U.S. patent application number 11/483168 was filed with the patent office on 2007-10-04 for methods and apparatus for dynamically labeling map objects in visually displayed maps of mobile communication devices.
This patent application is currently assigned to Research In Motion Limited. Invention is credited to Jesse Joseph Boudreau, Peter John Devenyi, Eric Johnson, Gerhard Dietrich Klassen, Harry Richmond Major.
Application Number | 20070229538 11/483168 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37037009 |
Filed Date | 2007-10-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070229538 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Klassen; Gerhard Dietrich ;
et al. |
October 4, 2007 |
Methods and apparatus for dynamically labeling map objects in
visually displayed maps of mobile communication devices
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for dynamically labeling map objects for
different views of a visually displayed map are disclosed. For each
view of a plurality of different views of a map, a view of the map
is rendered "on-the-fly" in a display. The technique is performed
by retrieving map data which includes map object graphics data and
map object label data; causing one or more portions of a map object
(e.g. a road) to be rendered in the view of the display in
accordance with the map object graphics data; and also causing a
map object label (e.g. a name of the road) to be rendered in the
view of the display, in accordance with the map object label data,
on or along a portion of the map object between its vertice
coordinates, such that a linear position of the map object label on
or along the portion of the map object is different from its linear
position in each of the other views of the map so that the map
object label fits within the view in a continuous moving fashion
from view to view. In a specific embodiment, the map object label
is rendered by identifying the portion of the map object to be a
longest portion of the one or more portions of the map object in
the view; identifying a centerpoint of the portion identified to be
the longest portion; and causing the map object label to be
rendered relative to the centerpoint of the portion identified to
be the longest portion.
Inventors: |
Klassen; Gerhard Dietrich;
(Waterloo, CA) ; Johnson; Eric; (Ottawa, CA)
; Major; Harry Richmond; (Waterloo, CA) ;
Boudreau; Jesse Joseph; (Ottawa, CA) ; Devenyi; Peter
John; (Waterloo, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
JOHN J. OSKOREP, ESQ.;ONE MAGNIFICENT MILE CENTER
980 N. MICHIGAN AVE., SUITE 1400
CHICAGO
IL
60611
US
|
Assignee: |
Research In Motion Limited
|
Family ID: |
37037009 |
Appl. No.: |
11/483168 |
Filed: |
July 7, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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60788434 |
Mar 31, 2006 |
|
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60787541 |
Mar 31, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
345/629 ;
345/473 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06T 19/00 20130101;
G08G 1/096805 20130101; G06F 16/9577 20190101; G09G 5/377 20130101;
G01C 21/3673 20130101; G01C 21/367 20130101; G06T 17/05 20130101;
G08G 1/0969 20130101; G09B 29/10 20130101; G06T 15/503 20130101;
G06F 40/103 20200101; G06T 2219/004 20130101; G09B 29/106 20130101;
G09G 2340/10 20130101; G06T 11/60 20130101; G06F 16/29 20190101;
G09G 2340/0492 20130101; G09G 2340/145 20130101; G06F 3/0481
20130101; G06F 3/147 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
345/629 ;
345/473 |
International
Class: |
G06T 13/00 20060101
G06T013/00 |
Claims
1. A method of dynamically labeling map objects for displaying
different views of a map, the method comprising the acts of: for
each view of a plurality of different views of a map, causing the
view of the map to be displayed in a display by: retrieving map
data corresponding to the view of the map, the map data comprising
map object graphics data and map object label data separate from
the map object graphics data, the map object graphics data
corresponding to at least a portion of a map object and the map
object label data corresponding to a map object label associated
with the map object; causing the portion of the map object to be
rendered in the view of the display in accordance with the map
object graphics data; and also causing the map object label to be
rendered in the view of the display, in accordance with the map
object label data, on or along the portion of the map object
between its vertice coordinates, such that a linear position of the
map object label on or along the portion of the map object is
different from its linear position in each of the other views of
the map so that the map object label is contained within the view
in a continuous moving fashion from view to view.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying that the
portion of the map object is a longest portion of the map object
rendered in the view.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying that the
portion of the map object is a longest portion of the map object
rendered in the view; identifying a centerpoint of the portion of
the map object; and wherein the act of causing the map object label
to be rendered in the view of the display comprises the further act
of causing the map object label to be rendered at the centerpoint
of the portion of the map object.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the map object comprises a road,
park, river, ocean, or lake, and the map object label comprises a
name of the road, the park, the river, the ocean, or the lake.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: wherein the act of
causing the map object label to be rendered comprises the further
act of causing the map object label to be rendered on or along the
side of the portion of the map object in accordance with a slope of
the side of the portion of the map object.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: wherein the act of
causing the map object label to be rendered comprises the further
act of causing the map object label to be rendered on or along the
side of the portion of the map object in accordance with a varying
slope of the side of the portion of the map object.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of causing the view to
be displayed are performed in response to a trigger signal for the
view of the map.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of causing the map object
label to be render comprises the further acts of: identifying a
slope of the portion of the map object; identifying an alphanumeric
character in the map object label for rendering; retrieving a
rotated alphanumeric character from the memory which corresponds to
the identified alphanumeric character in the map object label and
the identified slope; and causing the rotated alphanumeric
character to be rendered on or along the portion of the map.
9. The method of claim 1, which is embodied as a computer program
product comprising a computer readable medium and computer
instructions stored in the computer readable medium which are
executable by one or more processors of a mobile communication
device to perform the method.
10. A mobile communication device, comprising: a wireless
transceiver; one or more processors; memory coupled to the one or
more processors; a user interface which includes a visual display;
the one or more processors being operative to: for each view of a
plurality of different views of a map, causing the view of the map
to be displayed in the visual display by: retrieving, from the
memory, map data corresponding to the view of the map, the map data
comprising map object graphics data and map object label data
separate from the map object graphics data, the map object graphics
data corresponding to at least a portion of a map object and the
map object label data corresponding to a map object label
associated with the map object; causing the portion of the map
object to be rendered in the view of the visual display in
accordance with the map object graphics data; and also causing the
map object label to be rendered in the view of the visual display,
in accordance with the map object label data, on or along the
portion of the map object between its vertice coordinates, such
that a linear position of the map object label on or along the
portion of the map object is different from its linear position in
each of the other views of the map so that the map object label is
contained within the view in a continuous moving fashion from view
to view.
11. The mobile communication device of claim 10, wherein the one or
more processors are further operative to: identify that the portion
of the map object is a longest portion of the map object rendered
in the view.
12. The mobile communication device of claim 10, wherein the one or
more processors are further operative to: identify that the portion
of the map object is a longest portion of the map object rendered
in the view; identify a centerpoint of the portion of the map
object; and cause the map object label to be rendered in the view
of the display by causing the map object label to be rendered at
the centerpoint of the portion of the map object.
13. The mobile communication device of claim 10, wherein the map
object comprises a road, park, river, ocean, or lake, and the map
object label comprises a name of the road, the park, the river, the
ocean, or the lake.
14. The mobile communication device of claim 10, wherein the one or
more processors are further operative to cause the map object label
to be rendered by causing the map object label to be rendered on or
along the side of the portion of the map object in accordance with
a slope of the side of the portion of the map object.
15. The mobile communication device of claim 10, wherein the one or
more processors are further operative to cause the map object label
to be rendered by causing the map object label to be rendered on or
along the side of the portion of the map object in accordance with
a varying slope of the side of the portion of the map object.
16. The mobile communication device of claim 10, wherein the one or
more processors are further operative to cause the view to be
displayed in response to a trigger signal for the view of the
map.
17. A method of dynamically labeling map objects for displaying
different views of a map, the method comprising the acts of:
retrieving map data corresponding to a view of a map, the map data
comprising map object graphics data and map object label data
separate from the map object graphics data, the map object graphics
data corresponding to one or more portions of a map object and the
map object label data corresponding to a map object label
associated with the map object; causing the one or more portions of
the map object to be rendered in the view of the display in
accordance with the map object graphics data; also causing the map
object label to be rendered in the view of the display, in
accordance with the map object label data, on or along a portion of
the map object between its vertice coordinates, by: identifying the
portion of the map object to be a longest portion of the one or
more portions of the map object in the view; identifying a
centerpoint of the portion identified to be the longest portion;
and causing the map object label to be rendered relative to the
centerpoint of the portion identified to be the longest
portion.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the acts of causing the map
object and the map object label to be rendered in the view is
performed for each view of a plurality of different views of the
map.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the map object label is
centered within the portion identified to be the longest
portion.
20. The method of claim 17, wherein the map object comprises a
road, park, river, ocean, or lake, and the map object label
comprises a name of the road, the park, the river, the ocean, or
the lake.
21. The method of claim 17, wherein the act of causing the map
object label to be rendered comprises the further act of causing
the map object label to be rendered on or along the side of the
portion of the map object in accordance with a slope of the side of
the portion of the map object.
22. The method of claim 17, wherein the act of causing the map
object label to be rendered comprises the further act of causing
the map object label to be rendered on or along the side of the
portion of the map object in accordance with a varying slope of the
side of the portion of the map object.
23. The method of claim 17, wherein the act of causing the map
object label to be render comprises the further acts of:
identifying a slope of the portion of the map object; identifying
an alphanumeric character in the map object label for rendering;
retrieving a rotated alphanumeric character from the memory which
corresponds to the identified alphanumeric character in the map
object label and the identified slope; and causing the rotated
alphanumeric character to be rendered on or along the portion of
the map.
24. The method of claim 17, which is embodied as a computer program
product comprising a computer readable medium and computer
instructions stored in the computer readable medium which are
executable by one or more processors of a mobile communication
device to perform the method.
25. A mobile communication device, comprising: a wireless
transceiver; one or more processors; memory coupled to the one or
more processors; a user interface which includes a visual display;
the one or more processors being operative to: retrieve map data
corresponding to a view of a map, the map data comprising map
object graphics data and map object label data separate from the
map object graphics data, the map object graphics data
corresponding to one or more portions of a map object and the map
object label data corresponding to a map object label associated
with the map object; cause the one or more portions of the map
object to be rendered in the view of the display in accordance with
the map object graphics data; also cause the map object label to be
rendered in the view of the display, in accordance with the map
object label data, on or along a portion of the map object between
its vertice coordinates, by: identifying the portion of the map
object to be a longest portion of the one or more portions of the
map object in the view; identifying a centerpoint of the portion
identified to be the longest portion; and causing the map object
label to be rendered relative to the centerpoint of the portion
identified to be the longest portion.
26. The mobile communication device of claim 25, wherein the acts
of causing the map object and the map object label to be rendered
in the view is performed for each view of a plurality of different
views of the map.
27. The mobile communication device of claim 25, wherein the map
object label is centered within the portion identified to be the
longest portion.
28. The mobile communication device of claim 25, wherein the map
object comprises a road, park, river, ocean, or lake, and the map
object label comprises a name of the road, the park, the river, the
ocean, or the lake.
29. The mobile communication device of claim 25, wherein the one or
more processors are operative to cause the map object label to be
rendered by causing the map object label to be rendered on or along
the side of the portion of the map object in accordance with a
slope of the side of the portion of the map object.
30. The mobile communication device of claim 25, wherein the one or
more processors are operative to cause the map object label to be
rendered by causing the map object label to be rendered on or along
the side of the portion of the map object in accordance with a
varying slope of the side of the portion of the map object.
31. The mobile communication device of claim 25, wherein the one or
more processors are further operative to cause the map object label
to be rendered by: identifying a slope of the portion of the map
object; identifying an alphanumeric character in the map object
label for rendering; retrieving a rotated alphanumeric character
from the memory which corresponds to the identified alphanumeric
character in the map object label and the identified slope; and
causing the rotated alphanumeric character to be rendered on or
along the portion of the map.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to a U.S. provisional
patent application of the same title having Ser. No. 60/788,434,
docket number 0108-0325/US, and filing date of 31 Mar. 2006, and to
a U.S. provisional patent application entitled "Method And System
For Distribution Of Map Content To Mobile Communication Devices"
having Ser. No. 60/787,541, docket number P1579US00 (also RIM
30176-ID), lead inventor Eric Johnson, and a filing date of 31 Mar.
2006.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of the Technology
[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to techniques for
labeling map objects in visually displayed maps of mobile
communication devices which operate in wireless communication
networks.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] In techniques of the prior art, a map object label of a map
object may be fixed within the graphics data and fail to appear in
several views of the map when the map is panned. For example, a
street name of a street object may be fixed within the map data and
fail to appear or appear conspicuously within several views of the
map.
[0006] Accordingly, there is a need for methods and apparatus for
suitably labeling map objects in visually displayed maps,
especially in mobile communication devices which operate in
wireless communication networks.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] Embodiments of present invention will now be described by
way of example with reference to attached figures, wherein:
[0008] FIG. 1 is a block diagram which illustrates pertinent
components of a mobile communication device and a wireless
communication network of a communication system;
[0009] FIG. 2 is a more detailed diagram of a preferred mobile
communication device of FIG. 1, namely, a mobile station;
[0010] FIG. 3A is a system diagram of network components which
provide mapping functionality in the mobile communication devices
of FIGS. 1 and 2;
[0011] FIG. 3B illustrates a message exchange between a mobile
communication device and a map server for downloading map content
to the mobile communication device based on the system of FIG.
3A;
[0012] FIG. 3C is a diagram showing a Maplet data structure
according to an exemplary embodiment;
[0013] FIG. 4 is an illustration of a user interface of the mobile
communication device;
[0014] FIG. 5 is an illustration of various software applications
which may reside in the mobile communication device;
[0015] FIGS. 6 and 7 are illustrations of a positioning wheel of
the mobile communication device;
[0016] FIG. 8 is an illustration of information which may be
displayed in a visual display of the mobile communication device,
the information being an address book contact of an address book of
the mobile communication device;
[0017] FIG. 9 is an illustration of a listing of the address book
contact of FIG. 8;
[0018] FIG. 10 is an illustration of the listing of the address
book contact of FIG. 9, where a menu of functions which includes a
map function may be invoked to display a map associated with the
address book contact, the map being generally shown later in FIGS.
12-18;
[0019] FIG. 11 is a flowchart which helps describe a method of
dynamically labeling map objects in visually displayed maps
according to the present disclosure; and
[0020] FIGS. 12-18 are sequential views of a map to illustrate an
example of the method of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0021] Methods and apparatus for dynamically labeling map objects
for different views of a visually displayed map are described
herein. For each view of a plurality of different views of a map, a
view of the map is rendered "on-the-fly" in a display. The
technique is performed by retrieving map data which includes map
object graphics data and map object label data; causing one or more
portions of a map object (e.g. a road) to be rendered in the view
of the display in accordance with the map object graphics data; and
also causing a map object label (e.g. a name of the road) to be
rendered in the view of the display, in accordance with the map
object label data, on or along a portion of the map object between
its vertice coordinates, such that a linear position of the map
object label on or along the portion of the map object is different
from its linear position in each of the other views of the map so
that the map object label fits within the view in a continuous
moving fashion from view to view. In a specific embodiment, the map
object label is rendered by identifying the portion of the map
object to be a longest portion of the one or more portions of the
map object in the view; identifying a centerpoint of the portion
identified to be the longest portion; and causing the map object
label to be rendered relative to the centerpoint of the portion
identified to be the longest portion.
[0022] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system 100
which includes a mobile station 102 (one type of wireless or mobile
communication device) which communicates through a wireless
communication network 104. Mobile station 102 preferably includes a
visual display 112, a keyboard 114, and perhaps one or more
auxiliary user interfaces (UI) 116, each of which are coupled to a
controller 106. Controller 106 is also coupled to radio frequency
(RF) transceiver circuitry 108 and an antenna 110. Typically,
controller 106 is embodied as a central processing unit (CPU) which
runs operating system software in a memory component (not shown).
Controller 106 will normally control overall operation of mobile
station 102, whereas signal processing operations associated with
communication functions are typically performed in RF transceiver
circuitry 108. Controller 106 interfaces with device display 112 to
display received information, stored information, user inputs, and
the like. Keyboard 114, which may be a telephone type keypad or
full alphanumeric keyboard, is normally provided for entering data
for storage in mobile station 102, information for transmission to
network 104, a telephone number to place a telephone call, commands
to be executed on mobile station 102, and possibly other or
different user inputs.
[0023] Mobile station 102 sends communication signals to and
receives communication signals from network 104 over a wireless
link via antenna 110. RF transceiver circuitry 108 performs
functions similar to those of station 118 and BSC 120, including
for example modulation/demodulation and possibly encoding/decoding
and encryption/decryption. It is also contemplated that RF
transceiver circuitry 108 may perform certain functions in addition
to those performed by BSC 120. It will be apparent to those skilled
in art that RF transceiver circuitry 108 will be adapted to
particular wireless network or networks in which mobile station 102
is intended to operate.
[0024] Mobile station 102 includes a battery interface 134 for
receiving one or more rechargeable batteries 132. Battery 132
provides electrical power to electrical circuitry in mobile station
102, and battery interface 134 provides for a mechanical and
electrical connection for battery 132. Battery interface 134 is
coupled to a regulator 136 which regulates power to the device.
When mobile station 102 is fully operational, an RF transmitter of
RF transceiver circuitry 108 is typically keyed or turned on only
when it is sending to network, and is otherwise turned off to
conserve resources. Similarly, an RF receiver of RF transceiver
circuitry 108 is typically periodically turned off to conserve
power until it is needed to receive signals or information (if at
all) during designated time periods.
[0025] Mobile station 102 operates using a Subscriber Identity
Module (SIM) 140 which is connected to or inserted in mobile
station 102 at a SIM interface 142. SIM 140 is one type of a
conventional "smart card" used to identify an end user (or
subscriber) of mobile station 102 and to personalize the device,
among other things. Without SIM 140, the mobile station terminal is
not fully operational for communication through wireless network
104. By inserting SIM 140 into mobile station 102, an end user can
have access to any and all of his/her subscribed services. SIM 140
generally includes a processor and memory for storing information.
Since SIM 140 is coupled to SIM interface 142, it is coupled to
controller 106 through communication lines 144. In order to
identify the subscriber, SIM 140 contains some user parameters such
as an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI). An advantage
of using SIM 140 is that end users are not necessarily bound by any
single physical mobile station. SIM 140 may store additional user
information for the mobile station as well, including datebook (or
calendar) information and recent call information.
[0026] Mobile station 102 may consist of a single unit, such as a
data communication device, a cellular telephone, a Global
Positioning System (GPS) unit, a multiple-function communication
device with data and voice communication capabilities, a personal
digital assistant (PDA) enabled for wireless communication, or a
computer incorporating an internal modem. Alternatively, mobile
station 102 may be a multiple-module unit comprising a plurality of
separate components, including but in no way limited to a computer
or other device connected to a wireless modem. In particular, for
example, in the mobile station block diagram of FIG. 1, RF
transceiver circuitry 108 and antenna 110 may be implemented as a
radio modem unit that may be inserted into a port on a laptop
computer. In this case, the laptop computer would include display
112, keyboard 114, one or more auxiliary UIs 116, and controller
106 embodied as the computer's CPU. It is also contemplated that a
computer or other equipment not normally capable of wireless
communication may be adapted to connect to and effectively assume
control of RF transceiver circuitry 108 and antenna 110 of a
single-unit device such as one of those described above. Such a
mobile station 102 may have a more particular implementation as
described later in relation to mobile station 402 of FIG. 2.
[0027] Mobile station 102 communicates in and through wireless
communication network 104. Wireless communication network 104 may
be a cellular telecommunications network. In the embodiment of FIG.
1, wireless network 104 is configured in accordance with Global
Systems for Mobile communications (GSM) and General Packet Radio
Service (GPRS) technologies. Although wireless communication
network 104 is described herein as a GSM/GPRS type network, any
suitable network technologies may be utilized such as Code Division
Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), whether 2G, 3G, or
Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) based
technologies. In this embodiment, the GSM/GPRS wireless network 104
includes a base station controller (BSC) 120 with an associated
tower station 118, a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 122, a Home
Location Register (HLR) 132, a Serving General Packet Radio Service
(GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) 126, and a Gateway GPRS Support Node
(GGSN) 128. MSC 122 is coupled to BSC 120 and to a landline
network, such as a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 124.
SGSN 126 is coupled to BSC 120 and to GGSN 128, which is in turn
coupled to a public or private data network 130 (such as the
Internet). HLR 132 is coupled to MSC 122, SGSN 126, and GGSN
128.
[0028] Station 118 is a fixed transceiver station, and station 118
and BSC 120 may be referred to as transceiver equipment. The
transceiver equipment provides wireless network coverage for a
particular coverage area commonly referred to as a "cell". The
transceiver equipment transmits communication signals to and
receives communication signals from mobile stations within its cell
via station 118. The transceiver equipment normally performs such
functions as modulation and possibly encoding and/or encryption of
signals to be transmitted to the mobile station in accordance with
particular, usually predetermined, communication protocols and
parameters, under control of its controller. The transceiver
equipment similarly demodulates and possibly decodes and decrypts,
if necessary, any communication signals received from mobile
station 102 within its cell. Communication protocols and parameters
may vary between different networks. For example, one network may
employ a different modulation scheme and operate at different
frequencies than other networks.
[0029] The wireless link shown in communication system 100 of FIG.
1 represents one or more different channels, typically different
radio frequency (RF) channels, and associated protocols used
between wireless network 104 and mobile station 102. An RF channel
is a limited resource that must be conserved, typically due to
limits in overall bandwidth and a limited battery power of mobile
station 102. Those skilled in art will appreciate that a wireless
network in actual practice may include hundreds of cells, each
served by a station 118 (i.e. or station sector), depending upon
desired overall expanse of network coverage. All pertinent
components may be connected by multiple switches and routers (not
shown), controlled by multiple network controllers.
[0030] For all mobile station's 102 registered with a network
operator, permanent data (such as mobile station 102 user's
profile) as well as temporary data (such as mobile station's 102
current location) are stored in HLR 132. In case of a voice call to
mobile station 102, HLR 132 is queried to determine the current
location of mobile station 102. A Visitor Location Register (VLR)
of MSC 122 is responsible for a group of location areas and stores
the data of those mobile stations that are currently in its area of
responsibility. This includes parts of the permanent mobile station
data that have been transmitted from HLR 132 to the VLR for faster
access. However, the VLR of MSC 122 may also assign and store local
data, such as temporary identifications. Optionally, the VLR of MSC
122 can be enhanced for more efficient co-ordination of GPRS and
non-GPRS services and functionality (e.g. paging for
circuit-switched calls which can be performed more efficiently via
SGSN 126, and combined GPRS and non-GPRS location updates).
[0031] Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 126 is at the same
hierarchical level as MSC 122 and keeps track of the individual
locations of mobile stations. SGSN 126 also performs security
functions and access control. Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) 128
provides interworking with external packet-switched networks and is
connected with SGSNs (such as SGSN 126) via an IP-based GPRS
backbone network. SGSN 126 performs authentication and cipher
setting procedures based on the same algorithms, keys, and criteria
as in existing GSM. In conventional operation, cell selection may
be performed autonomously by mobile station 102 or by the
transceiver equipment instructing mobile station 102 to select a
particular cell. Mobile station 102 informs wireless network 104
when it reselects another cell or group of cells, known as a
routing area.
[0032] In order to access GPRS services, mobile station 102 first
makes its presence known to wireless network 104 by performing what
is known as a GPRS "attach". This operation establishes a logical
link between mobile station 102 and SGSN 126 and makes mobile
station 102 available to receive, for example, pages via SGSN,
notifications of incoming GPRS data, or SMS messages over GPRS. In
order to send and receive GPRS data, mobile station 102 assists in
activating the packet data address that it wants to use. This
operation makes mobile station 102 known to GGSN 128; interworking
with external data networks can thereafter commence. User data may
be transferred transparently between mobile station 102 and the
external data networks using, for example, encapsulation and
tunneling. Data packets are equipped with GPRS-specific protocol
information and transferred between mobile station 102 and GGSN
128.
[0033] Those skilled in art will appreciate that a wireless network
may be connected to other systems, possibly including other
networks, not explicitly shown in FIG. 1. A network will normally
be transmitting at very least some sort of paging and system
information on an ongoing basis, even if there is no actual packet
data exchanged. Although the network consists of many parts, these
parts all work together to result in certain behaviours at the
wireless link.
[0034] FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of a preferred mobile
station 202 of the present disclosure. Mobile station 202 is
preferably a two-way communication device having at least voice and
advanced data communication capabilities, including the capability
to communicate with other computer systems. Depending on the
functionality provided by mobile station 202, it may be referred to
as a data messaging device, a two-way pager, a cellular telephone
with data messaging capabilities, a wireless Internet appliance, or
a data communication device (with or without telephony
capabilities). Mobile station 202 may communicate with any one of a
plurality of fixed transceiver stations 200 within its geographic
coverage area.
[0035] Mobile station 202 will normally incorporate a communication
subsystem 211, which includes a receiver 212, a transmitter 214,
and associated components, such as one or more (preferably embedded
or internal) antenna elements 216 and 218, local oscillators (LOs)
213, and a processing module such as a digital signal processor
(DSP) 220. Communication subsystem 211 is analogous to RF
transceiver circuitry 108 and antenna 110 shown in FIG. 1. As will
be apparent to those skilled in field of communications, particular
design of communication subsystem 211 depends on the communication
network in which mobile station 202 is intended to operate.
[0036] Mobile station 202 may send and receive communication
signals over the network after required network registration or
activation procedures have been completed. Signals received by
antenna 216 through the network are input to receiver 212, which
may perform such common receiver functions as signal amplification,
frequency down conversion, filtering, channel selection, and like,
and in example shown in FIG. 2, analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion.
A/D conversion of a received signal allows more complex
communication functions such as demodulation and decoding to be
performed in DSP 220. In a similar manner, signals to be
transmitted are processed, including modulation and encoding, for
example, by DSP 220. These DSP-processed signals are input to
transmitter 214 for digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion, frequency
up conversion, filtering, amplification and transmission over
communication network via antenna 218. DSP 220 not only processes
communication signals, but also provides for receiver and
transmitter control. For example, the gains applied to
communication signals in receiver 212 and transmitter 214 may be
adaptively controlled through automatic gain control algorithms
implemented in DSP 220.
[0037] Network access is associated with a subscriber or user of
mobile station 202, and therefore mobile station 202 requires a
Subscriber Identity Module or "SIM" card 262 to be inserted in a
SIM interface 264 in order to operate in the network. SIM 262
includes those features described in relation to FIG. 1. Mobile
station 202 is a battery-powered device so it also includes a
battery interface 254 for receiving one or more rechargeable
batteries 256. Such a battery 256 provides electrical power to most
if not all electrical circuitry in mobile station 202, and battery
interface 254 provides for a mechanical and electrical connection
for it. The battery interface 254 is coupled to a regulator (not
shown) which provides a regulated voltage V to all of the
circuitry.
[0038] Mobile station 202 includes a microprocessor 238 (which is
one implementation of controller 106 of FIG. 1) which controls
overall operation of mobile station 202. Communication functions,
including at least data and voice communications, are performed
through communication subsystem 211. Microprocessor 238 also
interacts with additional device subsystems such as a display 222,
a flash memory 224, a random access memory (RAM) 226, auxiliary
input/output (I/O) subsystems 228, a serial port 230, a keyboard
232, a speaker 234, a microphone 236, a short-range communications
subsystem 240, and any other device subsystems generally designated
at 242. Some of the subsystems shown in FIG. 2 perform
communication-related functions, whereas other subsystems may
provide "resident" or on-device functions. Notably, some
subsystems, such as keyboard 232 and display 222, for example, may
be used for both communication-related functions, such as entering
a text message for transmission over a communication network, and
device-resident functions such as a calculator or task list.
Operating system software used by microprocessor 238 is preferably
stored in a persistent store such as flash memory 224, which may
alternatively be a read-only memory (ROM) or similar storage
element (not shown). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that
the operating system, specific device applications, or parts
thereof, may be temporarily loaded into a volatile store such as
RAM 226.
[0039] Microprocessor 238, in addition to its operating system
functions, preferably enables execution of software applications on
mobile station 202. A predetermined set of applications which
control basic device operations, including at least data and voice
communication applications, as well as techniques of the present
disclosure, will normally be installed on mobile station 202 during
its manufacture. A preferred application that may be loaded onto
mobile station 202 may be a personal information manager (PIM)
application having the ability to organize and manage data items
relating to user such as, but not limited to, e-mail, calendar
events, voice mails, appointments, and task items. Naturally, one
or more memory stores are available on mobile station 202 and SIM
256 to facilitate storage of PIM data items and other
information.
[0040] The PIM application preferably has the ability to send and
receive data items via the wireless network. In the present
disclosure, PIM data items may be seamlessly integrated,
synchronized, and updated via the wireless network, with the mobile
station user's corresponding data items stored and/or associated
with a host computer system thereby creating a mirrored host
computer on mobile station 202 with respect to such items. This is
especially advantageous where the host computer system is the
mobile station user's office computer system. Additional
applications may also be loaded onto mobile station 202 through
network, an auxiliary. I/O subsystem 228, serial port 230,
short-range communications subsystem 240, or any other suitable
subsystem 242, and installed by a user in RAM 226 or preferably a
non-volatile store (not shown) for execution by microprocessor 238.
Such flexibility in application installation increases the
functionality of mobile station 202 and may provide enhanced
on-device functions, communication-related functions, or both. For
example, secure communication applications may enable electronic
commerce functions and other such financial transactions to be
performed using mobile station 202.
[0041] In a data communication mode, a received signal such as a
text message, an e-mail message, or web page download will be
processed by communication subsystem 211 and input to
microprocessor 238. Microprocessor 238 will preferably further
process the signal for output to display 222 or alternatively to
auxiliary I/O device 228. A user of mobile station 202 may also
compose data items, such as e-mail messages, for example, using
keyboard 232 in conjunction with display 222 and possibly auxiliary
I/O device 228. Keyboard 232 is preferably a complete alphanumeric
keyboard and/or telephone-type keypad. These composed items may be
transmitted over a communication network through communication
subsystem 211.
[0042] For voice communications, the overall operation of mobile
station 202 is substantially similar, except that the received
signals would be output to speaker 234 and signals for transmission
would be generated by microphone 236. Alternative voice or audio
I/O subsystems, such as a voice message recording subsystem, may
also be implemented on mobile station 202. Although voice or audio
signal output is preferably accomplished primarily through speaker
234, display 222 may also be used to provide an indication of the
identity of a calling party, duration of a voice call, or other
voice call related information, as some examples.
[0043] Serial port 230 in FIG. 2 is normally implemented in a
personal digital assistant (PDA)-type communication device for
which synchronization with a user's desktop computer is a
desirable, albeit optional, component. Serial port 230 enables a
user to set preferences through an external device or software
application and extends the capabilities of mobile station 202 by
providing for information or software downloads to mobile station
202 other than through a wireless communication network. The
alternate download path may, for example, be used to load an
encryption key onto mobile station 202 through a direct and thus
reliable and trusted connection to thereby provide secure device
communication.
[0044] Short-range communications subsystem 240 of FIG. 2 is an
additional optional component which provides for communication
between mobile station 202 and different systems or devices, which
need not necessarily be similar devices. For example, subsystem 240
may include an infrared device and associated circuits and
components, or a Bluetooth.TM. communication module to provide for
communication with similarly-enabled systems and devices.
Bluetooth.TM. is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.
[0045] FIG. 3A is a system diagram of network components which
provide mapping functionality in the mobile communication devices
of FIGS. 1 and 2. To achieve this, a mapping application is also
provided in memory of the mobile communication device (e.g. a
mapping application 550 of FIG. 5) for rendering of visual maps in
its display. Mobile communication devices, such as mobile station
202, are connected over a mobile carrier network 303, for
communication through a firewall 305 to a relay 307. A request for
map data from any one of the mobile communication devices is
received at relay 307 and passed via a secure channel 309 through
firewall 311 to a corporate enterprise server 313 and corporate
mobile data system (MDS) server 315. The request is then passed via
firewall 317 to a public location-based service (LBS) server 321
which provides location-based services (LBS) to handle the request.
The network may include a plurality of such LBS servers where
requests are distributed and processed through a load distributing
server. The LBS data may be stored on this network server 321 in a
network database 322, or may be stored on a separate LBS data
server (not shown). Private corporate data stored on corporate LBS
server 325 may be added to the public data via corporate MDS server
315 on the secure return path to mobile station 202. Alternatively,
where no corporate servers provided, the request from mobile
station 202 may be passed via relay 307 to a public MDS server 327,
which sends the request to public LBS server 321 providing LBS to
handle the request.
[0046] A Maplet data structure is provided that contains all of the
graphic and labeled content associated with a geographic area (e.g.
map features such as restaurants (point features), streets (line
features), or lakes (polygon features)). Maplets are structured in
Layers of "DEntries" (Data Entries) identified by a "Layer ID" to
enable data from different sources to be deployed to the device and
meshed for proper rendering. Each DEntry is representative of one
or more artifact or label (or a combination of both) and includes
coordinate information (also referred to a "bounding box" or
"bounding area") to identify the area covered by the DEntry and a
plurality of data Points that together represent the artifact or
label. For example, a DEntry may be used to represent a street on a
city map (or a plurality of streets), wherein the various Points
within the DEntry are separated into different parts representing
various portions of the artifact (e.g. portions of a street). A
mobile device may issue a request for the map server to download
only those DEntries that are included within a specified area or
bounding box representing an area of interest that can be
represented by, for example, a pair of bottom left, top right
coordinates.
[0047] As discussed later below with reference to FIG. 3B, the
mobile device issues one or more AOI (Area of Interest) requests,
DEntry or data requests and Maplet Index requests to the map
server, for selective downloading of map data based on user context
Thus, rather than transmitting the entire map data with each
request from the device, local caching may be used within the
mobile device in conjunction with context filtering of map data on
the server. For example, if a user's mobile device is GPS enabled
and the user is traveling in an automobile at 120 km/hr along a
freeway then context filtering can be employed to prevent
downloading of map data relating to passing side streets. Or, if
the user is traveling in an airplane at 30,000' then context
filtering can be employed to prevent downloading of map data for
any streets whatsoever. Also, a user's context can be defined, for
example, in terms of occupation (e.g. a user whose occupation is
transport truck driver can employ context filtering to prevent
downloading of map data for side streets on which the user's truck
is incapable of traveling, or a user whose occupation is to
replenish supplies of soft drink dispensing machines can employ
context filtering to download public map data showing the user's
geographical area of responsibility with irrelevant features such
as lakes or parks filtered out and private map data containing the
location of soft drink dispensing machines superimposed on the
public map data.
[0048] The Maplet Index request results in a Maplet Index (i.e.
only a portion of the Maplet that provides a table of contents of
the map data available within the Maplet rather than the entire
Maplet) being downloaded from the map server to the device, thereby
conserving OTA (Over-the-Air) bandwidth and device memory caching
requirements. The Maplet Index conforms to the same data structure
as a Maplet, but omits the data Points. Consequently, the Maplet
Index is small (e.g. 300-400 bytes) relative to the size of a fully
populated Maplet or a conventional bit map, and includes DEntry
bounding boxes and attributes (size, complexity, etc.) for all
artifacts within the Maplet. As the field of view changes (e.g. for
a location-aware device that displays a map while moving), the
device (client) software assesses whether or not it needs to
download additional data from the server. Thus, as discussed above,
if the size attribute or complexity attribute of an artifact that
has started to move into the field of view of the device (but is
not yet being displayed) is not relevant to the viewer's current
context, then the device can choose not to display that portion of
the artifact. On the other hand, if the portion of the artifact is
appropriate for display then the device accesses its cache to
determine whether the DEntries associated with that portion of the
artifact have already been downloaded, in which case the cached
content is displayed. Otherwise, the device issues a request for
the map server to download all of the DEntries associated with the
artifact portion.
[0049] By organizing the Maplet data structure in Layers, it is
possible to seamlessly combine and display information obtained
from public and private databases. For example, it is possible for
the device to display an office building at a certain address on a
street (e.g. 1.sup.st z-order attribute from public database),
adjacent a river (e.g. 2.sup.nd z-order attribute from public
database), with a superimposed floor plan of the building to show
individual offices (e.g. 11.sup.th z-order attribute from a private
database, accessible through a firewall).
[0050] Referring back to FIG. 3A, within the network having LBS
server(s) 321 and database(s) 322 accessible to it, all of the map
data for the entire world is divided and stored as a grid according
to various levels of resolution (zoom), as set forth below in Table
A. Thus, a single A level Maplet represents a 0.05.times.0.05
degree grid area; a single B level Maplet represents a
0.5.times.0.5 degree grid area; a single C level Maplet represents
a 5.times.5 degree grid area; a single D level Maplet represents a
50.times.50 degree grid area and a single E level Maplet represents
the entire world in a single Maplet. It is understood that Table A
is only an example of a particular Maplet grid configuration; other
or different grid configurations may also be developed. A Maplet
comprises of a set of layers, with each layer containing a set of
DEntries, and each DEentry containing a set of points.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE A # of Maplets # of Maplets # of Maplets Grid
to cover to cover to cover Level (degrees) the World North America
Europe A 0.05 .times. 0.05 25,920,000 356,000 100,000 B 0.5 .times.
0.5 259,200 6,500 1000 C 5 .times. 5 2,592 96 10 D 50 .times. 50 32
5 5 E World 1 1 1
[0051] Turning now to FIG. 3B, three specific types of requests may
be generated by a mobile communication device (i.e. the
client)--AOI requests, DEntry requests, and Maplet Index requests.
The requests may be generated separately or in various
combinations, as discussed in greater detail below. An AOI (area of
interest) request calls for all DEntries in a given area (bounding
box) for a predetermined or selected set of z-order layers. The AOI
request is usually generated when the mobile communication device
moves to a new area so as to fetch Dentries for display before the
device client knows what is available in the Maplet. The Maplet
Index has the exact same structure as a Maplet but does not contain
complete DEntries (i.e. the data Points that actually represent
artifacts and labels are omitted). Thus, a Maplet Index defines
what layers and DEntries are available for a given Maplet. A data
or DEntry request is a mechanism to bundle together all of the
required Dentries for a given Maplet.
[0052] Typically, AOI (area of interest) and Maplet Index requests
are paired together in the same message, although they need not be,
while DEntry requests are generated most often. For example, when
the mobile communication device moves into an area in connection
with which no information has been stored on the device client, the
Maplet Index request returns a Maplet Index that indicates what
data the client can specifically request from the server 321, while
the AOI request returns any DEntries within the area of interest
for the specified layers (if they exist). In the example requests
shown in FIG. 3B, the desired Maplet is identified within a DEntry
request by specifying the bottom-left Maplet coordinate. In
addition, the DEntry request may include a layer mask so that
unwanted Layers are not downloaded, a DEntry mask so that unwanted
data Points are not downloaded, and zoom values to specify a zoom
level for the requested DEntry. Once the device client has received
the requested Maplet Index, the client typically then issues
multiple DEntry requests to ask for specific DEntries (since the
client knows all of the specific DEntries that are available based
on the Maplet Index).
[0053] According to the present disclosure, a collection of
20.times.20 A-level Maplets (representing a 1.times.1 degree
square) is compiled into a maplet file (.mbl). An .mbl file
contains a header which specifies the offset and length of each
Maplet in the .mbl file. The same 20.times.20 collection of Maplet
index data is compiled into a Maplet Index file (.mbx). The .mbl
and .mbx file structures are set forth in Tables B and C,
respectively.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE B Address Offset Offset Length 0x000 Maplet #
0 Offset (4 Maplet # 0 Length (4 bytes) bytes) 0x008 Maplet # 1
Offset Maplet # 1 Length 0x010 Maplet # 2 Offset Maplet # 2 Length
. . . . . . . . . 0xC78 Maplet # 399 Offset Maplet # 399 Length
0xC80 Beginning of Maplet # 0 0xC80 + Size of Maplet # 0 Beginning
of Maplet # 1 0xC80 + Size of Beginning of Maplet # 2 Maplet # 0 +
# 1 . . . . . . 0xC80 + .SIGMA. of Size of Beginning of Maplet #
399 Maplets (# 0:# 398)
[0054] In Table B, the offset of Maplet # 0 is 0x0000.sub.--0000
since, according to the present disclosure, the data structure is
based on the assumption that the base address for the actual Maplet
data is 0x0000.sub.--0C80. Therefore the absolute address for
Maplet # 0 data is: Maplet # 0 Address=Base Address
(0x0000.sub.--0C80)+Maplet # 0 Offset (0x0000.sub.--0000), and
additional Maplet addresses are calculated as: Maplet # (n+1)
Offset=Maplet # (n) Offset+Maplet #(n) Length. If a Maplet has no
data or does not exist, the length parameter is set to zero
(0x0000.sub.--0000).
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE C Address Offset Offset (4 bytes) Length (4
bytes) 0x000 Maplet Index # 0 Maplet Index # 0 Offset Length 0x008
Maplet Index # 1 Maplet Index # 1 Offset Length 0x010 Maplet Index
# 2 Maplet Index # 2 Offset Length . . . . . . . . . 0xC78 Maplet
Index # Maplet Index # 399 Offset 399 Length 0xC80 Beginning of
Maplet Index # 0 0xC80 + Size of Maplet Index Beginning of Maplet
Index # 1 # 0 0xC80 + Size of Maplet Index Beginning of Maplet
Index # 2 # 0 + # 1 . . . . . . 0xC80 + .SIGMA. of Size of Maplet
Beginning of Maplet Index # 399 Indices (# 0:# 399)
[0055] In Table C, the offset of Maplet Index # 0 is
0x0000.sub.--0000 since, according to the present disclosure the
data structure is based on the assumption that the base address for
the actual Maplet index data is 0x0000.sub.--0C80. Therefore the
absolute address for Maplet Index #0 data is: Maplet Index # 0
Address=Base Address (0x0000.sub.--0C80)+Maplet Index # 0 Offset
(0x0000.sub.--0000), and additional Maplet index addresses are
calculated as: Maplet Index # (n+1) Offset=Maplet Index # (n)
Offset+Maplet Index #(n) Length. If a Maplet Index has no data or
does not exist, the length parameter is set to zero
(0x0000.sub.--0000).
[0056] FIG. 3C and Table D below, in combination, illustrate an
exemplary embodiment of a basic Maplet data structure. Generally,
as noted above, the Maplet data structure can be said to include a
Maplet Index (ie an index of the DEntries, each of which
representative of either an artifact or a label or both) together
with data Points for each DEntry that actually form such artifacts
and labels. In this example, each Maplet includes a Map ID (e.g.
0xA1B1C1D1), the # of Layers in the Maplet, and a Layer Entry for
each Layer. The Map ID identifies the data as a valid Maplet, and
according to one alternative, may also be used to identify a
version number for the data. The # of Layers is an integer which
indicates the number of Layers (and therefore Layer Entries) in the
Maplet. Each Layer Entry defines rendering attributes for all
DEntries in the corresponding Layer and is followed by a list of
DEntries for that Layer. The above forms a Maplet Index. For a
complete Maplet, each DEntry contains a set of data Points
(referred to herein as oPoints) or Labels). Note that Layers may
have multiple DEntries and the complete list of DEntrys and Points
are grouped by Layer and separated by a Layer Separator (e.g. hex
value 0xEEEEEEEE). According to an exemplary embodiment, each Layer
Entry is 20 bytes long, and a DEntry is 12 bytes long. However, the
number of Layers, number of DEntries per Layer and the number of
Points per DEntry depends on the map data and is variable.
[0057] Table D provides a high "byte-level" description of a
Maplet.
TABLE-US-00004 TABLE D Data Quantity Total # of Bytes Map ID 1 4
bytes # of Layers 1 4 bytes Layer Entrys # of Layers 20 bytes x (#
of Layers) DEntry x (# of # of Layers 12 bytes x (.SIGMA. of the #
of DEntrys of a DEntries in each Layer) + Layer in a Points for
Layer) 4 bytes x (.SIGMA. of the # of Points in DEntry each DEntry
in each Layer) + of a Layer Layer Separator 4 bytes x (# of
Layers)
[0058] For even greater detail if desired, this application hereby
incorporates by reference herein a U.S. provisional patent
application entitled "Method And System For Distribution Of Map
Content To Mobile Communication Devices" having Ser. No.
60/787,541, docket number RIM 30176-ID, lead inventor Eric Johnson,
and a filing date of 31 Mar. 2006.
[0059] FIG. 4 is an example of a user interface 402 of mobile
station 202 which includes at least display 222, keyboard 232,
speaker 234, microphone 236, and a cursor or view positioning
mechanism such as a positioning wheel 410 (e.g. a scrollwheel
wheel) or a trackball 433. Although shown enlarged in FIG. 4 for
clarity, this mobile station 202 is sized to be a handheld portable
device. As an alternative to or in addition to positioning wheel
410 and/or trackball 433, a wide range of one or more pointing or
cursor/view positioning mechanisms such as a touch pad a joystick
button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a tablet, or other whether
presently known or unknown, may be employed. As employed herein,
the term "cursor" shall expressly include, but not be limited by, a
pointer, a movable item or other visual cue (e.g. without
limitation, a graphical object; a special symbol; an outline; a
rectangle; an underline character; a blinking item) used to mark a
position or point to another item on a display, in order to, for
example, indicate position for data entry or for selection of the
other item.
[0060] Keys 428 of keyboard 232 are disposed on a front face of a
housing 406 and positioning wheel 410 is disposed at a side of
housing 406. Keyboard 232 is in the example form of a reduced
QWERTY keyboard including a plurality of keys 428 that serve as
input members. It can be seen that the arrangement of the
characters 448 on keys 428 of keyboard 424 is generally of the
QWERTY arrangement, albeit with many of keys 428 including two of
characters 448. In the example depiction of keyboard 424, many of
keys 428 include two characters, such as including a first
character 452 and a second character 456 assigned thereto. It is
understood that the expression "characters" shall broadly be
construed to include letters, digits, symbols and the like and can
additionally include ideographic characters, components thereof,
and the like. One of keys 428 of keyboard 424 includes as the
characters 448 thereof the letters "Q" and "W", and an adjacent key
428 includes as the characters 448 thereof the letters "E" and "R".
Keyboard 424 may be of other configurations, such as an AZERTY
keyboard, a QWERTZ keyboard, a Dvorak keyboard, or other keyboard
or keypad arrangement, whether presently known or unknown, and
either reduced or not reduced (i.e. full). In a "full" or
non-reduced keyboard or keypad arrangement, each key has a single
letter (not multiple letters) of the alphabet assigned to it.
[0061] Among keys 428 of keyboard 232 are a <NEXT> key 440
and an <ENTER> key 444. The <NEXT> key 440, wherein,
for example, "<NEXT>" may be a symbol or may be the word
"next" provided (e.g. printed) on the key, may be pressed to
provide a selection input to the processor and provides
substantially the same selection input as is provided by a
rotational input of positioning wheel 410. Since <NEXT> key
440 is provided adjacent a number of other keys 428 of keyboard
232, the user can provide a selection input to the processor
substantially without moving the user's hands away from the
keyboard 232 during a text entry operation. Another key, the
<ESC> key 445 is disposed on the side of housing 406 adjacent
positioning wheel 438, although the same or similar key may be
disposed as part of keyboard 232. Among keys 428 of the keyboard
424 additionally is a <DEL> key 486 that can be provided to
delete a text entry.
[0062] Positioning wheel 410 may serve as another input member and
is both rotatable, as is indicated by an arrow 412, to provide
selection inputs to the processor, and also can be pressed in a
direction generally toward housing 406, as is indicated by an arrow
414 to provide another selection input to the processor.
Positioning wheel 410 will be described in more detail in relation
to FIGS. 6 and 7 below.
[0063] Display 222 may include a cursor 484 that depicts generally
where the next input or selection from user interface 402 will be
received. Display 222 is shown in FIG. 4 as displaying a home
screen that represents a number of applications 586 (see also FIG.
5 which shows some of the example possible applications 86)
depicted as corresponding discrete icons 488. Icons 488 include,
for example, an Electronic Mail (E-Mail) icon 490, a Calendar icon
492, an Address Book icon 494, a Tasks icon 496, a Messages icon
497, a MemoPad icon 498, and a Search icon 499, respectively.
[0064] As shown in FIG. 5, memory 224 includes a plurality of
applications or routines 586 associated with the visually displayed
icons 488 of FIG. 4 for the processing of data. Applications 586
may be in any of a variety of forms such as, without limitation,
software, firmware, and the like. Applications 586 include, for
example, an Electronic Mail (E-Mail) application 588 (FIG. 5)
associated with E-mail icon 490 (FIG. 4), a Calendar application
590 (FIG. 5) associated with Calendar icon 492 (FIG. 4), an Address
Book application 592 (FIG. 5) associated with Address Book icon 494
(FIG. 4), a Tasks application 594 (FIG. 5) associated with Tasks
icon 496 (FIG. 4), a MemoPad (Memos) application 596 (FIG. 5)
associated with MemoPad icon 498, a Messages application 598 (FIG.
5) associated with Message icon 497 (FIG. 4), and a Search
application 500 (FIG. 5) associated with Search icon 499 (FIG. 4).
An operating system (OS) program 516 also resides in memory 224.
The mobile station of the present disclosure is also adapted to
render visual maps in its visual display, and utilizes a mapping
application 550 stored in memory 224 to facilitate map rendering
and related functionality.
[0065] In FIG. 4, the "home" screen output is currently active and
constitutes the main "ribbon" application for displaying the icons
488 shown. An application, such as E-mail application 588 of FIG.
5, may then be initiated (opened or viewed) from user interface 402
by providing a suitable user input to it. For example, E-mail
application 588 may be initiated (opened or viewed) by rotating
positioning wheel 410 to highlight E-mail icon 490 and providing a
selection input by translating positioning wheel 410 in the
direction indicated by arrow 438. As another example, display 222
displays icon 499 associated with Search application 500 and
accepts input from positioning wheel 410 to initiate a search from
that icon 499. Applications 586 may be additionally or
alternatively initiated (opened or viewed) from user interface 402
by providing another suitable input to it, such as by suitably
rotating or "rolling" trackball 433 and providing a selection input
by, for example, pushing the trackball 33 (e.g. somewhat similar to
positioning wheel 410 except into the plane of FIG. 4).
[0066] Movement, navigation, and/or scrolling with use of a
cursor/view positioning mechanism is beneficial given the
relatively large size of visually displayed information and the
compact size of display 222, and since information and messages are
typically only partially presented in the limited view of display
222 at any given moment. As previously described, positioning wheel
410 is one helpful cursor/view positioning mechanism to achieve
such movement. Positioning wheel 410, which may be referred to as a
scrollwheel, specifically includes a circular disc which is
rotatable about a fixed axis of housing 302 and may be rotated by
the end user's index finger or thumb. When the information or
message is being partially displayed, an upwards rotation of
positioning wheel 410 causes an upwards scrolling such that display
222 presents viewing of an upper portion of the information or
message. Similarly, a downwards rotation of positioning wheel 410
causes a downwards scrolling such that display 222 presents viewing
of a lower portion of the information or message. Positioning wheel
410 is mounted along a fixed linear axis such that the end user can
depress positioning wheel 410 inwards toward housing 406 (e.g. with
the end user's index finger or thumb) for selection of information.
Again, see the direction indicated by an arrow 414 of positioning
wheel 410 shown.
[0067] A more detailed mechanism for positioning wheel 410 is now
described in relation to FIGS. 6 and 7. Positioning wheel 410 of
FIGS. 6-7 is shown connected to and rotatable about a body assembly
610. Body assembly 610 may be connected to or be part of a slide
assembly 720. Slide assembly 720 allows the entirety of positioning
wheel 410 and body assembly 610 may move freely laterally 414 with
respect to the handheld device. Lateral positioning wheel movement
414 is defined as movement along a plane normal to the rotational
axis of positioning wheel 410. To control this lateral movement
414, slide assembly 720 may be connected to a control mechanism
such as a cam mechanism 730 with a cam 731, or alternatively a
level mechanism, a solenoid mechanism, or some other actuating
means. Cam mechanism 730 is connected to a cam controller 740
responsible for controlling a lateral position of positioning wheel
410. As cam 731 connected to cam mechanism 730 and slide assembly
720 moves, positioning wheel 410 and body assembly 610 accordingly
move laterally. Such lateral movement inwards toward the housing is
detectable by the processor of the mobile station as a switch input
(actuation or depression of the positioning wheel key).
[0068] Although positioning wheel 410 has been shown and described
as one mechanism for use in navigating and moving through visually
displayed information, any suitable mechanism may be utilized for
the present user interface techniques, such a trackball; UP, DOWN,
LEFT, and RIGHT keys; a mouse and cursor mechanism; or a touch
screen display mechanism.
[0069] FIG. 8 is an illustration of information which may be
displayed in the display 222. In this embodiment, the information
displayed in FIG. 8 is an address book contact 800 of an address
book which may be displayed in display 222 from use of Address book
application 592 (FIG. 5). The address book is for use in organizing
a plurality of address book contacts for the end user. This address
book contact information 800 may be viewable after opening the
Address Book application from the home screen page. In the example
of FIG. 8, address book contact information 800 includes an address
book name 802 in an address book name field, a business or work
telephone number 804 in a business or work telephone number field,
a home telephone number 805 in a home telephone number field, a
business or work address 806 in one or more business or work
address fields, and a home address 808 in one or more home address
fields. Other information may include a company name (e.g. Company,
Inc.) in a company name field, a title or position of the end user
in the company, and a Personal Identification Number (PIN) in a PIN
field. Each address book contact of the address book has a
plurality of the same fields for organizing such information. Some
field of any address book contact may remain empty, depending on
the end user and/or the availability of information to the end
user. The end user typically manually enters address book contact
information for each contact into storage of memory for subsequent
use in facilitating communications. Alternatively or additionally,
address book contact information may be downloaded or otherwise
received in the device in a non-manual fashion. Additional location
information for the address book contact information 800 may be
included, such as a real-time location of a mobile communication
device associated with the selected address book contact received
through the wireless transceiver. This location may be in the form
of a real-time position address or real-time latitude and longitude
coordinates, and may be received substantially in real-time by the
mobile communication device.
[0070] In addition to providing one or more user applications for
the end user as previously described, the mobile station of the
present disclosure is also adapted to render visual maps in its
display 222. Referring back to FIG. 5, a mapping application 550 is
provided in memory 224 of the mobile station for rendering of
visual maps in the display. Map rendering may be performed
substantially as described in relation to FIG. 3 where the mobile
station sends requests for map rendering data to the network with
address and/or latitude and longitude coordinates as input,
subsequently receiving the map rendering data which it uses to
render a map in the visual display. Map rendering data may be
cached and maintained in memory over time. Alternatively, map
rendering may be performed by retrieving "bitmaps" of the maps and
visually displaying these bitmaps corresponding to the address
and/or latitude and longitude coordinates.
[0071] As an example of one way in which the displaying of a map
may be initiated, FIG. 9 is an illustration of a listing 902 of the
address book contact of FIG. 8. In FIG. 10, it is shown that a
pop-up or pull-down menu 1004 with a plurality of function
identifiers 1008 may be displayed in association with the listing
902 of the address book contact. The plurality of function
identifiers 1008 includes a map function identifier 1006 (e.g.
"View Home Map") which may be selected by the end user to cause the
map application to be called so that a map associated with the
address book contact to be displayed. The map(s) associated with
this address book contact are shown and described later in relation
to FIGS. 12-18.
[0072] Note that the positioning mechanism (e.g. the positioning
wheel of FIGS. 4, 6, and 7) of the mobile station may be used by
the end user to select this map function identifier 1006, as well
as any other function identifier 1008, from menu 1004 in FIG. 9.
Specifically, the listing 902 of the address book contact is
selected by the end user by depressing or actuating the positioning
wheel while the listing 902 is highlighted in FIG. 9, which causes
menu 1004 to appear in display 222 as shown in FIG. 10.
Subsequently, a cursor may be scrolled up and/or down through
function identifiers 1008 of menu 1004 by the end user by rotating
the positioning wheel in an upwards and/or downwards direction. By
rotating the positioning wheel, the cursor may be positioned over
map function identifier 1006 ("View Home Map"), which causes the
function identifier to be highlighted as shown in FIG. 10. While
map function identifier 1006 is highlighted, map function
identifier 1006 is invoked by the end user by depressing or
actuating the positioning wheel. Thus, the positioning wheel may be
used to scroll, navigate, and select functions in the mobile
station as described. More generally, the positioning wheel may be
used to scroll, navigate, and select through files, messages, and
other information stored in the mobile station.
[0073] FIG. 11 is a flowchart which helps describe a method of
dynamically labeling map objects for the visual display of maps.
The method is performed by a mobile communication device as
described in relation to the previous figures, or alternatively by
any computer or communication device (e.g. a PC). The method may be
executed by one or more processors of the communication device. A
computer program product for the mobile station may include
computer instructions stored on a computer readable medium (memory,
a floppy disk or CD-ROM) which are written in accordance with the
described logic of this method.
[0074] For each view of a plurality of different views of a map, a
view of the map is dynamically rendered and generated "on-the-fly"
by the communication device in its display. The technique of FIG.
11 may be initiated by a user input request to receive a map view
of a location, or by mobile or processor-initiated requests to
receive a map view of a location (e.g. when viewing of current
real-time location of communication device). Any suitable trigger
signal may be utilized to initiate the rendering of a view of a
map.
[0075] Beginning at a start block 1102 of FIG. 11, in response to
the request, the processor causes map data corresponding to the
view to be retrieved based on view coordinate parameters of the
request (step 1104 of FIG. 11). The view coordinate parameters may
include latitude and longitude coordinates, and may include an
additional parameter such as a zoom parameter. To obtain the map
data in step 1104, the processor may first identify whether map
data corresponding to the map of the location is available in its
memory cache from a previous rendering of the map. If the map data
is available in its cache, the processor selects this cached map
data to render the map of the location. If the map data is not
available in the cache, however, the processor must retrieve the
map data from an external source. In this case, the user input
request causes the processor to act on the request by sending a
request message for the map data to a server at a predetermined
server address. The request message includes the latitude and
longitude coordinates (and any other information) to the server as
input parameters. A source address of the communication device is
also received at the server along with the request. In response,
the server operates to receive and process the request to retrieve
the map data corresponding to the latitude and longitude
coordinates. The server then operates to respond to the request of
the communication device by sending a response message which
includes the map data to the communication device at its address.
The processor of the communication device receives the map data and
causes the map of the location to be visually displayed in the
display.
[0076] The map data retrieved in step 1104 includes at least map
object graphics data and map object label data. The map object
label data is separate from (and not interspersed within) the map
object graphics data. The map object graphics data corresponds to
one or more portions of a map object (e.g. a road, or other object
such as a park, river, ocean, or lake) to be viewed in the view of
the map. Specifically, the map object graphics data may include
vertice coordinates which are used by the end device to render the
one or more portions of the map object. The vertice coordinates of
the one or more portions of the map object are selected based on
the view coordinate parameters. In an alternate embodiment, the map
object graphics data comprises pure graphics information or file,
such as a bitmap. The map object label data corresponds to a map
object label (e.g. a name of the road, or other name such as the
name of the park, the river, the ocean, or the lake) associated
with the map object. The map object label data may comprise
viewable text information.
[0077] Next, the view of the map corresponding to the view is
rendered in the display in steps 1106 and 1108. In particular, the
processor causes the one or more portions of the map object (e.g.
part of the road) to be rendered in the view of the display in
accordance with the map object graphics data (step 1106 of FIG.
11). The processor also causes the map object label (e.g. the name
of the road) to be rendered in the view of the display in
accordance with the map object label data (step 1108 of FIG. 11).
In particular, the map object label is rendered on or along a
portion of the map object within its vertice coordinates of the
view. This is done so that the map object label always (or almost
always) "fits" or is viewable within the view, being positioned
along in a continuous moving fashion from view to view. For each
view rendering, the specific technique used to render the text
along the portion of the map object may be a "text on a path"
technique familiar to those skilled in the art.
[0078] The method of FIG. 11 of displaying is performed for each
request for a new view. The linear position of the map object label
on or along the at least portion of the map object is different
from the linear position of the map object label on or along the
portion of the map object in each of the other subsequent views of
the map. This is done so that the map object label moves in a
continuous moving fashion from view to view. In any event, the map
object label always (or almost always) fits within the view.
[0079] A specific, preferred technique for calculating a position
of the map object label relative to a portion of the map object is
now described. Prior to rendering the map object label, the
processor operates to identify the longest "straight" portion of
the map object being rendered that has the longest length compared
to all other straight portions of the map object (if any others
exist for the map object). Note again that a map object may be
viewed and rendered as one or more straight portions of objects.
The processor may perform this identification task by first
identifying vertice coordinate pairs of the portions of the map
objects, calculating the lengths of the portions based on the
vertice coordinate pairs, comparing the lengths, and identifying
the portion having the longest length based on the comparisons. The
vertice coordinate pairs may be those vertice coordinates in the
map data utilized to render the portion of the map object within
the view (e.g. the Maplet data corresponding to the map object,
such as a street, with reference to discussion of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and
3C above). Subsequently, the processor operates to calculate or
identify a centerpoint of the longest straight portion based on the
vertice coordinate pairs of the longest straight portion. The
processor then operates to calculate the length of the map object
label itself. The length of the map object label may be determined
based on a count of alphanumeric text characters associated with
the map object label (and, for example, based on a specified size
of each alphanumeric text character of the map object label). The
processor then uses this calculated information to identify the
initial starting point location on or along the portion of the map
object where the map object label will be rendered.
[0080] Preferably, the map object label is centered along the
length of the portion of the map object or rendered relative to the
centerpoint. In this case, the initial starting point at which to
begin rendering the map object label may be determined to be the
centerpoint of the length of the portion of the map object minus
one-half of the length of the map object label. Another way to
(approximately) achieve this result is to initially calculate or
identify a 1/4-point or 2/3-point position (not the exact center
position) of the portion of the map object, merely assuming some
predetermined average length of the map object label, and identify
this point as the initial starting point. Other alternative ways
may be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Again, the specific
technique used to render the text along the portion of the map
object may be referred to as a "text on a path" technique. Thus,
the map object label will be rendered along the portion of the map
object beginning at the calculated location (e.g. centerpoint of
the longest straight portion of the map object). This remains true
unless a conflict with another map object, label, or element
exists. If a conflict is identified, the map object label is
positioned away from the conflict by a predetermined length.
[0081] Step 1108 may further include the act of identifying a slope
along a side of the map object, where the map object label is
rendered on or along the side of the map object in accordance with
the slope. The slope may be fixed (see e.g. FIG. 12) or varying
(see e.g. FIG. 17) along the side of the map object. The slope may
be identified based on a basic ratio calculation using the vertice
coordinate pairs of the portion of the map object. In a specific
approach, the map object label data received over the air includes
text or alphanumeric character data corresponding to the map object
label without specifying any particular character rotation for
viewing. The processor maintains storage of a set of rotated
alphanumeric characters for each one of a plurality of possible
desired rotations or slopes. When the slope of the portion of the
map object is identified by the processor, the processor identifies
a particular alphanumeric character in the map object label, and
selects a corresponding particular alphanumeric character from the
set of rotated alphanumeric characters associated with the
identified slope. This technique is performed for each alphanumeric
character instance along the side of the portion of the map object.
That is, the rotation of each character of the map object label
provided in the view preferably corresponds to the slope at each
character location point taken along the side of the map
object.
[0082] The technique described above is performed for each and
every new view of the map. The following figures further illustrate
the above-identified techniques. Specifically, FIGS. 12-18 are
sequential views of a map to illustrate an example of the method of
the present disclosure. The view of FIG. 12 may be initiated in
response to the actions taken by the end user as described
previously in relation to FIGS. 8-10. In general, each figure in
FIGS. 12-18 reveals a view of a map which includes a map object
1202 (e.g. a road) and a map object label 1204 (e.g. a name of the
road; namely, MARCH road). The map is panned from left to right in
the views of FIGS. 12-18; this panning may be performed in response
to user input to position the view or in response to real-time
tracking of the mobile device.
[0083] As apparent in FIGS. 12-18, the linear position of map
object label 1204 on the portion of map object 1202 changes
continuously from view to view, such that map object label 1204
moves in a continuous moving fashion from view to view. This is due
to the fact that map object label 1204 is rendered on the portion
of map object 1202 at a linear position that depends on, or varies
based on, the vertice coordinates of the portion of map object
1202, for each and every view. This is done at least so that map
object label 1204 always (or almost always) fits or is viewable
within the view, for each and every view. In techniques of the
prior art, a map object label of a map object is fixed within the
graphics data and fails to always appear or conspicuously appear in
several views of the map.
[0084] Thus, methods and apparatus for dynamically labeling map
objects for different views of a visually displayed map have been
described. For each view of a plurality of different views of a
map, a view of the map is rendered "on-the-fly" in a display. The
technique is performed by retrieving map data which includes map
object graphics data and map object label data; causing one or more
portions of a map object (e.g. a road) to be rendered in the view
of the display in accordance with the map object graphics data; and
also causing a map object label (e.g. a name of the road) to be
rendered in the view of the display, in accordance with the map
object label data, on or along a portion of the map object between
its vertice coordinates, such that a linear position of the map
object label on or along the portion of the map object is different
from its linear position in each of the other views of the map so
that the map object label fits within the view in a continuous
moving fashion from view to view. In a specific embodiment, the map
object label is rendered by identifying the portion of the map
object to be a longest portion of the one or more portions of the
map object in the view; identifying a centerpoint of the portion
identified to be the longest portion; and causing the map object
label to be rendered relative to the centerpoint of the portion
identified to be the longest portion. The method may further
include the act of identifying a slope along a side of the map
object, where the map object label is rendered on or along the side
of the portion of the map object in accordance with the slope.
[0085] The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure
are intended to be examples only. Those of skill in the art may
effect alterations, modifications and variations to the particular
embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. The
term "road" is meant to refer to any navigation path such as a
street, a highway, a walk path or bike path. The invention
described herein in the recited claims intends to cover and embrace
all suitable changes in technology.
* * * * *