Camera-Based Parking Billing With Low-Resolution WAN Image Fragments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing parking systems face issues with hardware deployment and maintenance costs, ticket loss, and the need for human operators due to reliance on physical tickets and separate parking meters, leading to inefficiencies and high operational costs.
Innovation Solution
A customer premises parking system utilizing cameras and wireless communication to capture and process license plate images, transmitting low-resolution image fragments over a wide area network like LoRaWAN for tracking and billing, eliminating the need for physical tickets and on-site personnel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If physical tickets and separate parking meters are used at each spot, then parking access control and usage tracking can be implemented, but hardware deployment cost and maintenance cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions (access control, usage tracking, billing) into a single integrated system using license plate recognition cameras and wide area network communication, eliminating the need for separate meters at each parking spot and reducing hardware complexity while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The license plate recognition system serves multiple purposes: it controls access, tracks usage duration, enables billing, and provides record-keeping, allowing a single system to replace multiple specialized devices and reduce overall hardware deployment
2Loss of information
If physical tickets are issued for parking tracking, then usage information can be recorded, but ticket loss or damage occurs requiring human intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical ticket system with an automated optical recognition system that captures license plate images and processes them through image recognition algorithms, eliminating physical tickets and the need for human intervention in ticket issuance and verification
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of physical tickets, the system creates digital copies of license plate information through imaging and stores them in a database, ensuring information retention without the loss or damage issues associated with physical tickets
3Measurement precision
If high resolution license plate images are transmitted over wide area network, then accurate tracking is achieved, but data transmission cost and network bandwidth usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the license plate image into its essential information (the license plate number itself) for transmission over the wide area network, while retaining only the necessary portion of the original image, thereby reducing data transmission requirements while maintaining recognition accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different quality levels to different parts of the image: high resolution is maintained only for the license plate number extraction, while other portions are reduced or eliminated, optimizing the balance between recognition accuracy and transmission efficiency
Data Source
AI summary
A customer premises parking system including one or more cameras and wireless communications transmission capability is described. The presence of a vehicle with a license plate at an entrance or exit of a parking area is detected and one or more high resolution images are captured and time stamped. A license plate portion of the HD image is captured and stored. The license plate number and corresponding time is determined and communicated using a wide area wireless network. The HD license plate portion of the image is processed to produce a low resolution version of the license plate image which is segmented and processed into fragments which are transmitted via the wide area network using available transmission opportunities. A high resolution version of the license plate portion is stored at the premises where the parking facilitate is located and can be retrieved via a cellular wireless interface in the event of a dispute or discrepancy with regard to the detected and reported license plate number. From the time stamps associated with entrance and exit images of license plates the amount of time and/or date at which a vehicle was present at the parking garage is determined and the vehicle owner billed for the use of the parking facility.