Abstract:
A method and apparatus for providing timely and efficient notification of vehicle parking space availability and locations of vehicle parking spaces to motorists or other network users. Local detector devices sense the presence or absence of a vehicle in a particular parking space and communicate space identification and status information to a computer network. The parking space status information is integrated with electronic street maps of the area where the relevant spaces are located. Integrated maps containing space status identifiers are communicated to any number of networks.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/174,320 filed on Jan. 4, 2000. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for communicating space availability data and more particularly to a method and apparatus for sensing the presence or absence of vehicles in particular parking spaces and communicating parking space location and status information. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Motorists who drive in crowded metropolitan areas often have difficulty locating a vacant space to park their vehicle. During busy traffic hours, most legally marked and metered parking spaces are often occupied. Motorists who are seeking a space are often compelled to repeatedly circle city blocks while waiting for a space to become available. These motorists often obstruct traffic by driving very slowly or frequently stopping in a travel lane to wait for a potential space to open. They also create a substantial hazard to other drivers and pedestrians by focusing their attention on parking spaces thereby reducing their awareness of pedestrians and other normal road hazards. 
     Mechanical parking meters which have no sensing capability are being replaced in many cities by electronic meters which are capable of sensing the presence or absence of a vehicle in a particular parking space. Any number of known sensor technologies including infra red sensors, ultrasonic sensors, magnetic sensors or machine vision systems may be used to detect the presence or absence of vehicles in particular parking spaces. Electronic modules are known which can be adapted to conventional mechanical parking meters to add a vehicle detecting capability to the meters. For example U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,345 discloses electronic modules which include vehicle sensors for enhancing the operation of conventional parking meters. Electronic parking meters which are capable of sensing the presence or absence of a vehicle can be used to reset a meter when a vehicle leaves a space. Revenue for a municipality is thereby enhanced at the expense of motorists who could otherwise use the previous occupant&#39;s remaining meter time. 
     Electronic parking meters are known that are connected to a network. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,094 discloses a computerized parking meter system which comprises a host computer and a plurality of parking meters having supersonic metal sensors. These computerized systems detect the presence of vehicles and register parking time so that overtime parking can be accurately recorded. Limited data is provided to a municipality and is used primarily for control and evaluation of parking fine collections. Data that is collected on known parking meter networks is not collected, maintained, or formatted in a manner that could assist motorists to locate parking spaces. Electronic parking meters and networks according to the prior art do not provide timely parking space availability data in a useful format to local motorists. 
     Electronic databases of street maps of many cities and towns are available to computer users on CD ROM and on the internet. Many available electronic street maps allow users to select various scales or zoom levels to view an area map. The location of a particular address may be graphically indicated on an electronic map by superimposing a symbol such a star at the map location of the particular address. For example MAPQUEST.COM provides an internet web-site wherein a user may enter any address and be provided almost instantly with a detailed street map of the area surrounding the address wherein a star is superimposed on the map to indicate the precise location of the address. Certain electronic maps are available for use on hand held computer devices such as PALM hand held devices, available from Palm, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., and vehicle mounted mobile computer systems. Electronic map databases such as those provided by MAPQUEST.COM provide no real-time status information such as parking space availability data. 
     Electronic street maps have been integrated with vehicle global positioning systems (GPS) to provide accurate real-time vehicle location and navigation information to motorists. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,742 discloses a graphic mapping system disposed within a vehicle and integrated with an automatic position locating system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,520 discloses an information system for automatically providing mobile vehicles with information related to their location. Mobile computer systems having electronic maps and GPS capability are available as standard or optical equipment in several automobile models. Such mobile computer systems are heretofore unable to assist a motorist to find a parking space. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for communicating data relating to the locations and availability status of parking spaces for automobiles. Detector devices that are at least capable of detecting and signaling the presence or absence of a vehicle in a particularly identified space are mounted near any number parking spaces. The detector devices may be integrated with parking meters and may include vehicle detector devices that are included in existing electronic parking meters. The detector devices communicate an availability signal indicating the presence or absence of a vehicle in a specific parking space and an space identification data to a data storage device or database. 
     According to at least one embodiment of the invention the availability signal in the database is integrated with an electronic map database such that the status of the parking space is graphically indicated on the electronic map. The graphical map having parking availability data is made available to the public and particularly to motorists expeditiously over the internet or any other communication network. Availability data for any number of parking spaces may be displayed on an electronic map. 
     The present invention features a timely method of notifying the public and particularly motorists of the location of available parking spaces. The method and apparatus according to the invention saves time and provides convenience to motorists. The invention also enhances safety around congested parking areas by allowing drivers to focus on the road rather than scanning for vacant spaces. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a parking space detection and notification system according to at least one embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram of a parking meter based sensor and notification system according to at least one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. One to a plurality of detector stations  10  use any number of appropriate sensor types or technologies to detect the presence or absence of a vehicle in a particular location or space. The detector station generates a space status signal indicating the presence or absence of a vehicle in a particular space and identifying the particular space to which it refers. In the exemplary embodiment, the detector stations  10  communicate space status signals to a central processor component  14  via a communication link  12 . The central processor component  14  may retrieve map data from an external source such as the internet or a separate communication link or may be preloaded or programmed to internally store a database of map data The central processor component,  14  is programmed to integrate space status signals with map data according to any means known in the art so that space availability indicators are displayed on the map at locations corresponding the actual space locations. The integrated map data is continuously updated to maintain realtime parking status information and is published to any number of communication networks such as by posting the integrated map to a web-page on the internet. 
     In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , an ultrasonic metal sensor  20  is mounted in each parking meter  22  of an area and detects the presence or absence of a vehicle in the space associated with its respective meter. Each metal sensor  20  outputs an electrical signal such an analog voltage signal or a digital signal to a data acquisition circuit  24  within the meter. The data acquisition circuit  24  typically includes a simple microprocessor system which reads and interprets a signal from the metal sensor and appends it to a space identifier. If the sensor outputs analog information, the data acquisition circuit may include an analog/digital converter to generate a digital signal representing the presence or absence of a vehicle in a space. The digital signal representing the presence or absence of a vehicle may comprise a single data bit  28  that is appended to or included in a byte or word address  26  of the particular meter. The combined space status  28  and space identifier data  26  will hereinafter be referred to as the “space data”  30 . In the illustrative embodiment of  FIG. 2 , the data acquisition circuit  24  writes the space data  30  to an output port. A transmission cable  32  connects the output port of each meter  22  to a central processor component  34 . 
     The central processor component  34  may comprise a general purpose computer that is in communication with a network. In the illustrative embodiment, the central processor component  34  is a general purpose computer that is in communication with the internet. The central processor component  34  is programmed to continuously and repeatedly poll all of the meter port connections and read the space data  30  from each meter  22  into a database. In an alternative embodiment, the data acquisition circuit  24  is programmed to transmit information only upon a status change and the central processor component  34  updates the status database upon state changes. In the illustrative embodiment, the central processor component also includes memory which is pre-loaded with a detailed map database having sufficient detail to provide close up graphical street maps. The central processor component  34  integrates the space data with the map data using any number of methods known in the art to generate an integrated map database capable of being interpreted by standard computer systems for displaying graphical indicators of parking space status at the location of each space on the electronic street map. The integrated map data is translated to any format that is appropriate for communication over a particular network and communicated to the network. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, a user may input a specific location and radius of interest. The system according to this embodiment will select the appropriate map section according to the user&#39;s request and transmit the appropriate integrated map to the user via the internet. In another embodiment a user having a GPS locating device in her vehicle is provided with an integrated map for a preselected radius around the actual location of the vehicle without requiring manual input of the location of interest. In such an embodiment, for example, the central processor component would receive location information automatically from the GPS locating device in the vehicle and transmit an appropriate map section to the network that is in communication with the vehicle navigation system. 
     In still another embodiment of the present invention, the central processor system is programmed to transmit an alert signal, such as an audible beep and/or a flashing map indicator to a user when a status change occurs such as an occurrence of a newly available space in the user&#39;s area of interest. 
     Although embodiments according to the invention having ultrasonic metal detectors have been disclosed herein, it will be understood by persons skilled in the art that sensors for detecting an automobile in a parking space are available in a variety of types and using a variety of technologies. For example a detector station according to the invention may include photoelectric or magnetic sensors, supersonic metal sensors or complex machine vision systems that are capable of distinguishing various types of vehicles. Any type detection signal is encoded using any means known in the art and transmitted over a communication link. 
     The communication links to each detector station may comprise simple wire conductors or any other communication medium or combination thereof including radio frequency, microwave, fiber optic cable or coaxial cable. Appropriate encoding and transmission circuitry as known in the art for the particular communication medium is placed in communication with the data acquisition circuit and communicates to the central processor component or directly to an end user&#39;s communication system. 
     Although the invention has been described herein as including a central processing component, it should be recognized by those skilled in the art that the step of integrating space data with map data may be performed remotely by an appropriately programmed end user computer. For example, map data may be stored locally on the end user&#39;s computer so that communication of only space data is necessary. Updated space data may be continuously communicated or alternatively, updates may be communicated upon an end user&#39;s request. 
     Integrated electronic maps according to the invention may indicate only available parking spaces or-may indicate all parking spaces where vacant spaces are graphically distinguishable from occupied spaces. For example, vacant spaces may be indicated at their appropriate location on a map by a green rectangle and an occupied spaces may be indicated at their appropriate location on a map by a red rectangle. Alternatively an automobile shaped graphic symbol may be used to indicate occupied spaces and a hollow rectangle used to indicate vacant spaces. Flashing symbols and audible signals may be transmitted according to various embodiments of the present invention to highlight particular parking spaces, for example when a space first becomes available. Any graphical indication of space data may be integrated with map data according to the invention by means known in the art. 
     Although the invention has been described herein as a graphical system, persons skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may also be practiced using a text based data system or even a voice based data system. For example, wireless web access devices that are widely available having small text based output screens may be used according to the invention to query the database of space data and retrieve text based space availability data. Such systems may include database elements that associate particular space identifiers with landmarks or addresses. In another example, a voice or tone based query may be performed according to the invention by making a telephone call to an appropriately programmed computer having a communication link with the database of space data. A user knowing the identifiers or addresses of specific spaces may query the database by verbally stating the identifier or entering an space identifier on a telephone keypad. 
     Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to exemplary embodiments thereof, various other changes, omissions and additions in the form and detail thereof may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.