A parking management system identifies vehicles in entrance lanes, exit lanes, or both, of a parking facility and provides a real-time vehicle inventory count. One or more beacons locate point of sale (POS) devices assigned to parking attendants to determine which of them are performing vehicle transactions. Vehicles can be associated with specific transactions, as well as the transaction-authorizing attendant and the barrier gate and vehicle travel lane to which the attendant is assigned. To reduce fraud, this transaction information can be monitored in real time by a web or mobile dashboard and analyzed in real time or upon attendant end-of-shift checkout. The system partly unburdens the parking attendant processing a parking transaction by implementing a method that eliminates need for a mobile printing device in issuing to a vehicle-driving customer a receipt, multiuse pass, or citation or warning.
G06K 7/10 - Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensingMethods or arrangements for sensing record carriers by corpuscular radiation
G06K 7/14 - Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensingMethods or arrangements for sensing record carriers by corpuscular radiation using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light
G06K 19/06 - Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code
G06K 19/07 - Record carriers with conductive marks, printed circuits or semiconductor circuit elements, e.g. credit or identity cards with integrated circuit chips
G07B 15/02 - Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems
G07C 9/29 - Individual registration on entry or exit involving the use of a pass the pass containing active electronic elements, e.g. smartcards
G08G 1/123 - Traffic control systems for road vehicles indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles
H04W 4/30 - Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes
H04W 4/35 - Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes for the management of goods or merchandise
2.
TECHNIQUES FOR VEHICLE PARKING MANAGEMENT AND INVITATION-BASED PERMITTING
A parking management system identifies vehicles in entrance lanes, exit lanes, or both, of a parking facility and provides a real-time vehicle inventory count. One or more beacons locate point of sale (POS) devices assigned to parking attendants to determine which of them are performing vehicle transactions. Vehicles can be associated with specific transactions, as well as the transaction-authorizing attendant and the barrier gate and vehicle travel lane to which the attendant is assigned. To reduce fraud, this transaction information can be monitored in real time by a web or mobile dashboard and analyzed in real time or upon attendant end-of-shift checkout. The parking management system also implements permit parking invitation techniques that provide registration, payment in advance or on demand, or both, for parking of an invitee's vehicle. These tasks are accomplished without an inviter's knowledge about the invitee, the invitee's vehicle, or both.
G01V 8/12 - Detecting, e.g. by using light barriers using one transmitter and one receiver
G07B 15/02 - Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems
G07F 17/24 - Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articlesCoin-freed facilities or services for parking meters
G08G 1/04 - Detecting movement of traffic to be counted or controlled using optical or ultrasonic detectors
G08G 1/042 - Detecting movement of traffic to be counted or controlled using inductive or magnetic detectors
G08G 1/056 - Detecting movement of traffic to be counted or controlled with provision for distinguishing direction of travel
G08G 1/123 - Traffic control systems for road vehicles indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles
H04W 4/44 - Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
e.g.e.g., mobile phone) to instantly open any mechanical barrier (12) such as a gate or door to enter and exit a parking area with restricted access without preregistration and prepayment activity and without one or both of interaction with parking attendants and payment system equipment. The vehicle parking barrier access control system is equipment manufacturer agnostic and eliminates a direct need to integrate with gate or door barrier software and hardware.
G07B 15/00 - Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points
G07B 15/02 - Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems
G07B 15/04 - Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems comprising devices to free a barrier, turnstile or the like
G07C 9/00 - Individual registration on entry or exit
G07C 9/10 - Movable barriers with registering means
A vehicle parking barrier access control system (10, 40) uses a mobile smart device (46) (e.g., mobile phone) to instantly open any mechanical barrier (12) such as a gate or door to enter and exit a parking area with restricted access without preregistration and prepayment activity and without one or both of interaction with parking attendants and payment system equipment. The vehicle parking barrier access control system is equipment manufacturer agnostic and eliminates a direct need to integrate with gate or door barrier software and hardware.
G07B 15/00 - Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points
G07B 15/02 - Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems
G07B 15/04 - Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems comprising devices to free a barrier, turnstile or the like
G07C 9/00 - Individual registration on entry or exit
G07C 9/10 - Movable barriers with registering means
A parking objects or vehicles detection system (60) uses BLE proximity sensing to identify a vehicle (520) with a beacon ID to within about one vehicle length from an access gate (516) of a vehicle parking surface lot or garage. The system performs vision-based parking inventory management (514) by monitoring live vehicle ingress and egress traffic and communicating to a backend server (70) changes in instances of vehicle parking events.
A parking objects or vehicles detection system (60) uses BLE proximity sensing to identify a vehicle (520) with a beacon ID to within about one vehicle length from an access gate (516) of a vehicle parking surface lot or garage. The system performs vision-based parking inventory management (514) by monitoring live vehicle ingress and egress traffic and communicating to a backend server (70) changes in instances of vehicle parking events.
Systems and methods communicate parking access information between a host application (106) associated with an operator of a parking area and a web application (102) associated with a parking fee management provider for facilitating access, by a user (112) carrying a smartphone (18), to the parking area secured by an external smart object (28). The external smart object is controllable through operation of the web application and actuatable through wireless personal area network (WPAN) communications exchanged between the smartphone and the external smart object in response to the operation of the web application causing the host application to generate the WPAN communications.
G06F 9/44 - Arrangements for executing specific programs
G06F 17/00 - Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions
G07B 15/02 - Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems
G08G 1/14 - Traffic control systems for road vehicles indicating individual free spaces in parking areas
H04W 4/021 - Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
H04W 64/00 - Locating users or terminals for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
8.
COMMUNICATING BETWEEN A HOST APPLICATION AND EXTERNAL SMART OBJECTS CONTROLLED BY A WEB APPLICATION
Systems and methods communicate parking access information between a host application (106) associated with an operator of a parking area and a web application (102) associated with a parking fee management provider for facilitating access, by a user (112) carrying a smartphone (18), to the parking area secured by an external smart object (28). The external smart object is controllable through operation of the web application and actuatable through wireless personal area network (WPAN) communications exchanged between the smartphone and the external smart object in response to the operation of the web application causing the host application to generate the WPAN communications.
A vehicle parking and mass transport beacon system (60) implemented with a beacon device (10) configured as a wireless identifier and authentication mechanism offers a user a capability of bypassing infrastructures of commercial parking lots and facilities, mass transit systems, and taxi services when using them. The beacon system includes a source beacon and a user beacon, the latter of which implemented in a user smart device (36) such as a smartphone. The use of a source beacon and user smart device enables elimination of reliance on a cellular communication connection from the time of the user's grant of permission for action to the time of separation of the user smart device and the beacon by a distance outside the range of connectivity between them. Such elimination of reliance on cellular communication connection avoids delay and communication coverage issues stemming from use of a cellular communication network.
G07B 15/02 - Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems
A vehicle parking and mass transport beacon system (60) implemented with a beacon device (10) configured as a wireless identifier and authentication mechanism offers a user a capability of bypassing infrastructures of commercial parking lots and facilities, mass transit systems, and taxi services when using them. The beacon system includes a source beacon and a user beacon, the latter of which implemented in a user smart device (36) such as a smartphone. The use of a source beacon and user smart device enables elimination of reliance on a cellular communication connection from the time of the user's grant of permission for action to the time of separation of the user smart device and the beacon by a distance outside the range of connectivity between them. Such elimination of reliance on cellular communication connection avoids delay and communication coverage issues stemming from use of a cellular communication network.
G07B 15/02 - Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems
11.
TRANSACTION PAYMENT PROCESSING SYSTEM IMPLEMENTING A VIRTUAL EXCHANGE PLATFORM
A transaction payment processing system (150) includes a backend transaction system (152) that performs credit and debit processes for multiple user accounts (75), merchant accounts (68), and service provider accounts (76, 78). The backend transaction system is preferably part of backend servers (12). The transaction payment processing system preferably uses wireless technologies to carry out a method of debiting and crediting multiple ones of each of the user, merchant, and parking service accounts with incremental amounts of money over a set period of time. The method facilitates fast processing of multiple micro-transactions (debits and credits) without storing of funds while reducing the payment of processing costs and fees for individual provider accounts.
A dynamic parking management platform (10) includes a mobile communication device (20), a parking server (12), and an electronic ticket device (30) that cooperate to enable a vehicle driver to effect electronically a secure parking fee payment transaction. The electronic ticket device emits a beacon signal to enable transmission of vehicle parking time and other information to a wireless communication device (40) carried by a parking service provider officer or attendant walking past a parked vehicle and not having to view a display surface on the electronic ticket device. A lock and key capability enables secure parking fee payments and prevents unauthorized parking fee transactions. The parking management platform configured to induce vehicle drivers to purchase a product or service by parking discount inducement or advertisement information from merchants whose stores are located nearby the vehicle parking area.
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