Smart Parking Application

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International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 149 – No.9, September 2016
32
Smart Parking Application
Tejal Lotlikar
Computer Engineering
Department
Vivekanand Education
Society’s Institute of
Technology
Mumbai, India
Minla Chandrahasan
Computer Engineering
Department
Vivekanand Education
Society’s Institute of
Technology
Mumbai, India
Ankita Mahadik
Computer Engineering
Department
Vivekanand Education
Society’s Institute of
Technology
Mumbai, India
Madhusmita Oke
Computer Engineering Department
Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of
Technology
Mumbai, India
Anjali Yeole
Computer Engineering Department
Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of
Technology
Mumbai, India
ABSTRACT
The ever increasing population has led to chaotic city traffic.
As a result of the process of searching a parking lot becomes
tedious. It is time consuming task leading to discomfort. The
fuel consumption is on an increasing side due to such
scenarios. The increase in vehicular traffic creates a negative
impact on the environment. In the wake of smart city times
these issues lead us to the need of a „smart‟ solution. In order
to resolve these issues and satisfy the increasing demand for
the parking areas, parking management organizations are
trying to implement better and technologically advanced
solutions. A cloud based smart parking application will enable
real time parking availability monitoring and reservation
thereby providing better services to the end users as well as
reduce the workload of the parking administrator.
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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Motivation
The increase in city traffic is one of the major effects of
population growth especially in urban areas. Due to this
searching for a vacant parking area during peak hours is not
only time-consuming but also results in wastage of fuel. The
drivers keep searching for suitable parking lot which leads to
increase in traffic. Increasing volume of vehicular exhaust
creates a negative impact on the environment. Hence
reservation-based smart parking has become the need of the
day.
1.2 Problem Definition
The Smart Parking Application aims at helping users to find
the most suitable area for parking, make reservations and
extend them, if required. It enables parking administrators to
define and manage parking spaces as well as enables parking
operators to authenticate users against their reservations when
users enter the parking area. Users access location based
information and request system services via mobile
applications and parking operators verify reservations via
mobile applications whereas parking admins may manage the
parking area details via a web application. The smart parking
application features use of cloud computing to improve user
services.
1.3 Relevance of project
In order to satisfy the increasing demand for the parking
areas, parking management organizations are trying to
implement better and technologically advanced solutions. A
variety of methodologies have been implemented abroad to
disseminate parking availability information through various
platforms. The smart parking application will enable real-time
parking availability checking and reservation thereby
providing a hassle-free parking solution for users.
Deployment over the cloud not only frees administrators from
maintenance tasks but also makes the system more
environment friendly.
2. RELATED WORK
Current systems proposed for smart parking include
2.1 Smart parking using RFID [1]
RFID technology is an automation technology with main
components as RFID readers, labels, computers, barriers,
software etc. The software is for management, controlling,
transaction reporting and operation tasks for parking lots. This
vehicular data is fetched from database to verify a vehicle
when it enters the parking lot using RFID reader. When a
vehicle wants to check out, the authentication is done by
analysing check-in details. The drivers will be notified about
the availability of parking lots at the entrance itself. Hence, no
time is wasted looking for park space.
2.2 Reservation based smart-parking [2]
Reservation based smart parking system aims at broadcasting
real time parking information to drivers via an application.
The system mainly uses Zigbee sensors and smart phone
support for deployment. This system enables the users to
reserve a particular parking space in advance by accessing its
availability information in specific parking district. It is also
equipped with payment option including dynamic pricing for
users. Light and vibration sensors detect whether a vehicle is
present in the lot. Bluetooth module is responsible for
communication between user and the sensor information. The
major disadvantages include shorter range of bluetooth and
bottleneck situations may arise in case of heavy traffic.

International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 149 – No.9, September 2016
33
2.3 Smart parking reservation system using
[3]
This system enables users to reserve their parking places
using SMS. Once the reservation is confirmed, the users will
receive the one time password(OTP) to enter the parking area
and the lot number for parking. If they exceed the time to
reach the parking area, the password will expire and the
reservation will be cancelled. The system is subdivided into
Reservation and Access system. The reservation is handled by
a micro-RTU (Remote Terminal Unit) configured with SSE
OPC (OLE for Process Control) Server. The access system is
handled by a microcontroller-IC16F877- which measures time
periods for validity of passwords, stores/provides information
on the availability of parking spaces as well as allowing or
denying access to the parking area. A weight sensor is
positioned at the lot area to sense the presence of the vehicle.
2.4 ParkNet : Drive by sensing road-side
parking statistics[4]
ParkNet is a mobile system comprising of vehicles that collect
parking space occupancy information by driving by. The
vehicle includes a GPS receiver and passenger-side facing
ultrasonic rangefinder to determine vacant parking spaces.
The data collected is integrated at the central server producing
a real-time map of parking availability thereby serving user‟s
requests. In order to achieve accuracy of location,
environmental fingerprinting approach is devised. It makes
use of GPS module and ultrasonic sensors for end to end
communication. A real-time map is generated to reflect the
occupancy with respect to a timestamp. The drawbacks are
mainly due to limitations of sensors and complexity involved
in cases of multi-lane parking.
3. REQUIREMENTS
3.1 Functional Requirements
Our proposed system comprises of a web application for
parking area admins, a mobile application for parking
operators and a mobile application for users.
Each of their requirements are as stated below.
3.1.1 Web Application for parking admin
 Define new parking areas, specify number of parking
lots, the parking cost per minute/hour and other
details.
 Modify data of existing parking areas.
 View the data of all registered parking areas.
3.1.2 Mobile Application for parking operator
 Send vehicle plate number and reservation password
(Session ID) to central server for verification when
users check in.
 Issue bill to users on checkout.
3.1.3 Mobile Application for end users
 Register for the service and enter personal and
vehicle details.
 Find a parking area from the list of areas, registered
by parking admins.
 View the details of a selected parking area such as
the name, price per minute, number of total
available lots.
 Reserve an available parking lot and specify
duration of reservation.
3.1.4 Backend Management System
 Authenticate users and admins before modifying
any sensitive data
 Accept reservation of parking lots based on
availability
 Generate a Session ID for each reservation and send
it to the user
 Allow modification of parking lot status by
operators
 Auto-cancel reservation if user fails to reach within
the window period.
3.2 Non-functional Requirements
 The central repository should be platform
independent so that it can be accessible and store
application data via the web application and the
mobile app.
 The server should be able to handle concurrent
requests from different users.
 The system should provide confidentiality for user
data using database encryption and local encryption
to protect data in the event of device theft
(laptop/handheld device).
 The android application provides high availability
and high accuracy in finding the locations.
3.3 Constraints
3.3.1 Stable internet connection
The proposed system requires a stable internet connection for
efficient functioning. In case of internet disconnection, the
system may fail. The user, parking operators and parking
administrator interact with the system using mobile
application and web application via internet. Hence stable
internet connection is the basic requirement of this system.
3.3.2 Highly Scalable Architecture
The proposed smart parking system should be highly scalable.
Using cloud services for database provides scalability as the
as the entire database can be stored in the cloud and can be
scaled as per need.
3.3.3 Handling concurrent access to the
centralized database
The smart parking system should be able to handle concurrent
access to the database by users. As the database is centralized,
many users can simultaneously access it and it is possible that
many users can book the same parking area at the same time.
The system must be able to handle such cases.
3.3.4 Availability
As the user is using the smart parking service through a
mobile application, real time availability status should be
delivered to the user as and when required i.e. the system
should be easily available to end users.
3.4 Hardware and Software Requirements
The proposed systems can be implemented using a suitable
cloud computing platform such as Amazon Web Services
(AWS) or Microsoft Azure. The requirements for deployment
using AWS are as stated below.

International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 149 – No.9, September 2016
34
3.4.1 Hardware Requirements
3.4.1.1 Web Application
 Web server : AWS Elastic Compute Cloud
(EC2)
 Database : MySQL database
3.4.1.2 Mobile Application
 Backend server : AWS Elastic Compute Cloud
(EC2)
 Database : MySQL database
3.4.2 Software Requirements
3.4.2.1 Web Application
 XAMPP
3.4.2.2 Mobile Application
 Android Studio
3.4.2.3 Database Management
 Remote Desktop Connection
4. PROPOSED DESIGN
4.1 System Architecture
4.2 Conceptual System Design
5. IMPLEMENTATION
The smart parking application is collectively implemented in
following modules:
 Website for the Administrator
 Mobile Application for the End-user
 Mobile Application for the Parking Operator
A single database stores information regarding parking areas,
users and their reservations.
The database consists of tables: admin, operator, parkingarea,
parkinglots, parkingsession, user, user_cars
5.1 Website for Administrator
Website enables Administrator to perform functions: Add,
View and Edit a parking area.
5.1.1 Login
5.1.2 Home Page

International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 149 – No.9, September 2016
35
5.1.3 Features
5.1.3.1 Adding a new parking area
5.1.3.2 View parking area details
5.1.3.3 Edit parking area details
5.2 Mobile Application for Operator
Mobile Application for the Operator helps in Authentication
and Billing functions.
5.3 Mobile Application for End User
Mobile Application for the End-user provides functions –
Search, Book , View, Cancel slots.

International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 149 – No.9, September 2016
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6. DRAWBACKS OF EXISTING
SYSTEMS
Drawbacks found in existing systems are:
6.1 RFID System
This system is considerably expensive. The RFID tags are
application specific, no one tag fits all, more than one tag can
respond at the same time. This system fails in case of internet
disconnection. If two vehicles enter a parking lot side by side,
being within the range of the RFID reader, the system will not
read their identification information and process it.
Electromagnetic spectrum signals are relatively easy to jam
using energy at the right frequency.
6.2 Reservation based Smart Parking
System
The reservation based smart parking system is expensive and
also difficult to maintain. The problem of bottleneck may
occur due to heavy traffic.
6.3 Smart Parking Reservation System
Using SMS
The system is a standalone system i.e. The system is designed
for individual use by parking areas, and not a centralized
system encompassing reservation for all parking areas within
a region. As the system uses CMOS flash memory for storage
of parking information, the database can be scaled within
hardware limitations.
6.4 PARKNET Drive by sensing roadside
statistics
Errors in providing accuracy of locations and occupancy. It is
expensive and more complex due to lane detection
mechanism. If the vehicle does not move within a specified
speed range there may occur failure of ultrasonic sensors to
detect distances.
7. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
7.1 Administrator functions
7.1.1 Add Slot:
On selecting an area on the map, its latitude and longitude is
obtained by the system and then the admin has to fill in the
remaining details.
7.1.2 View slot:
On selecting a marker on the map, the admin can view the
details of that parking area.
7.1.3 7.1.3 Edit Parking Area Details:
The admin can edit the parking area details by editing the
form displayed after viewing the slot
7.2 Operator functions
7.2.1 Authentication:
When user enters parking area, operator verifies reservation
using session id and car number of the user. Before
Authentication (when the user arrives at the parking area), the
status of parking lot is „booked‟ which is later changed to
„occupied‟ when the user enters the parking area after
authentication.
7.2.2 Billing:
The operator enters the car no and session id to get the bill
generated for a particular through the mobile spplication. On
billing, out-time registered, bill amount calculated and
updated, status changed to „finished‟ and Parking lot status
changed to „available‟ and total number of parking lots in the
given parking area are incremented.
7.3 End-user functions:
7.3.1 Search parking area:
On selecting a location, user can view detailed list of parking
areas, their availability and the pricing.
7.3.2 Book Parking lot:
The user is required to enter id of the required parking area
and duration of reservation to book a lot as per availability.
After booking, a unique session id is given to user to confirm
booking.
7.3.3 View booking:
The user can view his current booking details like location,
session id and status of booking through the end user‟s
application.
7.3.4 Cancel booking:
The user can also can his current booking. On cancelling,
parking session status becomes “cancelled” and availability of
slots gets automatically updated.
8. ADVANTAGES
In comparison to the existing systems available for smart
parking, the system proposed by us makes use of cloud
computing because of which it is:
8.1 Cost effective
Sensors and other cost intensive hardware are not employed.
No infrastructure maintenance involved. You simply have to
pay as per use.
8.2 Environment Friendly
The cloud uses energy in a more streamlined and efficient
way than traditional, in-house data centers. Cloud computing
uses multi-tenant architecture and this tends to be more
efficient than the typical, single-tenant, statically-allocated
data centers.
8.3 Highly available
The system will be available to the end users provided they
have an internet connection and the smart parking mobile
application.
8.4 Easy to use
Users can access the parking details and parking operators
perform verifications using a user friendly mobile application.
The admin can also perform respective functions using a web
application without hassle of infrastructure maintenance.
8.5 Highly scalable
The entire database stored in cloud can be scaled as per need.
8.6 Robust
The system is highly robust as cloud providers offer
comprehensive backup and recovery capabilities across
various services and platforms.
9. CONCLUSION
Due to advancement in technology, drivers are demanding
easier and less time-consuming parking facilities. There are
various methodologies of smart parking that have been
implemented to provided better services to the end users and
improve the overall management of the existing parking
system. The real time monitoring of available parking lots and
allotment of the suitable parking area by advanced reservation

International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)
Volume 149 – No.9, September 2016
37
are some of the characteristic services provided to the
customers or end users through a user friendly interface like a
mobile application or using SMS services.
After analyzing the different solutions, it is observed that
there are some drawbacks of each system like excessive use of
expensive sensor modules, difficulty in sensing accurate
parking availability data due to speed constraints of the
vehicle, use of certain modules like Bluetooth that function
efficiently only for short distance, inefficient user
authentication techniques and centralized management of the
database of parking areas in different regions. These
drawbacks need to be eliminated to enhance the overall
performance of the system.
10. REFERENCES
[1] Z. Pala and N. Inanc, “Smart parking applications using
RFID technology” in 1st Annual Eurasia RFID
conference, September 2007.
[2] Wand and W. He, “A reservation based smart parking
system” in 1st Int.‟l Workshop on Cyber-Physical
networking systems, April 2011.
[3] N.H.H.M. Hanif, M.H. Badiozaman and H. Daud,
“Smart parking reservation system using short message
services (SMS)”, in 2010 International Conference on
Intelligent and Advanced Systems (ICIAS), June 2010.
[4] Brabham, “Crowdsourcing as a model for problem
solving: An introduction and Cases” Convergence: The
International Journal of Research into New Media
Technlogical Studies.
[5] ].S. Mathur, T. Jin, N. Kasturirangan, W. Xue, M.
Gruteser and W. Trappe, “Parknet : drive by sensing of
road-side parking statistics” in Proceedings of the Eighth
International Conference on Mobile Systems,
applications and services (MobiSys‟10), ACM New
York, June 2010.
[6] Elena Polycarpou, Lambros Lambrinos and Eftychios
Protopapadakis, “Smart Paking Solutions for Urban
Areas”
[7] Saeed Arbabi, Mohammad Allahbakhsh, Mohsen Sharifi,
“Crowd-Enhanced Cloud Services: Issues and
Directions”, International Journal of Computer
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