Electronic global map generating system
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method for generating, displaying and presenting an electronic map from digital mapping data for a surface area having geographical and cultural features, said method comprising the steps of:
- organizing the mapping data into a hierarchy of a plurality of successive magnitudes or levels for presentation of said mapping data with variable degrees of mapping resolution, each magnitude for presentation of said mapping data with a different degree of mapping resolution from a first or highest magnitude with lowest resolution to a last or lowest magnitude with highest resolution;
structuring said mapping data at each magnitude into a plurality of windows, frames or files representing subdivisions or partitions of said surface area, said windows of a respective magnitude including mapping data which are appropriate to a degree of mapping resolution being afforded at said magnitude while excluding mapping data which are not appropriate to said degree of mapping resolution, and at least a portion of said windows of each magnitude being structured to receive substantially a same predetermined amount or quantity of mapping data for segmented presentation of the mapping data by window;
organizing said mapping data into records of geographical or cultural features for presentation within said windows, and coding said features;
managing said mapping data for each window by excluding or including coded features appropriate to the degree of mapping resolution and density being afforded by said window, such that a quantity of mapping data entered in each window is no greater than said predetermined amount;
relating windows of a same magnitude by window position coordinates or names and structuring said windows with overlap or mapping data between adjacent or neighboring windows of a magnitude or achieve display continuity during generation, display and presentation of an electronic map;
relating windows of different magnitude by vertical lineage through successive magnitudes, each window of a higher magnitude and lower resolution being an ancestor window being related to a plurality of descendant windows of lower magnitude and higher resolution in a next lower magnitude;
accessing and displaying or presenting mapping data for different positions of a selected magnitude by scrolling between adjacent or neighboring windows of a same magnitude in predetermined north, south, each and west directions;
and accessing and displaying or presenting mapping data for different selected magnitudes having different resolutions by zooming between windows of different magnitudes in a same vertical lineage.
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Abstract
A global mapping system which organizes mapping data into a hierarchy of successive magnitudes or levels for presentation of the mapping data with variable resolution, starting from a first or highest magnitude with lowest resolution and progressing to a last or lowest magnitude with highest resolution. The idea of this hierarchical structure can be likened to a pyramid with fewer stones or "tiles" at the top, and where each successive descending horizontal level or magnitude contains four times as many "tiles" as the level or magnitude directly above it. The top or first level of the pyramid contains 4 tiles, the second levle contains 16 tiles, the third contains 64 tiles and so on, such that the base of a 16 magnitude or level pyramid would contain 4 to the 16th power or 4,294,967,296 tiles. This total includes "hyperspace" which is later clipped or ignored. Digital data corresponding to each of the separate data base tiles is stored in the database under a unique filename.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method for generating, displaying and presenting an electronic map from digital mapping data for a surface area having geographical and cultural features, said method comprising the steps of:
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organizing the mapping data into a hierarchy of a plurality of successive magnitudes or levels for presentation of said mapping data with variable degrees of mapping resolution, each magnitude for presentation of said mapping data with a different degree of mapping resolution from a first or highest magnitude with lowest resolution to a last or lowest magnitude with highest resolution; structuring said mapping data at each magnitude into a plurality of windows, frames or files representing subdivisions or partitions of said surface area, said windows of a respective magnitude including mapping data which are appropriate to a degree of mapping resolution being afforded at said magnitude while excluding mapping data which are not appropriate to said degree of mapping resolution, and at least a portion of said windows of each magnitude being structured to receive substantially a same predetermined amount or quantity of mapping data for segmented presentation of the mapping data by window; organizing said mapping data into records of geographical or cultural features for presentation within said windows, and coding said features; managing said mapping data for each window by excluding or including coded features appropriate to the degree of mapping resolution and density being afforded by said window, such that a quantity of mapping data entered in each window is no greater than said predetermined amount; relating windows of a same magnitude by window position coordinates or names and structuring said windows with overlap or mapping data between adjacent or neighboring windows of a magnitude or achieve display continuity during generation, display and presentation of an electronic map; relating windows of different magnitude by vertical lineage through successive magnitudes, each window of a higher magnitude and lower resolution being an ancestor window being related to a plurality of descendant windows of lower magnitude and higher resolution in a next lower magnitude; accessing and displaying or presenting mapping data for different positions of a selected magnitude by scrolling between adjacent or neighboring windows of a same magnitude in predetermined north, south, each and west directions; and accessing and displaying or presenting mapping data for different selected magnitudes having different resolutions by zooming between windows of different magnitudes in a same vertical lineage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An electronic map generating system including a digital computer, a mass storage device, a display monitor, graphics controller, and system software for structuring, managing, controlling and displaying digital mapping data for a surface area having cultural and geographical features, said system comprising:
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a database structure comprising a hierarchical database structure programmed and arranged for organizing said digital mapping data into a hierarchy of a plurality of successive magnitudes or levels for presentation of mapping data with variable resolution, each magnitude for presentation of said mapping data with a different degree of mapping resolution from a first or highest magnitude of lowest resolution to a last or lowest magnitude of lowest resolution to a last or lowest magnitude of highest resolution, and for structuring said digital mapping data at each magnitude into a plurality of windows, frames or files representing subdivisions or partitions of said surface area, said windows of a respective magnitude including mapping data which are appropriate to a degree of mapping resolution being afforded at said magnitude while excluding mapping data which are not appropriate to said degree of mapping resolution, at least a portion of said windows of all magnitudes being structured to receive substantially a same predetermined amount of mapping data for segmented presentation of said mapping data by window, said mapping data being organized into coded records of geographical and cultural features within each window; a database manager or controller programmed and arranged for managing said mapping data by magnitude or level by excluding or including coded records of features in each window of a particular magnitude according to a resolution and density of mapping data appropriate to the particular magnitude of said each window, and maintaining a quantity of mapping data entered in each window to no greater than a specified full complement whatever the magnitude of the window; said database structure being programmed to relate windows of a same magnitude by position coordinates or names, and to structure windows of a same magnitude with overlap of mapping data between adjacent or neighboring windows of a magnitude to achieve display continuity during generation, display and presentation of an electronic map, and to relate windows of different magnitude by vertical lineage through successive magnitudes, each window of a higher magnitude and lower resolution being an ancestor window of a plurality of descendant windows of lower magnitude and higher resolution in a next lower magnitude; said database manager being programmed to access and display or present mapping data for different positions of a selected magnitude by scrolling between adjacent or neighboring windows of a same magnitude in predetermined north, south, east and west directions, and being programmed to access and display or present mapping data for different magnitudes having different resolutions by zooming between windows of different magnitudes in a same vertical lineage. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An electronic map generating system for generating reproductions of a map with selectable degrees of mapping resolution, said map generating system comprising:
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database means storing a plurality of computer files containing mapping data corresponding to respective surface areas of a mapping surface, wherein said plurality of computer files is organized into a plurality of successive magnitudes, each magnitude for presentation of said mapping data with a different degree of mapping resolution from a first or highest magnitude with lowest resolution to a last or lowest magnitude with highest resolution, files of a respective magnitude including mapping data which are appropriate to a degree of mapping resolution being afforded at said respective magnitude while excluding mapping data which are not appropriate to said degree of mapping resolution, and wherein a predetermined file naming procedure is utilized to assign, to each respective computer file, a unique filename which; relates said respective computer file to all other computer files having mapping data corresponding to a same magnitude or degree of mapping resolution; and relates said respective computer file to any computer file comprising mapping data corresponding to a same surface area of a mapping surface as said respective computer file; and database manager means for accessing said plurality of computer files using said predetermined file naming procedure, to generate a reproduction of a selected area of a map at a selected degree of mapping resolution. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for providing an electronic map generating system for generating reproductions of a map with selectable degrees of mapping resolution, said method comprising the steps of:
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storing a plurality of computer files containing mapping data corresponding to respective surface areas of a mapping surface, wherein said plurality of computer files is organized into a plurality of successive magnitudes, each magnitude for presentation of said mapping data with a different degree of mapping resolution from a first or highest magnitude with lowest resolution to a last or lowest magnitude with highest resolution, files of a respective magnitude including mapping data which are appropriate to a degree of mapping resolution being afforded at said respective magnitude while excluding mapping data which are not appropriate to said degree of mapping resolution, and wherein a predetermined file naming procedure is utilized to assign, to each respective computer file, a unique filename which; relates said respective computer file to all other computer files having mapping data corresponding to a same magnitude or degree of mapping resolution; and relates said respective computer file to any computer file comprising mapping data corresponding to a same surface area of a mapping surface as said respective computer file; and accessing said plurality of computer files using said predetermined file naming procedure, to generate a reproduction of a selected area of a map at a selected degree of mapping resolution. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification