Navigation App Offline Online Data Merge

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing geographic applications struggle to seamlessly transition between online and offline map data, especially when network connectivity is intermittent or unavailable, leading to disruptions in navigation and search functions.

Innovation Solution

A geographic application that dynamically merges offline and online map data based on factors like timing of arrival and quality differences, allowing for seamless transitions and enhanced user experience by providing navigation directions and search results in both offline and online modes.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the application uses offline map data to ensure navigation functionality without network connection, then navigation availability is improved, but data completeness and accuracy deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenavigation availabilityVSAvoiddata completeness
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The application pre-loads and caches map data, routing information, and point-of-interest data into offline storage before network disconnection occurs. This preliminary action ensures that navigation functions remain available offline with sufficient data, resolving the contradiction between maintaining navigation availability and preserving data completeness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Ease of operation

If the application dynamically merges offline and online data to enable seamless transitions, then user experience is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser experienceVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The application introduces a data merger component that acts as an intermediary between offline and online data sources. This mediator automatically combines data from both sources, manages transitions, and presents unified results to the user, thereby improving user experience while containing system complexity through modular design.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The application dynamically adjusts its data merging strategy based on network availability, current location, and user context. By making the data integration process adaptive rather than static, the system provides seamless transitions between online and offline modes without requiring complex manual configuration, thus improving ease of operation while managing complexity through intelligence.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Reliability

If the application stores extensive map data locally to support offline navigation, then offline functionality is improved, but device storage requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveoffline functionalityVSAvoiddevice storage
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSVolume of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The application segments map data into modular tiles organized by geographic region and zoom level, storing only the portions needed for current and predicted future routes. This segmentation allows offline navigation functionality to be maintained with minimal storage by loading data on-demand and discarding unused portions, resolving the contradiction between offline reliability and storage volume.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP4067824B1Notification of upcoming loss of offline data coverage in a navigation application
Publication Date: 2025.04.09 GOOGLE LLC
  • EP4067824B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4067824B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4067824B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3C

AI summary

A request for navigation directions for travelling from a source location to a destination location is received. Using data that was stored in a memory of a computing device prior to the request, first navigation directions for travelling from the source location to the destination location are generated, and a request for navigation directions for travelling from the source location to the destination location is transmitted to an online server. After second navigation directions for travelling from the source to the destination are received, it is determined whether a difference between the first navigation directions and the second navigation directions exceeds a threshold level. When the difference between the first navigation directions and the second directions route does not exceed the threshold level, the second navigation directions are merged into the first navigation directions.