Parking facility resource management
First Claim
1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon to manage a parking facility, the instructions comprising:
- collecting usage information related to one or more of a traffic pattern, a day of a week, a time of a day, and a usage of parking spaces for the parking facility;
collecting resource information related to electrical resources within the parking facility;
building usage models for the parking facility based on the collected usage information and based on information collected from a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit;
building resource models for the parking facility based on the collected resource information and based on the information collected from GPS unit, wherein the information collected from the GPS unit determines user access demand as a function of one or more of the day of the week, the time of the day, and the traffic pattern;
managing allocation of the parking spaces based on the usage models;
reducing energy expense by a management operation of the electrical resources based on the resource models and the usage models, wherein the management operation of the electrical resources includes a dimming action to dim the parking spaces determined to have little or no activity based on the usage models and an illumination action to increase illumination of the parking spaces reserved by customers based on the usage models to direct the customers to the illuminated parking spaces; and
establishing prices for the parking spaces based on the usage models.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Technologies are generally described for an information system configured to manage parking facility resources. The system can create and apply models and profiles regarding customers, parking space usage, access patterns, events, traffic, and other factors related to the parking facility. Parking facility operators may use the models to seek optimized revenues or profits. Increased revenue for parking facility operators may be supported by allocating resources to longer staying and better paying customers. New opportunities such as reselling, auctions, or options may further improve revenue generation for parking facilities. Customers may interface with the information system for availability queries, interactive reservation, and various other functions that may improve convenience, security, privacy, and service quality for the customers as well as for neighboring businesses and venues. Improved efficiency in parking facility resource consumption may reduce street traffic congestion. Parking security may be improved by adaptive lighting and camera operation.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon to manage a parking facility, the instructions comprising:
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collecting usage information related to one or more of a traffic pattern, a day of a week, a time of a day, and a usage of parking spaces for the parking facility; collecting resource information related to electrical resources within the parking facility; building usage models for the parking facility based on the collected usage information and based on information collected from a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit; building resource models for the parking facility based on the collected resource information and based on the information collected from GPS unit, wherein the information collected from the GPS unit determines user access demand as a function of one or more of the day of the week, the time of the day, and the traffic pattern; managing allocation of the parking spaces based on the usage models; reducing energy expense by a management operation of the electrical resources based on the resource models and the usage models, wherein the management operation of the electrical resources includes a dimming action to dim the parking spaces determined to have little or no activity based on the usage models and an illumination action to increase illumination of the parking spaces reserved by customers based on the usage models to direct the customers to the illuminated parking spaces; and establishing prices for the parking spaces based on the usage models. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A parking facility management system comprising:
- a memory; and
a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to; collect usage information related to one or more of a traffic pattern, a day of a week, a time of a day, and a usage of parking spaces for the parking facility; collect resource information related to electrical resources within the parking facility; collect user information related to customers of the parking facility; identify usage models for the parking facility based on the collected usage information and based on information collected from a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit; identify resource models to reduce energy expense of the parking facility based on the collected resource information and based on the information collected from the GPS unit, wherein the information collected from the GPS unit determines user access demand as a function of one or more of the day of the week, the time of the day, and the traffic pattern; identify user profiles for the customers based on the collected user information; manage allocation of the parking spaces based on the usage models and the user profiles; reduce energy expense by a management operation of the electrical resources to reduce energy expense based on the resource models and the usage models, wherein the management operation of the electrical resources includes a dimming action to dim the parking spaces determined to have little or no activity based on the usage models and an illumination action to illuminate of the parking spaces that are reserved by customers based on the usage models to direct the customers to the illuminated parking spaces; and establish prices for the parking spaces based on the usage models. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
- a memory; and
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14. A method executed by a user input device to manage a parking facility, the method comprising:
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collecting usage information related to one or more of a traffic pattern, a day of a week, a time of a day, and a usage of parking spaces for the parking facility; collecting resource information related to electrical resources within the parking facility, wherein the electrical resources include lighting resources and elevators within the parking facility; identifying usage models for the parking facility based on the collected usage information and based on information collected from a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit; identifying resource models for the parking facility based on the collected resource information and based on the information collected from the GPS unit, wherein the information collected from the GPS unit determines user access demand as a function of one or more of the day of the week, the time of the day, and the traffic pattern; reducing energy expense by managing operation of the electrical resources based on the resource models and the usage models, wherein managing operation of the electrical resources includes a dimming action to dim the parking spaces having little or no activity according to the usage models and an illumination action to illuminate the parking spaces that are reserved by customers according to the usage models for directing the customers to the illuminated parking spaces; and establishing prices for the parking spaces based on the usage models and the resource models. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification