{
  "patent_number": "US 7158878",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Digital Maps Are Built From Small Image Pieces",
  "original_title": "Digital mapping system",
  "summary": "Google's 2007 patent on how to assemble small map images, called tiles, into a larger map view on your device, enabling smooth zooming and panning.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a system for creating digital maps that you see on your screen. Instead of sending one giant map image, it breaks the map into many small square images called 'map tiles.' When you request a map area, your device asks a server for the specific tiles it needs. The device then stitches these tiles together into a grid, aligns them within a viewing area (a 'clipping shape'), and shows you the map. If you zoom in or pan, it requests new tiles and reassembles them. It can also add extra information like markers or directions as overlays on top of the map tiles.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Displaying a single, unbroken map image file without assembling smaller tiles.",
    "Maps that do not use a server to provide the map image data.",
    "Systems that do not align the assembled tiles within a specific viewing boundary.",
    "Methods that do not allow for zooming or panning by requesting new tiles.",
    "Displaying a map without the ability to overlay additional information like markers or directions."
  ],
  "filed": "2005-02-05",
  "granted": "2007-01-02",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Google LLC",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/google-llc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "James Christopher Norris",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/james-christopher-norris"
    },
    {
      "name": "Noel Phillip Gordon",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/noel-phillip-gordon"
    },
    {
      "name": "Stephen Ma",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/stephen-ma"
    },
    {
      "name": "Bret Steven Taylor",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/bret-steven-taylor"
    },
    {
      "name": "Seth Michael LaForge",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/seth-michael-laforge"
    },
    {
      "name": "Andrew Robert Kirmse",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/andrew-robert-kirmse"
    },
    {
      "name": "Lars Eilstrup Rasmussen",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/lars-eilstrup-rasmussen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/jens-eilstrup-rasmussen"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 399,
  "tags": [
    "software",
    "consumer_electronics",
    "telecommunications",
    "geospatial"
  ],
  "abstract": "Various methods, systems, and apparatus for implementing aspects of a digital mapping system are disclosed. One such method includes sending a location request from a client-side computing device to a map tile server, receiving a set of map tiles in response to the location request, assembling said received map tiles into a tile grid, aligning the tile grid relative to a clipping shape, and displaying the result as a map image. One apparatus according to aspects of the present invention includes means for sending a location request from a client-side computing device to a map tile server, means for receiving a set of map tiles in response to the location request, means for assembling said received map tiles into a tile grid, means for aligning the tile grid relative to a clipping shape, and means for displaying the result as a map image. Such an apparatus may further include direction control or zoom control objects as interactive overlays on the displayed map image, and may also include route or location overlays on the map image.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/7158878/google-maps-directions",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/7158878/google-maps-directions/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US7158878",
  "relatedPatents": []
}