Patent ID: 7973641
Filing Date: 2011-07-05
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
1. A radio frequency identification (RFID) based parking system to control at least one gate configured to allow a patron in a vehicle to enter or exit a parking facility without stopping, the system comprising: a first antenna configured to read a passive RFID tag in a first area within a lane associated with an entrance or an exit of the parking facility, wherein the first antenna and the corresponding first area are positioned to minimize false readings of RFID tags of other vehicles entering or exiting the parking facility and to allow the vehicle to enter or exit the parking facility without stopping; a second antenna configured to read the passive RFID tag in a second area, separate from the first area, contained within the lane associated with the entrance or exit, wherein the second antenna and the corresponding second area are positioned to read the passive RFID tag when the first antenna fails to read the RFID tag to allow the vehicle to enter or exit the parking facility; a first detector to detect the vehicle entering the first area; a second detector to detect the vehicle entering the first area; a passive RFID reader connected to the first and second antennae configured to sequentially activate the first antenna when the vehicle enters the first area and deactivate the first antenna and activate the second antenna when the vehicle enters the second area to read an identification (ID) associated with the passive RFID tag when the passive RFID tag passes through one of the first and second areas to allow the vehicle to enter or exit the parking facility without stopping; a processing device configured to determine that the read ID is valid and may access the facility and configured to control the gate to open; wherein D, a distance in feet along a horizontal axis from the gate to an edge of the first area farthest from the gate, is selected to allow the vehicle to enter or exit the parking facility without stopping and is determined as the sum of D D=D