JP2001157091A - Image-monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a superior image monitoring system by which an image is viewed before a sensor input is recorded and also a present image. SOLUTION: An image storage device 2 stores image data, transmitted from monitor terminals 3-1 to 3-n after the time when sensor issuing information from the terminals 3-1 to 3-n is transmitted and stores image data in the case of sensor issuing. After the storage, a stored image is displayed to a monitoring device 1 by requesting picture data stored in the device 2 from the device 1 which is connected to the Internet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image monitoring system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional system, there is a system in which a monitoring device constantly monitors or records an image. In a system for transmitting image data in conjunction with a sensor, there is a method in which the image data to be transmitted is delayed by a delay circuit, a memory, or the like on the monitoring terminal side to obtain an image before the occurrence of an abnormality.

[0003]

However, in the conventional system, it is necessary to perform constant monitoring by a monitoring device, and when recording an image, a large storage capacity is required for constantly recording. It takes time and effort to search for an image when an abnormality has occurred.

Further, in a system for transmitting image data in conjunction with a sensor, an image immediately before the occurrence of an abnormality cannot be obtained. That is, in the method in which the image data to be transmitted is delayed by the delay circuit and the memory on the monitoring terminal side and the image before the occurrence of the abnormality is obtained, the transmitted image is always delayed. Can not be monitored. Further, since the monitoring terminal delays, for example, if the monitoring terminal breaks down when a fire or the like occurs, the image cannot be obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an excellent image monitoring system capable of recording an image before sensor input and viewing the current image. To provide.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a monitoring terminal having an Internet connection function for transmitting a camera, a sensor, camera image data and sensor information to the Internet, an Internet connection function and an image. In an image monitoring system including an image storage device including a storage unit and a monitoring terminal having an Internet connection function and capable of displaying image data from the image storage device, the sensor notification information of the monitoring terminal in the image storage device By storing the image data sent from the monitoring terminal after the time of the transmission, the image data at the time of the sensor alert can be stored, and after storage, the image data is stored in the image storage device from the monitoring device connected to the Internet. Displaying stored images on a surveillance device by requesting captured image data DOO is characterized in that it is.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the camera has a camera, a motion detecting section for detecting a motion based on an image from the camera, and an Internet connection function for transmitting camera image data and motion detecting information to the Internet. In an image monitoring system including a monitoring terminal, an image storage device including an Internet connection function and an image storage unit, and a monitoring device having an Internet connection function and capable of displaying image data from the monitoring terminal or the image storage device, By storing the image data sent from the monitoring terminal since the time when the motion detection information of the monitoring terminal was transmitted at the time, it is possible to store the image data at the time of the sensor alert, and to connect to the Internet after storage. By requesting the image data stored in the image storage device from the monitoring device It is characterized in that it is possible to display an image that is the monitoring device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first and second aspects of the present invention, a buffer unit is added to the image storage device, and the image storage device transmits image data from the monitoring terminal for a predetermined time. By buffering and storing the image data in the buffer when the sensor alert information or the motion detection information is transmitted, and by subsequently storing the image data sent from the monitoring terminal, the sensor is activated. It is characterized in that it is possible to store image data from before the notification or the motion detection.

According to the invention of claim 4, in the invention of claim 3, by transmitting the sensor notification information or the motion detection information of the monitoring terminal and the image data,
At the time of sensor alert or motion detection, the monitoring device displays the current image data of the monitoring device, transmits the image data stored in the image storage device to the monitoring device, and displays the image on the monitoring device. It is characterized in that the images before and after the alert or the motion detection can be simultaneously displayed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect or the second to fourth aspects of the present invention, the monitoring terminal transmits sensor alert information or motion detection information of the monitoring terminal. By providing a function of setting whether or not the image is to be monitored, it is characterized in that a sensor other than a monitoring target is not issued and an image is not stored by motion detection.

According to the invention described in claim 6, in the invention according to claim 3 to claim 5, since a human sensor is used as a sensor, an image is recorded before a human intrudes, so that the intrusion occurs. It is characterized in that it is easy to specify a route.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the third to fifth aspects of the present invention, by using a human fire alarm as a sensor, the image can be recorded before the occurrence of a fire. It is characterized in that the cause of occurrence is easily specified.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an image monitoring system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the image monitoring system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of monitoring terminals 3-1 and 3-
, 3-n, the image storage device 2, and the monitoring device 1 are connected by using the Internet. For connection to the Internet, a connection using a wired connection and a wireless connection using a wireless LAN are possible.

Next, each component will be described with reference to FIG. The monitoring terminal 3-1 includes a camera 3-11 and an image codec 3-1 that captures an image from the camera and performs image compression.
2, a sensor 3-15 and a sensor input monitoring unit 3-16 for monitoring the input of the sensor 3-15, a sensor alarm flag 3-17 for indicating whether or not to transmit the information when there is a sensor input, It comprises a communication processing unit 3-13 for transmitting and receiving information to and from the network, and a network interface 3-14. Here, the sensor may be a human sensor, a fire alarm sensor, a security switch installed in a window or a door, or the like, and a plurality of sensors may be installed. In this case, a sensor alert flag 3-17 is provided for each sensor.

In the monitoring terminal 3-2 for motion detection, a camera 3-21, an image codec 3-22 for taking in an image from the camera and compressing the image, a motion detecting unit 3-25 for performing motion detection based on the image, Motion detection alert flag 3-2 indicating whether to transmit the information when motion is detected
6. Communication processing unit 3-for transmitting / receiving information to / from the network
23 and a network interface 3-24. Motion detection can be performed by detecting using a motion vector in a motion compensation function of the image codec, or by comparing images of each frame and detecting the difference from an image difference value between frames.

An image storage device 2 is provided on a network interface 2-2, a communication processing unit 2-1 for transmitting / receiving information to / from a network, and a memory for temporarily storing image data from a monitoring terminal. Buffer 2-4
And a storage unit 2-3 for storing image data in a hard disk or the like based on sensor information from the monitoring terminal.

The monitoring device 1 includes an image codec 1-2 for expanding image data, an image display unit 1-1 for displaying expanded image data, a communication processing unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from a network, and a network interface. 1-
3. Sensor alert setting means 1-5 for setting a sensor alert flag of each monitoring terminal.

Next, the operation of this system will be described. Each of the above-mentioned monitoring terminals 3-1, 3-2, 3-3,...
, 3-n, the terminal can be specified by the address. Each monitoring terminal transmits image data on the Internet by multicast. Since the same address is transmitted to the selected nodes to a plurality of nodes selected in the multicast system, both the image storage device 2 and the monitoring device 1 can receive the image data. For this reason, the monitoring device 1 can also display the current image of each monitoring terminal on the image display unit 1-1.

In the image storage device 2, the received image data is stored in the buffer 2-4. If all data is stored in the buffer area, the data is overwritten from the beginning of the buffer.
In this way, the buffer 2-4 always holds the past image for a certain period of time. This buffer 2
-4 are prepared for the number of monitoring terminals, and a different buffer is used for each terminal.

Each monitoring terminal 3-1, 3-2, 3-3,...
.., 3-n indicate a sensor alarm flag 3-17 and a motion detection alarm flag 3 when a sensor input or motion is detected, respectively.
Referring to -26, if the flag is TRUE, a sensor input or motion detection is transmitted to the Internet by multicast. If the flag is FALSE, no transmission is performed. These flags are set for each monitoring terminal by the flag setting means 1-5 of the monitoring device 1. The flag is set to TRUE in the flag setting means 1-5.
Or FALSE, and the information is transmitted as a packet to the corresponding monitoring terminal, and the monitoring terminal sets a flag value based on the information of the received packet.

When the image storage device 2 receives the sensor alert information or the motion detection information, the corresponding buffer 2-
The image data stored on the storage device 4 is stored in a storage device such as a hard disk drive in the storage unit 2-3 from the temporally previous one, and the image data from the monitoring terminal is subsequently stored in the storage device 2-3. To memorize. Here, the stored image data is transmitted to the Internet as image data by transmitting an image transfer request packet from the monitoring device 1 to the image storage device 2, and can be displayed on the monitoring device 1.

Thus, when the monitoring device 1 receives the sensor alert information or the motion detection information, the image data from the corresponding monitoring terminal is displayed, so that the current image can be confirmed and monitored. The terminal transmits an image transfer request packet requesting the image storage device 2 for image data corresponding to the sensor alert information or the motion detection information, and displays the image data from the image storage device 2 to display the current image and the current image. The images before and after the sensor alert or the motion detection can be confirmed.

Here, the image storage device 2 and the monitoring device 1 can be mounted on the same hardware or can be mounted on separate hardware. Further, in the monitoring terminal, a configuration is also possible in which the sensor has a network connection function and is independent as a separate hardware. In this case, the above-described processing can be performed by storing the correspondence between the sensor and the monitoring terminal in the image storage device 2 and the monitoring device 1.

With the above-described configuration, the monitoring terminal, the image storage device 2, and the monitoring device 1 can be arranged at arbitrary positions on the Internet, and the monitoring terminal, the image storage device 2, and the monitoring device 1 can be time-shifted in conjunction with the sensor alert or the motion detection. It is possible to store from the previous image, and to simultaneously check the image before and after the sensor alert or the motion detection and the current image.

Further, when a human sensor is used, the sensor alert information is not transmitted during the time when a person is present, and the sensor alert information is transmitted only during the time when no person is present. Since it is not possible to record images other than those to be monitored, it is possible to easily specify an intrusion route.
When a fire sensor is used, the cause of image generation can be easily specified by recording an image before the occurrence of a fire.

[0026]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an image can be stored in the event of an abnormality by interlocking with a sensor, and a monitoring terminal, an image storage device, and a monitoring device can be freely arranged on the Internet. This has the effect of making it possible to

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is an effect that a sensorless system can be realized by detecting a motion from an image.

According to the invention described in claim 3, according to claim 1
Further, in addition to the effects of the invention described in the second aspect, it is possible to store an image before detection at the time of abnormality detection by a sensor or motion detection.

According to the invention described in claim 4, according to claim 3,
In addition to the effect of the invention described in the above, further, an image before abnormality detection,
This has the effect that the current real-time image can be checked simultaneously.

According to the invention described in claim 5, claim 1 is provided.
In addition to the effects of the invention described in the description or the second to fourth aspects, there is an effect that it is possible to not notify other than the monitoring target.

According to the invention of claim 6, according to claim 3,
In addition to the effects of the invention described in claim 5, the present invention has an effect that the intrusion route can be easily specified.

According to the invention of claim 7, according to claim 3,
Further, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claim 5, there is an effect that the cause of image generation can be easily specified by recording an image before the occurrence of a fire.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a system according to an embodiment of an image monitoring system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a monitoring terminal of the image monitoring system, an image storage device, and an internal configuration of the monitoring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 monitoring device 1-1 image display unit 1-2 image codec 1-3 network interface 1-4 communication processing unit 1-5 flag setting means 2 image storage device 2-1 communication processing unit 2-2 network interface 2-3 storage Unit 2-4 Buffer 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 Monitoring terminal 3-11 Camera 3-12 Image codec 3-13 Communication processing unit 3-15 Sensor 3-14 Network interface 3-16 Sensor input monitoring unit 3 -17 Sensor alert flag 3-2 Surveillance terminal 3-21 Camera 3-22 Image codec 3-23 Communication processing unit 3-24 Network interface 3-25 Motion detection unit 3-26 Motion detection alert flag

Claims (7)

[Claims] A monitoring terminal having an Internet connection function for sending a camera, a sensor, camera image data and sensor information to the Internet, an image storage device including an Internet connection function and an image storage unit, and an Internet connection function; An image monitoring system comprising: the monitoring terminal or a monitoring device capable of displaying image data from an image storage device; wherein the image storage device is a monitoring terminal after a point at which sensor alert information is transmitted from the monitoring terminal. By storing the image data sent from the server, the image data at the time of the sensor alert can be stored, and after the storage, the monitoring device connected to the Internet requests the image data stored in the image storage device. That the stored image can be displayed on the monitoring device An image monitoring system characterized by the following. 2. A surveillance terminal having a camera, a motion detection unit for detecting motion based on an image from the camera, and an Internet connection function for transmitting image data and motion detection information from the camera to the Internet, and an Internet connection. In an image monitoring system including an image storage device including a function and an image storage unit, and a monitoring device having an Internet connection function and capable of displaying image data from the monitoring terminal or the image storage device, the image storage device includes a monitoring terminal By storing the image data sent from the monitoring terminal after the time when the motion detection information of the sensor is transmitted, the image data at the time of the sensor alert can be stored, and after the storage, the monitoring device connected to the Internet Monitor the stored image by requesting the image data stored in the image storage device from the An image monitoring system, which can be displayed on a viewing device. 3. A buffer unit is added to the image storage device, and the image storage device buffers image data from a monitoring terminal for a certain period of time, and when sensor alert information or motion detection information is transmitted. By storing the image data in the buffer and subsequently storing the image data sent from the monitoring terminal thereafter, it is possible to store the image data from before the sensor alert or the motion detection. 3. The image monitoring system according to claim 1 or 2. 4. By broadcasting sensor alert information or motion detection information and image data of the monitoring terminal,
At the time of sensor alert or motion detection, the monitoring device displays the current image data of the monitoring terminal, and at the same time, monitors the image data stored in the image storage device and displays the image. The image monitoring system according to claim 3, wherein the image of (1) can be displayed at the same time. 5. The monitoring terminal has a function of setting whether or not to send a sensor report or a motion detection information from the monitoring terminal. 5. The image monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the image is not stored based on the information and the motion detection information. 6. The image according to claim 3, wherein the sensor is a human sensor and records an image before a human intrudes, thereby facilitating identification of an intrusion route. Monitoring system. 7. The sensor according to claim 3, wherein the sensor is a fire alarm sensor, and an image is recorded before the occurrence of a fire, thereby facilitating identification of an image generation cause. Image monitoring system.