User-managed parking system

• US 8,742,948 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2011
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Ren, Dahai
• Primary Examiner(s): Bugg, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): Akhter, Sharmin
• Application Number:
  US13/295,531
• Publication Number:
  US 20130120160A1
• Time in Patent Office: 932 Days
• Field of Search: 340/932.2, 340/5.32, 340/5.33, 340/5.6, 340/525, 340/528, 340/539.1, 340/539.11, 340/933, 340/988, 705/1.1, 705/13, 705/14.37, 705/32, 705/418, 701/200, 701/202, 701/204, 701/209
• US Class Current: 340/932.2
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/144 on portable or mobile units, e.g. personal digital assistant [PDA]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/146 where the parking area is a limited parking space, e.g. parking garage, restricted space

Abstract

A server device may receive parking information that identifies a first plurality of parking spots, within a parking structure, that are available for parking, and a second plurality of parking spots, within the parking structure, that are unavailable for parking; store the parking information in association with information identifying the parking structure; receive, from a user device, a request for parking information associated with the parking structure; populate, in response to the request, a visual representation of the parking structure with the parking information, where the visual representation of the parking structure identifies the first plurality of parking spots and the second plurality of parking spots; and transmit the visual representation of the parking structure to the user device to assist a user, of the user device, in locating one of the first plurality of parking spots.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by one or more server devices, parking information that identifies;

a first plurality of parking spots, within a parking structure, that are available for parking, and

a second plurality of parking spots, within the parking structure, that are unavailable for parking,

where at least some of the parking information is received from a particular user;

storing, in a memory associated with the one or more server devices, the parking information in association with information identifying the parking structure;

receiving, by the one or more server devices and from a user device, a request for parking information associated with the parking structure;

populating, by the one or more server devices and in response to the request, a visual representation of the parking structure with the parking information, where the visual representation of the parking structure identifies the first plurality of parking spots and the second plurality of parking spots;

transmitting, by the one or more server devices, the visual representation of the parking structure to the user device to assist a user, of the user device, in locating one of the first plurality of parking spots;

tracking an amount of parking information received from the particular user; and

tracking progress toward a reward, associated with the particular user, based on the amount of parking information received from the particular user, where tracking the progress includes;

tracking weight values associated with the parking information received from the particular user,

where information regarding a first parking spot, that is available for parking, is associated with a first weight value, and

where information regarding a second parking spot, that is unavailable for parking, is associated with a second weight value.

2. The method of claim 1, where the parking information is received from a plurality of user devices over a period of time.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

automatically overwriting, at a particular time, the parking information with new parking information, where the new parking information identifies one or more parking spots, of the second plurality of parking spots, as available for parking.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information that a particular parking spot, of the first plurality of parking spots, is unavailable for parking; and

updating the parking information to identify that the particular parking spot is unavailable for parking based on receiving the information that the particular parking spot is unavailable for parking.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating a statistic based on a first quantity of parking spots in the first plurality of parking spots and a second quantity of parking spots in the second plurality of parking spots; and

transmitting information identifying the statistic to the user device.

6. The method of claim 1, where the parking information further includes information identifying a floor, of the parking structure, on which one or more of the first or second plurality of parking spots, within the parking structure, are located.

7. The method of claim 1, where the parking information further includes information identifying a section, of the parking structure, in which one or more of the first or second plurality of parking spots, within the parking structure, are located.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving at least one of picture information or video information;

performing at least one of image or video recognition on the at least one of the picture information or the video information to determine one or more landmarks;

comparing the one or more landmarks to stored information regarding the parking structure;

identifying one or more parking spots based on the comparing; and

generating at least some of the parking information by identifying an availability of the one or more identified parking spots within first parking structure.

9. The method of claim 1, where the parking structure is a particular parking structure, the method further comprising:

receiving geographic location information;

comparing the received geographic location information to stored information regarding one or more geographic locations associated with one or more parking structures, including the particular parking structure; and

identifying the particular parking structure based on the comparing,

where storing the parking information includes;

storing an indication that the parking information is associated with the particular parking structure.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information regarding a layout of the parking structure, the layout information including at least one of;

information regarding locations of the parking spots in the parking structure,

information regarding orientations of the parking spots in the parking structure, or

names or identifiers of the parking spots in the parking structure;

where the visual representation of the parking structure includes visual representations of the parking spots in the parking structure, the visual representations of the parking spots being based on the layout information, and

where populating the visual representation of the parking structure includes;

using a first type of visual indication for visual representations of the first plurality of parking spots, and

using a second type of visual indication for visual representations of the second plurality of parking spots,

where the first visual indication includes at least one of a first color of shading or a first type of marking and the second visual indication includes at least one of a different second color of shading or a different second type of marking, each of first and second types of marking including at least one of a shape or a shading pattern.

22. The method of claim 21, where the layout information specifies a physical layout of the parking structure, the physical layout including at least one of walls or driving lanes of the parking structure.

23. The method of claim 5, where the statistic indicates a proportion of at least one of available parking spots or unavailable parking spots in the parking structure.

24. The method of claim 1, where the first weight value is different from the second weight value.

25. The method of claim 1, where at least one of the first weight value or the second weight value are based on a quantity of parking spots in a particular section of the parking structure, the particular section comprising at least one of the first parking spot or the second parking spot.

10. A system, comprising:

one or more memory devices to store a plurality of computer-executable instructions; and

one or more processors to execute the instructions, to;

receive parking information that identifies;

a first plurality of parking spots, within a parking structure, that are available for parking, and

a second plurality of parking spots, within the parking structure, that are unavailable for parking,

where at least some of the parking information is received from a particular user;

store, in the one or more memory devices, the parking information in association with information identifying the parking structure;

receive, from a user device, a request for parking information associated with the parking structure;

populate, in response to the request, a visual representation of the parking structure with the parking information, where the visual representation of the parking structure identifies the first plurality of parking spots and the second plurality of parking spots;

transmit the visual representation of the parking structure to the user device to assist a user, of the user device, in locating one of the first plurality of parking spots;

track an amount of parking information received from the particular user; and

track progress toward a reward, associated with the particular user, based on the amount of parking information received from the particular user, where executing the instructions to track the progress cause the one or more processors to;

track weight values associated with the parking information received from the particular user,

where information regarding a first parking spot, that is available for parking, is associated with a first weight value, and

where information regarding a second parking spot, that is unavailable for parking, is associated with a second weight value.

11. The system of claim 10, where the parking information is received from a plurality of user devices over a period of time.

12. The system of claim 10, where the one or more processors are further to:

automatically overwrite, at a particular time, the parking information with new parking information, where the new parking information identifies one or more parking spots, of the second plurality of parking spots, as available for parking.

13. The system of claim 10, where the one or more processors are further to:

receive information that a particular parking spot, of the first plurality of parking spots, is unavailable for parking; and

update the parking information to identify that the particular parking spot is unavailable for parking based on receiving the information that the particular parking spot is unavailable for parking.

14. The system of claim 10, where the one or more processors are further to:

calculate a statistic based on a first quantity of parking spots in the first plurality of parking spots and a second quantity of parking spots in the second plurality of parking spots; and

transmit information identifying the statistic to the user device.

15. The system of claim 10, where the parking information further includes information identifying a floor, of the parking structure, on which one or more of the first or second plurality of parking spots, within the parking structure, are located.

16. The system of claim 10, where the parking information further includes information identifying a section, of the parking structure, in which one or more of the first or second plurality of parking spots, within the parking structure, are located.

17. The system of claim 10, where the one or more processors are further to:

receive least one of picture information or video information;

perform at least one of image or video recognition on the at least one of the picture information or the video information to determine one or more landmarks;

compare the one or more landmarks to stored information regarding the parking structure;

identify one or more parking spots based on the comparing; and

generate at least some of the parking information by identifying an availability of the one or more identified parking spots within the parking structure.

18. The system of claim 10, where the parking structure is a particular parking structure, where the one or more processors are further to:

receive geographic location information;

compare the received geographic location information to stored information regarding one or more geographic locations associated with one or more parking structures, including the particular parking structure; and

identify the particular parking structure based on the comparing,

where when storing the parking information, the one or more processors are to;

store an indication that the parking information is associated with the particular parking structure.

19. A computer-readable medium, comprising:

one or more computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

receive parking information from a plurality of user devices, the parking information identifying;

a first plurality of parking spots, within a parking structure, that are available for parking, and

a second plurality of parking spots, within the parking structure, that are unavailable for parking,

where at least some of the parking information is received from a particular user;

store the parking information in association with information identifying the parking structure;

receive, from a user device, a request for parking information associated with the parking structure;

generate, in response to the request, information regarding the parking structure based on the parking information, where the information regarding the parking structure identifies the first plurality of parking spots and the second plurality of parking spots;

transmit the information regarding the parking structure to the user device to assist a user, of the user device, in locating one of the first plurality of parking spots,

track an amount of parking information received from the particular user; and

track progress toward a reward, associated with the particular user, based on the amount of parking information received from the particular user, where executing the instructions to track the progress cause the one or more processors to;

track weight values associated with the parking information received from the particular user,

where information regarding a first parking spot, that is available for parking, is associated with a first weight value, and

where information regarding a second parking spot, that is unavailable for parking, is associated with a second weight value.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, where the computer-executable instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

automatically overwrite, at a particular time, the parking information with new parking information, where the new parking information identifies one or more parking spots, of the second plurality of parking spots, as available for parking.