JP2002158997A - Specified region monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a specified area monitoring system enabling many users to early acquire supervisory information such as image of monitoring area through various terminals at a low cost anywhere. SOLUTION: A managing computer concentratedly receives monitoring information such as images of monitoring regions and distributes the information to corresponding users. According to this system, the managing computer transmits the monitoring information one after another to a previously registered information terminal from which the user has given a transmit request or to a readable server. Hence, if needed, the user can early directly acquire the monitoring information such as images of monitoring regions or by reading own mails, etc.

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 can be used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art If a house is left out of the house, it is necessary to pay attention to the invasion of thieves and the extinction of fire. With the deterioration of the security situation like today, such concerns are only increasing. 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. In general, there are also requests to see the state of children in kindergarten or the state of pets.

[0004] For this reason, using a communication line, not only when it is necessary or worried, but also frequently and intermittently in a specific area such as a state in a home, a kindergarten child, an elderly person, There has been proposed a monitoring system for a specific area that can monitor the state of a pet.

[0005]

However, in these monitoring systems, when the monitoring terminal is accessed via a communication line, information is obtained from the monitoring terminal.
Get it on a device with specific software installed,
The only way to obtain images is by directly accessing the specific facility where the distribution server is installed.In either case, the former and latter systems not only increase the cost of equipment but also limit the number of users, There is also a risk that the image can be seen by the viewer.

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

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a surveillance system for a specific area according to the present invention uses a computer communication network to monitor at least one of a surveillance camera and a surveillance video installed in a specific area. In a monitoring system for a specific area that supplies monitoring information obtained by two monitoring means, the monitoring information transmitted from the registered monitoring means at a predetermined time via a communication network at a predetermined time and A step of receiving the ID attached to the monitoring information; a step of temporarily storing the monitoring information so that the monitoring information can be transmitted; and a step of attaching the monitoring information to the monitoring information. Searching for associating users registered in the database in advance based on the ID; and, if there is a corresponding user, the monitoring information And it is characterized in that the user comprises the step, transmits to the pre-registered information terminal or browsable server has a sending request.
According to this feature, since the management computer collectively receives monitoring information such as images of the respective monitoring areas and distributes the monitoring information to the corresponding users, it is not necessary for the users to individually have expensive systems. A monitoring system for a specific area of the price can be provided. Further, according to this system, the management computer sequentially transmits the monitoring information to a pre-registered information terminal or a browsable server to which the user has made a transmission request. Means that the monitoring information such as the image of the monitoring area can be promptly obtained by directly browsing the information terminal or the user's own mail.

[0008]

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 the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a monitoring terminal used for the monitoring system of the specific area of the present 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, as shown in FIG.
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, 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 casing 50 of the monitoring unit 1 is used as a work memory in 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 including a charge-coupled device (CCD) 54 capable of outputting an image formed by a lens therein as a digital data string, 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 which describes 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 starting and stopping of peripheral devices of the monitoring means, which are executed by the MPU 65. Is stored in the internal ROM 66. In FIG. 3, white arrows indicate control signals, and black arrows mainly indicate data signals.

The control program of the ROM 66 can be set and changed from the outside. In particular, as an interval, a predetermined time interval (for example, every 30 minutes, imaging time 3 minutes)
By controlling the MPU 65 to activate the monitoring means and acting on the communication unit 60, image information can be automatically transmitted to the management computer 3 via the communication line 5 via the set box 22. . Here, the address data of the management computer 3 is registered in the ROM 66 in advance.

Further, the monitoring unit 1 of the present embodiment is equipped with a battery 67 as a power means, and is operable with the battery, so that the monitoring unit 1 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 using 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 this 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, and the sound collecting microphone 53 is omitted. You can also.

As a place where the monitoring unit 1 is installed, a suitable place for confirming an image of an area that the user particularly wants to monitor may be selected. It is preferable to use a ceiling or the like with a small number of spaces so that the monitoring direction can be appropriately moved, so that more precise monitoring can be performed.

Next, 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, an IP address is assigned to the monitoring unit 1 side, and the monitoring unit 1 is always 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 images 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
A process of searching the data bus 30 for transmitting and receiving data at a relatively high speed inside the data for an IP address (here, global IP) of the monitoring terminal registered corresponding to the user ID; User ID for received image and sound data
And a central processing unit having an excellent computing capability capable of executing data transfer processing for transmitting to a corresponding user's information terminal, for example, the mobile phone 11 or a mail storage unit of an ISP that can be browsed on the Internet by the user. Arithmetic processing unit (CP
U) 31, a RAM 32 used as a work memory of the CPU 31, a display device 34 such as a display,
Current time information used for registration of the input device 36 such as a keyboard and a mouse, and the execution history of the connection service, etc. (transmission time to the user, time taken by the monitoring terminal, time received from the monitoring terminal). Real-time clock (RT) that can output calendar information such as the day of the week
C) 37, 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, and a user information terminal. A communication line board 33 for a user to which a communication line capable of performing data communication with the mobile phone 11 and a server for a user's mailbox at a relatively high speed can be connected, and a magnetic disk or a magneto-optical disk. Consisting of
Register the identifiable identification code (ID) assigned to the user's information terminal or mailbox server and the IP address given to the monitoring terminal installed at the place where the user wants to monitor Storage device 35 storing a user database (DB) to be stored, a data transfer program in which the data transfer processing contents are described, and the like.
Are connected to each other and have relatively high processing capability.

In the present embodiment, the information terminal used by the user accesses the management computer 3 and receives at least 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.
The image data and the sound data from the monitoring terminal 1 can be obtained from any of the notebook personal computer 15 and the mobile phone 11 to perform monitoring, and the mobile phone 11 used in the present embodiment is configured as shown in FIG. Has a relatively large display screen 16 on which a monitoring image can be displayed, and is equipped with a microcomputer capable of executing a decompression process of the compressed data. An earphone is connected to an earphone terminal port 17. By doing so, you can listen to the sound while watching the screen.

The monitoring unit 1 starts and ends repeatedly according to a start interval or a start time as a preset interval, and stores image information in the management computer 3.
The image data captured by the monitoring CCD camera 55 in the activated state and the sound data collected by the sound collection microphone 53 and digitized by the PCM codec 52 are transmitted to the DSM.
The compressed data is converted into compressed data by the MPEG method which is a predetermined data compression method by P56, and the compressed data is sent from the communication unit 60 to the set-top box 2, and is used by the management computer 3 through the monitoring communication line board 38 almost without interruption. Sent to the party. Here, the monitoring information may be sent to the management computer 3 at a time determined from the set-top box 2.

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.

As described above, the monitoring unit 1 automatically repeats starting and ending according to a starting interval and a starting time as a preset interval, and sequentially transmits image information to the management computer 3. That is, the monitoring terminals are scattered and set at a plurality of places, and the image information is transmitted from the monitoring terminals to the management computer 3 via respective providers and the like. Management computer 3
, The global ID assigned to the monitoring means as the identification ID transmitted together with the image information
Confirm the IP address. Next, using the registration data (monitoring terminal DB, user DB) of the user DB stored in the storage device 35, and confirming that the address is the registered monitoring terminal, for example, the address of the monitoring terminal 4a. A search engine is used to search for which user this monitoring information corresponds to. That is, the monitoring unit 1 is assigned an IP address, is basically always connected to the management computer 3, and can use this IP address for specifying a monitoring area. Regarding the location of the monitoring information sequentially sent to the management computer 3, the management computer 3 only has 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 running, but it is more preferable that the monitoring terminal 4a be started repeatedly at a predetermined time and send monitoring information to the management computer 3 sequentially. The burden on the management computer 3 is small. 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 transmitted to the user's information terminal or a server that can be viewed by the user. However, the user DB has an information section (not shown) relating to the user's terminal.
Since the type of mobile phone, the type of personal computer, and the like are registered in advance, the temporarily stored (accumulated) compressed data is stored in an appropriate file format according to the type of the mobile phone 11, for example. For example, C-HTM
The image data is converted into L, JPEG, and the like, and is subjected to image frame processing corresponding to the size of the display screen of the terminal 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.
Is transmitted constantly or at appropriate intervals, so that the user can obtain new data instantaneously. 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, 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.

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. In particular, the present invention includes the communication network 5 as an Internet network which is a computer network.

In the above-described embodiment, the monitoring unit 1 has a shape that can be installed on a ceiling. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and 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.

Further, in the above embodiment, one monitoring unit 1 is connected to the set-top box 2, but 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
, A private address is assigned to each of them, and each monitoring unit is selected by the management computer 3 according to the designation of the user, and the monitoring information of each monitoring unit transmitted to the user can be provided to the user. Here, the expression used to transmit the monitoring information may be 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 these 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.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the communication line board 38 for the monitoring terminal and the communication line board 33 for the user are separate. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The same communication line board to which a line can be connected may be used.

In the above embodiment, the monitoring unit 1 and the management computer 3 are connected by using an ADSL line, and are assigned to a monitoring terminal installed at a place where the user wants to monitor. Although the monitoring terminal is specified based on the above-mentioned IP address, a network configuration in which the set-top box 2 is a dial-up router and a modem and the management computer 3 includes a multi-router may be adopted. In this case, the telephone number of the management computer is registered in the router 2 on the monitoring unit 1 side.
The monitoring unit 1 automatically starts and ends repeatedly according to a start interval and a start time as a preset interval, and simultaneously instructs the router 2 to call the management computer 3 to manage image information. It can be transmitted to the computer 3 sequentially. In this case, to identify the monitoring terminal installed at the place where the user wants to monitor,
The telephone number assigned to the router is used. That is, in the case of this embodiment, a telephone number is used instead of the IP address as the monitoring terminal DB in the user DB.

[0037]

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

(A) According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the management computer collectively receives monitoring information such as images in each monitoring area and distributes the monitoring information to the corresponding user, the user is expensive. It is possible to provide a low-cost monitoring system for a specific area without having to individually provide a simple system. Further, according to this system, the management computer sequentially transmits the monitoring information to a pre-registered information terminal or a browsable server to which the user has made a transmission request. Means that the monitoring information such as the image of the monitoring area can be promptly obtained by directly browsing the information terminal or the user's own mail.

(B) According to the invention as set forth in claims 2 to 4, since the monitoring information such as the image of each monitoring area has a time very close to the image acquisition time, the user can be obtained. An accurate time lag can be easily recognized for the image information.

(C) According to the fifth and sixth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to easily specify the relationship between a user and a monitoring terminal installed at a place where the user wants to monitor.

[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 illustrating a configuration of a communication unit 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)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued from the front page F term (reference) GG03 GG12 GG21 GG24 GG30 GG37 GG66 GG70

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A surveillance camera installed in a specific area using a computer communication network and a surveillance system of a specific area for supplying surveillance information obtained by at least one surveillance means of surveillance video. Receiving monitoring information transmitted from the monitoring means at a predetermined time and at a predetermined time via a communication network and an ID attached to the monitoring information; and temporarily transmitting the monitoring information. Associating the monitoring information with a user registered in the database in advance based on the ID assigned to the monitoring information to determine which monitoring means the monitoring information is from; If there is a user, the monitoring information is stored in a pre-registered information terminal or a browsable Monitoring system of a specific area, characterized in that it comprises the step, transmits to a server. 2. A request wherein the user sends a transmission request to a pre-registered information terminal or a browseable server to which the user has made a transmission request, together with monitoring information and a transmission time to the user. Item 2. The monitoring system for a specific area according to Item 1. 3. A request, wherein the information is sent to a pre-registered information terminal or a browsable server to which the user has made a transmission request, together with monitoring information and a time at which the monitoring terminal took a picture. Item 2. The monitoring system for a specific area according to Item 1. 4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of attaching the time when the transmission is received from the monitoring terminal together with the monitoring information to the pre-registered information terminal or the browsable server to which the user requests the transmission. The monitoring system for a specific area according to claim 1. 5. The management computer maintains a constant connection state with the registered monitoring means via a communication network,
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein monitoring information sequentially transmitted is received, and the ID given to the monitoring information is an IP address as a global ID assigned to monitoring means. Monitoring system for a specific area. 6. The management computer receives monitoring information periodically transmitted by dial-up means from a registered monitoring means using a telephone line, and the monitoring information ID is a telephone number. The monitoring system for a specific area according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein