The present invention relates to parking management systems, in general, and particularly to an automatic parking management system for managing parking areas, particularly but not limitatively parking areas with non-delimited parking places.

The ever increasing use of cars and the limited space available for parking them, particularly in urban areas, has led to serious problems in the parking management. The lack or shortage of available parking space is one of the major issues of practically all the urban centers. At the present time, it is very difficult for a driver wishing to travel to a urban area to know in advance if there will be available parking space for his/her car. This means that the driver, when he/she has reached the desired destination, is often forced to drive around the area in search of an available parking space; this is a waste of precious time, and increases the traffic and, ultimately, the overall air pollution. Additionally, when eventually a parking space is found, additional time is wasted for finding parking meters or tickets to pay the prescribed parking fee. Moreover, the conventional parking systems often require to be paid in advance, even if the exact parking duration is almost never known at the time the car is parked; this is a problem, because it is not rare that the parking fee paid in advance is insufficient, but the driver cannot extend the parking time by paying an additional fee.

A further issue regards the presence of parking rules distinguishing areas in which the parking is free, areas in which the parking requires the payment of a parking fee, areas in which parking is forbidden, areas in which parking is admitted only to restricted groups of people, i.e., only to residents or to disabled people, areas in which parking is admitted only temporarily, etc.

Monitoring areas in which parking is regulated in any of the above manners is costly and time consuming. Typically, an entrusted person has to visually inspect all of the regulated parking area periodically, regardless of whether vehicles are actually parked there. This task becomes more difficult when the spaces are spread across a large area, such as a whole city block. Likewise, it is often expensive and logistically inconvenient for police or municipality officers to enforce parking regulations, keeping track of vehicles parked in forbidden areas or without paying the prescribed parking fee.

Conventional parking meters do not fully solve the abovementioned problems, because they are not capable of monitoring the presence/absence of vehicles in the parking. Indeed, adopting conventional parking meters requires a continuous monitoring action by dedicated personnel.

To overcome these problems, several parking management systems have been proposed in the last years, based on the automatic detection and communication to a remote entity of the occupancy of each individual parking place in a parking lot. All these systems generally require that the individual parking places can be uniquely identified, and that each parking place is either occupied or free.

For example, the U.S. patent 7,026,954 discloses an intelligent parking system for a parking lot comprising a plurality of individual parking spaces, like a parking garage. The parking system can provide space-specific location data to potential users to facilitate efficient utilization of parking lots. The data is generated in substantially real-time at the entrance to the parking garage. The system includes at least one object (vehicle) detector for each parking place.

The International patent application WO 98/04080 discloses a parking management communication system that may be used to monitor and reserve parking places, allowing law enforcement officials to monitor parking facilities with greater ease and expediency. In short, the parking management communication system includes a central control unit having a data base (including data like parking facility availability, vehicle identification, user identification and billing information), a central interface unit in wired or wireless communication with a user interface unit, like a mobile telephone. A user may report his arrival at the parking lot to the central interface unit and, after having parked his/her car in a parking place, the user reports the parking to the central interface unit. The parking of the vehicle may be sensed by a sensor, such as an optical sensor, which automatically reports the parking of the vehicle to the central interface unit.

US 2003/0074129 discloses an automatic computer driven system and method for delivering information regarding available parking spaces to motorists.

The Applicant observes that in both the two known solutions, each parking place is associated with at least one corresponding vehicle detector, which is capable of establishing if the parking place is occupied or not by a vehicle.

However, said solutions are not easily implemented in urban areas, i.e., where the parking problems are more exacerbated. Indeed, in urban areas, parking lots including parking places which are individually delimited are not really common, being confined only to restricted areas, e.g., multi-level parking lots. Conversely, in urban areas the parking areas often consist of undelimited, open parking places, usually arranged along the sides of the streets, near the sidewalks. In this case, the single parking place is neither delimited nor identifiable as such. Albeit this allows best packaging of the vehicles, it poses problems in realizing an automatic parking management system.

With such a type of parking area, it is useless to identify the individual parking places, since each individual parking place becomes defined only once a vehicle is parked in it; indeed, the dimensions of each parking place are established by the vehicle occupying it: the longer the vehicle, the longer the parking place accommodating it. The known parking management systems are instead based on an a priori identification of each individual parking place, and are not suitable to be used in at least parts of urban parking areas.

In view of the state of the art outlined in the foregoing, the Applicant has faced the problem of realizing a parking management system which can be efficiently used for managing also parking areas having undelimited parking places, as in the case of parking areas along the sides of the street, and wherein what is relevant for the occupancy is the available parking length.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a parking management system as set forth in claim 1 is provided. The parking management system may manage at least one parking area and be adapted to provide parking management services to vehicle drivers looking for parking places. The parking management system includes a sensor system adapted to monitor the at least one parking area for providing occupancy indications about the occupancy of the parking area, and a data gathering and communication network, adapted to collect the occupancy indications from the sensor system and to derive therefrom indications about available parking spaces in the at least one parking area. The parking management system further includes a service management center adapted to receive said indications about the available parking spaces in the at least one parking area, and to receive from the vehicle driver a request of availability of a parking place; said request including data related to a size of the requested parking place. Based on said data related to the size of the requested parking place and said indications about the available parking spaces, the service management system notifies the vehicle driver the availability of the parking place of the requested size.

The Applicant believes that sending data related to the size of the requested parking place, in combination with a system for determining indications about available parking spaces, allows to efficiently provide a service for finding a suitable parking place in a parking area while assuring an optimal vehicle occupation of the parking area (e.g. leaving the parking places undelimited). Preferred embodiments of the parking management system are set forth in dependent claims 2 to 15.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method for managing the parking in at least one parking area as set forth in appended claim 15 is provided.

The method includes the steps of monitoring at least one parking area for providing occupancy indications about the occupancy of the parking area; collecting the occupancy indications and deriving therefrom indications about available parking spaces in the at least one parking area; receiving said indications about the available parking spaces in the at least one parking area at a service management center; receiving from a vehicle driver a request of availability of a parking place at the service management center, wherein said request includes data related to a size of the requested parking place; and, based on said data related to the size of the requested parking place and said indications about the available parking spaces, notify the vehicle driver the availability of the parking place of the requested size.

The features and advantages of the present invention will be best understood by reading the following detailed description of some embodiments thereof, given merely by way of non-limitative example, that will be conducted making reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

• Figure 1 schematically depicts the general architecture of a parking management system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
• Figure 2 schematically illustrates an exemplary structure of a database included in a service management center of the parking management system of Figure 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
• Figure 3 is a flow chart schematically showing the interaction of a generic sensor node part of a sensor system of the parking management system of Figure 1 with a corresponding local base unit, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
• Figures 4A and 4B depict a schematic flow chart showing the operations performed by the service management center when it interacts with a customer exploiting the parking management services offered by the parking management system, according to an embodiment of the invention;
• Figure 5 schematically depicts the main steps of a method for planning the topology of parking areas in a region of interest, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
• Figure 6 illustrates in more detail a portion of the parking area shown in Figure 1, in a cross-sectional view along a line crossing the sensor nodes;
• Figures 7A and 7B show an example of how the presence of parked vehicles is detected by the sensor nodes of the parking area of Figures 1 and 6, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and
• Figure 8 schematically shows, in terms of blocks, the main functional components of a local base unit and of the service management center of the parking management system of Figure 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

With reference to the drawings, in Figure 1 a general architecture of a parking management system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is schematically shown.

In particular, in the figure a portion of a generic, e.g., urban, street 105 is illustrated, including a roadway 110 which comprises, in the example considered; two lanes 110a, 110b. A parking area 115, having the shape of a strip, runs adjacent to the lane 110a of the roadway 110, close to a sidewalk 117; the parking area 115 is separated from the adjacent lane 110a of the roadway 110 by a horizontal road sign 120, and forms a parking lane.

Vehicles can be parked in the parking area 115 so as to form an alignment, with the front bumper of a vehicle facing the back bumper of an adjacent vehicle.

The parking area 115 further includes one or more parking location signs 122, each one adapted to provide a parking location code useful for identifying and locating the parking area 115, or different zones (portions) thereof (for example, in case the parking area 115 corresponds to an entire street, a single parking location sign may be provided, adapted to identify the street as a whole; alternatively, more parking location signs may be provided, e.g., adapted to identify two end sections and a central section of the street). The parking location signs 122 may be directly painted on the roadway 110 or on the sidewalk 117, or they may be vertical road signs.

It has to be noted that the parking area 115 may be arranged in a different way: for example, it may have a different shape, e.g., different from a strip, or it may include two strips, each one adjacent to a respective one of the lanes 110a, 110b of the roadway 110.

The parking management system 100 of the present invention is adapted to automatically monitor the parking area 115 for obtaining information related to the occupancy thereof, and to provide guidance to vehicle drivers who are looking for a parking place, notifying them the availability of parking space in the parking area 115.

From the architecture viewpoint, the parking management system 100 of the present invention comprises three main component systems: a sensor system 125, a data gathering and communication network 130 and a Service Management Center (SMC) 135. Briefly, the sensor system 125 is adapted to monitor the parking area 115, and to provide corresponding monitoring information to the SMC 135 through the data gathering and communication network 130. The SMC 135 collects and processes the information from the sensor system. On the basis of the collected information, the SMC 135 provides parking management services to vehicle drivers in search of parking places.

The sensor system 125 includes a plurality of sensor nodes 140 arranged so as to monitor the parking area 115. The sensor nodes 140 are deployed across the parking area 115, and are each one capable of generating pieces of information that, altogether, are useful to determine the occupancy of the parking area 115 in real time; in particular, each sensor node 140 is adapted to detect the occupancy (due for example to the presence of a vehicle) of a respective portion of the parking area 115, and to consequently generate an occupancy indication. In an embodiment of the present invention, since the parking area 115 of Figure 1 is adapted to the parking of vehicles aligned aside the lane 110a, said pieces of information generated by the different sensor node 140 are used for calculating the available (i.e., empty, not occupied) linear parking spaces of the parking area 115.

The occupancy indications generated by the sensor nodes 140 are collected by the data gathering and communication network 130, processed and then transmitted to the SMC 135. In an embodiment of the present invention, the data gathering and communication network 130 includes one or more, for example a plurality of concentrators or Local Base Units (LBUs) 145(i) (i = 1 to n), each one adapted to collect the occupancy indications provided by one or more, for example a plurality of corresponding sensor nodes 140, for example sensor nodes 140 that are located in the proximity of the corresponding LBUs. According to an embodiment of the present invention, each LBU 145(i) is associated with the set of sensor nodes 140 that monitor the parking area 115 of a street 105, or to a sub-set thereof, like for example the sensor nodes monitoring just one of the parking lanes of the street (in case the latter has two parking lanes), or portions thereof; however, a single LBU 145(i) may be associated with the set of sensor nodes 140 of parking areas of more than just one street 105. The LBUs and the associated sensor nodes are in communications relationship. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, each sensor node 140 is coupled to the corresponding LBU 145(i) through a wireless connection; however, nothing prevents from having sensor nodes that are connected to the respective LBUs by means of wired connections. Each sensor node 140 is in particular capable of transmitting the occupancy indications to the corresponding LBU 145(i) (either by its own motion or responsive to a polling of the LBU). Each LBU 145(i) is adapted to process the occupancy indications received from the sensor nodes it is associated with, so as to derive indications about the available linear parking spaces in the parking area(s) 115 (or in the portion thereof that is monitored by the set of sensor nodes associated therewith).

The SMC 135 is in communication relationship with the LBUs 145(i) deployed within a prescribed area (for example, a urban district of a city, or even the whole city area). Particularly, each LBU 145(i) is connected to the SMC 135 through a wired or wireless connection, for example through an Ethernet, the Internet, a mobile telephony network like a GSM/GPRS/EDGE or UMTS telecommunication network. The SMC 135 is adapted to receive from the LBUs 145(i) the indications of the available (e.g. linear) parking space in the monitored parking area(s) 115. In an embodiment of the present invention, the SMC 135 includes a database 150 for storing the data received from the LBUs 145(i), and a function (for example a software engine) that is adapted to process said data so as to provide the parking management services to customers.

Users, typically drivers of vehicles 155, who wish to take advantage of the services offered by the parking management system 100 can get in contact with the SMC 135 using their mobile phones 160, or other suitable communications terminal like a smart phone, a palmtop, a laptop with a mobile phone card, through a telephony network 165 (possibly including, in addition to one or more public mobile telephony networks, the public switched telephone network).

Figure 2 schematically illustrates an exemplary structure of the database 150 exploited by the SMC 135, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The database 150 may in particular be structured in a tabular form, storing information about the availability of parking space and the identification of the vehicle drivers (hereinafter referred to as customers) exploiting the parking services provided by the parking management system 100.

Particularly, the database 150 may include a parking space availability table 200 and, optionally, a customer identification table 210. The parking space availability table 200 includes a plurality of records 220(i) (i = to n), each one corresponding to a specific LBU 145(i) and adapted to store data indicating the parking availability of the associated (portion of) parking area(s) 115.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, each record 220(i) includes a LBU identification (key) field 230(i), a location field 240(i) and a parking space availability field 250(i).

The key field 230(i) is adapted to store an identifier that identifies the LBU 145(i) to which the record 220(i) corresponds. The location field 240(i) is adapted to store data that specifies the location(s) of the parking area(s) 115 monitored by the sensor nodes 140 associated with the LBU 145(i).

The herein described embodiment of the present invention is particularly adapted to the management of parking areas 115 where parked vehicles are aligned along a parking lane and where the single parking places are not individually delimited, thus the availability of parking space strongly depends on the length of the vehicle that has to be parked. Indeed, vehicles having different lengths need empty parking places of different lengths: the longer the vehicle to be parked, the longer the parking place needed (other, additional aspects may affect the size, e.g. length of the parking space needed, as will be discussed later). Consequently, in order to allow the best packaging of the vehicles, short vehicles should be parked in parking places that are not too long (if available), leaving the longer parking places for the parking of the longer vehicles. For this purpose, the parking space availability field 250(i) may include a plurality of sub-fields, corresponding to different predetermined lengths (thresholds) LMIN(j) (j=1 to m): based on the indications about the available linear parking spaces obtained from the LBU 145(i), the SMC 135 classifies the available linear parking spaces with respect to the predetermined lengths LMIN(j). More particularly, for each predetermined length LMIN(j), the SMC 135 may calculate if there is at least one free parking place having a length higher than the predetermined length LMIN(j), and accordingly writes the result in the parking space availability field 250(i).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer identification table 210 includes a plurality of customer-related records 260(k), each one adapted to store information about a corresponding customer exploiting the parking services provided by the parking management system 100. As will be described in the following of the present description, part of the data stored in each customer-related record 260(k) is provided by the customer itself, while the other part is automatically generated by the SMC 135.

More particularly, each customer-related record 260(k) comprises a customer identification (key) field 265(k) adapted to store an identifier (e.g. numerical) code ID(k) that identifies a single customer. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the identifier code ID(k) is assigned to each customer by the SMC 135 when he/she contacts the SMC 135 asking for a parking service. According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the parking management system 100 allows the customer to subscribe to the parking services offered by the parking management system 100; in this case, once a customer has subscribed, he is assigned an identifier code ID(k) which is thereafter used by the SMC 135 to identify the customer.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer related record 260(k) further includes a number plate field 270(k), adapted to store the number plate of the vehicle that the customer has to park.

A still further field of the customer-related record 260(k), referred to as cost field 275(k), is an indication of the unitary cost (e.g., the cost for an hour of parking) of the parking service that the customer has requested. For example, the unitary cost may be calculated by the SMC 135 depending on the vehicle to be parked (e.g., on the basis of its length).

The customer-related record 260(k) further includes a parking start-time field 280(k) and a parking end-time field 285(k), that are adapted to store an indication of the parking start- and end-times, and are used by the SMC 135 for establishing the effective duration of the parking service exploited by the customer, in order to evaluate the parking fee that the customer has to pay. More particularly, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the start-time field 280(k) indicates the time at which the customer has parked his/her vehicle in the parking area 115, while the end-time fields 285(k) indicates the time at which the vehicle has left the parking area 115. Said time indications are obtained by the SMC 135 by actions of the customer, for example, through an SMS, and/or are verified by the parking management system 100 itself, as will be described in the following.

In this way, based on the information provided by the cost field 275(k), the parking start-time field 280(k) and the parking end-time field 285(k), the SMC 135 is able to compute the parking fee that the customer has to pay.

The operation of the parking management system 100 will be now described.

Figure 3 illustrates a flow chart 300 schematically showing the interactions of a generic sensor node 140 of the sensor system 125 with its corresponding LBU 145(i), according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The sensor node 140 is responsible for providing occupancy indications in respect of a corresponding area portion surrounding the sensor node 140. The sensor node 140 is in particular capable of detecting the presence of an object (of dimension greater than that of the sensor node 140 dimension), like a vehicle, within the corresponding area portion. Once the sensor node 140 has been activated (e.g., after its installation within the parking area 115), it starts monitoring the corresponding portion of the parking area 115 (block 305), in order to establish the presence or the absence of vehicles. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention (described in greater detail later), the sensor node 140 is based on magneto-resistive technology, and includes a magnetic field sensor capable of sensing components of the magnetic field. Depending on the absence or presence of an object like a vehicle, the magnetic field in the area monitored by a generic sensor node is perturbated; the sensor node 140 evaluates whether or not the sampled magnetic field exceeds a predefined threshold, thereby establishing the presence or not of a vehicle over it; for example, if the sampled magnetic field exceeds the threshold, the area around the sensor node 140 is considered as occupied.

Said operations are for example repeated for a sensing period having a duration of the order of some minutes or less (decision block 310, exit branch N). After the expiration of said sensing period (decision block 310, exit branch Y), the sensor node 140 transmits the occupancy indications related to its corresponding area portion to the corresponding LBU 145(i) (block 315).

By constantly repeating all the above described operations (going back to block 305) the occupancy indications that are made available to the LBU are updated every sensing period. Since the sensing period has a time duration of the order of some minutes or less, the occupancy state of the area portions monitored by the different sensor nodes is updated essentially in real time.

The LBU 145(i) waits for receiving the occupancy indications from the sensor node 140 (decision block 320, exit branch N); during the sensing period, the state of occupation of the area portion around the sensor node 140 as seen by the LBU 145(i) is based on the last received occupancy indications from the sensor node.

At the expiry of the sensing period, the sensor node 140 contacts the LBU for transmitting the fresh occupancy indications thereto (decision block 320, exit branch Y), the LBU 145(i) receives the occupancy indications from the sensor node 140 and preferably stores them in a local database (block 325). The occupancy indications collected by the LBU 145(i) from all the sensor nodes 140 associated therewith are then processed (block 330), in order to determine the available parking space in the parking area(s) 115 to which the LBU 145(i) is associated.

In alternative, the LBU 145(i) may periodically poll the sensor node 140 to get the fresh occupancy indications.

Then, the LBU 145(i) transmits the indication about the available parking space to the SMC 135 (block 335), where the data are processed. Particularly, the available linear parking spaces are classified with respect to the predetermined lengths LMIN(j), so as to fill the parking space availability field 250(i) in the database 150, as previously described in connection with Figure 2. In alternative embodiments of the invention, the transmission of the indication about the available parking space to the SMC 135 may occur at a different time, i.e. not necessarily with a time periodicity linked to the sensing periods of the sensor nodes.

Then (coming back to block 320), the LBU 145(i) waits for receiving fresh occupancy indications from the sensor nodes 140.

In this way, the parking space availability field 250(i) may be updated essentially in real time.

Referring now to Figures 4A and 4B, a flow chart 400 schematically showing the interactions of the SMC 135 with a customer of the parking management system 100 is depicted, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As previously described, when a potential customer in search of a parking place wishes to take advantage of the services provided by the parking management system 100, he/she contacts the SMC 135 through his/her communication terminal 160, such as a mobile phone. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer sends a service request SMS (Short Message Service) message 405 to the SMC 135. By the service request SMS message 405, the customer provides to the SMC 135 information 407 adapted to describe in detail the requested parking management service. An exemplary service request SMS message 405 may provide the following information 407:

The service request SMS message 405 includes a plurality of message fields (in this example, four), each one adapted to specify a portion of the information 407 describing the requested parking management service.

The first message field (ID:49, in the example) is a code, identifying the customer, that needs to be provided only if the customer has subscribed to the parking management system 100 (for example, the code is assigned to the customer upon subscribing). In this way, the SMC 135 may identify the customer, comparing the received code with the identifier codes ID(k) stored in the customer identification table 210 of the database 150. Alternatively, in case the customer is not a subscriber, said field can be replaced by the indication of the number plate of the vehicle to be parked. In this latter case, the SMC 135 may store the number plate in the number plate field 270(k) of the customer indication table 210, and then it may assign a temporary identifier code ID(k) to the customer.

The second message field (AREA:streetxxx, in the considered example) specifies instead the location where the customer desires to park his/her vehicle. Particularly, the customer may indicate a specific zone, like for example a street or a square, or he/she may provide a broader location, like an urban district. Then, as will be described in greater detail in the following of the description, the SMC 135 will determine, and then notify to the customer the nearest available parking space with respect to the indicated location. In an embodiment, an indication of the geographical location wherein the parking space is required may be derived from a satellite positioning system receiver (such as GPS or Galileo) associated to the user or to the vehicle of the user (e.g. in the form of coordinates). In another embodiment, such geographical location may be automatically retrieved by the SMC 135, for example exploiting the localization functionalities of the mobile telecommunication network 165, adapted to determine an at least approximate location of the mobile device 160 according to known techniques, e.g. in the field of GSM networks.

With the third message field (TIME:13,00, in the example) the customer can provide to the SMC 135 an approximate indication about the expected arrival time to the location where he/she desires to park.

The fourth message field (LENGTH:4,00, in the example) indicates the type of vehicle which the parking place is required for. More particularly, the indication provided with the fourth field of the SMS message is related to the length (or class of length) of the customer's vehicle. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer may also personalize further the request, for example in order to request a parking place relatively longer than the length of his/her vehicle; this feature is particularly useful for beginner drivers, who do not feel very comfortable with the parking maneuvers. In an embodiment, the model of the vehicle which the parking place is required for is sent to the SMC 135. Optionally, the SMC 135 may calculate the length of the necessary parking place taking into account also the steering radius associated to the notified vehicle model (for example by querying an additional table in the database 150 dedicated to the steering radius data of the car models in circulation).

Once the customer has sent the service request SMS message 405, the latter is received by the SMC 135 (block 410) through the telecommunication network 165.

Based on the code contained in the SMS message, the SMC 135 identifies the customer, performing a search among the identifier codes ID(k) stored in the customer identification table 210 of the database 150, and selects the corresponding customer record 260(k). In case the customer is not a subscriber, and/or the service request SMS message 405 does not include any customer identifier code, a new customer record 260(k) with a new identifier code ID(k) is automatically created and assigned to the customer.

Afterward, the SMC 135 identifies the area around the location indicated in the service request SMS message 405, in order to evaluate the availability of parking spaces (block 415). For this purpose, the SMC 135 scrolls the parking space availability table 200 of the database 150, so as to find the location field 240(i) which corresponds to the location indicated in the service request SMS message 405. Then, the SMC 135 selects the record 220(i) including the location field 240(i), and scrolls the sub-fields of the corresponding parking space availability field 250(i), in such a way as to assess the lengths of the available parking area portions in the parking area 115. More particularly, the SMC 135 identifies the sub-field corresponding to the smallest length LMIN(j) which is not smaller than the length indicated in the service request SMS message 4058 (possibly taking into account also the extra length needed for parking the vehicle). In this way, the SMC 135 determines if there is at least one free parking place having a length compatible with the length indicated in the service request SMS message 405.

In case no parking place of the desired length is available (decision block 420, exit branch N), the SMC 135 notifies the customer that it is impossible to park the vehicle in the selected location (block 425). For example, the notification can be performed by the SMC 135 by means of an SMS message sent to the mobile phone 160 of the customer. Alternatively, or in addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the SMC 135 may scroll again the parking space availability table 200, in order to examine further records 220(i). Particularly, the SMC 135 may identify those records 220(i) whose location fields 240(i) correspond to locations close or near (within a predetermined distance range) to those indicated into the service request SMS message 405, and performs again the abovementioned operations.

In case a parking place of the desired length has been ascertained to be available (decision block 420, exit branch Y), the SMC 135 notifies the customer that it is possible to park the vehicle (block 427), for example by sending a parking space availability SMS message 429 to the customer mobile phone 160. In addition, the parking space availability SMS message provides to the customer a precise indication of where the parking place is located. According to an embodiment of the present invention, said parking space location indication provided to the customer may include the address (e.g., street, or square, with civic number) where the parking place is located, together with a parking location code corresponding to the nearest parking location sign 122. If the customer is equipped with a GPS or with another graphic communication interface storing a map of the area, the SMC 135 can also provide indications suitable to determine the path to be followed to reach the parking place, together with an estimation of the time needed. According to a further embodiment of the present invention, if the SMC 135 is equipped with, or operatively coupled to an integrated system for the mobility management, many real time information concerning mobility of the area can be provided to the drivers, for instance the estimation of the time needed to reach the parking place, updated on the basis of real-time traffic conditions.

Once the customer has identified the parking place assigned thereto by the SMC 135, he/she parks the vehicle, and notifies the SMC 135 or the accomplishment of the parking, for example sending an SMS message 433 thereto. The SMC 135 receives said notification, and verifies whether, in a time period close to the receipt of the service request SMS message 405 and in a location close to the parking location sign 122 that has been indicated to the customer, the occupancy indications provided from the corresponding sensor nodes 140 is changed or not (block 430).

In case the occupancy indications provided by the sensor nodes 140 of the indicated location remains unchanged for an excessive period of time, meaning that no vehicle has been parked in the area, (decision block 435, exit branch N), the SMC 135 starts a confirmation procedure, requesting (e.g., via SMS) the customer to provide a precise indication of the location in which he/she has parked the vehicle (block 440). For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer may have to check the nearest parking location sign 122, read and provide (e.g. via SMS) the corresponding parking location code to the SMC 135, in such a way to allow the latter to identify and verify the actual parking place occupied by the customer's vehicle.

Once the accomplishment of the parking has been correctly verified (decision block 435, exit branch Y or, in case of confirmation procedure, exit branch of block 440), the SMC 135 notifies the positive verify result to the customer, and, in addition, it may request a confirmation SMS message 447 (block 445); if, in an alternative embodiment of the invention, the number plate of the customer's vehicle was not provided to the SMC 135 at the time the service request SMS message 405 was sent, in the confirmation SMS message the customer may be requested to enter the number plate of his/her vehicle.

After the confirmation SMS message has been received from the customer, the SMC 135 fills the start time field 280(k) in the customer record 260(k) with a time indication that corresponds to the time of receipt of the service request SMS 405 (block 450); alternatively, the time indication may correspond to the time of receipt of the confirmation message from the user.

When the customer wishes to take the vehicle back, thereby leaving the parking place free, he/she communicates his/her intention to the SMC 135, e.g., through a leaving notification SMS message 457, indicating also the number plate of the vehicle (block 455). Then, the customer drives the vehicle away.

In the same way as described in the foregoing, the SMC 135 verifies if, within a specified time period close to the receipt of the leaving notification SMS message and in a location near the parking location sign 122 where the customer had parked his/her vehicle, the occupancy indications provided from the corresponding sensor nodes 140 signals a change (from occupied to free). In the affirmative case, the SMC 135 fills the parking end time field 285(k) in the customer record 260(k) with the time that corresponds to the receipt of the leaving notification SMS message (block 460). If on the contrary within the specified time period no parking place is detected to have been freed, the SMC 135 may send to the customer, e.g. via an SMS message, a notification, and ask for a confirmation; in any event, the parking space is not considered to have been freed until so detected by the sensor nodes 140.

When the customer leaves the parking, the SMC 135 calculates the parking fee that the customer has to pay for the parking (block 465). For example, the parking fee can be calculated by subtracting the time indication stored in the start time field 280(k) from the time indication stored in the end time field 285(k), and then multiplying the subtraction result by the unitary cost provided in the cost field 275(k).

The amount of the parking fee is then notified to the customer, e.g., via an SMS 475, together with a confirmation indication including the parking end time and the total parking time (block 470).

In order to exploit the services offered by the parking management system 100 of the present invention, the customer has the possibility of paying in several different ways.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, for the subscriber customers, the payment may be regulated on a periodical basis, for example once per month; the parking fees originating from all the parking services exploited in the month are added up and the cumulated amount is billed to the customer. For this purpose, the customer record 260(k) may include an extra field for storing a running total of the parking fee to be paid.

According to a further embodiment, the parking fee is directly debited from a bank account of the customer.

Alternatively, the parking managing system 100 may have an arrangement with one or more telephone companies, in such a way that the parking fee can be debited from a customer account.

According to a still further embodiment of the invention, the payment of the parking fee can be accomplished exploiting the LBUs 145(i). In this case, the LBUs 145(i) are configured for enabling payment services, both by credit cards and cash.

The parking management system 100 of the present invention may be advantageously used for implementing a system that automatically manages the unauthorized parking. Said system can be used by the police or by the municipality officers for keeping track of the parking places which have been occupied without authorization, and for which the payment has not been accomplished. Indeed, by observing the parking space availability table 200 and the customer identification table 210 of the database 150 of the SMC 135, it is possible to recognize whether there are zones of the parking area 115 in which vehicles have been parked without authorization.

More particularly, the police officers may request to the SMC 135 information about the location of the parking places that have been ascertained to be abusively occupied within one or more parking areas 115. The SMC 135 provides the requested information to the police officers, possibly together with additional information, like, for example, the zones wherein the unauthorized parking is mainly concentrated. Additionally, the SMC 135 may provide an optimized planning for the police intervention (going first to the zones where there are more vehicles that are parked without authorization).

Having obtained said information, the police officers may go to the identified zones, equipped with suitable communication interfaces, like for example palmtops equipped with an image identification device, and they may personally take note of the number plates of the vehicle that have been parked without authorization.

Referring now to Figure 5, the main steps of a method for planning the topology of parking areas 115 in a region of interest, e.g., a urban district, are schematically illustrated, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

More particularly, starting from a map 500 of the region of interest in which the parking areas 115 have to be planned, a road graph diagram 505 which describes every road branch of the map 500 is obtained, with graph nodes identifying road junctions. In the example at issue, six road branches 510, 515, 520, 525, 530, 535, with corresponding junctions Ni (between the road branches 510, 515, 535), Nj (between the road branches 515, 520, 530), Nk (between the road branches 520, 525) and NI (between the road branches 510, 525) are identified in the drawing.

For each (right and left) side of each road branch, a road arc is defined. In the example at issue, the road branch 515 has two road arcs: a road arc Aij, starting from the junction Ni and ending to the junction Nj is associated with the left side of the road branch 515, and a road arc Aji, starting from the junction Nj and ending to the junction Ni is associated with the right side of the road branch 515. A parking area 115 including a plurality of sensor nodes 140, like the parking area 115 illustrated in Figure 1, may be established for one or both of the road arcs Aij, Aji of the road branches where it is intended to allow parking. A parking location sign 122 and a corresponding LBU 145(i) may be installed for each road arc Aij, Aji.

However, in case the road branches are short, it is possible to install a single LBU 145(i) in association with two or more road branches. Also, more than one road arc can be defined for each side of a road branch, which may be useful in the case of relatively long road branches. In this case, a parking location sign 122 may be installed for each road arc.

Figure 6 illustrates in detail a portion of the parking area 115 of Figure 1 in a cross-sectional view along a line AA crossing the sensor nodes 140.

The sensor nodes 140 are adapted to recognize the presence of an object, like a vehicle, in an area portion surrounding them. Preferably, the sensor nodes 140 may be structured in such a way that they do not need to be supplied by external power sources. Preferably, the sensor nodes 140 are designed to be miniaturized, low cost and low power-consuming devices.

For example, the sensor nodes 140 can be implemented by battery-powered magneto-resistive sensor chip devices, having a reduced processing capability, sufficient to allow them performing preliminary data processing.

In particular, the sensor nodes 140 are installed under the road surface, for example embedded in seats obtained by curing the asphalt layer, aligned along a line (AA in the drawing) more or less at the middle of the parking lane 115. Alternatively (not shown in Figure 6) the sensor nodes 140 can be installed on the road surface (e.g., they may be attached to the surface of the asphalt layer by gluing). In some circumstances, it may be preferable to install the sensor nodes 140 on the edge of the sideway, for example along the sideway vertical wall (as schematically indicated by line A'A' in Figure 1), or on the sideway, in proximity of the parking area (as indicated schematically by line A"A" in Figure 1).

The sensor nodes 140 are preferably installed at regular distances to each other, with a spacing D of, advantageously, 2 meters or less, for example ranging from about 20 centimeters to about 2 meters. More preferably, the distance between each sensor and any neighboring sensor is less than or equal to about 150 cm. A particularly advantageous distance is comprised from about 40 cm to about 120 cm. The shorter the spacing D between adjacent sensor nodes 140, the better the resolution achieved on the occupancy indications.

Preferably, in order to reduce the power consumption of the sensor nodes 140, each sensor node 140 may be configured to communicate with the corresponding LBU 145(i) only when it detects a change in the occupancy state of the corresponding area portion.

The position of each sensor node 140 with respect to the corresponding LBU 145(i) is determined during the planning of the parking area topology, being for example recorded by a localization device during the planning. Alternatively, the localization of the single sensor nodes 140 can be achieved by measuring the power of the radio signal transmitted by the sensor nodes 140 in assigned positions

According to an embodiment of the present invention, each sensor node 140 may include a bi-axial magnetic field sensor, adapted to sense two different components of the magnetic field modified by the presence of a vehicle: the magnetic field vertical component Vz(t), (perpendicular to the road surface) with respect to the background magnetic field in the absence of vehicle Vz0, and the magnetic field horizontal component Vxy(t) (in the plane of the road surface), with respect to the background magnetic field in the absence of vehicle Vxy0. According to an embodiment of the present invention, each sensor node 140 is adapted to sample the value of the magnetic field components Vz(t) and Vxy(t) at a predetermined sampling rate, for example of some Hz. The values of the magnetic field components Vz(t) and Vxy(t) strongly depend on the presence of an object like a vehicle. If the sensor node 140 evaluates whether or not the sampled magnetic field components Vz(t) and Vxy(t) have exceeded a predefined value, the presence of a vehicle over it is established.

The sensor nodes 140 may further be adapted to combine together the sensed magnetic field components Vz(t) and Vxy(t), in order to reduce the possibility of missing detection of vehicles.

A simple choice provides for combining the modulus of the sensed magnetic field components Vz(t) and Vxy(t), in such a way to obtain a sensed signal S(t) equal to: $$S\left(t\right)=\left|\mathit{Vz}\left(t\right)\right|+\left|\mathit{Vxy}\left(t\right)\right|\mathrm{.}$$

During each sensing period (see blocks 305 and 310 of the flow chart 300 of Figure 3) each sensor node 140 evaluates whether or not the sensed signal S(t) has exceeded a predefined threshold TH. If the sensed signal S(t) has exceeded the threshold TH, the corresponding area portion around the sensor node 140 is marked as occupied. As a consequence, the sensor node 140 asserts, for example to a high logic value "1", an occupancy flag signal. Otherwise, the corresponding area portion near the sensor node 140 is marked as free, and the sensor node 140 deasserts, for example to a low logic value "0", the occupancy flag signal. In this way, according to this embodiment, the occupancy indications provided by each sensor node 140 is represented by the value taken by the occupancy flag signal.

After the expiration of the sensing period (decision block 310, exit branch Y of the flow chart 300 of Figure 3), the value of the occupancy flag signal is communicated by the sensor node 140 to the LBU 145(i) (see block 315 of the flow chart 300 of Figure 3).

The occupancy flag signals of a plurality of sensor nodes 140 are then collected by the corresponding LBU 145(i), in order to be processed in such a way to estimate the available parking space of the parking area 115 to which the LBU 145(i) is associated.

With reference to Figures 7A and 7B, an example of how the presence of parked vehicles is detected by the sensor nodes 140 of the parking area 115 is described, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

More particularly, in this example two vehicles 705 and 710 are assumed to be parked in a row, with a gap between the back bumper of the vehicle 705 and the front bumper of the vehicle 710 of about six meters. Moreover, in this example it is assumed that the space D between adjacent sensor nodes 140 is equal to approximately 50 centimeters.

Figure 7B is a diagram 720 illustrating the amplitude of the sensed signals S(t) sensed by the sensor nodes 140 of Figure 7A, at a certain time instant. More particularly, the diagram 720 has a horizontal axis 730 indicating the positions of the sensor nodes 140 with respect to the first sensor node 140 of Figure 7A, starting from the left of the drawing, (the values are expressed in cm); in the diagram, the small dots correspond each one to a sensor node; a vertical axis 740 indicates the amplitude of the corresponding sensed signals S(t) (the values are expressed in mV).

According to this example, the threshold TH which is used to discriminate the presence or absence of an object over a sensor node has been set to 15 mV.

As can be observed in Figure 7B, the presence and the position of the first vehicle 705 affect the sensed signals sensed by ten sensor nodes 140 (labeled as 750 in the figure) causing the corresponding sensed signals S(t) to take values higher than the threshold TH. The presence and the position of the second vehicle 710 affect the sensed signals sensed by nine sensor nodes 140 (labeled as 760 in the figure) causing, subject to the below, the corresponding sensed signals S(t) to take values higher than the threshold TH.

It has to be remarked that the mere fact that a vehicle is parked over a sensor node does not necessarily mean that the sensed signal sensed by that sensor node exceeds the predetermined threshold TH; for example, in the considered example it can be observed that a sensor node (labeled as 770 in the figure) positioned under the second vehicle 710 senses a signal S(t) lower than the threshold TH. This can occur for different reasons, like for example a malfunctioning of the sensor node 140 or a magnetic noise source near the sensor node 140 or a specific magnetic characteristic of the vehicle. In order to overcome problems like this, according to an embodiment of the present invention the generic LBUs 145(i) is capable of establishing whether the values of sensed signals S(t) provided by the sensor nodes that are below the threshold TH correspond to false indications of absence of a vehicle. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, in order to assess where there are free parking places, account is taken of the occupancy indications provided by groups of adjacent sensor nodes, instead of just considering the sensor nodes in isolation; in particular, the occupancy flag signals provided by the sensor nodes 140 associated within an LBU are collected, and arranged to form a parking occupancy flag string. According to the example shown in the drawings, the occupancy flag signals of the sensor nodes 140 form the following parking occupancy flag string:

• 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0.

The succession of ten "1"s in the occupancy flag string denotes the presence of the vehicle 705. Regarding the second vehicle 710, the corresponding group of flag signals is "1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1", with a sensor node apparently not detecting the presence of the vehicle, possibly due to noise or malfunctioning; the LBU performs a low-pass filtering of the values in the string, so that it is transformed into "1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1", and thus the isolated "0" is replaced by a "1".

Figure 8 schematically shows, in terms of blocks, the main functional components of an LBU 145(i) and of the SMC 135, in an embodiment of the present invention. It has to be noted that each of the functional components can be implemented by software, hardware, or a mix of the two.

More particularly, the LBU 145(i) includes an input communication interface 805, adapted to communicate with the sensor nodes 140 to which the LBU is associated, for receiving from them the occupancy indications. The occupancy indications provided by the sensor nodes 140 associated with the LBU are collected by an occupancy indications collector unit 810 and stored into a LBU local database 815. For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the local database 815 is adapted to store the parking occupancy flag strings including the flag signals provided by the sensor nodes 140. An occupancy indications processor 820 is adapted to process the occupancy indications stored in the local database 815, in such a way to derive indications about the available parking spaces in the parking area 115. A communication interface 825 allows communications with the SMC 135, for sending thereto the information about the available parking spaces in the parking area monitored by the LBU.

The SMC 135 includes an LBU communication interface 830, enabling communications with the various LBU 145(i), for receiving therefrom the indications about the available parking spaces, and a customer communications interface 835, for the communications with the customers (adapted for example to receive SMS messages from the customers, and to send notification SMS messages to the customers). The indications about the available parking spaces received from the various LBU 145(i) are collected by a collector unit 840 and stored in the database 150. A processor unit 845 is adapted to process data stored in the database 150.

The present invention provides an automatic parking management system that is adapted to automatically monitor parking areas for obtaining information related to the occupancy thereof, and to provide guidance to vehicle drivers who are in search of a parking place, notifying them of the availability of parking space in the parking area.

The parking management system according to the present invention is particularly suitable to be used for managing parking areas having undelimited parking spaces.

Indeed, the present invention provides a smart solution adapted to solve all the typical drawbacks that a vehicle driver in search of a free parking place has to face, particularly in case the search is performed in urban areas, where the parking areas are usually along the sides of the streets.

Thanks to the parking management system of the present invention, it may be possible to reduce the traffic and the overall air pollution in urban areas.

The customers of the parking management system may pay the exploited parking services in several different ways, depending on the customer's preferences. Also, the payment may be rendered proportional to the space, e.g. the length occupied by a vehicle in the parking area.

Moreover, the parking management system of the present invention may be advantageously used by the police or by the municipality officers to manage the unauthorized parking in an easy way.

Furthermore, by archiving the information stored in the database of the service management center, it is possible to study the history of the parking areas managed by the parking management system of the present invention. Particularly, keeping track of the occupancy indications provided by the sensor nodes of the parking areas and keeping track of the various payments, the management of the parking may be advantageously optimized. This feature is particularly useful when taking into account parking rules distinguishing areas in which parking is admitted only to restricted groups of people, areas in which parking is admitted only temporarily, and so on.

The present invention has been described making reference to some exemplary embodiments. Naturally, in order to satisfy contingent and specific requirements, a person skilled in the art may apply to the solution described above many modifications and alterations. It should be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details of the described embodiments, as well as other embodiments are possible; moreover, it is expressly intended that specific elements and/or method steps described in connection with any disclosed embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other embodiment as a general matter of design choice.

For example, even if the embodiments that have been described mainly refer to the management of parking areas with undelimited parking places, the present invention can also be applied to parking lots including parking places which are individually delimited.

Although in the present description reference has been made to a sensor system wherein each sensor node is configured to be independently coupled with the corresponding local base unit by means of a communication link, similar considerations apply if the occupancy indications provided by a group of sensor nodes are provided to the local base unit through a common communication link, for example managed by a single sensor node configured to be wired-connected with the sensor nodes of the group.

Use of magneto-resistive devices as sensor nodes is merely illustrative; indeed, the sensor nodes may be implemented using other types of sensors capable of sensing the magnetic field.

Moreover, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the modulus of the magnetic field components sensed by a sensor node can be combined, so as to determine a different sensing signal, in a way that is different from that previously described.

Furthermore, the occupancy indications of the parking area may be provided by sensing physical quantities other than the magnetic field. For example, each sensor node can be a photo detector (e.g., a photodiode, or a phototransistor) capable to visually inspect the area around the sensor node. Alternatively, the occupancy indications may be determined using pressure sensors, adapted to perceive the presence of a vehicle by detecting its weight. In any case, the present invention can make use of any sensing device capable of detecting the presence of vehicles.

Additionally, the system and method of the present invention is also adapted to manage parking areas having two or more discrete typologies of parking spaces, e.g. two or more parking lengths.