Method of Delivering Difference Map Data

• US 20080301263A1
• Filed: 08/06/2008
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Okude, Mariko, Miyazaki, Yukio, Kawamata, Yukihiro, ATARASHI, Yoshitaka
• Application Number:
  US12/186,632
• Publication Number:
  US 20080301263A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3811 Point data, e.g. Point of Interest [POI]
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3859 Differential updating map data
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3889 Transmission of selected map data, e.g. depending on route
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3896 Transmission of map data from central databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases

Abstract

The present invention provides, in a car navigation system, a unit of notifying a user of the update contents of map data prior to the downloading of the map data. A vehicle-mounted terminal sets a difference update area in accordance with a selection made by a user and sends a difference update request to a map updating server. If an update mode in this case is “update after outline display”, the vehicle-mounted terminal downloads an outline update map from the map updating server. The outline update map is displayed on a display unit of a display. Here, when a download start button displayed on the display unit is depressed, the vehicle-mounted terminal downloads a detailed update map from the map updating server. The detailed update map is then displayed on the display unit of the display. Furthermore, an updating process is performed on the map data stored in a terminal DB.

Claims

1. A method of delivering map data in a system including a server, storing difference data between current map data and newest map data and a terminal, storing and displaying the map data, connected to the server through a network, wherein the server sends the difference data in response to a request from the terminal, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) at the terminal, sending to the server a first request message that specifies an area of a map to be subject to updating from the current map data to the newest map data and requests outline difference data for displaying outlines of features to be updated at the specified area;

(b) at the server, receiving the first request message and searching for the difference data corresponding to the area for displaying, in detail, the features to be updated;

(c) at the server, extracting the outline difference data from the searched difference data;

(d) at the server, sending the extracted outline difference data to the terminal;

(e) at the terminal, receiving the outline difference data and displaying the received outline difference data overlappingly on map data already displayed on a predetermined display unit; and

(f) at the terminal, storing the received difference data in a predetermined storage unit.