초록 ▼

Apparatus for a video navigation plotter with electronic charting, specifically such a plotter designed for marine use, and various methods for processing navigational data therein and displaying resulting navigational data thereon are disclosed herein. Specifically, this plotter stores coastline da

Apparatus for a video navigation plotter with electronic charting, specifically such a plotter designed for marine use, and various methods for processing navigational data therein and displaying resulting navigational data thereon are disclosed herein. Specifically, this plotter stores coastline data only for those cells which contain coastline data within a given geographic region of a pre-defined chart. The data for each of these cells is stored in a unique data structure that stores data for a plurality of line segments that, when drawn, collectively depicts the geographic data stored within that cell. Each segment is stored in terms of coordinate locations for a starting point followed by coordinate offset values for each successive point in that cell. Only those cells and their constituent segments are drawn for coastline data that exists within a specific region to be displayed. Once a coastline chart is displayed, the inventive plotter permits navigational data to be overlaid thereon and through this capability provides several useful features as set forth herein.

대표청구항 ▼

In a video navigation plotter for displaying linear geographic data occurring within a pre-defined geographic region, a method of storing the geographic data in said plotter and displaying the geographic data on a display, said method comprising the steps of: representing said linear geographic data

In a video navigation plotter for displaying linear geographic data occurring within a pre-defined geographic region, a method of storing the geographic data in said plotter and displaying the geographic data on a display, said method comprising the steps of: representing said linear geographic data occurring in said region as a sequence of data calls with each data cell carrying a different cell number, wherein each successive cell encompasses a different successive pre-defined area existing within the region; storing each of said data cells as a memory cell within a memory, said memory cell containing a corresponding sequence of fields, said sequence defining a corresponding segment of said geographic data that occurs within the pre-defined area encompassed by said each data cell, wherein a first field in said sequence stores coordinates of a starting point of said segment and each successive field in said sequence stores a position offset value measured from a previous point in said segment to a next successive point in said segment, said segment point being defined by all offset values and said starting point that previously occur within said sequence; maintaining a table of individual memory cell numbers that defines an order in which said memory cells should be accessed in order to generate the linear geographic data; defining a numeric range of the memory cells, specified in said table, that collectively contain geographic data which forms a selected portion of the linear geographic data that is to be displayed on the display; successively accessing from the memory each of the memory cells that lies within said range of memory cells; and incrementally drawing, in response to each accessed memory cell, a pattern in a portion of a display screen, wherein said portion corresponds to the location of the data cell in the region and associated with said accessed memory cell and said pattern depicts the segment stored within said accessed memory cell and wherein said pattern is drawn as a series of connected line segments that begin at the starting point occurring within the sequence stored within the accessed memory cell, continue to a point specified by a first offset value occurring within the sequence stored within the accessed memory cell and extend to each corresponding point specified by each successive offset value occurring within the sequence stored within the accessed memory cell.