Method of electronically reserving a space for parking a vehicle
First Claim
1. ) Method of reserving parking spaces within a parking area for vehicles through an electronic communication network in response to reservation requests from requesting parties, comprising the steps of:
- providing a parking area server which is accessible for two-way communication with the requesting parties through the electronic communication network;
storing parking space data in a space attribute database, identifying each parking space in the parking area by a unique space ID,defining one or more parking space attributes for each parking space, and in data communication with the server for providing parking space data to the server;
monitoring the parking area through parking space monitors positioned in the parking area proximate the parking spaces, for detecting the presence or absence of vehicles in the parking spaces defining a current empty/occupied status for each parking space, and accessible for server communication for providing the empty/occupied status to the server;
maintaining time-based parking space availability data in an availability status database in response to reservations from the server and to empty/occupied status from the monitors, defining an availability attribute schedule for each parking space in the parking area, and in data communication with the server for providing availability data to the server;
receiving a reservation request communication from a requesting party to the server via the electronic communication network, requesting a reservation for a parking space in the parking area specifying one or more requested attributes;
determining the availability of parking spaces having the requested attributes from the availability data in the availability status database and from the parking space data in the space attribute database;
rejecting the reservation request from the requesting party if no parking space having the requested attributes is available;
accepting the reservation request from the requesting party if a parking space having the requested attributes is available; and
reserving the parking space having the requested attributes for the requesting party using the unique space ID.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Parking area 10 has several rows of parking spaces 12 which are managed by parking area server 14. The server is linked to parties requesting reservations through multi communication channels forming network 16. Availability status database 14S is maintained by the server for storing the availability of each space. Party historical database 14H is also maintained by the server for storing the parking history of certain parkers. The availability data and historical data in these databases is available to the server during the reservation process.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. ) Method of reserving parking spaces within a parking area for vehicles through an electronic communication network in response to reservation requests from requesting parties, comprising the steps of:
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providing a parking area server which is accessible for two-way communication with the requesting parties through the electronic communication network;
storing parking space data in a space attribute database, identifying each parking space in the parking area by a unique space ID,defining one or more parking space attributes for each parking space, and in data communication with the server for providing parking space data to the server;
monitoring the parking area through parking space monitors positioned in the parking area proximate the parking spaces, for detecting the presence or absence of vehicles in the parking spaces defining a current empty/occupied status for each parking space, and accessible for server communication for providing the empty/occupied status to the server;
maintaining time-based parking space availability data in an availability status database in response to reservations from the server and to empty/occupied status from the monitors, defining an availability attribute schedule for each parking space in the parking area, and in data communication with the server for providing availability data to the server;
receiving a reservation request communication from a requesting party to the server via the electronic communication network, requesting a reservation for a parking space in the parking area specifying one or more requested attributes;
determining the availability of parking spaces having the requested attributes from the availability data in the availability status database and from the parking space data in the space attribute database;
rejecting the reservation request from the requesting party if no parking space having the requested attributes is available;
accepting the reservation request from the requesting party if a parking space having the requested attributes is available; and
reserving the parking space having the requested attributes for the requesting party using the unique space ID. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification