Portable Globe Creation for a Geographical Information System

• US 20110205229A1
• Filed: 02/23/2010
• Published: 08/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Wheeler, Mark Damon, Raman, Vijay, Jagadev, Manas Ranjan, Lorimer, Eli Dylan, Peterson, Bret
• Application Number:
  US12/711,044
• Publication Number:
  US 20110205229A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/428
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases

Abstract

Portable globes may be provided for viewing regions of interest in a Geographical Information System (GIS). A method for providing a portable globe for a GIS may include receiving a selected region corresponding to a geographical region of a master globe. The method may further include organizing geospatial data from the master globe based on the selected region and creating the portable globe based on the geospatial data. The portable globe may be smaller than the master globe and include greater geospatial data for the selected region than for the remainder of the portable globe. The method may include transmitting the portable globe to a local device that may render the selected region at a higher resolution than the remainder of the portable globe in the GIS. A system for providing a portable globe may include a selection module, a fusion module and a transmitter.

Claims

1. A method for providing a portable globe for a geographical information system (GIS), comprising:

receiving at least one selected region corresponding to a geographical region of a master globe;

organizing geospatial data from the master globe based on the at least one selected region;

creating the portable globe based on the organized geospatial data, wherein the portable globe is smaller than the master globe and comprises data files that include greater geospatial data for the at least one selected region than for the remainder of the portable globe; and

transmitting the portable globe to a local device configured to render the portable globe in the GIS, wherein the at least one selected region is capable of being rendered at a higher resolution than the remainder of the portable globe.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting includes transmitting the portable globe to a local device configured to render the portable globe without network connectivity to a master globe server.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the organizing includes retrieving master globe tiles and data for the at least one selected region at a higher resolution in order for the portable globe to render a higher resolution for the at least one selected region.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the organizing further includes retrieving master globe tiles and data at a higher resolution for imagery, terrain and vector data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving includes receiving at least one selected asset type and the organizing includes organizing geospatial data from the master globe based on the at least one selected asset type.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the organizing includes setting a first resolution for the at least one selected region and a second resolution for the rest of the master globe.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the organizing includes retrieving searchable data from the master globe for the at least one selected region.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the organizing includes filtering geospatial data based on filtering information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the creating includes creating the portable globe to render a higher resolution for the at least one selected region and a lesser resolution for the remainder of the portable globe.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the portable globe.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein updating the portable globe comprises:

rewriting a geospatial data index; and

appending or merging geospatial data to the portable globe data files.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the updating includes creating a new portable globe upon update of the master globe.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying high resolution quadtree nodes based on the at least one selected region.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising identifying all lower resolution quadtree nodes that encompass the high resolution quadtree nodes.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the GIS is a spinning-earth GIS.

16. A method for providing a portable globe for a geographical information system (GIS), comprising:

organizing geospatial data from the master globe based on at least one selected region, wherein the at least one selected region corresponds to a geographical region of a master globe;

creating a portable globe based on the organized geospatial data, wherein the portable globe comprises data files that include greater geospatial data for the at least one selected region than for the remainder of the portable globe; and

providing the portable globe to a local device, wherein the at least one selected region is capable of being rendered at a higher resolution than the remainder of the portable globe in a spinning-earth GIS on the local device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the providing includes providing display information for the portable globe in a searchable catalog of portable globes, each globe corresponding to a geographical region of a master globe.

18. A method for rendering a portable globe on a local device for a geographical information system (GIS), comprising:

providing at least one selected region corresponding to a geographical region of a master globe;

receiving a portable globe based on the geospatial data, wherein the portable globe comprises data files that include greater geospatial data for the at least one selected region than for the remainder of the portable globe; and

rendering the portable globe in a spinning-earth GIS on the local device, wherein the at least one selected region is capable of being rendered at a higher resolution than the remainder of the portable globe.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the rendering may be performed without network connectivity to a master globe server.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising providing the portable globe to other local devices on a local network.

21. A system for providing a portable globe for a geographical information system (GIS), comprising:

a selection module configured to receive at least one selected region corresponding to a geographical region of a master globe;

a fusion module configured to;

organize geospatial data from the master globe based on the at least one selected region; and

create a portable globe based on the organized spatial data, wherein the portable globe comprises data files that include greater geospatial data for the at least one selected region than for the remainder of the portable globe; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the portable globe to a local device configured to render the portable globe in the GIS, wherein the at least one selected region of the portable globe is capable of being rendered at a higher resolution than the remainder of the portable globe.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the fusion module is configured to retrieve master globe tiles for the at least one selected region in order for the portable globe to render a higher resolution for the at least one selected region.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the fusion module is configured to retrieve master globe tiles and data at a higher resolution for imagery, terrain and vector data.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the fusion module is configured to retrieve searchable data from the master globe for the at least one selected region.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the fusion module is configured to identify high resolution quadtree nodes based on the at least one selected region and all lower resolution quadtree nodes that encompass the high resolution quadtree nodes.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein the fusion module is configured to filter geospatial data based on permissions.

27. The system of claim 21, wherein the transmitter is further configured to update the portable globe.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the fusion module is further configured to create a new portable globe upon update of the master globe.

29. A system for providing a portable globe for a geographical information system (GIS), comprising:

a fusion module configured to;

organize geospatial data from a master globe based on at least one selected region, wherein the at least one selected region corresponds to a geographical region of a master globe; and

create a portable globe based on the organized spatial data, wherein the portable globe comprises data files that include greater geospatial data for the at least one selected region than for the remainder of the portable globe;

a catalog module configured to provide display information corresponding to the portable globe and other portable globes; and

a downloader configured to provide a selected portable globe to a local device, wherein the at least one selected region is capable of being rendered at a higher resolution than the remainder of the portable globe in a spinning-earth GIS on the local device.