the identified number with a predetermined number of requests. It may include.

In this case, the method of providing the map information may be set to include at least several or at most several essential elements. The determining step 106 may determine whether the essential elements are sufficiently included or insufficiently included. For example, there may be a case where a preset number of requests is set to 10 to include at least 10 essential elements. At this time, if five essential elements included in the map information are identified, five are compared with a preset number of requests. Since the number of required elements identified is smaller than the number required as a result of the comparison, the determining step 106 determines that the required elements are insufficiently included. Accordingly, the step 108 of changing the scale may change the scale small so that the necessary elements are sufficiently included.

According to an embodiment, the essential element may be point of interest information or road information. Essential elements may be various information such as road information, point of interest (POI) information, road direction information, intersection information, building information, sign information, and the like. Among these, in particular, if the essential element is point of interest information or road information, it may be efficient for providing map information. When the user uses the map information, the user often determines the relative position of the requesting point using the point of interest information or the road information, or searches for the desired point of interest information. Thus, inclusion of point of interest information or road information may be directly related to how easily the user can grasp desired information. For example, if the user wants to know the way to the request point, it may not be easy to find the way at a glance when the point of interest information or the road information is insufficiently included or too much. Therefore, if the essential element is point of interest information or road information, there is a greater need for map information to be provided at an optimized scale.

 In addition, the type of essential elements may be determined according to the regional classification of the request point. As described above, there are various kinds of essential elements, and may be configured differently according to embodiments. In this case, it may be determined according to the regional classification of the requesting point to determine whether any kind of essential elements are included in the determining step 106. For example, it may be determined to use point of interest information as an essential element when the requesting point is an urban area, and to use road information as an essential element when the requesting point is an outer area of the city. This is because information in points of interest such as branches and buildings is often used as an indicator of information in the urban area, while road information is more likely to be used as an indicator of information in the outlying areas of the city. Since there are few offices or buildings in the outskirts of the city, road information may be an important indicator. Therefore, in order to consider the user's convenience, the types of essential elements are determined differently according to the area classification of the request point.

In another embodiment, the preset scale may be set to the largest scale at which the map information can be represented, wherein changing scale 108 includes generating the map information at a scale smaller than the preset scale. can do. In general, map information is generated on a scale separated into several levels. For example, the scale may be generated in any one of scales divided into 1 step (largest scale) to 10 steps (smallest scale). Stage 1 can be scaled to 2000: 1, stage 10 to 100000: 1, and so on.

In this case, the preset scale may be set in one step, which is the largest scale. Once created at the largest scale, it can be changed to a smaller scale depending on the inclusion of essential elements.

For example, the determining step 106 describes a case where it is determined that at least four essential elements are included. If there is no essential element in the scale of the first stage, the map information is generated in the second stage, which is a smaller scale. If it is determined in step 106 that only three essential elements are included in the map information generated in the second step, the map information may be generated in three smaller steps. If it is determined in step 106 that the map information generated in step 3 includes six essential elements, it is determined that the essential elements are sufficiently included since there are four or more. Therefore, the map information generated at the three levels of scale can be provided without changing the scale of the map information any more.

Through such an algorithm, map information can be provided at an optimized scale. In particular, this algorithm is more useful for map information generated in the form of directions. Map information in the form of a map requires a large scale first because of its characteristics. This is because a map should briefly contain only a few key pieces of information. Thus, in the case of a map, an algorithm that can be created at the largest scale, as long as the essentials satisfy the minimum conditions, is effective.

4 is an example of map information generated at an optimized scale according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 includes map information 400 initially generated and map information 410 after the scale is changed.

In this embodiment, the map information 400 is first generated at the largest scale according to the map information request where the request point is the homologous IC three-way distance. According to the regional classification of the requesting point, the point of interest information may be used as an essential element when the requesting point is an urban area, and the road information may be used as an essential element when the requesting point is an outer area of the city. In this case, the road information is used as an essential element because Sangdong IC Intersection, which is the request point, is an area outside the city center.

Since the Sangdong IC Intersection is an outlying area, as shown, only one road is displayed without any road information included in the initially generated map information 400. Since it is determined that the road information is not sufficiently included in the map information 400, the map information 410 is generated by changing the scale to be small. The map information 410 generated at the changed scale includes road information such as 'Sangdong IC', 'Shangdong IC direction', and 'Daedong direction'.

Although it is not easy for a user to obtain information from the map information 400, the user can easily grasp the route from the map information 410 to the homologous IC three-way 412.

5 is an example of map information generated at an optimized scale according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 includes map information 500 initially generated and map information 510 after the scale is changed.

In this embodiment, the map information 500 is generated at a preset scale according to the map information request in which the request point is the technomart 502. 5 is a case where the point of interest information is used as an essential element and is set to include at least five points of interest information.

The first generated map information 500 includes a total of four points of interest such as 'Gunam Elementary School', 'East Seoul General Terminal', 'Prime Pharmacy', and 'Gangbyeon Station'. Therefore, it is determined that the map information 500 is not sufficiently included because the point of interest information is smaller than five pieces. Accordingly, the map information 510 is generated by changing the scale small. In addition to the Techno Mart (512), the map information (510) includes five or more points of interest such as 'Sangwoo Building', 'Yosung Dental Clinic', 'Ministry of Information and Communication', 'Gwangjin Middle School', 'Gangbyeon Station', and 'Gwangnam Elementary School'. have. Therefore, since the point of interest information is sufficiently included, the map information 510 can be provided to the user without changing the scale any more.

Map information 510 is not only the point of interest information, but also road direction information (towards 'Keundae entrance', 'towards Jamsil Daego', etc.), bridge information ('Jamsil Bridge', 'Olympic Bridge', etc.), road information ('Square Intersection' And 'Olympic IC'). According to an exemplary embodiment, various kinds of information such as road direction information and bridge information may be set as essential elements, and map information may be generated at an optimized scale according to whether essential elements are included.

Through the map information 510 generated at the optimized scale, the user may obtain desired information more conveniently and easily than the map information generated at the uniform scale.

<Map information provision device>

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a map information providing apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

2 is a view showing a connection configuration of the map information providing apparatus 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the map information providing apparatus 200 is connected to a service provider server 210, and the service provider server 210 is connected to a user terminal 220. According to an exemplary embodiment, the service provider server 210 may be omitted, and in this case, the map information providing apparatus 200 is directly connected to the user terminal 220. In addition, according to an embodiment, the service provider server 210 may be replaced with another device or system having a similar role.

The user terminal 220 may transmit a map information request including information about the request point. In this case, the service provider server 210 serves to deliver the map information request to the map information providing apparatus 200. The service provider server 210 receives a map information request from the user terminal 220 and transmits the request to the map information providing apparatus 200.

The map information providing apparatus 200 generates map information including a request point and changes the scale of the generated map information according to whether essential elements are included. The map information providing apparatus 200 may provide the generated map information to the user terminal 220 through the service provider server 210.

3 is a structural diagram of a map information providing apparatus 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the map information providing apparatus 300 generates a map information for generating a map information including a request point and a receiver 310 for receiving a map information request including information on a request point at a preset scale. The unit 320, an essential element determination unit 330 for determining whether the essential elements required for the map information is included in the generated map information, scale change unit 340 for changing the scale of the generated map information according to the determination result ), And a transmitter 350 for transmitting the changed map information.

Here, the preset scale is the largest scale at which the map information can be expressed, and the scale changer 340 may generate the map information at a scale smaller than the preset scale.

According to an embodiment, the map government generating unit 320 maps the digital map manager 322 to extract the digital map information including the request point, and the simplified map information to generate the map information about the request point by simplifying the extracted digital map information. It may include a generation unit 324.

In another embodiment, the essential element determiner 330 may include a number checking unit 332 for checking the number of essential elements included in the generated map information, and a number comparison unit for comparing the checked number with a preset request number ( 334).

In yet another embodiment, the essential element may be point of interest information or road information. In addition, the type of essential elements may be determined according to the regional classification of the request point.

Since other detailed descriptions of the map information providing apparatus are overlapped with the description of the above-described map information providing method, the description thereof will be omitted.

The method of the present invention as described above may be embodied as a program and stored in a computer-readable recording medium (such as a CD-ROM, a RAM, a ROM, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magneto-optical disk). Since this process can be easily carried out by those skilled in the art will not be described in more detail.

The present invention described above is capable of various substitutions, modifications, and changes without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention for those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is not limited by the drawings.

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

2 is a view showing a connection configuration of the map information providing apparatus 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a structural diagram of a map information providing apparatus 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is an example of map information generated at an optimized scale according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is an example of map information generated at an optimized scale according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (12)

Receiving a map information request including information about a request point; Generating map information including the request point at a preset scale; Determining whether the essential elements required for the map information are included in the generated map information; Changing the scale of the generated map information according to the determination result; And Transmitting the map information with the changed scale. Including, map information providing method. The method of claim 1, Generating the map information Extracting numerical map information including the request point; And Simplifying the extracted digital map information to generate a map information for the request point Including, map information providing method. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The determining step Confirming the number of the essential elements included in the generated map information; And Comparing the checked number with a preset request number Including, map information providing method. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The essential element is Point of Interest (POI) information or road information, map information providing method. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The kind of essential elements is Map information providing method is determined according to the area classification of the request point. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The preset scale is the largest scale at which the map information can be represented, Changing the scale Generating the map information at a scale smaller than the preset scale. A receiver for receiving a map information request including information about a request point; A map information generator for generating map information including the request point at a preset scale; An essential element determination unit that determines whether an essential element required for the map information is included in the generated map information; A scale changing unit for changing the scale of the generated map information according to the determination result; And A transmitter for transmitting map information having the scale changed Map information providing device comprising. The method of claim 7, wherein The map information generation unit A digital map manager for extracting digital map information including the request point; And A map information generating unit for generating map information about the request point by simplifying the extracted digital map information. Map information providing device comprising. 9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, The essential element determination unit A number checking unit for checking the number of the essential elements included in the generated map information; And And a number comparison unit for comparing the checked number with a predetermined number of requests. 9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, The essential element is Point of Interest (POI) information or road information, a map information providing device. 9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, The kind of essential elements is Map information providing device is determined according to the area classification of the request point. 9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, The preset scale is the largest scale at which the map information can be represented, The scale change unit And generating the map information at a scale smaller than the preset scale.

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