Patent ID: 8825400

Claim:
A data processing apparatus for processing information of a road, the apparatus comprising: a database access unit for enabling access to a map database having pre-registered information of the road; a section information generation unit for generating not-yet-registered road section information identifying a new road section that is not yet registered in the map database, the not-yet-registered road section information of the new road section being saved in a new road table in a memory unit, the not-yet-registered road section information includes (a) coordinate information that represents road shape coordinates of the new road section and (b) additional information that represents, without using a map database specific ID used in the map database accessible by the database access unit, (b-1) the new road section or (b-2) a nearby terrestrial object in a vicinity of the new road section; a road section identification unit for revising the new road table when the map database accessed by the database access unit has been updated from a resource external to the data processing apparatus by determining whether the new road section saved in the new road table is one of road sections registered in the map database that was updated; and an invalidation unit for invalidating the new road section and the corresponding not-yet-registered road section information for the new road section responsive to the road section identification unit determining that the new road section is one of the road sections registered in the map database by the road section identification unit, wherein the road section identification unit pre-identifies, based on the coordinate information in the not-yet-registered road section information, a pre-identified road section in a vicinity of the new road section that is identified by the coordinate information from among the road sections registered in the updated map database, and the pre-identified road section is further identified by the road section identification unit in terms of matching to the additional information in the not-yet-registered road section information.