System and method for minimizing the time to park a vehicle

1. A system for providing a user with information on spaces in which to park a vehicle, comprising:

an availability module configured to identify one or more spaces in which to park the vehicle, and configured to select valid spaces from the identified one or more spaces based on a validation criteria, the validation criteria comprising a size of each of the identified one or more spaces; and

a ranking module configured to rank the valid spaces and provide a ranked list of the valid spaces to the user;

wherein the availability module is further configured to compare the size of each of the identified one or more spaces to a size of the vehicle, and eliminate any of the identified one or more spaces which is of a size that is less than or within a predetermined number of units of measurement of the size of the vehicle.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the validation criteria further includes at least one of a distance from a space to a target location, a time of availability of a space, a proximity of a space to an obstacle and a restriction preventing legal parking in a space.

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the availability module is further configured to eliminate any space that is greater than a predetermined distance from the space to the target location.

4. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the availability module is further configured to determine whether a time during which the vehicle is to be parked in a space overlaps with any restriction preventing legal parking in the space.

5. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the availability module is further configured to eliminate any space including an obstacle preventing parking in the space.

6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the ranking module is further configured to determine a score for each of the valid spaces based on at least one user-specified preference.

7. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a determination module configured to determine whether a space has been offered to another user, and eliminate the space if the space has been offered to the other user.

8. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a prediction module configured to predict an availability of a space that is not presently vacant.

9. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising one or more sensors configured to scan a predetermined area to capture at least one of an image, video, motion data, infrared data and acoustic data corresponding to the one or more spaces in which to park the vehicle.

10. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the size of an identified space comprises at least one of a length and a width of the identified space.

11. A method for providing a user with information on spaces in which to park a vehicle, comprising:

identifying one or more spaces in which to park the vehicle;

selecting valid spaces from the identified one or more spaces based on a validation criteria, the validation criteria comprising a size of each of the identified one or more spaces;

ranking the valid spaces and providing a ranked list of the valid spaces to the user;

comparing the size of each of the identified one or more spaces to a size of the vehicle; and

eliminating any of the identified one or more spaces which is of a size that is less than or within a predetermined number of units of measurement of the size of the vehicle;

wherein the identifying, selecting, ranking, comparing and eliminating steps are performed by a computer system comprising a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the validation criteria further includes at least one of a distance from a space to a target location, a time of availability of a space, a proximity of a space to an obstacle and a restriction preventing legal parking in a space.

13. The method of according to claim 12 , wherein the selecting comprises eliminating any space that is greater than a predetermined distance from the space to the target location.

14. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the selecting comprises determining whether a time during which the vehicle is to be parked in a space overlaps with any restriction preventing legal parking in the space.

15. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the selecting comprises eliminating any space including an obstacle preventing parking in the space.

16. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the ranking comprises determining a score for each of the valid spaces based on at least one user-specified preference.

17. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the selecting comprises determining whether a space has been offered to another user, and eliminating the space if the space has been offered to the other user.

18. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the identifying comprising predicting an availability of a space that is not presently vacant.

19. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the size of an identified space comprises at least one of a length and a width of the identified space.

20. A computer program product for providing a user with information on spaces in which to park a vehicle, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

identifying one or more spaces in which to park the vehicle;

selecting valid spaces from the identified one or more spaces based on a validation criteria the validation criteria comprising a size of each of the identified one or more spaces;

ranking the valid spaces and providing a ranked list of the valid spaces to the user;

comparing the size of each of the identified one or more spaces to a size of the vehicle; and

eliminating any of the identified one or more spaces which is of a size that is less than or within a predetermined number of units of measurement of the size of the vehicle.