Location based parking management system
AssigneeWal-Mart Stores, Inc.
InventorsJoel Bennett Acker, JR., Richard Neil Cancro, Douglas James Pedley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method to provide an active parking system includes receiving, at a portable computerized device, parking preferences of a user for a parking facility of a retail store, determining, within a parking space index server, an availability status of each of a plurality of parking spaces of the parking facility, identifying, within a computerized device, a preferred parking location for the user based upon the parking preferences and the availability statuses, and displaying, at a computerized display, directions for the user to navigate to the preferred parking location.
Claims16
A computer-implemented method comprising:
- receiving, at a portable computerized device, parking preferences of a user for a parking facility of a retail store;
- determining, within a parking space index server, an availability status of each of a plurality of parking spaces of the parking facility;
- identifying, within a computerized device, a preferred parking location for the user based upon the parking preferences and the availability statuses;
- and
- displaying, at a computerized display, directions for the user to navigate to the preferred parking location.
A server comprising:
- a store locator module that determines a store location of a retailer whereat a user is going to park a vehicle;
- a parking space database wherein an availability status of a plurality of parking spaces at the retailer is maintained;
- a parking space locator module that identifies a preferred parking location for the user based upon the availability statuses and a monitored parking preference of the user;
- and
- a data output module that provides information for display to the user, navigating the user to the preferred parking location.
A software application for operation of an active parking system, the software application operating upon a portable computerized device, comprising:
- receiving, at the portable computerized device, a plurality of parking preferences for a user of the device;
- wirelessly transmitting, at the portable computerized device, the parking preferences to a remote parking space index server, wherein the parking space index server stores data for a parking facility regarding currently available parking spaces;
- receiving, at the portable computerized device, instructions to navigate to a preferred parking spot at the parking facility, wherein the preferred parking spot is based upon the parking preferences of the user and the stored data;
- and
- displaying, at the portable computerized device, the instructions to navigate to the preferred parking spot.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.