Apple Inc.
Efficiently Encoding Route Data for Obtaining Route Updates

Abstract:

In some implementations, a route between a starting point and a destination point may be encoded in a map-independent way. A route is an ordered list of segments that connect the starting point to the destination point. By being map-independent, the route can be encoded on one map version, such as at a server device, and later decoded on a different map version, such as on a user device. In an embodiment, the user device may decode the route using the same codec library that was used by the server to encode the route. Moreover, in an approach, the user device may select a subset of support points along the route to provide to the server which are sufficient to describe the route in order to conserve resources. Using these techniques, a route can be encoded in a very space efficient way with a decoding error rate close to 0%.