=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1830/Paper2
|storemode=property
|title=A Model for an Enterprise Automated RFID-Based Pay and Park System
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1830/Paper2.pdf
|volume=Vol-1830
|authors=E. M. Dogo,A. Ahmed,M. O. Adelakun
}}
==A Model for an Enterprise Automated RFID-Based Pay and Park System==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1830/Paper2.pdf
International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Its Applications
(ICTA 2016)
Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria
November 28 – 30, 2016
A Model for an Enterprise Automated RFID-Based Pay and Park System
E. M. Dogo1, A. Ahmed2, and M. O. Adelakun3
Department of Computer Engineering, Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria
1
eustace.dogo@futminna.edu.ng, 2aliyu.ahmed@futminna.edu.ng, 3monsuradelakun@gmail.com
Abstract—Traffic management is one of the challenging The automatic parking system can be of benefit in so
problems in urban cities as vehicle owners look for where many ways among which are; safety and security, it saves
to park and queue to pay for rented car parks usually time, money and fuel of car users, it minimizes pollution,
on an hourly basis. Therefore, the choice of a suitable, reliable thereby making it environmentally friendly, a n d it also
and flexible architecture for Radio Frequency Identification generates more revenue due to its low operational costs
(RFID) based pay and park system readily comes to mind. It is and increase productivity [1].
assumed in this work that the parking lot is already
known and secured by the vehicle owner in a closed car A. RFID Fundamentals and Theory
park; this paper therefore seeks to address and automate
the billing system for enterprise car parks. To achieve RFID is a wireless identification technology that uses
this, a reliable and accurate enterprise star topology radio signals for identifying, tracking, sorting and
networked RFID based system, that computes the amount to detecting a different range of things which includes people,
be paid by a user which is calculated based on the time the vehicles, goods and assets without the need for direct contact
user enters and exits the park, and the amount the park or line of sight. RFID technology can track moving objects
owner is charging at a particular point in time is proposed for using its radio-enabled scanning devices over a distance of
the automated pay and park system. The system comprises several meters [3].
of both software and hardware components integrated RFID devices could be divided into two types: active and
together. The developed prototype system is able to grant passive. An active tag requires a power source which is
authorized users access to the park within 30ms after connected to a powered source or usable energy stored a
verification and open the barrier in 30ms whenever the battery. Active tag’s lifetime is limited by the battery life.
emergency button is pressed for safety consideration. Passive RFID tags, obtain power from RFID reader because
they do not have an internal source of power. Passive
Keywords-RFID reader; RFID tag; automated pay and RFID is more popularly used because the tags don’t require
park system; star topology; Arduino
batteries or constant repairs. The RFID system can be
divided into three parts: Tag, Reader and the Antenna [3].
RFID tag stores RFID data and communicate with the
reader by transforming the energy of radio frequency
queries from the reader and send back the information
I. INTRODUCTION
enclosed in it. The major merit of RFID is its reader’s
A parking lot is a cleared area intended for parking of ability to read the content of tags in motion and out of the
vehicles or cars. Parking lots are important features of every line-of-sight. RFID tags can be read under severe condition
city in most countries where the car is the major mode of of temperature, high pressure and so on. RFID technology
transportation. Places like shopping malls, sport stadium, big helps reduce operational costs by reducing the need for
organizations such as corporate offices, banks, mosques, human involvement in systems that collects information and
churches and other similar places a r e often characterized in revenue collection [4].
by large car parks. T wo types of car parking systems are RFID can be used in many industrial applications such
in existence: the manual parking system and the automated as vehicle access control, security in shops, equipment and
parking system. Comparing both manual and automated baggage tracking, fast food shop’s activity monitoring, time
parking systems, automated car parking systems are more and attendance monitoring, road toll management, logistics
cost effective [1] implementation, etc. [5], [6]. Figure 1 shows the RFID
Inefficient traffic management system has made many protocol layers: physical, network-transport, application and
developing countries suffer from traffic congestion. The strategic layers.
main factor adding to congestion problem is poor The three (3) RFID standards of the International
management of car parking system. An efficient parking Standard Organization (ISO) are: ISO 14443, ISO 15693 and
system whereby a particular space is allocated for parking ISO 18000 for contactless systems, vicinity systems and
purpose and users will be registered and made to pay a wireless link for diverse RFID application respectively.
specific amount before they gain access to the parking lot is Standardization of RFID technology remains a challenge, but
needed to combat the problem of traffic congestion [2]. EPCglobal is an organization in the forefront working on
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International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Its Applications (ICTA 2016)
developing a widely accepted standard for product point and exit-point. Drivers do not have to stop at the
identification called the Electronic Product Code (EPC) circulation points and parking tickets were out of usage
standard, which comprises of format of product at the entry- point and exit-point because the system
identification data storage in an RFID tag, the middleware consists of a recharge module. The system was implemented
and database storage information about the tags and the in four stages, namely: writing into the tag, reading from the
network Object Naming Service (ONS) which is similar to tag, data feed to the system and tracking the count.
Domain Name Service (DNS), is used to link EPC to [2] discusses some of the commonly used techniques in
detailed object information so that a product number or EPC parking management and identified the problems present in
numbers can be looked up on the internet [6]. their methodologies. The paper highlighted the steps
followed by users to park their vehicles, which are: entering
the park zone, searching for an available parking lot, parking
of the vehicle at the empty lot, payment of the specified
amount and the user leaves the parking zone.
RFID technology was used to provide a solution to
t h e challenges encountered in a car park management
system by [9], [10]. The system is comprised of: RFID
readers, RFID labels, computers, barriers and software. The
software was used for handling the management,
controlling, transaction reporting and operation task for three
(3) parking lots located in various parts of a city using a
centralized database system. The entry gate and exit gate
are under t h e control of RFID readers, labels and
barriers. The limitation of this system is that the system
Figure 1. RFID Protocol Layers cannot totally check those who are eligible (registered users)
to the park before granting access, thereby forcing fine on
In this work, is proposed RFID based billing system any vehicle that makes an unauthorized access
which is simple, functional, accurate and has low [11] provided solutions to challenges encountered in a car
maintenance cost that computes amount to be paid by a car park management system using RFID, 8051 microcontroller
owner based on the entry and exit time into the car park. and IC 24C64 memory unit for storing entries from
Also incorporated in the design is an automated direct registered users’. The system is designed to park cars
crediting system from the car owner’s account through automatically in a multilevel parking area. The vehicle has to
authorization or using a credit card on POS (Point of Sale) at be registered at the car park by the owner to gets the RFID
the car park in case of insufficient funds in user parking tag. When the car to be parked approaches the park
system account and a safety button in case of an emergency entrance, the RFID tag is read by the reader, the system
exit from the car park. automatically verifies the data and information, then the car
is granted access to the parking area and the system
increment the parking counter by one. The system lacks an
II. REVIEW OF RELATED WORKS
automated billing system.
[7] designed an RFID-based automatic vehicle parking [12] developed an automatic parking and fee collection
system using AT89S52 microcontroller. The system management system using image processing for recognizing
consists of a vehicle counter, sensors, display board, gate number plates. Limitations of the system are constantly
controller, RFID reader and tags. The vehicle owner has to modification of algorithms for different number plates as a
register the vehicle with the park to get RFID tag. result of character restriction to 3 letters and 4 numbers
Whenever the car to be parked approaches the parking which were based on one-row plate number scenario. There
entrance, the RFID tag is placed near the RFID reader could also be security concerns with plate number cloning.
installed near the entry gate of the parking lot. As soon as [13] proposed a parking system based on Field-
the reader reads the tag, the system automatically deducts programmable Gate Array (FPGA) integrated circuit in
the specified amount from the tag and the entry gate order to overcome the problem of traffic congestion and
Boomer opens to grant the car access to the parking area. pollution. The system comprises of two main modules:
The system counter increment by one each time a vehicle identification and slot checking modules. The identification
enters the park and also decrement each time vehicle leaves module identifies the vehicle owner and the slot checking
the parking lot. The limitation of this work is that the system module checks for slot availability. The system operates in
does not take into consideration the time the vehicle used at the sense that whenever a vehicle enters the parking lot, LCD
the park before deducting the amount to be paid by the displays if there is available space in the parking lot or not.
user. If there are still spaces left in the parking lot, the stepper
A system that informs users about space availability at a motor rotates and gate opens for the vehicle to enter the
particular parking location was designed by [8]. The system parking lot. A RF module was used to transmit and receive
helps to save time and fuel wastage used in searching for slot availability information. Once the host computer (the
available spaces at a particular park. The slot availability control unit) programs the FPGA, identification and slot
details were collected using an RFID system and are updated checking module activate.
periodically into the database. The system consists of RFID [14] presented a study that provides solution for the
readers, labels and barrier which are installed at the entry- challenges encountered in parking lot management. The
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International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Its Applications (ICTA 2016)
management, controlling and operational tasks of the A. System Overview
parking lots were handled by the software. The check--ins The automated RFID based park and pay system
and checkouts of the parking-lots were proposed to be consists of different units which includes identification unit,
under the control of RFID readers, labels and barriers. The control database and the barrier controlling unit. A new user
system is capable of displaying an occupied space and also will have to be registered with details saved into the
free spaces at the park, while [15] developed RFID based database and given a new RFID tag by the personnel at the
system to handle the management of parking lots by park. Whenever a registered user comes to the park, the
integrating hardware and software components, but the user will have to drive his or her cars close to the park
network architecture and topology of the system was not entrance where the RFID reader is installed. The RFID
addressed. reader, then reads the RFID tag attached to the car. The
[16] developed an automated parking lot management RFID reader will give a beep sound whenever an RFID tag
system that mo n ito r s the a c t i v i t i e s in the p ar k i n g is at the same frequency with the RFID reader (i.e. the
lot by managing the parking space through space detection RFID tag is within the range at which communication can
and allocation as well as controlling the entry and exit into be established between the RFID reader and the RFID
the parking facility. tag) thereby causing the gate at the park entrance to
Based on the review carried out on related works with open for the user to gain access to the park. As the car enters
regards to parking system, there is a need to improve on the the park, the host computer records the time the user enters
limitation and recommendation of some past works in order the park. Whenever the user is trying to exit the park, the
to raise the standard of parking-lots and to enable users RFID reader also reads RFID tags for the gate to open.
appreciate the service rendered by park owners. This model The system then records the time the user exits the park and
design hopes to solve the problem of delay that users save it to the database. The system was able to deny an
encountered while trying to enter or exits the park by unregistered RFID tag access to the park and also a
automating the payment and parking system in such a way registered card cannot be used to register another user
that access to the park can be granted within a very short unless the details of the first user has been deleted from the
period of time and charges by users after their stay at the database. Figure 2 shows the block diagram of the system.
park can be calculated within the shortest possible time, also
proposed is a suitable enterprise network architecture and B. Hardware Design Consideration
topology.
The hardware system consists of the host computer,
RFID reader, RFID tag, servomotor, Arduino board and a
Push button. The host computer powers the RFID reader and
III. SYSTEM DESIGN the Arduino board to which both the servomotor and the
push button were connected. The servomotor which controls
This section shows the methodology involved in the the barrier to the park entrance was interfaced to the
design of an automated RFID based park and pay system. Arduino board. The push button (Emergency button) was
The design and development of the system are described incorporated into the system which can be used to open
based on the system overview, hardware design the barrier in case the need arise for an emergency exit at
consideration and software design consideration. the park.
Figure 2. Block Diagram of System
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International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Its Applications (ICTA 2016)
ID which defines the Edge Controller controlling these
locations. This makes a base platform for Enterprise RFID
deployment.
The Edge node which is responsible for the Edge
domain holds the uppermost degree of scalability for an
enterprise deployment. In this domain, unlimited number of
controllers could be added to the topology, but in this case
about 30 controllers are configured. This then communicates
with a single server at any time. The proposed enterprise
topology will have the following allocation: one root
location, one location per reader, about three RFID readers
of the same type per Edge Controller and about 30 Edge
Controller per Server.
The layout is configured with the following
considerations: There must be a fixed IP address for each
reader, edge controller and the server with its fully qualified
DNS name. The figure 5 depicts the RFID Enterprise
Figure 3. Interface for Users' Registration Network topology deployment.
Figure 5. Proposed RFID Enterprise Network Topology
Figure 4. Interface for Users' Billing A network architecture for direct billing of user account
is proposed as shown in figure 6, which has a direct
C. Software Design Considerations connection via a fibre link and VSAT link (as redundancy) to
Two different graphical user interfaces (GUI) were the banks via the financial settlement house for seamless
designed with the help of the Java programming language. transactions. A star network topology is also proposed
The first GUI is mainly for registration of new users and the between the various parks spread across the cities and
other GUI is for billing and keeping users visit and log interstate to the pay and park headquarter where the database
records at the park. The Arduino board which controls the is located, there could also be a Disaster Recovery Site
operation of the servomotor and the emergency button was (DRS) as backup to the headquarter to improve the overall
programmed using C language. Figures 3 and 5 respectively reliability and to minimize downtime of the system. The
show the interface for registration of new users and the dynamic routing protocol is proposed for interconnecting the
interface for billing users after their stay at the park. network devices figure 7 shows the conceptualized network
architecture.
D. RFID Enterprise Network Topology
The RFID network topology has detailed and important E. System Working Principle
information about the devices of the controlled RFID The system was designed in such a way that it will be
network. This information is retrieved from the Edge easy for the personnel at the park to manage the system due
Controller and used to build its software stack depending on to the non-complex components used. A new user will have
how it is configured and defined to be registered in the database and an RFID tag will be
The RFID network topology introduces the concepts of issued to the user for subsequent visit to the park. Details
location ID which defines the group of devices which are such as: user’s name, car model, plate number and RFID
in the same area or location, reader ID which defines the tag serial number will be saved during registration. A
RFID readers in a particular location, and Edge Controller registered user that has been given an RFID tag will have to
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International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Its Applications (ICTA 2016)
drive close to the RFID reader at a distance of one (1) meter the park (Time-out) multiplied by the appropriate amount to
to the park entrance. be charged at any point in time. In this work N5 (Five Naira)
The RFID reader senses the presence of the RFID tag, is configured to be charged per second. The amount to be
read the unique code on the RFID tag, and then paid by the user is displayed on the GUI for personnel to
communicates with the host computer to check the database know the amount paid by the user. An emergency button was
to authenticate the identity of the user. If the authentication incorporated into the system which can be used to open the
of the user’s RFID tag is found to be true, the RFID reader barrier in case the need arise for an emergency exit from the
gives a buzz sound, and then the host computer park. Figure 8 shows the flow chart of the system.
communicates with the Arduino board housing the
microcontroller to activate the servo motor so that the barrier
is opened for the user to gain access to the park and after30 IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
millisecond, the servomotor rotates to its initial state which
The prototype system was tested by registering two users
signifies the closing of the barrier. The host computer takes
with each user given different RFID tag and other user was
note of the time the user enters the park and saves it to the
given an RFID tag that was not registered in the database.
database. At the exit side of the park, the user will have to
The system was able to grant authorized access to both
drive close to the RFID reader at a distance of one (1) meter
registered users to the park, saved their subscription record to
for the host computer to record the time the user leaves the
the database and display their bills on exiting the park. The
park, which is used for calculating the amount to be paid by
barrier did not open for the other user of the unregistered
a particular user and also for the host computer to
RFID tag which shows the accuracy and reliability of the
communicate with the Arduino board for the barrier to be
designed system. Figure 9 shows the setup of the functional
opened so that the user can exit the park. The amount to be
prototype on display.
paid by a particular user will be the difference between the
time a user enters the park (Time-in) and the time he exits
Figure 6. Conceptual Network Architecture of Proposed System
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International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Its Applications (ICTA 2016)
Figure 7. Conceptual Network Design Architecture
Figure 8. Flow Chart Diagram of the System
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International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Its Applications (ICTA 2016)
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