Map

• US 9,620,033 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2012
• Issued: 04/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Piece Future Pte., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Qing, Cui Yang
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnson, M Good
• Application Number:
  US13/428,734
• Publication Number:
  US 20130249951A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,845 Days
• Field of Search: 345660
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3667 Display of a road map G01C21/3614 takes precedence; guidance using 3D or perspective road maps G01C21/3635
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/106 using electronic means

Abstract

An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory that are configured to cause the apparatus at least to perform: causing display, in a first display area of a display, of a first map that represents a first geographic area, at a first scale, including a first location and that highlights the first location, wherein the first scale is controlled so that the first geographic area includes the first location but does not include a second location; causing simultaneous display, in a second different display area of the display, of a second map that represents a second geographic area, at a second scale, including the second location and that highlights the second location, wherein the second scale is controlled so that the second geographic area includes the second location but does not include the first location.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code,

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform;

causing display, in a first display area of a display, of a first map that represents, at a first scale, a first geographic area including at least a first location and that highlights the first location, wherein the first map is caused to be displayed at the first scale so that the first geographic area includes the first location but does not include a second location; and

causing simultaneous display, in a second different display area of the display, of a second map that represents, at a second scale different than the first scale, a second geographic area including at least the second location and that highlights the second location, wherein the second map is caused to be displayed at the second scale so that the second geographic area includes the second location but does not include the first location;

wherein the first scale of the first display area is dependent on a difference in distance from a reference location to the first geographic area and the second scale of the second display area is dependent on a difference in distance from the reference location to the second geographic area,

wherein the first and second maps are caused to be displayed such that the first geographic area does not lie within any of the second geographic area and the second geographic area does not lie within any of the first geographic area,

wherein the first and second maps are caused to be displayed without display of a geographic area between the first and second geographic areas, and

wherein the first display area and the second display area are displayed simultaneously in response to a database search that returns as results the first display area and the second display area.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first display area and the second display area share common characteristics and a positional relationship between the first geographic area and the second geographic area is indicated by differing values of at least one of the common characteristics for the first display area and the second display area.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the common characteristics of the first display area and the second display area comprise:

a position within the display, size, resolution and scale.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein a relative positioning of the first display area and the second display area in the display is dependent on a compass bearing between the first geographic area and the second geographic area.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein a relative sizing of the first display area and the second display area is dependent on a difference in distance from a reference location to the first geographic area and from the reference location to the second geographic area.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more visual characteristics of content in the first display area and the second display area are dependent on a difference in distance from a reference location to the first geographic area and from the reference location to the second geographic area.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reference location is a current location of the apparatus.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reference location is the first location.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein a distance from a reference location to the first geographic area labels the first display area and a distance from the reference location to the second geographic area labels the second display area.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first display area and the second display area are contiguous tiles and form a whole or part of a mosaic of display areas.

11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first display area and the second display area is user selectable, wherein user selection of the at least one user selectable display area generates a command that is dependent upon whether the at least one selectable display area is the first display area or the second display area.

12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein a user control is presented for changing the first scale and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:

when a user changes the first scale to a new scale such that the first geographic area at the new scale includes the first location and the second location,

ceasing display, in the display, of the first map in the first display area;

ceasing display, in the display, of the second map in the second display area; and

causing display, in the display, of a replacement map in a new display area wherein the replacement map displays a geographic area at a scale that includes the first location and the second location and highlights the first location and the second location.

13. A method comprising:

causing display, in a display, of a first map in a first display area wherein the first map displays a first geographic area at a first scale that includes at least a first location and highlights the first location, wherein the first map is caused to be displayed at the first scale so that the first geographic area includes the first location but does not include a second location; and

causing simultaneous display, in the display, of a second map in a second display area wherein the second map displays at least a second geographic area at a second scale, different than the first scale, that includes the second location and highlights the second location, wherein the second map is caused to be displayed at the second scale so that the second geographic area includes the second location but does not include the first location;

wherein the first scale of the first display area is dependent on a difference in distance from a reference location to the first geographic area and the second scale of the second display area is dependent on a difference in distance from the reference location to the second geographic area,

wherein the first and second maps are caused to be displayed such that the first geographic area does not lie within any of the second geographic area and the second geographic area does not lie within any of the first geographic area,

wherein the first and second maps are caused to be displayed without display of a geographic area between the first and second geographic areas, and

wherein the first display area and the second display area are displayed simultaneously in response to a database search that returns as results the first display area and the second display area.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the first display area and the second display area are differentiable using one or more of the following parameters:

position within the display, size, resolution and scale and wherein a positional relationship between the first geographic area and the second geographic area is indicated by differing values of at least one of the parameters for the first display area and the second display area.

15. A method as claimed in claim 13, comprising:

indicating a compass bearing between the first geographic area and the second geographic area using relative positioning of the first display area and the second display area in the display.

16. A method as claimed in claim 13, comprising:

indicating a distance from the reference location to the first geographic area using the first scale; and

indicating a distance from the reference location to the second geographic area using the second scale.

17. A method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising, when a user performs a trace on the display from the first display area to the second display area, determining a route from the first geographic area to the second geographic area.

18. A non-transitory computer program product tangibly embodied on a record carrier that when run on a processor enables the processor to

cause display, in a display, of a first map in a first display area wherein the first map displays a first geographic area at a first scale that includes at least a first location and highlights the first location, wherein the first map is caused to be displayed at the first scale so that the first geographic area includes the first location but does not include a second location;

and

cause simultaneous display, in the display, of a second map in a second display area wherein the second map displays at least a second geographic area at a second scale, different than the first scale, that includes the second location and highlights the second location, wherein the second map is caused to be displayed at the second scale so that the second geographic area includes the second location but does not include the first location;

wherein the first scale of the first display area is dependent on a difference in distance from a reference location to the first geographic area and the second scale of the second display area is dependent on a difference in distance from the reference location to the second geographic area,

wherein the first and second maps are caused to be displayed such that the first geographic area does not lie within any of the second geographic area and the second geographic area does not lie within any of the first geographic area,

wherein the first and second maps are caused to be displayed without display of a geographic area between the first and second geographic areas, and

wherein the first display area and the second display area are displayed simultaneously in response to a database search that returns as results the first display area and the second display area.