GB2375909A

GB2375909A - Vehicle security system which transmits image and location data

Info

Publication number: GB2375909A
Application number: GB0112816A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Trevor Ingham; Ayaz Ahmed
Original assignee: DIGITAL IMAGE RES Ltd
Current assignee: DIGITAL IMAGE RES Ltd
Priority date: 2001-05-25
Filing date: 2001-05-25
Publication date: 2002-11-27
Also published as: GB0112816D0

Abstract

A vehicle security system includes a module 20 which receives an image from a camera 32 and positional information relating to the location of the vehicle, for example from a GPS module 26. The image and the positional information are transmitted to a remote location, for example via wireless communication link 22. By transmitting both an image and positional information, the vehicle can not only be tracked, but the situation inside the vehicle can also be identified. For example, a picture can be obtained which may be of help in apprehending a thief of the vehicle. The system may also include a fingerprint reader or means for identifying the transmitted image.

Description

VEHICLE SECURITY SYSTEM This invention relates to a security system, and in particular, but not exclusively, to a security system for a vehicle. Aspects of the invention described herein relate to methods and apparatus in respect of a vehicle security device, an image processing module and a vehicle monitoring system.

There exist vehicle security systems which produce an audio alarm when the vehicle is stolen, and in many cases there are false alarms. Further, if the vehicle owner is out of the range of the audio alarm, then they are unaware of the vehicle theft. More advanced systems with GPS on-board require that the vehicle owner inform a central switchboard by telephone that the vehicle is stolen so that the vehicle may then be tracked, thus wasting valuable time in which the GPS device may be disabled by the thief.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle security device, comprising means for receiving an image from a camera (preferably in the form of a suitably programmed processor and a suitable interface to a camera) ; means for receiving positional information relating to the location of the vehicle (preferably a suitably programmed processor and a suitable interface to a positioning system); and means for transmitting the image and the positional information to a remote location (preferably a suitably programmed processor and a suitable wireless communications device).

The word"security"as used herein preferably encompasses all aspects of vehicle and passenger safety and security. The vehicle security device may therefore have uses not only against theft or vandalism, but also in, for example, emergency and breakdown situations.

By transmitting both an image and positional information, the vehicle can not only be tracked, but the situation inside the vehicle can also be identified. For example, a picture of a vehicle thief can be obtained which may help in apprehending the criminal.

Preferably, the means for transmitting the image and the positional information comprises a wireless communications device. By using wireless communications, the

information can be transmitted quickly to the remote location, regardless of the location of the vehicle. Preferably, conventional mobile communications networks are used.

Preferably, the wireless communications device comprises a concealed aerial. By concealing the aerial, it may not be immediately obvious to a potential thief that a security system is installed in the vehicle. This also makes it more difficult for a potential thief to tamper with and disrupt the security system in any way. For example, a flat aerial concealed in the body of the car may be used.

Preferably, the wireless communications device is further adapted to perform voice communication functions. This allows for the communications facilities of the security system to be used for regular voice communications whilst the security system is inactive. Also, in an emergency situation, the wireless communications device may be used to alert emergency services.

Preferably, the wireless communications device is further adapted to receive navigational information. This feature allows greater use to be made of the wireless communication facilities of the system. In some embodiments of the invention, the vehicle security system may be integrated with a navigation system.

Preferably, the vehicle security device further comprises a camera. Preferably this is a small, easily concealable camera. Concealing the camera may prevent a potential thief from discovering the security system and tampering with any parts of the system. Preferably, a digital camera is used. Using a digital camera enables the vehicle security system to process and transmit images efficiently and accurately without need for digitisation.

Preferably, the vehicle security device further comprises a positional information receiver. Preferably, the positional information receiver comprises a GPS receiver. By using a positional information receiver for a positioning system such as GPS, the location of a vehicle can be determined with great accuracy.

Preferably, the vehicle security device further comprises means for detecting a security breach. By detecting the, security breach, the vehicle security system may respond to the breach automatically and hence rapidly without the need for human intervention.

Preferably, the vehicle security device further comprises a detector for detecting one or more of: motion; vibration; movement inside the vehicle; interruption of a beam; engine start; opening of a door; airbag deployment and vehicle impact. Preferably, the detector comprises a beam emitter and a beam detector.

This feature is of particular importance and is provided independently. Thus, a further aspect of the invention provides a vehicle security device, comprising a beam emitter, and a beam detector for detecting a beam emitted by the beam emitter.

Preferably, the emitter and detector are arranged so the beam crosses a substantial area of the vehicle. By using a beam interruption detector, intruders can be detected regardless of how they enter the vehicle. In one embodiment of the invention, the beam emitter is adapted to emit a visible beam. A visible beam may alert a potential intruder or vehicle thief to the presence of a sophisticated security system and may thus cause the individual to reconsider any planned attack on the vehicle. In an alternative embodiment, an invisible beam may be emitted. This has the advantage of not drawing attention to the security device, which may prevent it being tampered with.

Preferably, the vehicle security device further comprises a beam reflector arranged to reflect the beam emitted by the emitter. By reflecting the beam along a separate path through the vehicle's interior, more space may be covered by the detector, thus making it more difficult to enter the vehicle without being detected. Preferably, the detector is spaced apart from the emitter to ensure that the reflected beam passes through a different region of space to that traversed by the emitted beam. For example, in the case of a car, emitter, reflector and detector may be arranged so that the beam describes a V-shape in the air space above the front driver and passenger seats. This would make it almost impossible to gain access to the car's controls without interrupting the beam. In this arrangement, emitter and detector may be mounted in one side door of the vehicle, whilst the reflector is mounted in the opposite side door of the vehicle. This arrangement has the added advantage that the beam will also be interrupted if either of the side doors is

opened. Thus, preferably at least one of emitter, reflector and detector is mounted on a door.

Preferably, the vehicle security device further comprises a vehicle user identification device. This enables the security system to distinguish between an authorised user of the car and an unauthorised user. In some embodiments, the vehicle user identification device comprises means for entering an identification code. In other embodiments, the vehicle user identification device comprises a fingerprint reader. A fingerprint reader allows for fast, accurate and user-friendly identification of the user.

Preferably, the vehicle security device further comprises means for receiving information relating to a security breach (preferably a processor and an interface to a breach detector); means for receiving information relating to the validity of the user of the vehicle (preferably a processor and an interface to a vehicle user identification device, for example as described above); means for determining whether the user is a valid user for the vehicle (preferably a suitably programmed processor); and means for obtaining information from the camera and the positioning device and transmitting the information to a remote location if the user is not a valid user for the vehicle (preferably a suitably programmed processor). In this way, the response of the vehicle security system depends on whether an authorised vehicle user has identified himself to the vehicle security system.

Preferably, the vehicle security device further comprises means for sending an identifier, preferably a unique identifier, to the remote location. This enables the vehicle with which the security device is associated to be accurately identified. For example, previously stored information such as a visual description of the vehicle or the vehicle registration number may be passed on to the police or another agencies. This may, for example, lead to faster recovery of a stolen vehicle.

Preferably, the vehicle security device comprises means for sending information relating to the status of the vehicle security device to the remote location. This makes it possible to monitor the status of the vehicle security system from a remote location, for example by a remote monitoring system.

This feature is of particular importance and is provided independently. Thus, a further aspect of the invention provides a vehicle security device comprising means for sending information relating to the status of the vehicle security device to a remote location.

In some embodiments, the information relates to the status of a camera. This enables for example, a remote monitoring system to determine whether a camera in a vehicle security system is functioning correctly.

Preferably, the vehicle security device further comprises means for indicating the status at the vehicle. For example, a fault with a camera or other component of the vehicle security system may be indicated to a user of the vehicle. Preferably, a visual or audible indicator is used.

In some examples, the status information relates to a fault. By sending information relating to a fault of the vehicle security system to a remote location, for example a remote monitoring system, action can be taken to correct the fault. This may be important as the security system may not fulfill its function correctly if it is faulty.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided an image processing module comprising means for receiving a set of images (preferably a processor) and means for amending the set of images based on a criterion (preferably a processor).

A set of images may contain zero, one or more images. Preferably, amending the set of images comprises selecting a subset of the set of images based on a selection criterion.

This allows for undesired images to be discarded from the set. For example, the best images according to some criterion may be selected, for example, those with the most visual content. Preferably, the selection criterion is one or more of : variation in contrast; variation in brightness and number of edges. This enables the images with the most visual content to be selected from the set.

Preferably, amending the set of images comprises modifying an image in the set of images. Preferably, modifying an image comprises modifying one or more of contrast, brightness, colour depth, resolution and encoding format. In this way, images may be adapted to their purpose, for example, for sending via e-mail, in which case a smaller

image may be required, or for storing in a database. The encoding format may be any image encoding format, examples of which include JPEG, GIF and Bitmap formats. The encoding format may include compression.

Preferably, the image processing module further comprises means for sending the amended set of images to a destination. For example, the images may be sent via e-mail to a user's e-mail account, or via a mobile communications network to a user's mobile communications device.

Preferably, the vehicle security device further comprises an image processing module as described above.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle monitoring system, comprising means for receiving an image related to a security condition from a vehicle (preferably a processor); and means for receiving positional information from a vehicle, relating to the location of the vehicle (preferably a processor). This enables the information sent by a vehicle security device as described above to be received at the vehicle monitoring device for further processing.

Preferably, the vehicle monitoring system further comprises means (preferably a processor and suitable transmission interface) for transmitting information relating to the condition to a third party. In this way, the information relating to the condition may be transmitted automatically to a relevant recipient for further action. In some embodiments of the invention, the third party is a user of the vehicle. In this way, the user is informed directly of the condition which has arisen at their vehicle. In some embodiments of the invention, the third party is an emergency service. This enables, for example, the police to be informed directly of a vehicle theft or the medical emergency services and fire services of an accident, enabling a quick response to such events. In some embodiments of the invention, the third party is a vehicle maintenance service, for example a breakdown service.

In some embodiments, the vehicle monitoring system further comprises means (preferably a suitably programmed processor) for adapting the information before

transmitting it to the third party. In this way, the information may be tailored to the recipient, both in content and in format. For example, lower resolution images may be sent to a mobile communications device than to a police computer.

Preferably, the means for adapting the information comprises means (preferably a suitably programmed processor) for modifying an image. This enables, for example, the encoding format of the image to be changed or the contrast and brightness of the image to be improved.

Preferably, the vehicle monitoring system further comprises an image processing module as described above. Using the image processing module, specific images may be selected and modified for transmission as described above.

Preferably, the vehicle monitoring system further comprises: means for receiving information from a vehicle security device relating to the status of the vehicle security device; and means for informing a third party of the status. This enables information relating to the status of the vehicle security device to be passed on to, for example, the user of the vehicle. For example, the user may wish to be made aware when a battery supplying the security device runs low so that he may rectify the situation before it puts the security of his vehicle in jeopardy.

This feature is of particular importance and is provided independently. Thus, a further aspect of the invention provides a vehicle monitoring system comprising: means for receiving information from a vehicle security device relating to the status of the vehicle security device; and means for informing a third party of the status.

Preferably, the vehicle monitoring system further comprises means for making a request to a vehicle security device for information relating to the status of the vehicle security device. For example, the vehicle monitoring system may periodically request information from a vehicle security device in order to ascertain that the vehicle security device is operating normally.

Preferably, the vehicle monitoring system further comprises means for informing a third party if a response to the, request is not received. The third party may, for example, be a user of the vehicle, In this way, a user of a vehicle security device may be informed of a communications problem with the vehicle security device, which may indicate a fault of that device which the user may wish to rectify promptly. Preferably, the means for informing the third party is adapted to use one or more of : e-mail, SMS, a telephone call and post.

In some examples, the status information relates to a fault. This enables the monitoring system to independently check a vehicle security device for faults.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle security device, comprising a camera and a positioning device. Using both a camera and a positioning device allows both the location of a car and the circumstances of the car to be determined.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of responding to a condition at a vehicle, comprising obtaining image data relating to the condition; obtaining positional information relating to the location of the vehicle; and transmitting the image data and the positional information to a remote location.

In some embodiments, the condition is an emergency situation. In some embodiments, the condition is a security breach.

Preferably, the method further comprises detecting the breach. Preferably, detecting the breach comprises detecting one or more of: opening of a vehicle door; starting of the vehicle's engine; movement of the vehicle; movement inside the vehicle; interruption of a beam; airbag deployment and vehicle impact. Preferably, detecting the breach further comprises: emitting a beam; and detecting the beam.

This feature is of particular importance and is provided independently. Thus, a further aspect of the invention provides a method of detecting a security breach in a vehicle,

comprising: emitting a beam; and detecting the beam. Preferably, the method further comprises reflecting the beam before detecting it.

Preferably, the method further comprises obtaining positional information from a positioning system. Preferably, the positioning system is GPS.

Preferably, the method further comprises transmitting the image data and the positional information via a wireless communications network.

Preferably, the method further comprises receiving identification from the user. In some embodiments, receiving identification from the user comprises receiving an identification code. In some embodiments, receiving identification from the user comprises reading the user's fingerprint. Preferably, the method further comprises comparing the identification to a previously known identification to obtain a user validation. Preferably, the response to the condition is dependent on the validity of the user.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of reporting the status of a vehicle security device, comprising sending information to a remote location relating to the status of the vehicle security device. Preferably, the information relates to the status of a camera. In some examples, the vehicle security device is a vehicle security device as described above.

Preferably, the method further comprises indicating the status at the vehicle. Is some examples, the status information relates to a fault.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring a vehicle, comprising receiving an image related to a security condition from a vehicle; and receiving positional information from a vehicle relating to the location of the vehicle. Preferably, the method further comprises transmitting information relating to the condition to a third party. In some embodiments, the third party is a user of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the third party is an emergency service. In some embodiments, the third party is a vehicle maintenance service.

Preferably, the method further comprises adapting the information before transmitting it to the third party. Preferably, adapting the information comprises modifying an image. Preferably, adapting the information comprises sending an image to an image processing module as described above.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of monitoring a vehicle security device, comprising: receiving information from a vehicle security device relating to the status of the vehicle security device; and informing a third party of the status.

Preferably, the method further comprises making a request to a vehicle security device for information relating to the status of the vehicle security device. Preferably, the method further comprises informing a third party if a response to the request is not received. In some embodiments of the invention, informing the third party uses one or more of : e-mail, SMS, a telephone call and post.

In some examples, the status relates to a fault. In some embodiments of the invention, the vehicle security device is a vehicle security device as described above.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of processing a set of images, comprising: receiving the set of images; and amending the set of images based on a criterion. Preferably, amending the set of images comprises selecting a subset of the images based on a selection criterion. Preferably, the selection criterion is one or more of: variation in contrast, variation in brightness and number of edges.

Preferably, amending the set of images comprises modifying an image in the set of images. Preferably, modifying an image comprises modifying one or more of: contrast, brightness, colour depth, resolution and encoding format.

Preferably, the method further comprises sending the amended set of images to a destination.

The invention also provides a computer program and a computer program product for carrying out any of the methods described herein and/or for embodying any of the apparatus features described herein, and a computer readable medium having stored

thereon a program for carrying out any of the methods described herein and/or for embodying any of the apparatus features described herein.

The invention also provides a signal embodying a computer program for carrying out any of the methods described herein and/or for embodying any of the apparatus features described herein, a method of transmitting such a signal, and a computer product having an operating system which supports a computer program for carrying out any of the methods described herein and/or for embodying any of the apparatus features described herein.

The invention also provides a method substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings, and apparatus substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Any feature in one aspect of the invention may be applied to other aspects of the invention, in any appropriate combination.

Preferred features of the present invention will now be described, purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram showing the components of the OBS; Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram showing the operation of the OBS when activated by the user; Figure 3 shows a schematic of the functions of the RSC; Figure 4 shows a schematic of the vehicle security system from the point of view of the RSC; Figure 5 illustrates the method of locating a map segment and the car's position therein based on GPS positional information; Figure 6 shows the information flow of image data through the image processing module; Figure 7-1 and 7-2 show a flow diagram of the RSC process for responding to an incident; and Figure 8 shows a schematic top view of the car entry detection system.

The following acronyms are used in some figures and in the description: On-Board System (OBS); Remote Server Computer (RSC); Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) ; Charge Coupled Device (CCD); Image Acquisition and Processing Board (IAPB); Intruder and Engine Start Detector (IESD); Wireless Communication Module (WCM) ; Management System which controls the Automated Functions of the OBS and Data Acquisition (MS/DA).

Preferred embodiments of the invention relate to a vehicle security system (VSS), which includes a video camera, a global positioning satellite (GPS) system, an intruder detector, and a wireless, bi-directional communication link to a dedicated remote server computer (RSC). The on-board components are referred in the following collectively as the OnBoard System or OBS.

The objectives of this invention are to visually identify the vehicle thief, actively track the course of the vehicle in conjunction with Police or private agencies, and inform rapidly the vehicle owner of the theft. The images of the vehicle thief are removed rapidly from the OBS via a wireless link to a remote server computer (RSC), and cannot be accessed by the thief since they are transferred long before the thief could tamper with the OBS.

Therefore, upon automated detection of a vehicle theft, the automotive security system (i) captures an image or multiple images of the intruder, (ii) obtains real-time GPS data for real-time vehicle tracking, and (iii) rapidly communicates these data obtained in (i) and (ii) to a RSC.

The RSC then stores the image data for future reference, and relates the real-time GPS data to Police or private agencies for vehicle tracking and recovery. These GPS data are

also stored on the RSC. The RSC rapidly informs the vehicle owner of the theft by means of automated telephone messaging and electronic mail.

On-board system Figure 1 shows a schematic of the on-board components of the vehicle security system, referred to in this description as the OBS. The management system and data acquisition module (MS/DA) 20 communicates with the remote server computer (RSC) via a wireless communications link 22. A user interface 24 is also connected to the MS/DA.

This may, for example, comprise an LCD and a keypad. Further connected to the MS/DA are a GPS receiver module 26 (though other positioning systems may also be used), an intruder and engine start detector (IESD) 28, and an image acquisition and processing board (IAPB) 30. A camera 32 connects to the IAPB 30.

As shown in Figure 1, the OBS comprises several embedded electronic board-level modules: a management system 20 which controls the automated functions of the OBS and data acquisition (MS/DA); a GPS module 26; a CCD (charge coupled device) video camera 32; image acquisition and processing board (IAPB) 30; an intruder and engine start detector (IESD) 28; a wireless communication module (WCM) 22 for communication with the RSC. These components will now be described.

The MS/DA board controls the timing and memory allocation of data transfer between the IAPB and the GPS module. 32 Mbytes of on-board memory is sufficient to store up to 48 images and several hours of GPS data. The MS/DA controls the modem and wireless transfer of image and GPS data to the RSC. It monitors the IESD system in real-time to indicate the presence of an intruder and trigger the data acquisition. The MS/DA board controls the power supplies to each of the separate board-level modules: main power from the vehicle electrical system and auxiliary power from a lithium battery cell.

The operation of the system when activated by the user is outlined in Figure 2. Once the MS/DA has been activated by the user using the user interface in step 40, the camera, IAPB & GPS receiver module are activated and placed in stand-by mode in step 42 until an intruder is detected by the IESD in step 44 (or the system is deactivated). Upon such detection, the MS/DA acquires data from the IAPB and the GPS receiver module in step

46. The images and GPS information thus obtained are then transmitted to the RSC in step 48.

The MS/DA is controlled by software which includes diagnostic routines to assess the performance of the OBS component modules (see below).

The GPS module is an autonomous sub-system with a dedicated operating system which deals with the reception and processing of satellite signals to obtain a GPS fix once per second. When an intruder is detected, the GPS data is acquired by the MS/DA from the stand-alone GPS device every second via an RS-232 type serial interface in polled mode.

Thus the MS/DA polls the GPS device to instruct it to send the following GPS data: longitude; speed over ground; bearing; validity of GPS fix. The validity of GPS fix is employed as a GPS module diagnostic to monitor its performance. The time required to poll the GPS module and retrieve the data is approximately 50 milliseconds. This GPS data is then written to memory allocated for this purpose within the MS/DA. Memory allocated for the GPS data is approximately 4 Kbytes, which could store several hours of GPS data obtained at a rate of 1 Hz.

The IAPB is an autonomous sub-system with a dedicated operating system which acquires images at a rate of 30 Hz from the CCD camera. This board processes the live NTSC/PAL video feed from the camera and produces compressed, 24-bit digital colour image files (JPEG format, c. a. 440 Kbytes) which are stored temporarily in on-board memory (16 Mbytes enabling storage of up to 32 individual 500 Kbyte images). The IAPB is interfaced with the MS/DA via a PCI bus in polled mode. When an intruder is detected, the MS/DA polls the IAPB to transfer new images captured at an effective at rate of 1 image every 2 seconds. The time required to poll the IAPB and retrieve a single image is approximately 1 millisecond. These image files are written to memory allocated for this purpose within the MS/DA. Memory allocated for the image files is approximately 24 Kbytes, which could store approximately 48 individual images. For example, the MS/DA system may acquire 10 pictures of the intruder at 0.5 Hz.

As a camera diagnostic, the MS/DA periodically polls the IAPB to instruct it to validate the NSTC/PAL signal output of the camera. If no signal is detected then the IAPB returns

an error message to the MS/DA, which then informs the RSC via the WCM. The RSC then notifies the user of a camera malfunction by automated telephone and e-mail messaging. Also the User Interface keypad uses a warning indicator to report a camera malfunction.

Images are obtained prior to processing by use of a mid-resolution (approximately 768 x 494 pixels), NTSC/PAL colour CCD video camera. The internal camera control electronics automatically adjust the exposure and colour contrast to optimise the image quality. The live camera signal is fed to the IAPB by either a shielded BNC or S-Video cable. The small physical size of the camera (7mm diameter, front end-view) aids the discrete location/mounting of this optical device in the internal structure of a vehicle such that the device is virtually invisible. The field of view of the CCD Camera covers virtually all of the internal space of the vehicle, and therefore every entry point. Further, field of view illumination is readily achievable by conventional flash-lamp or constant lighting techniques to ensure clear night time image capture.

The IESD module is an analogue input/output board which measures changes in voltage returned from the sensors employed. The presence of a person entering the car is registered by the IESD, by use of a single or multiple sensors to trigger the MS/DA to capture image and GPS data : * Infra-Red motion detection ; * Laser Beam interruption ; * Air movement sensor ; * Activation of Micro-Switch ; * Low-frequency audio pulse scattering ; and/or * The CCD Camera itself, with a frame-by-frame differentiation algorithm.

The IESD informs the MS/DA if the engine is started by an intruder. This is accomplished by one of several sensors : * Hard-wired connection to engine electrical system ; * Audio sensor ; and/or

'Vibration sensor.

The WCM consists of a soft modem and transceiver configured for either satellite or cellular phone communications networks. It is controlled directly from the MS/DA by use of an RS-232 type serial interface. Thus data transfer between the MS/DA board memory and the RSC is handled via the modem with a suitable data transfer protocol. The protocol may be specially adapted to the purpose of transmitting images over a wireless communications network, or a standard data transfer protocol may be used. The images of the intruder are transferred rapidly to the RSC along with real-time GPS data for active vehicle tracking.

The identification of an individual OBS user is determined by an OBS serial number, which identifies the user details and the manufacturer, model, and colour of the vehicle.

Thus each bi-directional transfer of data between the WCM and the RSC includes this serial number as a user validation. This serial number is also used to provide the Police or private agencies with a visual description of the stolen vehicle, for example, manufacturer, model and colour. Prior to activation of each OBS by the RSC, the user has to register their personal details (including contact telephone number and e-mail addresses) and the vehicle details as outlined above.

The performance of the WCM is diagnosed by periodically checking whether the MS/DA can communicate with the RSC. If no communication link is established after a fixed number of dial-up attempts (e. g. 20), then the user is informed by an error indicator on the user interface keypad.

The external control of the OBS is achieved by use of a multifunctional User Interface keypad. This can be used to activate the OBS when the user leaves the vehicle unattended. When the user returns to the vehicle, the OBS is deactivated by a coded radio signal which is sent from a small transmitter on the car key ring to a sensor in the vehicle. It controls the additional safety function which enables the OBS to be used to contact recovery services via the RSC in the event of a breakdown. Further, it acts as a warning indicator if there is a malfunction in the WCM or the camera.

The operation of the RSC is shown in Figure 3, which depicts the RSC 60 along with its main operational functions 62,64, 66,68 and 70. Via function 66, the data captured by the OBS are sent to the dedicated RSC, which will store the image and GPS data via functions 68 and 70 respectively, and inform the Police or private agencies of the theft via function 64. This includes relaying the real-time positional data and vehicle description to Police or private agencies for real-time vehicle tracking and recovery. The RSC will also inform the user by automated telephone and e-mail messaging via function 62.

The RSC performs periodic diagnostic tests of OBS operation via the bi-directional WCM system. Thus the RSC polls an individual OBS to instruct it to return systems operational information. If an error in any OBS system module is detected the RSC will automatically inform the user by e-mail messaging. If the RSC cannot contact the OBS via the WCM then the user is informed of communications malfunction.

The embedded electronic systems described above are located in a tamperproof casing and securely hidden in the superstructure of a vehicle or in the boot. The casing also serves to shield the electronics from the electrical and electrostatic noise associated with vehicle internal spaces. Preferably, the only parts of the device which may be exposed to damage if located by the intruder are the CCD optics. However, the images are captured and transmitted to the RSC so quickly that they are transferred long before the intruder could possibly locate the optical detection system. Even if the optics are destroyed, the OBS will continue to provide GPS data as the electronic systems cannot be accessed by the intruder. When the vehicle is recovered, the optics can be replaced.

The OBS employs no external antennae for GPS or WCM. Both of these antennae are small"patch"type devices, which can be mounted invisibly in the superstructure of the vehicle. All cables connecting these antennae and the camera to the embedded electronic systems are shielded from electrical and electrostatic interferences.

The OBS could be employed to detect if the vehicle is in an accident, and then automatically inform the RSC, which then informs the emergency services. The optical detection system could be used to automatically acquire images of the status of the driver

and passengers following an accident. This image data and GPS position would be transferred to the RSC, which would then rapidly inform emergency services of position and provide an image of the internal space of the vehicle. This visual data will prepare the emergency services as to what to expect in terms of injuries. If the optical system is damaged in the accident, only GPS positional data will be transferred. The occurrence of an accident could be detected by the OBS with an analogue input/output board which measures changes in voltage returned from the sensors employed. The accident detection system could be linked directly to the air-bag electronics, so that on activation of the airbag the OBS would register an accident. The system may also be configured to use impact detectors located at the four comers and sides of the vehicle.

When the OBS is in passive mode, for example during normal vehicle operation, then the WCM module can be employed for audio communication. The audio communication would be hands-free and operate essentially as a standard mobile communication device.

With GPS and WCM on-board, there is the facility to have real-time navigation. The OBS would send the position of the vehicle to the RSC, which would then forward street map data for the surrounding area. The map could then be displayed on a dash-board LCD screen. More advanced features would involve the ability to plot a route from one place to another. By keeping all the mapping data on the RSC, the OBS does not require pre-programming or massive memory allocation. The OBS just downloads data from the RSC limited to the immediate area of interest.

The following section describes examples of a system architecture, functional architecture and application architecture which may be used to retrieve and process images over the mobile network and Internet.

First, an example of a system architecture will be given and described with reference to Figure 4, showing a schematic diagram of the whole network from the initial image capture to the processing of images and other data on the central machines. Each part of the network is explained in detail and the interaction between different parts of the network is demonstrated.

Secondly, an example of a suitable functional architecture will be given, showing how the system processes may work. The application logic is shown here.

Finally, an example of an application architecture will be given in the form of some exemplary classes. These are broken down into application areas to demonstrate the object-orientated approach to the application design, where each area performs a specific set of tasks.

Figure 4 shows a structural overview of the entire vehicle security system focusing on the RSC 96 and its connections to other parts of the system and outside the system. The remote server computer (RSC) comprises a web server 100, an application server 102 and a database server 104. The web server is connected through firewalls 98 and 106 to a mobile network or wireless network 94 and to the internet or an internet service provider 108. Servers 100,102 and 104 and firewalls 98 and 106 may be implemented by one or more physical units; for example, each server may be physically separate; or more than one or all may be implemented using the same physical computer unit.

Through the mobile or wireless network 94, the RSC is connected to the on-board vehicle security system (OBS) 88, which collates user information 86, identification information 80 such as fingerprint matching results, images from the CCD camera 82 and GPS data from the GPS module 84 for transmission via said wireless communications network to the RSC.

Furthermore the RSC also communicates via the wireless network with the user's mobile telephone 90 (for the sending of, for example, voice or SMS text messages), and with the user's internet-enabled PDA 92 (for the sending of, for example, text messages and images).

Through the internet connection 108, the RSC can further send information concerning an incident such as images and GPS data to the police network 112, and via e-mail to the user's e-mail account 110. Connections to other networks 114 may also be provided via the internet.

The following describes some elements of the overall system in more detail. Most aspects of the on-board system (OBS) have already been discussed above.

CCD Camera A CCD (charge couple device) camera is installed inside a vehicle, positioned to take pictures of would-be thieves. Once the vehicle's alarm has been triggered, the CCD takes many digital pictures and using a mobile connection, sends the digital pictures to a remote server computer for processing.

User Information An LCD and panel is provided inside the vehicle enabling the user to enter their personal details. The user information will include the user's unique UserID (obtained upon registering over the Internet, where the user will enter personal details such as a contact telephone number, e-mail address, and vehicle details) and the contact mobile phone number. This allows the user to change the contact mobile phone number at a moment's notice.

The identification of an individual user is determined by a VSS serial number, which identifies the user details and the manufacturer, model, and colour of the vehicle. Thus each bi-directional transfer of data between the WCM and the RSC includes this serial number as a user validation. This serial number is also used to provide the police or private agencies with a visual description of the stolen vehicle, e. g. manufacturer, model, and colour. Prior to activation of each VSS by the RSC, the user has to register their personal details (including contact telephone number and e-mail addresses) and the vehicle details as outlined above.

All the user information is encrypted before it is sent over the mobile network. This is to ensure that all the user's details are transferred securely.

GPS Data In addition to sending the digital pictures and user information, the on-board system will also manage real-time GPS data to pin-point the location of the vehicle in real time.

The GPS module has been described above. The GPS Data obtained by the GPS module will be used by the RSC to obtain street-map images of the vehicle's current position.

This process is given in more detail below.

Fingerprint Matching A separate sub-system allows the recognition of a user's fingerprints by the way of small fitted'plates'. These plates could be attached to a door handle or the steering wheel. The plates'read'the user's finger to produce a digital image of their fingerprint. This image is passed to the RSC for fingerprint matching.

The common known task of fingerprint matching is a process of measuring the similarity between two fingerprints. A commonly used technique is based on minutiae.

Alternatively, a Neural Network can be used for the finger print capture/analysis. This may be implemented as part of the on-board system or at the RSC. For example, a multilayer network whose input layer is constrained to implement feature selective filters used for matching may be used. In a preferred embodiment, the input to the network is a low-pass filtered and averaged central region of two aligned fingerprints. In this example, the output of the network is the probability that two fingerprints belong to the same finger. Usually, the network is firstly trained by pairs of fingerprint images and tested on different pairs which have not been used in training. The network learns to match fingerprint images.

A failure to match the fingerprints to the user's known fingerprints can be used to trigger an action by the on-board system; for example, image and GPS data may be transmitted to the RSC as previously described. Additionally, visual and audible alarm signals may be given. A successful fingerprint match can be used to activate other systems, such as the relay of vehicle location map data for navigation purposes.

Mobile Network The current mobile phone network (using GSM at 9 KBPS) would require the digital images to be compressed at source to save on the bandwidth used. The arrival of the proposed new mobile network (using GPRS-General Packet Radio Switching-at 115- 200 KBPS) is expected to increase the available bandwidth. The digital images sent

across the mobile network will probably be able to use the JPEG-2000 compression standard without requiring any additional image compression. This will reduce the time needed for the images to be sent.

The 3rd Generation mobile phone networks (GPRS) are expected to allow a permanent link to the RSC, thus avoiding dial up. UMTS-Universal Mobile Telephone System has predicted speeds of 500 KBPS and upwards.

The mobile network can also be used to contact the user by mobile phone and PDA once the digital images and user information have been processed by the RSC.

Firewall Once the digital images, GPS data and user information have crossed the mobile network, they pass through the security of a firewall at the RSC. The firewall forms protection against unauthorised access to the RSC (where the user's details are stored) by providing a secure technology to regulate both in-bound and out-bound communications.

The firewall examines all traffic routed between the two networks-the mobile network or Internet and the RSCs. If the traffic meets certain criteria, it is routed between the networks, otherwise it is stopped. A firewall filters both inbound and outbound traffic, but in this system will be mainly used to filter inbound communications to protect user's data from outside hostile access.

The firewall can also filter packets based on their source and destination addresses and port numbers. This is known as address filtering. Firewalls can also filter specific types of network traffic. This is also known as protocol filtering because the decision to forward or reject traffic is dependent upon the protocol used, for example HTTP, FTP or telnet.

Web Server The web server handles HTTP requests and static content. When the digital images, GPS data and user information is passed to the web server from the mobile network (through

the firewall), the data is passed to the application server where all the business logic resides.

The web server also manages the Internet traffic for the User Registration, serving static page content and site graphics without using additional resources of the application server.

Application Server Here the business and processing logic is coded into an application that is capable of running a multitude of tasks. These include: Image Processing The digital images may need some form of'cleaning'. This could be anything from adjusting the minimum brightness level of the picture (according to some predefined criteria) to ensuring that each image had some form of'content'. The criteria for determining whether an image had content or not is achieved by running an edge-finding algorithm over the image, where an'edge'is defined as the boundary between two areas of differing brightness and/or contrast. Any content would then show up as a series of edges, such as the outline of a human being or the features on a face. The more edges an image has the more content it has.

The brightness and contrast of each image can be altered by raising the average brightness and contrast to some predefined values. This would ensure that a very dark picture is not compared to a very bright one.

The images may also be duplicated and resized for use over different channels, depending on the bandwidth and protocol of the particular channel. The colour depth for each picture can also be reduced to reduce the file size of the images. This is to ensure the speed of delivery of the images is kept to a maximum for each channel.

Image Storage The system will index and store the processed images for future reference. This may be necessary for later Police work or simply allow the user to access the data obtained from past incidents.

The images would be indexed by using the user's UserID, their serial number, the internal reference number for the incident and the date/time of the incident.

Map Data The application server will be able to correlate the GPS data with stored map data to produce a graphical map of where the vehicle is currently. The map data stored in the database may be in the form of a number of JPEG images covering many different areas of the country, such as street maps of towns and cities. Each of these JPEG map images would have the GPS data co-ordinates for the top-left and bottom-right corners of the image. When searching for the street map image showing the vehicle's current position, the system would use the GPS data to find the street map image in which the horizontal and vertical GPS data co-ordinates lie inside the street map image's top-left and bottomright GPS co-ordinates, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5 shows how the GPS co-ordinates for each stored map image can be used to pinpoint the vehicle's position (X, Y) using the GPS data, where XI < X < X2 and Y1 < Y < Y2. The correct map segment 120 is identified by finding the map segment between whose upper-left GPS coordinates 122 and bottom-right GPS coordinates 124 the vehicle position 126 falls.

User Registration A set of web pages allows the user to register their OBS device and provide the system with important user information (such as their home address, mobile phone number, email address and vehicle registration). Registering also provides the user with a unique UserID to activate their OBS alarm system.

The system also generates a serial number for the user, which will be used in all communications between the WCM and RSC.

Security The user's personal information is encrypted at source and only decrypted on the application server when necessary. The encryption may use industry standard asymmetric cryptography, which uses public and private keys. The public key is used to encrypt the user's data at source (stored on the on-board circuitry) whilst the private key is used to decrypt the user's data on the RSCs. The private key will be held behind the RSC firewall and so will remain secure. Even if the public key is obtained from the on-board circuitry, there is no way of decrypting the user's data without knowing the private key.

The relationship between the public and private keys is complex so the chance of determining one from the other is thought to be virtually impossible.

Networking The application server has the ability to use different channels (for example, HTTP, FTP, SMTP) when sending out information to other networks.

Database Server The database server manages the database and all connections to it from the application server. Its tasks include indexing and storing images, user information, map data and the rapid retrieval of requested data.

Police Network After an incident has occurred at the user's vehicle and the digital images, GPS data and user information have been processed by the application server, the police network will be contacted with all the relevant information. This will include'clean'digital images of the incident, map data of the location of the incident, the user's name, address and contact phone number, and the vehicle's registration number.

The application server will determine what the optimum image format is for the police network and details of where and how to send the information (for example, using the channel FTP and the FTP address of the police machines).

User's Mobile Phone After an incident has occurred and the application server has processed all the data, the user's mobile phone number (taken from the incoming data or the user's registration details) will be used to contact the user. Using the mobile network, a voice message will be played to the user informing them of the incident and other relevant details (such as the time of the incident or a contact number for the police).

ISPs (Internet) ISPs are used to connect the system to the user's e-mail account via the web server.

User's E-mail If the user has an e-mail address, the application server can send the user an e-mail with details of the incident. This may include a selection of images, time and location of the incident, map data and a hyperlink to the stored data for future reference.

User's PDA If the user has an Internet-enabled PDA (for example, a PDA connected to a GSM mobile network interface, as manufactured, for example, by Nokia), the application server can provide information about the incident to the user's PDA using the mobile network. In the same way as contacting the user's mobile phone, the user's Internet-enabled PDA can be contacted and sent images, map data and other relevant information.

The images sent to a PDA may be of different quality to those sent by e-mail, as the general screen resolution of a PDA is currently lower than that of a standard PC monitor which the user may use to view their e-mail. The image processing module on the application server may have facilities to produce a set of images specifically for viewing on a PDA or similar equipment.

The process carried out by the RSC once alerted to a security incident by a vehicle's OBS is summarised in Figures 7-1 and 7-2. As part of the notification of an incident, the RSC receives images, GPS data and user information in step 160.

In step 162, a test is made to determine whether information for that user is contained in the database. If such information is found, the user details (including, for example, address and mobile telephone number) are retrieved from the database in step 164. If the information cannot be found in the database, the mobile phone number and other user details are set from the incoming data in step 166.

An image of a map segment corresponding to the GPS positional information received is obtained and the incident-related information, including the map image, in-car images, GPS data and user information are stored in the database in step 168. The images are then processed by the image processing module to produce suitable images for the various communication channels to be used in step 170. This may, for example, include cleaning and resizing of images. The resulting images are stored in the database in step 172.

Appropriate information, such as images, text, user details and map data are then sent to a third party, for example the police or a private security agency via a suitable channel, for example via FTP, in step 174. The user's mobile telephone is telephoned and a voice message describing the incident is played to the user in step 176. Alternatively or additionally, an SMS text message may also be sent to the user's mobile telephone.

If the user has registered an e-mail address (decision step 178), then an e-mail comprising a textual description of the incident as well as one or more images (of the incident, a relevant map image, or both) is sent to the user in step 180. If the user has an internetenabled PDA (decision 182), information regarding the incident may also be sent to the PDA in step 184. Again, the information sent may comprise both text and images.

Finally, in step 186, the incident is recorded along with information regarding the success of image and data delivery on the various channels. This completes the server's initial response to the incident.

Car Entry Detection System A brief description of a visible laser diode based car entry detection system is now presented, which may be used as part of the vehicle security system described above or as a stand-alone product. The system relies upon the laser beam being interrupted or

deflected off a photo-diode detector. The basic features of the car system are shown in schematic form in Figure 8. A visible light emitting laser diode 212 (in this case a red diode having a wavelength of about. 660 nm) is mounted within the door panel 206 of a car. The beam traverses the front driver/passenger space 214 from the passenger door to a reflective surface 208 mounted in the driver side door 204, and is reflected back to a photo-diode detector 210 mounted in the passenger door panel 206. The laser beam thus makes two passes of the front interior car space from door to door and back.

When the laser diode emission impinges upon the detector 210 it produces an electrical current which is monitored by the photo-diode signal monitor 202. Should the door open, the laser beam will be moved off the detector and the electrical current will fall to zero, thus triggering an alarm system 200. If a car thief enters via the car window, his/her body will interrupt the laser beam, and trigger the alarm as above. As the configuration is depicted in Figure 8, it is not possible to enter and/or drive the car without breaking the laser beam and triggering the alarm.

By use of a suitable laser diode wavelength in the visible region of the spectrum (red, blue, or green), the laser beam will usually be clearly visible from outside of the car due to scattering from small particles in the air. This may act as a deterrent, and it will look more impressive than the typical flashing red diode which indicates that a car alarm is active. Alternatively, there is also the option of using invisible laser light if required.

By recessing the laser diode, the detector, and the reflective surface in the door panels they will not be exposed to contact from the regular driver and any passengers. Thus the optical surfaces will remain clean, and can perform well for long periods of time without cleaning. Any irreproducibility in the geometry between laser, reflector, and detector due to frequent door opening and closing of the car doors is expected to be negligible. The electronics required to operate and monitor this system are very simple and cheap to produce, and can respond to an entry in microseconds. The system could be powered by the car electrical system with a back-up battery to provide auxiliary power as and when needed.

This type of system could be implemented in any context where a visible display of security is required, for example in a shop window, home or office. In such examples, the laser diode light (in this case green, c. a. 530 nm) may be"bounced"around the internal frame of the window via reflectors so that it passes several times across the glass surface. Therefore, if the window is opened or smashed the beam will be interrupted and the detector will trigger the alarm system. The laser beam path will be clearly visible from outside of the window and will clearly indicate that security is operative.

In all applications, these devices can be easy to design and cheap to manufacture.

The above gives one example of an intrusion detection system that may be used in the context of the vehicle security system described. Other incident detection methods may also be used, and may be used in combination with the above method. Other examples have already been outlined above.

Image Processing Module The following describes an example of an image processing module for use within the vehicle security system described above. The module of this example, which may be implemented using the Java programming language or any other suitable programming language, can take an array of images with a set of criteria and return a reduced array of images based on the given criteria. Examples of simple requirements are"Find the 5 best pictures from this list of 30","Improve the picture quality of these 10 images"or"Resize these 20 images to 20x20pixels".

An additional requirement is to have the array of images passed to this module from a servlet, which in turn will pass the reduced array of images to another location using a variety of different protocols (HTTP, WAP, FTP etc).

The different criteria will be passed to the Image Processing Module (IPM) using a number of parameters, for example : 'Number of images to be returned 'Size of images to be returned

'Improve brightness/contrast by xx% Rank images by level of detail.

'Rank images by brightness/contrast The ability will exist to combine criteria.

Determining Picture Quality One aspect of the IPM is the determination of picture quality: the aspect of a picture that allows most information to be gleaned from it visually.

One approach could be to generate a histogram of brightness levels (obtained by sampling a spread of pixels from each picture) which would allow a picture's overall brightness and contrast variations to be categorised. For example, any picture of nearly identical brightness levels would be useless. The variation in brightness would also be important, as this would indicate a basis for further picture detail.

Another approach would be to determine edges in each picture, by analysing areas of constant brightness difference. Again, the more edges, the more detail.

A critical factor may, in some applications, be the speed at which picture quality can be obtained. Allowing a greater margin of error by sampling less pixels per picture when finding overall brightness levels, for example, would lead to an increase in speed.

Similarly, processes such as edge finding will be more time consuming than simple

... image resizing.

The use of the image processing module (IPM) within the vehicle security system, specifically by the RSC, is depicted in Figure 6. An array of images 140 is passed together with the image processing criteria 142 to the Image Processing Module 146 using a servlet 144. Once processed, the returned array of images is transferred via a servlet 148 (which may be the same as servlet 144) to a given destination 150 using one of a variety of protocols (for example HTTP, WAP, FTP).

Application Architecture The following class diagrams give examples of some of the Java classes that may be used in a Java implementation of the system. Languages other than Java may also be used. The classes are broken down into area to emphasise the modularity of the system and its object-orientated design. The factory classes allow common tasks shared across different classes to be centralised. For example, a UserFactory may contain methods for creating and managing Users, which may also include, for example, Addresses or IncidentDetails.

The classes are shown with the name of the class and the key properties and methods.

The properties and methods are not exhaustive, but give an indication of what each class is used for within the overall application.

User Registration The following are examples of classes which may be used in the implementation of the user registration functions.

* User * UserFactory 'RegistrationFormHandler User userID firstName lastName title dateOfBirth address postcode emailAddress PDAAddress contactNumber vehicleReg

vehicleColour UserFactory createUser () deleteUser(userID) updateUser (userID) getUser (userID) getAllUsers() getNextUserID () RegistrationFormHandler checkUserDetails() checkAddress () checkPostcode () checkNumber () processNewUser () processUpdateUser() processDeleteUser () Security The following is an example of a class which may be used in the implementation of the security functions.

'CryptographyFactory CryptographyFactory publicKey privateKey encryptData() decryptData()

Incident, GPS Data and Street maps The following are examples of classes which may be used in the implementation of the functions related to incidents, GPS data and street maps.

* Incident 'IncidentFactory 'GPSData * Streetmap 'GPSFactory Incident incidentID userID time date IncidentFactory createIncidentQ getIncident (incidentID) getAllIncidents (userID) deleteIncident (incidentID) GPSData userID incidentID xPosition yPosition time GPSDataFactory getGPSData (userID, incidentID) getStreetmap (GPSData) getStreetmap (mapID)

Streetmap mapID xi position x2Position ylPosition y2Position Image Processing The following are examples of classes which may be used in the implementation of the image processing functions.

'Image * ImageFactory Image imageID userID incidentID size colourDepth pixels [] [] ImageFactory createlmage () getImage (imageID) getAllImages (userID, incidentID) getAllImages (userID) copylmage (image) copyImageForChannel (image, channel) getNextImageID () resize (image, newSize) changeBrightness (image)

changeContrast (image) changeColourDepth (image) findEdges (image) Mobile, E-mail and PDA The following are examples of classes which may be used in the implementation of the functions related to mobile telephones, e-mail and PDAs.

* Email # EmailFactory 'VoiceMessage 'VoiceMessageFactory * TextMessage 'TextMessageFactory Email subject recipients[] sentFrom text EmailFactory createEmail (subject, to, from, text) sendEmail (email) VoiceMessage voiceMessageID userID incidentID soundData

VoiceMessaseFactory createVoiceMessage() deleteVoiceMessage(vocieMessageID) getVoiceMessage (voiceMessageID) getAHVoiceMessages (userID)

getAHVoiceMessages (userID, incidentID) sendVoiceMessage (voiceMessageID) TextMessage textMessageID userID incidentID subject recipients [] text images [] maps [] TextMessagePactory createTextMessage () deleteTextMessage (textMessageID) getTextMessage (textMessageID) getAllTextMessages (userID) getAllT extMessages (userID, incidentID) sendTextMessage (voiceMessageID) Database The following are examples of classes which may be used in the implementation of the database functions.

'DatabaseConnection * DatabaseQuery

DatabaseConnection username password createDatabaseQuery () commit () rollback () DatabaseQuery sqlStatement execute () getConnectionQ getResuItSet () It will be understood that the present invention has been described above purely by way of example, and modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the invention.

Each feature disclosed in the description, and (where appropriate) the claims and drawings may be provided independently or in any appropriate combination.

Claims

Claims: 1. A vehicle security device, comprising: a) means for receiving an image from a camera; b) means for receiving positional information relating to the location of the vehicle; and c) means for transmitting the image and the positional information to a remote location.
2. A vehicle security device according to claim 1, wherein the means for transmitting the image and the positional information comprises a wireless communications device.
3. A vehicle security device according to claim 2, wherein the wireless communications device comprises a concealed aerial.
4. A vehicle security device according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the wireless communications device is further adapted to perform voice communication functions.
5. A vehicle security device according to any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the wireless communications device is further adapted to receive navigational information.
6. A vehicle security device according to any preceding claim, further comprising a camera.
7. A vehicle security device according to any preceding claim, further comprising a positional information receiver.
8. A vehicle security device according to claim 7, wherein the positional information receiver comprises a GPS receiver.

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9. A vehicle security device according to any preceding claim, further comprising means for detecting a security breach.
10. A vehicle security device according to claim 9, further comprising a detector for detecting one or more of: motion; vibration; movement inside the vehicle; interruption of a beam; engine start; opening of a door; airbag deployment and vehicle impact.
11. A vehicle security device according to claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the detector comprises a beam emitter and a beam detector.
12. A vehicle security device, comprising: a) a beam emitter; and b) a beam detector for detecting a beam emitted by the beam emitter.
13. A vehicle security device according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the beam emitter is adapted to emit a visible beam.
14. A vehicle security device according to any of claims 11 to 13, further comprising a beam reflector arranged to reflect the beam emitted by the emitter.
15. A vehicle security device according to any of claims 11 to 14, wherein the detector is spaced apart from the emitter.
16. A vehicle security device according to any preceding claim, further comprising a vehicle user identification device.
17. A vehicle security device according to claim 16, wherein the vehicle user identification device comprises means for entering an identification code.
18. A vehicle security device according to claim 16 or claim 17, wherein the vehicle user identification device comprises a fingerprint reader.

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19. A vehicle security device according to any preceding claim, further comprising means for: a) receiving information relating to a security breach; b) receiving information relating to the validity of the user of the vehicle; c) determining whether the user is a valid user for the vehicle; and d) obtaining information from the camera and the positioning device and transmitting the information to a remote location if the user is not a valid user for the vehicle.
20. A vehicle security device according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising means for sending an identifier to the remote location.
21. A vehicle security device according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising means for sending information relating to the status of the vehicle security device to the remote location.
22. A vehicle security device comprising means for sending information relating to the status of the vehicle security device to a remote location.
23. A vehicle security device according to claim 21 or claim 22, wherein the information relates to the status of a camera.
24. A vehicle security device according to any of claims 21 to 23, further comprising means for indicating the status at the vehicle.
25. A vehicle security device according to any of claims 21 to 24, wherein the status information relates to a fault.
26. An image processing module comprising: a) means for receiving a set of images ; and b) means for amending the set of images based on a criterion.
27. An image processing module according to claim 26, wherein amending the set of

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images comprises selecting a subset of the set of images based on a selection criterion.
28. An image processing module according to claim 27, wherein the selection criterion is one or more of: variation in contrast; variation in brightness and number of edges.
29. An image processing module according to any of claims 26 to 28, wherein amending the set of images comprises modifying an image in the set of images.
30. An image processing module according to claim 29, wherein modifying an image comprises modifying one or more of contrast, brightness, colour depth, resolution and encoding format.
31. An image processing module according to any of claims 26 to 30, further comprising means for sending the amended set of images to a destination.
32. A vehicle security device according to any of claims 1 to 25, further comprising an image processing module according to any of claims 26 to 31.
33. A vehicle monitoring system, comprising: a) means for receiving an image related to a security condition from a vehicle; and b) means for receiving positional information from a vehicle, relating to the location of the vehicle.
34. A vehicle monitoring system according to claim 33, further comprising means for transmitting information relating to the condition to a third party.
35. A vehicle monitoring system according to claim 34, wherein the third party is a user of the vehicle.
36. A vehicle monitoring system according to claim 34 or claim 35, wherein the third

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party is an emergency service.
37. A vehicle monitoring system according to any of claims 34 to 36, wherein the third party is a vehicle maintenance service.
38. A vehicle monitoring system according to any of claims 34 to 37, further comprising means for adapting the information before transmitting it to the third party.
39. A vehicle monitoring system according to claim 38, wherein the means for adapting the information comprises means for modifying an image.
40. A vehicle monitoring system according to any of claims 33 to 39, further comprising an image processing module according to any of claims 26 to 31.
41. A vehicle monitoring system according to any of claims 33 to 40, further comprising : a) means for receiving information from a vehicle security device relating to the status of the vehicle security device; and b) means for informing a third party of the status.
42. A vehicle monitoring system comprising: a) means for receiving information from a vehicle security device relating to the status of the vehicle security device; and b) means for informing a third party of the status.
43. A vehicle monitoring system according to any of claims 33 to 42, further comprising means for making a request to a vehicle security device for information relating to the status of the vehicle security device.
44. A vehicle monitoring system according to 43, further comprising means for informing a third party if a response to the request is not received.

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45. A vehicle monitoring system according to any of claims 42 to 44, wherein the means for informing the third party is adapted to use one or more of : e-mail, SMS, a telephone call and post.
46. A vehicle monitoring system according to any of claims 41 to 45, wherein the status information relates to a fault.
47. A vehicle security device, comprising a camera and a positioning device.
48. A method of responding to a condition at a vehicle, comprising: a) obtaining image data relating to the condition; b) obtaining positional information relating to the location of the vehicle; and c) transmitting the image data and the positional information to a remote location.
49. A method according to claim 48, wherein the condition is an emergency situation.
50. A method according to claim 48, wherein the condition is a security breach.
51. A method according to any of claims 48 to 50, further comprising detecting the condition.
52. A method according to claim 51, wherein detecting the condition comprises detecting one or more of : opening of a vehicle door; starting of the vehicle's engine; movement of the vehicle; movement inside the vehicle; interruption of a beam; airbag deployment and vehicle impact.
53. A method according to claim 51 or claim 52, wherein detecting the condition further comprises: (a) emitting a beam; and (b) detecting the beam.
54. A method of detecting a security breach in a vehicle, comprising: (a) emitting a beam; and

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(b) detecting the beam.
55. A method according to claim 53 or claim 54, further comprising reflecting the beam before detecting it.
56. A method according to any of claims 48 to 55, further comprising obtaining positional information from a positioning system.
57. A method according to claim 56, wherein the positioning system is GPS.
58. A method according to any of claims 48 to 57, further comprising transmitting the image data and the positional information via a wireless communications network.
59. A method according to any of claims 48 to 58, further comprising receiving identification from the user.
60. A method according to claim 59, wherein receiving identification from the user comprises receiving an identification code.
61. A method according to claim 59 or claim 60, wherein receiving identification from the user comprises reading the user's fingerprint.
62. A method according to any of claims 59 to 61, further comprising comparing the identification to a previously known identification to obtain a user validation.
63. A method according to claim 62, wherein the response to the condition is dependent on the validity of the user.
64. A method of reporting the status of a vehicle security device, comprising sending information to a remote location relating to the status of the vehicle security device.

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65. A method according to 64, wherein the information relates to the status of a camera.
66. A method according to any of claim 64 or claim 65, wherein the vehicle security device is a vehicle security device as claimed in any of claims 1 to 25.
67. A method according to any of claims 64 to 66, further comprising indicating the status at the vehicle.
68. A method according to any of claims 64 to 67, wherein the status information relates to a fault.
69. A method of monitoring a vehicle, comprising: a) receiving an image related to a security condition from a vehicle; and b) receiving positional information from a vehicle relating to the location of the vehicle.
70. A method according to claim 69, further comprising transmitting information relating to the condition to a third party.
71. A method according to claim 70, wherein the third party is a user of the vehicle.
72. A method according to claim 70, wherein the third party is an emergency service.
73. A method according to claim 70, wherein the third party is a vehicle maintenance service.
74. A method according to any of claims 69 to 73, further comprising adapting the information before transmitting it to the third party.
75. A method according to claim 74, wherein adapting the information comprises modifying an image.

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76. A method according to claim 74 or claim 75, wherein adapting the information comprises sending an image to an image processing module according to any of claims 26 to 31.
77. A method of monitoring a vehicle security device, comprising: a) receiving information from a vehicle security device relating to the status of the vehicle security device; and b) informing a third party of the status.
78. A method according to claim 77, further comprising making a request to a vehicle security device for information relating to the status of the vehicle security device.
79. A method according to claim 78, further comprising informing a third party if a response to the request is not received.
80. A method according to any of claims 77 to 79, wherein informing the third party uses one or more of: e-mail, SMS, a telephone call and post.
81. A method according to any of claims 77 to 80, wherein the status relates to a fault.
82. A method according to any of claims 77 to 81, wherein the vehicle security device is a vehicle security device according to any of claims 1 to 25.
83. A method of processing a set of images, comprising: (a) receiving the set of images; and (b) amending the set of images based on a criterion.
84. A method according to claim 83, wherein amending the set of images comprises selecting a subset of the images based on a selection criterion.
85. A method according to claim 84, wherein the selection criterion is one or more

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of: variation in contrast, variation in brightness and number of edges.
86. A method according to any of claims 83 to 85, wherein amending the set of images comprises modifying an image in the set of images.
87. A method according to claim 86, wherein modifying an image comprises modifying one or more of: contrast, brightness, colour depth, resolution and encoding format.
88. A method according to any of claims 83 to 87, further comprising sending the amended set of images to a destination.
89. A computer program product adapted to carry out a method as claimed in any of claims 48 to 88.
90. A computer program adapted to carry out a method as claimed in any of claims 48 to 88.
91. A computer readable medium embodying a computer program as claimed in claim 90.
92. A signal tangibly embodying a computer program as claimed in claim 90.
93. A method of transmitting a signal as claimed in claim 92.
94. A method substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.
95. Apparatus substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.