Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
705418000 | Time (e.g., parking meter) | 23 |
20080288423 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO A NETWORK - A method provides access to, and time for, using a network associated with a commercial establishment through a proxy server. The method enables access to the proxy server within a selected physical area adjacent to the commercial establishment; establishing data communication between a cash register within the commercial establishment and the proxy server; and enabling network access for a given time duration related to a commercial transaction between the customer and the commercial establishment. The transaction my include trade dealing in cash, airline miles or other point based system, certificates, coupons and any other trade related instrument. | 11-20-2008 |
20090192950 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPERATING A REMOVABLE METER UNIT - A method and apparatus for operating a meter uniquely associated with a physical location are provided. The method includes monitoring a communication channel for a message from a remote device and identifying an initial message directed to the meter uniquely associated with the physical location, establishing a communication session with a data manager in response to the initial message from the remote device, receiving configuration information from the data manager, the configuration information associated with operation of the meter and uniquely associated with the physical location of the meter, and transmitting meter operating data to the data manager, wherein the meter is self-powered. | 07-30-2009 |
20090216687 | Method of assessing a parking fee - A method for assessing fees for parking is disclosed. The method includes determining the length of a vehicle and assessing a parking fee based upon that vehicle length. The disclosed method may also include marking at least a portion of the selected parking area in increments of length or marking the length of a vehicle on that vehicle. Embodiments of the method are also disclosed that include calculating the parking fee so that a longer vehicle is charged more than a shorter vehicle for parking in the selected parking area. Other embodiments of the disclosed method include calculating the parking fee based on different length ranges that include at least a first length range and a second length range. The first length range has lengths that are shorter than lengths in the second length range. The parking fee is based on which length range the length of the vehicle falls within. | 08-27-2009 |
20090216688 | SYSTEM FOR BATTERY CHARGING BASED ON COST AND LIFE - One embodiment of the present subject matter includes a system that includes a battery, an electric vehicle, the battery coupled to the electric vehicle to propel the electric vehicle, and a charging circuit to charge the battery. The embodiment includes a charging cost circuit to estimate a charging cost rate and to turn on the charging circuit. The embodiment also includes a timer circuit to provide a time signal to the charging cost circuit. The embodiment is configured such that the charging cost circuit is to turn on the charging circuit during a first time period in which the charging cost rate is below a first threshold until the battery reaches a first energy stored level, and to turn on the charging circuit during a second time period in which the charging cost rate is above the first threshold. | 08-27-2009 |
20090234780 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY CAPTURING BILLABLE TIME - A method and system helps users capture billable time spent in writing an email and related tasks. A software program is provided that is integrated with an existing email program. The program tracks user time spent on each email and associates billing information with the spent time for use in a billing program. | 09-17-2009 |
20090299920 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR BUILDING CUSTOM APPLIANCES IN A CLOUD-BASED NETWORK - A cloud management system can track the usage of the virtual machines in order to determine the fees associated with the user's subscription to the cloud computing environment. The usage can include the resources consumed to support the virtual machines and can include the utilization of the virtual machines by the user or third parties. The cloud management system can determine the fees charged to the user for utilizing the cloud computing environment based on the tracked usage. | 12-03-2009 |
20100030708 | Parking Payment System Using A Cell Phone Or Other Mobile Device - A parking payment system is provided that includes a computing system that includes one or more components configured to maintain information related to a plurality of parking spaces, at least one of the parking spaces being associated with an identifier, the component further configured to communicate with a mobile device to arrange to for payment of at least one of the parking spaces. | 02-04-2010 |
20100042555 | EXERCISE FACILITY - The present invention relates to an exercise facility including a compact exercise booth for an individual to be erected in public areas, the exercise booth including an exterior wall, equipment for performing exercises coupled to the wall, means for collecting payment for use of the booth during a pre-set period of time, and a timer inside the booth for determining time a person is inside the booth. There is further provided according to the invention, a method for providing exercise services, the method including providing an exercise facility, the exercise facility including an exercise booth equipment for performing exercises coupled to the wall, and a timer inside the booth for determining time a person is inside the booth, erecting the exercise facility in the vicinity of a waiting area, and providing means for collecting payment for use of the booth during a pre-set period of time. | 02-18-2010 |
20100293112 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR STORAGE MODELING AND COSTING - The present invention provides systems and methods for data storage. A hierarchical storage management architecture is presented to facilitate data management. The disclosed system provides methods for evaluating the state of stored data relative to enterprise needs by using weighted parameters that may be user defined. Also disclosed are systems and methods evaluating costing and risk management associated with stored data. | 11-18-2010 |
20110099126 | Automated Parking Policy Enforcement System - A parking policy management system helps identify and enforce parking violations in real-time. By monitoring sensors distributed in a parking area, the system will determine whether one or more parking policies have been violated. The types of parking policies the system can monitor include duration, time of day, unauthorized vehicle, special permit parking, and paid parking. When a violation of a policy is detected, a notification may be delivered to enforcement personnel through the Internet, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, in-vehicle dashboards, and other means. | 04-28-2011 |
20110131154 | NAVIGATION DEVICE, METHOD & SYSTEM - A navigation device is arranged to communicate information to a server. In at least one embodiment, the navigation device is arranged to determine a period of time for which a vehicle carrying the navigation device is parked, and to communicate information to the server associated with the period of time. | 06-02-2011 |
20110218940 | Parking Meter System - A parking system uses a three-dimensional magnetic field sensor as part of a vehicle detector to monitor plural parking spaces. The detector is calibrated to detect the presence or absence of a vehicle in each of the monitored spaces. The status of each space is communicated to a central controller. A pay station communicates with a central controller when a parking interval has been purchased. The controller may warn customers when the interval is about to expire and law enforcement when it has expired. | 09-08-2011 |
20110276519 | SINGLE SPACE WIRELESS PARKING WITH IMPROVED ANTENNA PLACEMENTS - A wireless parking meter with an improved antenna location is described. The antenna may be located within a covering protruding from the top of the parking meter, allowing radio frequency (RF) signals to be transmitted through a portion of the parking meter with high permittivity to the RF signals. Additionally or alternatively, the antenna may be located within the parking meter housing above a lower parking meter mechanism housing so that RF signals can be transmitted through the dome covering of the parking meter, which may have a high permittivity to the RF signals. | 11-10-2011 |
20120047093 | PRACTICAL MODEL FOR HIGH SPEED FILE DELIVERY SERVICES SUPPORTING GUARANTEED DELIVERY TIMES AND DIFFERENTIATED SERVICE LEVELS - A practical economic and technical model for building commercial-grade electronic file delivery services that provide the same scale, predictability, and differentiated service levels as physical courier services traditionally used to move electronic data on physical media. Systems and methods for providing such services using a charge-back scheme based on congestion pricing are described. | 02-23-2012 |
20120089538 | SERVER RESERVATION METHOD, RESERVATION CONTROL APPARATUS AND PROGRAM STORAGE MEDIUM - An information processing device including a communication interface that exchanges data with a first device and a second device; and a processor that performs authentication of the first device; receives content data from the first device via the communication interface; and controls the communication interface to send the content data in real time to the second device based on an access control setting, which indicates a restriction on sending the content data. | 04-12-2012 |
20120254072 | COMMUNICATION DEVICE, AND METHOD AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR THE SAME - A communication device is provided, which includes a controller configured to select a first bandwidth, calculates a first communication time for transmitting data using the first bandwidth, to sum one or more periods of a first charging unit time for the first bandwidth to calculate a second communication time that is equal to or longer than the first communication time and closest to the first communication time, to calculate a data amount of a terminal data section to be transmitted within a last period of the first charging unit time, and to select a second bandwidth for transmitting the terminal data section at a lowest communication fee within a second charging unit time for the second bandwidth, the controller controlling a communication unit to transmit data other than the terminal data section using the first bandwidth and transmit the terminal data section using the second bandwidth. | 10-04-2012 |
20120284209 | RFID CONTROLLED PARKING SYSTEM - A customer-based electronic device (such as a cell phone or an embedded RFID chip in a vehicle's electronics) is combined with a facility-dispensed ticket to control vehicle entrance and exit to a controlled property. In one embodiment, a cell phone is used to provide a unique RFID number utilizing Near Field Communication (NFC) or similar technology for establishing entry and exit times, parking space control and automatic billing technology for each vehicle. In such an embodiment, a backup paper ticket is dispensed to each vehicle upon entry to the controlled property. The paper ticket contains a broadcast electronic signal (for example, an RFID signal) which is matched to the unique cell phone RFID number of the cell phone. The electronic system then controls all aspects of the vehicle's movement while on the property. This movement, in one embodiment, includes access to parking areas, access to special parking spots, such as reserved spaces, premium VIP, and handicapped areas. The system also can provide information as to how many spaces are available at any given time and exactly where the available spaces are located. In one embodiment, billing for the use of the property is accomplished automatically to accounts linked to the driver's cell phone. | 11-08-2012 |
20130185229 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING STORAGE OF DATA BLOCKS - A data block storage management capability is presented. A cloud file system management capability manages storage of data blocks of a file system across multiple cloud storage services (e.g., including determining, for each data block to be stored, a storage location and a storage duration for the data block). A cloud file system management capability manages movement of data blocks of a file system between storage volumes of cloud storage services. A cloud file system management capability provides a probabilistic eviction scheme for evicting data blocks from storage volumes of cloud storage services in advance of storage deadlines by which the data blocks are to be removed from the storage volumes. A cloud file system management capability enables dynamic adaptation of the storage volume sizes of the storage volumes of the cloud storage services. | 07-18-2013 |
20140046874 | REAL TIME DYNAMIC VEHICLE PARKING PRICE MANAGEMENT METHODS, SYSTEMS AND PROCESSOR-READABLE MEDIA - A real time dynamic vehicle parking price management method, system and processor-readable medium. Two factors can be considered in determining the parking price: the real time occupancy level and the historic parking demand. An assured price that follows from a background schedule can be pre-determined based on a historic parking data. Future demand can be estimated based on the historic occupancy data and price and the assured price can be made proportional to the estimated demand. The assured price can be simplified to be intuitive and easy to remember. A real time parking price can be determined by an occupancy feedback control. A controller can be employed to track the occupancy and to suggest the parking price in real time based on an occupancy set point to improve economic efficiency and reduce cruising for parking. | 02-13-2014 |
20140081891 | REAL-TIME LICENSE METERING OF A PROVISIONED APPLICATION IN A CLOUD COMPUTING ENVIRONEMENT - Provided are techniques for the costing of a license based on real-time usage of software on a hardware resource instead of upfront PVU based purchase of licenses. Service provider need not pay for the license charge till the end of life of that application and need not pay for an entire set of N licenses, considering that the service provider expects that the maximum number of application instances could be N. | 03-20-2014 |
20140122375 | PARKING PRICING SYSTEM - A parking pricing with occupancy feedback control for achieving an optimal occupancy level for a parking space area, so that at least one space is available and circling is not necessary. The parking pricing with occupancy feedback control system proposes to implement a market based parking pricing from an occupancy control approach. The parking price system seeks to maintain a desired occupancy level by measuring real-time parking space occupancy and using controller to automatically adjust parking rates to change with real-time demand. Occupancy feedback control is used to adjust parking space pricing so that the occupancy level approaches a target capacity level. Parking space sensors measure the presence of the vehicles, a parking control engine compares the real-time occupancy of the parking spaces to the target occupancy of the parking spaces, and adjusts the parking pricing to regulate the demand, so that the parking space occupancy converges to its target. | 05-01-2014 |
20140279713 | AUTOMATED PAYMENT FOR A RENTAL PERIOD BASED ON DETERMINING THE LOCATION OF A RENTER'S MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE - Systems, apparatus, methods and computer programs provide for self-service rental of rental items. The self-service aspect of the invention allows for renters to obtain the rental, leave the rental agency facility, return the rental item and pay for the rental without having to come into contact with anyone at the rental agency. The invention implements a renter's mobile device. In this regard, the mobile device receives information related to the rental item that the renter desires to rent and initiates the self-service process. The rental period is defined by the time at which the mobile device, equipped with location-determining mechanisms, departs a designated rental area and the time at which the mobile device returns to the same or another designated rental area. Once the rental period is known, the rental period payment amount can be determined based on a predetermined rental rate and payment provided. | 09-18-2014 |
20150052081 | Capacity Upgrade on Demand Automation - A mechanism is provide for automating capacity upgrade on demand. Responsive to a usage of an originally allocated resource exceeding an upper predetermined threshold, access to an additional resource is temporarily allocated. A trial time counter is initiated to track a time of access to the additional resource. A user of the logical partition is alerted that the additional resource is being accessed. Responsive to the user failing to license the additional resource, a determination is made as to whether a value of the trial time counter has exceeded a predetermined trial time period value. Responsive to the value of the trial time counter exceeding the predetermined trial time period value, access to the additional resource is deactivated. | 02-19-2015 |