Parking Place Confirmation System and Method Thereof

• US 20100085214A1
• Filed: 04/11/2007
• Published: 04/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung SDS (China) Co., Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Original Assignee: Samsung SDS (China) Co., Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: Kim, Tae Ho
• Granted Patent: US 8,334,792 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/932.200
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/14 indicating individual free spaces in parking areas

Abstract

Disclosed is a system and method for checking a parking position that enables a parking lot user to conveniently check a position of a vehicle that he/she has parked using his/her mobile communication terminal. When a customer with a mobile communication terminal having a built-in Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) reader chip moves his/her vehicle close to an RFID tag for checking a parking position installed at a parking stall, the position information regarding the parking stall stored in the RFID tag is transmitted to a parking management server, and the parking management server transmits it again to the mobile communication terminal in text or graphic format.

Claims

1. A system for checking a parking position, comprising:

a first Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tag attached to one side of a vehicle and storing vehicle information;

an REID reader installed at an entrance of a parking lot and having an antenna to read the vehicle information stored in the first RFID tag;

second RFID tags attached close to parking stalls to respectively correspond to the parking stalls, and storing position information regarding the corresponding parking stalls;

a mobile communication terminal having an RFID reader chip to read position information regarding a parking stall stored in a second RFID tag and transmitting the mobile communication terminal'"'"'s phone number and the read position information regarding the parking stall to a parking management server via a wireless network; and

the parking management server receiving the read vehicle information from the RFID reader, comparing it with previously stored customer vehicle information, determining whether or not to permit the vehicle to enter the parking lot, receiving the phone number and the read position information regarding the parking stall from the mobile communication terminal, matching them with the vehicle information regarding a customer corresponding to the phone number, storing and managing the matched phone number and the matched position information, and transmitting the position information regarding the current parking stall for the customer'"'"'s vehicle to the customer'"'"'s mobile communication terminal via the wireless network.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the parking management server transmits the position information regarding the current parking stall to the customer'"'"'s mobile communication terminal in text or graphic data.

3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a display installed at the entrance of the parking lot and visually displaying whether or not a vehicle exists in each parking stall managed by the parking management server.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the parking management server receives the read vehicle information from the RFID reader, compares it with the previously stored customer vehicle information, determines whether or not to permit the vehicle to enter the parking lot, and then, when the vehicle is permitted to enter the parking lot, refers to a previously stored history of the customer'"'"'s parking position, and controls the display to display a parking stall suitable for the customer'"'"'s preference.

5. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

notification generators respectively installed close to the second RFD tags and imparting a data communication state between the parking management server and the mobile communication terminal,

wherein when the phone number and the read position information regarding the parking stall are received from the mobile communication terminal, the parking management server controls a notification generator installed at the parking stall to operate.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the notification generators are implemented by lamps or speakers to visually or auditorily impart position information regarding corresponding parking stalls to customers.

7. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a parking-position notification device interworking with the parking management server, installed at the entrance of the parking lot, and imparting the position information regarding the current parking stall for the customer'"'"'s vehicle according to the customer'"'"'s request.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the parking-position notification device is implemented by one of a light emitting diode (LED) panel, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), and a speaker to visually or auditorily impart the position information regarding the current parking stall to the customer.

9. The system according to claim 7, wherein the parking-position notification device further comprises a third RFID tag to communicate with the RFID reader chip in the mobile communication terminal, the mobile communication terminal reads tag information stored in the third tag and transmits it together with the mobile communication terminal'"'"'s phone number to the parking management server via the wireless network, and the parking management server receives the phone number and the read tag information from the mobile communication terminal and transmits the position information regarding the current parking stall for the vehicle of the customer, corresponding to the phone number, to the parking-position notification device.

10. The system according to claim 7, wherein the parking-position notification device further comprises a key input unit having a plurality of character and numeric keys and transmits a key input signal received from the key input unit to the parking management server, and the parking management server transmits the position information regarding the current parking stall for the vehicle of the customer corresponding to the key input signal to the parking-position notification device.

11. A method of checking a parking position using a system comprising a first Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag attached to one side of a vehicle and storing vehicle information, an RFID reader installed at an entrance of a parking lot, second RFID tags storing position information regarding each parking stall, a mobile communication terminal having a built-in RFID reader chip, and a parking management server managing overall parking situations in the parking lot, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) reading, at the RFID reader, the vehicle information regarding the first RFID tag drawn close to the RFID reader, and transmitting it to the parking management server;

(b) receiving, at the parking management server, the vehicle information from the RFID reader, comparing it with previously stored customer vehicle information, and determining whether or not to permit the vehicle to enter the parking lot;

(c) reading, at the RFID reader chip of the mobile communication terminal, position information regarding a parking stall stored in a second RFID tag and transmitting it together with the mobile communication terminal'"'"'s phone number to the parking management server; and

(d) transmitting, at the parking management server, the position information regarding the current parking stall for the vehicle of a corresponding customer to the customer'"'"'s mobile communication terminal.

12. The method according to claim 11, after step (b), further comprising the step of:

when the vehicle is permitted to enter the parking lot, referring, at the parking management server, to a previously stored history of the customer'"'"'s parking position, and displaying a position of a parking stall suitable for the customer'"'"'s preference on a display disposed at the entrance of the parking lot.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein in step (c), when data communication is performed normally between the parking management server and the mobile communication terminal, the parking management server operates a notification generator installed close to the second RFID tag to impart the position information regarding the parking stall to the customer.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein step (d) further comprises the step of

matching, at the parking management server, the phone number and the position information regarding the parking stall transmitted from the mobile communication terminal with the vehicle information regarding the customer, corresponding to the phone number, and storing and managing the matched phone number and the matched position information.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein in step (d), the parking management server transmits the position information regarding the current parking stall to the customer'"'"'s mobile communication terminal in text or graphic data.

16. A computer-readable recording media storing a computer program capable of implementing the method according to claim 11.

17. A computer-readable recording media storing a computer program capable of implementing the method according to claim 12.

18. A computer-readable recording media storing a computer program capable of implementing the method according to claim 13.

19. A computer-readable recording media storing a computer program capable of implementing the method according to claim 14.

20. A computer-readable recording media storing a computer program capable of implementing the method according to claim 15.