Vector Tile Obstacle Data Storage for Map Rendering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Storing and rendering large amounts of obstacle data for aircraft navigation consume significant computer resources, and existing filtering methods may prevent important obstacles from being rendered, potentially impeding flight paths.
Innovation Solution
Using vector tiles to store obstacle data with locations defined relative to a local origin within each tile, reducing data size and enabling efficient rendering of obstacle locations while maintaining precision for accurate positioning in a computer-generated map view.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If obstacle data for millions of obstacles is stored in a computer database, then complete obstacle tracking is achieved, but computer-storage resources are significantly consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the geographic area into multiple tiles, each containing a subset of obstacle data. This segmentation allows the system to store and process obstacle information in manageable chunks rather than loading all million+ obstacles at once, reducing memory requirements while maintaining complete obstacle tracking capability across the entire region.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts only the necessary obstacle data for the current view area into memory, separating the full database of obstacles from the active working set. This allows the system to maintain complete obstacle records in the database while only loading relevant portions into memory for processing, significantly reducing computer-storage resource consumption during operation.
2Reliability
If a significant number of obstacles are tracked in a computer database, then flight path safety is improved, but rendering performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments obstacle data by geographic region into tiles, allowing the rendering system to process and display only obstacles within the current view area rather than all tracked obstacles. This maintains flight path safety through complete obstacle tracking while dramatically improving rendering performance by reducing the number of obstacles processed in each frame.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial action by rendering only the subset of obstacles currently visible in the map view rather than all tracked obstacles. This approach maintains adequate flight path safety for the current operating area while optimizing rendering performance, avoiding the excessive processing cost of displaying all million+ obstacles simultaneously.
3Measurement precision
If obstacle data is stored with absolute geographic coordinates, then location precision is maintained, but data size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent stores obstacle data with local coordinates relative to each tile's origin rather than absolute geographic coordinates. This local quality approach maintains sufficient location precision for accurate obstacle positioning within each tile while significantly reducing the data size, as local coordinates require fewer bits than absolute coordinates for the same precision level.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples are disclosed that relate to efficient computer-storage and computer-rendering of obstacle data in the computer-generated map view. In one example, one or more vector tiles collectively representing a geographic region are received. Each of the one or more vector tiles represents a sub-region of the geographic region. Obstacle data for one or more obstacles in the geographic region is received. The obstacle data defines a location of each of the one or more obstacles in relation to a local origin of the vector tile representing the sub-region where the obstacle is geographically located. A map view is rendered for visual presentation via a display. The map view includes the geographic region represented by the one or more vector tiles and indicating the one or more obstacles.