System and method for abstracting and visualizing a route map
First Claim
1. A method for optimizing a display of a route map, the method comprising:
- fitting a collection of reference points in said route map with a probability distribution function, each said reference point corresponding to a position of an intersection in said route map;
deriving (i) a position representative of said collection of reference points, (ii) a first farthest position in which a member of said collection of reference points extends in a first direction away from said representative position, (iii) and a second farthest position to which a member of said collection of reference points extends in a direction that is orthogonal to a vector between said representative position and said first farthest position;
computing a bounding box, wherein a size and orientation of said bounding box is determined by said representative position, said first farthest position and said second farthest position;
determining a direction of the long axis of said bounding box; and
rotating said route map, by an amount that is sufficient to reorient said long axis so that said long axis lies in a predetermined orientation, to form a rotated route map.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for making computer-generated maps includes a different scale factor for each road in a route. The scale factors are used to optimize the route map against a target function that considers factors such as the number of false intersections in the route and the number of roads falling below a minimum length threshold. A refinement technique such as simulated annealing is used to find a solution to the target function. Each road in the scaled map is rendered to provide a finished product having the appearance of a hand-drawn map. The finished product includes context roads that intersect the main route but are not part of the main route. Furthermore, the hand-drawn map is optimized to the characteristics of the viewport used to visualize the map.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for optimizing a display of a route map, the method comprising:
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fitting a collection of reference points in said route map with a probability distribution function, each said reference point corresponding to a position of an intersection in said route map; deriving (i) a position representative of said collection of reference points, (ii) a first farthest position in which a member of said collection of reference points extends in a first direction away from said representative position, (iii) and a second farthest position to which a member of said collection of reference points extends in a direction that is orthogonal to a vector between said representative position and said first farthest position; computing a bounding box, wherein a size and orientation of said bounding box is determined by said representative position, said first farthest position and said second farthest position;
determining a direction of the long axis of said bounding box; androtating said route map, by an amount that is sufficient to reorient said long axis so that said long axis lies in a predetermined orientation, to form a rotated route map. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising:
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a computer readable storage medium and a computer program embedded therein; a map optimization module for optimizing a display of a route map, said map optimization module comprising;
instructions for fitting a collection of reference points in said route map with a probability distribution function, each said reference point corresponding to a position of an intersection in said route map;instructions for deriving (i) a position representative of said collection of reference points, (ii) a first farthest position in which a member of said collection of reference points extends in a first direction away from the representative position, (iii) and a second farthest position to which a member of said collection of reference points extends in a direction that is orthogonal to a vector between said representative position and said first farthest position;
instructions for computing a bounding box, wherein a size and orientation of said bounding box is determined by said representative position, said first farthest position and said second farthest position;
instructions for determining a direction of the long axis of said bounding box; andinstructions for rotating said route map, by an amount that is sufficient to reorient said long axis so that said long axis lies in a predetermined orientation, to form a rotated route map. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A computer system for optimizing a display of a route map, the computer system comprising:
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a central processing unit; a memory, coupled to said central processing unit; a program module, executable by said central processing unit, said program module comprising; instructions for fitting a collection of reference points in said route map with a probability distribution function, each said reference point corresponding to a position of an intersection in said route map; instructions for deriving (i) a position representative of said collection of reference points, (ii) a first farthest position in which a member of the collection of reference points extends in a first direction away from the representative position, (iii) and a second farthest position to which a member of said collection of reference points extends in a direction that is orthogonal to a vector between said representative position and said first farthest position; instructions for computing a bounding box, wherein a size and orientation of said bounding box is determined by said representative position, said first farthest position and said second farthest position;
instructions for determining a direction of the long axis of said bounding box; andinstructions for rotating said route map, by an amount that is sufficient to reorient said long axis so that said long axis lies in a predetermined orientation, to form a rotated route map. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification