Map editing-and-displaying apparatus, map managing system, map managing method, and map storing medium

• US 20030204520A1
• Filed: 04/25/2003
• Published: 10/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ojima, Yasuo
• Granted Patent: US 7,647,341 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/101
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3856 Data obtained from user input

Abstract

A prefecture name and names of cities of address index data of map-data-acquired area are compared with those of address index data of the whole country. A map name corresponding to the range of the acquired map data is assigned automatically to the acquired map data on the basis of a comparison result. A user can easily identify a map by displaying such map names in list form or in a like manner. Further, an area whose address index data include all address index data of a requested prefecture, a requested city, or the like is calculated, and map data of that area are delivered. This allows a user to acquire only necessary map data without the need for performing a complicated operation of determining an area. Thus it is provided a map editing-and-displaying apparatus that allows a user to easily recognize an area of acquired partial map data when the partial map data have been acquired on an area basis and that also allows a user to easily identify desired map data.

Claims

1. A map editing-and-displaying apparatus comprising:

map data acquiring means for acquiring partial map data from a map database;

map data storing means for storing map data; and

map name assigning means for assigning a map name to the partial map data on the basis of index data that are appended to the partial map data.

2. The map editing-and-displaying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the map name assigning means comprises means for assigning the partial map data a map name corresponding to a range of the partial map data on the basis of a structure of the index data that are appended to the partial map data.

3. A map managing system having a center that is provided with a map database containing map data and a map editing-and-displaying apparatus that edits and utilizes part of the map data,

wherein the center comprises means for sending requested map data to the map editing-and-displaying apparatus;

and

the map editing-and-displaying apparatus comprises;

map data storing means for storing map data;

map data acquiring means for acquiring partial map data from the center; and

map name assigning means for assigning a map name to the partial map data on the basis of index data that are appended to the partial map data.

4. The map managing system according to claim 3, wherein the map editing-and-displaying apparatus comprises means for requesting the center to send back a map including all of a certain prefecture, a certain city, or a certain town, and the center comprises means for sending the map editing-and-displaying apparatus map data of a unit as requested by the map editing-and-displaying apparatus.

5. A map name assigning method comprising the steps of:

requesting a map database to send back a partial map;

acquiring partial map data from the map database; and

assigning the partial map data a map name corresponding to a range of the partial map data on the basis of a structure of index data that are appended to the partial map data.

6. A map storing medium containing:

map data of respective unit areas that are in grid-like mesh form,

address index data having a tree structure, and

partial tree data of the address index data that are correlated with the respective unit areas to make it possible to assign a map name to partial map data.