JP2012138878A - Monitoring recorder system and software used for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitoring recorder system and a software used for the same capable of performing alive monitoring of a monitoring recorder installed at a remote location automatically, and confirming states of the monitoring recorder and communication.SOLUTION: A monitoring recorder system has a monitoring recorder 1 recording a video taken by a camera 6, and a control terminal 3 connected communicably with the monitoring recorder 1 via a communication network 2 and performing alive monitoring of the monitoring recorder 1. When performing the alive monitoring, the control terminal 3 determines whether or not there is a response to a predetermined command transmitted to the monitoring recorder 1 in a predetermined period based on recorder communication information including an address of the preliminarily-registered monitoring recorder 1. If there is no response, the control terminal 3 determines that the communication state of the communication network 2 is abnormal, and notifies the exterior of the abnormal state of the communication network 2.

Description

  The present invention includes a monitoring recorder that records and reproduces video captured by a camera installed for monitoring purposes, and a control terminal in which monitoring and control software is installed. The present invention relates to a monitoring recorder system that performs life and death monitoring and software used therefor.

  Crime prevention such as surveillance cameras (hereinafter also referred to as surveillance cameras) and surveillance recorders in buildings such as apartment buildings such as condominiums, commercial buildings, office buildings, and stores such as banks, department stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores Equipment is installed. In recent years, IP (Internet Protocol) networks are generally used for transmission of video data as the communication speed increases and the communication usage fee decreases due to the advancement of network technology. Network support for recorders, etc. is also progressing. A network of surveillance cameras, surveillance recorders, etc. is connected, and by connecting a control terminal (for example, a PC (Personal Computer)) to the network, a plurality of surveillance cameras and surveillance recorders can be concentrated from a remote location. It becomes possible to monitor and control.

  The surveillance recorder records and reproduces video captured by the surveillance camera, and the minimum requirement is to continuously record for a long time. As a characteristic operation example, an ATM (Automated Teller Machine) is used. It may be installed in an unattended remote location such as a device. In such a case, in order to check whether a plurality of monitoring recorders installed at remote locations are operating normally, go to the place where the monitoring recorder is installed and display on the monitor etc. It is necessary to directly check the monitoring recorder, such as confirmation of the operation status by recording or recording history information of the operation status on a portable storage medium (for example, USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, SD card memory, etc.).

  Even when remote control is possible with a control terminal connected to a communication network, it is necessary for an operator to regularly check the operation of each of a plurality of monitoring recorders via the communication network. There is a problem that it is very troublesome and expensive.

  Conventionally, as a countermeasure for such a problem, in order for the monitoring device to check the alive state (normal operation state or abnormal state) of the monitored device, the monitoring device can check the alive state of the monitored device from the monitored device. In some cases, the alive state of the monitored device is determined by periodically receiving a status notification packet indicating (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-205364 A

  In Patent Literature 1, the monitoring device determines the alive state of the monitored device by periodically receiving the status notification packet from the monitored device. However, when the status packet is no longer received (cannot be received). Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether the cause is an abnormality of the monitored device or a communication error, and the abnormal state of the monitored device cannot be determined.

  The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and automatically monitors the life and death of a monitoring recorder installed in a remote place, and also enables monitoring recorder and communication status confirmation. An object is to provide a recorder system and software used therefor.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a monitoring recorder system according to the present invention is connected to a monitoring recorder that records video taken by a monitoring camera, and the monitoring recorder so as to be communicable via a communication network. A control terminal for monitoring the life and death of the recorder, and when the control terminal performs life and death monitoring, a predetermined command transmitted to the monitoring recorder based on the recorder communication information including the address of the monitoring recorder registered in advance It is determined whether or not the response to the communication network is within a predetermined time. If there is no response, the communication network is in an abnormal state and the abnormal state of the communication network is notified to the outside.

  According to the present invention, a monitoring recorder for recording video captured by the monitoring camera, and a control terminal that is connected to the monitoring recorder via a communication network so as to be able to communicate and monitor whether the monitoring recorder is active or not, When the control terminal performs life and death monitoring, it is determined whether or not a response to a predetermined command transmitted to the monitoring recorder is within a predetermined time based on the recorder communication information including the address of the monitoring recorder registered in advance. If there is no response, the communication status of the communication network is automatically detected, and the monitoring recorder installed at a remote location is automatically monitored for life and death in order to notify the outside of the communication network. Monitoring recorder and communication status can be confirmed.

It is a block diagram of the monitoring recorder system by Embodiment 1 of this invention. 1 is a block diagram of a monitoring recorder according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of alive monitoring of the control terminal based on execution of the resident monitoring software by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the actual operation | movement of the monitoring recorder system by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram of the monitoring recorder system by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of the alive monitoring of the control terminal based on execution of the control application software by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a block diagram of the recorder system for monitoring by Embodiment 3 of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a monitoring recorder system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the monitoring recorder system according to the first embodiment communicates via a monitoring recorder 1 that records video taken by a camera 6 (monitoring camera), and the monitoring recorder 1 via a communication network 2. A control terminal 3 that is connected to be capable of monitoring the life and death of the monitoring recorder 1 is provided.

  The camera 6 is a camera for surveillance purposes, and is roughly classified into an analog type that directly inputs an analog video signal to the surveillance recorder 1, and a captured video data as JPEG, MPEG4, H.264. There are two types: a digital type that is compressed by an image compression technique such as H.264 and transmitted to the monitoring recorder 1 via the communication network 2, and either type is applicable to the present invention. In the present embodiment, a digital type is used.

  Control application software 4 is installed in the control terminal 3. By executing the control application software 4, the control terminal 3 can perform batch management including control and monitoring such as operation setting, function operation, and operation management of the monitoring recorder 1 and the camera 6. Further, since the control terminal 3 is connected to the communication network 2, it can be operated and monitored via the communication network 2 even when the monitoring recorder 1 is installed at a remote place.

  Further, the control terminal 3 is often not activated when the manager or the monitoring worker is absent at night or in an emergency, and the control application software 4 is not activated. Assuming such a case, resident monitoring software 5 that is always operating is installed in the control terminal 3.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the monitoring recorder 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the monitoring recorder 1 includes a control unit 7, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 10, and a communication unit 11, and stores (records) video data captured by the camera 6 in the HDD 10. The stored video data can be reproduced or copied at any time. The control unit 7 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 8 and a memory 9, and performs control and management when recording / reproducing video captured by the camera 6. In the memory 9, an operation program processed by the CPU 8, setting information (recorder information) of the monitoring recorder 1, and the like are written. The communication unit 11 is an interface unit for connecting to a communication network 2 such as the Internet.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the life and death monitoring operation of the control terminal 3 based on the execution of the resident monitoring software 5 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The alive monitoring shown in FIG. 3 is automatically executed by the resident monitoring software 5 that always executes the alive monitoring regardless of whether the control terminal 3 is activated. In other words, the resident monitoring software 5 is software that is installed in the control terminal 3 and causes the control terminal 3 to execute the alive monitoring function in the monitoring recorder system of the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of actual operation of the monitoring recorder system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, in actual operation, a plurality of monitoring recorders 1-1 to 1-n and a plurality of cameras 6-1 to 6-n are connected via the communication network 2. Assumed. 4 includes a plurality of surveillance recorders 1 and a plurality of cameras 6. However, the number of surveillance recorders and cameras installed is not limited, and a single surveillance recorder, not a plurality, as shown in FIG. And you may install a camera. The process of FIG. 3 in the monitoring recorder system shown in FIG. 4 will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the resident monitoring software 5 is executed, the control terminal 3 moves from the monitoring recorders 1-1 to 1-n to the monitoring recorder 1 to be monitored for life and death (hereinafter, for example, for monitoring purposes). The recorder 1-1 is selected (step S301). Next, from the communication information (recorder communication information) including the IP address and the authentication password registered in advance as the setting information of the monitoring recorder 1 in the control application software 4 installed in the control terminal 3, the monitoring software Communication information of the recorder 1-1 is acquired (step S302).

  After step S302, the control terminal 3 confirms the response of the HTTP CGI command transmitted to the monitoring recorder 1-1 based on the communication information acquired in step S302 (step S303), and the communication network 2 is normal. It is determined whether or not life and death monitoring can be executed. After step S303, it is determined whether or not the command response is within a predetermined time (step S304), and if the command response does not elapse for a predetermined time due to some error, the communication state is abnormal. It is determined that there is a communication, and the administrator or monitoring worker is notified (that is, notified to the outside) of the abnormal state of communication by sounding an alarm sound or issuing a mail (step S305), and the process proceeds to step S311. .

  On the other hand, in step S303, when it is determined that the command response is normally completed and the alive monitoring can be performed, the control terminal 3 writes the packet generated by writing the recorder confirmation information and the like to the monitoring recorder 1- 1 (step S306). After step S306, the control terminal 3 waits until there is a reply from the monitoring recorder 1-1 that has transmitted the packet that the packet has been correctly received (step S307).

  In the monitoring recorders 1-1 to 1-n, the recording status of the main body, the state of the HDD 10 and the like are always confirmed, and the information is stored in the memory 9 as history information. The monitoring recorder 1-1 communicates the minimum necessary recorder information including the history information stored in the memory 9 based on the recorder confirmation information written in the packet received from the control terminal 3 in step S306. The data is transmitted from the unit 11 to the control terminal 3 via the communication network 2. When receiving the recorder information from the monitoring recorder 1-1 (step S308), the control terminal 3 confirms the contents of the received recorder information and determines whether or not there is an abnormality in the state of the monitoring recorder 1-1. Is performed (step S309). If there is an abnormality as a result of the determination, the administrator or the monitoring operator is notified (that is, externally) that the monitoring recorder 1-1 is in an abnormal state by sounding an alarm sound or issuing an e-mail. Notification) (step S310), and the process proceeds to step S311. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S309 that there is no abnormality in the state of the monitoring recorder 1-1, the process proceeds to step S311.

  In step S311, it is determined whether the alive monitoring (steps S301 to S311) has been performed for all the monitoring recorders 1-1 to 1-n. The resident monitoring software 5 installed in the control terminal 3 automatically performs alive monitoring on all the monitoring recorders 1-1 to 1-n based on the order registered in the control terminal 3 in advance. Execute. In the above example, after the life and death monitoring of the monitoring recorder 1-1 is finished, the life and death monitoring is performed on the monitoring recorder 1-2.

  In the first embodiment, the alive monitoring shown in FIG. 3 is periodically and automatically executed. However, in the application of the resident monitoring software 5, the execution frequency and the execution start time of the alive monitoring are monitored by the administrator or the monitor. It can be arbitrarily set by an operator or the like. For example, “every day”, “AM 3 o'clock start”, or the like can be set. That is, the control terminal 3 periodically and automatically performs life and death monitoring for all the monitoring recorders 1-1 to 1-n based on a predetermined order.

  In addition, the resident monitoring software 5 records information (recorder information, date and time of alive monitoring, etc.) for all the monitoring recorders 1-1 to 1-n connected via the communication network 2. It is possible for the administrator, the monitoring worker, or the maintenance contractor to arbitrarily check.

  From the above, in the monitoring recorder system according to the first embodiment, the alive monitoring software 5 installed in the control terminal 3 is executed to automatically monitor the life and death of the monitoring recorder 1 installed in the remote place. In addition, the monitoring recorder 1 and communication status can be confirmed.

<Embodiment 2>
FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a monitoring recorder system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, in the second embodiment, only the control application software 4 is installed in the control terminal 3. In the first embodiment, the alive monitoring of the monitoring recorder 1 is always automatically performed by executing the resident monitoring software 5 installed in the control terminal 3. However, in the second embodiment, the monitoring recorder 1 is remotely connected. The life and death monitoring of the monitoring recorder 1 is performed by the execution of the dedicated control application software 4 for performing operations and monitoring from the beginning. That is, the control application software 4 is software that is installed in the control terminal 3 and causes the control terminal 3 to execute the life and death monitoring function in the monitoring recorder system of the second embodiment. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted here.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the life and death monitoring operation of the control terminal 3 based on the execution of the control application software 4 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, a user such as an administrator, a monitoring worker, or a maintenance company arbitrarily sets a time to start alive monitoring in the setting menu of the control application software 4 (step S601). At the time set in step S601, it is determined whether or not the control terminal 3 is powered off (step S603). If the power is off, the control terminal 3 is automatically (forced) activated (step S604). The alive monitoring of the monitoring recorder 1 is started in the state where the control terminal 3 is activated (step S605). In other words, the control application software 4 executes alive monitoring in conjunction with whether or not the control terminal 3 is activated. After the start of life and death monitoring, life and death monitoring is sequentially performed on all the monitoring recorders 1 (for example, the monitoring recorders 1-1 to 1-n illustrated in FIG. 4) connected to the control terminal 3 through the communication network 2. (Step S606), if the monitoring recorder 1 or the communication state is abnormal, the abnormal state is notified to the administrator or the monitoring operator by sounding an alarm sound or issuing an e-mail. Then, after alive monitoring is performed on all the monitoring recorders 1, the process ends (step S 607). That is, the control terminal 3 starts alive monitoring at a predetermined time, and forcibly starts up the control terminal 3 when the control terminal 3 is not started up. The life and death monitoring is automatically performed by patrol based on a predetermined order.

  Note that steps S605 to S607 in FIG. 6 correspond to steps S301 to S311 in FIG.

  From the above, in the monitoring recorder system according to the second embodiment, by executing the control application software 4 installed in the control terminal 3, the alive monitoring of the monitoring recorder 1 installed in the remote place is automatically performed. In addition, the monitoring recorder 1 and communication status can be confirmed.

<Embodiment 3>
FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a monitoring recorder system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the third embodiment includes a mobile phone 12 that is communicably connected to the monitoring recorder 1 and the control terminal 3 via the communication network 2 and monitors the life and death of the monitoring recorder 1. The mobile phone 12 has life and death monitoring software 13 installed therein. In the first embodiment, the life and death monitoring of the monitoring recorder 1 is performed by executing the resident monitoring software 5 installed in the control terminal 3. In the third embodiment, the life and death monitoring installed in the mobile phone 12 is performed. It is characterized in that the life and death of the monitoring recorder 1 is monitored by executing the software 13. That is, the life and death monitoring software 13 is software that is installed in the mobile phone 12 and causes the mobile phone 12 to execute the life and death monitoring function in the monitoring recorder system of the third embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the mobile phone 12 is connected to the monitoring recorder 1 and the control terminal 3 via the communication network 2 so as to be communicable. In recent years, it has become common to connect to the Internet using the mobile phone 12 and the communication fee has become cheap. Therefore, the recorder information of the monitoring recorder 1 and the video taken by the camera 6 can be used for WEB (World). It can be confirmed on the Wide Web screen. The life and death monitoring software 13 installed in the mobile phone 12 is software whose function is limited to life and death monitoring only with respect to the resident monitoring software 5 installed in the control terminal 3 in the first embodiment.

  The mobile phone 12 includes information such as the monitoring recorder 1 connected to the control terminal 3 (for example, the monitoring recorders 1-1 to 1-n shown in FIG. 4) and the IP address of the monitoring recorder 1. Is registered in advance. The life and death monitoring operation of the mobile phone 12 based on the execution of the life and death monitoring software 13 is the same as the operation shown in FIG. The notification of the abnormal state of communication (step S305 in FIG. 3) and the notification of the abnormal state of the monitoring recorder 1 (step S310 in FIG. 3) are automatically displayed on the screen of the mobile phone 12, and the first embodiment. As described above, information is also transmitted to the control terminal 3 so that an administrator, a monitoring worker, or the like can confirm.

  From the above, in the monitoring recorder system according to the third embodiment, the alive monitoring of the monitoring recorder 1 installed in the remote place is automatically performed by executing the alive monitoring software 13 installed in the mobile phone 12. In addition, the monitoring recorder 1 and the communication status can be confirmed.

  The third embodiment is not limited to the mobile phone 12 and may be any mobile terminal that can be connected to the communication network 2 and has the alive monitoring software 13 installed.

  1 monitoring recorder, 2 communication network, 3 control terminal, 4 control application software, 5 resident monitoring software, 6 camera, 7 control unit, 8 CPU, 9 memory, 10 HDD, 11 communication unit, 12 mobile phone, 13 Life and death monitoring software.

Claims (8)

A surveillance recorder that records video taken by the surveillance camera;
A control terminal connected to the monitoring recorder via a communication network so as to be communicable, and monitoring whether the monitoring recorder is active or not,
A surveillance recorder system comprising:
When the control terminal performs the alive monitoring,
When it is determined whether or not a response to a predetermined command transmitted to the monitoring recorder is within a predetermined time based on recorder communication information including the address of the monitoring recorder registered in advance, and there is no response Is a monitoring recorder system for notifying the outside of an abnormal state of the communication network, assuming that the communication state of the communication network is abnormal. The control terminal is:
If there is the response within the predetermined time, the status of the monitoring recorder is confirmed based on the recorder information recorded in the monitoring recorder. If the status is abnormal, the abnormal status of the monitoring recorder is externally indicated. The monitoring recorder system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring recorder system is notified. In the case where a plurality of the monitoring recorders are connected to the communication network,
3. The control terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control terminal performs the life and death monitoring periodically and automatically for all the monitoring recorders based on a predetermined order. 4. Recorder system for monitoring. In the case where a plurality of the monitoring recorders are connected to the communication network,
The control terminal starts the life and death monitoring at a predetermined time, forcibly starts the control terminal if it is not started, and automatically performs a predetermined order for all the monitoring recorders. The monitoring recorder system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring recorder system is circulated on the basis of the above.   The said monitoring recorder and the said control terminal are connected so that communication is possible via the said communication network, The portable terminal which performs the said alive monitoring of the said monitoring recorder is further provided. Surveillance recorder system.   Installed in the control terminal or the mobile terminal, for causing the control terminal or the mobile terminal to execute the life and death monitoring function in the monitoring recorder system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. software. In the case where the software is to execute the function of alive monitoring in the monitoring recorder system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The software according to claim 6, wherein the software is resident monitoring software that always executes the alive monitoring regardless of whether the control terminal is activated. In the case where the software is to execute the life and death monitoring function in the monitoring recorder system according to claim 4,
The software according to claim 6, wherein the software is control application software that executes the alive monitoring in conjunction with the activation of the control terminal.

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