OSM Mobile Binary Format

This format is currently being developed and is in no way finished.

Contents 1 Purpose 2 Application-Scope 3 Requirements (current state) 4 Existing formats (next state) 5 Specification (future state) 5.1 Coordinate-Representation 5.2 routable Ways 5.3 geographic featues 5.4 topologic features 5.5 names

Purpose

The purpose of this format is the local storage of OSM-data on mobile devices.

Application-Scope

The scope are mobile routing, navigation and moving-map -style programs.

The scope are not editors

Requirements (current state)

Agreed on:

• storage-space is limited
• memory is even more limited
• indexed access into the file without loading the complete file into memory
• no floating-point

Proposed:

• support saving a large map as a group of smaller maps each covering a well defined area (e.g. tile).
• support updating areas to their newest version
• the format is read-only. Only complete map-files are written.
• Required Tags

Use Cases:

• display the map with different information density
• zoom the map
• pan the map
• find your position on the map based on GPS coordinates
• find your position on a way based on a street-adress or POI-name
• identify an object on the map based on a user click
• find a route for a fixed vehicle-type from one way to another.
• find and display an object based on its textual representation (street name, city name, POI name)

Existing formats (next state)

To be defined

• The OSM_Mobile_Binary_Protocol has a non-indexed, tile-based format
  • no support for topological information? (intersections of ways vs. series of LatLon-Diffs)
• Gosmore
• Cartotype

Specification (future state)

To be defined

Coordinate-Representation

Discussion

routable Ways

roads for program-specific vehicle types (cars, people, boats, ...)

Discussion

geographic featues

lakes, oceans, woodland, ...

Discussion

topologic features

city-boundary-polygons, countries, ...

Discussion

names

Discussion