WO2012080942A1

WO2012080942A1 - Control architecture and method for occupancy of parking locations by vehicles

Info

Publication number: WO2012080942A1
Application number: PCT/IB2011/055630
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bruno Spagnolo
Original assignee: Spagnolo S.R.L.
Priority date: 2010-12-13
Filing date: 2011-12-13
Publication date: 2012-06-21
Also published as: EP2652723A1; IT1403015B1; ITTO20100989A1

Abstract

Control architecture for occupancy of parking locations (115a... l l5n) by vehicles (119) comprising: - a plurality of transponders (111) capable of transmitting, when interrogated, the identification information contained therein; - a plurality of proximity sensors (113a... l l3n) associated with each parking location (115a... l l5n) and capable of generating a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle (119) within the respective parking location with which the sensor is associated; - an electronic control unit (117) programmed for controlling said predetermined region (121); characterized in that it further comprises a control procedure running on said electronic unit (117) and capable of: putting the electronic unit itself in a listening mode waiting for a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle and originating from the proximity sensors (113a... l l3n), interrogating the transponder devices (111) when the unit receives a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle, processing the information received from the transponder devices (111), generating a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle and comprising the information received from the transponder devices.

Description

Control architecture and method for occupancy of parking locations by vehicles Field of the invention

The present invention refers to a control architecture and method for occupancy of parking locations by vehicles. More precisely, the invention refers to an automated electronic control architecture for occupancy of parking locations by vehicles and to the method of operating said architecture.

Prior art

Parking locations for vehicles, also known as parking stalls, are notoriously often associated with a control architecture for occupancy by the vehicle and/or payment of the parking rate. Said architecture may comprise, in the simplest cases, a plurality of individual parking meters, distributed at the parking locations. The authorized personnel verifies the occurred payment of the parking rate. In more complex cases the architecture may comprise a network of sensors, each associated with one of the parking locations, communicating with a control unit and identification devices with which the authorized vehicles are equipped. In these cases the control for occupancy by the vehicles of the parking stalls and for the payment of the parking rate are made by the remote control station.

In all cases one of the main problems encountered in devising an architecture of the above type originates from the fact that the devices associated with the parking locations inevitably require on site interventions, i.e. at the parking locations themselves. Said interventions may be caused e.g. by the necessity of replacing the batteries which feed the sensors or more simply by the necessity of performing checks or repairs. Said interventions result particularly expensive since the parking locations are generally distributed over large areas and the sensor devices are located below the road surface and furthermore they are of difficult access because of the presence of parked vehicles. It is also known that the known more advanced control architectures generally comprise radio frequency identification devices RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) known as TAGs or transponders, associated with the vehicles authorized to park in a predetermined group of parking areas.

TAG devices presently used in known control architectures are of the active type and for this reason they necessitate of their own electric feeding source, e.g. deriving from a battery or directly from the electric circuit of the vehicle, for irradiating the information contained therein.

Still referring to known architectures, the TAG devices installed on the vehicles are interrogated by a reading unit associated with each proximity sensor in charge of the parking location occupied by the vehicle. A typical location for the proximity sensors provides for the arrangement of a sensor and of the respective TAGs interrogation unit below the road surface, at the parking location or parking stall, intended to host a vehicle.

The requirement for the sensors to interrogate the TAGs and the necessity to transmit the information contained therein causes an electric energy consumption, which reduces the duration of the batteries feeding the sensors and TAGs, respectively.

Moreover, the TAGs of the active type like those generally used, if fed directly by the electric circuit of the vehicle on which they are installed require an installation operation which may result complex and which moreover makes it difficult to move a TAG from one vehicle to another.

Known architectures for managing parking stalls for vehicles are disclosed in WO 2009/154787 A2, US 2010/0060485 Al and DE 10 2008 017816 Al .

One of the main objects of the invention is that of providing a solution to the above problem by providing a control architecture and method for occupancy of parking locations by vehicles, wherein the maintenance frequency on the devices associated with the parking locations is considerably reduced.

Another object of the invention is to provide an architecture and method of the above type, which can be used for controlling parking areas of any number and size and are therefore capable of being used for controlling parking locations, both public and private, distributed on areas of any extension.

A not last object of the invention is to provide an architecture and a method of the above type, which can be implemented easily and at reduced costs.

Disclosure of the invention

These and other objects are achieved by the architecture and method as claimed in the attached claims.

A first advantage of the invention derives from the fact that the presence of vehicles is recognized preferably by means of semi-active devices or still more preferably passive devices, i.e. devices with very low or null energy consumption. A second advantage of the invention derives from the fact that these devices can be very easily mounted on the vehicles and can be moved from one vehicle to another without requiring interventions of installation, the connection of the device to the electric circuit of the vehicle being not necessary.

A further advantage of the invention derives from the fact that the interrogation of the TAG devices is carried out by the unit in charge of a specific region of parking locations rather than by the single proximity sensor devices associated with the parking locations. Thanks to this provision, the proximity sensor devices perform only the function of signaling the presence of a vehicle to the unit and consequently their energy consumption will result very low.

Moreover, advantageously, thanks to the fact that data transmission among the various components of the architecture occurs through radio waves, i.e. in a wireless mode of transmission, it will be possible to implement the architecture with reduced costs of installation and minimum modifications to the existing structures.

A not last advantage of the invention derives from the provision of a phase of graphical display of the memorization matrix wherein the condition of "available", "licitly occupied" and "illicitly occupied" of the parking location is identified by means of a graphic symbol and/or a suggestive color which can be easily interpreted. This provision considerably simplifies data reading by surveillance or police personnel and allows displaying the same form of representation on any portable apparatus equipped with a display screen.

Brief disclosure of the drawings Some embodiments of the invention are provided in the following for illustrative and non- limiting purposes with reference to the enclosed figures, wherein:

- Figure 1 is a block diagram of the architecture according to the invention;

- Figures 2a,2b,2c are views of respective configurations of the memorization matrix;

- Figures 3a,3b,3c are views of respective configurations of a region of parking locations. Disclosure of a preferred embodiment of the invention

With reference to Figure 1, the control architecture for occupancy of parking locations, commonly known as parking stalls, by vehicles, mainly comprises:

- a plurality of TAG transponder devices 111 capable of transmitting, when interrogated, the identification information contained therein;

- a plurality of proximity sensors, numbered 113a...1 13n in said figure, associated with each parking stall 115a... l l5n and capable of generating a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle 119 within the respective parking stall with which the sensor is associated;

- an electronic control unit 117 programmed for operating according to a control procedure capable of processing the signals generated by the proximity sensors 113a... l l3n and indicative of the presence of a vehicle within the parking location or stall corresponding to each sensor, interrogating the transponder devices 111, processing the information received from the transponder devices 111 and generating a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle and comprising the information received from the transponder devices;

- a control procedure running on said electronic unit 117 and capable of: putting the electronic unit itself in a listening mode waiting for a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle and originating from the proximity sensors 113a...113n, interrogating the transponder devices 111 when the unit 117 receives a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle 119, processing the information received from the transponder devices 111, generating a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle 119 and comprising the information received from the transponder devices 111.

Said transponder devices 111 are each housed in a different vehicle 119 of a group of vehicles authorized to use the parking locations belonging to a predetermined region 121 comprising a plurality of said parking locations or parking stalls 115a...115n. According to a first embodiment of the invention the transponder devices or TAGs 111 are semi-active transponders.

Said semi-active transponders are fed by batteries only to maintain active the internal circuit part, while for irradiating data said devices pick-up a part of the energy from the radio wave transmitted by the interrogating device. In a second embodiment of the invention the transponder devices or TAGs 111 are passive transponders. Passive transponders do not contain any internal power source and, for irradiating data, they pick-up the energy from the radio wave transmitted by the interrogating device.

Advantageously, thanks to the adoption of the above-mentioned types of transponders, the architecture according to the invention shows higher autonomy on the overall, being the energy consumption and therefore the frequency of battery replacement very low when the transponders are semi-active and null when the transponders are passive.

Furthermore, thanks to the use of transponders of either of the above types, transmission of information is avoided and consequently electric energy consumption is avoided when it is not necessary, e.g. when the vehicle is parked outside the parking locations associated with the control architecture. It is known in fact that that active transponder devices, i.e. of the type used until now in the architectures of the known art, are configured to periodically irradiate the information contained therein when the vehicle is stationary thanks to the feature of recognizing that the transponder device is not undergoing vibrations. This configuration presently used in the field causes an electric energy consumption for irradiating data also when not requested and moreover it is subject to the risk that that data are not irradiated when necessary, because of unexpected vibrations when the vehicle is stationary.

The use of semi-active or preferably passive transponder devices or TAGs is advantageously made possible according to the invention thanks to the fact that the control architecture and method provide for the interrogation of the TAGs by unit 117 rather than by the interrogating units associated with proximity sensors located at the parking areas, as occurring in the prior art. In fact, since unit 117 can be fed permanently through the electric mains or through easily accessible batteries it is also possible to irradiate through said unit a signal of adequate energy to cause the correct functioning of the semi-active or passive TAGs.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the proximity sensors 113a...113n are inductive proximity sensors. These sensors comprise a coil wound on a support of ferromagnetic material fed by a voltage e.g. of 24 Volts. The sensor is preferably housed, together with the feeding battery, within a plastic cylindrical container and can be easily installed some centimeters below the road surface. When no metallic object is found in its vicinity the sensor adsorbs a feeding current Io. If a metallic object is placed in the immediate vicinity of the sensor, the sensor becomes seat of induced currents so that the current adsorbed by the sensor is increased. The measure of such a current allows to generate a signal indicative of the presence of a metallic mass, i.e. of a vehicle within the corresponding parking location.

Types of devices alternative to the inductive sensors comprise for example magnetic field sensors which are sensitive to perturbations of the earth magnetic field induced by the metallic mass of the vehicle. Said signal is irradiated by a radio transmitting unit 114 associated with the proximity sensor and is received by a receiving radio unit 118a associated with the electronic unit 117.

Unit 117 further comprises a second radio unit 118b capable of interrogating transponder 111 and receiving the signals irradiated thereby.

Moreover a transmitting radio unit 118c, capable of transmitting the signals generated by said unit 117 and indicative of the status of presence of a vehicle and containing the information received from the transponder devices, is preferably associated with unit 117. Through radio unit 118c the signals generated by unit 117 can be sent remotely to a unit 131 in charge of the control of a plurality of units 117.

The control method of the architecture according to the invention will be disclosed in the following.

The arrival of a vehicle 119 at one of the parking locations 115a...115n of region 121 causes the sending of a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle by the proximity sensor device associated with said location. Said signal is irradiated through radio waves by the transmitting unit 114 associated with the concerned proximity sensor device and is received by the receiving radio unit 118a associated with the regional control unit 117, i.e. in charge of a geographical region to which the parking locations 115a...115n belong.

When unit 117 receives the signal of presence of a vehicle, the unit interrogates the TAG devices 111 in case present by irradiating a signal through its own interrogation unit 118b.

TAG 111, being of the semi-active or passive type, when reached by the signal irradiated by unit 117 will reply in turn by irradiating the identification information contained therein.

The information contained in TAG 111 and substantially corresponding to an identification code, typically of the vehicle or of the user of the vehicle, are being received by the interrogation unit 118b associated with the control unit 117.

These information may be processed locally by the same unit 1 17, or may be transmitted, via cable or wireless communication to a remote operative unit 131, in case in charge of controlling a plurality of units 117 for the remote surveillance of the occupancy of parking locations in a series of regions 121.

In a first embodiment of the method according to the invention, for recognizing the new identification code corresponding to the vehicle which has last occupied a parking location and which caused the sending of the signal by the proximity sensor, the TAG identification codes are locally processed and compared with those already processed in advance and therefore corresponding to vehicles already parked in the parking locations.

According to this embodiment the signals generated by unit 1 17, indicative of the presence of a vehicle and comprising the information, i.e. the TAGs identification codes, received by the transponder devices, are locally recorded in a memorization matrix 143 and used for the comparison with the series of codes received on the arrival of a new vehicle.

In another embodiment of the invention this procedure can be performed in the remote unit 131 where data arriving from one or more units 117 arrive in the form of signals indicative of the presence of a vehicle and comprising information received from the transponder devices.

Figure 2a shows a memorization matrix 143 as it appears when region 121 comprising the parking locations 115a,...115n and controlled by unit 117 does not contain vehicles (Figure 3a); in the representation of the example illustrated in Figure 2a, each matrix entry 143a...143n of matrix 143 corresponds to a parking location 115a... l l5n, associated to a corresponding proximity sensor 113a ...113n.

In this situation it is evident that the arrival of a new vehicle at an available parking location, for example vehicle 119j at parking location 115 j (Figure 3b) causes the transmission by proximity sensor 113j of a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle to unit 117 and the transmission by TAG l l lj, mounted on vehicle 119j of for example code "00001" to unit 117, following interrogation of TAGs by said unit 117.

Initially, being the memory matrix empty, at unit 1 17 the comparison among the codes received by the TAGs and those recorded will result in code "00001" associated with the only TAG comprised within the region controlled by unit 117 and not yet recorded in matrix 143. Therefore at the end of the comparison the memorization matrix 143 will assume the configuration illustrated in Figure 2b and corresponding to the occupancy of the parking locations of Figure 3b. When a new vehicle arrives, for example a vehicle 119b in the parking location 115b (Figure 3c), a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle is sent by sensor 113b to the unit and a code, e.g. "00005" by TAG 111b of vehicle 119b is sent to the unit in addition to code "00001" of the TAG already present in the parking locations which will also reply to the interrogation of unit 117.

Being code "00001" present in matrix 143 (Figure 2b) the comparison at unit 117 will result in code "00005" associated with the only TAG not yet present in matrix 143 at the time of comparison. Therefore at the end of comparison the memory matrix 143 will assume the configuration illustrated in Figure 2c and corresponding to the occupancy of the parking lo cations o f Figure 3 c .

Entries 143j and 143b of matrix 143 are illustrated in Figures 2b and 2c having a background of parallel slanting lines to indicate the presence of a parked vehicle. It is evident that any suitable graphical representation can be used for representing the status of occupied of the parking locations and that also the TAG code or other information can be displayed with the entries of matrix 143.

Different graphic forms, e.g. backgrounds with green or red color, can be used to indicate that the vehicle is among those authorized or not, respectively, following a step of comparison between the codes received by TAGs and those recorded in a database of vehicles authorized subscribers. Also this check can be performed at unit 117 or at remote unit 131. In particular, the control method can provide for a step wherein matrix 143 is graphically displayed and each entry 143a... l43n of the matrix is associated with a graphical symbol and/or a color indicative of the status of "available", "licitly occupied" and "illicitly occupied" of the corresponding parking location.

The exit of a vehicle from the parking location occupied until then causes the sending of a corresponding signal by the proximity sensor associated with the parking location and the corresponding removal from matrix 143 of the TAG code of the vehicle which occupied the parking location with which the proximity sensor is associated.

It will be easily possible for the person skilled in the art by exploiting his/her knowledge and conventional tools to incorporate additional functions in the method according to the invention, such as for example the calculation of the time of permanence within the parking locations and the charge of the parking rate.

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Claims

1. Control architecture for occupancy of parking locations (115a... l l5n) by vehicles (119) comprising:

- a plurality of TAG transponder devices (111) capable of transmitting, when interrogated, the identification information contained therein, said devices being associated each with a different vehicle (119) of a group of vehicles authorized to use the parking locations belonging to a predetermined region (121) comprising a plurality of said parking locations (115a... l l5n);

- a plurality of proximity sensors (113a... l l3n) associated with each parking location (115a...115n) and capable of generating a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle (119) within the respective parking location with which the sensor is associated;

- an electronic control unit (117) programmed for controlling said predetermined region (121); characterized in that it further comprises a control procedure running on said electronic unit (117) and capable of: putting the electronic unit itself in a listening mode waiting for a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle and originating from the proximity sensors (113a... l l3n), interrogating the transponder devices (111) when the unit receives a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle, processing the information received from the transponder devices (111), generating a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle and comprising the information received from the transponder devices.

2. Architecture according to claim 1, wherein the transponder devices (111) are semi-active transponders.

3. Architecture according to claim 2, wherein the transponder devices (111) are fed by batteries only to maintain the internal circuit part active, while for irradiating data said devices pick-up a part of the energy from the radio wave transmitted by the interrogating device.

4. Architecture according to claim 1, wherein the transponder devices (111) are passive transponders.

5. Architecture according to claim 4, wherein the transponders do not contain an internal power source and, for irradiating data, they pick-up the energy from the radio wave transmitted by the interrogating device.

6. Architecture according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the proximity sensors (113a... l l3n) are inductive proximity sensors provided with a transmitting radio unit (114), wherein the electronic unit (117) comprises a receiving radio unit (118a) capable of receiving the radio transmissions originating from the proximity sensors (113a...113n) and wherein the electronic unit (1 17) comprises a second radio unit (118b) capable of interrogating the transponders (111) and receiving the signals irradiated thereby.

7. Architecture according to claim 6, wherein the electronic unit (117) comprises a transmitting radio unit (118c), capable of transmitting the signals generated by said unit (117) and indicative of the status of the presence of a vehicle and comprising the information received from the transponder devices.

8. Control method for occupancy of parking locations (115a... l l5n) by vehicles (119) wherein:

- each vehicle of a group of vehicles authorized to use the parking locations belonging to a predetermined region (121) comprising a plurality of said parking locations (115a... l l5n) is provided with a TAG transponder device (111) capable of transmitting, when interrogated, the identification information contained therein;

- each parking location (115a... l l5n) belonging to said predetermined region (121) is provided with a proximity sensor (113a...1113n) capable of generating a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle (119) within the corresponding parking location; and wherein said method comprises the steps of:

- listening to a signal originating from the proximity sensors (113a...113n) and indicative of the presence of a vehicle;

- interrogating the transponder devices (111) when a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle is received;

- processing the information received from the transponder devices (111);

- generating a signal indicative of the presence of a vehicle and comprising the information received from the transponder devices, characterized in that said steps belong to a control procedure running on an electronic unit (117) programmed to control said predetermined region (121).

9. Method according to claim 8, wherein there is provided the step of comparing the information received from the transponder devices with the information corresponding to vehicles already occupying the parking locations and recorded in a memorization matrix (143), said comparison being for the purpose of recognizing the identification code corresponding to the last vehicle which has occupied a parking location and caused the proximity sensor to send the signal.

10. Method according to claim 9, wherein there is provided the step of graphically displaying said memorization matrix (143) by associating, with each entry (143a,...,143n) of the matrix, a graphic symbol and/or a color indicative of the status "available", "licitly occupied" and "illicitly occupied", of the corresponding parking location.