SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING A PARKING SPACE

• US 20170345304A1
• Filed: 05/24/2016
• Published: 11/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: OESTERLING, CHRISTOPHER L., PEBBLES, PAUL H., KOSAK, PETER B.
• Granted Patent: US 9,886,855 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/005 including pedestrian guidance indicator
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/017 identifying vehicles G08G1/015, G08G1/054 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/097 Supervising of traffic control systems, e.g. by giving an alarm if two crossing streets have green light simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/142 external to the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/146 where the parking area is a limited parking space, e.g. parking garage, restricted space
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/147 where the parking area is within an open public zone, e.g. city centre
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/149 coupled to means for restricting the access to the parking space, e.g. authorization, access barriers, indicative lights
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for monitoring a parking space with a sign. A sensor monitors the parking space and generate sensor data. A short-range transceiver receives a vehicle identification key and communicates over a short-range communication channel. A processor module is communicatively coupled with the sensor and the short-range transceiver. The processor module is configured to determine whether a vehicle in the parking space is an approved vehicle or an unapproved vehicle based on at least one of the sensor data and the vehicle identification key. The processor module generates a first notification when the the approved vehicle is in the parking space and a second notification when unapproved vehicle is in the parking space. The first and second notifications are transmitted by the short-range transceiver over the short-range communication channel.

Claims

1. A sign for monitoring a parking space, the sign comprising:

a sensor configured to monitor the parking space and generate sensor data;

a short-range transceiver configured to receive a vehicle identification key and communicate over a short-range communication channel; and

a processor module communicatively coupled with the sensor and the short-range transceiver, the processor module configured to determine whether a vehicle in the parking space is an approved vehicle or an unapproved vehicle based on the sensor data and the vehicle identification key,

wherein the processor module is further configured to generate a first notification when the processor module determines that the approved vehicle is in the parking space and a second notification when the processor module determines that the unapproved vehicle is in the parking space, the first and second notifications transmitted by the short-range transceiver over the short-range communication channel.

2. The sign of claim 1, wherein the short-range communication channel is a wireless protocol selected from the group consisting of:

a Bluetooth low power protocol, a Bluetooth protocol, a ZigBee protocol, an iBeacon protocol, an Eddystone protocol, a near field communication protocol, a Wi-Fi protocol, or a combination thereof.

3. The sign of claim 1, further comprising a memory module configured to store the sensor data, wherein the short-range transceiver is further configured to transmit the sensor data stored on the memory module over the short-range communication channel.

4. The sign of claim 1, further comprising a long-range transceiver configured to transmit at least one of the sensor data and the notifications over a long-range communication channel.

5. The sign of claim 1, wherein the sensor is selected from the group consisting of:

a camera, a motion sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or a combination thereof.

6. The sign of claim 1, wherein the sensor generates the sensor data based on at least one of a predetermined time interval, a detected motion proximate to the parking space, the vehicle identification key, an instruction received over the short-range communication channel, or a combination thereof.

7. A system for monitoring a parking space for a vehicle, the system comprising:

a beacon on the vehicle configured to transmit a vehicle identification key and communicate over a short-range communication channel; and

a sign comprising;

a sensor configured to monitor the parking space and generate sensor data;

a short-range transceiver configured to receive the vehicle identification key and communicate over the short-range communication channel; and

a processor module communicatively coupled with the sensor and the short-range transceiver, the processor module configured to determine whether the vehicle in the parking space is an approved vehicle or an unapproved vehicle based on the sensor data and the vehicle identification key,

wherein the processor module is further configured to generate a first notification when the processor module determines that the approved vehicle is in the parking space and a second notification when the processor module determines that the unapproved vehicle is in the parking space, the first and second notifications transmitted by the short-range transceiver over the short-range communication channel.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising a memory module on the sign configured to store the sensor data, wherein the short-range transceiver is further configured to transmit the sensor data stored on the memory module over the short-range communication channel.

9. The system of claim 7, further comprising a telematics unit on the vehicle having a long-range transceiver configured to communicate over a long-range communication channel,

wherein the sign transmits at least one of the first notification, the second notification, and the sensor data to the vehicle over the short-range communication channel and the long-range transceiver transmits at least one of the first notification, the second notification, and the sensor data to a remote server over the long-range communication channel.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the remote server is configured to transmit to the vehicle at least one of:

an alert when the unapproved vehicle is identified in the parking space, an instruction to use a different parking space, an update that the parking space is available, or a combination thereof.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the sensor is configured to generate sensor data based on at least one of a predetermined time interval, a detected motion proximate to the parking space, the vehicle identification key, an instruction received over the short-range communication channel, or a combination thereof, and the telematics unit transmits the sensor data to the sensor data to the remote server.

12. The system of claim 7, further comprising a plurality of signs configured to monitor a plurality of parking spaces, wherein the signs form a sign network over the short-range communication channel and share a shared long-range communication channel.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the plurality of signs each generate sensor data based on at least one of a predetermined time interval, a detected motion proximate to one of the parking spaces, the vehicle identification key, an instruction received over the short-range communication channel, or a combination thereof.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of signs monitor the sign network for a malfunction and vandalism and transmit an alarm over the shared long-range communication channel.

15. A method for monitoring a parking space with a sign, the method comprising:

monitoring, with a sensor, the parking space;

detecting, with the sensor, a vehicle in the parking space;

generating, with the sensor, sensor data when the vehicle is detected;

receiving, with a short-range transceiver, a vehicle identification key from a beacon on an approved vehicle over a short-range communication channel;

determining, with a processor module, whether the vehicle is the approved vehicle or an unapproved vehicle based on the sensor data and the vehicle identification key;

generating, with the processor module, a first notification when the vehicle is determined to be the approved vehicle and a second notification when the vehicle is determined to be the unapproved vehicle; and

transmitting, with the short-range transceiver, at least one of the first and second notifications and the sensor data over the short-range communication channel.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

transmitting, with a long-range transceiver, at least one of the first and second notifications and the sensor data to a remote server over a long-range communication channel.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

transmitting, by the remote server, at least one of an alert when the unapproved vehicle is determined to be in the parking space, an instruction to use a different parking space, an update that the parking space is available, or a combination thereof.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

monitoring, with a plurality of signs, a plurality of parking spaces;

forming a sign network over the short-range communication channel;

sharing, over the sign network, a shared long-range communication channel; and

transmitting at least one of the first and second notifications and the sensor data to a remote server over the shared long-range communication channel.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

scanning, by the beacon, a proximate area for mobile devices that are able to communicate over the first communication channel.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

monitoring the sign network for a sign malfunction and a sign vandalism; and

transmitting an alarm over the shared long-range communication channel.