Geographic space management

• US 10,169,402 B2
• Filed: 07/16/2015
• Issued: 01/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Gotoh, Yasuhisa, Miyahira, Tomohiro, Sasaki, Taku, Tanibayashi, Makoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Merilyn P
• Application Number:
  US14/800,821
• Publication Number:
  US 20160371323A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,265 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3859 Differential updating map data
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3881 Tile-based structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2329 using versioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2379 Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2393 Updating materialised views
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/444 Spatial browsing, e.g. 2D maps, 3D or virtual spaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/203 Drawing of straight lines or curves
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs

Abstract

A system is provided that manages a geographic space including a route on which a moving object moves, including a subsystem operable to manage a map of the geographic space, and an update manager operable to change a boundary of an update block, which is a unit of an update contained in the map, according to an extent to which the update block is updated. Also provided is a method and computer program product.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing mobile objects comprising:

managing a map of a geographic space including a route, wherein managing the geographic space comprises managing a mobile object, wherein the map of the geographic space comprises a first update block and a second update block, and wherein the first update block and the second update block define a boundary in which an update to the map occurs, and wherein the first update block and the second update block share a common boundary;

managing updates to the map of the geographic space by updating contents of the first update block;

changing the common boundary between the first update block and the second update block to prevent a load imbalance based on an extent to which the first update block is updated, and wherein the extent to which the first update block is updated comprises an attribute selected from the group consisting of an update frequency, an update data amount, a number of update files, and an update data loading time of the map corresponding to the first update block, and further comprising dividing the first update block into a plurality of update blocks if the update frequency that the first update block is updated exceeds a limit value.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising managing a plurality of regions of the geographic space.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 wherein changing the boundary between two regions of the plurality of regions is based on an extent to which the map of the two regions is updated.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 further comprising combining the first update block and a third update block of the map of the geographic space if the update frequency that the first update block is updated is below a limit value.

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 further comprising:

acquiring version information of a map possessed by the moving object,

reflecting update data in the first update block according to a version designated by the version information, and

provide a service to a moving object based on the first update block that reflects the update data.

6. A computer-implemented method for managing mobile objects comprising:

managing a map of a geographic space including a route, wherein managing the geographic space comprises managing a mobile object, and wherein the map of the geographic space comprises a plurality of update blocks, wherein each update block defines a boundary in which an update to the map occurs;

managing updates to the map of the geographic space by updating contents of the update block;

changing the boundary between the plurality of update blocks to prevent a load imbalance based on an extent to which each update block is updated, and wherein the extent to which the update block is updated comprises an attribute selected from the group consisting of an update frequency, an update data amount, a number of update files, and an update data loading time of the map corresponding to the update block, and further comprising dividing the update block into a plurality of update blocks if the update frequency that the update block is updated exceeds a limit value.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising managing a plurality of regions of the geographic space.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 wherein changing the boundary between two regions of the plurality of regions is based on an extent to which the map of the two regions is updated.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 further comprising combining update blocks of the map of the geographic space if the update frequency that the plurality of update blocks is updated is below a limit value.

10. The computer-implemented method according to claim 6 further comprising:

acquiring version information of a map possessed by a moving object,

reflecting update data in the update block according to a version designated by the version information, and

providing a service to a moving object based on the update block that reflects the update data.