A Bully Strategy for Progressive Mobile Map Generation

In this paper, we address the process of generating cartographic maps on-the-fly. Despite the existence of intensive research works, this process is still characterized by its complexity, time-consuming processing, and lack of flexibility. While web users are having an improved access to spatial data, mobile users are still facing problems in getting personalized maps that fit their limited display screens and do not penalize them due to low transfer rates. In order to provide the mobile users with the right data and avoid cluttering their screens with useless data, we propose to progressively generate, transmit, and display spatial objects according to a decreasing order of their importance. The approach is based upon software agents that compete for the occupation of the limited display space. This competition is driven by a bully approach that privileges the processing of objects with higher importance. In order to illustrate our solution, we apply it in the context of tourist mobile mapping applications.