Smart Parking Authentication and Charging System

TECHNICAL FIELD

[001] The present invention pertains to systems for monitoring and managing vehicle parking and more particularly to systems that monitor vehicle parking using plurality of RFID tags and detectors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[002] Currently many parking systems exist for monitoring and managing vehicle parking and have systems in place for revenue control and management at the parking slots. Some of the known prior art parking authentication system include: US Application No. 13/099839, US Application No. 1 1/828743 and US Application No. 13/298665. It is also well known in the prior art the use of RFID tags for various applications. While these systems fulfil their respective objectives, none of the prior art describes the unique parking authentication and charging system as described hereunder. The present invention is designed to help authenticate and manage users who are using the parking facility with the help of RFID tag and associated components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[003] In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the prior art regarding known type of parking management systems, the present invention provides a new monitoring and management of vehicle parking which have systems in place for revenue control at the parking slots. The entire system is organized into four components as shown in Figure 2: (a), the radio frequency identification (RFID) tag (b). tag detector and camera (c). authentication & rating system (d). monitoring and reporting system. The RFID tag is installed in all vehicles and the tag detectors and cameras are installed in parking facility. There are background systems for authentication and rating / monitoring and reporting. The background systems are maintained by the parking management team which helps to handle all functions including authorization, ratting, billing, notification, recharge, client portal management, history recovery and such. Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

[004] The aforementioned paragraphs as well as the following detailed description of the disclosure will be better understood when read in conjunction with the diagrammatic representation. The embodiments illustrated in these figures herein are by way of example and not by way of limitation. These figures are purely diagrammatic. In the drawings:

Figure 1 : Representation of the work flow of the smart parking authentication and charging system.

Figure 2: Schematic representation of the various components used in the parking system.

Figure 3 [a]: Schematic representation of detectors and cameras on the entrance and exit of the parking facility

Figure 3[b]: Schematic representation of detectors and cameras for each parking slots in the parking facility

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[005] In the following description, certain specific elements are provided in order to understand the various disclosed embodiments. However, a person skilled in the art who read the disclosure, the drawings and the claims will realize that the disclosed embodiments can be practiced with or without one or more of these specific details or with other elements without deviating from the scope of the disclosure.

[006] Reference will be now made in detail to the various embodiments of the disclosure; schematic representation of the invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference will be used throughout the description to refer to the same or like embodiments.

[007] For the purposes of describing and claiming the present invention the term "vehicle" is intended to refer to a car, truck, a bus, a SUV, a motorcycle or the like. For the purposes of describing and claiming the present invention the term "license plate ID" is intended to refer to the numeric, alphabetic, or alphanumeric identity assigned to a vehicle or the like.

[008] The entire system is organized into four components as shown in Figure 2: (a), the radio frequency identification (RFID) tag (b). tag detector and camera (c). authentication & rating system (d). monitoring and reporting system.

[009] One embodiment of the present invention as referred in Figure 1 is a representation of the work flow of the smart parking authentication and charging system. This embodiment allows the vehicle to pass through the particular parking space by detecting the vehicle's license plate ID and or the RFID tag using the tag detector (15) and camera (16) installed in the entrance of the parking space as shown in Figure 3 [a]. The data detected is verified by the background module: authentication and rating system as shown in Figure 2. Once the system verifies that the tag has sufficient balance, the license plate ID is registered in the background module: monitoring and reporting system as shown in Figure 2. Once the user leaves the parking space after 'n' minutes, the tag detector and camera installed in the exit of the parking space verifies the vehicle's license plate ID and or the RFID tag and deduct the parking fee and send SMS (or related technologies like APP/SP integration) to the customer. It is prudent to note that there are plurality of detectors and cameras represented in the Figures and as an example only certain numbers are mentioned in the description. However, a person skilled in the art will understand these detectors and cameras can be verified depending on the circumstance and geographical layout of the parking space. [010] Another embodiment of the present invention as referred in Figure 1 , vehicle's license plate ID and or the RFID tag is not detected by the tag detector (15) and camera (16) for reasons like: the vehicle does not have the RFID tag or the RFID tag does not have sufficient balance to use the parking space. In the event the RFID tag does not have sufficient balance, the system allows 'n' minutes to pay the prescribed fee, so that the authentication and rating system / monitoring and reporting system as shown in Figure 2 are being updated. It is prudent to note that there are plurality of detectors and cameras represented in the Figures and as an example only certain numbers are mentioned in the description. However, a person skilled in the art will understand these detectors and cameras can be verified depending on the circumstance and geographical layout of the parking space.

[Oi l] Another embodiment of the present invention as referred in Figure 3[b] is where the tag detector (15) and camera (16) are being installed in each parking slot so that customers can know in advance the available parking slots in a given parking space.

[012] It is also part of the present embodiment that the system has one unique charging account for one customer and the charging account can include multiple RFID tag, which means if customer has multiple vehicles, all them can share the payment from the same charging account. The system can accommodate grace period for charging the account and the said system is directly linked to the customer's registered mobile number, so that both credit and debit details of the account can be verified instantly via messages. The system can support multiple charging categories, such as Hourly/Daily/ Weekly/Yearly payment package, VIP payment package and such. The system also include prorate payment function which helps the customer to subscribe monthly parking package.

[013] All charging policy or promotion or campaign rules can be implemented on generally for all users or at the account level or RFID tag level. For example, if customer is under VIP category, the customer will not be charged for the parking slot.

[014] It is also the intention of the present embodiment to connect the system with the security / police department so that any illegal vehicles can be detected immediately at the parking space, which will in turn give an alert to the security / police department.

[015] As to a further discussion of the manner of using and operating the invention, the same is apparent from the aforementioned description. Accordingly, no further description relating to the manner of using and operating the invention is necessary. [016] Therefore, it needs to be appreciated that the aforementioned description is just an illustration of the principles of the invention. Since numerous modifications, variations, improvements and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not considered to limit the invention to the exact described format of the invention or its manufacturing and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be falling within the scope of the invention.