Map-Aided GPS Navigation: Linking Vehicles and Maps to Support Location-Based Services

This article describes how integrating raw Global Positioning System (GPS) data and map information can provide a new approach for vehicle navigation in certain urban areas where canyons block GPS signals. In addition, determining vehicle location is complicated further in urban canyons because of increased road network density. Map-matching is the identification of the correct road segment followed by the determination of a position on it. When added to dead reckoning and GPS positioning, it can provide a solution to this problem. The road on which the vehicle is traveling is decided by a fuzzy logic inference system that receives information from a GPS receiver and a gyro. The system improved performance by more than 30 percent in terms of locating a vehicle on the correct road segment.