KR20200073374A - Surveillance camera system and the control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a monitoring camera system for more conveniently performing setting of handover between a plurality of cameras comprises: a first camera monitoring a first monitoring area; a plurality of second cameras monitoring different second monitoring areas; and a communication network interconnecting the first camera and the second camera. The first camera broadcasts an ″event handover reception available″ message indicating that an event to be generated in the first monitoring area may be handed over through the communication network.

Description

Surveillance camera system and the control method thereof

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a surveillance camera system, and more particularly, to a surveillance camera system and a control method capable of more conveniently performing handover setup between a plurality of cameras.

Recently, surveillance camera systems have been increasingly installed inside, outside, and on streets for various purposes such as crime prevention, security, and store management.

Most surveillance camera systems use a plurality of cameras to continuously monitor a moving subject, measure the position of the subject (e.g., an event-generating vehicle) on the camera that detected the first event (e.g., traffic accident event), and How to share the location information of the camera with other nearby cameras or cameras in the whole system so that when the subject is out of the surveillance area of the camera being monitored, the nearby camera can continuously monitor based on the measured location information of the subject. Has been adopted.

However, the camera that detects the event must know in advance the information of the camera to which the event will be delivered, and for this, the administrator has to repeatedly set the camera.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when a first camera to receive an event broadcasts a receiveable message, the second camera to transmit the event returns predetermined information, and the first camera sets a preset corresponding thereto. , Provides a surveillance camera system and a control method for more conveniently performing handover setup between a plurality of cameras.

In order to achieve the above object, a surveillance camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a first camera monitoring a first surveillance region; A plurality of second cameras monitoring different second surveillance areas; And a communication network interconnecting the first camera and the second cameras, wherein the first camera transmits an "event handover receiveable" message through the communication network indicating that an event to be generated in the first surveillance area can be handed over. Broadcast.

Each of the second cameras receiving the broadcast "event handover receiveable" message may transmit their own camera specific information and thumbnail image information for the corresponding surveillance area to the first camera through the communication network.

The first camera may set a preset corresponding to an event to be generated in the first surveillance region, which is its own surveillance region, based on information transmitted from each of the second cameras.

A control method of a surveillance camera system according to another embodiment of the present invention includes: a first camera broadcasting a message on the network that a message indicating that an event to be generated in the first surveillance region can be handed over; A plurality of second cameras receiving the broadcasted "event handover receiveable" message and monitoring different second surveillance areas transmits their own camera specific information and thumbnail image information for the corresponding surveillance area to the first camera. Transmitting: The information transmitted from the plurality of second cameras is stored and maintained in the first camera and displayed in a predetermined user interface form; Setting a preset of a first camera corresponding to an event to be generated in the first surveillance area based on information transmitted from the plurality of second cameras; And when the event occurs in the second monitoring area, the operation of the first camera is controlled by the preset preset.

In the setting of the preset, a preset may be set to handover event information generated in one second monitoring area among the different second monitoring areas.

The plurality of second cameras may further include storing unique information of the first camera as a destination to which the event will be transmitted when an event occurs in its surveillance area.

According to this embodiment of the present invention, when the first camera to receive an event broadcasts a receiveable message, the second camera to transmit the event returns predetermined information, and the first camera responds to this. By setting a preset, handover setting between a plurality of cameras can be more conveniently performed.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a surveillance camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of the first and second cameras in FIG. 1;
3 is a view for explaining an example of the operation of the surveillance camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a flow chart showing a control method of a surveillance camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The contents described in the description column of the background of the present invention are only for helping the understanding of the background of the technical idea of the present invention, and therefore it can be understood as the content corresponding to the prior art known to those skilled in the art of the present invention. none.

In the following description, for the purpose of explanation, many specific details are presented to aid understanding of various embodiments. However, it is apparent that various embodiments may be practiced without these specific details or in one or more equivalent ways. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid making the device unnecessarily difficult to understand various embodiments.

Each block in the attached block diagram may be performed by computer program instructions (execution engines), and these computer program instructions may be mounted on a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing equipment. The instructions, which are executed through the processor of other programmable data processing equipment, create a means to perform the functions described in each block of the block diagram.

These computer program instructions can also be stored in computer readable or computer readable memory that can be oriented to a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to implement a function in a particular way, so that computer readable or computer readable memory The instructions stored in it are also possible to produce an article of manufacture containing instructions means for performing the functions described in each block of the block diagram.

In addition, since computer program instructions may be mounted on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, a series of operation steps are performed on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a process executed by the computer to generate a computer or other program. It is also possible for instructions to perform possible data processing equipment to provide a function for executing the functions described in each block of the block diagram.

Further, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that includes one or more executable instructions for executing specified logical functions, and in some alternative embodiments, the functions referred to in blocks or steps are in order It is also possible to occur outside of.

That is, it is possible that the two blocks shown are actually executed at the same time, and it is also possible that the blocks are performed in the reverse order of the corresponding function as necessary.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and not for limitation. Throughout the specification, when a part “includes” a certain component, this means that other components may be further included rather than excluding other components unless otherwise specified. Unless otherwise defined, terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a surveillance camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of the first and second cameras in FIG. 1.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a surveillance camera control system according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a plurality of surveillance cameras. The plurality of surveillance cameras may include a first camera 10 and a second camera 20. Also, a communication network 40 that interconnects the first camera 10 and the second camera 20 may be included. In addition, it may include a server 30 that can be connected to the first camera 10 or the second camera 20 through the communication network 40. The second camera 20 may be a plurality of second cameras 20a, 20b, and 20c.

The surveillance camera control system according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a first camera 10 and a plurality of second cameras 20a, 20b, and 20c capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from the first camera 10. have. Although three second cameras 20a, 20b, and 20c are illustrated in FIG. 1, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the surveillance camera control system may include one or more arbitrary number of second cameras 20. You can.

The first camera 10 or the second camera 20 may be a surveillance camera of a surveillance camera control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The first camera 10 or the second camera 20 may be a surveillance camera that is disposed at a fixed position in a specific place and monitors a specific area in a specific place. In addition, the first camera 10 or the second camera 20 may be a PTZ camera having a pan, tilt, and zoom function. The first camera 10 or the second camera 20 may have a function of recording an area monitored by each surveillance camera or taking a picture. The first camera 10 or the second camera 20 may have a function of recording sound generated in an area monitored by each surveillance camera.

Hereinafter, an area monitored by the surveillance camera may be referred to as a surveillance area. Specifically, a region monitored by the first camera 10 may be referred to as a first surveillance region, and a region monitored by each of the second cameras 20a, 20b, and 20c is respectively a 2a surveillance region, a first It may be referred to as a 2b monitoring area and a 2c monitoring area.

The server 30 may be a server for storing data (eg, surveillance data) collected through the first camera 10 or the second camera 20. Although one server is illustrated in FIG. 1, a plurality of servers may exist depending on the amount of data.

In FIG. 1, although the first camera 10 is shown to be connected to transmit and receive monitoring data directly to and from the second camera 20 through the communication network 40, the first camera 10 and the second camera 20 are shown. The monitoring data transmission/reception between the servers may be performed through the server 30. That is, for example, data transmitted as an electronic signal from the first camera 10 is transmitted to the server 30 through the communication network 40, and then the second camera through the communication network 40 from the server 30. The data can also be transmitted by (20). The data collected through the first camera 10 or the second camera 20 may be stored in a memory built into the surveillance camera that captured the data.

The communication network 40 serves to connect the first camera 10 and the second camera 20. In addition, the communication network 40 may serve to connect the first camera 10 and the second camera 20 with the server 30. That is, the communication network 40 means a communication network that provides a connection path so that data can be transmitted and received between the first camera 10 and the second camera 20.

The communication network 40 includes, for example, wired networks such as Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), and Integrated Service Digital Networks (ISDNs), wireless LANs, CDMA, Bluetooth, satellite communication, etc. It may cover a wireless network, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 2, the surveillance camera includes an image acquisition unit 50, a control unit 60, and a communication unit 70. The surveillance camera may be the first camera 10 and/or the second camera 20 shown in FIG. 1.

The image acquisition unit 50 acquires a real-time image signal from an imaging device such as one or more fixed cameras. The image acquisition unit 50 may include an image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), and a lens that transmits light to the image sensor.

The control unit 60 controls the overall operation of the surveillance camera, and may include an image processing unit 62, a memory 64, and a PTZ control unit 66.

The image processing unit 62 processes a video signal input in real time to generate a surveillance image. The surveillance image is an image photographing a surveillance region of a corresponding camera, and may include predetermined thumbnail image information corresponding to the surveillance region and event captured image information generated in the surveillance region.

The memory 64 may serve to store and manage image information generated by the image processing unit 62, camera-specific information (eg, camera ID), and camera location information.

The PTZ control unit 66 may serve to change the PTZ coordinates of the camera according to the preset information. The preset information can be set by the administrator through the server 30, for example, and the administrator can control the camera's position, direction, and zoom level by changing PTZ coordinates using the preset information of the camera.

The controller 60 may be implemented as a processor, and the processor may be configured to process instructions of a computer program by performing basic arithmetic, logic, and input/output operations. The command may be provided to the processor, that is, the controller 60 by the memory 64. For example, the control unit 60 may be configured to execute a received command according to program code stored in a recording device such as the memory 64.

Here, the control unit 60 may be implemented to execute instructions according to at least one program code and operating system code included in the memory 64. At this time, the components in the control unit 60, that is, the image processing unit 62 and the PTZ control unit 66 are each performed by the control unit 60 according to a control command provided by the program code stored in the memory 64 It can be understood as expressing different functions separately.

The communication unit 70 includes a communication module and an antenna, and is connected to the control unit 60 to transmit information such as images from the image processing unit 62 to the server 30 or other cameras.

For example, when the camera is the first camera 10 illustrated in FIG. 1, the first camera 10 may receive an “event handover” message through the communication unit 70 to other cameras. That is, the second camera 20 can be broadcast.

In addition, the second camera 20 receiving the "event handover reception possible" message of the broadcasted first camera 10 has its own information (eg, camera ID, camera location information) stored in the memory 64 And the like) and thumbnail image information of the corresponding surveillance area may be transmitted to the first camera 10 through the communication unit 70.

In addition, the server 30 may set preset information of the first camera based on information broadcast from the first camera 10 and/or information transmitted from the second camera 20, and the first When the event information is transmitted from the second camera, the camera may control its operation by a preset preset.

3 is a view for explaining an example of the operation of a surveillance camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of the surveillance camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A control operation of the surveillance camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 as follows.

First, referring to FIG. 3, the first camera 10 may monitor the first surveillance area 100, the second camera 20a may monitor the second monitoring area 200a, and the second camera 2b 20b may monitor the 2b monitoring area 200b, and the 2c camera 20c may monitor the 2c monitoring area 200c.

The first camera 10 is a network message (that is, an event handover can be received) message indicating that it is possible to handover an event to be generated in the first monitoring area 100, which is its monitoring area. , 40) can be broadcast. That is, currently, no other events have occurred, but other cameras, that is, the 2a to 2c cameras 20a, 20b, and 20c indicate that they are ready to be handed over for an event to occur in another monitoring area. It can be broadcast over a network (communication network of FIG. 1, 40) (ST 400).

Subsequently, the second cameras that receive the “Event Handover Receiveable” message broadcast from the first camera 10 are their information (eg, camera ID, camera location information, etc.) stored in the memory 64 and corresponding Thumbnail image information for the surveillance area may be transmitted to the first camera 10 through the communication unit 70 (ST 410).

That is, if the 2a to 2c cameras 20a, 20b, and 20c each received a broadcast message from the first camera 10, the respective 2a to 2c cameras 20a, 20b, 20c are As the camera-specific information, IP information, a host name, a preset number, and the like, and thumbnail image information corresponding to the 2a to 2c surveillance areas 200a, 200b, and 200c may be transmitted to the first camera 10.

In addition, each of the 2a to 2c cameras (20a, 20b, 20c) is an event in the 2a to 2c surveillance area (200a, 200b, 200c) of its own monitoring area, the event as a destination to deliver it if the 1 Unique information of the camera 10 (eg, camera ID, location information, etc.) may be stored in its memory 64.

Next, the first camera 10 stores information (camera specific information and thumbnail image information) transmitted from the respective 2a to 2c cameras 20a, 20b, and 20c in its memory 64 And maintain (ST 420).

At this time, the first camera 10 may display information transmitted from the plurality of second cameras to a manager in the form of a predetermined user interface (UI) under the control of the controller 60. The administrator may check the displayed information through the server 30 or directly through the screen of the first camera 10.

Then, the first camera 10 is based on the information (camera specific information and thumbnail image information) transmitted from the respective 2a to 2c cameras 20a, 20b, and 20c, the first surveillance area of the camera. 1 A preset corresponding to an event to be generated in the monitoring area 100 may be set (ST 430).

The preset setting for the first camera 10 may be directly performed by an administrator using the displayed user interface, but embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

In another embodiment, the server 30 or the first camera 10 is capable of directly designating a preset by analyzing information (thumbnail image information) automatically transmitted by the system without the need for an administrator to directly view and control the user interface. You can do As an example, a preset can be automatically assigned through an algorithm equipped with an algorithm that determines whether a screen angle of an image transmitted as thumbnail image information is most similar to a screen angle of the first camera 10 receiving an event. It is.

Subsequently, when an event occurs in at least one of the 2a to 2c surveillance areas 200a, 200b, and 200c, and the information is transmitted to the first camera 10, the first camera 10 is set by a preset It is controlled to perform the monitoring operation (ST 440).

Referring to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 as an example, the 2a camera 20a detects the event detected in the 2a surveillance area 200a, that is, the event A detected by the person 30a running through the first camera 10 ).

Similarly, the 2b camera 20b may transmit the event detected in the 2b surveillance area 200b, that is, the event B detected by the wanderer 30b to the first camera 10, and the 2c camera 20c ) May transmit the event detected in the 2c monitoring area 200c, that is, the event C in which the traffic accident 30c is detected, to the first camera 10.

Accordingly, the first camera 10 may be operated to perform monitoring of a specific event among the transmitted events by a preset preset.

For example, in the step of setting the preset, if a preset is set to monitor an event to be detected in the second c monitoring area 200c, the first camera according to the preset is set in response to the event C information being transmitted. The position, direction, and zoom level of (10) are controlled to monitor the event C.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the 2a to 2c cameras 20a, 20b, and 20c properly transmit only a response to the “event handover receiveable” message broadcast by the first camera 10 This eliminates the need for the administrator to separately control each of the second cameras during handover.

In addition, the administrator can select the most suitable preset among the presets provided by the first camera 10 through the thumbnail image information transmitted from the second camera 20, or set a new preset suitable for convenient and accurate handover monitoring. The system can be built.

As described above, in the present invention, specific matters such as specific components and the like have been described by limited embodiments and drawings, but these are provided only to help a more comprehensive understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments , Anyone having ordinary knowledge in the field to which the present invention pertains can make various modifications and variations from these descriptions.

Accordingly, the spirit of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, and should not be determined, and all claims that are equivalent or equivalent to the scope of the claims as well as the claims described below belong to the scope of the spirit of the invention. .

Claims (6)

A first camera monitoring a first surveillance area;
A plurality of second cameras monitoring different second surveillance areas;
And a communication network interconnecting the first camera and the second cameras,
The first camera is a surveillance camera system that broadcasts a "event handover receiveable" message through the communication network that the event to be generated in the first surveillance region can be handed over. According to claim 1,
Each of the second cameras receiving the broadcast "Event Handover Receiveable" message transmits the camera's unique information and thumbnail image information for the corresponding surveillance area to the first camera through the communication network. . According to claim 1,
The first camera is a surveillance camera system in which a preset corresponding to an event to be generated in the first surveillance region, which is its surveillance region, is set based on information transmitted from each of the second cameras. A first camera broadcasting a message on the network that a message indicating that an event to be generated in the first surveillance area can be handed over;
A plurality of second cameras that monitor the different second surveillance areas by receiving the broadcast "event handover receiveable" message transmits the unique information of each camera and the thumbnail image information of the corresponding surveillance area to the first camera. Steps to send:
The information transmitted from the plurality of second cameras is stored and maintained in the first camera, and displayed in a form of a predetermined user interface;
Setting a preset of a first camera corresponding to an event to be generated in the first surveillance area based on information transmitted from the plurality of second cameras;
And controlling an operation of the first camera by the preset preset when an event occurs in the second surveillance region. According to claim 4,
In the setting of the preset, a surveillance camera control method is set in which a preset is set to handover event information generated in one second surveillance region among the different second surveillance regions. According to claim 4,
The plurality of second cameras further includes storing unique information of the first camera as a destination to which the event is transmitted when an event occurs in its surveillance area.

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