Abstract:
A parking system comprises an Internet-accessible Web server storing substantially real-time parking data associated with occupancy of a plurality of parking spaces and a plurality of detectors at a parking lot communicating with the Web server. The plurality of detectors collects substantially real-time parking occupancy data for a plurality of parking spaces at the parking lot. Each of the plurality of detectors includes a wireless communications device for transmitting said substantially real-time parking occupancy data to said Web server and one of a position detector, a motion detector, a weight detector, or a video camera to ascertain whether a parking space is occupied. The parking data is capable of being rendered by a display device running a browser application. The Web server transmits the parking data in response to a request sent from the browser application.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/908,036, filed on Apr. 26, 2005, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/709,565, filed on May 13, 2004, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,946,974 on Sep. 20, 2005, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/065,359, filed on Oct. 8, 2002, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,750,786 on Jun. 15, 2004, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/671,363, filed on Sep. 28, 2000, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,391 on Dec. 31, 2002 and claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/156,391 filed on Sep. 28, 1999. These applications are entirely incorporated by reference. 

   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for communication of parking information. 
   BACKGROUND 
   Locating a vacant parking space is an ordeal that causes frustration for many commuters. Even if a commuter pays to enter a parking lot, valuable time is consumed searching for a parking space within the parking lot. It seems that parking lots that service hospitals, airports, mass transit stations, entertainment forums, shopping malls and the like are always the most crowded, when time is the most crucial. As urban and suburban regions become more populated, finding a vacant parking space will become increasingly difficult for commuters. 
   Several prior art devices have attempted to facilitate locating a parking space. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,163 to Kakihara et al. (&#39;163 patent) discloses a system for locating garages with available parking spaces. According to the &#39;163 patent, the location of a parking garage having available parking is displayed in map format. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,508 to Jackson (&#39;508 patent) discloses a technique for informing vehicle operators of available parking spaces in a parking garage. According to the &#39;508 patent, light sources mounted above the parking spaces and at the entrance to the parking garage are used to indicate the location of available spaces. The &#39;508 patent also discloses a computer which collects information concerning parking availability and communicates the information to prospective users. Namely, a person can place a telephone call and receive a voice message indicating whether the parking lot is full. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,782 to Schmitt et al. (&#39;782 patent) discloses a system for finding available on-street parking using an on-board vehicle navigation system and parking meters equipped with sensing devices. According to the &#39;782 patent, real time metered parking space information can be accessed from a central location or directly by a vehicle, upon entering a specific geographic area. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,481 to Zeitman (&#39;481 patent) discloses a parking management control system used to report parking, monitor parking and reserve parking spaces. According to the &#39;481 patent, a user reports parking in a particular parking facility to a central control unit using a personal non-dedicated mobile communications device. The central control unit then confirms whether parking in the particular parking facility is authorized or not. The central control unit also generates a report indicating which parking facilities are supposed to be vacant for law enforcement officials so that unauthorized parking can be ticketed. The &#39;481 patent also discloses that a user can reserve a desired parking facility by selecting a desired parking facility from a map provided from the central control unit. If a potential user, other than the registered user, communicates a request to park in the reserved parking facility, the control unit transmits a response to the potential user indicating that the parking facility is reserved and not authorized for use. 
   SUMMARY 
   A parking system comprises an Internet-accessible Web server storing substantially real-time parking data associated with occupancy of a plurality of parking spaces and a plurality of detectors at a parking lot communicating with the Web server. The plurality of detectors collects substantially real-time parking occupancy data for a plurality of parking spaces at the parking lot. Each of the plurality of detectors includes a wireless communications device for transmitting said substantially real-time parking occupancy data to said Web server and one of a position detector, a motion detector, a weight detector, or a video camera to ascertain whether a parking space is occupied. The parking data is capable of being rendered by a display device running a browser application. The Web server transmits the parking data in response to a request sent from the browser application. 
   A method comprises collecting substantially real-time parking occupancy data for a plurality of parking spaces at a parking lot using a plurality of detectors the parking lot and communicating the substantially real-time parking occupancy data to an Internet-accessible Web server. Each of the plurality of detectors includes a wireless communications device for transmitting the substantially real-time parking occupancy data and one of a position detector, a motion detector, a weight detector, or a video camera to ascertain whether a parking space is occupied. The Web server stores substantially real-time parking data associated with occupancy of the plurality of parking spaces. The parking data is capable of being rendered by a display device running a browser application. The Web server provides the parking data to the display device in response to a receiving a request sent from the browser application. 
   Aspects of the present invention may be implemented by an apparatus and/or by a computer program stored on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may comprise a disk, a client device, a network device, a host device, and/or a propagated signal. 
   Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description, including the drawings, and from the claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a communication network. 
       FIG. 2  is an expansion of the block diagram of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  is a flow chart of a communications method. 
       FIG. 4  is a flow chart of a communications method. 
       FIG. 5  is a graphical user interface. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1  illustrates a communication network  10  according to one embodiment of the present invention. The communication network includes a controller  11  for commanding a server  12  to transmit parking lot occupancy data corresponding to one or more parking lots  13 ,  14  through the Internet  15 . For simplicity, only the basic components of the communication network  10  are shown. However, as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, the communication network may include various other components and structures in actual implementation. For instance, although a first parking lot  13  and a second parking lot  14  are shown, the communication network may include only one parking lot or numerous parking lots. 
   The server  12  may be any type computer, computer system, server, settop box or other type of Internet-accessible device and may include any type of hardware, software, application and/or program capable of functioning as described herein. The server  12  may be located at the site of one or more of the parking lots  13 ,  14  and/or may be located at a remote location. 
   As indicated by the broken lines, the controller  11  may be either internal or external to the server  12 . An example a controller  11  is a software application loaded on the server  12  for commanding and directing communications enabled by the server  12 . Other examples include a program, a piece of code, an instruction, a device, a computer, a computer system, and/or a combination thereof, for independently or collectively instructing the server  12  to interact and operate as described herein. The controller  11  may be embodied permanently or temporarily in any type of machine, component, and/or equipment. The controller  11  transmits commands to the server  12  through a first connection  17 , which may be any communication path capable of carrying commands between the controller  11  and the server  12 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 1 , the server  12  is connected to the first parking lot  13  through a second connection  18 . The second connection may be a serial, modem, telephone, cable, satellite, LAN (Local Area Network) including one or more other computers (not shown) or any other connection capable of carrying data between the first parking lot  13  and the server  12 . The server  12  also is connected to the second parking lot  14  through the Internet  15  through a third connection  19  and a fourth connection  20 . The third connection  19  and the fourth connection  20  may be any type of modem, cable, satellite or other type of connection capable of carrying data through the Internet  15  between the second parking lot  14  and the server  12 . Each of the third connection  19  and fourth connection  20  may also include one or more intermediary computer systems or servers (not shown), such as an ISP (Internet Service Provider). 
   The first parking lot  13  and the second parking lot  14  may be any parking lot that services a hospital, airport, mass transit station, entertainment forum, shopping mall, department store, grocery store or the like. Each of the first parking lot  13  and the second parking lot  14  are equipped with detectors (not shown) for detecting the status information for each of the parking lots  13 , 14 . The detectors may be any type of device (e.g., position detectors, motion detectors, weight detectors, video cameras, etc.) capable of ascertaining whether a parking space is occupied or not. The detected status information includes at least the location of vacant parking spaces within the parking lots  13 ,  14 . The status information, however, may include the occupancy status of every parking space within the parking lots  13 ,  14  or any other information concerning the status of the parking lots  13 , 14 . The first parking lot and second parking lot are also equipped with communication devices (not shown) for communicating the status information to the server  12 . The communications devices may be any type of internal or external device such as a computer, server, application, and/or program capable of conveying the status information to the server  12 . For example, the communication devices may be the detectors of the parking lots  13 ,  14  or may be a terminal at the parking lots  13 ,  14  for collecting and communicating status information. 
   Referring again to  FIG. 1 , the server  12  is connected to a remote display device  16  through the Internet  15  through the third connection  19  and a fifth connection  21 . The fifth connection  21  may be any type of modem, cable, satellite or other type of connection capable of carrying data through the Internet  15  between the server  12  and the remote display device  16 . 
   The remote display device  16  may be any type computer, computer system, server, settop box or other type of Internet-accessible device and may include any type of hardware, software, application or program capable of executing the functions described herein. The display device  16  may include applications that enable textual or graphical display of information, such as an email application or an Internet browser application. The remote display device  16  may be a wired or wireless device structured and arranged to access the Internet from home, office, vehicle, and/or any other location. For example, the remote display device  16  may be personal computer (PC) and/or a portable device, such as a vehicle-mounted device or a hand-held device (e.g., PDA and/or mobile telephone having Internet access). The remote display device  16  may communicate with the server  12  through the Internet  15  and through wired or wireless communication pathways  19 ,  21 . 
     FIG. 2  illustrates a communication network  100  including a display device  16  communicating with a server  12  through the Internet  15 . The server  12  may include one or more server controllers  11  for controlling the server  12 . Communication pathway  19  and communication pathway  21  enable wired or wireless communication between the server  12  and the display device  16  through the Internet  15 . 
   The display device  16  may include one or more device controllers  160  for controlling the display device  16 . An example of device controller  160  is a software application loaded on the display device  16  for commanding and directing communications enabled by the display device  16 . Other examples include a program, a piece of code, an instruction, a device, a computer, a computer system, or a combination thereof, for independently or collectively instructing the display device  16  to interact and operate as described herein. The device controller  160  may be embodied permanently or temporarily in any type of machine, component, equipment, storage medium, or propagated signal capable of providing instructions to the client device  16 . 
   In one implementation, the display device  16  is a PC and/or a portable device, such as a vehicle-mounted device or a hand-held device (e.g., PDA and/or mobile telephone). The display device  16  includes a general purpose computer  161  having an internal or external storage  162  for storing data and programs such as an operating system  163  (e.g., DOS, Windows™, Windows 95™, Windows 98™, Windows 2000™, Windows NT™, OS/2, or Linux) and one or more application programs. Examples of application programs include authoring applications  164  (e.g., word processing, database programs, spreadsheet programs, or graphics programs) capable of generating documents or other electronic content; client applications  165  capable of communicating with other computer users, accessing various computer resources, and viewing, creating, or otherwise manipulating electronic content; and browser applications  166  (e.g., Netscape&#39;s Navigator or Microsoft&#39;s Internet Explorer) capable of rendering standard Internet content. 
   The general-purpose computer  161  also includes a central processing unit (CPU)  167  for executing instructions in response to commands from the device controller  160 . In one implementation, the device controller  160  includes one or more of the application programs installed on the internal or external storage  162  of the general-purpose computer  161 . In another implementation, the device controller  160  includes application programs externally stored in and performed by one or more device(s) external to the general-purpose computer  160 . 
   The general-purpose computer typically will include a communication device  168  for sending and receiving data. One example of the communication device  168  is a modem. Other examples include a transceiver, a set-top box, a communication card, a satellite dish, an antenna, or another network adapter capable of transmitting and receiving data over wired or wireless data pathway  21 . The general-purpose computer  161  also may include a TV (“television”) tuner  169  for receiving television programming in the form of broadcast, satellite, and/or cable TV signals. As a result, the display device  16  can selectively and/or simultaneously display Internet content received by communications device  168  and television programming content received by the TV tuner  169 . 
   The general-purpose computer  161  may include an input/output interface  170  for wired or wireless connection to various peripheral devices. Examples of peripheral devices include, but are not limited to, a mouse  171 , a mobile phone  172 , a personal digital assistant  173  (PDA), a keyboard  174 , an on-board vehicle or PC display monitor  175  with or without a touch screen input, and/or a TV remote control  176  for receiving information from and rendering information to subscribers. 
   Although  FIG. 2  illustrates devices such as a mobile telephone  172 , a PDA  173 , and a TV remote control  176  as being peripheral with respect to the general-purpose computer  161 , in another implementation, such devices may include the functionality of the general-purpose computer  161  and operate as the display device  16 . For example, the mobile phone  172  or the PDA  173  may include computing and networking capabilities and function as a display device  16  by accessing the Internet  15  and communicating with the server  12 . Furthermore, the display device  16  may include one, some or all of the components and devices described above. 
   The operation of one implementation of the present invention will now be described with reference to  FIG. 3 . 
   In response to commands from the controller  11 , the server  12  retrieves status information from one or more of the parking lots  13 ,  14  (S 10 ). This may entail the controller  11  commanding the server  12  to poll or query the occupancy status of the parking lots  13 ,  14  or commanding the server  12  to accept status information periodically sent from the parking lots  13 ,  14 . 
   After the server  12  has retrieved the status information, the controller  11  instructs the server  12  to perform data processing in order convert the status information into parking lot occupancy data capable of being reproduced by a remote display device  16  (S 20 ). Such data processing may or may not be required depending on the form of the retrieved status information. 
   The controller  11  then commands the server  12  to transmit the parking lot occupancy data over the Internet  15  (S 30 ). The parking lot occupancy data corresponds to one or more of the parking lots  13 ,  14  and is capable of being reproduced by a remote display device  16  as a real-time representation of the parking lot  13 ,  14  indicating vacant parking spaces within the parking lots  13 ,  14 . The real-time representation may be in the form of a textual listing, a graphical map, a video image, an Internet Web page or similar form and may indicate occupied parking spaces as well as reserved parking spaces. 
   Using a remote display device, a commuter can view the real-time representation of the parking lot and can readily locate an available parking space or decide to search for parking elsewhere. 
   The operation of another embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to  FIG. 4 . In this embodiment of the present invention, the controller  11  commands the server  12  to accept subscriptions from a plurality of subscribers (S 100 ). The controller  11  commands the server  12  to provide Internet accessibility to parking lot occupancy data corresponding to at least one parking lot for the plurality subscribers (S 200 ). Subscribers may access the real-time representation through the Internet by visiting a Web site or transmitting an email request, for example. The server  12  may provide access for a fee. Accordingly, the controller  11  may command the server  12  to appropriately charge and bill subscribers (S 300 ). 
   Again, the parking lot occupancy data capable is capable of being reproduced by each of the remote display devices as a real-time representation of the parking lot indicating at least vacant parking spaces within the parking lot. The real-time representation may be in the form of a textual listing, a graphical map, a video image, an Internet Web page or a combination of such forms and may indicate occupied parking spaces as well as reserved parking spaces.  FIG. 5  is one of a graphical user interface that may be displayed to a commuter. 
   As described above, the present invention will facilitate a commuter&#39;s search for a parking space by utilizing the capabilities of the Internet to display a real-time representation of available parking spaces within a parking lot. 
   It should be understood that the embodiments described above are only examples of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the following claims.