JP2007166044A - Monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive and high scalability monitoring system by utilizing a general-purpose terminal and a public line. <P>SOLUTION: The monitoring system comprises a video camera, installed at a place desired by a user for surveillance, a terminal connected to the video camera, and a management server, connected to the terminal via the Internet for receiving an image photographed with the video camera from the terminal. The terminal comprises a terminal side image database for storing and accumulating image data from the video camera and an image transmitting means for transmitting the image data stored at the terminal side image database, to the management server with a predetermined timing. The management server comprises a server side image database for accumulating the image data transmitted from the management server by each terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a monitoring system, and more particularly to an inexpensive and highly scalable monitoring system using a general-purpose terminal and a public line.

  Conventionally, security companies and the like have provided security monitoring systems for houses, buildings, and condominiums.

  In this system, various sensors and operation panels attached to a building or the like are usually connected to a control center via a communication network. When the various sensors are operated, the center is automatically notified of the abnormality, so that damages caused by illegal intruders can be prevented by subsequent prompt and appropriate measures of the security company. In addition, the center can be manually notified by setting operation on the operation panel.

  These sensors, operation panel and control center are usually connected via a dedicated line, and original maintenance is performed so that there is no connection mistake or system down in an emergency. In addition, when a system is installed at home, a dedicated terminal is used for the same reason.

As an example of a monitoring system, a system such as [Patent Document 1] is well known.
JP 2002-216278 A

  In the case of a system using a dedicated line or a dedicated terminal, as described above, the security and maintenance part in the middle of communication has a very advantageous aspect over a system using a general public line. However, in order to use a dedicated line, it is necessary to draw a dedicated line at each location by construction. When a dedicated terminal is used, it is necessary to install a dedicated terminal at that location. In this case, since the dedicated line and the dedicated terminal are not general-purpose products, it cannot be denied that the preparation stage before receiving the benefit of security is costly.

  In addition, when using a dedicated terminal, there is a reality that the expandability of the dedicated terminal is limited by itself for the reasons described above. As an example, if a user who has introduced home security later wants to introduce an image surveillance system for business expansion or scale expansion, it is necessary to purchase new hardware because there is no scalability on a dedicated terminal There is.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive and highly scalable monitoring system by using a general-purpose terminal and a public line.

  The present invention relates to an inexpensive and highly extensible monitoring system using a general-purpose terminal and a public line, and the object of the present invention is to provide one or a plurality of video cameras installed in a place where a user desires monitoring, and the video. A monitoring system comprising: a terminal connected to a camera; and a management server connected to the terminal via the Internet and receiving an image taken by the video camera from the terminal, wherein the terminal is connected to the video camera The image data stored in the terminal side image database at a predetermined timing, and image transmission means for transmitting the image data stored in the terminal side image database to the management server. Has a server-side image database for storing the image data transmitted from the management server for each terminal. It is achieved by the.

  In addition, the object of the present invention is that the monitoring system further includes one or more abnormality detection sensors connected to the terminal at a predetermined location, and the terminal receives a detection abnormality signal from the abnormality detection sensor. An abnormality determining means for determining whether or not an abnormality is detected; and an abnormality signal transmitting means for transmitting an abnormality signal to the management server when the abnormality determining means determines that an abnormality has occurred. An abnormality signal detection specifying means for receiving the abnormality signal, and the image transmission means of the terminal transmits image data at the time of abnormality detection together with the abnormality signal to the management server, or the abnormality signal transmission Means for including an identifier identifying the terminal in the abnormal signal when the abnormal signal is transmitted, and the abnormal signal detection identifying means identifies the terminal from the identifier; The management server displays an authentication database storing authentication information of the terminal owned by the user, an area information database storing information of a map and each area, and a map and area information of a monitoring base of the terminal. A display unit, or the management server having a reporting unit for reporting an abnormality to a related engine together with image data at the time of the abnormality detection according to an instruction from the abnormality signal detecting unit, or When the abnormality determining means determines that the terminal is abnormal, the terminal has a mail transmission means for notifying the external terminal owned by the user of the abnormality together with the image data, or the management server includes the user Use the authentication information stored in the authentication database to determine whether or not the connection from the external terminal owned by the An authentication means for determining, and when the result of authentication from the external terminal owned by the user with respect to the management server is normal, the terminal possessed by the user according to an instruction input from the external terminal Terminal instruction means for giving instructions to the terminal, or when the terminal instruction means gives an instruction, the terminal has video camera position operation means for operating the position of the video camera, or A plurality of the abnormality detection sensors are installed, and when any one of the abnormality detection sensors detects an abnormality, the video camera position operation means operates the direction of the video camera with respect to the abnormality detection sensor direction. Or the terminal further receives warning and release switching input of the terminal, and the monitoring base by the system This is achieved more effectively by including a warning cancellation switching means for performing warning and cancellation switching.

  According to the monitoring system of the present invention, there is an advantage that the introduction cost is low in that a general-purpose terminal and a public line are used, compared to a conventional monitoring system constructed using a dedicated terminal and a dedicated line. . Further, when the system is subsequently expanded, hardware expansion is minimal, and the rest can be handled by software-only expansion. Furthermore, when an abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection sensor, image data, moving image data, audio data, and a warning can be transmitted directly from the terminal side to the external terminal owned by the user, so that the user can go outside You can also know the occurrence of abnormalities in real time.

  Furthermore, because of its versatility, it is also possible to provide a monitoring system that complies with the Fire Service Act, such as providing an output of 12V or 24V, interlocking with a fire alarm such as a building, or providing a receiver.

  The present invention provides an inexpensive and highly expandable system by providing a monitoring system using a general-purpose terminal and a public line. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a system according to the present invention.

The system monitors the location (hereinafter referred to as monitoring sites) that each user wants the terminal 1 ₁ to 1 _n for owned, are connected by wire or wirelessly to the terminal 1 ₁ to 1 _n, is installed in the monitoring site One or a plurality of video cameras 2 and one or a plurality of abnormality detection sensors 3 attached to the video camera 2 are installed for each base to be monitored.

In addition, it is configured to include a management server 4 connected to the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n using a public line and installed in the management center, and an external terminal 5 that each user owns.

Terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n are general-purpose terminals and are in an environment that can always be connected to a public line. Information from the video camera 2 and the abnormality detection sensor 3 is always received by the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n .

The management server 4 always accepts information from the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n via the public line, and responds to monitoring base information acquisition and instruction requests from the external terminal 5 owned by the user.

The external terminal 5, the terminal 1 ₁ to 1 _n is a separate terminal, user or grasp the situation of the monitoring base for staying outside the monitoring site, giving various instructions to the terminal 1 ₁ to 1 _n Used when.

  One or a plurality of video cameras 2 and abnormality detection sensors 3 are installed at each monitoring base. Especially, the abnormality detection sensor 3 is a combination of various sensors such as an air sensor, an infrared sensor, and a smoke sensor. preferable. Further, it is desirable that the video camera 2 has a mechanism that always inserts a date and time into the captured image.

FIG. 2 is an example of an internal configuration diagram of the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n .

Inside the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n are stored in the terminal side image database 11 for storing and storing images transmitted from the video camera 2 and in the terminal side image database 11 with respect to the management server 4 constantly or at regular intervals. The image transmission means 12 for transmitting the image data, the abnormality determination means 13 for detecting whether or not the detection by the abnormality detection sensor 3 is abnormal, and the management server 4 when the determination by the abnormality determination means 13 is abnormal Terminal abnormal signal transmission means 14 for transmitting an abnormal signal including an identifier for identifying the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n and the position of the video camera 2 according to an instruction from the management server 4 and the abnormality detection sensor 3 Camera position operating means 15 for operating the video camera 2 in the direction of the abnormality detection sensor 3 where the abnormality has been detected when the detection is determined to be abnormal; Mail sending means 16 for sending to the external terminal 5 owned by the user when an abnormal signal is sent from the signal sending means 14, a mail attached with image data captured by the video camera 2 at that time. It is configured.

In addition, a warning release input means 17 for switching warning / release by this system on the side of the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n is included.

  The terminal-side image database 11 always stores the image data transmitted from the video camera 2. The stored image data may be transmitted every time a certain amount of data is stored, in addition to being transmitted to the management server 4 constantly or at regular time intervals. Note that the stored image data may be deleted as appropriate as long as it has already been transmitted to the management server 4.

  When an abnormal signal is transmitted to the management server 4 by the abnormal signal transmission means 14, image data captured by the video camera 2 at the time of transmission is simultaneously transmitted to the management server 4 by the image transmission means 12. It is desirable to have a configuration. The camera position operating means 15 operates the video camera 2 according to an instruction from the management server 4 to be described later, in addition to operating the video camera 2 in the direction of the abnormality detection sensor 3 where an abnormality has been detected.

  After the mail transmission by the mail transmission means 16, the moving picture and voice distribution means (not shown) may be used to distribute the moving picture and voice to the terminal owned by the user.

The alert release input means 17 includes a key switch, a remote controller, USB input (insertion / removal of medium to / from the USB terminal), instructions from the external terminal 5 or the management server 4, and other instructions from a mobile phone or a general telephone line, ID card Switch between warning and cancellation according to biometrics authentication (fingerprint authentication, retina authentication, vein authentication, voice authentication, and many other biometric authentications), which is an authentication that performs personal authentication using a part of the biometric pattern. . This switching can be performed based on the desire of the user who owns the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n , and the timing, timing, etc. are not limited.

Further, the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n are general-purpose terminals, and the software provided in the home personal computer operates as each means.

  FIG. 3 is an example of an internal configuration diagram of the management center 4.

The management server 4, stores the image data transmitted from the terminal 1 ₁ to 1 _n, a server-side image database 41 for storing, performs signal detection of the calling anomaly signal from the terminal 1 ₁ to 1 _n, abnormal An abnormal signal is detected by the abnormal signal detection specifying means 42 for specifying the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n that have transmitted signals, the area information database 43 storing the map and information of each area, and the abnormal signal detection specifying means 42. And a reporting means 44 for reporting to a related organization when a problem occurs.

In some cases, the user logs in to the management server 4 from the external terminal 5 that is used when the user confirms the monitoring base from a location other than the monitoring base. In order to perform this processing, the management server 4 includes an authentication unit 45 that authenticates a connection in response to a connection request from the external terminal 5, and an authentication database that stores information for each user that is authenticated by the authentication unit 45. 46 and terminal instruction means 47 for sending an instruction abnormality signal to terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n installed at the monitoring base of the user in accordance with an instruction input from the external terminal 5.

When an abnormality signal transmitted from the terminal ₁ 1 to 1 _n by the abnormal signal detection identifying unit 42 is detected, the terminal ₁ 1 to 1 are included in the defect signal _n MAC address and advance terminal ₁ 1 to 1 _n each The terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n are specified using an identifier such as an identification number assigned to, and using user authentication information included in an authentication database 46 described later. This identifier is preferably included in the abnormal signal by the abnormal signal detecting unit 14 when the abnormal signal detecting unit 14 transmits the abnormal signal to the management server 4.

Further, the abnormal signal detection specifying means 42 reads out the map of the monitoring base and the regional information of the corresponding terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n from the map and the regional information stored in the regional information database 43, and displays the display unit ( (Not shown).

Furthermore, when an abnormal signal transmitted from the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n is detected by the abnormal signal detection specifying means 42 and a notification is made to the related organization by the reporting means 44, an abnormality is detected from the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n. It is desirable that the image data transmitted simultaneously with the signal transmission is also transmitted together. At this time, the corresponding image data received in the server-side image database 41 is transmitted together.

When a connection request is received from the external terminal 5 to the management server 4, authentication is performed. When it is determined that the authentication is valid, the terminal 1 ₁ installed at the monitoring base of the user by the terminal instruction unit 47. In addition to the instruction to ˜1 _n , it is also possible to refer to the image data transmitted from the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n existing and stored in the server-side image database 41 by the external terminal 5. is there. This makes it possible to check the status of the monitoring base with the image data existing in the server-side image database 41 even when the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n or the cameras or the like existing at the monitoring base of the user break down.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow in the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n and the management server 4 when a change is detected by the abnormality detection sensor 3 of the present system.

  Usually, the video camera 2 captures images of monitoring bases and stores and accumulates the captured image data in the terminal-side image database. In addition, image data is transmitted from the image transmission means 12 to the management server 4 at all times or every certain time or when a certain amount of image data is accumulated in the terminal-side image database (this flowchart is omitted). .

The abnormality detection sensor 3 detects the status of the monitoring bases that are always installed, and when any change occurs, an abnormality signal indicating that there has been a change in the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n is immediately transmitted ( Step S101). The abnormality determination means 13 in the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n receives this abnormality signal and determines whether or not there is an abnormality (step S102). Depending on the sensitivity of the anomaly detection sensor, an anomaly signal may be transmitted even within the normal state range. Therefore, the anomaly signal transmitted from the anomaly detection sensor 3 also changes the magnitude of the anomaly signal depending on the degree of detection of the situation change. A structure is desirable. Whether or not the abnormal signal is transmitted from the abnormal signal transmitting unit 14 to the management server 4 is determined based on whether or not the magnitude of the abnormal signal is within an appropriate range set in the abnormal determination unit 13.

  When the abnormality signal transmission unit 14 receives an instruction to transmit an abnormal signal to the management server 4 by the sensor detection unit 13, the abnormal signal transmission unit 14 transmits an abnormality signal to the management server 4 ( Step S103). As described above, there are various types of abnormality detection sensors 3, and it is desirable that the abnormality signal transmission means 14 also changes the abnormality signal transmitted in response to the activated abnormality detection sensor 4. For example, it is desirable to transmit an abnormal signal having a long wavelength in the case of a fire and an abnormal signal having a short wavelength in the case of an intruder.

On the other hand, the video camera 2 always images the monitoring base and transmits the image data to the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n (step S105). Even when the abnormality detection sensor 3 is activated, the video camera 2 captures an image of the monitoring base, and the video camera is pointed in the direction of the abnormality detection sensor 3 in which the camera position operation means 15 is activated in accordance with the operation of the abnormality detection sensor 3. It is preferable to perform an operation, thereby enabling clear imaging of a place where an abnormality has occurred.

The image data captured when the abnormality detection sensor 3 detects an abnormality is transmitted to the management server 4 by the image transmission unit 12 at the same time as the abnormality signal transmission to the management server 4 by the abnormality signal transmission unit 14. The abnormal signal transmission means 14 includes an identifier for identifying the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n in the abnormal signal.

The abnormal signal transmitted by the abnormal signal transmitting unit 14 and the image data transmitted by the image transmitting unit 12 are respectively received by the abnormal signal detection specifying unit 42 and the server-side image database 41 (step S108), and the abnormal signal detection specifying unit 42 collates the authentication information included in the authentication database 46 with the identifiers of the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n included in the abnormal signal, and specifies the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n that have transmitted the abnormal signal. When the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n are specified, the abnormal signal detection specifying means 42 reads the map of the monitoring base and the area information of the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n from the area information database 43, and the display included in the management server 4 Display to a section (not shown). The regional information includes road information and information about buildings around the area.

In addition, the abnormal signal detection specifying unit 42 immediately issues a command to the notification unit 44 to notify the user. The reporting means 44 receives this command and reports to the related organizations, and at the same time, transmits the image data at the time of abnormality detection transmitted from the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n to the related organizations if possible.

Since the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n notify the user together with the abnormal signal and image data transmitted to the management server 4, the mail transmitting means 16 creates a mail to the external terminal 5 owned by the user. The mail is transmitted (steps S104 and S107). At this time, the imaged image data is attached, and the user who received the mail can check at a glance what the status of the monitoring base is. After sending the mail, the moving picture / audio distribution means (not shown) may send the moving picture and sound information of the monitoring base to the terminal owned by the user.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart when the system processes an instruction input from the external terminal 5 owned by the user when the user confirms the monitoring base from the outside.

When the user connects to this system from the external terminal 5, the external terminal 5 makes a connection request to the management server 4 (step S201). The connection request is made by transmitting an ID and password issued in advance for each user. Information unique to the external terminal 5 (for example, a telephone number in the case of a mobile phone, a MAC address in the case of a fixed terminal, etc.) may be used. The management server 4 has an authentication database 46 that stores authentication information for performing authentication for each user in advance, and determines whether or not the transmitted connection request matches the stored authentication information of the corresponding user. The authentication means 45 determines. If the authentication is correct (step S203), the authentication means 45 transmits that the authentication is correct to the external terminal 5 (step S204). At this time, the external terminal 5 includes a web containing a menu for displaying the instruction menu for the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n installed at the monitoring base of the user and the image data stored in the server-side image database 41. The site or the like is preferably transmitted.

  In the external terminal 5, the instruction input from the user according to this menu is transmitted to the management server (step S205).

In the case of an instruction to the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n , the instruction input from the external terminal 5 to the terminals 1 ₁ to 1 _n installed in the monitoring base of the corresponding user by the terminal instruction means 47 in the management server 4 Various operation instructions are transmitted according to. For example, the camera position operation, the sensitivity change of the abnormality detection sensor, the transmission of the image data captured by the video camera 2 and stored in the terminal-side image database 11 to the external terminal 5 via the management server 4, etc. (Step S207).

  When the external terminal 5 requests the image data stored in the management server 4, the image data is stored in the management server 41 and the image data designated from the external terminal 5 is transmitted from the server-side image database 41 to the external terminal 5. .

  Furthermore, the management server 4 receives the sound and video of the current monitoring base from the video / audio distribution means (not shown) in accordance with the support of audio and video acquisition of the monitoring base from the external terminal 5, and the external terminal 5 via the terminal instruction means 47. Preferably it is sent to.

1 is an example of an overall configuration diagram of a system according to the present invention. It is an example of the internal block diagram of the terminal based on this invention. It is an example of the internal block diagram of the management center 4 based on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow in a terminal and a management server when a change is detected by the abnormality detection sensor based on this invention. It is a flowchart at the time of this system processing the instruction | indication from the external terminal which a user owns when a user confirms the monitoring base from the outside based on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Terminal 2 Video camera 3 Abnormality detection sensor 4 Management server 5 External terminal 11 Terminal side image database 12 Image transmission means 13 Abnormality determination means 14 Abnormal signal transmission means 15 Camera position operation means 16 Mail transmission means 17 Warning cancellation switching means 41 Server side Image database 42 Abnormal signal detection specifying means 43 Regional information database 44 Reporting means 45 Authentication means 46 Authentication database 47 Terminal instruction means

Claims (9)

One or a plurality of video cameras installed in a place where the user wants to monitor, a terminal connected to the video camera, and an image captured by the video camera from the terminal connected to the terminal via the Internet A monitoring system including a receiving management server,
The terminal is
A terminal-side image database for storing and storing image data from the video camera;
Image transmitting means for transmitting the image data stored in the terminal-side image database to the management server at a predetermined timing;
The management server is
A monitoring system comprising a server-side image database that stores the image data transmitted from the management server for each terminal. The monitoring system further has one or more abnormality detection sensors connected to the terminal at a predetermined location,
The terminal is
An abnormality determination means for receiving a detection abnormality signal from the abnormality detection sensor and determining whether it is abnormal,
An abnormality signal transmission means for transmitting an abnormality signal to the management server when the abnormality determination means determines that an abnormality has occurred;
The management server is
Having an abnormal signal detection specifying means for receiving the abnormal signal,
The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the image transmission unit of the terminal transmits image data at the time of abnormality detection together with the abnormality signal to the management server. The abnormal signal transmission means includes an identifier for identifying the terminal in the abnormal signal when the abnormal signal is transmitted,
In order for the abnormal signal detection specifying means to specify the terminal from the identifier,
The management server is
An authentication database storing authentication information of the terminal owned by the user;
A regional information database in which maps and local information are stored;
The monitoring system according to claim 2, further comprising a display unit that displays a map of the monitoring base of the terminal and area information. The management server is
4. The monitoring system according to claim 2, further comprising reporting means for reporting an abnormality to a related engine together with image data at the time of abnormality detection in accordance with an instruction from the abnormality signal detecting means. When it is determined as abnormal by the abnormality determination means,
The terminal is
The monitoring system according to claim 2, further comprising a mail transmission unit that reports an abnormality together with the image data to an external terminal owned by the user. The management server is
Comprising authentication means for determining whether or not a connection from an external terminal owned by the user is legitimate using the authentication information stored in the authentication database;
Terminal instructing means for instructing the terminal of the user according to an instruction input from the external terminal when a result of authentication from the external terminal owned by the user to the management server is normal. A monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. When there is an instruction from the terminal instruction means,
The terminal is
The surveillance system according to claim 6, further comprising a video camera position operating unit that operates a position of the video camera. A plurality of the abnormality detection sensors are installed, and when any one of the abnormality detection sensors detects an abnormality, the video camera position operation means operates the direction of the video camera with respect to the abnormality detection sensor direction. Item 8. The monitoring system according to Item 7. The terminal further comprises:
The monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising warning release switching means for performing warning and release switching input of the terminal and performing monitoring and release switching of the monitoring base by the monitoring system.

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