JP2000020865A - Image center device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To preserve received image data without deleting any image data. SOLUTION: A storage device 13 is constituted so that a storage medium such as a hard disk device can not be exchanged, and a storage device 20 is constituted so that a storage medium such as a magnetooptial disk device can be exchanged. A controller 12 receives security data and image data, and preserves those data in the storage device 13 by making those data correspond to each other. When the empty capacity of the image data storage area of the storage device 13 is turned into a threshold value or less, the controller 12 moves the image data in prescribed data amounts from among the image data preserved in the storage device 13 to the storage medium of the storage device 20. Thus, the empty capacity of the image data storage area of the storage device 13 can be ensured, and the received image data can be prevented from being deleted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image center apparatus for receiving security data and image data transmitted via a telephone line from an image transmission apparatus installed at a terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a security system, a security system in which an image transmission device installed at a security destination and an image center device installed at a center side are connected by a public telephone line is known. The schematic configuration and operation will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a security system, in which 1 is an image transmission device, 2 is a control device, 4 is a line control unit, 10 is an image center device, 11 is a line control unit, 1
2 is a control device, 13 is a storage device, 15 is a monitor, 16 is an input unit, and L is a public telephone line.

[0004] An image transmission apparatus 1 is installed at a predetermined location of a security destination. The image transmission device 1 performs bidirectional communication with a control device 2 composed of various circuits such as a processing unit and a circuit for processing image data, and an image center device 10 via a public telephone line L, and transmits data. A line control unit 4 for performing transmission and reception is provided. The line controller 4 is composed of a modem or the like.

The control unit 2 includes a security sensor (hereinafter simply referred to as a sensor) for detecting an abnormality, a monitoring camera,
Also, an operation device for setting the alert mode and the release mode is connected. In general, a plurality of sensors, monitoring cameras, and operating devices are provided, but in FIG. 3, sensors, monitoring cameras, and operating devices are simply connected to the control device 2 to avoid complicating the drawing. Is shown. As a sensor, a hot-wire sensor for detecting a moving object,
Various sensors such as a magnet switch for detecting that a window or a door is opened are used. An address is set for each sensor, each monitoring camera, and each operating device. Further, the sensor and the monitoring camera are appropriately associated with each other. Further, an address as an image transmission device is set in the control device 2.

[0006] The image transmission device 1 transmits security data and image data to the image center device 10. In some cases, only security data is transmitted, and in some cases, both security data and image data are transmitted. For example, when the alert mode is changed to the release mode by the operating device, the control device 2
Transmits the address of the operated device and information indicating that the release mode has been set by the line control unit 4 as security data. The same applies when the mode is changed from the release mode to the alert mode by the operating device.

Next, as a case where both security data and image data are transmitted, there is a case where an abnormality is detected. That is, when a signal indicating that an abnormality has been detected is output from the sensor while the alert mode is set by the operation device, the control device 2 transmits the address of its own,
Security data including information such as the address of the sensor that detected the abnormality, information indicating the occurrence of the abnormality, and the number of images to be transmitted is created, and the line control unit 4 transmits the data of the image captured by the monitoring camera. Note that image data is generally transmitted after being compressed by an appropriate data compression method such as the JPEG method.

On the other hand, an image center device 10 is arranged on the center side. The image center device 10 includes a line control unit 11, a control device 12, a storage device 13, a monitor 15 including a color CRT, and an input unit 16 including a keyboard and a mouse.

The line control unit 11 is connected to the image center device 10.
For transmitting and receiving data to and from the image transmission apparatus which is the management target of the modem, and when the security data and the image data are received, the security data and the image data are separated and transmitted to the control device 12. Has means to hand over. The control device 12 performs security data received from the image transmission device, processing for displaying and storing the image data, or processing for giving any instruction to the image transmission device, and the like.
It usually consists of a personal computer. Storage device 1
Reference numeral 3 denotes a large-capacity storage means, which is usually constituted by a hard disk drive. The storage device 13 has an area for storing security data (hereinafter, referred to as a security data storage area).
And an area for storing image data (hereinafter, referred to as an image data storage area).

In the above configuration, the image center device 10
When receiving the security data and the image data from the line controller 11, the control device 12 stores the security data and the image data in the storage device 13 in association with each other. At this time, it is natural that the security data is stored in the security data storage area and the image data is stored in the image data storage area. The security data and the image data can be associated with each other by an appropriate method. For example, security data is assigned a serial number in the order received and stored in a security data storage area, and for image data received together with security data, a directory having the same name as the serial number of the security data is created in the image data storage area. And save it in that directory. Obviously, security data and image data can be stored in association with each other.

[0011]

As described above, image data is usually compressed and transmitted on the image transmission device side. Therefore, the image data received on the image center device side is compressed. Although it is possible to store the image data in the storage device 13, the data amount of the image data, though compressed, is much larger than the security data composed of character codes. On the other hand, although the capacity is large, the capacity of the storage device 13 is limited. Therefore, if the received image data is kept stored, the storage device 13 overflows at some point.

Conventionally, as a countermeasure against such a case, the control device 12 monitors the free space of the image data storage area of the storage device 13 and when the free space falls below a predetermined threshold value, the monitor 15 A message indicating that the free space of the storage area is running low is displayed. According to this, when confirming the message, the operator can delete the image data stored in the image data storage area of the storage device 13 in order from the oldest to secure the free space.

However, it is not desirable to delete image data in this way. This is because some image data includes important image data such as an image capturing the moment when an abnormality occurs, and such important image data may be deleted.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image center apparatus that can store received image data for a desired period without deleting it.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object, an image center apparatus according to claim 1 comprises a first storage means for storing at least received image data;
The image data stored in the first storage means can be moved, and the storage medium can be exchanged. The second storage means, the monitor, and the storage means for storing the image data in the first storage means. A control unit for displaying a message to that effect on the monitor when the free space falls below a predetermined threshold.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image center apparatus, wherein the first storage means for storing at least the received image data, and the stored image data can be moved from the first storage means. When the free space for storing the image data in the second storage unit in which the medium is exchangeable and the image data in the first storage unit becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the medium is stored in the first storage unit. Control means for moving image data of a predetermined data amount from the image data to the storage medium of the second storage means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image center apparatus, wherein the storage means has a replaceable storage medium, and at least received image data is stored in the storage medium of the storage means.
When the free space for storing the image data of the storage medium becomes equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, a control means for displaying a message to that effect on a monitor is provided.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of an image center device according to the present invention. In the drawing, reference numeral 20 denotes a storage device 20. Note that the same components as those shown in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

The image center device 10 includes two storage devices 13 and 20. The storage device 13 is constituted by a hard disk device as in the prior art. This storage device 13
Cannot replace the storage medium. The other storage device 20 is a storage device whose storage medium is exchangeable, such as a magneto-optical disk device (MO) and a DVD-ROM.
A RAM, a removable hard disk device, or a storage device called ZIP can be used. Naturally, the larger the capacity of the storage device 20 is, the more desirable it is. However, a floppy disk device can be used as the storage device 20 if the capacity is not limited.
Then, on the recording medium set in the storage device 20, a security data storage area and an image data storage area are formed.

The control device 12 stores the security data received from the line control unit 11 in a security data storage area of the storage device 13, and stores the image data in the image data storage area of the storage device 13. At this time, the security data and the image data are stored in association with each other as described above.

The control device 12 monitors the free space of the image data storage area of the storage device 13 and, if the free space becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold, the monitor 15 displays the free space of the image data storage area. Display a message indicating that is low.

When the operator confirms the message, the operator sets a recording medium in the storage device 20, performs a predetermined operation using the input unit 16, and stores the image data stored in the image data storage area of the storage device 13. Is moved to the image data storage area of the storage medium of the storage device 20, and security data corresponding to the moved image data is transferred from the security data storage area of the storage device 13 to the storage device 20. Move to the security data storage area of the recording medium.

As described above, according to this image center apparatus, it is possible to secure a free space in the image data storage area of the storage device 13, and to further store the image data moved from the storage device 13 and the corresponding data. Since the security data is stored in the storage medium set in the storage device 20,
Important image data is not deleted as in the related art.

Next, a second embodiment will be described.
The configuration of the image center device in this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, but differs from the first embodiment in the following points.

In this embodiment, a storage medium is set in the storage device 20 in advance. An image data storage area and a security data storage area are set in this storage medium, as in the above-described embodiment.

The control device 12 stores the security data received from the line control unit 11 in a security data storage area of the storage device 13, and stores the image data in the image data storage area of the storage device 13. At this time, the security data and the image data are stored in association with each other as described above.

The control device 12 monitors the free space in the image data storage area of the storage device 13 and, if the free space becomes equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, automatically controls the image data in the storage device 13. From the image data stored in the storage area, image data of a predetermined data amount is moved to the image data storage area of the recording medium of the storage device 20, and security data corresponding to the moved image data is stored in the storage device 13. From the security data storage area of the storage device 20 to the security data storage area of the recording medium of the storage device 20. Here, the storage device 1
3, the amount of data to be moved from the image data storage area to the image data storage area of the storage medium of the storage device 20 is as follows.
For example, a certain threshold value may be set, and the data amount may be equal to or less than the threshold value, and may be set to the maximum data amount that can be moved without losing image data. It should be noted that the threshold value defining the moving image data amount is naturally determined according to the storage capacity of the storage medium of the storage device 20.

As described above, according to this image center apparatus, it is possible to secure a free space in the image data storage area of the storage device 13, and to further store the image data moved from the storage device 13 and the corresponding image data. Since the security data is stored in the storage medium set in the storage device 20,
Important image data is not deleted as in the related art. In addition, since the image data is automatically moved from the image data storage area of the storage device 13 to the image data storage area of the storage medium of the storage device 20, the burden on the operator can be reduced.

Next, the third embodiment of the image center apparatus according to the present invention will be described.
The embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 denotes a storage device. Note that the same components as those shown in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

The configuration shown in FIG. 2 is very similar to the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 3, but the storage device 13 shown in FIG.
While the storage medium cannot be replaced like a disk device, the storage device 21 shown in FIG. 2 differs from the storage device in that the storage medium can be replaced. Therefore, as the storage device 21, a device whose storage medium is exchangeable, such as a magneto-optical disk device, a DVD-RAM, a removable hard disk device, and a ZIP device, is used. Naturally, the larger the capacity of the storage device 21 is, the more desirable it is. However, a floppy disk device can be used as the storage device 21 as long as the storage device 21 does not matter. In the storage medium of the storage device 21, an image data storage area and a security data storage area are set.

The control device 12 stores the security data and the image data received from the line control unit 11 in the storage device 2 respectively.
1 in the security data storage area and the image data storage area. At this time, the security data and the image data are stored in association with each other as described above.

The control device 12 monitors the free space of the image data storage area of the storage medium of the storage device 21 and
If the free space falls below a predetermined threshold, monitor 1
5 displays a message indicating that the free space in the image data storage area of the storage medium is running low. When the operator confirms the message, the operator checks the storage device 2
The storage medium set to 1 is taken out, and a new storage medium is set.

As described above, according to this image center device, the received security data and image data are stored in the storage device 21.
Is stored directly in the exchangeable storage medium, so that important image data is not deleted unlike the related art.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing first and second embodiments of an image center device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the image center device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a conventional image center apparatus and a security system using the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 image transmission device 2 control device 4 line control unit 1
0: Image center device, 11: Line control unit, 12: Control device, 13: Storage device, 15: Monitor, 16: Input unit, 2
0, 21: storage device, L: public telephone line.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first storage means for storing at least received image data, wherein the stored image data can be moved from the first storage means, and the storage medium can be exchanged. Storage means, a monitor, and a control means for displaying a message on the monitor when the free space for storing image data in the first storage means becomes equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. An image center apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. A first storage means for storing at least received image data, wherein the stored image data can be moved from the first storage means and the storage medium can be exchanged. A second storage unit, and when the free space for storing the image data in the first storage unit becomes equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, a predetermined data is selected from the image data stored in the first storage unit. Control means for moving the amount of image data to the storage medium of the second storage means. 3. A storage device having a replaceable storage medium, wherein at least received image data is stored in a storage medium of the storage device, and a free space for storing image data of the storage medium is a predetermined threshold value. An image center apparatus comprising: control means for displaying a message to that effect on a monitor when any of the following situations occurs.