JP2006050344A - Video storage device and video reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video storage reproduction method for efficiently storing and managing a video for a long time, and to provide a video storage reproduction system. <P>SOLUTION: There are provided a video coding data generator 101 for inputting the video for coding; a video content information generator 102 for dividing video coding data into a plurality of video records for storage; a video retrieval 105 for retrieving a video to be reproduced; a video coding data decoder 106 for constructing video coding data from a retrieved video record for decoding; and a video display unit 107 for displaying the decoded video. The video record stored in a relational database system is retrieved by the video retrieval section 105, the video coding data are reconfigured from the video record at the coding data decoder 106, and the video is reproduced and displayed at the video display unit 107. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a video storage device and a video playback device for efficiently storing and managing encoded video data for a long time.

  In recent years, with the rapid development of video image processing technology, it has become common to handle video and images as digital data. In this specification, “video” means “moving image”, “image” means “still image” or one frame image, and “video image” means moving image and still image. Mean both.

  A technique for efficiently compressing video image data having a large amount of data by digitalization has been established. In addition, with the development of network technologies such as the Internet, satellite broadcasting, and CATV, a large amount of video data can be transmitted and received, and video and image information can be stored and retrieved according to needs. Video image database and video on demand are about to enter the practical stage.

  Also, in the surveillance system, the surveillance video that has been stored on the tape as an analog signal in the past is converted into digitally encoded video and saved on the server, so that the surveillance video for a long time by cameras installed at many points Can now be managed centrally.

  As a large amount of video data can be handled in this way, it becomes difficult to view all videos in order to search for a portion of interest. Therefore, there is a demand for picking up and watching only scenes in which a specific person or object is reflected, or scenes in which specific camera work or a large screen moves. For this reason, a system has been proposed in which information on people and objects shown in video and video feature information is stored as metadata (that is, video content information), and video is searched using the metadata. ing.

For example, Patent Document 1 proposes an automatic monitoring system from a remote location. This is a system that saves long-time video from many cameras and efficiently performs monitoring work by searching video using metadata describing information such as objects and accidents in the monitoring video. .
JP 2004-64438 A

  As described above, in a viewing method in which only a part of a long-time video is picked up and viewed, it is necessary that the random accessibility of the video is good. In the past, video was divided into several hours, and each was managed as a batch of video files. In such a management method, in order to cue a specific part of a video, a two-step search is performed in which a video file including the specific part is first searched and then the specific part is cued in order from the top of the video file. Is necessary and the search efficiency is poor.

  In another system, each frame of the video is stored as a still image. Although this storage method has good random accessibility, there is a problem in that storage efficiency is poor because temporal information cannot be used for video compression.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a video storage device and a video playback device for efficiently storing and managing long-time video.

  An embodiment of the present invention relates to a video storage device for storing video in a database, encoding means for encoding the video into encoded data with a predetermined data structure, and the encoded data based on the data structure. Dividing means for dividing the video in time order, adding means for adding at least time stamp information and video ID determined by the data structure to the divided encoded data as additional information, and the divided encoding An image storage apparatus comprising: storage means for storing data and the additional information as one record in the database.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, in a video playback device that plays back video encoded by a predetermined data structure and stored in a database as encoded data, the encoded data is divided in order of time in the video. The encoded data is stored in the database as a record obtained by adding at least the time stamp information defined by the data structure and the video ID as additional information, and the divided encoded data is stored in the database. A video reproducing apparatus comprising: reconstructing means for reconstructing the video in time order based on the time stamp information; and decoding means for decoding the reconstructed encoded data. is there.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently store and manage a long-time video and efficiently search for the location of the video to be browsed using video content information (metadata) and reproduce the video. . As a result, even in a viewing method in which only a part of a long video is picked up and viewed, the video can be viewed efficiently at high speed.

  A video storage / playback system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

(1) Configuration Example of Video Storage / Playback System FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a video storage / playback system according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the video storage / playback system includes a video encoded data generation unit 101, a video encoded data storage unit 103, a video search unit 105, a video encoded data decoding unit 106, and a video display unit 107. Yes. In this embodiment, a video content information generation unit 102 and a video content information storage unit 104 are provided to store and manage video content information.

  The functions of the above units 101 to 107 can be realized as software. Also, the present invention can be implemented as a program for causing a computer to execute predetermined means (or for causing a computer to function as predetermined means or for causing a computer to realize predetermined functions). It can also be implemented as a computer-readable recording medium.

(1-1) Video encoded data generation unit 101
The video encoded data generation unit 101 is used to input and encode video to be stored and managed. The video encoded data generation unit 101 is a video input by a video camera or a still camera that shoots every predetermined time, or is created in advance. Video is read and encoded and converted to digital data. As an encoding format, MPEG-1, 2, 4 which is an international standard is often used.

(1-2) Video content information generation unit 102
The video content information generation unit 102 is used to create video content information (that is, metadata) that is information related to the video content. For example, the video content information generation unit 102 relates to the color and movement of the video and the people and objects that are shown. Information, information related to the content of the song or conversation included in the voice, information related to the captured environment, and the like are generated.

  The video to be input to the video content information generation unit 102 may be input directly from the video encoded data generation unit 101, or the video once stored in the video encoded data storage unit 103 is input to the video content information generation unit 102. Also good.

(1-3) Video encoded data storage unit 103
The video encoded data storage unit 103 stores and manages the video encoded data created by the video encoded data generation unit 101, and a relational database system is usually used, but other database systems are used. Also good. The encoded video data storage unit 103 may be constructed on a single database server, or may be constructed distributed over a plurality of servers. When distributed, the servers are connected by a network, and data can be manipulated from the outside by the same operation as when they are constructed on a single server. Further, the database server may physically exist in a remote place.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of the data structure of the encoded video data storage unit 103.

  As shown in FIG. 2, this data structure is configured as a sequence of video records 210, and one video record 210 includes a video ID 201, time stamp information 202, and encoded data 203. Preferably, one video record 210 may have one or more of code type information 204 and additional information 205.

  When a relational database system is used, the column of the video record 210 is usually realized as a single table, but is divided into a plurality of tables based on information in the video record 210 such as the video ID 201 and the time stamp information 202. May be realized. Note that the arrangement method of the video records 210 is managed on the relational database system side, and when extracting information, the database operation language (SQL) can be freely used for extraction and rearrangement. There is no need to consider the order.

  The video ID 201 is information for determining which video is being managed when a plurality of videos are managed. For example, any information may be used as long as the information can uniquely identify the video, such as the shooting location, camera information, video title and serial number.

  The time stamp information 202 is information for determining which time the encoded data 203 is for. Any format of the time stamp information may be used. For example, for a long-time continuous video such as a monitoring video, an absolute time such as the date and time at which the video corresponding to the encoded data 203 was shot is used. Is good. Also, when handling a video edited like a movie, it is preferable to use the relative time from the top of the video. Whatever format is used, the video record 210 is uniquely determined by the video ID 201 and the time stamp information 202.

  The encoded data 203 is data obtained by encoding a partial video determined by the video ID 201 and the time stamp information 202. One video record 210 may store encoded data 203 for one frame, or may store encoded data 203 for a plurality of frames. If the number of frames stored in one video record 210 is reduced, the data storage efficiency is lowered, while random access of video can be performed in fine units. Conversely, if the number of frames stored in one video record 210 is increased, the data storage efficiency increases, but video random access can be performed only roughly. The appropriate number of frames to be stored differs depending on the encoding method. For example, in MPEG-1, 2, 4, it is preferable to store from one I picture to the next I picture (1 GOP) in one video record 210. Can also be changed.

  The code type information 204 is information for determining which encoding format is used by the encoded data 203 when a plurality of video encoding formats are used. The processing in the video decoding unit 106 can be switched according to this information.

  The additional information 205 is significant information when decoding by random access among the information attached to the encoded data 203. For example, to the data size and the number of frames of the encoded data 203, encoded data related information such as information on the photographing device and encoding parameters, other video records 210 and content information records 310, other files and Web pages Arbitrary information such as link information to the link information can be added.

  In particular, by including link information to other content information records 310, a list of video content information related to the encoded data 203 can be acquired at high speed. By acquiring a list of video content information in this way, it is possible to confirm information about what is shown in the video at a time. For example, when a person is shown in the monitoring video, a plurality of pieces of video content information such as the gender, age, and walking trajectory of the person can be viewed at a time, and the monitoring work can be performed efficiently.

(1-4) Video content information storage unit 104
The video content information storage unit 104 stores and manages the video content information created by the video content information generation unit 102, and a relational database system is normally used, but other database systems may be used. The video content information storage unit 104 may be constructed on a single database server, or may be constructed by being distributed among a plurality of servers. When distributed, the servers are connected by a network, and data can be manipulated from the outside by the same operation as when they are constructed on a single server. Further, the database server may physically exist in a remote place, or the same database system as the video encoded data storage unit 103 may be shared.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the data structure of the video content information storage unit 104.

  As shown in FIG. 3, this data structure is configured as a sequence of content information records 310, and one content information record 310 includes a video ID 301, time stamp information 302, content information data 303, and content information type information 304. Composed. Preferably, the content information record 310 may have additional information 305.

  When the relational database system is used, the column of the content information record 310 is usually realized as a single table, but the information in the content information record 310 such as the video ID 301, the time stamp information 302, and the content information type information 304 is included. Based on this, it may be realized by dividing into a plurality of tables. Further, both the video record 210 and the content information record 310 may be managed by one table. The arrangement method of the content information record 310 is managed on the relational database system side, and when extracting information, the database operation language (SQL) can be used to freely extract and rearrange the content information record. It is not necessary to consider the arrangement order of 310.

  The video ID 301 and the time stamp information 302 are described in the same format as the video ID 201 and the time stamp information 202 in the encoded video data, and information indicating which part of which video the video content information is related to. It is.

  In the content information data 303, video content information is described. The content and description format can be anything. For example, MPEG-7, which is an international standard, defines a format related to video content description for each content to be described, and may be described in the MPEG-7 format.

  The content information type information 304 is information indicating in what format the content information data 303 is described.

  Additional information 305 is information attached to the video content information. For example, it is possible to add arbitrary information such as the data size of the content information data 303, other video records 210, content information records 310, link information to other files and Web pages.

  In particular, by including link information to other video records 210, a list of video encoded data related to the video content information can be acquired at high speed. By acquiring a list of encoded video data in this way, it is possible to confirm at a time where the information is reflected in the video. For example, when content information data related to a certain person is selected in monitoring work, it can be used for applications such as displaying a list of scenes in which the person is shown.

(1-5) Video search unit 105
The video search unit 105 searches the video record 210 and the content information record 310 that match the conditions based on information stored in the video encoded data storage unit 103 and the video content information storage unit 104.

  Search conditions may be determined in advance or may be input by the user each time. The video encoded data and the video content information may be used for the search. For example, the time stamp information 202 of the video encoded data and the content information type information 304 of the video content information are used to specify the time. It is possible to search and display a video in which content information is described.

  Preferably, operations such as erasure, movement, and editing may be performed on the video record 210 and the content information record 310 that are hit by the search. As a result, for example, old data accumulated more than a certain period of time ago can be automatically deleted, or frequently hit data can be moved to an appropriate table to improve search efficiency. It is also possible to update the content of other video content information to the latest by referring to other video encoded data and video content information.

(1-6) Video Encoded Data Decoding Unit 106
The video encoded data decoding unit 106 obtains the sequence of the video records 210 from the video encoded data storage unit 103 based on the search result of the video search unit 105, and rearranges the sequence of the encoded data 203 in the order of reproduction. To do.

(1-7) Video display unit 107
The video display unit 107 displays the video decoded by the video encoded data decoding unit 106, and any video display unit such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display can be used.

  The video encoded data decoding unit 106 and the video display unit 107 may be physically separated from the video encoded data storage unit 103. In this case, the video encoded data decoding unit 106 and the video display unit 107 are connected by a network. Transfer of the video record 210 to the encoded video data decoding unit 106 is performed using a database operation protocol (ODBC) or the like.

  Also, the video encoded data decoding unit 106 and the video display unit 107 may be physically separated. In this case, both are connected by a network, and the video decoded by the video encoded data decoding unit 106 is RTP. And the like are sent to the video display unit 107 by a video transfer protocol.

(2) Video Encoded Data Storage Procedure FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of video encoded data storage procedure. The processing is executed at certain time intervals such as the number of frames included in one video record 210 or every fixed period.

  Video input step S41 is a step of inputting video from a camera or the like.

  The video encoding step S42 is a step of generating video encoded data by encoding the video input in the video input step S41 in a specified encoding format.

  In the video record creation step S43, a video record 210 is created by adding the video ID 201 and the time stamp information 202 to the encoded data. At that time, the code type information 204 and the additional information 205 may be added.

  The video record accumulation step S44 is a step for accumulating the video record 210 created in the video record creation step S43 in the video encoded data accumulation unit 103.

(3) Video Content Information Storage Procedure FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the video content information storage procedure. The processing is executed at certain time intervals such as every frame or every fixed time.

  The video input step S51 is a step of inputting video from the video encoded data generation unit 101 or the video encoded data storage unit 103. Decode video encoded data into video as necessary.

  S52 is a step of determining whether or not video content information to be created exists in the input video. If there is no video content information to be created, the process ends.

  The content information extraction step S53 is a step of creating content information data 303 from the input video. When creating a plurality of types of video content information, it may be necessary to use a plurality of extraction algorithms. In this case, the extraction algorithms are switched as appropriate within this step.

  In the content information record creation step S54, the content information record 310 is created by adding the video ID 301, the time stamp information 302, and the content information type information 304 to the content information data 303. At this time, additional information 305 may be added.

  The content information record accumulation step S55 is a step of accumulating the content information record 310 created in the content information record creation step S54 in the video content information accumulation unit 104.

(4) Reproduction Procedure of Video Encoded Data FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a reproduction procedure of video encoded data. Processing is executed for each request from the user.

  The search condition input step S61 is a step of inputting a condition for searching for video encoded data to be reproduced. The condition may be input by the user each time or may be determined in advance.

  The video record search step S62 is a step of searching for the video record 210 to be reproduced according to the input search condition. Depending on the input search conditions, the video encoded data storage unit 103 may search directly, or the video content information storage unit 104 may search the video content information once, and the content described in the searched video content information may be Originally, the video record 210 may be retrieved from the video encoded data storage unit 103.

  For example, if the video ID and the reproduction start time are input as search conditions, the search can be performed directly from the video encoded data storage unit 103. However, when "the latest video showing the designated person" is input as the search conditions. The video content information regarding the designated person is searched, the video ID and the reproduction start time of the latest video are acquired from the video content information, and the video record 210 is searched from the video encoded data storage unit 103.

  S63 is a branch based on the number of search results in the video record search step S62. When the number of search results is 0, the process ends without performing the following processing. When there is only one search result, the process proceeds to an encoded data string creation step S65. When there are a plurality of search results, the process proceeds to an encoded data string creation step S65 after the video selection step S64.

  The video selection step S64 is a step of selecting one video to be reproduced from among a plurality of search results. The selection may be performed based on user input, or may be in accordance with predetermined conditions.

  The encoded data string creation step S65 obtains a set of video records necessary for reproducing the video from the video record information obtained in the video record search step S62, and extracts the encoded data extracted from each video record. This is a step of rearranging 203 in the order of reproduction and creating a series of encoded video data. At this time, if there is information necessary for decoding, such as a header and a footer, it is added to the encoded video data.

  The encoded data decoding step S66 is a step of generating video by decoding the video encoded data obtained in the encoded data string generating step S65.

  The video reproduction step S67 is a step of displaying the video obtained in the encoded data decoding step S66 on a CRT, a liquid crystal display or the like.

(Example of change)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and can be implemented with various modifications within the technical scope thereof.

  In other words, the configuration illustrated in the embodiment of the present invention is an example, and is not intended to exclude other configurations, and a part of the illustrated configuration may be replaced with another or a part of the illustrated configuration. Other configurations obtained by omitting the above, adding another function or element to the illustrated configuration, or combining them are also possible.

  Also, another configuration that is logically equivalent to the exemplified configuration, another configuration that includes a portion that is logically equivalent to the exemplified configuration, another configuration that is logically equivalent to the main part of the illustrated configuration, and the like are possible. is there.

  Further, another configuration that achieves the same or similar purpose as the illustrated configuration, another configuration that achieves the same or similar effect as the illustrated configuration, and the like are possible.

  In addition, various variations of various components illustrated in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in combination as appropriate. Further, the embodiments of the present invention include an invention as an individual device, an invention regarding two or more related devices, an invention as a whole system, an invention regarding components within an individual device, or a method invention corresponding thereto. And the like, and includes or inherently includes inventions relating to various viewpoints, stages, concepts, or categories.

  Therefore, the present invention can be extracted from the contents disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention without being limited to the exemplified configuration.

  The present invention is used for, for example, a monitoring system for recording and reproducing video input from a surveillance camera for a long time, a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing a movie or a TV program, and a streaming server provided in a broadcasting station or a provider. Is preferred.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a video storage / playback system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the video coding data storage part in the embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the video content information storage part in the embodiment. It is a flowchart showing an example of the accumulation | storage procedure of the video coding data in the embodiment. It is a flowchart showing an example of the accumulation | storage procedure of the video content information in the embodiment. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for reproducing encoded video data in the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

101 Video encoded data generation unit 102 Video content information generation unit 103 Video encoded data storage unit 104 Video content information storage unit 105 Video search unit 106 Video encoded data decoding unit 107 Video display unit

Claims (10)

In a video storage device that stores video in a database,
Encoding means for encoding the video into encoded data according to a predetermined data structure;
A dividing unit for dividing the encoded data in order of time in the video based on the data structure;
Adding means for adding at least time stamp information and a video ID defined by the data structure to the divided encoded data as additional information;
Storage means for storing the divided encoded data and the additional information in the database as one record;
A video storage device characterized by comprising: The video storage device according to claim 1, wherein the additional information includes encoded data related information or link information to the encoded data related information. The video has video content information representing content related to the video,
The video storage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video content information includes link information to a record in which the divided encoded data related to the video content information is stored. The video has video content information representing content related to the video,
The video storage device according to claim 1, wherein the additional information includes link information to video content information related to the divided encoded data. One or more of the storage position, storage state, and content of the record is changed using at least one of the divided encoded data related information and the video content information. The video storage device according to claim 1. In a video playback device for playing back video that has been encoded with a predetermined data structure and stored in the database as encoded data,
The encoded data is divided in the order of time in the video, and a record obtained by adding the time stamp information defined by the data structure and the video ID as additional information to the divided encoded data as one record. Accumulated in the database,
Reconstructing means for reconstructing the divided encoded data in order of time in the video based on the time stamp information;
Decoding means for decoding the reconstructed encoded data;
A video reproduction apparatus characterized by comprising: In a video storage method for storing video in a database,
An encoding step of encoding the video into encoded data according to a predetermined data structure;
A division step of dividing the encoded data in order of time in the video based on the data structure;
An adding step of adding at least time stamp information and a video ID defined by the data structure to the divided encoded data as additional information;
An accumulation step of accumulating the divided encoded data and the additional information as one record in the database;
A video storage method characterized by comprising: In a video reproduction method for reproducing a video encoded by a predetermined data structure and stored in a database as encoded data,
The encoded data is divided in the order of time in the video, and a record obtained by adding the time stamp information defined by the data structure and the video ID as additional information to the divided encoded data as one record. Accumulated in the database,
Reconstructing the reconstructed encoded data in the order of time in the video based on the time stamp information;
A decoding step of decoding the reconstructed encoded data;
A video playback method characterized by comprising: In a program that uses a computer to store a video in a database,
An encoding function for encoding the video into encoded data according to a predetermined data structure;
A division function for dividing the encoded data in order of time in the video based on the data structure;
An additional function for adding at least time stamp information and a video ID defined by the data structure as additional information to the divided encoded data;
An accumulation function for accumulating the divided encoded data and the additional information as one record in the database;
A video storage method program characterized by realizing the above. In a program for realizing a video reproduction method for reproducing a video encoded by a predetermined data structure and stored in a database as encoded data by a computer,
The encoded data is divided in the order of time in the video, and a record obtained by adding the time stamp information defined by the data structure and the video ID as additional information to the divided encoded data as one record. Accumulated in the database,
A reconstruction function for reconstructing the divided encoded data in order of time in the video based on the time stamp information;
A decoding function for decoding the reconstructed encoded data;
A video playback method program characterized by realizing the above.

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