JP2008092279A - Monitoring system and monitoring method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transmit only required image data to a monitoring center. <P>SOLUTION: This monitoring system is provided for displaying images photographed by a plurality of monitoring devices on an image data display part of the monitoring center. The monitoring device has an image data acquisition part 102 which acquires the image data, recording parts 108a, 108b which associate the image data with photography time of the image data to record the image data and positional information of the monitoring device, a retrieval part 110 which retrieves the recording parts to acquire the retrieved image data, and a network interface 112 which connects the retrieval part to a network. The monitoring center has a management table 204 regarding the positional information of the plurality of monitoring devices, a retrieval information input part 206 for inputting retrieval conditions to the retrieval part, and the image data display part 208. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a monitoring system and method, and more particularly to a monitoring system and a monitoring method for displaying images taken by a plurality of monitoring devices in association with shooting times or places in order to reproduce the situation of a monitoring area in detail.

  Conventional monitoring systems have been performed using a plurality of monitoring cameras in a relatively narrow area such as a specific building or shopping street. All the images taken by the plurality of surveillance cameras are sent to the surveillance center, and the supervisor extracts the suspicious person based on the images photographed by the surveillance camera and analyzes the behavior of the suspicious person. In addition, all video taken by surveillance cameras has been stored on videotape to ensure crime evidence. In addition, in order to analyze suspicious person's behavior and the like, it has also been made manually to connect the stored images manually.

  These conventional monitoring systems are merely presentation and recording of image information. Therefore, it is not always efficient. Moreover, the supervisor must extract a suspicious person from a plurality of monitors and further monitor the behavior of the suspicious person. Since this work needs to be continued continuously for a long time, the observer sometimes overlooked the suspicious person. Further, when analyzing the behavior of a suspicious person later, it was necessary for the surveillance staff to check each videotape, resulting in high human and time costs.

  Therefore, an attempt has been made to provide a monitoring system and a monitoring method that allow a monitor to easily take out information to be watched from a vast amount of information. For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-268657, one or a plurality of cameras are arranged in a specific area, and the characteristics of a person are extracted from a group of images captured by these cameras. An apparatus and method for storing a group in an image database, searching the image database according to a specified time zone, area, and person's characteristics and displaying on the monitor an image group that meets the conditions is described.

However, when a suspicious person behaves over a wide range, it is necessary for the supervisor to connect the images of the respective areas in order to analyze the suspicious person's behavior. In addition, in the analysis of traffic accidents, it was necessary for the supervisor to connect the areas to obtain information such as the passing area and speed of the car that caused the accident.
JP 2001-268657 A JP-A-10-191131 JP 2000-163676 A JP 2005-218041 A

  The problem to be solved is to transmit only necessary image data to the monitoring center.

  Further, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to display images taken by a plurality of monitoring devices in association with shooting times or places in order to track the behavior of a person or a car.

  The present invention provides a monitoring system that displays images taken by a plurality of monitoring devices on an image data display unit of a monitoring center. In this monitoring system, the monitoring device acquires an image data acquisition unit that acquires image data, a recording unit that associates the image data with the shooting time of the image data, and records the image data and position information of the monitoring device; A monitoring unit having a search unit for searching for a recording unit and acquiring the searched image data; a network interface for connecting the search unit to a network; A search information input unit for inputting search conditions to the search unit, and an image data display unit. The monitoring center transmits the search condition input to the search information input unit to the monitoring device. Next, the search unit of the monitoring device transmits data that matches the search condition from the recording unit as monitoring data to the monitoring center via the network interface. Subsequently, the monitoring center displays the monitoring data received from the monitoring device on the image data display unit. The image data display unit displays the monitoring data in association with the shooting time and position information. Furthermore, the image data is a still image or a moving image, and the feature information is at least one of a person, a vehicle, a color, a motion direction, and a motion speed.

  In the monitoring system of the present invention, the monitoring device includes an image data acquisition unit that acquires image data, an image data analysis unit that analyzes the image data and detects characteristic information included in the image data, image data, and the data A recording unit for associating shooting time of image data, recording the image data, position information of the monitoring device, and feature information; a search unit for searching the recording unit and acquiring the searched image data; and a search unit And a network interface for connecting the network to the network, a monitoring center for managing information related to position information of a plurality of monitoring devices, a search information input unit for inputting search conditions to the search unit of the monitoring device, and image data display Part. The monitoring center transmits the search condition input to the search information input unit to the monitoring device. Next, the search unit of the monitoring device transmits data that matches the search condition from the recording unit as monitoring data to the monitoring center via a network interface. Subsequently, the monitoring center displays the monitoring data received from the monitoring device on an image data display unit. The image data display unit displays the monitoring data in association with the shooting time and position information. Furthermore, the image data is a still image or a moving image, and the feature information is at least one of a person, a vehicle, a color, a motion direction, and a motion speed.

  Furthermore, in the monitoring system of the present invention, the monitoring device includes an image data acquisition unit that acquires image data, an image data analysis unit that analyzes the image data and detects characteristic information included in the image data, image data, and the data A first recording unit that associates the photographing time of the image data, records the image data and the position information of the monitoring device, and a second that records the characteristic information of the image data and the photographing time of the image data in association with each other. A search unit that searches the first and second recording units, acquires the searched image data, and a network interface that connects the search unit to a network. A management table relating to the position information of the apparatus, a search information input part for inputting search conditions to the search part of the monitoring apparatus, and an image data display part. The monitoring center transmits a search condition including at least one of the feature information of the search target input to the search information input unit, the shooting time of the search target, and the position information of the monitoring device to the monitoring device. Next, the search unit of the monitoring device searches the second storage unit based on the search condition to obtain matching feature information and shooting time, and based on the shooting time, the first recording unit Image data is acquired from the monitoring data, and monitoring data including the acquired feature information, photographing time, image data, and position information of the monitoring device is transmitted to the monitoring center via the network interface. Subsequently, the monitoring center displays the monitoring data received from the monitoring device on an image data display unit. The image data display unit displays the monitoring data in association with the shooting time and position information. Furthermore, the image data is a still image or a moving image, and the feature information is at least one of a person, a vehicle, a color, a motion direction, and a motion speed.

  In the monitoring method of the present invention, the acquisition step in which the image data acquisition unit acquires the image data, the recording unit associates the image data with the shooting time of the image data, and records the image data and the position information of the monitoring device. A recording step, an input step in which the search information input unit inputs search conditions, a step in which the search unit acquires data matching the search conditions from the recording unit as monitoring data, and a network interface are acquired by the search unit. A transmission step of transmitting the monitoring data, and a display step of displaying the monitoring data by the image data display unit. The search condition is at least one of shooting time and position information. The image data display unit can display the image data and the shooting time and position information of the image data.

  Further, the monitoring method of the present invention includes an acquisition step in which the image data acquisition unit acquires image data, an analysis step in which the image data analysis unit analyzes the image data and detects feature information included in the image data, and a recording A recording step for associating the image data with the photographing time of the image data, recording the image data, the position information of the monitoring device, and the feature information; and an input step for inputting a search condition by the search information input unit A step in which the search unit acquires data matching the search condition from the recording unit as monitoring data, a transmission step in which the network interface transmits the monitoring data acquired by the search unit, and an image data display unit in the monitoring data A display step for displaying. The search condition is at least one of shooting time, position information, and feature information. The image data display unit can display the image data and the shooting time, position information, and feature information of the image data.

  Furthermore, the monitoring method of the present invention includes an acquisition step in which the image data acquisition unit acquires image data, an analysis step in which the image data analysis unit analyzes the image data and detects feature information included in the image data, A first recording step in which the first recording unit associates the image data with the shooting time of the image data, and records the image data and the position information of the monitoring device; and the second recording unit includes the image data. A second recording step for recording information and a shooting time of the image data, and a search information input unit that uses at least one of the search target feature information, the search target shooting time, and the monitoring device position information as a search condition And an input step that is input as a search unit, and the search unit searches the second storage unit based on the search condition to acquire matching feature information and shooting time, and the first description is based on the shooting time. Includes search step that acquires image data from the department, the network interface, a transmission step of transmitting the monitoring data acquired by the search unit, and a display step of the image data display section displays the monitoring data. The image data display unit can display the image data and the shooting time, position information, and feature information of the image data.

  Since the monitoring system and method of the present invention are configured to request desired image data from the monitoring center to the monitoring device and transmit only necessary image data from the monitoring device to the monitoring center, all image data is sent to the monitoring center. The communication efficiency can be made higher than the method of selecting desired image data after collecting.

  Furthermore, the communication efficiency can be further improved by adopting a method in which compressed image data is transmitted from the monitoring device to the monitoring center and decompressed at the monitoring center.

  The monitoring system and method of the present invention can display images taken by a plurality of monitoring devices on a map in association with the shooting time or place, and can track the actions of people, cars, etc. over a wide range. There is an effect.

  The monitoring system and method of the present invention can construct a large-scale monitoring system.

  Furthermore, the monitoring system and method of the present invention can detect features of captured images and create a database related to the features, efficiently record image data captured by the monitoring device, and efficiently store the image data. The effect that it can search automatically is produced.

  Since the search units of the plurality of monitoring devices are connected to the network, the databases possessed by each can be shared.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a monitoring system according to the present invention.
The monitoring system 100 of the present invention includes a plurality of monitoring devices and a monitoring center. The monitoring system 100 according to the present invention includes monitoring devices 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and a monitoring center 20, and each of the monitoring devices 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 transmits and receives data to the monitoring center 20. Connected to the network so that you can. The monitoring devices 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 can be installed in, for example, a vending machine, a traffic light, or the like, and photograph a predetermined area.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of a monitoring device of the monitoring system according to the present invention.
The monitoring apparatus 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 of the present invention includes an image data acquisition unit 102, an image data compression unit 104, an image data analysis unit 106, a first recording unit 108a, and a second recording unit. 108b, a search unit 110, and a network interface 112.

  The image data acquisition unit 102 acquires image data such as a road facing the installation location. The image data compression unit 104 compresses the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 102. The image data compression unit 104 compresses image data using image compression method processing such as MPEG and JPEG, for example. In order to improve the efficiency of recording and transmitting image data, it is desirable to compress the image data.

  The image data analysis unit 106 analyzes the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 102 and detects the characteristics of the image data. For example, the image data analysis unit 106 detects a person or a vehicle included in the image data by using a process such as pattern matching. Furthermore, the image data analysis unit 106 analyzes the characteristics of the detected person, vehicle, etc., such as color, direction of movement, and speed of movement, and replaces them with character string data so that they can be used for search. Therefore, the image data analysis unit 106 can obtain, for example, the characteristic information of the image data that the red car has passed at 120 km / h at the time 10:45:01.

  The first recording unit 108a associates the image data with the photographing time of the image data, and records the image data compressed by the image data compression unit 104 and the position information of the monitoring device. The second recording unit 108b records the characteristic information included in the image data and the shooting time of the image data. The recording unit 108a and the recording unit 108b are recording media such as a hard disk.

  The search unit 110 searches the first recording unit or the second recording unit 108b based on the information input in the search information input unit 208 of the monitoring center 20. Next, the search unit 110 acquires the image data searched from the first recording unit 108a. For example, in the search information input unit 208 of the monitoring center 20, when a car with a white feature and a time of 10:40 are input, all of the plurality of monitoring devices in the monitoring area search the second recording unit 108b. Then, an image including a white car at the designated time is acquired from the first recording unit 108a. In addition, the search unit 110 is connected to a network, and the search units 110 of the respective monitoring devices can search the second recording unit 108b with each other. For this reason, the image data related to the shooting time and location can be acquired from the image data storage unit 108a of the other monitoring device. Finally, the network interface 112 transmits the image data acquired by the search unit 110 to the monitoring center 20.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of a monitoring center of the monitoring system according to the present invention.
The monitoring center 20 of the present invention includes an image data decompression unit 202, a management table 204, an image data display unit 206, and a search information input unit 208.

  The image data decompressing unit 202 decompresses the image data acquired by the search unit 110 of the monitoring device. The image data display unit 206 displays image data as a still image or a moving image, and can simultaneously display information such as the time when the image was taken, the place where the image was taken, the characteristics of the person or vehicle, the direction of movement, the speed of movement, and the like. . The search information input unit 208 inputs a search condition including at least one of the characteristic information to be searched, the shooting time of the search target, and the position information of the monitoring device to the search units of the plurality of monitoring devices. The management table 204 manages position information of a plurality of monitoring devices, and manages the decompressed image data based on the position information.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart for explaining an embodiment of the monitoring method according to the present invention.
The monitoring method according to the embodiment of the present invention displays images taken by a plurality of monitoring devices in association with the shooting time or location. In this monitoring method, first, the image data acquisition unit 102 acquires image data (step 402). Next, the image data compression unit 104 compresses the image data (step 404). The image data analysis unit 106 analyzes the image data and detects the characteristics of the image data (step 406). The first recording unit 108a associates the image data with the photographing time of the image data, and records the compressed image data and the position information of the monitoring device (step 408). The second recording unit 108b records the characteristic information included in the image data and the shooting time of the image data (step 410). The search information input unit 208 inputs at least one of the search target feature information, the search target shooting time, and the monitoring device position information as a search condition (step 412). The search unit 110 searches the first recording unit 108a or the second recording unit 108b based on step 412 to acquire the matching feature information, shooting time, and position information of the monitoring device. Image data is acquired from the first recording unit 108a (step 414). The network interface 112 outputs the image data acquired by the search unit 110 to the network (step 416). The image data decompression unit 202 decompresses the image data acquired by the search unit 110 of the plurality of monitoring devices (step 418). Finally, the image data display unit 208 displays the decompressed image data in association with the shooting time and location (step 420).

FIG. 5 shows an example of the monitoring result of the monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention.
The vehicle passed through the area captured by the monitoring device 10 between 10:23:01 and 10:24:10. The image data acquisition unit 102 was photographed at 1 frame / second and acquired 70 images including the vehicle. The image data compression unit 104 compresses the captured image data, and records the compressed image data and the position information of the monitoring device in the first recording unit 108a. At the same time, the image data analysis unit 106 analyzed the image data and detected a bicycle in the image data. The time and place where the bicycle was detected were recorded in the second recording unit 108b.

  In the monitoring center 20, the monitor inputs a condition that the feature is a vehicle and the time is 10:24 into the search information input unit 206. The search unit 110 obtains information that the time is from 10:23:01 to 10:24:10 in the second recording unit 108b of the monitoring apparatus 10, and the corresponding image data is recorded in the first recording unit 110b. Obtained from part 108a. The network interface 112 transmits the acquired image data to the monitoring center 20. The image data decompressing unit 202 decompressed the image data, and the image data display unit 208 displayed the moving image data on the map.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the monitoring result of the monitoring system according to the embodiment of the present invention.
The bicycle passed through the area taken by the monitoring devices 10 and 12 between 13:26:01 and 13:30:30. The image data acquisition unit 102 of the monitoring device 10 and the monitoring device 12 acquired a plurality of images including a bicycle. Next, the image data compression unit 104 of the monitoring devices 10 and 12 compresses the image data being shot, and records the compressed image data and the position information of the monitoring device in the first recording unit 108a. At the same time, the image data analysis unit 106 of the monitoring devices 10 and 12 analyzed the image data and detected a bicycle in the image data. The image data analysis unit 106 further detected the direction and speed of movement of the bicycle. The second recording unit 108b recorded the time and place when the bicycle was detected, the movement direction, and the movement speed.

  In the monitoring center 20, the monitor inputs a condition that the feature is a bicycle and the time is 13:27 to the search information input unit 206. The search unit 110 of the monitoring device 10 obtains information that the time is 13:27 in the second recording unit 108b, and acquires the corresponding image data from the first recording unit 108a. Further, the search unit 110 accesses the first or second recording unit of the surrounding monitoring device, and searches for image data related to the shooting time and location.

  Next, the network interface 112 of the monitoring devices 10 and 12 transmitted the detected image data to the monitoring center 20. The image data decompressing unit 202 of the monitoring center 20 decompressed the image data. The image data display unit 208 displays the decompressed image data on the map in association with the shooting time and location. The image data displayed by the image data display unit 204 is a section taken by the monitoring devices 10 and 12 and is from the time 13:26:01 to 13:30:00. Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the image data display unit 204 displayed the route 72 through which the bicycle passed on the map.

It is the schematic explaining one Embodiment of the monitoring system which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram explaining one Embodiment of the monitoring apparatus of the monitoring system which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram explaining one Embodiment of the monitoring center of the monitoring system which concerns on this invention. The flowchart explaining one Embodiment of the monitoring method which concerns on this invention is shown. An example of the monitoring result of the monitoring system which concerns on embodiment of this invention is shown. An example of the monitoring result of the monitoring system which concerns on embodiment of this invention is shown. An example of the monitoring result of the monitoring system which concerns on embodiment of this invention is shown.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 102 Image data acquisition part 104 Image data compression part 106 Image data analysis part 108a Recording part 108b Recording part 110 Search part 112 Network interface 202 Image data decompression part 204 Management table 206 Image data display part 208 Search information input part

Claims (9)

In a monitoring system for displaying images taken by a plurality of monitoring devices on an image data display unit of a monitoring center,
The monitoring device
An image data acquisition unit for acquiring image data;
A recording unit that associates the image data with a shooting time of the image data, and records the image data and position information of the monitoring device;
A search unit for searching the recording unit and acquiring the searched image data;
A network interface for connecting the search unit to a network,
The monitoring center is
A management table relating to position information of the plurality of monitoring devices;
A search information input unit for inputting a search condition to the search unit;
An image data display section, and
The monitoring center transmits the search condition input to the search information input unit to the monitoring device, and the search unit uses the data that matches the search condition from the recording unit as monitoring data via a network interface. The monitoring system, wherein the monitoring data is transmitted to the monitoring center, and the monitoring center displays the monitoring data received from the monitoring device on an image data display unit. In a monitoring system for displaying images taken by a plurality of monitoring devices on an image data display unit of a monitoring center,
The monitoring device
An image data acquisition unit for acquiring image data;
An image data analysis unit that analyzes the image data and detects characteristic information of the image data;
A recording unit for associating the image data with a shooting time of the image data, and recording the image data, position information of the monitoring device, and the feature information;
A search unit for searching the recording unit and acquiring the searched image data;
A network interface for connecting the search unit to a network,
The monitoring center is
A management table relating to position information of the plurality of monitoring devices;
A search information input unit for inputting a search condition to the search unit;
An image data display section, and
The monitoring center transmits the search condition input to the search information input unit to the monitoring device, and the search unit uses the data that matches the search condition from the recording unit as monitoring data via a network interface. The monitoring system, wherein the monitoring data is transmitted to the monitoring center, and the monitoring center displays the monitoring data received from the monitoring device on an image data display unit. In a monitoring system for displaying images taken by a plurality of monitoring devices on an image data display unit of a monitoring center,
The monitoring device
An image data acquisition unit for acquiring image data;
An image data analysis unit that analyzes the image data and detects characteristic information of the image data;
A first recording unit that associates the image data with a shooting time of the image data, and records the image data and position information of the monitoring device;
A second recording unit that records the characteristic information of the image data and the shooting time of the image data in association with each other;
A search unit for searching the first and second recording units and acquiring the searched image data;
A network interface for connecting the search unit to a network,
The monitoring center is
A management table relating to position information of the plurality of monitoring devices;
A search information input unit for inputting a search condition to the search unit;
An image data display section, and
The monitoring center transmits, to the monitoring device, a search condition including at least one of the feature information of the search target, the shooting time of the search target, and the position information of the monitoring device, which is input to the search information input unit, The search unit searches the second storage unit based on the search condition to acquire matching feature information and shooting time, and acquires image data from the first recording unit based on the shooting time, and acquires Monitoring data including the feature information, photographing time, image data and position information of the monitoring device is transmitted to the monitoring center via a network interface, and the monitoring center receives the monitoring data received from the monitoring device, A monitoring system characterized by displaying on an image data display unit.   The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the image data display unit displays the monitoring data in association with shooting time and position information.   The image data is a still image or a moving image, the monitoring device includes an image compression unit that compresses the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit, and the monitoring center receives the compressed image data received from the monitoring device. The monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising an image data decompressing unit that decompresses the image data.   The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic information is at least one of a person, a vehicle, a color, a movement direction, and a movement speed. An image data acquisition unit acquiring image data;
A recording unit associating the image data with a photographing time of the image data, and recording the image data and position information of the monitoring device;
A step in which a search information input unit inputs search conditions;
A search unit acquiring data that matches the search condition as monitoring data from the recording unit;
A network interface transmitting monitoring data acquired by the search unit;
A monitoring method for displaying images taken by a plurality of monitoring devices on an image data display unit of a monitoring center, the method comprising: an image data display unit displaying the monitoring data.
Monitoring method. An image data acquisition unit acquiring image data;
An image data analysis unit analyzing the image data and detecting feature information included in the image data;
A recording unit associating the image data with a photographing time of the image data, and recording the image data, the position information of the monitoring device, and the feature information;
A step in which a search information input unit inputs search conditions;
A search unit acquiring data that matches the search condition as monitoring data from the recording unit;
A network interface transmitting monitoring data acquired by the search unit;
A monitoring method for displaying images taken by a plurality of monitoring devices on an image data display unit of a monitoring center, the method comprising: an image data display unit displaying the monitoring data. An image data acquisition unit acquiring image data;
An image data analysis unit analyzing the image data and detecting feature information included in the image data;
A first recording unit associating the image data with a photographing time of the image data and recording the image data and position information of the monitoring device;
A step in which a second recording unit records characteristic information of the image data in association with a shooting time of the image data;
A step in which a search information input unit inputs at least one of search target feature information, search target shooting time, and monitoring device position information as a search condition;
A search unit searching the second storage unit based on the search condition to acquire matching feature information and shooting time, and acquiring image data from the first recording unit based on the shooting time; ,
A network interface transmitting monitoring data acquired by the search unit;
A monitoring method for displaying images taken by a plurality of monitoring devices on an image data display unit of a monitoring center, the method comprising: an image data display unit displaying the monitoring data.

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