An Effective NoSQL-Based Vector Map Tile Management Approach

Within a digital map service environment, the rapid growth of Spatial Big-Data is driving new requirements for effective mechanisms for massive online vector map tile processing. The emergence of Not Only SQL (NoSQL) databases has resulted in a new data storage and management model for scalable spatial data deployments and fast tracking. They better suit the scenario of high-volume, low-latency network map services than traditional standalone high-performance computer (HPC) or relational databases. In this paper, we propose a flexible storage framework that provides feasible methods for tiled map data parallel clipping and retrieval operations within a distributed NoSQL database environment. We illustrate the parallel vector tile generation and querying algorithms with the MapReduce programming model. Three different processing approaches, including local caching, distributed file storage, and the NoSQL-based method, are compared by analyzing the concurrent load and calculation time. An online geological vector tile map service prototype was developed to embed our processing framework in the China Geological Survey Information Grid. Experimental results show that our NoSQL-based parallel tile management framework can support applications that process huge volumes of vector tile data and improve performance of the tiled map service.