IL163318A - Municipal wireless parking monitoring system and method - Google Patents

Description

1 7804/04 tr'M'iTD mrjn nm'? rrain^N ΏΏΙΏΏΊ πιτω MUNICIPAL WIRELESS PARKING MONITORING SYSTEM AND METHOD MUNICIPAL WIRELESS PARKING MONITORING SYSTEM AND METHOD Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of wireless payment parking methods. More particularly, the invention relates to a parking monitoring system and method associated with municipality-administered parking areas.

Background of the Invention Many parking systems are based on a parking fee machine located at various outdoor areas or at the entrance of a parking facility. The most commonly found parking fee machine is a parking meter located at each parking space, in which a driver inserts a selected number of coins corresponding to a given fee for a desired parking period. However, parking meters are susceptible to pilferage. Rather than suffering from a risk of pilferage, some parking fee machines have been recently introduced by which parking fees are paid with use of cash cards. Such a parking fee method, however, suffers from the drawback that not all drivers have access to a suitable cash card. Moreover, outdoor located parking fee machines provided with suitable readers are liable to malfunction when exposed to inclement weather or to dust.

Some prior art parking systems are arranged such that a person parking a car draws a cash card through a card reader of a pay meter, and the pay meter stores the number of the cash card and the time at which the card was read. When that person exits the parking facility, he draws the cash card again through the card reader. The parking meter then calculates the amount to be debited for the parking period and debits the card owner.

In other systems, users need to purchase expensive electronic components for initiating a parking operation. For example, US 2003/0146852 discloses a wireless transceiver that is used by a person wishing to park a car. The transceiver communicates wirelessly with a parking server which records the parking start and end times to determine a parking duration and a parking fee determined based on the parking duration.

WO 03/065312, US 6,519,329, US 6,513,711, disclose various methods of controlling a parked car in which a mobile telephone can be used to commence and to terminate parking of a car, wherein a user sends at least one user specific code to a receiving computer belonging to the parking system. The identity of the zone in which a reporting car is parked is sent to the parking system when parking is commenced. US 6,577,248 additionally discloses a portable parking control unit which reads a vehicle-specific code from a parked car and communicates with the parking system computer, which is informed of the selected parking zone of the parked car. These methods suffer from the drawback that the user is required to communicate with a receiving computer twice- once upon parking commencement and the second time upon parking termination. Moreover, such prior art parking systems are not suitable for monitoring a municipality-administered parking area. Municipal inspectors are not aware that a user transmitted a user specific code to a receiving computer for commencing a parking operation, and therefore are liable to issue a ticket for lack of parking fee payment.

WO 96/11453 discloses a parking fee system in which users access a service unit by mobile telephone for paying the parking fee by communicating a user-specific identity code and/or a car registration number and a code of the car park. The system is characterized in that a parking account is opened at the service unit of the system for each user of the service. Such a system is further disadvantageous in that a user needs to obtain a code for each car park, and if the car park is very spacious, access of a car park code will be difficult.

In some parking systems, communication between users and a parking database is carried out by means of Short Message Service (SMS) communication. For example, in WO 97/19568 users transmit parking start and stop messages via a mobile unit for recording and charging for parking space usage. A Parking Command Generator command selected by a user produces a PSM (Parking Short Message) inquiry, which is displayed on the display of a MS (Mobile System) whenever the subscriber selects the Parking Command from the option menu of the MS. This method requires sending several SMS messages to the parking database in order to establish the position of a parked car. The implementation of such a method is time consuming and location detection may not be sufficiently accurate. Also, not every cellular phone is suitable for transmitting a SMS.

A system for debiting and clearing of parking fees via an Internet application is disclosed in WO 02/15130, by which a user selects a street or car park with its corresponding parking tariff to start a new, for a stated vehicle license plate number, or stop an ongoing, parking fee registration on a specific account associated with the user. US 2004/0068433 also discloses a parking system which allows reservation of a predetermined parking spot in a parking area of interest by Internet use. The drawback of these publications is that the user must have a mobile phone with an Internet access. Also, a relatively lengthy process is required not only to commence a parking operation, but also to terminate an ongoing parking operation.

WO 93/20539 discloses a vehicle parking system in which each parking place incorporated in the system is assigned a unique digital and/or alphabetical code which is unique to that particular parking space. When parking of a vehicle in one such parking space is terminated, the parking space code and vehicle code, together with a unique code assigned to the vehicle driver, are sent to a database by the driver. The driver must know the unique code for a particular parking space. At times the parking space code designation may be placed far from a desired parking space, and therefore obtaining the parking space code is generally a time consuming procedure.

In view of the above, a more user friendly system and method for commencing and terminating a parking operation associated with a municipality-administered parking area is needed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless system and method for commencing a parking operation associated with a municipality-administered parking area.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless system and method for accurately billing a user for a parking fee associated with a municipality-administered parking area.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless system and method for commencing a parking operation which eliminates the drawbacks of prior art parking systems.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a system and method for commencing a parking operation which does not require any car-specific parking-fee devices or meters.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a wireless system and method for commencing a parking operation by means of a standard cellular phone, i.e. one that can operate without SMS and Internet accessibility.

It is yet an additional object of the present invention to provide a wireless system and method by which an inspector is prevented from issuing a ticket to a driver that has commenced a parking operation.

It is yet an additional object of the present invention to provide a wireless system and method for commencing a parking operation which obviates the need for terminating a parking operation.

It is yet an additional object of the present invention to provide a wireless system and method for commencing a parking operation without specifying a parking space code.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Summary of the Invention The present invention provides a method for wireless parking monitoring of municipality-administered parking spaces wherein each municipal inspector is provided with a wireless mobile terminal in communication with a control center, and each of said terminals, following a suitable command from said control center, is prevented from issuing a ticket when a parked car is engaged in a parking operation and is allowed to issue a ticket when a parked car is not engaged in a parking operation.

As referred to herein-the term "car" includes all types of motor vehicles such as a motorcycle, automobile, truck, and the like which are suitable for being parked at a parking facility; the term "municipality-administered parking space" is a parking space, the parking fee for which is payable to the local municipality and for which a car owner is liable for a ticket issued by a municipal inspector if his car is parked at said space without paying a parking fee; and the term "parking operation" is the utilization of a municipality-administered parking space by a car, the parking fee for which is payable by wireless means.

More specifically, the method comprises the following steps: a) Providing a control center with a computer, transceiver, and database which associates each authorized user name with a specified car license plate number and a specified cellular phone number; b) Providing each municipal inspector with a wireless mobile terminal; c) Parking a car in a selected municipality-administered parking space; d) Transmitting a request signal by the owner of a requesting cellular phone to said control center to initiate a parking operation at said selected parking space, said request signal indicative of a desired parking operation duration; e) Comparing the phone number of said requesting phone with the list of specified phone numbers of the database and verifying whether said owner is an authorized user; f) If said owner is an authorized user, determining the location of said requesting phone; g) Establishing a parking fee based on said determined location and debiting a specified user account; h) Allowing a parking operation to commence; i) Entering, within a mobile terminal, the license plate number of a car determined to be seemingly deserving of a ticket- hereinafter referred to as a "suspected car"; j) If said suspected car is engaged in a parking operation, generating a disable signal which prevents said mobile terminal from issuing a ticket; and k) Generating an enable signal which allows said mobile terminal to issue a ticket if said suspected car is not engaged in a parking operation.

After an enable signal is generated, the inspector issues a ticket to the suspected car, whereupon a ticketing signal is transmitted from the mobile terminal to a billing system. The ticketing signal includes data representative of license plate number of the suspected car, car owner, and date, time and place of ticket.

In one embodiment of the invention, an inspector, after step i), transmits an inquiry signal from his mobile terminal to the control center to determine whether a suspected car is engaged in a parking operation, whereupon the control center transmits to said mobile terminal a disable signal if said suspected car is engaged in a parking operation and an enable signal if said suspected car is not engaged in a parking operation.

In another embodiment of the invention, the disable and enable signals are self generated by a mobile terminal. The control center transmits to one or more mobile terminals, after step h), a signal representative of user data extracted from the request signal, such as license plate number of the parked car, commencement time of the parking operation and requested duration thereof, and a terminal microprocessor, after step i), determines whether the suspected car is engaged in a parking operation.

Preferably, a user transmits an extension signal to the control center to extend the duration of a parking operation. The extension signal is indicative of a desired duration which the parking operation is to be extended, the disable and enable signals being generated based on an extended parking operation duration.

In one aspect, the user is debited a surcharge for each extension signal transmitted.

In another aspect, a maximum total parking duration is limited by the control center.

In one aspect, a user receives an alert signal from the control center at a predetermined time period prior to, or upon, expiration of a parking operation.

In one aspect, the control center determines the location of one or more mobile terminals and selectively transmits a signal related to a previously transmitted request signal to a selected terminal based on said determined location.

In one aspect, the location of the parking space, from which the request signal of a parked car originated, is determined.

In another embodiment of the invention, the control center transmits, upon expiration of the parking operation of a parked car, an alert signal to the mobile terminal in the vicinity of said parked car, whereupon the inspector holding said mobile terminal visually determines whether said parked car remains at the parking space, and if said parked car remains at the parking space, enters the license plate of said parked car into his mobile unit in order to generate a disable or enable signal.

In another embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises the following steps: issuing a ticket to a suspected car, operating a digital recording device integrated with the mobile unit, recording visual or audio information associated with said suspected car by said recording device, uploading said recorded information, and transmitting said uploaded information to a database of the billing system.

In one aspect, the recorded information is a visual image of a car parked at a municipality-administered parking space. A print of data related to an expired parking operation preferably is displayed on the visual image. Exemplary data includes commencement time of parking operation, parking operation duration and time of parking operation expiration, In one aspect, the recorded information is audio information concerning a negative reaction of a car owner who disapproves of being ticketed.

The present invention is also directed to a parking monitoring system, comprising: a control center having a computer, transceiver, and database which associates each authorized user name with a specified car license plate number and a specified cellular phone number; one or more wireless mobile terminals, each of which being in data communication with said control center and associated with a different municipal inspector; and one or more requesting cellular phones by which a request signal for initiating a parking operation for a corresponding parked car is transmittable to said control center, wherein said control center is provided with means for preventing each mobile terminal from issuing a ticket when a parked car is engaged in a parking operation and for enabling each mobile terminal to issue a ticket when a parked car is not engaged in a parking operation.

The control center is further provided with means for verifying user authorization; means for determining the location of a requesting phone; means for allowing a parking operation to commence upon receiving a request signal from a requesting cellular phone, said request signal indicative of a desired parking operation duration; means for establishing a parking fee based on said determined location; means for extending the duration of a parking operation and establishing a parking fee based on said extended duration; means for debiting a specified user account corresponding to said established parking fee; means for alerting a mobile terminal upon a parking operation expiration of a specific parked car; and means for alerting a requesting phone at a predetermined period of time prior to, or upon, the expiration of a parking operation.

The present invention is also directed to a wireless mobile terminal for issuing a ticket based on the judgment of a municipal inspector, comprising a first transceiver in communication with a control center which is adapted to receive a request signal from a plurality of requesting cellular phones for initiating a parking operation at a corresponding municipality-administered parking space and to allow the commencement of a parking operation at each of the parking spaces if each of the cellular phones is authorized by a provider, said request signal indicative of a desired parking operation duration; a second transceiver in communication with a municipal ticket billing system; and a keypad in communication with a microprocessor housed therewithin which has sufficient memory to communicate with said control center and said billing center, wherein the terminal is prevented by said control center from issuing a ticket when a parked car is engaged in a parking operation and is enabled to issue a ticket when a parked car is engaged in a parking operation, a ticketing signal being transmitted by said second transceiver to said billing system following issue of a ticket.

In one aspect, the terminal further comprises a digital recording device for recording visual or audio information associated with a suspected car. The terminal preferably further comprises means for uploading recorded information and transmitting said uploaded information to the billing system.

Brief Description of the Drawings In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a schematic drawing of a wireless parking monitoring system according to one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a schematic drawing of various municipality-administered parking areas in different cities which are monitored by a single parking monitoring system; Fig. 3 is a flow chart of a parking monitoring method performed in conjunction with the system of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is schematic drawing of the system of Fig. 1, illustrating the generation of a disable signal; Fig. 5 is schematic drawing of the system of Fig. 1, illustrating the generation of an enable signal; Fig. 6 is a parking monitoring method according to another embodiment of the invention, by which an alert signal is transmitted to a mobile terminal upon expiration of a parking operation; Fig. 7 is a schematic drawing of another embodiment of a parking monitoring system; and Fig. 8 is a flow chart of a parking monitoring method performed in conjunction with the system of Fig. 8.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments The present invention is a parking monitoring system and method in a municipality-administered parking area that are operational by means of the cellular telephone of each user. After a driver has parked in a desired parking space, a parking operation commences upon transmission of a request signal to a control center by means of his cellular telephone. In contrast to prior art systems which require a user to transmit commands for commencing and subsequently terminating a parking operation, so that the user will be billed for the specified duration between commencement and termination of the parking operation, a termination signal is unnecessary in conjunction with the system of the present invention since the request signal is indicative of a desired parking duration. The control center transmits a disable signal to the hand-held terminal of an inspector, to prevent the latter from issuing a ticket to the car from which the request signal was transmitted. The user may transmit an additional signal from any desired location to increase the duration of the parking operation.

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a wireless parking monitoring system according to the present invention and is generally designated by numeral 100. System 100 comprises at least one cellular telephone 240 corresponding to each car for which a parking operation request is to be initiated, wireless mobile terminal 310 held by a municipal inspector 300, and computerized control center 400. Control center 400 is provided with database 420 for storing data of each owner of a cellular phone (hereinafter referred to as a "user") that is registered by system 100 for granting parking privileges at a desired municipality- administered parking space (hereinafter referred to as the "provider"), computer 430 for processing data associated with a parking operation, and transceiver 410 for wireless communication to and from database 420. Mobile terminal 310 comprises at least one transceiver 320 and a keypad 305 in communication with a microprocessor (not shown) housed within terminal 310 and having sufficient memory to communicate with control center 400. Database 420 is arranged such that each cellular phone number is associated with one user and with one car having a specified license plate number.

A driver of a car parked in parking area 200, e.g. car 205, or any other user, transmits request signal R to computerized control center 400 by means of cellular phone 240, by which a request for a parking space is initiated. Request signal R is transmitted by placing a call to control center 400 after predetermined keys of the cellular phone keypad are depressed. Request signal R advantageously consists of two components: a base component corresponding to a predetermined shortened number indicative of a request to commence a parking operation, e.g. *200, and an auxiliary component which is indicative of a desired duration of a parking operation. Preferably, the auxiliary component represents a requested parking operation duration on the order of hours when a one-digit auxiliary component is transmitted, while the auxiliary component represents a requested parking operation duration on the order of minutes when an auxiliary component having more than one digit is transmitted. Therefore, a request signal of *2001 indicates that the user is desirous of parking for 1 hour, while a request signal of *20045 indicates that the user is desirous of parking for 45 minutes. After control center 400 verifies that the user is authorized by the provider to initiate parking operations, a disable signal D is transmitted to mobile terminal 310 of inspector 300, and the requested parking operation commences thereinafter. During the course of a parking operation, terminal 310 is prevented from issuing a ticket to car 205.

Municipal parking rates may vary from one municipality to another. The control center may advantageously monitor the parking areas in different municipalities. By transmitting a request signal by means of a cellular telephone, the provider is able to locate the originating cell of a cellular network from which the request signal was transmitted. The control center is therefore able to determine the municipal parking rate for a parking space located within the originating cell and to bill the user a parking fee corresponding to the municipal parking rate and to the requested duration of the parking operation.

At times, the parking fees may vary from one region of a municipality to another. For example, Fig. 2 illustrates municipal parking areas which are located in different cities. Cities A, B and C are provided with exemplary parking areas 110, 120 and 130, respectively. Each parking area in turn is divided into parking spaces. Parking area 110 is divided into spaces Ai-e, parking area 120 is divided into spaces 1.5, and parking area 130 is divided into spaces C1.4. The parking fee for parking space Ai may be less than that of Ae since the latter, for example, may be adjacent to an exclusive area. A user that parked at space Ai therefore is billed a lower parking fee than that of a user that parked at space Αβ following commencement of a parking operation. The provider preferably has access to a high accuracy locator managed by the cellular network, as well known to those skilled in the art, to determine the region of the cell of the cellular network corresponding to the parking space from which the request signal was transmitted. Alternatively, the control center is provided with a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine the geographical location of the cellular phone from which the request signal was transmitted (hereinafter called the "requesting cellular phone"). After the geographical location of a desired parking space is known, whether by means of a high accuracy locator managed by the cellular network or by means of GPS, the provider assigns the parking operation with an appropriate parking fee.

Operationally, as illustrated in Figs. 3-5, a driver parks his car in a municipality-administered parking space in step 10 and then transmits a request signal in step 20 for initiating a parking operation. The control center verifies in step 25 that the holder of the requesting cellular phone is authorized by the provider to obtain parking privileges. If the user is authorized to obtain parking privileges, the computer of the control center determines the location of the requesting cellular phone in step 30, establishes a parking fee in step 35 based on the parking rate which is imposed by the municipality which administers the selected parking space and on the selected parking operation duration corresponding to the auxiliary component of the request signal, allows the parking operation to commence in step 40, and debits the account of the user in step 45, which is payable to the Municipal Parking Fee Collection Authority.

If a municipal inspector decides that a parked car is seemingly deserving of a ticket, e.g. a parking meter expired or a parking ticket is not visible, the inspector transmits an inquiry signal I in step 50 to the control center by entering the license plate number of the parked car to determine whether a parking operation has commenced. Since the parked car is engaged in a parking operation, as set in step 40, the control center transmits a disable signal D to the mobile terminal of the inspector in step 60 to thereby prevent the mobile terminal of the inspector from issuing a ticket. A disable signal D will also be transmitted to the mobile terminal of the inspector if the user transmitted an extension signal EX in step 42 from the requesting cellular phone to the control center to extend the duration of the parking operation, whereupon the user account will be debited for the extended duration in step 45. An extension signal may be conveniently transmitted from any desired location. An extension signal consists of a base component corresponding to a predetermined shortened number indicative of a request to extend a parking operation, e.g. *210, and an auxiliary component which is indicative of the desired period of time which is to be added to the duration of the parking operation. However, if the car is not engaged in a parking operation, e.g. the parking operation has terminated or the user is not authorized by the provider to interact with the parking monitoring system, the control center will transmit in step 65 an enable signal E to mobile terminal 310 held by the inspector, after the inspector has transmitted in step 50 an inquiry signal I to the control center, to allow inspector 300 to issue a ticket for the car associated with the requesting cellular phone. When a ticket is issued in step 70, inspector 300 enters the license plate number of the car associated with the requesting cellular phone, whereupon mobile terminal 310 prints the ticket and a ticketing signal T is transmitted in step 75 to database 520 and computer 530 of billing system 500 associated with Municipal Ticket Collection Authority. It will be appreciated that the Municipal Parking Fee Collection Authority and the Municipal Ticket Collection Authority are two separate organizations since the owner of the ticketed car who is responsible for paying the ticket is not necessarily the user who is responsible for paying the parking fee through the parking monitoring system.

If control center 400 determines in step 25 that the holder of a requesting cellular phone is not authorized by the provider to interact with the parking monitoring system, the holder of the requesting cellular phone may not be informed immediately after transmitting the request signal, so that the provider will not incur additional expenses for airtime. At a convenient time, control center 400 may automatically send a SMS to the holder of a requesting cellular phone whereby registration information is requested or a human operator may call the holder of a requesting cellular phone and record registration information.

It will be appreciated that the employment of a wireless mobile terminal for the issuing of tickets for cars that parked in a municipality-administered parking space when not engaged in a parking operation is more efficient and generates more revenue than prior art municipal parking monitoring systems. Prior art mobile terminals for inspectors are not wireless, but rather are battery-operated units that store in memory the pertinent data related to those that received tickets during the course of the day, including license plate number, time and date when the ticket was issued, and location of the parked car. At the end of the shift of the inspector, the mobile terminal is connected to the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface of the Municipal Ticket Collection Authority computer, to which the stored data of those that were ticketed is transmitted. After transmission of the stored data, the mobile terminal memory is cleared. By employment of the wireless mobile terminal of the present invention, ticket data is transmitted to the Municipal Ticket Collection Authority by means of a dedicated transceiver immediately after the ticket is issued, thereby eliminating the risk that ticket data may be mistakenly deleted from memory and saving valuable time for the inspector.

Inspectors that employ a mobile terminal of the prior art generally follow a standard route when determining whether a parked car is deserving of being ticketed. Accordingly, a driver who is unaware of the route and frequency of the inspection may not be ticketed if a parking ticket (or any other known means for commencing a parking operation such as inserting money in a parking meter) was purchased for a distinct interval but was not renewed upon the expiration thereof. However, in one embodiment of the invention as indicated in Fig. 6, the control center determines in step 78 that the parking operation of a specified car has expired and alerts, e.g. by an audible alarm, upon transmission of an alert signal in step 80 that the parking operation of a parked car has expired and can be ticketed. The inspector than walks to the specified parking space, the location of which was stored in memory of the control center computer following transmission of the request signal, and determines in step 85 whether the car whose parking operation expired is still parked in the specified parking spot. If that car is still parked in the specified parking space, the inspector transmits an inquiry signal and determines whether the parking operation has been extended. If the parking operation has not been extended, an enable signal will be transmitted to the mobile terminal and the car will be ticketed, as described hereinabove. The computer of the control center is preferably programmed such that an alert signal will not be transmitted to the mobile terminal if the user already transmitted an extension signal to the control center.

Employment of a wireless mobile terminal which can be alerted following termination of a parking operation also generates more revenue for the municipality by encouraging users to extend the duration of a parking operation. An alert signal may be transmitted in step 87 to the cellular phone of a user, e.g. by a SMS, that his parking operation has expired. Alternatively, an alert signal may be transmitted a predetermined period of time, e.g. 5 minutes, prior to the expiration of the parking operation. Since an extension signal may be transmitted from any convenient location, it would be advantageous for a user to transmit an extension signal in step 89, if he so desires, as soon as after receiving an alert signal as possible, so as to prevent being ticketed. The user may specify an extension duration on the order of minutes and resend an extension signal as many times as desired. To prevent an inordinate number of extension signals, which imposes an unnecessary load upon the control center, the user may be billed a surcharge in step 91 for each extension signal that is transmitted. Alternatively, the control center may limit the total parking duration to a maximum value in step 93, transmit a SMS to the requesting cellular phone in step 95 informing the user of a forced parking operation expiration, and transmit an enable signal in step 65 to the mobile terminal following transmission of an inquiry signal in step 50.

Employment of a wireless mobile terminal with sufficient memory is also suitable for proving that a parked car is not engaged in a parking operation. A mobile terminal may be provided with a built-in digital camera or video camera, which is operable after the inspector selects a suitable mode, such as by depressing a selector key. Suitable circuitry operatively connects the selector key with the transceiver adapted to communicate with the computer of the Municipal Ticket Collection Authority. The built-in camera can be operated after a ticket is issued, to document that the car associated with a requesting phone was parked at a municipality-administered parking space at a given time following expiration of a parking operation. After the visual image is recorded, the inspector uploads the image and transmits it to the database of the Municipal Ticket Collection Authority, for storage and future retrieval. A data print related to the expired parking operation, such as parking operation duration and time of expiration, preferably appears on the visual image, e.g. digital photograph or video clip, of the parked car. At times, a car owner may contest in court the receipt of a ticket, which he claims was undeservingly issued. In order to rebut an argument that a car owner was wrongfully ticketed, an inspector may present in court a visual image of the car which was recorded at the time when the ticket was issued as prima facie evidence that the car was not engaged in a parking operation at the time of the recording.

Similarly, a mobile terminal may be provided with an integrated microphone to facilitate the recording of audio information in digital format. An inspector may record audio information if he encounters a negative reaction, verbal or even physical, from a car owner who disapproves of being ticketed, and may thereby present evidence concerning the party that initiated such a negative reaction, if such a need arises.

In another embodiment of the invention, the location of a mobile terminal is determined upon transmission of an inquiry signal to the control center, whether by means of a high accuracy locator managed by the cellular network or by means of GPS. The control center may then transmit an alert signal to the inspector that is closest to the location of the specified parked car. By knowing the location of each mobile terminal upon transmission of an inquiry signal, the control center can determine the number of times that a given parking space has been inspected during the course of a predetermined period of time. If the determined number of inspections is significantly less than an average value, the control center may dispatch an inspector to the given parking space. The control center may also take into account known parking regularities, e.g. a particular parking area generally remains unoccupied during the morning hours.

In yet another embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, parking monitoring system 600 comprises one or more mobile terminals 610 which are provided with sufficient memory to both communicate with control center 400 and to store data of users that park in a specified parking area. In this embodiment, an inspector 300 is assigned a specified parking area and remains there during the course of the working day. The enable and disable signals are self generated by mobile terminal 610, thus eliminating the airtime costs of having an inquiry signal transmitted to control center 400 and an enable or disable signal transmitted in response to the mobile terminal.

After a driver parks his car in a selected municipality-administered parking space in step 10 and transmits a request signal R in step 20, the control center verifies in step 25 that the holder of the requesting cellular phone is authorized by the provider to interact with the parking monitoring system. If the user is authorized to interact with the parking monitoring system, the computer of the control center determines the location of the requesting cellular phone in step 30 and allows the parking operation to commence in step 40. The control center then transmits user data signal U associated with the commenced parking operation, including license plate number of the parked car, commencement time of the parking operation and requested duration thereof, to the mobile terminal of the inspector in the vicinity of the selected parking space in step 55. The control center similarly transmits in step 55 updated user data to the mobile terminal following transmission by the user of an extension signal in step 42. If a municipal inspector decides that a parked car is seemingly deserving of a ticket, he inputs its license plate number in step 57 into his mobile terminal. The microprocessor of the mobile terminal generates a disable signal in step 61 if the parked car is engaged in a parking operation or alternatively generates an enable signal in step 66. After an enable signal is generated, the inspector is then allowed to issue a ticket in step 70, whereupon the mobile terminal prints the ticket and a ticketing signal is transmitted in step 75 to the Municipal Ticket Collection Authority.

In another embodiment, in order to reduce the costs of operating the parking service, the parking location is not determined (calculated) by the cellular network. Instead, a user who wishes to park will be asked by the control center to input the parking location. Otherwise, his request for parking will be denied. The user may enter the location by typing it using the characters represented by key in the keypad. Alternatively, the user may select the city or parking area from a menu that is displayed to him on the cellphone's display or from several options that are played through the cellphone's speaker or earphone speaker (e.g., "to select Los Angeles, please press 1; to select San Francisco, please press 2"; etc.).

In a further embodiment, the user inputs the data to the cellphone by using voice commands and voice interaction with the control center, rather than inputting the data using the cellphone's keypad. Such data may include, for example, the parking location and the required parking time. For example, the user may dictate a predetermined parking time, or alternatively, may only initiate a parking authorization without specifying a determined parking time. In this case, the maximal parking time may be limited, in order to avoid payment for excess time. The user may hear an explanation about the parking system and the way for operating it.

While some embodiments of the invention have been described by way of illustration, it will be apparent that the invention can be carried into practice with many modifications, variations and adaptations, and with the use of numerous equivalents or alternative solutions that are within the scope of persons skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the claims.

Claims (5)

163318/3

1. A parking monitoring system, comprising: a control center having a computer, transceiver, and database which associates each authorized user name with a specified car license plate number and a specified cellular phone number, one or more wireless mobile terminals, each of which in data communication with said control center and being associated with different municipal inspector; and one or more requesting cellular phones by which a request signal for initiating a parking operation for corresponding parked car is transmittable to said control center, wherein said control center is provided with means for preventing each mobile terminal from issuing a ticket when parked car is engaged in a parking operation and for enabling each mobile terminal to issue a ticket when a parked car is not engaged in a parking operation.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the control center is further provided with means for verifying user authorization; means for determining the location of a requesting phone; means for allowing a parking operation to commence upon receiving a request signal from a requesting cellular phone, said request signal indicative of a desired parking operation duration; means for establishing a parking fee based on said determined location; means for extending the duration of a parking operation and establishing a parking fee based on said extended duration; means for debiting specified user account corresponding to said established parking fee; means for alerting a mobile terminal upon parking operation expiration of a specific parked car; and means for alerting a requesting phone at a predetermined period of time prior to, or upon, the expiration of a parking operation.

3. -JPN-2008 13:06 From: To: 9722 P.34 163818/5 - 24 - 3. A wireless mobile terminal for issuing a ticket based on the judgment of a municipal inspector, comprising a first transceiver in communication with a control center which is adapted to receive a request: signal from a plurality of requesting cellular phones for initiating a parking operation at a corresponding municipality-administrated parking space and to allow the commencement of a parking operation at each of the parking s ace* if each of the cellular phones is authorized by a provider, said request signal indicative of a desired parking operation duration; a second transcei ver in communication with a municipal ticket billing system; and n keypad in communication with a microprocessor housed thcrewithin which has sufficient memory to communicate with said control center and said billing center, wherein the terminal is prevented by said control center from issuing a ticket, when H parked car is engaged in a parking operation and is enabled to issue a ticket when a parked car is not engaged in a parking operation, a ticketing signal being transmitted by said second transceiver to said billing system following issue of a ticket.

4. The mobile terminal according to claim 3, further comprising a digital recording device for recording visual or audio information associated with a suspected car.

5. The mobile terminal according to claim 4, further comprising means for uploading said recorded information and means for transmitting said uploaded information to the billing system.