computer science

Web Map Tile Service

Web Map Tile Service is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Web Map Tile Service rather than just read about it. In short: A Web Map Tile Service (WMTS) is a standard protocol for serving pre-rendered or run-time computed georeferenced map tiles over the Internet. The specification was developed and first published by the Open Geospatial Consortium in 2010.

Key takeaways

Web Map Tile Service belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Web Map Tile Service to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Web Map Tile Service from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A Web Map Tile Service (WMTS) is a standard protocol for serving pre-rendered or run-time computed georeferenced map tiles over the Internet. The specification was developed and first published by the Open Geospatial Consortium in 2010.

History The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) became involved in developing standards for web mapping after a paper was published in 1997 by Allan Doyle, outlining a "WWW Mapping Framework". The oldest and most popular standard for web mapping is WMS. However, the properties of this standard proved to be difficult to implement for situations where short response times were important. For most WMS services it is not uncommon to require 1 or more CPU seconds to produce a response. For massive parallel use cases, such a CPU-intensive service is not practical. To overcome the CPU intensive on-the-fly rendering problem, application developers started using pre-rendered map tiles. Several open and proprietary schemes were invented to organize and address these map tiles. An earlier specification for this is the Tile Map Service (TMS). It is simpler than WMTS. It was developed by members of the OSGeo and is not backed by an official standards body.

Requests WMTS specifies a number of request encodings:

KVP key-value-pairs encoding (over HTTP) REST Representational state transfer encoding (over HTTP) SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol encoding (usually over HTTP) The syntax for the WMTS request types is different for each of these encodings. Some request types are:

Capabilities returns information about the WMTS service parameters Tile returns a map tile FeatureInfo returns (alphanumeric) information for a given map location Legend returns a legend image for the map

See also Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) Tile Map Service (TMS) Tiled web map Web Coverage Service (WCS) Web Feature Service (WFS) Web Map Service (WMS)

References

External links OGC WMTS

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Web Map Tile Service

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Web Map Tile Service claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Web Map Tile Service before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Web Map Tile Service ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Web Map Tile Service

In research: Web Map Tile Service appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Web Map Tile Service in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Web Map Tile Service is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics GIS software, Open Geospatial Consortium, Web Map Services, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Web Map Tile Service outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Web Map Tile Service” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Web Map Tile Service in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Web Map Tile Service means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Web Map Tile Service out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Web Map Tile Service in simple terms?

Why does Web Map Tile Service matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Web Map Tile Service?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Web Map Tile Service.