JP2002024969A - Monitoring system for specific areas - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a monitoring system for a specific area which enables many users to quickly obtain monitoring information such as an image of the monitoring area from various terminals at a low price, regardless of the location. provide. SOLUTION: A step of receiving monitoring information sequentially transmitted from a registered monitoring means via a communication network, and authenticating whether an accessing user is a registrant registered in a management computer. Authentication step, and when the accessed person is a registrant, a search step of searching whether this registrant is authorized to view information from which monitoring means, Permission to view monitoring information extracted by search,
Or transmitting the monitoring information extracted by the search.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for monitoring a specific area in which a monitoring terminal is installed using a communication line, even from outside the office, using an information terminal such as a telephone or a personal computer owned by a user. The present invention relates to a monitoring system for a specific area that is enabled.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the past, when a house is absent, it is necessary to pay attention to the invasion of a thief and the extinction of fire. is there. For this reason, in recent years, the number of private homes, companies, and the like, who have contracted with a security company to perform security agency work to prevent the intrusion of thieves and the occurrence of fire, etc., has increased. In addition, the need for nursing care for elderly people and the like has increased, and complicated work has also increased.

As such a security system, there is a system in which when a thief enters a house or the like in which a predetermined sensor or the like is provided, a guard of the security company rushes to the house by notifying the security company by a reaction of the sensor. There is also a system in which a security company or a caregiver rushes to the elderly in the event of an accident.

[0004] However, in such a system using manpower, since the labor cost of security guards or caregivers accounts for an extremely high ratio, the enrollment fee becomes large for the general public, and it becomes even more rapid. At present, no significant increase can be expected.

[0005] For this reason, by using a communication line, it is possible to monitor a specific area, for example, a state in a house, which can be monitored frequently and intermittently, not only when necessary or when a user is worried. Monitoring systems have been proposed.

[0006]

However, in these monitoring systems, the configuration of the monitoring terminal itself is complicated and expensive, and when the monitoring terminal is accessed via a communication line, information is obtained from the monitoring terminal. However, it is available only on a terminal with specific software installed or on a specific terminal, and there is a demand for users to obtain monitoring information such as images of the monitoring area from various terminals regardless of where they are . There is also a demand for obtaining monitoring information such as images as soon as possible.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and many users have been able to quickly obtain monitoring information such as images of a monitoring area from various terminals at low cost regardless of where they are. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a monitoring system for a specific area which can be obtained from a company.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a specific area monitoring system according to the present invention uses a computer communication network to provide a monitoring camera, a monitoring video, and a temperature monitoring sensor installed in a specific area. In a specific area monitoring system that supplies monitoring information obtained by at least one monitoring means of a sound monitoring sensor and a smoke sensor, monitoring information sequentially transmitted from a registered monitoring means via a communication network is used. An accepting step; an authentication step of authenticating whether or not the accessing user is a registrant registered in the management computer;
When the accessed person is a registrant, a search step for searching which monitoring means the registrant has authority to view information from, and a search step is performed for the accessed registrant. Transmitting the monitoring information extracted by the search or permitting viewing of the monitoring information. According to this feature, monitoring information such as images of each monitoring area is centrally sent to the management computer, and the service is performed here. Therefore, it is not necessary for the user to have an expensive system individually, and low-cost A monitoring system for a specific area can be provided. Further, according to this system, a user can quickly access monitoring information such as an image of a monitoring area by accessing a management computer from various terminals and performing authentication.

In the monitoring system for a specific area according to the present invention, the management computer maintains a constantly connected state with the registered monitoring means via a communication network, and receives monitoring information sequentially transmitted. Is preferred.
This eliminates the need for the management computer to access the monitoring means via the communication line network and to obtain monitoring information such as images of each monitoring area, thereby reducing the work of the management computer. .

[0010] In the monitoring system for a specific area according to the present invention, it is preferable that the monitoring information to permit or transmit the accessed registrant is the latest monitoring information at that time. In this way, it is possible to provide the user with information sequentially transmitted from the time when the authentication and the search are completed.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment) First, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring system for a specific area of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a monitoring terminal used for the monitoring system of a specific area of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the monitoring terminal used in the present embodiment,
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a management computer used in the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a mobile phone carried by a user who can output a monitoring image and a voice from the management computer of the present embodiment. FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the monitoring system for a specific area according to the present embodiment is a monitoring terminal 4a installed at a place where a user wants to monitor, for example, at a monitored area a to c such as a home.
4c to the monitoring terminals 4a to 4c and the information terminal owned by the service user via the communication line network 5 so as to be able to perform data communication. And an information terminal such as a personal computer 14, a notebook personal computer 15, or a mobile phone 11 operated by a user.

The monitoring terminals 4a to 4a used in this embodiment
As shown in FIG. 1, "c" is always connected to the management computer 3 owned by the service provider mainly through a communication network 5 in principle. According to this example, the monitoring terminal 4
a to 4c are managed computers 3 via a network.
(DSL) that enables constant connection to the terminal, a so-called asymmetric digital subscriber line system, and the monitoring terminals 4a to 4c include a set-top box 2 which is a communication device for transmitting and receiving data and the set-top box 2. The monitoring unit 1 is connected to the top box 2 and collects monitoring information such as images and sounds in a specific area.

In the monitoring unit 1 used in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a transparent dome-shaped cover 68 is formed on the lower surface of a box-shaped housing 50 that can be arranged on a ceiling or the like. A monitoring CCD camera 55 as monitoring means is provided inside the cover 68, and a direction changing device 5 capable of changing the monitoring direction of the monitoring CCD camera 55 left, right, up, and down.
And a communication cable connected to the set-top box 2 from the side of the housing 50.
A bull 51 is led out, and a sound collecting microphone 53 capable of collecting sound in the monitoring area is provided on another side.

As shown in FIG. 3, the internal structure of the housing 50 of the monitoring unit 1 is used as a work memory in a control performed by a communication unit 60 and an MPU 65 described later, and a digital signal described later. An SRAM 57 for temporarily storing image data or audio data compressed by a processor (DSP) 56;
A / which is connected to 3 and converts the input sound into digital data
A PCM codec 52 serving as a D converter, a monitoring CCD camera 55 having a built-in charge-coupled device (CCD) 54 capable of outputting an image formed by a lens as a digital data string therein, and the PCM codec 52 and The audio data and the image data output from the charge-coupled device (CCD) 54 are compressed by a predetermined compression algorithm (MPEG).
A digital signal processor (DSP) 56 for performing compression processing according to the above method, a direction changing device 58 for moving the photographing direction of the monitoring CCD camera 55, a driver 59 for turning on a pilot lamp (LED) 69, The MPU 65 is connected as shown in FIG. 3 and executes processing such as control of each unit.
In the inside, a control program describing control contents such as the monitoring CCD camera 55, the direction changing device 58, the monitoring means such as the sound collecting microphone 53, and the start and stop of peripheral devices of the monitoring means, which are executed by the MPU 65, etc. Is stored in the internal ROM 66. In FIG. 3, white arrows indicate control signals, and black arrows mainly indicate data signals.

Further, the monitoring unit 1 of the present embodiment is equipped with a battery 67 as power means, which can be operated by the battery, and which can be placed in a place where power cannot be obtained. Can be installed easily,
The present invention is not limited to this, and these powers may be used by converting an AC current obtained from an outlet or the like into a predetermined DC current.

In this embodiment, as described above, the DSP 56
The image data and the audio data are compressed by the MPEG method (other methods such as the JPEG method are also possible) and transmitted to the management computer 3 using the data compression. The data compression reduces the amount of data to be transmitted. This is preferable because the transmission load can be reduced, the communication capacity required in the management computer 3 can be reduced, and the line cost can be reduced. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Absent.

In the present embodiment, the monitoring CCD camera 55 and the sound collecting microphone 53 are provided as monitoring means. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Infrared sensors that can detect infrared rays emitted by the like, temperature monitoring sensors that can measure the ambient temperature of the installation location, (including fire monitoring sensors based on temperature), smoke monitoring sensors, and the like may be used. The monitoring means may be appropriately selected according to the monitoring purpose.

As a place where the monitoring unit 1 is installed, it is sufficient to select a suitable place where a user can confirm an image of an area that he / she particularly wants to monitor, a temperature, a sound, or smoke. As in the present embodiment, a ceiling or the like with few obstacles is used, and the monitoring direction can be appropriately moved, so that more precise monitoring can be performed.

The communication means is connected to the monitoring unit 1 and connected to the communication line network 5 (ADSL line) to transmit and receive data to and from the management computer 3. The configuration of the set-top box 2 is as follows:
As shown in FIG. 7, a monitoring terminal as the monitoring unit 1, an ADSL transceiver for connecting a personal computer, and a terminal for connecting an analog telephone are provided.
These are connected via a filter to a telephone line connected to the exchange. Here, in the exchange, the signal is distributed to a telephone exchange or an ADSL transceiver via a filter based on the frequency band. As described above, in this embodiment, a constant connection service is available at a fixed fee for using ADSL, and new image information is sequentially transmitted to the management computer 3.

Further, the monitoring unit 1 of this embodiment has the communication unit 60 as described above, the monitoring unit 1 is assigned an IP address, and is constantly connected to the management computer 3. Therefore, this IP address is used for specifying the monitoring area.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the configuration of the management computer 3 for receiving data compressed image and sound data from each monitoring terminal composed of the monitoring unit 1 and the set-top box 2 is as shown in FIG. Computer
Authentication processing by connection from a user to the data bus 30 which transmits and receives data at a relatively high speed inside the data, and the IP address of the monitoring terminal registered corresponding to the user ID ( In this case, a central processing unit (PC) having a high calculation capability capable of executing a process of searching for a global IP) and a data transfer process of transmitting received image and sound data to the information terminal of the user, for example, the mobile phone 11. CPU) 31
And RA used as a work memory of the CPU 31 or the like.
M32, a display device 34 such as a display, an input device 36 such as a keyboard and a mouse, current time information used for registration of connection service execution history and the like, and calendar information such as an arbitrary day of the month, month and day A real-time clock (RTC) 37 capable of outputting data, a monitoring terminal communication line board 38 to which a line capable of performing data communication with the set-top box 2 constituting the monitoring terminal at a relatively high speed can be connected; A communication line board 33 for a user to which a communication line capable of performing data communication with a mobile phone 11 or the like as a user's information terminal at a relatively high speed can be connected, and a magnetic disk or a magneto-optical disk; The personal identification number associated with the identification code (ID) that can identify the user and the password assigned to the monitoring terminal installed at the place where the user wants to monitor. A computer having relatively excellent processing ability connected to a user database (DB) based on an IP address and a storage device 35 storing a data transfer program or the like in which the data transfer processing contents are described. It has been.

The user communication line board 33 used in the present embodiment is provided with a user ID by a call (access) from the mobile phone 11 or the like, which is an information terminal owned by the user. An A / D converter (not shown) capable of converting the digital data of the guidance voice prompting the input of the password and the password into an analog voice and transmitting the analog voice is provided, and the digital data registered in the storage device 35 is provided. The predetermined guidance voice based on the data can be transmitted to the user who is the caller. However, the present invention is not limited to this. .

The user communication line board 33 includes:
An information detection unit (not shown) for a terminal of a caller (accessor) accessed from the communication network 5 is provided. The information detection unit includes a type of a monitoring terminal, a type of a mobile phone, and a type of a personal computer. It is configured to output data to the central processing unit (CPU) 31.

In the present embodiment, the information terminal used by the user accesses the management computer 3 to receive at least the image data that has been compressed,
What is necessary is that the compressed data can be decompressed, reproduced and output. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
A user can access the management computer 3 from any of the notebook computer 15 and the mobile phone 11 to obtain image data and sound data from the monitoring terminal 1 and perform monitoring. As shown in FIG. 5, the mobile phone 11 used in the example has a relatively large display screen 16 on which a monitoring image can be displayed, and has a microcomputer capable of executing the decompression processing of the compressed data. By connecting an earphone to the earphone terminal port 17, the user can listen to sound while watching the screen.

Hereinafter, a flow of an example of a monitoring process in the monitoring system of the present embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG.

The monitoring unit 1 receives the image data captured by the monitoring CCD camera 55 in the activated state, and collects the P
The sound data digitized by the CM codec 52 is converted by the DSP 56 into compressed data according to the MPEG method, which is a predetermined data compression method, and the compressed data is sent from the communication unit 60 to the set-top box 2, and is transmitted to the management computer. 3 is always sent through the monitoring communication line board 38. Here, the monitoring information may be sent to the management computer 3 at a time determined from the set-top box 2.

First, when the user is worried about the state of the home where the monitoring terminal 1 is installed at a place where he / she is away, for example, he / she can use the mobile phone 11 owned by the user to call the monitoring service provider. Accesses the telephone number for the user of the management computer 3 owned by the user (calls), and inputs his / her user ID and personal identification number in accordance with the guidance to the mobile phone 11.
To input.

On the management computer 3 side, the user ID and the password transmitted from the mobile phone 11 of the user are compared with the registration data of the user DB stored in the storage device 35, In the case where the comparisons match and the user is determined to be an authorized user, the user ID is stored in the user DB.
The address of a monitoring terminal, for example, the monitoring terminal 4a registered in association with the address is searched. That is, an IP address is assigned to the monitoring unit 1 and the management computer 3
Is basically always in a connected state, and since this IP address can be used for specifying the monitoring area, the location of the monitoring information sequentially sent to the management computer 3 is determined. It is only necessary to judge by the IP address and extract it in association with the user ID.

At this time, the monitoring terminal 4a may be always started, or may be started repeatedly at a predetermined time to sequentially send monitoring information to the management computer 3. . Of course, the always-connected state is convenient, but the connection can be temporarily disconnected at the discretion of the user.

The compressed data including the image and the sound transmitted from the monitoring terminal 4a is temporarily stored (stored) in the storage device 35 and sent to the information terminal of the user. As shown in FIG.
3, an information detecting unit (not shown) relating to the terminal of the caller (accessor) is provided, and the type of the monitoring terminal,
Since the type of the mobile phone, the type of the personal computer, and the like can be determined, for example, the mobile phone 11
The compressed data temporarily stored (accumulated) is converted into an appropriate file format, for example, C-HTML, JPE
The image data is converted to G and the like, and image frame processing corresponding to the size of the display screen of the terminal is performed and transmitted.

The mobile phone 1 as an information terminal of these users
The converted data including the compressed data transmitted to 1 is appropriately decompressed, image data is displayed on the display screen 16, and sound data is D / A converted and output from the earphone terminal port 17.

As described above, the image information is stored in the management computer 3.
, The user can get new data instantly after accessing. In other words, when a user accesses the terminal, the communication terminal is authenticated, the monitoring terminal is accessed, and data is fetched, the communication time becomes wasteful. Since it always comes to
Information can be sent to the user instantly. Also, work steps of the management computer can be reduced. Note that it is also possible to temporarily store old data and distribute it immediately.

At this time, when the user operates a cross key or the like provided on the mobile phone 11 to change the monitoring direction in which the image is being captured, the operation data is transmitted to the management computer 3 and the transmission is performed. Is generated and transmitted to the monitoring unit 1 via the router 2 so that the user can appropriately move the photographing direction up, down, left and right in the direction desired by the user. It has been.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, but includes any changes or additions without departing from the gist of the present invention. Needless to say.

For example, in the above description, the management computer 3 constituting the monitoring terminal and the mobile phone 11 as the user's information terminal are described as being connected via the communication network 5. The communication line network 5 includes an Internet network which is a computer network.

In the above embodiment, the monitoring unit 1 has a shape that can be installed on the ceiling. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, these monitoring units may be wall-mounted monitoring units, Needless to say, it may be formed into an appropriate shape according to other installation locations.

In the above embodiment, one monitoring unit 1 is connected to the set-top box 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of monitoring units are connected to the same set-top box 2. 1 may be connected. In this case, each monitoring unit 1, 1, 1, 1
Is assigned a private address, and is selected by the management computer 3 as described above.
The monitoring information of each monitoring unit designated by the user is provided to the user. Here, the expression used to transmit the monitoring information is such that the user views the monitoring information.

In the above embodiment, the set-top box 2 and the monitoring unit 1 are connected by the communication cable 51. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the set-top box 2 and the monitoring unit 1 are connected. 1 may be connected by wireless communication, for example, a wireless LAN, or the set-top box 2 itself may have a wireless communication function capable of connecting to a mobile phone network or a simplified mobile phone (PHS) network.

Here, the monitoring unit 1 and the management computer
Is connected to the management computer 3 through a CATV line, a dedicated line, and a wireless Internet network as a communication line for transmitting and receiving data to and from the management computer 3. It can be used in a constantly connected state.

In the above embodiment, the monitoring terminal communication line board 38 and the user communication line board 33 are provided separately. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The same communication line board to which a line can be connected may be used.

[0043]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(A) According to the first aspect of the invention, monitoring information such as images of each monitoring area is sent to the management computer in a centralized manner, and services are performed here. It is not necessary to have a personal computer, and a low-cost monitoring system for a specific area can be provided. Further, according to this system, a user can quickly access monitoring information such as an image of a monitoring area by accessing a management computer from various terminals and performing authentication.

(B) According to the second aspect of the present invention, the management computer accesses the monitoring means via the communication network one by one to obtain monitoring information such as an image of each monitoring area. There is no need to step on, and the work on the management computer can be reduced.

(C) According to the third aspect of the invention, it is possible to provide the user with the information sequentially transmitted from the time when the authentication and the search are completed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a monitoring system for a specific area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a monitoring unit used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a monitoring terminal used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a management computer used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an external view showing a mobile phone as an information terminal carried by a user used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of a monitoring process in the specific area monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a router as a communication means used in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 monitoring unit 2 set-top box (communication means) 3 management computer 4a monitoring terminal (monitoring area a) 4b monitoring terminal (monitoring area b) 4c monitoring terminal (monitoring area c) 5 communication network 11 mobile phone 14 personal computer 15 notebook personal computer Reference Signs List 16 display screen 17 earphone terminal port 30 data bus 31 central processing unit (CPU) 32 RAM 33 user communication circuit board 34 display device 35 storage device 36 input device 37 real-time clock (RTC) 38 monitoring terminal communication circuit board 50 Housing 51 Communication cable 52 PCM codec 53 Sound collecting microphone 55 Monitoring CCD camera 56 Digital signal processor (DSP) 57 SRAM 58 Direction changing device 59 Driver 60 Communication unit 65 MPU 66 Internal ROM 67 Battery 68 Cover 69 Lee lot lamp (LED)

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Claims (3)

[Claims] A computer communication network is used to supply monitoring information obtained by at least one of a monitoring camera, a monitoring video, a temperature monitoring sensor, a sound monitoring sensor, and a smoke sensor installed in a specific area. In a monitoring system for a specific area, a step of receiving monitoring information sequentially transmitted from a registered monitoring means via a communication network; and a step of determining whether a user who accesses is a registrant registered in the management computer. An authentication step of authenticating whether the accessor is a registrant, a search step of searching whether the registrant is authorized to view information from any monitoring means, Permit viewing of monitoring information extracted by search, or send monitoring information extracted by search Monitoring system of a specific region of the steps that, characterized in that it consists of. 2. The management computer maintains a constantly connected state with the registered monitoring means via a communication network,
2. The monitoring system for a specific area according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring information sequentially received is received. 3. The monitoring system for a specific area according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring information for permitting or transmitting the accessed registrant is the latest monitoring information at that time.