# US 12,112,631 B2 · Method and parking guidance system for assigning a parking space for a vehicle and for navigating the vehicle to the parking space > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,112,631 B2 - Document ID: US12112631B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/959,675 - Filed: 2022-10-04 - Published: 2023-04-06 - Granted: 2024-10-08 - Earliest claimed: 2021-10-05 - Assignees: Graphmasters SA - Applicants: Graphmasters SA - Inventors: Sebastian Heise - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12112631B2 ## CPC - G08G 1/143: {inside the vehicles} - G01C 21/3492: {employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical (traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968)} - G01C 21/3685: {the POI's being parking facilities} - G08G 1/096844: {where the complete route is dynamically recomputed based on new data} - G08G 1/144: {on portable or mobile units, e.g. personal digital assistant [PDA]} - G08G 1/148: {Management of a network of parking areas} - G08G 1/0112: {from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]} - G08G 1/0129: {for creating historical data or processing based on historical data} - G08G 1/0141: {for traffic information dissemination} - G08G 1/0145: {for active traffic flow control} - G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93}) - G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S) ## Abstract A parking guidance system and a method for allocating a parking space for a vehicle and for navigating the vehicle to the parking space are provided. The system has a detection unit for detecting an occupancy state of a parking space and/or a parking area containing a plurality of parking spaces, at least one mobile terminal with which a request from at least one vehicle driver for a parking space for his vehicle to reach a destination can be transmitted to the parking guidance system, which request comprises instantaneous position data of the vehicle. The parking guidance system is designed to select an available parking space in accordance with the request and to transmit a selection suggestion for a parking space to the mobile terminal and comprises a navigation system designed to determine a route from the location of the vehicle at the time of the parking space request to the available parking space. The parking guidance system is designed to select parking spaces in a manner that is fed back to the route guidance. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for allocating a parking space for a vehicle and for navigating the vehicle to the parking space, the method comprising: in response to a request sent to a parking guidance system by at least one vehicle driver for a parking space for his vehicle to reach a destination, which request comprises position data of the vehicle, a corresponding selection of an available parking space is carried out and the available parking space is suggested to the at least one vehicle driver; a route is determined with the aid of a navigation system assigned to the parking guidance system and is taken from the location of the vehicle at the time of the parking space request to the available parking space; and the vehicle driver is navigated along the determined route to the available parking space; wherein the parking space selection and route guidance along the determined route are fed back to one another; and wherein when an additional vehicle driver occupies with his vehicle a parking space which is selected as the available parking space for the at least one vehicle driver and to which the at least one vehicle driver is navigated, sending by the parking guidance system a request to the additional vehicle driver to approach an additional parking space and the additional vehicle driver is navigated to the additional parking space in order to use the additional parking space at an expected arrival time that the at least one vehicle driver arrives to use the available parking space. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising: detecting with sensors an occupancy state of at least one of a parking space and a parking area containing a parking space. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising: when an arrival time at the destination is specified with the request for a parking space, an estimated arrival time at the available parking space is determined by the navigation system during the route guidance of the vehicle; and when during the route guidance of the vehicle to the selected available parking space, the availability of the parking space at the estimated arrival time is checked and if the estimated arrival time at the destination exceeds the specified time of arrival at the destination, at least one of the route guidance is changed accordingly by the navigation system and another parking space available at the estimated time of arrival time is selected and the vehicle is navigated to the other available parking space. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising: when an arrival time at the destination is specified with the request for a parking space, an estimated arrival time at the selected available parking space is determined by the navigation system during the route guidance of the vehicle; when the availability of the selected available parking space at the estimated arrival time is checked and, in the event of non-availability, another parking space is selected by the parking guidance system, an estimated arrival time at the other selected parking space is determined and an availability of the other selected parking space at the estimated arrival time is checked and, in the event of its availability, the vehicle is navigated to the other selected parking space; and when in the event of unavailability of the other selected parking space, a selection of a further parking space is carried out until a parking space available at the corresponding estimated arrival time is determined. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein other road users who can be influenced via the parking guidance system and/or are independent of it are taken into account in the selection of at least one of the parking space and the route guidance. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein additional information from the parking guidance system is taken into account during the parking space selection and the route guidance to the selected parking space, which information comprises at least one of a weather situation, an event calendar, public holidays, size of the parking spaces, occupancy forecasts for parking spaces, utilization curves for parking spaces, traffic situations determined statistically according to day of the week or time of day, and other events. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein in the case of an allocation of a parking space and a routing the route guidance thereto for a plurality of vehicles during the route guidance to the respectively selected parking space, a remaining travel time is determined and, in the case of negative changes in the traffic situation and/or a changing parking space availability, at least one of the route guidance and the parking space selection is changed primarily for those vehicles which have a remaining longer travel time compared to at least one of the further vehicles. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein in the case of a selection of parking spaces and the route guidance thereto for a plurality of vehicles or road users heading for the same destination, those vehicles which arrive early at available parking spaces near the destination are guided to available parking spaces which are further away from the destination than such available parking spaces which are reserved for the vehicles arriving later at the available parking spaces near the destination. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the navigation system includes collaborative tour routing that calculates a cost of a plurality of segments within the determined route and that optimizes the determined route to minimize cost. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method according to claim 9, wherein the cost is calculated as time to traverse each of the plurality of segments within the determined route and traffic situations encountered therein. ### Claim 11 A parking guidance system for allocating a parking space for a vehicle and for navigating the vehicle to the parking space, comprising: a detection unit for detecting an occupancy state of at least one of a parking space and of a parking area; at least one mobile terminal with which a request from at least one vehicle driver for a parking space for his vehicle to reach a destination can be transmitted to the parking guidance system, which request comprises position data of a location of the vehicle, the parking guidance system being designed for a selection of an available parking space corresponding to the request and for transmitting a selection suggestion of the available parking space to the mobile terminal, and a navigation system which is designed for determining a route and for providing route guidance from the location of the vehicle at the time of the parking space request to the available parking space along the determined route; wherein the parking guidance system is designed for a parking space selection which is fed back with the route guidance; and wherein when an additional vehicle driver occupies with his vehicle a parking space which is selected as the available parking space for the at least one vehicle driver and to which the at least one vehicle driver is navigated, the parking guidance system sends a request to the additional vehicle driver to approach an additional parking space and the additional vehicle driver is navigated to the additional parking space in order to use the additional parking space at a time that the at least one vehicle driver arrives at the available parking space. ### Claim 12 A method for allocating a parking space for a vehicle and for navigating the vehicle to the parking space, the method comprising: in response to a request sent to a parking guidance system by at least one vehicle driver for a parking space for his vehicle to reach a destination, which request comprises position data of the vehicle, a corresponding selection of an available parking space is carried out and the available parking space is suggested to the at least one vehicle driver; a route is determined with the aid of a navigation system assigned to the parking guidance system and is taken from the location of the vehicle at the time of the parking space request to the available parking space; and the vehicle driver is navigated along the determined route to the available parking space; wherein the parking space selection and route guidance along the determined route are fed back to one another; and wherein when in the case of a selection of parking spaces and a routing thereto for a plurality of vehicles or road users heading for the same destination, those vehicles which arrive early at available parking spaces near the destination are guided to available parking spaces which are further away from the destination than such available parking spaces which are reserved for the vehicles arriving later at the available parking spaces near the destination. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, wherein additional information from the parking guidance system is taken into account during the parking space selection and the route guidance to the selected available parking space, which information comprises at least one of a weather situation, an event calendar, public holidays, sizes of parking spaces, occupancy forecasts for parking spaces, utilization curves for parking spaces, traffic situations determined statistically according to day of the week or time of day, and other events. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, wherein in the case of an allocation of a parking space and the route guidance thereto for a plurality of vehicles during the route guidance to the respectively selected available parking space, a remaining travel time is determined and, in the case of negative changes in the traffic situation and/or a changing parking space availability, at least one of the route guidance and the parking space selection is changed for those vehicles which have a remaining longer travel time compared to at least one of the further vehicles. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, wherein the navigation system includes collaborative tour routing that calculates a cost of a plurality of segments within the determined route and that optimizes the determined route to minimize cost. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method according to claim 15, wherein the cost is calculated as time to traverse each of the plurality of segments within the determined route and traffic situations encountered therein.