An apparatus and method

Abstract

A method for determining vehicle parking zones relative to an access point of a building. The method comprising: i. detecting a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user parking a vehicle and / or by detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle; ii. determining the location of the detected vehicle parking zone; iii. detecting a user moving through an access point of said building; iv. determining the location of the detected building access point; v. recording the location of the detected access point and detected vehicle parking zone; vi. repeating the detecting, determining, and recording steps (i-v); vii. determining from the recorded detected building access point locations and recorded detected parking zones locations, at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point, wherein a vehicle parking zone is a space or set of spaces for parking a vehicle.

Description

[0001] An apparatus and method

[0002] Field of Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to systems and methods and more particularly systems and methods for determining vehicle parking zones and building access points.

[0004] Background

[0005] Worldwide the delivery industry relies on address information to make deliveries. Addresses can often correspond to large areas and finding exact delivery locations can be challenging. During a delivery considerable time can therefore be lost finding and getting to the precise delivery location. The increased delivery time reduces the number of deliveries that can be made in a day and increases costs . Similar, problems also arise outside the delivery industry.

[0006] A building may have several access points such as pedestrian entrances and exits, car park entrances etc. ) . The location of these access points are often not known to people not familiar with the building for example a first time visitor or delivery driver. Nor is this information readily available, a building address whilst helpful for finding the general location of the building does not provide any information regarding access points. The access points may also change over time for example an entrance of a building can be moved or closed. There is therefore a need to determine the location of building access points.

[0007] Furthermore, vehicle parking zones in particular parking spaces for motorised vehicles can be difficult to locate especially in cities. This can be especially challenging for larger motorised vehicles such as lorries or trucks that are often used to make deliveries .

[0008] Drivers not only have to locate a vehicle parking zone but need to locate a vehicle parking zone that is large enough to accommodate their vehicle.

[0009] The present disclosure seeks to address these problems.

[0010] Dalia Chiara, G. , Krutein, K.F., Ranjbari, A. et al. Sci Rep 12, 19355 (2022) discusses providing curb availability information to delivery drivers reduces cruising for parking. Han Gao, Paul D. Groves, arXi v : 2005.07539 , describes context detection for advanced self-aware navigation using smartphone sensors .

[0011] Summary

[0012] Aspects and examples of the invention are set out in the claims and aim to address at least a part of the above described technical problem, and other problems .

[0013] In one aspect there is provided a method for determining vehicle parking zones relative to an access point of a building. The method comprising: i. detecting a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user parking a vehicle and / or by detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle; ii . determining the location of the detected vehicle parking zone; iii. detecting a user moving through an access point of said building ; iv . determining the location of the detected building access point ; v. recording the location of the detected access point and detected vehicle parking zone; vi . repeating the detecting, determining, and recording steps (i-v) .

[0014] This method advantageously allows a database of parking zones relative to a building access points to be created by collating user information as in steps (i) to (vi) . The identified parking zones may for example be on-street parking zones; located in parking lots; driveways; designated delivery drop-off points etc.

[0015] The database of parking zones created by steps (i) to (vi) may be further analysed. For example, the method may determine at least one of: the most used parking zones for a particular building access point; the most used parking zones as a function of time of day for a particular building access point; and the most used parking zones as a function of types of vehicles (for example bicycle, motorbike, car, heavy good vehicle etc. ) for a particular building access point. This analysis can be combined to provide information on suitable parking spaces to users with certain requirements for example the method may determine the most used parking spaces (for example the top 10% most used parking spaces) for a vehicle type at a time day for a building access point. In another aspect there is provided a method for determining vehicle parking zones relative to an access point of a building. The method comprising: i. detecting a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user parking a vehicle and / or by detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle; ii . determining the location of the detected vehicle parking zone; iii. detecting a user moving through an access point of said building ; iv . determining the location of the detected building access point ; v. recording the location of the detected access point and detected vehicle parking zone; vi . repeating the detecting, determining, and recording steps ( i-v) ; vii. determining from the recorded detected building access point locations and recorded detected parking zones locations, at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point, wherein a vehicle parking zone is a space or set of spaces for parking a vehicle.

[0016] This method advantageously allows a database of parking zones relative to a building access points to be created by collating user information as in steps (i) to (vi) . This data can be used as in step (vii) to determine at least one nearest parking zone for future users, for example to a user trying to access the building. The identified parking zones may for example be onstreet parking zones; located in parking lots; driveways; designated delivery drop-off points etc.

[0017] The database of parking zones created by steps (i) to (vi) may be further analysed to provide for example the most used parking zones for a particular building access point. For example, the method may determine at least one of : the most used parking zones for a particular building access point; the most used parking zones as a function of time of day for a particular building access point; and the most used parking zones as a function of type of vehicles (for example bicycle, motorbike, car, heavy good vehicle etc. ) for a particular building access point. This analysis can be combined with step (vii) to determine for example a parking zone which is in a first threshold of the most used parking zones (for example in the top 10% of the most used parking zones) and which is in a second threshold of the nearest parking zones (for example in the top 10% of the most used parking zones) for a particular access point.

[0018] The method may also comprise: inputting a location of the building; determining the geographical distance between the input location of the building and the determined location of the building access point and / or vehicle parking zone; and verifying the determined location of the building access point and / or vehicle parking zone based on the determined distance , wherein determining from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected vehicle parking zones locations the at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point, comprises: using the verified detected building access point locations and verified vehicle parking zone locations as the recorded detected building access point locations and recorded detected vehicle parking zone locations. For example, wherein inputting comprises: identifying a location of the building for use in the method.

[0019] The method may also comprise: determining the geographical distance between a location of the building and the determined location of the building access point and / or vehicle parking zone; and verifying the determined location of the building access point and / or vehicle parking zone based on the determined distance , wherein determining from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected vehicle parking zones locations the at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point, comprises: using the verified detected building access point locations and verified vehicle parking zone locations as the recorded detected building access point locations and recorded detected vehicle parking zone locations .

[0020] In addition, determining from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected parking zones locations the at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point, may comprise taking a clustering of the determined building access points to provide a true building access point location, wherein determining at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point may use the true building access point location as the recorded detected building access point and / or use geometric bounding algorithms to provide locations of the recorded detected parking zones.

[0021] In the above method, detecting a user moving through a building access point may be determined from satellite navigation signals received by a user satellite navigation receiver. For example, a change in the satellite navigation signal strength can be used to detect a building access point.

[0022] Determining the location of the vehicle parking zone and / or building access point may be based on satellite navigation signals received by a user satellite navigation receiver.

[0023] The above method may also comprise calculating a pedestrian walking route between the determined at least one nearest vehicle parking zone and building access point.

[0024] The above method may also comprise: recording the time the vehicle parking zone was detected; recording the time the user was detected moving through an access point of the building; calculating the time difference between the recorded times; and recording the calculated time difference.

[0025] In another aspect, a method for determining at least one true access point of a building is provided. The method comprises: i. detecting a user moving through an access point of said building ; ii . determining the location of the detected building access point ; iii. recording the determined location of the detected building access point; iv . repeating the detecting, determining, and recording steps (i-iii) ; v. determining from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one true building access point location.

[0026] This method advantageously allows a database of building access points to be created by collating user information as in steps (i) to (v) . The database of building access points created by steps (i) to (v) may be further analysed. For example, the method may determine at least one of : the most used building access point and / or the most used building access point as a function of time of day. This analysis can be combined to provide information on suitable building access points to users with certain requirements for example the method may determine the most used building access point (for example the top 10% most used building access points) for a time day.

[0027] The determining from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one true building access point location may comprise: taking a clustering of the recorded detected building access point locations to provide a true building access point location .

[0028] The determining from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one building access point location may also / or alternatively comprise: determining from the recorded detected building access points if the building has more than one access point for example by applying a clustering algorithm to the recorded detected building access point locations.

[0029] The above method may also comprise a verification step, comprising : inputting a location of the building; determining the geographical distance between the input location of the building and the determined building access point location; and verifying the determined building access point location based on the determined distance, wherein determining from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one true building access point, comprises using the verified detected building access point locations as the recorded detected building access point locations. For example, wherein inputting comprises: identifying a location of the building for use in the method.

[0030] The above method may also comprise a verification step, comprising : determining the geographical distance between a known location of the building and the determined building access point location; and verifying the determined building access point location based on the determined distance, wherein determining from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one true building access point, comprises using the verified detected building access point locations as the recorded detected building access point locations .

[0031] Any of the above methods may detect / determine from satellite navigation signals received by a user satellite navigation receiver when a user moves through a building access point. For example, a change in the satellite navigation signal strength can be used to detect a building access point.

[0032] In another aspect a method for determining a vehicle parking zone is provided. The method comprises: i. detecting a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user parking a vehicle and / or by detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle; ii . determining the location of the detected vehicle parking zone; iii. recording the location of the detected vehicle parking zones ; iv . repeating the detecting, determining, and recording steps (i to iii) ; v. determining from the recorded detected vehicle parking zone locations at least one true vehicle parking zone, wherein a vehicle parking zone is a space or set of spaces for parking a vehicle.

[0033] This method advantageously allows a database of parking zones relative to a building access points to be created by collating user information as in steps (i) to (vi) . The identified parking zones may for example be on-street parking zones; located in parking lots; driveways; designated delivery drop-off points etc.

[0034] The database of parking zones created by steps (i) to (v) may be further analysed to provide for example the most used parking zones. For example, the method may determine at least one of: the most used parking zones as a function of time of day; or the most used parking zones as a function of type of vehicles (for example bicycle, motorbike, car, heavy good vehicle etc. ) . The method for determining a vehicle parking zone, may also comprise : inputting a location of a point of interest; determining the geographical distance between the location of the point of interest and the determined vehicle parking zone location; and verifying the determined vehicle parking zone based on the determined distance, wherein determining from the recorded detected vehicle parking zones at least one true vehicle parking zone comprises: using the verified determined vehicle parking zones as the recorded detected vehicle parking zone locations .

[0035] Geometric bounding algorithms may be applied to the recorded detected vehicle parking zone locations to determine from the recorded detected parking zones locations at least one true vehicle parking zone.

[0036] Any of the above methods may determine the location of the vehicle parking zone and / or building access point based on satellite navigation signals received by a user satellite navigation receiver.

[0037] The above methods that detect a user parking a vehicle in a vehicle parking zone and / or detect a user leaving in a parked vehicle may do so by determining from sensor data from one or more user sensors a user parking a vehicle in a vehicle parking zone and / or a user leaving in a parked vehicle.

[0038] In another aspect, a computer readable non-transitory storage medium comprising a program for a computer configured to cause a processor to perform any of the methods described herein.

[0039] There is also provided an apparatus for performing any one of the methods described herein, the apparatus comprises: a mobile computing device; and a remote server, wherein the mobile computing device comprises: a processor; a satellite signal receiver configured to receive signals from a satellite na igation system; at least one sensor; a communication module; and a memory module including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: i. detect, using the at least one sensor, a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user parking a vehicle and / or by detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle and determine, using the satellite signal receiver, the location of the detected vehicle parking zone; and / or ii . detect, using the satellite signal receiver, a user moving through an access point of said building and determine, using the satellite signal receiver, the location of the detected building access point; and iii. send, using the communication module, the detected vehicle parking zone location and / or detected building access point location to the remote server, iv . repeat steps (i-iii) and the remote server comprises : a remote communications module configured to receive the detected vehicle parking zone location and / or detected building access point location from the mobile computing device; at least one remote processor; and a remote memory module including instructions that, when executed by the at least one remote processor, cause the at least one remote processor to: record the location of the received detected access point location and / or detected vehicle parking zone location in the remote memory module; and determine from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected parking zones locations: at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a recorded detected building access point; and / or determine from the recorded detected vehicle parking zones at least one true vehicle parking zone; and / or determine from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one true building access point.

[0040] Another aspect described herein is an apparatus for performing any one of the methods described herein, the apparatus comprising: a mobile computing device; and a remote server, wherein the mobile computing device comprises: a processor; a satellite signal receiver configured to receive signals from a satellite navigation system; at least one sensor; a communication module; and a memory module including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the processor to: i. collect data from the at least one sensor and / or from the satellite signal receiver; ii . send, using the communication module, the collected data to the remote server, and the remote server comprises : a remote communications module configured to receive the collected data from the mobile computing device; at least one remote processor; and a remote memory module including instructions that, when executed by the at least one remote processor, cause the at least one remote processor to: i. detect, from the collected sensor data, a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user parking a vehicle and / or by detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle and determine, from the collected sensor data, the location of the detected vehicle parking zone; and / or ii . detect, using the collected satellite signal receiver data, a user moving through an access point of said building and determine, using the collected satellite signal receiver data, the location of the detected building access point; and iii. record the location of the detected access point and / or detected vehicle parking zone in the remote memory module; iv . repeat steps (i-iii) and v. determine from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected vehicle parking zones locations: at least one: nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point; and / or determine from the recorded detected vehicle parking zones at least one true vehicle parking zone; and / or determine from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one true building access point.

[0041] For example, wherein detection of a user moving through a building access point is based on a change in the collected satellite navigation signal receiver data.

[0042] The at least one sensor of the apparatus described herein may comprise at least one motion sensor, for example an accelerometer, a gyroscopic sensor, and / or a magnetometer.

[0043] Brief Description of Drawings

[0044] Some practical implementations will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which :

[0045] Figure 1 shows a method for determining at least one true access point of a building;

[0046] Figure 2 shows a verification step for the method of Figure 1;

[0047] Figure 3 shows a method for determining a vehicle parking zone;

[0048] Figure 4 shows a verification step for the method of Figure 3;

[0049] Figure 5 shows a method for determining vehicle parking zones relative to an access point of a building;

[0050] Figure 6 shows a verification step for the method of Figure 5; and

[0051] Figure 7 shows an apparatus / system for performing the methods of Figures 1 to 6.

[0052] Specific Description

[0053] Figure 1 shows a method for determining at least one true access point of a building.

[0054] The method 100 comprises detecting a user moving through an access point of a building 110. The user may for example be a visitor to the building, a person who works in the building, a delivery person making a delivery to the building, etc. The method 100 may detect a user entering or exiting a building through an entrance and / or an exit and may utilise a change in satellite navigation signals (for example GPS signals) at a user satellite navigation signal receiver to detect a user moving through an access point of the building.

[0055] The location of the detected building access point is then determined 120. The location of the detected building access point may be determined using signals received by a user device from a satellite navigation system such as the global positioning system GPS.

[0056] The determined location of the detected access point is then recorded 130 for example in a database.

[0057] Locations determined using satellite navigation systems are in general inaccurate and are particularly effected by the local environment. Because of this inherent inaccuracy the locations of the detected building access points provided by satellite navigation systems are often not the "true" location of the building access point. There is therefore a need to improve the accuracy of the location provided by satellite navigation systems. This is particularly important in the present method where a building may have several access points separated by small distances over which satellite navigation system may be inaccurate. To differentiate between the multiple access points of a building a more accurate determination of location than is provided by satellite navigation systems is needed.

[0058] To improve the accuracy of location and to enable identification of other building access points the detecting 110, determining 120 and recording steps 130, are repeated 140 and the detected building access point locations are then used to determine at least one true building access point location 150.

[0059] The repeated steps 110, 120, 130, may be performed by the same and / or a different user that moves through an access point of the building. The access point may be the same access point and / or a different access point.

[0060] It might be the case that the access points of the building are used for different functions for example buildings often have delivery entrances. The user of the method 100 can be restricted to, for example, people making deliveries to the building to identify specifically delivery access points to the building.

[0061] Another example, is that the users may be restricted to people visiting the building - this could be helpful for identifying access points to public entrances to buildings such as museums , railway stations etc.

[0062] The method 100 may record a plurality of building access point locations and at least some of the recorded building access point locations may correspond to the same building access point for example the same entrance to the building.

[0063] Provided below are examples of how the at least one true building access point location may be determined from the recorded data.

[0064] The recorded building access point locations may be grouped and / or analysed to provide more accurate building access point locations and also to remove redundancy in the recorded data.

[0065] This analysis may produce one or more true building access point locations. For example, clustering algorithms such as a K-mean algorithm or weighted averages may be applied to the recorded building access point locations to determine if there is more than one building access point in the recorded data and / or to improve the accuracy of the recorded building access point locations .

[0066] Method 100 thereby determines true building access point locations. These locations can then be used to improve on existing building address information by providing "true" locations that visitors to a building must go to gain access to the building. This is particularly helpful in the delivery industry because delays often occur when a delivery person has to locate an entrance to a building. Removing or reducing this delay improves the efficiency of the delivery which can enable the delivery person to attend to more deliveries in a day than would otherwise have been possible.

[0067] As a further step, after method 100 has been performed a user may provide a building location, for example an address, and then be provided with the locations of the access points for that building that have been determined from step 150 of method 100.

[0068] Figure 2 shows a verification step 200 for the method 100 of Figure 1.

[0069] As part of the method 100 a verification step 200 as shown in Figure 2 may be implemented to determine the geographical distances between the location of the building and the determined location of the building access point 210. The location of the building may be provided by the user for example in form of a building address. Once determined these geographical distances are used to verify the determined location of the building access point 220.

[0070] A threshold distance may be applied to verify (include) only those detected building access points that are within a certain distance of the building location for example within a circle centred on the building having a radius of a threshold distance.

[0071] For example, detected building access points within a threshold radius of 5 metres of the building location might be verified (included) and those building access points with a determined geographical distance from the building location that is greater than the threshold of 5 metres remain unverified (excluded) .

[0072] In the case where the verification step 200 is performed as part of the method 100 the recorded detected building access point locations may only include the verified detected building access point locations, or the verification step may be applied to the recorded data to verify recorded detected building access point locations and remove the unverified data for the purposes of determining at least one true building access point location 230.

[0073] Figure 3 shows a method 300 for determining at least one vehicle parking zone.

[0074] Vehicle parking zones in particular parking spaces for motorised vehicles can be difficult to locate especially in cities. This can be especially challenging for larger motorised vehicles such as lorries or trucks that are often used to make deliveries.

[0075] Drivers not only have to locate a vehicle parking zone but need to locate a vehicle parking zone that is large enough to accommodate their vehicle.

[0076] It is therefore helpful not only to know the precise location of vehicle parking zones but to also know the extent (area) of the vehicle parking zone for example to know if the vehicle parking zone would be suitable for a certain vehicle type. The method 300 aims to address this problem.

[0077] The method 300 comprises detecting a vehicle parking zone 310, for example a parking space, by detecting a user parking a vehicle in said vehicle parking zone. The method 300 could in addition or alternatively identify a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle. For example, a user enters a parked vehicle and leaves in the parked vehicle by for example driving the vehicle away. In both cases the transition between a user moving in a vehicle, for example a car, van, bicycle etc, and a user moving by foot may be detected. The transition may be detected by at least one user sensor for example an accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope etc.

[0078] After detection 310, the location of the detected vehicle parking zone is then determined 320. The location of the detected vehicle parking zone may for example be determined using satellite navigation systems such as a global positioning system GPS. However, locations determined using satellite navigation systems can be inaccurate and there is a need to provide more accurate locations for vehicle parking zones.

[0079] Once the location of the detected vehicle parking zone has been determined it is recorded 330 for example in a database.

[0080] The detecting 310, determining 320, and recording 330 steps of the method are then repeated 340 for the same / and or a different vehicle parking zone.

[0081] In the repeated steps, the user may be the same user or a different user and the vehicle parking zone may be the same or a different vehicle parking zone.

[0082] Repeating the steps enables a plurality of vehicle parking zone locations to be detected, determined, and recorded and / or the locations of vehicle parking zones to be improved.

[0083] The method determines from the recorded detected vehicle parking zones at least one true vehicle parking zone.

[0084] Provided below are examples of how at least one true vehicle parking zone may be determined from the recorded data 350.

[0085] The method 300, may record a plurality of vehicle parking zone locations. At least some of the recorded vehicle parking zone locations may correspond to the same vehicle parking zone for example the same parking space. Recorded parking zone locations may be grouped and analysed to provide more accurate parking zone locations and also to remove redundancy in the recorded data. The recorded parking zone locations may be grouped and analysed using geometric bounding algorithms for example a convex hull algorithm to provide at least one true vehicle parking zone.

[0086] This analysis may produce several parking zone locations and enables an area or extent of each of the true vehicle parking zones to be determined.

[0087] Figure 4 shows a verification step 400 for the method 300 of Figure 3. It is helpful to identify vehicle parking zones relative to a point of interest for example a building of interest. The method 300 may also comprise a verification step 400 shown in Figure 4.

[0088] The verification step 400 shown in Figure 4 comprises inputting a location of a point of interest 410.

[0089] A geographical distance between the input point of interest location and the determined vehicle parking zone location is determined 420 and the determined geographical distance is then used to verify the determined vehicle parking zone locations 430.

[0090] In the case where verification step 400 is used in method 300, the step of determining from the recorded detected vehicle parking zones at least one true vehicle parking zone 350 uses only the verified determined vehicle parking zones from the verification step 400 to determine the at least one vehicle parking zone.

[0091] In this way, only the true vehicle parking zones near to the point of interest are determined.

[0092] A threshold distance may be applied to verify (include) only those detected vehicle parking zones that are within a certain distance of the point of interest for example within a circle centred on the point of interest having a radius of a threshold distance for example 100 metres.

[0093] In the case where the verification step 400 is performed as part of the method 300 the recorded vehicle parking zone locations may only include the verified detected vehicle parking zones, or the verification step may be applied to the recorded data to verify recorded detected vehicle parking zone locations and the unverified vehicle parking zones removed.

[0094] As a further step, after method 300 has been performed a user may provide a location of the point of interest or a location near a point of interest and be provided with information (location and / or the extent) of vehicle parking zones near that point of interest .

[0095] Figure 5 shows a method 500 for determining vehicle parking zones relative to an access point of a building.

[0096] The method 500 is similar to a combination of the above described methods 100 and 300. The method 500 comprises detecting a vehicle parking zone, for example a parking space, by detecting a user parking a vehicle in said vehicle parking zone 510. The method 500 could in addition or alternatively identify a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user leaving a vehicle parking zone. For example, in both cases the transition between a user moving in a vehicle, for example a car, van, bicycle etc, and a user moving by foot may be detected. The transition may be detected by at least one user sensor for example an accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope etc.

[0097] The location of the detected vehicle parking zone is then determined 520 . The location of the detected vehicle parking zone may be determined using signals received by a user satellite signal receiver from a satellite navigation system such as the global positioning system GPS.

[0098] The method 500 detects when a user moves through an access point of a building 530. For example, the method 500 may detect a user entering or exiting a building through an entrance and / or an exit. The detection may utilise a change in satellite navigation signals (for example GPS signals) received at a user satellite signal receiver to detect a user moving through an access point of a building. For example, a change in received satellite navigation signals from moving from outside to inside (or vice versa) a building may be used to detect a building access point. For example, a change in the signal strength of at least on GPS signal can be used to detect a building access point.

[0099] The method 500 determines the location of the detected building access point 540. The location of the detected building access point may for example be determined using signals received by a user device from a satellite navigation system such as the global positioning system GPS.

[0100] The determined vehicle parking zones and building access points can be used on subsequent visits to the building to enable more efficient access to the building for example it can be used by delivery drivers to reduce the time taken for deliveries to that building .

[0101] The location of the detected access point and detected vehicle parking zones are recorded 550 for example in a database.

[0102] The detecting (510, 530) , determining (520, 540) , and recording 550 steps of the method are then repeated for the same building 560. In the repeated steps, the user may be the same user or a different user. Repeating the steps enables a plurality of building access point locations and parking zone locations to be detected, determined, and recorded and / or the accuracy of an access point location or parking zone location to be improved. The method 500 determines from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected parking zones locations, at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point 570.

[0103] Provided below are examples of how the nearest at least one vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point may be determined 570 from the recorded data.

[0104] The method 500, may record a plurality of detected parking zone locations. At least some of the recorded vehicle parking zone locations may correspond to the same vehicle parking zone for example the same vehicle parking space. Recorded vehicle parking zone locations may be grouped and analysed to provide more accurate parking "true" vehicle parking zone locations and also to remove redundancy in the recorded data. The recoded vehicle parking zone locations may be grouped and analysed using geometric bounding algorithms for example convex hull algorithm. This analysis may produce several true vehicle parking zone locations and enables an area or extent of each of a true vehicle parking zones to be determined. This analysis may produce one or more true vehicle parking zone locations .

[0105] Similarly, the method 500 may record a plurality of building access point locations. As with the parking zone locations, at least some of the recorded building access point locations may correspond to the same building access point for example the same entrance to the building. The recorded building access point locations may be grouped and / or analysed to provide more accurate "true" building access point locations and also to remove redundancy in the recorded data. This analysis may be produce one or building access point locations. For example, clustering algorithms for example a K-mean algorithm or weighted average may be applied to the recorded building access point locations to determine if there is more than one building access point in the recorded data and / or to improve the accuracy of the recorded building access point locations. This analysis may produce one or more true building access point locations.

[0106] To determine the at least one nearest true vehicle parking zone location to a true building access point location a number of different approaches may be taken.

[0107] In one example a building access point location is selected from the recorded data or a true building access point location from grouped and / or analysed building access location data. The geographically nearest vehicle parking zone to the selected building access point is determined by calculating the distance between the selected building access point location and the recorded vehicle parking zone locations or the true vehicle parking zone locations from the grouped and / or analysed parking zone location data.

[0108] In addition to or instead of the geographically nearest parking zone location a temporally nearest vehicle parking zone may be determined .

[0109] In such a case the method 500 may further comprise recording the time the vehicle parking zone was detected; recording the time the user was detected moving through an access point of the building; calculating the time difference between the recorded times.

[0110] The method may associate the calculated time difference with the determined vehicle parking zone location and determined building access point location; and record the calculated time difference with the associated vehicle parking zone location and building access point location.

[0111] To determine the temporally closest vehicle parking zone a building access point location is selected from the recorded data or a building access point location from grouped and / or analysed building access location data. The vehicle parking zone locations associated with the selected building access point location are used in combination with the time differences for the selected building access point location and associated vehicle parking zones to determine the temporally nearest vehicle parking zone to the selected building access point.

[0112] The geographically nearest parking zone to the selected building access point is determined by calculating the distance between the selected building access point location and the recorded parking zone locations or a true vehicle parking zone location from the grouped and / or analysed vehicle parking zone location data .

[0113] Figure 6 shows a verification step 600 for the method 500 of

[0114] Figure 5.

[0115] The method 500 may additionally include a verification step 600 shown in Figure 6. The verification step 600 removes detected events, moving through building access point and / or vehicle parking zones, that are not related to a building of interest. The verification step comprises inputting a location and / or address of a building of interest 610. The verification step may convert (for example geocode) a building address into a location defined by a longitude and latitude. As part of the method 500 the verification step 600 determines the geographical distances between the input location of the building and the determined location of the building access point and / or vehicle parking zone 620. Once determined these geographical distances are used to verify the determined location of the building access point and / or vehicle parking zone 630.

[0116] A threshold distance may be applied to verify (include) only those detected building access point locations and / or detected vehicle parking zone locations that are within a certain distance of the input building location for example within a circle centred on the point of interest having a radius of a threshold distance for example 100 metres. The threshold distance may be different for building access points and vehicle parking zones for example two different threshold conditions may be applied.

[0117] For example, detected building access points within a threshold of 5 metres of a building location might be verified (included) and those detected building access points with a determined geographical distance from the building location that is greater than the threshold of 5 metres remain unverified (excluded) . A different threshold may be applied to the detected vehicle parking zones for example it may be appropriate to verify (include) detected vehicle parking zones within a 100 metre radius of the input building location.

[0118] The method 500 determines from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected vehicle parking zone locations the nearest at least one vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point 570. The nearest vehicle parking zone may be the geographically nearest to a detected building access point and / or it may be the temporally closest vehicle parking zone.

[0119] In the case where the verification step 600 is performed as part of the method 500 the recorded detected building access point locations and / or detected parking zone locations may only include the verified detected building access point locations and / or verified detected parking zones, or the verification step may be applied to the recorded data to verify recorded detected building access point locations and / or detected parking zone locations and remove for the purposes of steps 570 the unverified data.

[0120] As a further step, after method 500 has been performed a user may provide a location of the building and be provided with information (location and / or the extent) of vehicle parking zones near that building and / or locations of true access points for the building . The method 500may also provide to the user the nearest vehicle parking zone location to a building access point and may calculate and provide to the user a pedestrian walking route between the nearest vehicle parking zone location and a building access point.

[0121] Figure 7 shows a apparatus / system 700 for performing the methods 100,200,300,400,500,600 described herein.

[0122] The apparatus 700 comprises: a mobile computing device 710, for example a smartphone, and a remote server. The mobile computing device 710 comprises: a processor 712; a satellite signal receiver 714 configured to receive signals from a satellite navigation system such as GPS; at least one sensor 716 for example a motion sensor (an accelerometer, magnetometer and / or a gyroscope) ; a communication module 718 and a memory module 711. The remote server 720 comprises at least one remote processor 722; a remote memory module 724 and a remote communications module 726.

[0123] The apparatus may be configured to perform at least one of methods 100,200, 300,400, 500,600.

[0124] The mobile computing device 710 is carried by the user(s) of methods 100,200, 300,400, 500,600. The mobile computing device 710 may continuously collect data from the at least one sensor 716 and satellite signal receiver 714 and send it to the remote server 720. The remote server 720 can then process the data to perform the above methods . The collected data may in addition or alternatively be processed locally on the mobile computing device 710 to perform the above methods. Part of the processing of the collected data may be performed by the mobile computing device 710 an another part by the remote server 720.

[0125] In more detail, in an example where the collected data is at least in part processed locally at the mobile computing device 710, the memory module 711 includes instructions that cause the processor 712 to detect, using the at least one sensor 716, a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user parking a vehicle in said vehicle parking zone and / or by detecting a user leaving a vehicle (for example steps 310 and 510 of methods 300 and 500) .

[0126] For example, gyroscopic and accelerometer data from the at least one sensor 716 of the mobile computing device can be used to detect a user' s motion and in particular if a user is in a vehicle, then stops and starts walking or if a user is walking, then stops, and begins moving in a vehicle. These transitionary periods, between walking and moving in a vehicle, are indicative of the user being at a location of a vehicle parking zone. In one example, the gyroscopic and accelerometer data is analysed using Fourier transforms and a variety of thresholding techniques to identify transitionary periods.

[0127] The processor 712 is further instructed to determine, using the satellite signal receiver, the location of the detected vehicle parking zone (for example steps 320 and 520 of methods 300 and 500) . The locations may be taken from a smoothing and postprocessing of the received satellite navigation signals either by the mobile computing device 710 or remote server 720.

[0128] In addition to these instructions or as an alternative the memory module 711 may contain instructions that cause the processor 712 to detect, using the satellite signal receiver 714, a user moving through an access point of said building (for example steps 110 and 530 of methods 100 and 500) . The processor 712 is further instructed to determine, using the satellite signal receiver 714, the location of the detected building access point (for example steps 130 and 540 of methods 100 and 500) .

[0129] For example, the processor 712 may extract and process the signal-to-noise ratio from each satellite signal that has been received by the satellite navigation receiver 714 of the mobile computing device 710. The processed data is constantly assessed and thresholds to the signal to noise ratio are applied as one way of detecting the point at which the user moves through a building access point for example when they move from outside to inside the building or vice versa. The locations may be taken from a smoothing and post-processing of the received satellite navigation signals either by the mobile computing device 710 or remote server 720.

[0130] The processor 712 is further instructed to send, using the communication module 718, the detected parking zone location and / or detected building access point location to the remote server 720.

[0131] In an alternative or in addition the mobile computing device 710 may be configured to collect data (for example continuously) from the at least one sensor 716 (for example accelerometer sensor data, gyroscopic sensor data) and / or satellite signal receiver (for example received satellite signal data) and send the collected data to the remote server 720.

[0132] The remote communications module 726 is configured to receive the detected parking zone location and / or detected building access point location from the mobile computing device 710. The remote communications module 726 may be in addition or alternatively configured to receive collected data from the mobile computing device 710 for example where the processing of the data is performed by the remote server 720 (remotely) .

[0133] In the case where collected data is sent by the mobile communications device 710 to the remote server 720. The remote memory module may in addition include instructions that when executed by the at least one remote processor 722, cause the at least one remote processor 722 to detect, from the collected sensor data, a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user parking a vehicle and / or by detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle and determine, using the collected satellite signal data, the location of the detected vehicle parking zone. For example, gyroscopic and accelerometer data from the at least one sensor 716 of the mobile computing device 710 can be used to detect a user' s motion and in particular if a user is in a vehicle, then stops and starts walking or if a user is walking, then stops, and begins moving in a vehicle. These transitionary periods, between walking and moving in a vehicle, are indicative of the user being at a location of a vehicle parking zone. In one example, the gyroscopic and accelerometer data is analysed using Fourier transforms and a variety of thresholding techniques to identify transitionary periods.

[0134] In addition, or as an alternative the remote processor 722 may be instructed by the remote memory module 724 to detect, from the collected satellite signal receiver data, a user moving through an access point of a building and determine, from the collected satellite signal receiver data, the location of the detected building access point.

[0135] For example, the remote processor 722 may extract and process the signal-to-noise ratio from each satellite signal that has been received by the satellite signal receiver 714of the mobile computing device 710. The processed data is assessed and thresholds to the signal to noise ratio are applied as one way of detecting the point at which the user moves through a building access point for example when they move from outside to inside the building or vice versa. The locations may be taken from a smoothing and post-processing of the received satellite navigation signals either by the mobile computing device 710 or remote server 720.

[0136] The remote memory module 724 includes instructions that when executed by the at least one remote processor 722, cause the at least one remote processor 722 to: record the location of received detected access point and / or detected vehicle parking zones in the remote memory module (for example steps 130, 330, 550 of methods 100, 300, 500) .

[0137] The remote memory module 724 may also instruct the at least one remote processor 722 to determine from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected parking zones locations at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point (for example step 570 of method 500) .

[0138] The remote memory module may instruct the at least one remote processor 722 to determine from the recorded detected vehicle parking zones a vehicle parking zone (for example where the system 700 is configured to perform method 300) .

[0139] The remote memory module 711 may also instruct the at least one remote processor 722 to determine from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one building access point (for example where the system 700 is configured to perform method 100) .

[0140] The remote memory module 724 may also instruct the at least one remote processor 722 to verify the received location data using the verification step 200, 400, 600, the verification may be based on a location input into the mobile computing device 710 by the user.

[0141] The above methods will now be described in use.

[0142] In one example of method 100, a delivery driver making a delivery to a building may be the user described in method 100. The delivery driver carries mobile computing device 710. The delivery driver starts a user session in an application installed on the mobile computing device 710 and inputs a delivery address into the application (i.e. the user inputs a location of a building into the mobile computing device 710) which the application then converts into a location (longitude and latitude) . The location and / or address of the building is stored locally on the memory module 711 of the mobile computing device 710 and / or is transmitted to a remote server 720 where it is stored on remote memory module 724.

[0143] Once the user session has begun the mobile computing device 710 collects data from the sensor 716 and satellite signal receiver 714 and sends to the remote server 720 the collected data. The delivery driver will move to the delivery address and enter the building through an access point to make the delivery. The remote server 720 detects in the collected data satellite navigation signals received by the satellite signal receiver 714 of mobile computing device 710 when the delivery driver moved through the access point 110. When movement through an access point is detected the remote server 720 determines the location of the building access point 120 using collected satellite navigation signal data received by the satellite signal receiver 714. The remote server 720 on remote memory module 724. The time that the delivery driver is detected moving through the access point may be determined and recorded on remote memory module.

[0144] Another deliver driver and / or the same delivery driver with the same and / or a different mobile computing device 710 makes subsequent deliveries to the same building and the method 100 is repeated .

[0145] The steps 110 to 130 of method may be repeated in reverse or in another logically order. For example, as the delivery driver leaves the building either through the same or through a different access point this provides another point at which steps 110,120 may be performed. The remote server 720 detects using the collected data a change in satellite navigation signals received by the satellite signal receiver 714 of the mobile computing device 710 when the delivery driver moves through an access point to exit the building. The location of the detected access point can be determined and recorded (i.e. steps 120 and 130) as above as can the time at which the access point was detected.

[0146] The recorded building access locations are verified (using verification step 200) remotely on the remote server 720. The locations are verified by determining the geographical distance between the input location of the building and the determined location of the building access point 210. Those recorded building access points within a threshold distance of the input building location are verified and retained in the recorded building access points and those outside of the threshold distance are removed from the recorded building access points.

[0147] At least one true building access point location is determined from the recorded detected building access point locations by the remote processor 722 of the remote server from the verified recorded access point locations 150.

[0148] Typically, delivery drivers are provided only with an address for the building. Delivery drivers therefore are often not given specific information on the exact locations of access points for a building. The building may even have designated access points (entrances and / or exits) for deliveries. By determining from the at least one true building access point location for example by using clustering algorithms such as a K-mean algorithm or weighted averages if there is more than one building access point in the recorded data and / or improving the accuracy of the recorded building access point locations the above method 100 provides at least one true building access point location that enables more efficient subsequent deliveries to the building.

[0149] Following method 100, a user such as the delivery driver can input the address of the building into the application on the mobile computing device 710 and be provided with true building access point locations for that building.

[0150] The above example wherein the user is a delivery driver aims to provide a helpful contextual example to the method 100 but it is noted that the method 100 is not limited to delivery driver. The user may for example be a user visiting (or leaving) the building. The above example illustrates the steps 110 to 140 performed on mobile computing device 710. Alternatively or in addition these steps may be performed remotely on remote server 720 using data (for example sensor an satellite signal data) collected by the mobile computing device 710 and sent to the remote server 720.

[0151] In one example of method 300, a person visiting a point of interest in\on a vehicle (such as a car, bicycle , scooter etc) may be the user described in method 300. The person carries mobile computing device 710. The person starts a user session in an application installed on the mobile computing device and inputs a point of interest into the application (i.e. the user inputs a location of a point of interest into the mobile computing device 710) which the application then converts into a location (longitude and latitude) . The location and / or address of the point of interest is stored locally on the memory module 711 of the mobile computing device 710 and / or is transmitted to a remote server 720 where it is stored on remote memory module 724.

[0152] Once the user session has begun the mobile computing device 710 collects from the sensor 716 and satellite signal receiver 714 and sends to the remote server 720 the collected data.

[0153] The person will move in their vehicle to a parking zone near the point of interest. During the user session the at least one sensors 718 (accelerometer, gyroscope etc) are actively monitoring the movements of the user to detect a transition from the user moving in a vehicle to moving by foot (or vice versa) .

[0154] The mobile computing device 710 and / or remote server detects the person parking (stopping) their vehicle in a vehicle parking space 310 by detecting using at least one sensor 718 (for example an accelerometer and gyroscope) of the mobile computing device 710 when the person transitions from moving in a vehicle, for example a car, van, bicycle etc, to moving by foot. The mobile computing device 710 and / or remote server 720 determines the location of the detected parking zone 320 using satellite navigation signals received by the satellite signal receiver 714. The location of the detected vehicle parking zone is then recorded 350 locally on the memory module 711 of the mobile computing device 700 and / or sent by the mobile computing device 710 to server 720 where it is recorded in the remote memory module 724. In the case where the detecting and determining is performed on the remote server 720 the remote server records the location of the detected vehicle parking zone on remote memory module 724.

[0155] In addition, the mobile computing device 710 may record (either locally in memory module) or remotely (on server) the time that the vehicle is detected to have been parked in the vehicle parking zone.

[0156] Another person and / or the same delivery driver with the same and / or a different mobile computing device 710 makes subsequent visits to the same point of interest and the method 300 is repeated to create at least one recorded parking zone locations for that point of interest.

[0157] The steps 310 to 350 of method 300 may be repeated in reverse or in another logically order.

[0158] For example, when the person returns to the parked vehicle this provides another point at which steps 310, 320 may be performed. The mobile computing device 710 and / or remote server 720 detects the person leaving a vehicle parking zone in their vehicle, (transiting from moving by foot to moving in a vehicle) by detecting using at least one sensor 716 (for example an accelerometer and gyroscope) of the mobile computing device 710 when the person transitions from moving by foot to moving in or on a vehicle. The location of the detected parking zone can be determined and recorded (i.e. steps 310, 320, 350) as above as can the time that the vehicle parking zone was detected.

[0159] The recorded parking zone locations are verified (using verification step 400) either locally by the mobile computing device 710 and / or remotely on the remote server 720. The locations are verified by determining the geographical distance between the input location of the point of interest and the determined location of the recorded vehicle parking zone. Those recorded vehicle parking zones within a threshold distance of the input point of interest location are verified and retained in the recorded vehicle parking zones and those outside of the threshold distance are removed from the recorded vehicle parking zones .

[0160] At least one true vehicle parking zone is determined by the processor of the mobile computing device and / or remote processor of the remote server from the recorded verified parking zone locations 350, 440.

[0161] Typically, visitors to a point of interest are provided only with an address for the point of interest. The address provides no information on nearby parking zones and visitors may spend time locating a parking zone. By determining at least on true vehicle parking zone method 300 enables more efficient visits to the point of interest.

[0162] The above example wherein the user is a visitor to a point of interest aims to provide a helpful contextual example to the method 300 but it is noted that the method 300 is not limited to a particular user.

[0163] Following method 300, a user such as the visitor can input the address (or a nearby address) of the point of interest into the application on the mobile computing device 710 and be provided with nearby true vehicle parking zone locations for that point of interest .

[0164] The above example illustrates the steps 310 to 340 may be performed locally on mobile computing device 710 and / or remotely on remote server 720 using data (for example sensor an satellite signal data) collected by the mobile computing device 710 and sent to the remote server 720.

[0165] In one example of method 500, a person making a delivery to a building may be the user described in method 500. The delivery driver carries mobile computing device 710. The delivery driver starts a user session in an application installed on the mobile computing device 710 and inputs a deliver address into the application (i.e. the user inputs a location of a building into the mobile computing device 710) which the application then converts into a location (longitude and latitude) . The location of the building is stored locally on the memory module 711 of the mobile computing device 710 or is transmitted to a remote server 720 where it is stored on remote memory module 724. Once the user session has begun the mobile computing device 71- collects from the sensor 716 and satellite signal receiver 714 and sends to the remote server 720 the collected data.

[0166] The mobile computing device 710 detects the delivery driver parking their delivery vehicle in a vehicle parking space 510 by detecting using at least one sensor 716 (for example an accelerometer and gyroscope) of the mobile computing device 710 when the delivery driver transitions from moving in a vehicle, for example a car, van, bicycle etc, to moving by foot. The mobile computing device 710 and / or remote server 720 determines the location of the detected parking zone 520 using satellite navigation signals received by the satellite signal receiver 714. The location of the detected vehicle parking zone is then recorded 550 locally on the memory module 711 of the mobile computing device 710; recorded on the remote server 720; and / or sent by the mobile computing device 710 to remote server 720 where it is recorded in the remote memory module 724. In addition, the mobile computing device 710 may record (either locally in memory module) or remotely (on remote server 720) the time that the delivery vehicle is detected to have been parked in the vehicle parking zone.

[0167] The delivery driver will then typically move on foot to the delivery address and enter the building through an access point to make the delivery. The mobile computing device 710 and / or remote server detects using a change in satellite navigation signals received by the satellite signal receiver 714 of the user carried mobile computing device 710 when the delivery driver moves through the access point 530. When movement through an access point is detected the mobile computing device 710 and / or remote server 720 determines the location of the building access point 540 using satellite navigation signals received by the satellite signal receiver 714. The location of the detected access point 550 is recorded locally on memory module 711;on remote server 720 and / or sent to the remote server 720 which records it remotely on remote memory module 724. The time that the delivery driver is detected moving through the access point may be determined and recorded either locally in memory module 711 or remotely on remote memory module 724. The mobile computing device 710 sends data (for example: detected location; detected time; sensor data; and / or received signal data) to remote server via communications module 716 and remote communications module 726.

[0168] Another deliver driver and / or the same delivery driver with the same and / or a different mobile computing device 710 makes subsequent deliveries to the same building and the method 500 is repeated to create at least one recorded building access point location and at least one recorded parking zone locations for that building.

[0169] The steps 510 to 550 of method may be repeated in reverse or in another logically order. For example, as the delivery driver leaves the building either through the same or through a different access point this provides another point at which steps 530,540 may be performed. The mobile computing device 710 and / or remote server detects using a change in satellite navigation signals received by the satellite signal receiver 714 of the mobile computing device 710 when the delivery driver moves through an access point to exit the building. The location of the detected access point can be determined and recorded (i.e. steps 540 and 550) as above as can the time at which the access point was detected.

[0170] When the delivery driver returns to the parked delivery vehicle provide s another point at which steps 510, 520 may be performed.

[0171] The mobile computing device 710 and / or remote server 720 detects the delivery driver leaving a vehicle parking zone in their delivery vehicle, transiting from moving by foot to moving in a vehicle) by detecting using at least one sensor 716 (for example an accelerometer and gyroscope) of the mobile computing device 710 when the delivery driver transitions from moving by foot to moving in or on a vehicle. The location of the detected parking zone can be determined and recorded (i.e. steps 510, 520, 550) as above as can the time that the vehicle parking zone was detected.

[0172] The recorded building access locations and recorded parking zone locations are verified (using verification step 600) either locally by the processor 710 or remotely on the remote server 720. The locations are verified by determining the geographical distance between the input location of the building and the determined location of the building access point and / or vehicle parking zone 620. Those recorded vehicle parking zones within a first threshold distance of the input building location are verified and retained in the recorded vehicle parking zones and those outside of the threshold distance are removed from the recorded vehicle parking zones. Similarly, recorded building access points within a second threshold distance of the input building location are verified and retained in the recorded building access points and those outside of the threshold distance are removed from the recorded building access points. The nearest at least one vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point is determined by the processor of the mobile computing device and / or remote processor of the remote server from the verified recorded access point locations and parking zone locations 570.

[0173] Typically, delivery drivers are provided only with an address for the building. Delivery drivers therefore are often not given specific information on the exact locations of access points for a building. The building may even have designated access points (entrances and / or exits) for deliveries. The building address also provides no information on parking zones and delivery drivers may spend time locating a parking zone relative to the building without also knowing where the access points are for the building. By determining the nearest vehicle parking zone relative to an access point of a building the above method 500 more efficient subsequent deliveries to the building are possible .

[0174] The above example wherein the user is a delivery driver aims to provide a helpful contextual example to the method 500 but it is noted that the method 500 is not limited to delivery drivers. The user may for example be a user visiting (or leaving) the building by parking a vehicle (or leaving in nearby parked vehicle) .

[0175] The above example illustrates the steps 510 to 540 may be performed locally on mobile computing device 710 and / or remotely on remote server 720 using data (for example sensor an satellite signal data) collected by the mobile computing device 710 and sent to the remote server 720.

[0176] The above examples are to be understood as illustrative examples. Further examples are envisaged. It is to be understood that any feature described in relation to any one example may be used alone, or in combination with other features described, and may also be used in combination with one or more features of any other of the examples, or any combination of any other of the examples. In particular steps of methods 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, may be performed in any order and these methods and steps combined. Furthermore, equivalents and modifications not described above may also be employed without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the accompanying claims .

Claims

Claims:

1. A method for determining vehicle parking zones relative to an access point of a building, the method comprising: i. detecting a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user parking a vehicle and / or by detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle; ii. determining the location of the detected vehicle parking zone;Hi. detecting a user moving through an access point of said building; iv. determining the location of the detected building access point; v. recording the location of the detected access point and detected vehicle parking zone; vi. repeating the detecting, determining, and recording steps (i-v); vii. determining from the recorded detected building access point locations and recorded detected parking zones locations, at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point, wherein a vehicle parking zone is a space or set of spaces for parking a vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising: inputting a location of the building; determining the geographical distance between the input location of the building and the determined location of the building access point and / or vehicle parking zone; and verifying the determined location of the building access point and / or vehicle parking zone based on the determined distance, wherein determining from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected vehicle parking zones locations the at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point, comprises: using the verified detected building access point locations and verified vehicle parking zone locations as the recorded detected building access point locations and recorded detected vehicle parking zone locations.

3. The method of claims 1 or 2, wherein determining from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected parking zones locations the at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point, comprises taking a clustering of the determined building access points to provide a true building access point location, wherein determining at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point uses the true building access point location as the recorded detected building access point.

4. The method of any preceding claim, wherein determining from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected parking zones locations the at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point, comprises: using geometric bounding algorithms to provide locations of recorded detected parking zones.

5. The method of any preceding claim, wherein detecting a user moving through a building access point is determined from satellite navigation signals received by a user satellite navigation receiver.

6. The method of any preceding claim, wherein determining the location of the vehicle parking zone and / or building access point is based on satellite navigation signals received by a user satellite navigation receiver.

7. The method of any preceding claim, comprising calculating a pedestrian walking route between the determined at least one nearest parking zone location and building access point.

8. The method of any preceding claim, comprising: recording the time the vehicle parking zone was detected; recording the time the user was detected moving through an access point of the building; calculating the time difference between the recorded times; and recording the calculated time difference.

9. A method for determining at least one true access point of a building, the method comprising: i. detecting a user moving through an access point of said building; ii. determining the location of the detected building access point;Hi. recording the determined location of the detected building access point; iv. repeating the detecting, determining, and recording steps (i-iii); v. determining from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one true building access point location.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one true building access point location comprises: taking a clustering of the recorded detected building access point locations to provide a true building access point location.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one building access point location comprises: determining from the recorded detected building access points if the building has more than one access point.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining from the recorded building access point locations if the building has more than one access point comprises: applying a clustering algorithm to the recorded detected building access point locations.

13. The method of claims 9 to 12, comprising: inputting a location of the building; determining the geographical distance between the input location of the building and the determined building access point location; and verifying the determined building access point location based on the determined distance,wherein determining from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one true building access point, comprises using the verified detected building access point locations as the recorded detected building access point locations.

14. The method of any preceding claim, wherein detecting a user moving through a building access point is determined from satellite navigation signals received by a user satellite navigation receiver.

15. A method for determining a vehicle parking zone, the method comprising: i. detecting a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user parking a vehicle and / or by detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle; ii. determining the location of the detected vehicle parking zone;Hi. recording the location of the detected vehicle parking zones; iv. repeating the detecting, determining, and recording steps (i to iii); v. determining from the recorded detected vehicle parking zone locations at least one true vehicle parking zone, wherein a vehicle parking zone is a space or set of spaces for parking a vehicle.

16. The method of claim 15, comprising: inputting a location of a point of interest; determining the geographical distance between the location of the point of interest and the determined vehicle parking zone location; and verifying the determined vehicle parking zone based on the determined distance, wherein determining from the recorded detected vehicle parking zones at least one true vehicle parking zone comprises: using the verified detected vehicle parking zones as the recorded detected vehicle parking zone locations.

17. The method of claims 15 or 16, wherein determining from the recorded detected parking zones locations at least one true vehicle parking zone, comprises applying geometric bounding algorithms to the recorded detected vehicle parking zone locations.

18. The method of any preceding claim, wherein determining the location of the vehicle parking zone and / or building access point is based on satellite navigation signals received by a user satellite navigation receiver.

19. The method of any claims 1 to 8 or 15 to 18, wherein detecting a user parking a vehicle in a vehicle parking zone and / or detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle is determined from sensor data from one or more user sensors.

20. A computer readable non-transitory storage medium comprising a program for a computer configured to cause a processorto perform the method of any of the previous claims.

21. An apparatus for performing any one of the methods of the preceding claims, the apparatus comprising: a mobile computing device; and a remote server, wherein the mobile computing device comprises: a processor; a satellite signal receiver configured to receive signals from a satellite navigation system; at least one sensor; a communication module; and a memory module including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: i. detect, using the at least one sensor, a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user parking a vehicle and / or by detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle and determine, using the satellite signal receiver, the location of the detected vehicle parking zone; and / orii. detect, using the satellite signal receiver, a user moving through an access point of said building and determine, using the satellite signal receiver, the location of the detected building access point; andHi. send, using the communication module, the detected vehicle parking zone location and / or detected building access point location to the remote server, iv. repeat steps (i-iii) and the remote server comprises: a remote communications module configured to receive the detected vehicle parking zone location and / or detected building access point location from the mobile computing device; at least one remote processor; and a remote memory module including instructions that, when executed by the at least one remote processor, cause the at least one remote processor to: record the location of the received detected access point location and / or detected vehicle parking zone location in the remote memory module; and determine from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected parking zones locations: at least one nearest vehicle parking zone to a recorded detected building access point; and / or determine from the recorded detected vehicle parking zones at least one true vehicle parking zone; and / or determine from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one true building access point.

22. An apparatus for performing any one of the methods of the preceding claims, the apparatus comprising: a mobile computing device; and a remote server, wherein the mobile computing device comprises: a processor; a satellite signal receiver configured to receive signals from a satellite navigation system;at least one sensor; a communication module; and a memory module including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the processor to: i. collect data from the at least one sensor and / or from the satellite signal receiver; ii. send, using the communication module, the collected data to the remote server, and the remote server comprises: a remote communications module configured to receive the collected data from the mobile computing device; at least one remote processor; and a remote memory module including instructions that, when executed by the at least one remote processor, cause the at least one remote processor to: i. detect, from the collected sensor data, a vehicle parking zone by detecting a user parking a vehicle and / or by detecting a user leaving in a parked vehicle and determine, from the collected sensor data, the location of the detected vehicle parking zone; and / or ii. detect, using the collected satellite signal receiver data, a user moving through an access point of said building and determine, using the collected satellite signal receiver data, the location of the detected building access point; andHi. record the location of the detected access point and / or detected vehicle parking zone in the remote memory module; iv. repeat steps (i-iii) and v. determine from the recorded detected building access point locations and detected vehicle parking zones locations: at least one: nearest vehicle parking zone to a detected building access point; and / ordetermine from the recorded detected vehicle parking zones at least one true vehicle parking zone; and / or determine from the recorded detected building access point locations at least one true building access point.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 or 22, wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one motion sensor, for example an accelerometer, a gyroscopic sensor, and / or a magnetometer.

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