JP2000295572A - Method and device for recording continuous data - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently perform monitoring, analysis and the like in the case that the events are in duplicate or the events continue for a long time or the like by collecting a plurality of the events under a prescribed condition and managing them under the same conditions. SOLUTION: First a temporary memory section 3 stores continuous data such as video image data received from a data input section 2 and a recording and reproducing section control section 5 records the data to a recording section 4 one after another. A continuous recording table 51 manages address and pointer information of a storage area at that time and updates the information one after another. On the other hand, when an event signal input section 8 informs a recording and reproduction control section 5 about reception of an event signal from an event signal generating function such as an external sensor 7, the recording and reproduction control section 5 updates a continuous recording table 51 and an event recording table 52 according to predetermined rules. In this case, an event arrangement discrimination section 53 in the recording and reproduction control section 5 discriminates conditions of events as an event group.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording method and apparatus for recording continuous data such as ITV camera video and audio data, and is applied to, for example, a video monitoring apparatus for monitoring and analyzing video.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various devices have been devised for recording an image at that moment or an image near that time by using an external event input as a trigger. Especially when multiple events are entered in a short time,
As a system for recording all the events before and after the event time without fail, Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 8-2-2
There is a video recording device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 9509/95. FIG. 20 shows the configuration.

[0003] In Fig. 20, reference numeral 1 denotes an external ITV (Industrial TV) that constantly captures an image of a monitoring target.
The camera 2 is a data input unit for inputting video data of the camera 1, 3 is a temporary memory unit for temporarily storing the input data, and 4 is a video memory for continuously storing video data in a recording medium such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). A recording unit that can perform recording, 5 is a recording and reproduction control unit that controls recording and reproduction, 6
Denotes an image display unit for displaying a recorded image, 7 denotes a sensor for detecting an event, and 8 denotes an event signal input unit for receiving an external event signal related to an event relating to a monitoring target.

The recording / reproduction control unit 5 includes a continuous recording table 51 indicating the address of a recording area and its pointer when performing continuous recording, a pointer to received event signal data and an event recording video relating to the event. An event record table 52 having information is provided.

[0005] Continuous data such as video from the camera 1 is continuously and continuously recorded in the recording unit 4 such as an HDD, and is recorded in the continuous recording table 51 by adding an address and the like for each predetermined recording area of continuous recording. Then, when an event occurs from the outside and an event signal is input by the sensor 7, a related recording area, for example, a certain time before and after the event time, is designated in the continuous recording area, and the event recording table is designated. Record management. In this way, the data in the event-related recording area can be managed more specially than the recording area not related to other events.

In this apparatus, when an operation for designating an event-related recording area in a continuous area is performed by simply setting a flag without copying or moving the data itself to another area, a short period of time can be obtained. Even if a large number of event signals are input to the system, it is possible to save and manage all relevant areas of each event. As a result, when the recorded video data is later searched and the video is reproduced, it is easy to perform operations such as extracting and viewing only the relevant video based on the event information to be examined. Have.

[0007] Then, consider a case where a large number of event signals are successively input at almost the same time due to, for example, a phenomenon such as the same accident to be monitored.
In this case, if you list the list of events recorded to play back the video later, a very large number of events will be saved because there is a mechanism to save all event related videos for all event receptions Will be listed.

[0008]

In the above-described apparatus, consider a case where a sudden event such as an explosion of an object to be monitored occurs. In this case, almost all event videos are the same, such as when many event signals are input from many sensors at almost the same time, and video for a certain time before and after each event is managed as event video. Despite the time zone and the video data having the same content, the number of managed event signals may become very large.

[0009] Alternatively, a case is considered where an abnormal state continues for a long time, such as water leakage, in the monitored object. In this case, it is assumed that the reception of the event signals continues one after another for a period sufficiently longer than the time of the event video associated with one event signal. Even in this case, even if there is only one phenomenon in the monitoring target, the number of managed events is extremely large. State that only some of the events that have occurred are saved.

In these examples, when considering an application for retrieving a list of events of video data recorded later and displaying a video, simply using such an event video management method simply performs video playback. The number of events increases for a certain accident phenomenon, forcing a very inconvenient search method. In this case, it is convenient to manage a plurality of events satisfying a condition that an event is considered to have risen due to the same phenomenon of the monitoring target in the form of an event group in which the plurality of events are put together.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in a case where events overlap or a case where events are continuous for a long period of time, the plurality of events are performed under predetermined conditions. It is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous data recording method and recording device that can efficiently perform monitoring and analysis by managing the same event as a single event.

[0012]

(1) A method of recording continuous data according to the present invention records continuous data such as video and audio, inputs an externally generated event as an event signal, and outputs the event to the event. Generate an event record table that specifies the record range of the corresponding record data,
When outputting the recording data, in the method of recording continuous data to be output with reference to the event recording table,
The event recording table is a table for recording a plurality of events that meet a predetermined condition among the above events as the same event.

(2) In the above (1), the recording data in the recording range corresponding to the event is extracted from the recorded continuous data, and only the recording data corresponding to the event is retained, or The recording data and the recorded continuous data are both stored.

(3) In the above (1) or (2), the same event is set according to a predetermined time interval of the event signal generation or the number of occurrences of the event signal.

(4) In the above (1) or (2), the predetermined event is the same event depending on the type of the event.

(5) In the above (1) or (2), as a predetermined condition, an event is extracted according to the type of the event, and the time of occurrence of an event signal of the event is extracted from the extracted events. The same event is determined according to the interval or the number of occurrences of the event signal.

(6) In the above (1) or (2), when the types of events are listed in a predetermined order as predetermined conditions, these events are regarded as the same event.

(7) In any one of the above (1) to (6), when the same event is combined under a predetermined condition, the recording data of a recording range that does not correspond to the event between the same event. If there is, the recording data of the recording range is also included in the recording range of the same event.

(8) In any one of the above items (1) to (7), when the same event is put together under a predetermined condition, an upper limit time is set. The event is divided into events.

(9) In any one of the above (1) to (7), when the same event is combined under a predetermined condition, an upper limit time is set. If there is a place where the time interval without events within the time is the largest or there is a place where the number of consecutive events is the largest, the events after that place are divided as separate events, and if there is no division condition, the same When the upper limit time of the event has elapsed, the event is divided as another event.

(10) In any one of the above items (1) to (9), an event record table before events are grouped under a predetermined condition, and an event record table after events are grouped under a predetermined condition. If both of the tables are generated, or if the predetermined condition is a multi-stage condition and an event record table can be generated for each stage, an event record table for the final stage and an event record table for each stage other than the final stage can be generated. An arbitrary number of arbitrary event recording tables are generated from the event recording tables.

(11) A continuous data recording apparatus using the continuous data recording method according to any one of the above (1) to (10).

[0023]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 In this embodiment, recording management is particularly performed for an event that is concentrated in a short time. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of the entire video monitoring device according to the first embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an external ITV camera which constantly captures an image of a monitoring target, and may be another video reproducing device.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a data input unit for inputting video data from the video source of the camera 1, 3 denotes a temporary memory unit for temporarily storing the input data, and 4 denotes a video data continuously stored on a recording medium such as an HDD. A recording unit capable of recording, 5 is a recording / reproduction control unit that controls recording and reproduction, 6 is a video display unit that displays recorded video, 7 is a sensor that detects events, and 8 is related to events related to the monitoring target. An event signal input unit that receives an external event signal.

The recording / reproduction control unit 5 includes a continuous recording table 51 indicating the address of a recording area and its pointer when performing continuous recording, a pointer to received event signal data and an event recording video relating to the event. An event record table 52 having information and an event summary determination unit 53 are provided.

The continuous data such as video data input from the data input unit 2 is first stored in the temporary memory unit 3 and is sequentially recorded in the recording unit 4 under the control of the recording and reproduction control unit 5. The address and pointer information of the storage area at this time are managed in the continuous recording table 51 and are updated one after another. On the other hand, when the event signal input unit 8 notifies the recording / reproduction control unit 5 of the reception of an event signal from an external device having an event signal generation mechanism such as the sensor 7, the recording / reproduction control unit 5 sets a predetermined rule. , The continuous record table 51 and the event record table 52 are updated.

Next, the operation will be described. Of these rules, the rule for updating the event record table 52 is, for example, a rule that, when a certain event signal is received, three seconds before and after the event time are specially managed as an event video area. Here, the event time may be defined as the time at which the event is received from the event signal input unit 8, or the information (or hereinafter, the event information) contained in the event data in the sensor 7 or the like that generates the event. One of the attributes may be an event occurrence time, and this time may be defined as an event time. Hereinafter, this specially managed recording area is referred to as event recording.

In this case, in the continuous recording table 51, a process of setting a flag indicating that event recording has been registered is performed on data in a range from three seconds before the event time to three seconds after the event time. In the area 52, one event video having a time range of 3 seconds before and after this as information is registered. When another event is received after a while, a region for 3 seconds before and after the time is similarly registered as a second event video region. FIGS. 2A and 2B show images of these tables.

However, in the first embodiment described here, the received content of the event is further transmitted to the event summary determination unit 53 in the recording / reproduction control unit 5 before updating the event recording table 52 in this event recording registration operation. Then, a condition determination as an event group is performed. As an example of the determination condition, it is assumed that, for example, if the difference between the immediately preceding event time and the current event time is within 10 seconds, the rules are collectively managed as the same event group.

FIG. 3 shows these relationships with time on the horizontal axis. FIG. 3A shows an image of video data that is continuously recorded on the HDD in the recording unit and managed in the continuous recording table 51. The numbers from 1 to 35 shown above represent addresses in a certain unit in data management. In the time zone shown in this figure, a state when the event signal is received five times is shown. The continuous record table 51 is updated in the range of 6 seconds, 3 seconds before and after the event time, as an event record. (Before event time 3
A period between seconds is called a pre-event region, and a period after 3 seconds from the event time is called a post-event region. )

FIG. 3B shows only the event recording area of the continuously recorded video data. If the event data is managed as five events from event (1) to event (5) as shown in FIG. If so, the event record table 52 may remain as shown in FIG. However, the update of the event record table 52 is performed when the first three events and the last two events have an event time of 10
The summary condition of within seconds is satisfied. Therefore, when updating the event record table 52, the event is re-registered as two events, and the attribute of each event has a range of 1
The second event record is re-registered for a total of 18 seconds, and the second event record is re-registered for a total of 12 seconds. As a result, the unit of the event recording video is the image of FIG. 3C, and the event recording table 52 is as shown in the example of FIG.

Alternatively, FIG. 4 shows an example where the occurrence of events is more localized and the effect is easy to understand by slightly changing the numerical value by paying attention to only the event summary part. This is the case, for example, when a sudden accident event such as an explosion of an object to be monitored occurs, a number of sensors surrounding the equipment simultaneously issue an event signal. In this case, the event record table 52 will be as shown in FIG. 5A unless the event is summarized, but as shown in FIG. 5B if the event occurrence intervals are summarized within 10 seconds.

As described above, in the case of a system in which the reception intervals of events vary and a large number of event signals are likely to be concentrated in a short time, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), from the original first event video, 10
Up to the event video, almost the same range of video data is held. As a result, when it is later desired to reproduce the event of the explosion at this time, even though these are event videos having almost the same content (time range), many are displayed on the search list.

Therefore, when the events are managed in the event record table 52 after the events are rearranged as shown in FIG. 4B, the events are collectively collected as one event group within the logical sum of the original event record ranges. The effect is that the information is managed and searched.

In the examples of FIGS. 2C and 5B, the item of the event time indicates the value of the first one of a plurality of events to be collected in this case as a representative value. That is, instead of creating a new event group table for the event record table 52 before the event summarization, if the example of FIG. 2C is used, the attribute of the event ( In this case, the recording range is rewritten when the event is received twice, and is registered as a new event record of event number 1. That is, event number 1
Recording range = address range is 3-5, 9-11, 15-
It becomes 17.

Thereafter, the event received after elapse of 10 seconds, which is the condition of the summary event, (the event originally received as the fourth event) is registered as the event number 2, and the attribute of the event number 2 follows. It will be updated when the event is received twice. That is, the recording range of the event number 2 = the address range is 27 to 29, 33 to 36
Becomes

If the original event record table 52 is modified and managed each time an event is received and the event is summarized, the internal structure is not changed to the internal structure even after the operation of the event summary is performed. There is no need to have a plurality of event record tables 52 in the form of an event record table 52 and an event group record table after collection, so that management can be simplified.

Further, in this example, the pre-event and post-event of a fixed value are set as the event recording area as the basic event recording range. However, this value is not a fixed length but a variable length according to the attribute such as the type of the event. Or use only one of the pre-event and post-event, or define the event time to be between 5 seconds and 10 seconds after, for example, regardless of the range of the pre-event or post-event, The relationship between the event reception and each event recording range, such as one video frame, is free. Also, in this example, the description has been made only for video data. However, if monitoring data such as audio data is continuously input, a system can be created by a similar mechanism. These applications are also the same in each of the embodiments described below.

Embodiment 2 In the second embodiment, the following events are summarized. Embodiment 1
Has shown that the effect is obtained when a sudden event occurs with respect to the monitoring target. However, in the second embodiment, the effect is seen from another angle. An example in which a certain event continuously occurs for a long time in a monitoring target will be described.

For example, let us consider a case where a water leak accident occurs in a monitored object and one sensor for detecting the water leak constantly raises an event signal during the water leak. In the example of FIG. 6, if the water leakage time is sufficiently long with respect to the basic event record time range, for example, three seconds before and after each event are set as event records. Assume that the problem event lasted about one minute. At this time, if the sensor issues an event signal every two seconds, as a result, the event signal receiving unit receives 30 event signals as shown in FIG. 6A. In this case as well, if, for example, if the preceding and following event times are within 10 seconds, the events are grouped into one event group, the event is finally grouped as one event as shown in FIG. 6B.

That is, in this case, the relationship between the event and the address (recording range) is as follows. (Before summary) Event address 1 1,2,3,4,5,6 23,4,5,6,7,8 3 5,6,7,8,9,10 ↓ ↓ 30 59,60,61 , 62, 63, 64 (after summarization) Event addresses 11 to 64

In such an example, if there is no function of summarizing events, even if there is only one accident phenomenon called water leakage which is a problem in the monitored object, the number of events to be managed becomes very large and moreover, Regardless of which event recording video is viewed, a state in which a single event recording video alone stores only a part of the events that have occurred in the monitoring target.

In other words, in this monitoring system, the setting of the time range of the basic event record that was originally set is necessary for the purpose of seeing all the details of one unit of a water leak accident. Was so short that he had to find and retrieve the required events from a large list of events. However, by having this event summarizing function, there is an effect that very convenient event management can be performed even in a case where the event reception continues for a long time for a long time.

Embodiment 3 FIG. The third embodiment relates to an event presence / absence determination function, and is a separate event when there is no event between events. In the embodiments described above, the case where an event is input to the event signal input unit irregularly from the outside has been described. Among them, the event signal input unit transmits the event to the recording / playback control unit when receiving the event. In addition to the above, a third embodiment will be described as having a more active role.

In this example, the event signal input unit 8 checks, for example, at regular intervals, whether or not an event has occurred in which event recording should be requested. Next, "event present" or "event not present" is periodically transmitted to the recording / reproduction control unit 5 as an event result.
After receiving the result indicating that there is an event, registration of an event record is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The number of determinations may be used as a condition.

For example, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram similar to FIG. 3, but in FIG. 3, the condition of the event time is within 10 seconds as a condition for summarizing the events, but in FIG. On the condition that the next event is received within two times. In this case, as a basic event recording rule, for example, every time one video frame is input, the presence or absence of an event is checked by checking the attribute of each video frame.
The state is classified into the state and the "no event" state, and in the case of "there is an event", it is considered that the rule is that one corresponding video frame is set as an event recording range. Here, the attribute of the video frame refers to, for example, a case where something specific is captured by image processing or a scene change has occurred with respect to the immediately preceding frame.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), if there is a scene change with respect to the immediately preceding frame for each video frame, the event is classified as "no event", and if there is no scene change, the event is classified as "no event". As a condition of the event summarization by the event summarization determination unit 53, as shown in FIG. 7B, as long as a scene change continues, the event group continues to be collected as the same event group. At this point, the condition is to regroup into a different event group there.

In the case where the function of the event signal input unit can be used to check for the presence or absence of an event as in this embodiment, the event summarization condition can be determined based on the number of inspections for the presence or absence of the event. It becomes possible to make the method more flexibly.

Although the example shown here is a case where the event inspection is performed at regular intervals, the same applies to a system in which the event inspection is not always performed at regular intervals.

Embodiment 4 In the fourth embodiment, event summarization for each event type is performed. In the embodiment described so far, the event time is used as a condition for all event summaries, but in the fourth embodiment,
An example will be described in which it is assumed that there is an attribute indicating the type of event in the event information, and the events are grouped based on the type of event.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, it is assumed that three types of event signals of event types A, B, and C are inputted in no particular order. At this time, the original event recording ranges are pre / post event areas for a fixed time before and after the event time as shown in the upper part of the figure. On the other hand, when a certain event is received, the event summary determination unit 53 checks whether or not the same type of event has been registered in the past, and if so, updates the event record table 52 together with the past event. Otherwise, the event is registered in the event record table 52 as a new event. As a result, as shown in FIG.
Event group recording video will be collected.

By using the event type as a condition in this way, for example, when the viewpoint to be monitored is different depending on the event from a plurality of types of sensors, or even when the event is from the same sensor, an image is displayed depending on the conditions at that time. This is effective when you want to change the search viewpoint.

The event type is not limited to one type.
A plurality of types of events in which two types of events A and B are the same event may be combined as the same event. This can be applied to the following fifth embodiment.

Embodiment 5 FIG. The fifth embodiment is based on both event types and event intervals. In the fourth embodiment, only the event type is set as the condition for summarizing the events. However, in practice, the conditions for summarizing the event are not limited to only the event type.
A plurality of conditions may be combined, such as a rule in which event summarization is performed only when both of the conditions in the time information as shown in are satisfied. This will be described as a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows an example of such a case, in which the conditions for summarizing the conditions by the event type shown in FIG. 8 and the summarizing conditions by the interval of the event time shown in FIG. 3 are simultaneously satisfied. In this case, only when the event time is within the range of 10 seconds or less and the event is of the same type, the event is collected. As a result, FIG.
(A) The example of “same as FIG. 8 (a)” is grouped into five event groups as shown in FIG. 9 (b).

By using a combination of a plurality of event summarizing conditions, a more detailed event record management method can be set.

Further, the fourth embodiment and the third embodiment are combined so that when the same event type continues, if there is no event between the events a predetermined number of times or a predetermined time, another event is set. Good. This means that when the same event type continues, if there is no event between the events for less than a predetermined number of times or for less than a predetermined time, the event is regarded as the same event.

Embodiment 6 FIG. In the sixth embodiment, if the order of the event types is a predetermined order, the same event is set. A sixth embodiment will be described as an example in which when an event has a type or the like as an attribute as in the fourth embodiment, for example, only a case where a certain reception pattern is matched is set as an event group.

As shown in FIG. 8 in the fourth embodiment, A, B,
In a system in which three types of events C can occur at random, consider a system in which, for example, only when an event of an event type A is received and then an event type B is received, it is meaningful as an event summary. 10A, which is the same as FIG. 8A, FIG.
The five event groups as shown in FIG.

By using the event reception pattern as the event summarizing condition, it is useful to provide an event video management method suitable for more complicated monitoring conditions of the monitoring system. As an example of use of such a system, for example, if there is an object passing in front of the sensor at point A in a certain monitoring place, an event of event type A is issued, and then passing in front of the sensor at point B Considering a system in which an event of type B is issued when an object is present, in this example, only when an object moving from point A to point B is photographed, it is managed as a collective event. .

However, as described in the fifth embodiment, it is also possible to combine conditions more complicatedly, for example, by combining conditions based on event times. Condition.

Embodiment 7 In the seventh embodiment, when recording ranges overlap between adjacent events, the same event is set. For example, in the example of the first embodiment, when a pre-event and a post-event each have a three-second event recording range as a basic event recording range, a condition based on an event time is used as a condition for summarizing events. Regardless of the pre / post event recording time, the event time was within 10 seconds.

On the other hand, in the seventh embodiment, the event summarizing condition is set to the reception time of the event time, and furthermore, the relationship between the time length of the basic event recording range and the event summarizing condition is set. Will be described.

FIG. 11 shows an example of this case. In the case where the event recording range has a total of 6 seconds of 3 seconds of pre-event and 3 seconds of post-event, the event summarizing condition is the same as the interval between received event times. Consider a case where the time is within 6 seconds. In other words, when the post-event period of the event (1) that has already occurred and the pre-event period of another event (2) overlap, as shown in the drawing, these two events become the same event group. It is a condition that the registration is made as follows.

FIG. 12 is another example. In the case where at least an event record is a post event of 3 seconds, the condition for summarizing the events is that the interval between the received event times is within 3 seconds, which is the same time as this. And so on.

FIG. 13 shows another example. In the case where at least 3 seconds is set as the pre-event recording time as an event recording target, another event having an event time within the range of the 3 second pre-event is recorded. The same is true on condition that they are grouped as the same event group.

As an effect of such an example, when a certain event occurs and a condition for grouping into the same event group is satisfied, the recording area as this event group is
For example, there is a feature that the recording area is always continuous without being a discrete recording data range as in the first example (FIG. 3) of the first embodiment.

That is, when an event that has become a grouped event group is later searched and reproduced, the event recording video is continuous video data that is not interrupted from the beginning to the end of the event recording video. It is very effective when searching and playing. The seventh embodiment shows a part of the case where the event shown in the second embodiment (FIG. 6) continues continuously.

Embodiment 8 FIG. In the eighth embodiment, when two events have the same event condition, if there is a recording portion that is not an event recording area between the events, this recording portion is also managed as the same event.

In the event summarizing condition as in the seventh embodiment, when the event summarizing is performed, the event recording areas are all automatically continuous. For example, as shown in FIG. In the case of simple summary conditions,
Although the pre / post event time is set shorter than the condition time of the group event, the range of the event recording video within the record of the group event is described, although it is managed collectively as one group of events. There is an untargeted area. As a result, if the event recording table 52 is later searched to reproduce only the event recording area of this event group, a plurality of partially continuous videos will appear as jumps.

Therefore, in the eighth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, it is assumed that the event recording condition is such that the above-described discrete recording state may occur, and the event recording table 52 is updated after the event recording is performed. In this case, a method of modifying the summarization rule so that even if data does not have continuity, data during this time is also registered as a recording area of the same event group will be described.

As a method of this, for example, when the second event is received, if the condition to be a combined event with the first event is satisfied, the event recording end point is set as the second event recording attribute. May be changed to the end point of the event, and only the first event may be registered again. That alone, the original one
Regardless of whether or not a discontinuous area outside of the event recording range is generated between the second event recording range and the second event recording range, the event data is registered as recording data of all continuous event groups. .

As described above, even if a plurality of event records satisfying the condition of the collective event include an area which has been excluded from the event recording, all the image areas are converted into a series of event group image data. By registering as, the same effect as in the case described in the seventh embodiment can be obtained. In other words, when searching and playing back an event that has become a grouped event group later, continuous video data that does not break from the beginning to the end of the event recorded video is obtained, which is very effective when searching and playing back based on the event Becomes

The condition for giving the same event to a portion where there is no event between the same events in the eighth embodiment is applicable to the first to seventh embodiments.

Embodiment 9 FIG. In the ninth embodiment, upper limit values such as an upper limit time and an upper limit event count are set, and when the same event continues, the event is divided into another event when the upper limit is reached. In the case where an event meeting the event summarizing condition continues to occur for an extremely long time in the case described above, the ninth embodiment describes an example in which an upper limit is set for the event summarizing.

As in the example already described, for example, when it is assumed that events whose event time interval is within 10 seconds are grouped, an event that satisfies the grouping conditions continues for a long time as shown in FIG. In this case, for example, a new rule that the time exceeds the upper limit of one minute is added. That is, if an event that satisfies the summarizing condition that the time exceeds 1 minute and the event time interval is within 10 seconds occurs, in this case, the event received here is separated from the next another by the upper limit of 1 minute. A new rule to regroup events is provided.

In addition to the upper limit based on time as described above, there are various ways of creating the upper limit, for example, as shown in FIG. 16, the upper limit is formed by the number of times of receiving the original event (within four events) forming a group of events. .

Providing the upper limit of the summary event as described in this embodiment is counter to the action of grouping a plurality of events that are highly relevant to a certain change event in the monitoring target. . This is because, among a plurality of managed event groups, an event group divided by the upper limit of the grouping event is video data having a meaning that should originally be grouped as the same event group.

However, by adding this rule, there is an effect that it is possible to avoid the inconvenience that the length of the data managed by each event record becomes extremely uneven when searching and reproducing later. When the event group is divided by providing such a limitation of the upper limit, it is preferable to leave special link information between the event groups before and after the event group is divided. That is, when the data is later reproduced and displayed based on the recording table of the event group, the data is managed as separate event groups. This is because it is easy to perform applications such as playing back.

Another effect of providing an upper limit to the event summary shown in the ninth embodiment will be described below. The operation of continuous recording in the recording unit described in the present invention is actually performed when, for example, all the HDDs of the recording medium have been completely recorded, the HDD returns to the initial position where recording has been started, and the event recording area and It is mainly supposed to be used in such a way that endless continuous recording and event recording accompanying the endless recording are performed by sequentially overwriting the portions that are not.

However, in such a system, when a steady state is reached in which the number of events is increased and the capacity for performing new continuous recording is reduced, every time a new event recording is attempted to be registered, the event recording area is sequentially changed from the oldest event recording area. A separate control structure is required to continue the endless recording by deleting the event registration.

As described above, in a system in which it is necessary to repeat overwriting in order from the oldest event recording video and continue continuous recording endlessly, if a state occurs in which events satisfying the condition of event collection continue to occur indefinitely. If the event group that is currently being collected by going around the recording medium becomes the oldest event group, if this function is not provided, there are no events that can be deleted, and the system breaks down. Therefore, by providing an upper limit to the event summary, there is an effect that such a situation can be avoided. Note that the condition for dividing an event at the upper limit of the ninth embodiment is applicable to the first to eighth embodiments.

In the case where the continuous recording is not performed endlessly as described above, as means for saving the storage capacity of the HDD, the video data to be continuously recorded is not stored.
Only the video data in the recording range specified by the event may be stored. In this case, the recording range differs before and after the events are grouped, but may be selected in consideration of the usage state.
Also, as another means, which is not related to the storage capacity of the HDD, when a plurality of storage devices are provided, the storage of video data to be continuously recorded and the storage of video data in a recording range designated by an event are performed. Both may be stored and used properly according to the use state. Also in this case, the recording range differs before and after the events are grouped, but may be selected according to the use state, or both may be stored.

Embodiment 10 FIG. In the tenth embodiment, an upper limit value such as an upper limit time and an upper limit event count is set, and if the same event continues beyond the upper limit value, if there is a maximum time or number of events without an event within the upper limit value, Is divided into different events at that location.

Another method for dividing the summary event within the upper limit in the ninth embodiment will be described below as a tenth embodiment. In the ninth embodiment, when an event recording exceeding the upper limit value (for example, a time limit of one minute) occurs, the group of events is divided at the event. However, it is not always necessary to accurately divide an event exceeding the upper limit value into boundaries. In the tenth embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. Is the maximum (in the example shown, 4
(Seconds) as a boundary to divide the event into different event groups.

Further, as shown in FIG. 18, in the case of a system including a mechanism for actively checking for the presence or absence of an event as described in the third embodiment, the number of times that the absence of an event is determined continuously is the maximum. (In the example shown, four times as a dividing boundary). The counting of the upper limit starts from the time when another event is set.

The effects of this example will be described below. First, as described in the ninth embodiment, the addition of the rule of setting an upper limit to the summary event is originally against the action of grouping a plurality of events that are highly relevant to the monitoring purpose. It is. In other words, if it is necessary to divide event group data that is continuous for a long period of time in order to achieve the effect described in the ninth embodiment, a unit that should be meaningful will be divided. . Therefore, even in such a case, by using the subdivision method before the upper limit value of the event summarization as in the present embodiment, there is an effect that division management can be performed with a unit as meaningful as possible.

The condition for dividing an event by the upper limit value in the tenth embodiment is applicable to the first to eighth embodiments.

Embodiment 11 FIG. In the eleventh embodiment, an event record table before and after an event is generated is generated. Event record table 52
In the first embodiment, the event recording is managed in one event recording table 52 by changing the attribute (recording area) of the event before being consolidated in the event recording table 52 when the event is summarized in the first embodiment. An example of how to do this was given. In the twelfth embodiment,
An example will be described in which both the event recording table 52 that can be generated when the event summarization is not performed and the recording table as the event group as a result of the event summarization are performed at the same time.

That is, the event record table 52 is hierarchically provided for the operation of collecting events, and the primary event record table 52 as shown in the example of FIG. And the secondary event record table 52 as in the above example is simultaneously managed as separate tables.

FIGS. 19A and 19B show the case. FIG. 19A shows the state of the continuous recording data, and FIG.
(B) shows a secondary event record when the events are combined, and (c) shows a tertiary event record when the events are combined.

First, consider the case where both event record tables (a) and (b) are generated and managed. The effect obtained by such a management method is that it can flexibly cope with finer video search and classification of event video.
During normal video search and playback, video playback is performed with reference to the recording table of the secondary event group shown in (b), and in some cases, an event recording video corresponding to an individual event before the primary event is combined. In response to a request to retrieve and play back only the original event recording table shown in FIG.

Furthermore, by hierarchically managing such an event record table 52, it becomes easy to arbitrarily rearrange and redivide events under different conditions later. For example, with respect to the secondary event group recording table of FIG. 19B, higher-order event groups are created by further compiling event groups as shown in FIG. Application such as utilization is also facilitated. In the case of re-division, the division may be performed using the registered contents of the lower-order event group recording table as a unit, or may be performed based on a new reference.

As shown in FIG. 19, when the hierarchy of the event record table has three levels, one level and three levels, or two levels.
An event record table may be generated for cases such as stage and three stages, or all cases of 1, 2, and 3 stages. . That is, when an event record table can be generated in multiple levels (multiple levels), an event record table in any multiple levels may be generated and managed.

The method of generating an event record table according to the eleventh embodiment is applicable to the first to tenth embodiments.

[0096]

As described above, according to the present invention, continuous data recording management is performed by managing different events into the same event according to predetermined conditions, so that continuous data recording management is simplified. We can do it efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a video monitoring device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a continuous recording table and an event recording table according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an event summary according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an event summary according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an event record table according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an event summary according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an event summary according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an event summary according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of event summarization in Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an event summary according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of event summarization according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of event summarization according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an event summary according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of event summarization in Embodiment 8 of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of event summarization in Embodiment 9 of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of event summarization in Embodiment 9 of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of an event summary according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of an event summary according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of event summarization in Embodiment 11 of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a configuration diagram of a conventional video monitoring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 camera 2 data input / output unit 3 temporary memory unit 4 recording unit 5 recording / playback control unit 6 video display unit 7 sensor 8 event signal input unit 51 continuous recording table 52 event recording table 53 event summary judgment unit

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) G11B 27/00 D (72) Inventor Fumihiko Isogai 2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Mitsubishi Electric Corporation F Terms (reference) 5C053 FA11 FA14 HA29 JA22 JA24 LA05 LA06 5C054 CG07 CH04 EA01 EA07 GA01 GB05 GB06 GD06 HA18 5D110 AA13 AA28 BB07 BB18 BC05 DA04 DA12 DA17 DB08 DC16 DD13

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An event recording table which records continuous data such as video and audio, inputs an externally generated event as an event signal, and specifies a recording range of the recording data corresponding to the event, In the method of recording continuous data to be output with reference to the event recording table when outputting the recording data, the event recording table is a table for recording a plurality of events meeting predetermined conditions among the events as the same event. A method for recording continuous data, characterized in that: 2. The continuous data recording method according to claim 1, wherein the recording data in the recording range corresponding to the event is extracted from the recorded continuous data, and only the recording data corresponding to the event is retained. A method for recording continuous data, wherein both the recorded data corresponding to an event and the recorded continuous data are held. 3. The continuous data recording method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined event is that the same event is set in accordance with a time interval of occurrence of the event signal or the number of times of occurrence of the event signal. How to record continuous data. 4. A continuous data recording method according to claim 1, wherein the same event is set according to a type of the event as a predetermined condition. 5. The continuous data recording method according to claim 1, wherein an event is extracted according to a type of the event as a predetermined condition, and an event signal of the event is extracted from the extracted events. A method for recording continuous data, wherein the same event is set in accordance with the time interval of occurrence or the number of occurrences of an event signal. 6. The continuous data recording method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, as a predetermined condition, when the types of events are arranged in a predetermined order, these events are regarded as the same event. A method of recording continuous data. 7. The continuous data recording method according to claim 1, wherein when the same event is combined under a predetermined condition, when there is recording data of a recording range that does not correspond to the event between the same event, A method for recording continuous data, wherein the recording data of the recording range is also included in the recording range of the same event. 8. The continuous data recording method according to claim 1, wherein when the same event is combined under a predetermined condition, an upper limit time is set, and when the same event passes the upper limit time, the event is set as another event. A recording method of continuous data, characterized by dividing. 9. The recording method of continuous data according to claim 1, wherein when the same event is combined under a predetermined condition, an upper limit time is set, and when the same event continues for the upper limit time, an event within the upper limit time is set. If there is a place where the time interval of absence is the largest, or there is a place where the number of consecutive events is the largest, the events after that place are divided as separate events, and if there is no division condition, the same event will have the upper limit time A method of recording continuous data, wherein an event is divided as another event after a lapse. 10. The continuous data recording method according to claim 1, wherein an event record table before events are grouped under a predetermined condition, and an event record table after events are grouped under the predetermined condition. If both of the event record tables are generated, or if the predetermined condition is a multi-stage condition and an event record table for each stage can be generated, the event record table at the final stage and each stage other than the final stage A method of recording continuous data, wherein an arbitrary number of arbitrary event recording tables are generated from each event recording table. 11. A continuous data recording device using the continuous data recording method according to claim 1.