Abstract:
An apparatus for generating location information based on a web map includes a location information extracting unit that extracts the location information on the web map corresponding to each spot selected depending on movement of a pointer for searching the location information of the web map on the web map, which is received from a web map information storage server storing the web map and a location data generating unit that generates location data by using the location information extracted by the location information extracting unit. According to above, a system for generating location information based on a web map can provide an environment where various located-based services can be developed without an actual physical device in order to develop a service utilizing the location information.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application Serial Number 10-2008-0123469, filed on Dec. 5, 2008 and Korean Patent Application Serial Number 10-2009-089688, filed on Sep. 22, 2009, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to an apparatus for generating location information based on a web map and a method thereof, and more particularly, to an apparatus for generating location information based on a web map and a method thereof which can provide accurate and various location information in order to develop a location-based service and verify the developed service in the state where the Internet is connected without a physical location information acquiring device. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    A global positioning system (GPS) which was developed for a military purpose in an initial stage begins to be applied to a private sector. In recent years, the GPS has been applied to various location-based application service fields, such as vehicle and personal navigation services, an object position tracking service, etc. 
         [0006]    A means for continuously providing accurate location information is required to develop various location-based application services and verify the developed services. 
         [0007]    In order to develop a location-based service utilizing the GPS or verify the developed service, actual location information should be presently acquired and used by attaching the physical GPS. 
         [0008]    Further, due to a limitation in which the GPS cannot be used indoor due to its own characteristic, inspection of a service developed by previously collecting location information required to develop the location-based service and using only the collection information should be performed. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for generating location information based on a web map and a method thereof which provide accurate location information based on information actually acquired from a satellite in link with a web map service. 
         [0010]    Further, another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for generating location information based on a web map and a method thereof which can be applied to more various location-based services by providing a speed and a moving distance of a moving object utilizing information on a moving speed or a moving trajectory of a pointer device such as a mouse that circulates the web map in order to continuously provide the location information of the moving object. 
         [0011]    In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an apparatus for generating location information based on a web map according to an aspect of the present invention includes a communication unit that receives the web map by accessing a web map information storage server storing the web map; a display unit that displays the web map received by the communication unit and a pointer for searching location information of the web map; a location information extracting unit that extracts the location information on the web map corresponding to each spot selected depending on movement of the pointer; and a location data generating unit that generates location data by using the location information extracted by the location information extracting unit. 
         [0012]    The location information extracting unit requests web map information of a corresponding spot to the web map storage server through the communication unit depending on the movement of the pointer in real time and extracts location information from the web map information provided from the web map storage server. 
         [0013]    The location information extracting unit includes a location coordinate generating module that extracts coordinate information on a latitude and a longitude of a spot on the web map where the pointer is located; a moving distance generating module that calculates a moving distance corresponding to the movement of the pointer on the web map on the basis of the coordinate information extracted by the location coordinate generating module; and a moving speed generating module that calculates moving speed corresponding to the movement of the pointer on the web map on the basis of the moving distance information calculated by the moving distance generating module. 
         [0014]    The location coordinate generating module generates a moving trajectory on the web map on the basis of the extracted coordinate information. 
         [0015]    The moving distance generating module calculates the moving distance of the pointer and calculates a moving distance on the web map corresponding to the calculated moving distance of the pointer. 
         [0016]    The moving speed generating module calculates the moving speed of the pointer and calculates moving speed on the web map corresponding to the calculated moving speed of the pointer. 
         [0017]    The apparatus for generating location information based on a web map further includes a random number generating unit that generates a random number for generating additional information on the spot on the web map where the pointer is located. 
         [0018]    The location data generating unit generates location data by combining the location information extracted by the location information extracting unit and the additional information generated by using the random number. 
         [0019]    The apparatus for generating location information based on a web map further includes a location information storage unit that stores the location information extracted by the location information extracting unit and the location data generated by the location data generating unit. 
         [0020]    Meanwhile, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a method for generating location information based on a web map according to another aspect of the present invention includes receiving the web map by accessing a web map information storage server storing the web map; detecting movement of a pointer when the pointer for searching the location information on the received web map moves; extracting the location information on the web map corresponding to each spot selected depending on movement of the pointer; and generating location data by using the extracted location information. 
         [0021]    The extracting includes extracting coordinate information on a latitude and a longitude of a spot on the web map where the pointer is located. 
         [0022]    The method for generating location information based on a web map further includes generating a moving trajectory on the web map on the basis of the extracted coordinate information. 
         [0023]    The extracting further includes calculating a moving distance depending on the movement of the pointer; and calculating a moving distance on the web map corresponding to the moving distance of the pointer on the basis of the coordinate information of the spot on the web map where the pointer is located. 
         [0024]    The extracting further includes calculating moving speed depending on the movement of the pointer; and calculating moving speed on the web map corresponding to the moving speed of the pointer on the basis of the calculated moving distance information on the web map. 
         [0025]    The extracting requests web map information of the corresponding spot depending on the movement of the pointer to the web map storage server in real time and extracts the location information from the web map information provided from the web map storage server. 
         [0026]    The method for generating location information based on a web map further includes generating a random number for generating additional information on the spot on the web map where the pointer is located. 
         [0027]    The generating generates the location data by combining the location information extracted in the extracting and the additional information generated by using the random number. 
         [0028]    The method for generating location information based on a web map further includes storing or transferring the location data generated in the generating to the outside. 
         [0029]    According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide more accurate location information by generating location data based on information actually acquired from a satellite in link with a web map service based on the Internet. 
         [0030]    Further, it is possible to apply an apparatus for generating location information based on a web map and a method thereof to more various location-based services by providing a speed and a moving distance of a moving object utilizing information on a moving speed or a moving trajectory of a pointer device such as a mouse that circulates the web map in order to continuously provide the location information of the moving object. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0031]      FIG. 1  is a diagram showing a system configuration to which an apparatus for generating location information based on a web map is applied according to the present invention; 
           [0032]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus for generating location information based on a web map according to the present invention; 
           [0033]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing a detailed module configuration of a location information extracting unit of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0034]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing a detailed module configuration of a random number generating unit of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0035]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing a detailed module configuration of a location data generating unit of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0036]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing a detailed module configuration of a communication unit of  FIG. 2 ; and 
           [0037]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart showing an operational flow of a method for generating location information based on a web map according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0038]    Hereinafter, a configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments of the accompanying drawings. 
         [0039]      FIG. 1  is a diagram showing a system configuration to which an apparatus for generating location information based on a web map is applied according to the present invention and  FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus for generating location information based on a web map according to the present invention. 
         [0040]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the web map-based location information generating apparatus  100  according to the present invention requests web map data of a predetermined area in accordance with a user&#39;s request by accessing a web map storage server  200  in which the web map data is stored. At this time, the location information generating apparatus  100  receives the web map data requested from the web map storage server  200  and displays the web map data on a screen, and generates the location information as a pointer moves. 
         [0041]    Hereinafter, referring to  FIG. 2 , the configuration of the location information generating apparatus  100  will be described. 
         [0042]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the location information generating apparatus  100  according to the present invention includes a communication unit  110 , a user interface  120 , a display unit  130 , a control unit  140 , a location information extracting unit  150 , a random number generating unit  160 , a location data generating unit  170 , and a location information storage unit  180 . 
         [0043]    First, the communication unit  110  supports a communication interface so as to access the web. The communication unit  110  receives predetermined web map data from the web map storage server  200  by accessing the web map storage server  200  in accordance with a request of the control unit  140 . 
         [0044]    Meanwhile, the user interface  120  includes a keyboard, a mouse, etc. A user inputs a control command through the user interface  120  or controls movement of a pointer displayed on a screen of the display unit  130 . 
         [0045]    The display unit  130  displays a state depending on an operation of the location information generating apparatus  100  on the screen. 
         [0046]    The control unit  140  controls operations of the communication unit  110 , the user interface  120 , the display unit  130 , the location information extracting unit  150 , the random number generating unit  160 , the location data generating unit  170 , and the location information storage unit  180 . 
         [0047]    The location information extracting unit  150  extracts location information of a spot indicated by the pointer on the web map provided from the web map data. At this time, the location information extracting unit  150  extracts location coordinate information, that is, latitude information and longitude information of the pointer moving on the web map by using a pointing device such as the mouse. 
         [0048]    Further, the location information extracting unit  150  calculates a moving distance and moving speed of the pointer by using the extracted location coordinate information. 
         [0049]    A detailed module configuration of the location information extracting unit  150  will be described with reference to  FIG. 3 . 
         [0050]    The random number generating unit  160  generates a random number for information not included in the location information extracted by the location information extracting unit  150 . In other words, the random number generating unit  160  generates a random number for information that is not provided from the web map storage server  200  or not extracted by the location information extracting unit  150 . At this time, the random number generating unit  160  generates different random numbers depending on a usage purpose or characteristics of the corresponding information. 
         [0051]    A detailed module configuration of the random number generating unit  160  will be described with reference to  FIG. 4 . 
         [0052]    The location data generating unit  170  generates location data having a predetermined type by using the location information extracted from the location information extracting unit  150  and the random number generated by the random number generating unit  160 . 
         [0053]    At this time, the generation type of the location data may be defined by the user in advance. Of course, the location data generating unit  170  generates location data having different types depending on the usage purpose. 
         [0054]    A detailed module configuration of the location data generating unit  170  will be described with reference to  FIG. 5 . 
         [0055]    Meanwhile, the location data generated by the location data generating unit  170  is stored in the location information storage unit  180  or the generated location data is transferred to the outside through the communication unit  110  in accordance with a user&#39;s request. Of course, afterwards, the location data stored in the location information storage unit  180  may be transmitted to the outside. 
         [0056]    Herein, the communication unit  110  is provided with a communication module for transferring the location data. 
         [0057]    A detailed module configuration of the communication unit  110  will be described with reference to  FIG. 6 . 
         [0058]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing the detailed module configuration of the location information extracting unit  150  of  FIG. 2 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , the location information extracting unit  150  according to the present invention includes a location coordinate generating module  151 , a moving distance generating module  153 , and a moving speed generating module  155 . 
         [0059]    When the web map data received from the web map storage server  200  is displayed on the screen of the display unit  130 , the pointer on the screen moves in accordance with the signal inputted through the user interface  120 . 
         [0060]    At this time, the location coordinate generating module  151  detects the movement of the pointer moving on the screen of the display unit  130  and extracts the latitude and longitude information of a spot on the web map where the pointer is located. 
         [0061]    The location coordinate generating module  151  extracts the latitude and longitude information of each spot where the pointer moves on the screen of the display unit  130 . Herein, the latitude and longitude information corresponding to the web map are provided from the web map storage server  200 . 
         [0062]    Meanwhile, the location coordinate generating module  151  generates a movement trajectory on the web map on the basis of the extracted coordinate information. 
         [0063]    The moving distance generating module  153  calculates a moving distance depending on the movement of the pointer. 
         [0064]    Further, the moving distance generating module  153  calculates a moving distance corresponding to the movement of the pointer on the web map on the basis of the location coordinate information extracted by the location coordinate generating module  151 . 
         [0065]    In other words, when the moving distance of the pointer is  10  cm, a moving distance on the web map corresponding to the moving distance of the pointer is calculated. 
         [0066]    At this time, the moving distance generating module  153  calculates a moving distance of the pointer every movement of the pointer by receiving the location coordinate information from the location coordinate generating module  151  in real time. 
         [0067]    The moving speed generating module  153  calculates moving speed corresponding to movement of the pointer on the web map by using the location coordinate information extracted by the location coordinate generating module  151  and the moving distance information calculated by the moving distance generating module  153 . 
         [0068]    At this time, the moving speed generating module  155  calculates the moving speed of the pointer and calculates the moving speed on the web map corresponding to the moving speed of the pointer. 
         [0069]    The moving speed generating module  155  calculates moving speed of the pointer depending on the movement of the pointer by receiving the corresponding information from the location coordinate generating module  151  and the moving distance generating module  153  in real time. 
         [0070]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing a detailed module configuration of the random number generating unit  160  of  FIG. 2 . 
         [0071]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , the random number generating unit  160  generates a random number for generating additional information on the spot where the pointer is located as described above. 
         [0072]    Herein, the additional information generates a random number for information that is not provided by the web map storage server  200  or information that is not extracted by the location information extracting unit  150 . For example, the additional information includes the number of detected satellites, an altitude, etc. 
         [0073]    At this time, the random number generating unit  160  includes a satellite number generating module  161  and an altitude generating module  163 . 
         [0074]    The satellite number generating module  161  is a module that generates a random number for the detected satellite. 
         [0075]    Meanwhile, the altitude generating module  163  generates a random number for an altitude of a spot where the pointer is located. 
         [0076]    Herein, the random numbers generated by the satellite number generating module  161  and the altitude generating module  163  are transferred to the location data generating unit  170  through the control unit  140  and used to generate the location data. 
         [0077]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing a detailed module configuration of the location data generating unit  170  of  FIG. 2 . 
         [0078]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , the location data generating unit  170  includes a user defined location information generating module  171  and an NMEA location information generating module  173 . 
         [0079]    The user defined location information generating module  171  defines a configuration of location information used in a location-based service and generates the location information in accordance with the defined configuration. 
         [0080]    The NMEA location information generating module  173  generates GPS data of the NMEA  0183  protocol which is the standard of an interface protocol of marine equipments. 
         [0081]    Herein, the NMEA  0183  mainly referred to as NMEA is the specification for transmitting information including time, location, orientation, etc. The data are mainly in a gyrocompass, a GPS, a compass, an inertial navigation system (INS), etc. 
         [0082]    The NMEA location information generating module  173  may be constituted by the entirety or a part of the module depending on the usage purpose thereof and may include a module that configure location information of another type and generates the location information. 
         [0083]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing a detailed module configuration of the communication unit  110  of  FIG. 2 . 
         [0084]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , the communication unit  110  receives the web map data from the web map storage server  200  by accessing the web map storage server  200 . The communication unit  110  transfers the received web map data to the control unit  140 , which is stored in the location information storage unit  180 . 
         [0085]    Meanwhile, the communication unit  110  performs a function to transfer the location data generated by the location data generating unit  170  to the outside. 
         [0086]    Herein, the communication unit  110  includes a TCP network communication module  111 , a serial communication module  113 , and an RF communication module  115 . 
         [0087]    The TCP network communication module  111  as a module that controls information transmission of a network by using a transmission control protocol (TCP) divides messages or files into smaller packets and transmits the divided packets through the Internet and reassembles the received packets to the original message. 
         [0088]    The serial communication module  113  transmits data in a unit of one bit at once through a communication channel or a computer bus by recording the location data in a serial port for serial communication of a type in which a physical GPS device is connected. 
         [0089]    The RF communication module  115  as a module that transmits the location data through RF-based wireless communication such as Bluetooth, etc. transmits the received data loaded on a carrier frequency and extracts data loaded on the carrier frequency from a signal received from the outside. The RF communication module  115  may be constituted by the entirety or only a part of the module depending on the usage purpose thereof and may include a new-type transmission module. 
         [0090]    Therefore, when the control unit  140  intends to transmit location data stored in the location information storage unit  180  to the outside, the control unit  140  transmits the corresponding location data to the outside by using at least one of communication modules provided in the communication unit  110 . 
         [0091]    An operational flow of the present invention configured as above will be described below. 
         [0092]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart showing an operational flow of a method for generating location information based on a web map according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0093]    As shown in  FIG. 7 , the method for generating location information based on a web map according to the embodiment of the present invention includes setting the type of location information generated by a web map-based location information generating apparatus  100  (S 700 ), accessing a web map storage server  200  (S 710 ), and receiving web map data (S 720 ). Herein, the location information generating apparatus  100  can receive web map information corresponding to a corresponding area from the web map storage server  200  in real time in accordance with a request thereof. 
         [0094]    The location information generating apparatus  100  calls the web map data received at step ‘S 720 ’ and displays the web map (S 730 ) and searches an area of which location information will be acquired while moving a pointer on the web map (S 740 ). 
         [0095]    At this time, location information of the corresponding pointer is extracted whenever the pointer moves (S 750 ). 
         [0096]    At step ‘S 750 ’, latitude and longitude information of the area where the corresponding pointer is located are extracted on the basis of web map information provided from the web map storage server  200 . 
         [0097]    Further, when the pointer moves, a moving distance of the pointer is calculated by comparing a current location of the pointer with a previous location of the pointer on the basis of the location information calculated at step ‘S 750 ’ and moving speed is calculated by using the calculated moving distance (S 760 ). 
         [0098]    Meanwhile, besides the information calculated at steps ‘S 750 ’ and ‘S 760 ’, a random number for additional information to be added to configure the location information is generated. At this time, the additional information is generated based on the generated random number (S 770 ). 
         [0099]    The location information generating apparatus  100  generates final location data by integrating the information acquired at steps ‘S 750 ’ to ‘S 770 ’ (S 790 ) and stores or transmits the generated location data to the outside (S 800 ). 
         [0100]    As described above, an apparatus for generating location information based on a web map and a method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention are not limited to the configuration and method of the embodiments described as above, but the embodiments may be configured by selectively combining all the embodiments or some of the embodiments so that various modifications can be made.