Integrating pervasive computing, infostations and swarm intelligence to design intelligent context-aware parking-space location mechanism

With the state-of-the-art developments in wireless communication and internet technology and advances in the miniaturization of electronics, the recent trend in research has been to progressively embed computers and communication in various everyday objects. The ubiquitous availability of internet imparts computing and communication power to objects by adding small silicon chips to them and this paradigm of pervasive computing is transforming conventionally designed vehicles into smart vehicles. In this paper we present novel swarm intelligence based vehicle parking system that exploits the concept of context awareness and wireless communication capabilities in smart vehicles. The parking zones are assigned with web based features using pervasive computing, wireless enabled infrastructure and smart chips. The parking details become available on the internet, and can be communicated to the vehicle searching for a parking space. In case of multiple available parking spaces, the shortest route to the nearest parking is calculated using particle swarm optimization algorithm and is informed to the vehicle driver. Mounting micro sensors and wireless sensors on these vehicles enables them to gather knowledge about their environment, perceive the surroundings and to reason based on the context. Partial automating of the driving task by intelligent location of vacant parking space would enhance the drivers´ driving knowledge and capabilities, leading to more efficient, safer and environment-friendly driving conditions and savings in fuel expenditure. The system is proposed to be implemented in Network Simulator-3. The objective of this paper is to contribute towards developing suitable safety and comfort measures for road transport where drivers, smart vehicles and road-side infrastructure work in collaboration using the available context information.