JP2003179910A - Image-distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reliably identify a monitoring camera even if camera names at different management locations coincide, and at the same time to reduce com plexity when adding an upper-level name. <P>SOLUTION: When an image-distribution server (ENC) 13 receives a distribution request from image-distribution servers (DEC) 17 and 27, an address identification section 14 determines whether the network address matches its own network address. A character synthesizer 11 reads a camera name when it is determined that the network address of a request source matches with the own network address, or reads the upper-level name and a camera name from a memory 12 when it is determined that they do not match each other for synthesizing to a photograph image of a specified monitoring camera 10. The image-distribution server (ENC) 13 encodes an image that is synthesized by the character synthesizer 11 for distributing to the image-distribution server (DEC) 17 or 27 of the distribution request source and for displaying the image on a monitor apparatus 18 or 28. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention takes a picture of a surveillance area such as a river or a highway with a surveillance camera, and takes the photographed image from a LAN (Local Area Network) or WAN (Wide A).
image delivery system for delivering to a client via a network such as a rea Network).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, when monitoring river conditions or traffic congestion on a highway, a plurality of surveillance cameras are installed in the surveillance area, and the images taken by the surveillance cameras are connected to a network such as LAN or WAN. A monitoring system is generally used in which the above-mentioned distributed image is displayed and the distributed image is displayed on a monitor device of a client for monitoring.

Further, when the monitoring area is large, the monitoring area is divided into a plurality of areas, and a management office is provided for each of the divided areas. Within each management office, the monitoring camera and the client side are connected by a LAN. In addition, WAN between each management office
In this way, not only the monitoring images in the same management office but also the monitoring images in other management offices can be arbitrarily addressed and displayed on the monitor.

[0004]

As described above, in the case of a surveillance system in which a large number of surveillance cameras are installed in a plurality of management places and the whole is connected by a network, the names of the surveillance cameras may be duplicated. As a method of avoiding the duplication of the camera names, it is possible to add a management office name to each camera name. However, when you look at the images taken by the surveillance cameras under your control, that is, the surveillance cameras in the management office to which you belong, the management office name is self-explanatory, so there is no need to display it. Doing is complicated.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and when a photographed image of a surveillance camera under its control is viewed, the camera name is displayed, and the surveillance camera managed by another management office is displayed. When viewing the captured image, by adding the superordinate name to the camera name and displaying it, the surveillance camera can be reliably identified even when the camera names in different management offices are duplicated, and it is complicated when the superordinate name is added. An object of the present invention is to provide an image distribution system that can reduce the size.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a first image distribution server (ENC) encodes captured images of a plurality of surveillance cameras provided in each management office in accordance with a distribution request, and each management office is encoded. In an image distribution system for distributing to a second image distribution server (DEC) as a distribution request source through a network provided and a transmission line connecting between the networks, the first image distribution server (ENC) of each management station
When the distribution request from the second image distribution server (DEC) is received, the network address of the second image distribution server (DEC) is the network of the first image distribution server (ENC). The address determining unit that determines whether the address is the same as the address, and the address determining unit determines that the network address of the distribution request source is the same network address as the first image distribution server (ENC). When the camera name is combined with the captured image of the specified surveillance camera, and if it is determined that the network address is another network address, the upper name and the camera name are combined with the captured image of the specified surveillance camera to obtain the first image. And a character synthesizing means for outputting to the image distribution server (ENC).

In the above configuration, when the first image distribution server (ENC) receives a distribution request from the second image distribution server (DEC) in the same network or another network, the address judging means determines that It is determined whether the network address matches its own network address, and the determination result is output to the character synthesizing means. The character synthesizing unit gives the camera name when the address determining unit determines that the network address of the distribution request source matches its own network address, and the upper name and the camera name when determining that they do not match. The camera name is combined with the captured image of the designated surveillance camera and output to the first image distribution server (ENC). The first image distribution server (ENC) encodes the image combined by the character combining unit and distributes it to the second image distribution server (DEC) that is the source of the distribution request.

As described above, when monitoring the image taken by the surveillance camera under its own control, the camera name is combined with the surveillance image and delivered, and the self-explanatory management office name is not delivered. It is possible to avoid the complexity of displaying on the monitor. In addition, when monitoring a surveillance camera provided in another network, that is, a captured image of a surveillance camera managed by another management office, the camera name is added with a higher-level name for distribution. Therefore, even if the camera names are duplicated between the management offices, the surveillance cameras can be identified with certainty.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of management offices 1 and 2 are provided in a monitoring area such as a river or a highway, and a WAN is provided between the management offices 1 and 2.
Connected by 3.

A plurality of surveillance cameras 10 are installed in the management office 1. As the surveillance camera 10, for example, a CCTV (Closed-Circuit Television) camera having a zoom function is used, and is rotatably supported by a turning device (not shown).

The image photographed by the surveillance camera 10 is sent to the character synthesizer 11 and the camera name and the like are added. The character synthesizer 11 stores in the memory 1 a camera name of the surveillance camera 10 and a higher name, for example, the name of its own management office.
2 is connected. In this memory 12, for example, "water intake A" as a camera name and "XX management office" as a higher name are registered in advance.

The character synthesizer 11 reads the stored data from the memory 12 according to the network address information of the distribution request source, and if the network address of the distribution request source is that of its own management office 1, combines the camera name with the photographed image. However, in the case of another management office 2, the image distribution server (encoder:
ENC) 13 to output.

The image distribution server (ENC) 13 is provided with an address determination unit 14, encodes a captured image of the surveillance camera 10 designated based on a distribution request from the client, and distributes it to the requesting client via the LAN 15. To do.

To the LAN 15, for example, a client terminal 16, an image distribution server (decoder: DEC) 17, a monitor device 18, etc. provided in a monitoring center or the like are connected. A plurality of monitor devices 18 are provided as needed. Further, the LAN 15 is connected to the system of another management office 2 via the router 19 and the WAN 3.

When the user wants to monitor an image taken by the surveillance camera 10 of the management office 1 to which the user belongs or the surveillance camera 20 (described later) of another management office 2, the user should select the camera to be received from the client terminal 16. For example, it is designated by a network address, a camera number, etc. The camera designation information by the client terminal 16 is sent to the image distribution server (DEC) 17. Image distribution server (D
The EC) 17 sends an image distribution request to the image distribution server (ENC) 13 in the management office 1 or the image distribution server 27 (described later) in another management office 2 according to the designation of the client terminal 16. Send with network address.

When the image distribution server (ENC) 13 receives the distribution request from the image distribution server (DEC) 17,
The address determination unit 14 detects the network address from the header of the delivery request packet, determines whether it is the same as its own network address, and outputs the determination result to the character synthesizer 11. According to the determination result of the address determination unit 14, the character synthesizer 11 synthesizes the captured image with the camera name, or the camera name and the management office name as described above, and outputs the synthesized image to the image distribution server (ENC) 13.

On the other hand, the system of the management office 2 is similar to the system of the management office 1 in that the monitoring camera 20, the character synthesizer 21,
Memory 22, image distribution server (ENC) 23, address determination unit 24, LAN 25, client terminal 26, image distribution server (DEC) 27, monitor device 28, router 2
It consists of 9. Then, the router 29 is connected to the router 19 of the management office 1 via the WAN 3.

Next, the overall operation of the image distribution system according to the above embodiment will be described. When the user at the management office 1 wants to monitor the image captured by the surveillance camera 10 under his / her control, he / she specifies the camera to be received from the client terminal 16 by, for example, a network address, a camera number, or the like. It should be noted that the surveillance camera 10 under its own control
When specifying, it is possible to specify only by the camera number.

The camera designation information from the client terminal 16 is sent to the image distribution server (DEC) 17.
The image distribution server (DEC) 17 is a client terminal 1
According to the designation of 6, the image distribution server (ENC) 13 is sent a request for image distribution together with its own network address.

When the image distribution server (ENC) 13 receives the distribution request from the image distribution server (DEC) 17,
The address determination unit 14 detects the network address of the image delivery server (DEC) 17 from the header of the delivery request packet and compares it with its own network address to determine whether or not they match. In this case, since the own network address in the address determination unit 14 and the network address of the distribution request source match, the determination result from the address determination unit 14 indicates that the network address of the distribution request source is within the same network. It is sent to the synthesizer 11.

The address assigned to the image distribution server (DEC) 17 is generally composed of a network address 4a of upper 3 digits and a host address 4b of the lowermost digit as shown in FIG. 2 (a). The network address 4a is the same in the network of the management office 1, and the host address 4b is set to a different value for each device. The address assigned to the image distribution server (DEC) 17 is specifically set as, for example, “192.168.1.1” shown in FIG. In this case, the upper three digits “192.168.1” is the network address, which is commonly assigned in the management office 1. Also, the least significant digit "1" is the host address,
It is set to a different value for each device.

As described above, the network address 4a
Is assigned to each management station, so whether the address determination unit 14 is the own network address,
It is possible to determine whether the network address is that of another management office 2.

When the address determination unit 14 determines that the network address of the distribution request source matches the own network address, the character synthesizer 11 executes the memory 1
The designated camera name “water intake A” is read from 2, and the captured image of the designated surveillance camera 10 is combined and output to the image distribution server (ENC) 13.

The image distribution server (ENC) 13 is a surveillance camera 10 in which camera names are combined by the character combiner 11.
The captured image of is encoded and delivered to the requesting image delivery server (DEC) 17 via the LAN 15. The image distribution server (DEC) 17 outputs the image distributed by the image distribution server (ENC) 13 to the monitor device 18, and FIG.
It is displayed as shown in (a). In the monitoring image displayed on the monitor device 18, “water intake A” is displayed at the top of the screen as the camera name 5.

When the client terminal 16 of the management office 1 designates the surveillance camera 10 under its control as described above, the camera name "intake A" is combined with the surveillance image and displayed on the monitor.

Next, the user at the management office 2 determines that the user at the management office 1
A case of monitoring a captured image of the monitoring camera 10 provided in the above will be described. In this case, the user at the management office 2 specifies the surveillance camera 10 from the client terminal 26 by the network address and camera number of the management office 1.

The camera designation information from the client terminal 26 is sent to the image distribution server (DEC) 27.
The image distribution server (DEC) 27 is a client terminal 2
According to the specification of 6, the image distribution request is output to the LAN 25 together with its own network address. The distribution request output from the image distribution server (DEC) 27 to the LAN 25 is transmitted from the router 29 to the router 19 of the management office 1 via the WAN 3, and further transmitted to the image distribution server (ENC) 13 via the LAN 15. To be

When the image distribution server (ENC) 13 accepts the distribution request from the image distribution server (DEC) 27 of the management office 2, the address determination unit 14 determines the image distribution server (DEC) 27 from the header of the distribution request packet. The network address is determined and compared with its own network address to determine that the network address is not its own network address, and the determination result is output to the character synthesizer 11.

When the address determination unit 14 determines that the network address of the distribution request source does not match its own network address, the character synthesizer 11 determines from the memory 12 that the name of the control office is "○○ control office" and the camera. The name “water intake A” is read out, combined with the captured image of the designated surveillance camera 10, and output to the image distribution server (ENC) 13.

The image distribution server (ENC) 13 is a surveillance camera 10 whose camera names are combined by the character combiner 11.
The captured image is encoded and delivered from the LAN 15 to the requesting image delivery server (DEC) 27 via the router 19 and WAN 3, the router 29 in the management office 2 and the LAN 25. The image distribution server (DEC) 27 outputs the image distributed from the image distribution server (ENC) 13 to the monitor device 28, and displays it as shown in FIG. In the monitoring image displayed on the monitor device 28, "water intake A" is displayed at the top of the screen as the camera name 5, and "XX office" is displayed as the office name 6 in front of it.

As described above, the client terminal 26 of the management office 2 controls the surveillance camera 10 of the management office 1 under another jurisdiction.
When is designated, both the management office name of “XX management office” and the camera name of “water intake A” are combined on the monitor image and displayed on the monitor. Therefore, the user of the management office 2 can easily identify the management office and the camera name from the monitoring screen displayed on the monitor device 28. Therefore, even if the camera names in different management offices are duplicated, the surveillance camera can be identified with certainty.

In the above embodiment, the case where the camera name and the management office name are provided in two layers has been described.
A higher name indicating the location of the management office, such as “Kanto area” or “Tohoku area”, may be added to the higher level of the management office name.

The image distribution system according to the present invention is
In addition to the case of monitoring the situation of rivers and the congestion of vehicles on expressways, the above-described embodiment is also applicable to the case of distributing monitoring images of, for example, railroad tracks and overhead lines, power equipment transmission lines, power plants, plant equipment, etc. It can be implemented in the same manner as.

[0034]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when monitoring the images taken by the surveillance cameras in the same network, that is, the surveillance cameras under his / her own control, the camera name is added to the surveillance images. Since it is synthesized and displayed on the monitor, and the self-explanatory management office name is not displayed, the complexity of the display can be avoided. Also, when monitoring images taken by surveillance cameras provided in other networks, that is, surveillance cameras under the control of other management offices, the upper name is added to the camera name for monitor display. Even if the camera names are duplicated between the management offices, the surveillance cameras can be surely identified.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a device address in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen display example of the monitor device according to the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 ... Administration office 3 ... WAN 4a ... network address 4b ... host address 5 ... Camera name 6 ... Management office name 10, 20 ... Surveillance camera 11, 21 ... Character synthesizer 12, 22 ... Memory 13, 23 ... Image distribution server (ENC) 14, 24 ... Address determination unit 15, 25 ... LAN 16, 26 ... Client terminal 17, 27 ... Image distribution server (DEC) 18, 28 ... Monitor device 19, 29 ... Router

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5C054 CC05 CH02 DA09 EA01 EA05                       FA09 FE02 FE16 HA19                 5C087 AA02 AA03 AA09 AA10 AA24                       AA25 BB12 BB32 BB74 DD02                       DD31 EE05 EE16 FF01 FF04                       FF19 FF20 GG02 GG11 GG12                       GG18 GG32

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first image distribution server (ENC) encodes images taken by a plurality of surveillance cameras provided in each management office in response to a distribution request, and the networks provided in each management office and between networks are encoded. An image distribution system for distributing to a second image distribution server (DEC) as a distribution request source by a transmission line to be connected, wherein the second image distribution is provided in the first image distribution server (ENC) of each of the management offices. When the distribution request from the server (DEC) is accepted, the second image distribution server (DE
C) the network address of the first image distribution server (ENC) to determine whether the network address is the same, and the address determination means, the network address of the distribution request source of the first image If it is determined that the network address is the same as that of the distribution server (ENC), the camera name is combined with the captured image of the designated surveillance camera, and if it is determined to be another network address, the designation is performed. The upper image name and the camera name are combined with the captured image of the surveillance camera to synthesize the first image distribution server (E
An image distribution system, comprising: a character synthesizing means for outputting to NC). 2. Each of the management offices outputs a request to specify a surveillance camera to be received to a second image distribution server (DEC) and a first image distribution server (EN).
The image distribution system according to claim 1, further comprising: a monitor device that displays the captured image distributed from C) to the second image distribution server (DEC).