GB2288300A - Video surveillance system using spread spectrum radio communication - Google Patents

Video surveillance system using spread spectrum radio communication Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2288300A
GB2288300A GB9406652A GB9406652A GB2288300A GB 2288300 A GB2288300 A GB 2288300A GB 9406652 A GB9406652 A GB 9406652A GB 9406652 A GB9406652 A GB 9406652A GB 2288300 A GB2288300 A GB 2288300A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
transmitter
video
unit according
receiver
image
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB9406652A
Other versions
GB9406652D0 (en
Inventor
Christopher Robert Turner
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to GB9406652A priority Critical patent/GB2288300A/en
Publication of GB9406652D0 publication Critical patent/GB9406652D0/en
Publication of GB2288300A publication Critical patent/GB2288300A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G08—SIGNALLING
    • G08B—SIGNALLING OR CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
    • G08B13/00—Burglar, theft or intruder alarms
    • G08B13/18—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength
    • G08B13/189—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength using passive radiation detection systems
    • G08B13/194—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength using passive radiation detection systems using image scanning and comparing systems
    • G08B13/196—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength using passive radiation detection systems using image scanning and comparing systems using television cameras
    • G08B13/19639—Details of the system layout
    • G08B13/19645—Multiple cameras, each having view on one of a plurality of scenes, e.g. multiple cameras for multi-room surveillance or for tracking an object by view hand-over
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G08—SIGNALLING
    • G08B—SIGNALLING OR CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
    • G08B13/00—Burglar, theft or intruder alarms
    • G08B13/18—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength
    • G08B13/189—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength using passive radiation detection systems
    • G08B13/194—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength using passive radiation detection systems using image scanning and comparing systems
    • G08B13/196—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength using passive radiation detection systems using image scanning and comparing systems using television cameras
    • G08B13/19617—Surveillance camera constructional details
    • G08B13/19621—Portable camera
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G08—SIGNALLING
    • G08B—SIGNALLING OR CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
    • G08B13/00—Burglar, theft or intruder alarms
    • G08B13/18—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength
    • G08B13/189—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength using passive radiation detection systems
    • G08B13/194—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength using passive radiation detection systems using image scanning and comparing systems
    • G08B13/196—Actuation by interference with heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength; Actuation by intruding sources of heat, light, or radiation of shorter wavelength using passive radiation detection systems using image scanning and comparing systems using television cameras
    • G08B13/19654—Details concerning communication with a camera
    • G08B13/1966—Wireless systems, other than telephone systems, used to communicate with a camera
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N7/00—Television systems
    • H04N7/18—Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Closed-Circuit Television Systems (AREA)

Abstract

The system has one or more fixed or moveable transmitter units 1 with a transducer 2 to convert an image into an analogue video signal, an analogue to digital converter 3, an optional coding unit 4 for reducing the bandwidth required to transmit the video signal and for providing an initial level of encryption, and a transmitter 5 utilising spread spectrum techniques. One or more fixed or handheld receiver units 7 each have a receiver circuit 8 providing a digital video signal in response to a received spread spectrum signal, an optional decoder 9 performing the inverse operation to coder 4, and a circuit 10 which drives a video display 11. The system may have one or more repeaters 6, and one or more fixed or handheld transceivers 13 each including a transmitter 1 and receiver 7 as above. In a multichannel system, each transmitter unit 1 has a respective spread spectrum codeword, and each transceiver 13 contains all or a subset of the transmitter codewords. Handheld transceivers 13 may allow video and audio communication between security staff. A PC interface unit may be used to integrate the system into a local area network, eg. a wireless LAN. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM This invention relates to a secure video surveillance system. It is an aim of the present invention to provide a secure surveillance system that can be used to monitor a site. The site may be any area that requires surveillance including but not limited to building interiors and/or exteriors, military bases, airports, underground stations, car parks and building sites.
Current video surveillance systems are characterised by one or more video cameras that are individually hardwired into one or more monitoring facilities.
Such systems have the undesirable property of being relatively fixed once installed, that is to say both the cameras and monitoring room require great effort and expense to re-locate. The ideal situation, which the present invention aims to provide, would be to replace the cable from the video cameras to the monitor room with a wireless means of image transmission. This would allow the cameras to be freely moved at regular intervals around the site without any significant cost.
There are several drawbacks associated with a multi-channel wireless implementation, the first being the need for large amounts of bandwidth and the second the lack of security.
The present invention can remove these obstacles to a wireless solution by using image coding techniques to both reduce the amount of bandwidth required to transmit each video channel and also to provide an initial level of encryption prior to transmission for security.
With reference to Figure 1, this invention provides for a surveillance system consisting of at least one transmitter 1, which may be fixed or moveable, comprising a transducer 2 for converting an image to a video signal, an analogue to digital conversion system 3 for converting said image to a digital signal representation, an optional image coding unit 4 for a) reducing the amount of information required to transmit said image and b) providing an initial level of security prior to transmission of said image, a transmitter 5 utilising spread spectrum techniques to convert said digital representation of image into a modulated radio waveform.
Optionally one or more repeater units 6 for conveying said wireless image(s) to other locations within the site or to remote sites.
Optionally one or more receiver units 7, which may be fixed or handheld, comprising a means 8 of decoding the said spread spectrum waveform into a digital representation of the video signal, an optional image decoder 9 for performing the inverse operation of 4, a video driver circuit 10 for generating a signal suitable for driving a video display 11 that may be used to view the image at 1.
Optionally one or more transceiver units 13, which may be fixed or handheld, comprising a transmitter unit 1 and a receiver unit 7 both as described above.
The following application is provided by way of an example only and does not limit the scope of applicability of the present invention.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, in a preferred embodiment of the design the present invention is used to implement a secure multichannel video surveillance system 14 within a building.
Transmitter units 1 are placed at suitable positions in the building each unit having its own unique codeword. The units 12 constantly transmit a representation of their field of view and optionally, audio information.
Each transmitter utilises its unique codeword to create the spread spectrum waveform that it transmits thus allowing multichannel communications.
In the preferred embodiment each security guard has a handheld transceiver unit 13 that contains within it all, or possibly a subset of, the transmitter codewords. The codewords stored within these units allow them to decode signals from transmitter units possessing the same codeword at any location within the building.. This arrangement provides for a multi-tier system allowing each security guard to be allocated a different monitoring access level.
Depending on the frequency selected, the construction of the building or the preferred system configuration optional repeater units may be required to distribute all, or a subset of, the video and audio signals from the transmitter or handheld transceiver units throughout the building.
Advantageously, the video cameras and coding unit and transmitter are housed together in a single piece of equipment.
The handheld transceiver units are advantageously in the form of a single piece of equipment.
Preferably one or more receiver units are dedicated to recording the camera unit's images on video tape.
Advantageously, a handheld transceiver unit would allow video and audio communication between security staff.
Advantageously, a PC or workstation interface unit and suitable software would allow integration of the security system into a local area network (wireless or otherwise) thus allowing security information to be displayed at any location within that network.
Advantageously, a transmitter unit could be arranged in such a way as to allow remote control of electro-mechanical aparatus at any location within the site.

Claims (23)

1. A transmitter unit providing an image transducer for converting a detected image to a video signal, an analogue to digital conversion system for converting said image to a digital signal representation a transmitter utilising spread spectrum techniques to convert said digital representation of image into a modulated radio waveform.
2. A transmitter unit according to claim 1 that includes a video coding unit for reducing the amount of bandwidth required to transmit the image.
3. A transmitter unit according to any one of claims 1-2 that incorporates an encryption function in the video coding unit.
4. A transmitter unit according to any one of claims 1-3 in which the analogue to digital conversion function is provided within the image transducer.
5. A transmitter unit according to any one of claims 1-4 that includes an audio transducer and associated circuitry allowing transmission of audio information in synchronism with the video information.
6. A transmitter unit according to any one of claims 1-5 that is fixed in place or moveable.
7. A receiver unit providing a means of decoding the said spread spectrum radio waveform into a digital representation of the video signal and a video driver circuit for generating a signal suitable for driving a video display that may be used to view the image detected by the transmitter.
8. A receiver unit according to claim 7 that includes a video decoding unit for performing the inverse function of the video coding unit of claim 2.
9. A receiver unit according to any one of claims 7-8 that implements the inverse operation to the encryption function of claim 3.
10. A receiver unit according to any one of claims 7-9 that provides a facility for receiving and audio information.
11. A receiver unit according to any one of claims 7-10 that provides an audio facility that may be used to listen to the detected audio signal.
12. A receiver unit according to any one of claims 7-11 that includes a facility for recording the received information.
13. A receiver unit according to any one of claims 7-12 that may be fixed in place or handheld.
14. A transceiver unit that includes at least one transmitter unit according to any one of claims 1-6 and at least one receiver unit according to any one of claims 7-13.
15. A video surveillance system consisting of at least one transmitter transmitter unit according to any one of claims 1-6 and at least one receiver or transceiver unit according to any one of claims 7-14.
16. A video surveillance system according to claim 15 that includes one or more repeater units for distributing the video information.
17. A video surveillance system according to any one of claims 15-16 that distributes audio information in synchronism with the video information.
18. A multi-channel video surveillance system according to any one of claims 1517 in which each transmitter is allocated a unique codeword for driving the spread spectrum modulator.
19. A multi-channel video surveillance system according to any one of claims 1518 in which each receiver has one or more of the transmitters' unique codewords stored within it thus allowing the receiver to monitor one or more of the transmitter locations known to the system.
20. A surveillance system system according to any one of claims 15-19 in which the audio information is also distributed in compressed and/or encrypted form.
21. A surveillance system system according to any one of claims 15-20 which integrates into a computer network or stand alone computer unit thus allowing display and transmission of security information around that network.
22. A surveillance system system according to any one of claims 15-21 in which electro-mechanical aparatus can be remotely operated by a transmitter unit.
23. A system substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
GB9406652A 1994-04-05 1994-04-05 Video surveillance system using spread spectrum radio communication Withdrawn GB2288300A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9406652A GB2288300A (en) 1994-04-05 1994-04-05 Video surveillance system using spread spectrum radio communication

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9406652A GB2288300A (en) 1994-04-05 1994-04-05 Video surveillance system using spread spectrum radio communication

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB9406652D0 GB9406652D0 (en) 1994-05-25
GB2288300A true GB2288300A (en) 1995-10-11

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB9406652A Withdrawn GB2288300A (en) 1994-04-05 1994-04-05 Video surveillance system using spread spectrum radio communication

Country Status (1)

Country Link
GB (1) GB2288300A (en)

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1998034402A2 (en) * 1997-01-31 1998-08-06 Ericsson Inc. Method and apparatus for line or frame-synchronous frequency hopping of video transmissions
WO1999001943A2 (en) * 1997-07-04 1999-01-14 Elektrobit Oy Data transmission method and data transmission system
EP1065880A2 (en) * 1999-06-22 2001-01-03 Eastman Kodak Company Wireless communication system for transmitting images from an enabled electronic camera to receiver
EP1479237A1 (en) * 2002-02-25 2004-11-24 Sentrus, Inc. Method and system for remote wireless video surveillance
US7027836B2 (en) 2002-09-10 2006-04-11 Eastman Kodak Company Method and system for establishing a communication network
US8725064B2 (en) 2003-10-07 2014-05-13 Immersion Entertainment, Llc System and method for providing event spectators with audio/video signals pertaining to remote events
US9894323B2 (en) 2009-01-30 2018-02-13 Yinzcam, Inc. Systems and methods for providing interactive video services

Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB1506559A (en) * 1971-03-05 1978-04-05 Siemens Ag Data transmission systems
WO1988002962A1 (en) * 1986-10-07 1988-04-21 Thomson-Csf Device and method for the transmission or storage of information optimising the use of the band-pass
US4777526A (en) * 1986-06-23 1988-10-11 Sony Corporation Security monitor system
WO1991001539A1 (en) * 1989-07-17 1991-02-07 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Integrated slow scan and alarm system
US5127021A (en) * 1991-07-12 1992-06-30 Schreiber William F Spread spectrum television transmission
GB2256771A (en) * 1991-06-11 1992-12-16 Cable Srl Slow-scanning remote surveillance system using mobile cellular radio communications
GB2258114A (en) * 1991-07-26 1993-01-27 Rachel Mary Turner Video monitoring system
JPH05284483A (en) * 1992-03-31 1993-10-29 Clarion Co Ltd Multi-monitor device

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB1506559A (en) * 1971-03-05 1978-04-05 Siemens Ag Data transmission systems
US4777526A (en) * 1986-06-23 1988-10-11 Sony Corporation Security monitor system
WO1988002962A1 (en) * 1986-10-07 1988-04-21 Thomson-Csf Device and method for the transmission or storage of information optimising the use of the band-pass
WO1991001539A1 (en) * 1989-07-17 1991-02-07 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Integrated slow scan and alarm system
GB2256771A (en) * 1991-06-11 1992-12-16 Cable Srl Slow-scanning remote surveillance system using mobile cellular radio communications
US5127021A (en) * 1991-07-12 1992-06-30 Schreiber William F Spread spectrum television transmission
GB2258114A (en) * 1991-07-26 1993-01-27 Rachel Mary Turner Video monitoring system
JPH05284483A (en) * 1992-03-31 1993-10-29 Clarion Co Ltd Multi-monitor device

Cited By (14)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1998034402A2 (en) * 1997-01-31 1998-08-06 Ericsson Inc. Method and apparatus for line or frame-synchronous frequency hopping of video transmissions
WO1998034402A3 (en) * 1997-01-31 1998-09-17 Ericsson Inc Method and apparatus for line or frame-synchronous frequency hopping of video transmissions
WO1999001943A2 (en) * 1997-07-04 1999-01-14 Elektrobit Oy Data transmission method and data transmission system
WO1999001943A3 (en) * 1997-07-04 1999-03-25 Elektrobit Oy Data transmission method and data transmission system
AU735206B2 (en) * 1997-07-04 2001-07-05 Elektrobit Wireless Communications Oy Data transmission method and data transmission system
US6628326B1 (en) 1999-02-05 2003-09-30 Eastman Kodak Company Wireless communication system for transmitting images from an enabled electronic camera to receiver
EP1065880A3 (en) * 1999-06-22 2001-08-29 Eastman Kodak Company Wireless communication system for transmitting images from an enabled electronic camera to receiver
EP1065880A2 (en) * 1999-06-22 2001-01-03 Eastman Kodak Company Wireless communication system for transmitting images from an enabled electronic camera to receiver
EP1479237A1 (en) * 2002-02-25 2004-11-24 Sentrus, Inc. Method and system for remote wireless video surveillance
US7027836B2 (en) 2002-09-10 2006-04-11 Eastman Kodak Company Method and system for establishing a communication network
US8725064B2 (en) 2003-10-07 2014-05-13 Immersion Entertainment, Llc System and method for providing event spectators with audio/video signals pertaining to remote events
USRE46360E1 (en) 2003-10-07 2017-04-04 Immersion Entertainment, Llc System and method for providing event spectators with audio/video signals pertaining to remote events
US9894323B2 (en) 2009-01-30 2018-02-13 Yinzcam, Inc. Systems and methods for providing interactive video services
US10187609B2 (en) 2009-01-30 2019-01-22 Yinzcam, Inc. Systems and methods for providing interactive video services

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Publication number Publication date
GB9406652D0 (en) 1994-05-25

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WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)