Passive RFID Parking lot Management Solution

Integrated Parking lot Management System (IPMS)

MetaSparc launched  Integrated Parking Lot Management (IPMS) solution which reduces operation difficulties for Facilities Management Group (FMG) while managing huge parking lot facilities which are generally occupied by multiple tenants. IPMS contains enriched functionality to manage each tenants parking occupancy data, provide separate billing services, real-time data visibility on the Parking lot usage from different tenants from the same application. There are many challenges that typically exists for FMG's while managing the parking lots when multiple tenants are sharing the parking facility.

Some key challenges

• Authenticating each tenants vehicle based on the Tenant Parking lot Billing policy

• Enforcing flexible per-tenant based Billing Policy

• Real time data visibility on parking facility

• Reducing the wait time to gain access to parking lots

• Implementing flawless, tamper proof billing services for tenants, visitors.

What IPMS Offers -

• Registration and management of Tenants, Tenant registered vehicles

• Configuration and management of Parking zones, slots (optional and applicable only if slot level demarcation is a requirement)

• Configuration and management of Entry/exit points

• Live statistical display through Digital dashboards on the available parking slots per zone, floor, per tenant.

• Assignment of RFID Cards/stickers to Vehicles with mapping data persisted at Database

• Tariff details for Visitors, tenants

• Management of Tenant Billing policy based on the contract negotiated

• Visitor registration and temporary pass issue/collection

• Visitor parking fee management

• Real time data visibility from various tenant parking lot usage

• No Wait time to gain parking access with authentication

• Zero scope for billing errors, malpractices

• Integration with CCTV software generated file images/clippings

• Integration with Access control devices such as (Boom barriers/Loop detectors)

• Flexibility to manage the authentication based on RFID Cards or Bio-metric reader.

RFID Cards/stickers can be issued to vehicles to gain access to the parking lot. These RFID Cards/stickers will contain data and it will be managed in such a manner that cloning the cards data by external readers is not possible. IPMS Software offers an assignment tool using which assigning RFID Unique Identification numbers(UID) to the pre-registered vehicles is possible, this process is termed as Assignment process. Once a vehicle is assigned with the RFID card/sticker it can gain access while driving through the RFID Enabled entrance/exit areas.

How the Vehicle Identification happens in IPMS

IPMS can work in two modes for vehicle detection, depending on the deployment the vehicle identification will be configured. The vehicle detection will happen as follows

• Access Control Mode

• Normal Mode

Access Control Mode -

If IPMS is integrated with Access control Units(Barriers, Loop detectors, Photo electric sensors) the solution leverages loop detector hardware connected with a controller to identify any vehicle presence. Loop detectors are Magnetic induction coils which can identify the presence, the other way to detect any object(vehicle, human, items) is through PE Sensors (Photo electric sensors). Typically these detectors are connected again to the RFID Readers, Smart card readers or bio-metric readers which will perform the authentication. Once these detectors detects the vehicle presence and triggers the reader through its controller indicating a vehicle presence. Subsequently RFID Reader/antenna system tries to read the RFID Sticker value for further authentication. Upon a perfect authentication of the read RFID Sticker value the reader can trigger any external access control systems such as – Alarms, Indicator light, access control systems like Boom barriers. Upon a failure to sense RFID sticker or fails to authenticate the read sticker value readers are going to trigger external access control systems mentioned above with different actions, indicators.

Normal Mode -

In Normal Mode (or Non-Access control mode) a vehicle detection will happen via a loop detector or via PE Sensors which are not connected to Access Control devices such as Boom barriers but still they are integrated with Controllers of the RFID Reader, Bio-metric reader. But there is no Access control device existence in this mode hence there is nothing to restrict other than to read the RFID Card/stickers value.

How the Vehicle Authentication happens in IPMS

Any vehicle with a valid RFID Card/sticker comes near the RFID Readers read range ( 3 to 6 mts in the case of UHF) can be sensed via RFID Reader – sticker(tag) data exchange. Then RFID Readers will send this data via its controller (either external or internal) to the software running in a PC. In the above diagram the access control is shown as an external controller which is controlling two readers. The software upon receiving the read data will try authenticating data by running set of billing policy rules, authentication rules, upon a successful result the software will send a command to the controller to disengage the access control device if any.

Authentication can be localized by a reader instead of software running through set of rules, in this case the reader will take a decision depending on the authentication logic that can be programmed in the readers devices. If we populate the readers memory with all authorized vehicles ID numbers then reader can compare and can authenticate vehicles. If one has to perform more Rules checking then leaving the decision to software is a good option.