METHOD FOR PERFORMING A PARKING PROCEDURE WITH THE HELP OF A MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE

• US 20100274693A1
• Filed: 10/14/2008
• Published: 10/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Deutsche Telekom AG
• Original Assignee: Deutsche Telekom AG
• Inventors: Bause, Thomas, Kompart, Andreas
• Application Number:
  US12/738,489
• Publication Number:
  US 20100274693A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3255 using mobile network messaging services for payment, e.g. SMS
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/02 taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems G07B15/06 takes precedence; taximeters G07B13/00; parking meters per se G07F17/24; car rental systems per se G07B15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/24 for parking meters
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/14 indicating individual free spaces in parking areas
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/207 with respect to certain areas, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas with possible alerting when inside or outside boundaries
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/68 Payment of value-added services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8033 location-dependent, e.g. business or home
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 17/00 Prepayment of wireline communication systems, wireless communication systems or telephone systems using a coded card to authorise calls from a telephone set H04M1/675
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0196 Payment of value-added services, mainly when their charges are added on the telephone bill, e.g. payment of non-telecom services, e-commerce, on-line banking
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7435 Location dependent, e.g. Bussiness or home
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/15 Information service where the information is dependent on the location of the subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42068 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42357 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A method for processing a parking transaction using a mobile communication device connected to a public mobile communication network includes: determining location-based data that establish a location where the mobile communication device is currently located; transmitting to a central management and monitoring device the location-based data and an individual identifier that is stored in the mobile communication device; converting the location-based data to a predefined parking zone; and checking, in response to the individual identifier, whether a user of the mobile communication device is entitled to park a vehicle in the parking zone.

Claims

1-11. -11. (canceled)

12. A method for processing a parking transaction using a mobile communication device connected to a public mobile communication network, comprising:

a) determining location-based data that establish a location where the mobile communication device is currently located;

b) transmitting to a central management and monitoring device the location-based data and an individual identifier that is stored in the mobile communication device;

c) converting the location-based data to a predefined parking zone; and

d) checking, in response to the individual identifier, whether a user of the mobile communication device is entitled to park a vehicle in the parking zone.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the location-based data represent at least one of GSM coordinates and a mobile communication network cell identifier, which are determined from at least one of the mobile communication device and the mobile communication network, and wherein the individual identifier is a telephone number of the mobile communication device.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein in b), a vehicle license plate number of a user vehicle, the individual identifier, and the location-based data are transmitted in an SMS message to the central management and monitoring device via an SMS gateway associated with the mobile communication network.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the SMS message further includes a notation of a parking request of the user.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the vehicle license plate number and the telephone number of the SMS gateway are stored in the mobile communication device, and wherein the SMS message is generated and transmitted by a single press of a button on the mobile communication device.

17. The method according to claim 14, wherein the central management and monitoring device, in response to receiving the SMS message, generates a time stamp indicative of a parking start time, and wherein the vehicle license plate number, the parking start time, and the parking zone are stored in a database.

18. Method according to claim 17, further comprising:

transmitting, by the mobile communication device, an indication of a parking end time and the individual identifier to the central management and monitoring device;

generating, in the central management and monitoring device, a time stamp indicative of the parking end time; and

calculating, in response to the parking start time and parking end time, a parking duration.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising calculating, in response to the parking duration and the parking zone, a parking fee to be paid.

20. The method according to claim 16, further comprising transmitting a message about a maximum parking duration to the mobile communication device as a function of the account balance of a prepaid account of the user, the parking start time, and the parking zone.

21. The method according to claim 20, further comprising automatically debiting the prepaid user account the amount of the parking fee.

22. The method according to claim 18, further comprising deleting the associated vehicle license plate number from the database so as to check the parked vehicle out.

23. The method according to claim 12, wherein when the user of the mobile communication device is entitled to park a vehicle in the parking zone, a check is carried out as to whether an unoccupied parking space is available in the parking zone.