A study on high definition maps' standards and specifications for autonomous vehicles.

Prior high definition maps are currently required in the perception stack of autonomous vehicles since they encode road-level features in centimetre accuracy. This rapid map establishment has led to a vast range of different map vendors, formats, structures and standards. In this study, the landscape of high-definition maps is being analyzed, evaluated and compared. Unlike other similar works, the maps in this study are categorized by their formats and structures since map vendors have started to provide single structure maps in multiple formats. Although this wide availability helps to expand the map usage, many aspects have to be considered and evaluated for choosing the most appropriate one. Apart from the detailed review, key issues and a discussion concerning the use of prior maps is provided to facilitate better map usage and adoption in the intelligent vehicles era.