MAP MATCHING METHOD AND APPARATUS

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to process probe data in accordance with an efficient map matching technique. Methods may include obtaining a road link within a geographic area from a database of a plurality of road links; calculating a plurality of areas of interest and a centroid for each; receiving a probe data point from a probe apparatus including one or more sensors and being onboard a vehicle, where the probe data point includes location information associated with the probe apparatus; determining that the probe data point location information corresponds to the geographic area; determining that the probe data point location corresponds to an area of interest disposed along the road link within the geographic area; and map matching the probe data point to a centroid of the area of interest determined to correspond to the probe data point location.