Method for forecasting parking area availability of a street section

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10288733-B2
Application number	US-201715652779-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 18, 2017
Priority date	Apr 28, 2015
Publication date	May 14, 2019
Grant date	May 14, 2019

Abstract

A method for aiding finding of available parking areas of a street section includes receiving data corresponding to parking areas situated in a street section, the data including information ascertained by an ascertaining vehicle driving through the street section and information received from a server, determining an instantaneous occupancy estimate of the street section based on the received data, calculating a forecasted occupancy estimate based on the instantaneous occupancy estimate using a timer series forecasting model, and generating a display representation of the calculated forecasted occupancy estimate. The method includes receiving the data and determining the occupancy estimate, for example, each time an ascertaining vehicle drives through the street.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for aiding finding of available parking areas of a street section, the method comprising:
receiving, by processing circuitry, data corresponding to parking areas situated in a street section, the data being ascertained by at least one ascertaining vehicle driving through the street section, wherein the received data includes a number of parking areas estimated to have been historically estimated falsely determined by:
detecting a total number of parking areas in the street section;
detecting a total number of vehicles parked in the street section; and
determining that a parking area has been historically estimated falsely based on the total number of parking areas in the street section and the total number of vehicles parked in the street section;

determining, by the processing circuitry, an instantaneous occupancy estimate of the street section based on the received data;
calculating, by the processing circuitry, a forecasted occupancy estimate based on the instantaneous occupancy estimate, wherein the forecasted occupancy estimate is calculated using time series forecasting models;
generating, by the processing circuitry, a display representation of the calculated forecasted occupancy estimate; and
providing the display representation for display on a display device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the data and the determining the instantaneous occupancy estimate are performed each time at least one of the at least one ascertaining vehicle drives through the street section.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the forecasted occupancy estimate is calculated using a Seasonal Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the display representation includes a visual representation of the forecasted occupancy estimate on a map using a color scale to visually represent a level of occupancy of the street section.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the forecasted occupancy estimate is modified based an external event impacting the occupancy of the street section.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the display representation includes a confidence level of the forecasted occupancy estimate.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received data includes: 1) a total number of unoccupied parking areas; 2) the number of parking areas estimated to have been historically estimated falsely; and 3) a total number of parking areas located on the street section.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein:
the instantaneous occupancy estimate is determined by

1
-

(

N
det

-

N
false

N
total

-

N
false

)

;

N det represents the total number of unoccupied parking areas;
N false represents the number of parking areas estimated to have been historically estimated falsely; and
N total represents the total number of parking areas located on the street section.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received data includes: 1) an average length of a vehicle; 2) lengths of determined unoccupied parking areas; 3) lengths of parking areas estimated to have been historically estimated falsely; and 4) a total length of the street section.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein:
the instantaneous occupancy estimate is determined by

1
-

(

∑

L
det

-

∑

L
false

L

length_total
⁢
_avg

-

∑

L
false

)

;

ΣL det represents a total length of the detected unoccupied parking areas;
ΣL false represents a total length of the parking areas estimated to have been historically estimated falsely; and
L length _ total represents the total length of the street section.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received data includes: 1) a length of a vehicle attempting to park; 2) lengths of determined unoccupied parking areas; 3) lengths of parking areas estimated to have been historically estimated falsely; and 4) a total length of the street section.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the instantaneous occupancy estimate is determined by

1
-

(

∑

L
det

-

∑

L
false

L

lenght_total
⁢
_car

-

∑

L
false

)

;

 ΣL det represents a total length of the detected unoccupied parking areas;
ΣL false represents a total length of the parking areas estimated to have been historically estimated falsely; and
L length _ total represents the total length of the street section.

13. A server system for aiding finding of available parking areas of a street section, the server comprising:
a database; and
a processing unit, wherein

Assignees

• Bosch Gmbh Robert

Inventors

• Cunha Carlos
• Chen Ruobing
• Mayer Philipp

Classifications

• G01S15/931 Primary

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• G06V10/764

  using classification, e.g. of video objects · CPC title

• G06V20/586 Primary

  of parking space · CPC title

• G06F18/24155

  Bayesian classification · CPC title

• G01S15/08

  Systems for measuring distance only (indirect measurement G01S15/46) · CPC title