JP2018170573A - Monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly grasp an abnormal event occurring in the vicinity of an object to be predominantly monitored even when the object dynamically changes.SOLUTION: In the present example, a monitoring object position specification part 204 specifies companion information acquired by a companion information acquisition part 203, that is, a position measured by a companion terminal 50 carried by a companion as a position in a monitoring area for an object to be predominantly monitored. A priority determination part 205 determines the priorities of a plurality of photographing devices (observer terminals 10 and fixed cameras 40) on the basis of the position of the object to be predominantly monitored specified by the monitoring object position specification part 204 and position information acquired by an observer terminal information acquisition part 201 and a fixed camera information acquisition part 202. A processing determination part 206 determines processing on a video obtained by photographing the monitoring area according to the priority determined for the photographing device that films the video.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for supporting monitoring.

  There are technologies that support monitoring. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for preferentially processing a video signal of a camera device that detects a signal notifying the occurrence of an abnormality in the range of the video signal over other camera devices.

JP-A-11-331818

When monitoring a surveillance area using images taken by multiple surveillance cameras, if the processing load such as communication for those images becomes excessive, the display of the images will be hindered and abnormal events will be noticed. May be delayed. In addition, there may be a target to be monitored in the monitoring area, and in the event, the target (for example, the first group in a marathon) may change dynamically. In that case, in particular, it is required to avoid a delay in response to an abnormal event occurring in the vicinity of the target.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to quickly grasp an abnormal event that occurs in the vicinity of a target even if the target to be monitored is dynamically changed.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an acquisition means for acquiring position information of a plurality of imaging devices that shoot images of a monitoring area, and an important monitoring target in the monitoring area that changes with the progress of an event. Specifying means for specifying a position; determination means for determining the priority of each of the plurality of imaging devices based on the specified position of the monitoring target and the acquired positional information of the plurality of imaging devices; and the video A monitoring system is provided that includes a determination unit that determines the processing relating to the priority determined for the imaging device that captures the video.

In the above monitoring system, the process related to the video is a shooting related process related to the shooting of the video, and the determining means transmits a transmission data amount per unit time when the video obtained by the shooting related process is transmitted May be determined according to the priority.
In the above monitoring system, the processing relating to the video may be image processing on the video, and the determining unit may determine the image processing according to the priority.

In the monitoring system, the monitoring target may be a person, and the specifying unit may specify a position of the monitoring target based on a position information terminal possessed by the monitoring target or a companion of the monitoring target.
In the above monitoring system, the monitoring target is a person, and the specifying unit specifies the position of the monitoring target based on a position measured by a positioning unit included in a moving object that can move according to the movement of the monitoring target. May be.

In the above monitoring system, the specifying unit may specify the position of the monitoring target based on information on the event distributed by a real-time distribution service.
The monitoring system includes status acquisition means for acquiring status information indicating the progress status of the event, and the specifying means specifies the position of the monitoring target based on the progress status indicated by the acquired status information. Also good.

  The monitoring system includes a congestion determination unit that determines a degree of congestion in the vicinity of the specified position of the monitoring target, and the determination unit includes the position of the monitoring target and the position information of the plurality of imaging devices, The priority of the plurality of imaging devices may be determined based on the determined degree of congestion.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to quickly grasp an abnormal event that has occurred in the vicinity of a target even if the target to be monitored mainly changes dynamically.

The figure showing the whole structure of the monitoring system which concerns on an Example A figure showing the monitor terminal attached to the monitor A diagram showing the hardware configuration of an observer terminal Diagram showing the functional configuration realized by the monitoring system The figure showing an example of a priority table The figure showing an example of the parameter table for photography The figure showing an example of the parameter table for image processing The figure showing an example of the operation procedure of each apparatus in priority processing The figure showing the functional structure which the monitoring center server apparatus of a modification implement | achieves The figure showing the functional structure which the monitoring center server apparatus of a modification implement | achieves The figure showing an example of the parameter table for photography of a modification

[1] Embodiment FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a monitoring system 1 according to an embodiment. The monitoring system 1 is a system that supports monitoring in an event. An event is an event where a large number of people gather, such as sports competitions and games, music concerts and live performances, festivals, fireworks, and parades.

  In the event, a monitoring area is defined so as to ensure the safety of people gathering at the venue. For example, in a marathon, parade, festival, etc., the event itself is performed on a road course, but it is defined as a monitoring area including the surrounding roads where spectators gather. In addition to venues where spectators are seated at concert venues, stadiums, fireworks, etc., the route from the nearest station or parking lot to the venue is also determined as a monitoring area.

  A monitoring person is assigned to the monitoring area to perform on-site monitoring. In addition, an operator for supporting the monitor is resident in the monitoring center, and provides information about the situation in the monitoring area and instructs a place to be monitored while contacting the monitor. The monitoring system 1 is mainly used by these monitoring personnel and operators. In the present embodiment, a description will be given by taking as an example monitoring in an event called a marathon performed using public roads.

  The monitoring system 1 includes a network 2, an intranet 3, a plurality of monitor terminals 10, a monitoring center server device 20, an operator terminal 30, a plurality of fixed cameras 40, and a companion terminal 50. The network 2 is a communication system including a mobile communication network and the Internet, and mediates exchange of data between devices connected to the own system. The network 2 includes a base station that performs mobile communication and a wireless communication device such as an access point that performs wireless local area network (LAN) communication. The monitor terminal 10, the fixed camera 40, and the accompanying terminal 50 are connected to the network 2 by performing wireless communication with these wireless communication devices.

  The intranet 3 is a communication system including, for example, a LAN and a WAN (Wide Area Network), and mediates data exchange between devices connected to the own system. The intranet 3 is connected to the network 2. A monitoring center server device 20 and an operator terminal 30 are connected to the intranet 3. The connection with the intranet 3 may be either wired communication or wireless communication.

  The fixed camera 40 is a device that is installed at the site of the monitoring area and captures surrounding images, that is, images of the monitoring area, and is an example of the “imaging device” of the present invention. The “video” referred to in the present invention can include both still images and moving images. Hereinafter, the case of moving images will be described. The fixed camera 40 transmits the captured video to the monitoring center server device 20. Note that transmitting video means transmitting data indicating the video. In the following, performing processing such as transmission on various types of information means performing processing on data indicating the information.

  The fixed camera 40 has a function capable of changing setting items such as resolution (number of pixels), frame rate, image transmission rate (transmission speed), compression rate, compression method, etc. in shooting-related processing related to video shooting. Yes. The setting items are information that is defined in order to define the detailed mode of operation (how to perform the process) when the computer executes the process (in this example, the shooting-related process). Also called.

  Hereinafter, each of the setting items used in the shooting-related processing is referred to as “shooting parameter”. The fixed camera 40 performs shooting-related processing based on the set shooting parameters. For example, if the resolution (number of pixels) is determined to be 640 × 480 = about 307,000 pixels, the fixed camera 40 captures an image with the number of pixels of 640 × 480.

  For example, the fixed camera 40 performs a shooting-related process at the start of shooting based on a predetermined initial shooting parameter or a shooting parameter at the end of the previous shooting. In addition, when the fixed camera 40 is instructed by the external device (in this embodiment, the monitoring center server device 20) the shooting parameter to be used, the fixed camera 40 performs a shooting-related process based on the instructed shooting parameter. The fixed camera 40 may have a pan / tilt / zoom function and may be controlled by remote operation from the operator terminal 30 or the monitor terminal 10.

  The video transmitted by the fixed camera 40 is displayed on the screen of the monitoring center, and the operator confirms the status of the monitoring area while viewing the screen. The more detailed the video, the more detailed the situation can be confirmed. However, since the high-quality video has a large amount of data, the wireless communication performed by the fixed camera 40 is likely to be delayed. In view of this, in the monitoring system 1, the image quality of all the videos is not increased, but the image quality of the video that shows the target to be monitored in the monitoring area is higher than that of the other videos.

  By doing so, it is possible to prevent the delay of wireless communication from occurring, while displaying the important monitoring target video or the surrounding video with high image quality. In this embodiment, the runners of the first group of marathon are defined as priority monitoring targets. Therefore, shooting parameters are used to make the image quality of the fixed camera 40 close to those runners higher than the image quality of the fixed camera 40 farther than that. This imaging parameter is determined by the monitoring center server device 20 described later.

The supervisor terminal 10 is a terminal that is carried and carried by a supervisor arranged at the site of the surveillance area. The supervisor terminal 10 is, for example, a smartphone, but may be a terminal made exclusively for this system.
FIG. 2 shows the monitor terminal 10 attached to the monitor. In FIG. 2, the supervisor A1 fixes the terminal case 5 to the body. The terminal case 5 is a container for storing the monitor terminal 10, and is fixed to the body (in detail, the chest) of the monitor by a band.

  The supervisor terminal 10 is provided with photographing means for photographing the surrounding video, that is, the video of the monitoring area. The supervisor terminal 10 is also an example of the “imaging device” of the present invention. In the terminal case 5, when the supervisor terminal 10 is stored in the own case, a portion where the lens of the photographing unit is located is transparent (a hole may be formed). The monitor terminal 10 attached to the chest of the monitor takes a video in front of the monitor.

  The photographing means of the monitor terminal 10 has a function capable of changing the above-described photographing parameters. The photographing parameters are also determined by the monitoring center server device 20 as with the fixed camera 40. The supervisor terminal 10 is also provided with a measuring means for measuring the position of the own device such as a GPS (Global Positioning System). The supervisor terminal 10 transmits the video imaged by the imaging means and the position measurement result by the positioning means to the monitoring center server device 20.

  The companion terminal 50 is a terminal carried and carried by the above-mentioned companion who is an important monitoring target. The accompanying person in this embodiment is a monitor who monitors the head group of the marathon. The monitor may run on his / her feet, but it is difficult to follow if the opponent is the leading group, so for example, he will follow a bicycle or motorcycle. As with the supervisor terminal 10, the accompanying terminal 50 includes an imaging unit and a positioning unit, and takes a video of the management area and measures the position of the own device. The accompanying terminal 50 is a terminal that generates position information indicating the position of the own apparatus and transmits the position information by wireless communication, and is an example of the “position information terminal” in the present invention.

  The monitoring center server device 20 is an information processing device that executes various processes for managing the monitoring status of the monitoring area. For example, the monitoring center server device 20 performs image processing on the transmitted video and detects the occurrence of an abnormal event in the monitoring area. An abnormal event here refers to an event that occurs in the monitoring area, which threatens the safety of surrounding people or is annoyed by the monitoring personnel (for example, convergence of the communication with related parties and the situation) Event, etc.), and may simply be called an abnormality or a case.

  Specifically, for example, the appearance of a suspicious person, the discovery of a suspicious object, the entry to a prohibited entry area, the jump to the road, the occurrence of an injured person, the occurrence of an accident, the occurrence of a fight, etc. are included in the abnormal events. When the monitoring center server device 20 detects the occurrence of an abnormal event, the monitoring center server device 20 notifies the operator by transmitting notification information indicating that fact to the operator terminal 30.

  The operator terminal 30 is a terminal used by the operator of the monitoring center. The operator terminal 30 notifies the operator of the occurrence of an abnormal event in the monitoring area by displaying notification information transmitted from the monitoring center server device 20 on, for example, a display unit. The operator who notices the occurrence of the abnormal event by this notification notifies the person in charge of the monitoring of the occurrence of the abnormal event, or contacts the monitor to instruct the response to the generated abnormal event.

  The monitoring center server device 20 receives images from all the fixed cameras 40 and the monitor terminal 10 that shoot the monitoring area. Therefore, a resource (CPU (Central Processing Unit)) used for image processing for all the images. And memory etc.) are equally allocated, the amount of resources per video is reduced. As a result, even if an abnormal event occurs, the time required to detect it becomes longer, and the response to the abnormal event may be delayed.

  In order to eliminate the delay in the response, it is desirable to allocate a sufficient amount of resources to all the videos, but it is difficult to prepare the resources up to that because of cost limitations. In view of this, in the monitoring system 1, a larger amount of resources is assigned to a video obtained by capturing an important part in the monitoring area than other videos, so that the occurrence of an abnormal event at the important part can be detected earlier. Then, setting items (parameters) related to image processing for that purpose are determined by the monitoring center server device 20. This setting item is hereinafter referred to as “image processing parameter”.

  FIG. 3 shows the hardware configuration of the supervisor terminal 10. The supervisor terminal 10 is a computer including a processor 11, a memory 12, a storage 13, a communication device 14, an input device 15, an output device 16, an imaging device 17, and a positioning device 18. The processor 11 is a device that includes a CPU and the like and has a function of operating an operating system to control the entire computer. The processor 11 reads a program, data, and the like from the storage 13 and the communication device 14 to the memory 12, and executes various processes according to these.

  The memory 12 is a recording device having a function of storing data that can be read by the processor 11, and is a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), or the like, for example. The storage 13 is a recording device having a function of storing data that can be read by the processor 11, and is, for example, a hard disk drive or a flash memory. The communication device 14 is a communication device having a function of performing communication between computers via a wired network and / or a wireless network. In the monitor terminal 10, the communication device 14 performs wireless communication based on, for example, mobile communication or wireless LAN standards.

  The input device 15 is an input device having a function of receiving input from the outside. In the monitor terminal 10, the input device 15 includes, for example, a touch sensor, a button, a microphone, and the like. The output device 16 is an output device having a function of performing output to the outside. In the supervisor terminal 10, the output device 16 includes a display, and the touch sensor of the input device 15 and the display of the output device 16 constitute a touch screen.

  The imaging device 17 is a device that captures surrounding video. The imaging device 17 captures a video based on the above-described shooting parameters, and supplies the captured video to the processor 11. For example, the positioning device 18 measures its own position using a signal from a GPS satellite, and supplies position information (information indicating latitude and longitude) indicating the measured position to the processor 11.

  The monitoring center server device 20 is a computer including a processor, a memory, a storage, and a communication device. These are all devices having the same functions as the devices of the same name shown in FIG. In the monitoring center server device 20, the communication device performs wired communication conforming to the standard of wired LAN (wireless communication may be performed).

  The operator terminal 30 is a computer that includes a processor, a memory, a storage, a communication device, an input device, and an output device. These are all devices having the same functions as the devices of the same name shown in FIG. In the operator terminal 30, the communication device performs wired communication based on the standard of the wired LAN (wireless communication may be performed), and the input device includes a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, and the like.

  The fixed camera 40 is a computer including a processor, a memory, a storage, a communication device, and a photographing device. These are all devices having the same functions as the devices of the same name shown in FIG.

  The companion terminal 50 is a computer including a processor, a memory, a storage, a communication device, an input device, an output device, an imaging device, and a positioning device. These are all devices having the same functions as the devices of the same name shown in FIG.

The functions described below are realized by the processor of each device included in the monitoring system 1 executing a program to control each unit.
FIG. 4 shows a functional configuration realized by the monitoring system 1. In FIG. 4, only one observer terminal 10 and one fixed camera 40 are shown, but the other observer terminals 10 and fixed cameras 40 also have the same functional configuration.

  The monitor terminal 10 includes a positioning unit 101, a position information transmission unit 102, a photographing unit 103, a video transmission unit 104, and a photographing operation control unit 105. The monitoring center server device 20 includes a monitor terminal information acquisition unit 201, a fixed camera information acquisition unit 202, a companion information acquisition unit 203, a monitoring target position specifying unit 204, a priority determination unit 205, and a process determination unit. 206, an imaging instruction unit 207, an image processing operation control unit 208, an image processing unit 209, and a notification unit 210. The operator terminal 30 includes a notification information display unit 301. The fixed camera 40 includes an imaging unit 401, a video transmission unit 402, and an imaging operation control unit 403. The accompanying person terminal 50 includes a positioning unit 501 and a position information transmission unit 502.

  The positioning unit 101 of the monitor terminal 10 repeatedly measures the position of the own device. For example, the positioning unit 101 measures the position of its own device at regular time intervals (such as every second) and supplies position information indicating the measured position to the position information transmission unit 102. The position information transmission unit 102 transmits position information indicating the position of the own device measured by the positioning unit 101 to the monitoring center server device 20. The monitor terminal 10 stores a device ID (Identification) as information for identifying the device itself. The position information transmission unit 102 transmits the position information together with the apparatus ID to the monitoring center server apparatus 20 every time the position information is supplied.

  The imaging unit 103 captures a video around the device. The photographing unit 103 is controlled by a photographing operation control unit 105 described later, and performs photographing based on predetermined photographing parameters (resolution, frame rate). The imaging unit 103 supplies the captured video to the video transmission unit 104 in parallel while capturing the video. The video transmission unit 104 transmits the video around the own device captured by the imaging unit 103 to the monitoring center server device 20.

  The video transmission unit 104 is controlled by a shooting operation control unit 105 described later, and transmits a video based on a predetermined shooting parameter (image transmission rate). In addition, the video transmission unit 104 adds metadata including the device ID of the own device to the video and transmits the video. The imaging unit 103 and the video transmission unit 104 perform video imaging and transmission in parallel using streaming technology. The imaging unit 103 and the video transmission unit 104 perform imaging-related processing for imaging the video in the monitoring area in this way.

  The shooting operation control unit 105 controls operations related to shooting by the shooting unit 103 and the video transmission unit 104. The shooting operation control unit 105 stores, for example, predetermined initial shooting parameters (initial values such as resolution, frame rate, and image transmission rate), and performs shooting-related processing using the shooting parameters. The imaging unit 103 and the video transmission unit 104 are controlled.

  The imaging unit 401 of the fixed camera 40 captures an image around the own camera. The video transmission unit 402 transmits the video around the own camera photographed by the photographing unit 401 to the monitoring center server device 20. The shooting operation control unit 403 controls operations related to shooting by the shooting unit 401 and the video transmission unit 402. The imaging unit 401, the video transmission unit 402, and the imaging operation control unit 403 have the same functions as the imaging unit 103, the video transmission unit 104, and the imaging operation control unit 105 of the supervisor terminal 10.

  The positioning unit 501 of the accompanying person terminal 50 repeatedly measures the position of the own device. The position information transmission unit 502 transmits position information indicating the position of the own device measured by the positioning unit 501 to the monitoring center server device 20. The positioning unit 501 and the position information transmitting unit 502 have the same functions as the positioning unit 101 and the position information transmitting unit 102 of the monitor terminal 10.

  The supervisor terminal information acquisition unit 201 of the monitoring center server device 20 receives the position information and device ID transmitted from the positional information transmitter 102 of the supervisor terminal 10 and the video transmitter 104 of the supervisor terminal 10. The acquired video and device ID are acquired as information (monitorer terminal information) regarding the monitor terminal 10 indicated by the device ID. That is, the supervisor terminal information acquisition unit 201 is means for acquiring position information of a plurality of imaging devices (monitorer terminals 10) that captures video in the monitoring area, and is an example of the “acquisition means” in the present invention. The monitor terminal information acquisition unit 201 supplies the acquired monitor terminal information to the priority determination unit 205 and the image processing unit 209.

  The fixed camera information acquisition unit 202 acquires the video and device ID transmitted from the video transmission unit 402 of the fixed camera 40 as information (fixed camera information) related to the fixed camera 40 indicated by the device ID. Further, the fixed camera information acquisition unit 202 stores a position information list that is a list in which a device ID and position information of the fixed camera 40 indicated by the device ID are associated with each other. These pieces of position information are obtained by measuring the latitude and longitude information of the installation position when the corresponding fixed camera 40 is installed. The fixed camera information acquisition unit 202 acquires position information associated with the acquired device ID in the position information list as fixed camera information.

  That is, the fixed camera information acquisition unit 202 is a unit that acquires position information of a plurality of imaging devices (fixed cameras 40) that captures images in the monitoring area, and is an example of the “acquisition unit” of the present invention. Each fixed camera 40 stores the position information of its own device, transmits the position information together with the video, and the fixed camera information acquisition unit 202 acquires the video and the position information as the fixed camera information. Good. The fixed camera information acquisition unit 202 supplies the acquired fixed camera information to the priority determination unit 205 and the image processing unit 209.

  The companion information acquisition unit 203 receives the position information and the device ID transmitted from the position information transmission unit 502 of the companion terminal 50, and information on the companion who carries the companion terminal 50 indicated by the device ID (accompanying person information). Get as. The accompanying person information acquisition unit 203 supplies the acquired accompanying person information to the monitoring target position specifying unit 204.

  The monitoring target position specifying unit 204 specifies the position within the monitoring area of the priority monitoring target that changes with the progress of the event. The monitoring target position specifying unit 204 is an example of the “specifying unit” in the present invention. In this embodiment, the monitoring target position specifying unit 204 monitors the monitoring target with priority based on the companion information acquired by the companion information acquisition unit 203, that is, the position measured by the companion terminal 50 possessed by the companion. Identify a location within the area.

  Since the accompanying person is running near the first group of runners who are the priority monitoring targets, the position information of the accompanying person can be regarded as the position information of the priority monitoring target. Alternatively, if there is a predetermined relationship between the position of the accompanying person and the position of the focused monitoring target (for example, the accompanying person is located at a predetermined distance from the focused monitoring target), the predetermined position is determined from the position of the accompanying terminal 50. The position based on the relationship is set as the position of the priority monitoring target. The monitoring target position specifying unit 204 supplies the specified priority monitoring target position information to the priority determination unit 205.

  The priority determination unit 205 is based on the position of the priority monitoring target specified by the monitoring target position specifying unit 204 and the position information acquired by the monitor terminal information acquisition unit 201 and the fixed camera information acquisition unit 202. The priority of each of the plurality of imaging devices (monitor terminal 10 and fixed camera 40) is determined. The priority determination unit 205 is an example of the “determination unit” in the present invention. In the monitoring system 1, it is considered that the higher the priority of the imaging device, the more important video is taken from the viewpoint of monitoring, and it is easier to grasp the situation of the monitoring area from the video, or the occurrence of the abnormal event is accelerated. To be found.

The priority determination unit 205 determines the priority using, for example, a priority table in which the distance between the accompanying person and each photographing apparatus is associated with the priority.
FIG. 5 shows an example of a priority table. In this priority table, the priorities “1”, “2”, and “3” are associated with the distances “less than Th1,” “more than Th1 and less than Th2,” and “more than Th2”.

  The priority determination unit 205 calculates the distance between the position indicated by the position information and the position of the priority monitoring target for each photographing apparatus, and sets the priority associated with the calculated distance in the priority table. Then, it is determined as the priority of the photographing apparatus. The priority determination unit 205 performs this determination for all the imaging devices, for example, at regular time intervals (for example, every 10 seconds). The priority determination unit 205 supplies the determined priority to the process determination unit 206 in association with the device ID of the determination target imaging device.

  The process determining unit 206 determines the process related to the video for capturing the monitoring area according to the priority determined for the imaging device that captures the video. The process determination unit 206 is an example of the “determination unit” in the present invention. In the present embodiment, the video-related processing is the above-described shooting-related processing and image processing for video for detecting an abnormal event. The determination of the process by the process determining unit 206 is to determine how to perform the process related to the video.

  If it is a photographing related process, the process determining unit 206 determines, for example, whether to perform high-quality processing or low-quality processing. In the case of image processing, the process determination unit 206 determines whether to perform, for example, a process that sufficiently uses resources (such as a CPU and a memory) or a process that saves resources. More specifically, the process determining unit 206 performs these determinations by determining the above-described shooting parameters or determining the image processing parameters.

The process determining unit 206 determines the shooting-related process using a shooting parameter table in which priority and shooting parameters are associated with each other.
FIG. 6 shows an example of the shooting parameter table. In this imaging parameter table, “1,900,000 pixels (1,600 × 1200)”, “1,229,000 pixels (1280 × 960)”, “30. A resolution (number of pixels) of “70,000 pixels (640 × 480)” is associated.

  The process determination unit 206 is configured to perform the shooting-related process when the shooting apparatus indicated by the apparatus ID supplied together with the resolution (number of pixels) associated with the priority supplied from the priority determination unit 205 in the shooting parameter table. It is determined as a shooting parameter to be used. The process determination unit 206 supplies the determined shooting parameters to the shooting instruction unit 207 together with the device ID of the shooting device to be determined.

  In the shooting parameter table shown in FIG. 6, the higher the priority, the higher the resolution (the number of pixels). In addition, for example, the higher the priority, the higher the frame rate may be, the higher the priority, the larger the image size, and the higher the priority, the higher the image transmission rate (the transmission speed may be increased). (Fast). Alternatively, a compression method with a lower compression ratio or a lower compression ratio may be selected as the priority is higher.

  In any case, the process determining unit 206 determines the amount of transmission data per unit time when the video obtained by the shooting-related process is transmitted according to the priority. Specifically, the higher the priority, the higher the priority. The shooting parameters (resolution, frame rate, image size, etc.) that increase the amount of transmission data per unit time are determined. As a result, the higher the priority of the shooting device, the higher the image quality of the displayed image, and when the image is enlarged, details are clearly displayed, and the movement of people and objects in the image is smoothed. can do.

In addition, the process determination unit 206 determines image processing using an image processing parameter table in which priority levels and resource amounts are associated with each other.
FIG. 7 shows an example of an image processing parameter table. In this parameter table for image processing, the resource amounts (the number of CPU cores) “4 cores”, “2 cores”, and “1 cores” are associated with the priorities “1”, “2”, and “3”. It has been.

  The processing determining unit 206 is a camera that indicates the resource amount (the number of CPU cores) associated with the priority supplied from the priority determining unit 205 in the image processing parameter table by the device ID supplied together. It is determined as an image processing parameter used in image processing. The process determining unit 206 supplies the determined image processing parameters to the image processing operation control unit 208 together with the apparatus ID of the determination target imaging apparatus.

  In the image processing parameter table shown in FIG. 7, the higher the priority, the larger the number of cores that are the resource amount. For example, the higher the priority, the larger the storage area of the usable memory. May be. Further, the image processing for detecting the abnormal event is repeated, but the higher the priority, the shorter the interval of the image processing (that is, the higher the frequency of the image processing).

  In any case, the process determining unit 206 determines image processing according to the priority, that is, how to perform image processing. Specifically, the process determination unit 206 determines the amount of data processed per unit time when image processing is performed according to the priority. In each of the above examples, the processing determining unit 206 determines image processing parameters (resource amount, image processing interval and frequency, etc.) that increase the amount of data processed per unit time as the priority increases. .

  Thus, the higher the priority of the photographing device, the shorter the time required for image processing if the video data amount is the same. As a result, the occurrence of abnormal events from high-priority imaging device video, that is, video taken in the vicinity of the priority monitoring target, compared to when image processing is performed regardless of the location of the priority monitoring target Can be detected more quickly.

  The imaging instruction unit 207 instructs the imaging apparatus to execute the imaging related process determined by the process determination unit 206. The imaging instruction unit 207 generates instruction data instructing to use the imaging parameter supplied from the processing determination unit 206, and the imaging apparatus (the supervisor terminal 10 or the monitor device 10 indicated by the apparatus ID supplied together with the generated instruction data) To the fixed camera 40). For example, in the case of the monitor terminal 10, the imaging operation control unit 105 instructs the imaging instruction unit 207 to control the imaging unit 103 and the video transmission unit 104 to use the imaging parameter indicated by the transmitted instruction data. Executed shooting related processing.

  The image processing operation control unit 208 controls the operation of the image processing unit 209 so as to execute the image processing determined by the processing determination unit 206. The image processing operation control unit 208 supplies the image processing parameters and the device ID supplied from the processing determination unit 206 to the image processing unit 209, and performs image processing on the video supplied together with the device ID for the image processing. The image processing operation is controlled so as to be performed using parameters.

  The image processing unit 209 performs image processing on the video of the imaging device (the monitor terminal 10 and the fixed camera 40) acquired by the monitor terminal information acquisition unit 201 and the fixed camera information acquisition unit 202. For example, the image processing unit 209 applies a known technique for detecting an abnormality from the image of the monitoring target area and analyzes the captured image of the monitoring area to detect the occurrence of the abnormal event.

  When the occurrence of an abnormal event is detected by image processing, the image processing unit 209 notifies the notification unit 210 together with the device ID of the imaging device that has captured the video used for the detection. When the notification unit 210 receives this notification, for example, the notification unit 210 generates notification information indicating that an abnormal event has occurred and the device ID, and transmits the notification information to the operator terminal 30. The notification information display unit 301 of the operator terminal 30 displays the transmitted notification information. The operator notices the occurrence of the abnormal event by looking at the notification information displayed in this manner, and contacts the monitor to deal with the abnormal event.

Based on the above configuration, each device included in the monitoring system 1 performs priority processing that performs processing related to video for capturing a monitoring area based on the priority of each imaging device.
FIG. 8 shows an example of the operation procedure of each device in the priority processing. This operation procedure is started when, for example, each device is powered on and monitoring in the monitoring area is started. First, the accompanying person terminal 50 (positioning unit 501) measures the position of its own device (step S11).

  Next, the accompanying person terminal 50 (position information transmitting unit 502) transmits position information indicating the measured position of the own apparatus to the monitoring center server apparatus 20 (step S12). The monitoring center server device 20 (accompanying person information acquisition unit 203) acquires the position information transmitted from the accompanying person terminal 50 as accompanying person information (step S13). Next, the monitoring center server device 20 (monitoring target position specifying unit 204) specifies the position within the monitoring area of the priority monitoring target that changes with the progress of the event, based on the acquired companion information (step) S14).

  The monitor terminal 10 (positioning unit 101) measures the position of the own device (step S21). Next, the monitor terminal 10 (position information transmission unit 102) transmits position information indicating the measured position of the own apparatus to the monitoring center server apparatus 20 (step S22). In addition, the supervisor terminal 10 (imaging unit 103) captures a video around the device (step S23). Next, the supervisor terminal 10 (video transmitting unit 104) transmits the captured video around the own device to the monitoring center server device 20 (step S24). The monitoring center server device 20 (monitorer terminal information acquisition unit 201) acquires the position information and video transmitted from the monitor terminal 10 as the monitor terminal information (step S25).

  The fixed camera 40 (shooting unit 401) shoots a video around the device (step S31). Next, the fixed camera 40 (video transmission unit 402) transmits the captured video around the device itself to the monitoring center server device 20 (step S32). The monitoring center server device 20 (fixed camera information acquisition unit 202) acquires the video transmitted from the fixed camera 40 and the position information of the fixed camera 40 as fixed camera information (step S33). The operation groups of steps S11 to S14, S21 to S25, and S31 to S33 are repeatedly performed in parallel.

  The monitoring center server device 20 (priority determination unit 205) has a plurality of imaging devices (the monitor terminal 10 and the fixed terminal) based on the identified position of the priority monitoring target and the acquired location information of each imaging device. Each priority of the camera 40) is determined (step S41). Next, the monitoring center server device 20 (processing determination unit 206) determines processing related to the video for shooting the monitoring area according to the priority determined for the shooting device for shooting the video (step S42).

  Subsequently, the monitoring center server device 20 (imaging instruction unit 207) generates instruction data for instructing the imaging device to execute the determined imaging-related process (step S43), and the instruction data is transmitted to the imaging device ( In this example, it is transmitted to the supervisor terminal 10) (step S44). The monitor terminal 10 (imaging operation control unit 105) controls the operation related to the imaging of the own device in accordance with the instruction indicated by the received instruction data (step S45). Further, the monitoring center server device 20 (image processing operation control unit 208) controls the image processing operation performed by the own device so as to execute the determined image processing (step S46).

  In the present embodiment, a photographing device closer to a focused monitoring target (in the above example, the first group of marathons) that changes with the progress of the event is determined to have a higher priority. The resource amount used for image processing is increased. As a result, the closer the monitoring area is to the focused monitoring target, the clearer the video and the earlier the detection of abnormal events by image processing. As a result, even if the target to be monitored in an event such as a marathon changes dynamically, abnormalities that occur in the vicinity of the target compared to when processing related to video is performed regardless of the position of the target The event can be grasped quickly.

  In the present embodiment, the person to be monitored is a person, and the position of the person to be monitored is identified using the position information terminal (accompanying terminal 50) possessed by the accompanying person. Thereby, even if it is an object which cannot carry a portable terminal like a marathon runner, the position can be specified as an important monitoring object.

[2] Modifications The above-described embodiments are merely examples of the present invention, and may be modified as follows. Moreover, you may implement an Example and each modification in combination as needed.

[2-1] Image Processing Parameter The processing determining unit 206 may determine an image processing parameter different from that in the embodiment. For example, when the image processing for a plurality of videos is sequentially performed, the processing determination unit 206 determines the order as an image processing parameter according to the priority. For example, the processing determination unit 206 determines the order in which the image processing of the imaging device with higher priority is performed earlier.

  In addition to the order of image processing, the process determining unit 206 may determine an image processing parameter that changes the end time of image processing for a video according to priority. In either case, the higher the priority of the imaging device, the faster the image processing for that video ends.Therefore, as in the embodiment, the detection of the occurrence of an abnormal event from the video that captured the vicinity of the focused monitoring target is detected. It can be done more quickly.

[2-2] Focused monitoring target Focused monitoring target is not limited to that described in the embodiment. For example, even if the event is a marathon, not only the first group but also a group in the middle (such as a group with a high density of people) or a specific runner with a high degree of attention may be set in advance and set as an important monitoring target. Further, a plurality of accompanying persons with a runner as a priority monitoring target in between may be set as a priority monitoring target.

  Alternatively, if the event is an international conference or a visitor from overseas, each visitor may be the target for monitoring. Moreover, the priority monitoring target is not limited to a person. The entire event may be an important monitoring target. For example, it is possible to focus on roadsides around the event. In this case, the priority monitoring target may be dynamically set so that a predetermined number of runners pass before the leading group approaches according to the marathon progress.

  Also, if the event is a stadium game or live performance, prior to admission, the area from the nearest station to the entrance will be the focus of monitoring. The focus is to be monitored, and after the start of the event, the area around the seat is the focus to be monitored. As described above, when a place where many people gather changes with the progress of the event, those places may be set as focused monitoring targets that change with the progress of the event.

[2-3] Accompanying person Accompanying the person to be focused on is not limited to the person described in the embodiment (the monitoring person who follows the first group). For example, it may be a member of a white bike leading the leading group, or an occupant of a broadcasting vehicle. If the event is a parade, it may be a guardman who guards the main character of the parade, or may be an SP (Security Police) if the main character is a key person. In short, if it is a person who can accompany a person who is an important monitoring target and can possess the above-described position information terminal (terminal that generates position information indicating the position of the own apparatus and transmits it by wireless communication) Good.

[2-4] Moving object The monitoring target position specifying unit 204 may specify a focused monitoring target by a method different from the embodiment. For example, if an event is a parade or festival, the focus is on people (such as people who are blessed at a parade or people who carry bags at festivals), and those people can carry a mobile device. The position specifying unit 204 may specify the position measured by the mobile terminal possessed by the priority monitoring target itself as the position in the monitoring area of the priority monitoring target.

  In addition, when a moving object such as a vehicle, a motorcycle, or a drone (remotely-operated unmanned flying device) leads or follows the focused monitoring target, or when monitoring with a helicopter or airship that can look down on the event from above, monitoring The target position specifying unit 204 determines the position in the monitoring area of the priority monitoring target based on the position measured by the positioning means (such as a GPS module) of the moving object that can move according to the movement of the priority monitoring target itself. You may specify. In this case, the moving object includes a wireless communication unit that transmits the measured position information, in addition to the positioning unit.

  In this way, it is not necessary for a person to accompany the priority monitoring target, as long as it is equipped with positioning means and wireless communication means and can follow the case where the monitoring target moves. In addition, in the case of a moving object that monitors the progress of the event from the sky with a moving object that can be viewed from the sky, in addition to the positioning means, for example, an imaging means is provided, and the monitoring target position specifying unit 204 includes the shooting direction, altitude, and shooting conditions ( Based on the depression angle, magnification, etc.), the position of the focused monitoring target may be specified.

[2-5] Current Time / Elapsed Time The monitoring target position specifying unit 204 may use the current time or the elapsed time from the start of the event for specifying the priority monitoring target. For example, in concerts and live performances, events are performed according to a timetable, so if the current time is known, the progress of the event can be grasped. Even if the start time is delayed, the progress of the event can be grasped if the elapsed time from the start of the event is known.

  In the present modification, the monitoring target position specifying unit 204 specifies the position in the monitoring area that is the priority monitoring target from the current time based on the time table determined for the event. In addition, the monitoring target position specifying unit 204 specifies a position in the monitoring area of the priority monitoring target based on the time elapsed from the start of the event based on the time table determined for the event. In any case, for example, the monitoring target position specifying unit 204 specifies the vicinity of the venue as an important monitoring target before and after the start of the event, and specifies the inside of the venue as an important monitoring target during the event. .

[2-6] Real-Time Distribution Service The monitoring target position specifying unit 204 may use a real-time distribution service for specifying a focused monitoring target. The real-time distribution service is a service that distributes information on an event (including an event) that is currently occurring in real time. Specifically, it includes a service that distributes information indicating the running position of a marathon on a digital television broadcast, a service that distributes a live broadcast of a sports game, a service that distributes the current congestion situation of a fireworks display, and the like.

  The monitoring target position specifying unit 204 specifies the position of the monitoring target based on information related to the event distributed by the real-time distribution service. For example, when information indicating the marathon running position is distributed, the monitoring target position specifying unit 204 specifies the position of the head group indicated by the information as the position of the monitoring target. In addition, when a live broadcast of a sports game is distributed, the monitoring target position specifying unit 204 determines the progress of the event from the live broadcast before the start of the game, during the game, and after the end of the game. A location corresponding to the situation is specified as a position to be monitored.

  If the information to be distributed is text information, the monitoring target position specifying unit 204 extracts, for example, a predetermined keyword (“start time”, “end time”, etc.) associated with each progress status from there, It is determined that the progress status corresponds to the extracted keyword. If the information to be distributed is audio or video, the monitoring target position specifying unit 204 extracts the keyword after performing audio recognition or image recognition and performs this determination. According to this modification, the position of the monitoring target can be specified even when the position information of the focused monitoring target and the accompanying person cannot be acquired or even when the event does not proceed as scheduled.

[2-7] Other information Information (situation information) indicating the progress of the event is not limited to the above. For example, if there is a mechanism for counting the number of visitors at a stadium or live venue, it can be determined that the event will start when the number of visitors reaches a certain percentage of the capacity (for example, 95%) ( In this case, the number of visitors is status information). In addition, the crowded degree of people can be seen from the video of the fixed camera 40 installed on the route from the nearest station to the venue, so if the congestion level is high, the event started when the congestion level was low before the start of the event. Can be judged (in this case, the video of the fixed camera is the status information).

  FIG. 9 shows a functional configuration realized by the monitoring center server device 20a of this modification. The monitoring center server device 20a includes a situation information acquisition unit 211 instead of the accompanying person information acquisition unit 203 illustrated in FIG. The situation information acquisition unit 211 has a function of acquiring situation information indicating the progress of an event, and is an example of the “situation acquisition unit” of the present invention. The situation information acquisition unit 211 acquires, as situation information, information on the number of visitors from, for example, a system that stores the counted number of visitors to the venue.

  Further, the situation information acquisition unit 211 may acquire the video of the fixed camera 40 installed in the above-described route as the situation information. The situation information acquisition unit 211 supplies the acquired situation information to the monitoring target position specifying unit 204. The monitoring target position specifying unit 204 specifies a position corresponding to the progress status indicated by the status information acquired by the status information acquiring unit 211 as a monitoring target position.

  When the number of visitors is acquired as status information, for example, the monitoring target position specifying unit 204 determines that it is before the start of the event if the number of visitors is less than a certain percentage of the venue capacity. The position in front of the mouth is identified as the position to be monitored, and if the number of visitors is equal to or greater than a certain percentage, it is determined that the event has started and the inside of the venue is identified as the position to be monitored.

  In addition, when the video of the fixed camera 40 is acquired as the situation information, the monitoring target position specifying unit 204, for example, extracts a person's outline from the video, calculates the ratio of the area occupied by the person in the entire video, If the calculated ratio is equal to or greater than the threshold, it is determined that the person is moving toward the venue, that is, before the start of the event, and this route or entrance is identified as the position to be monitored, and the calculated ratio is If it becomes less than the threshold value, it is determined that the movement to the venue has ended, that is, the event has started, and the inside of the venue is identified as the position to be monitored. According to this modified example, when the position of the focused monitoring target cannot be specified by the above methods, the position can be specified.

[2-8] Congestion degree When determining the priority of the imaging apparatus, the congestion degree of the surroundings may be considered.
FIG. 10 shows a functional configuration realized by the monitoring center server device 20b of this modification. The monitoring center server device 20b includes a congestion degree determination unit 212 in addition to the units illustrated in FIG. The congestion degree determination unit 212 has a function of determining the degree of congestion in the vicinity of the position of the monitoring target specified by the monitoring target position specifying unit 204, and is an example of the “congestion determination unit” of the present invention.

  In this modification, the monitoring target position specifying unit 204 supplies the specified priority monitoring target position information to the congestion degree determination unit 212, and the monitor terminal information acquisition unit 201 and the fixed camera information acquisition unit 202 have acquired the information. The monitor terminal information and the fixed camera information are supplied to the congestion degree determination unit 212. The congestion degree determination unit 212 extracts the outline of a person from the video of the imaging device located in the vicinity of the specified monitoring target position (specifically, within a predetermined range from the position), Is determined as the above-described congestion degree (congestion degree in the vicinity of the position to be monitored). The method for determining the degree of congestion is not limited to this. For example, the degree of congestion may be determined based on a thermal image taken with an airship or the like from above.

  In this modification, the predetermined range is a range in which the distance from the monitoring target position is less than the threshold value Th1 shown in FIG. That is, the imaging device located in the vicinity of the monitoring target position is determined to have a priority of “1” by the method described in FIG. The congestion level determination unit 212 supplies the supplied information and the determined congestion level to the priority level determination unit 205. The priority determination unit 205 determines the congestion level determined by the congestion level determination unit 212 in addition to the specified monitoring target position and the acquired position information (position information included in the monitor terminal information and the fixed camera information). Based on this, the priority of the photographing apparatus is determined.

  For example, the priority determination unit 205 determines the provisional priority of each photographing apparatus by the method described in FIG. The priority determination unit 205 sets the threshold value of the degree of congestion in the vicinity of the acquired position of the monitoring target for the imaging apparatus whose provisional priority is “1”, that is, the imaging apparatus located in the vicinity of the position of the monitoring target. If it is above, the priority is left as “1”, and if the degree of congestion is less than the threshold, the priority is determined as “1.5”. That is, the priority determination unit 205 sets the priority when the degree of congestion is equal to or greater than the threshold to be higher than when the degree of congestion is less than the threshold.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of the shooting parameter table of this modification. In this shooting parameter table, “31,460,000 pixels (2048 × 1536)”, “1,920,000 pixels (1600 × 1200) are assigned priority levels“ 1 ”,“ 1.5 ”,“ 2 ”, and“ 3 ”. ) ”,“ 122.9 million pixels (1280 × 960) ”, and“ 307,000 pixels (640 × 480) ”are associated with each other. The processing determination unit 206 determines the shooting parameters using the shooting parameter table in the same manner as in the embodiment.

  In the image processing parameter table, image processing parameters may be associated with four priorities as shown in FIG. As described above, in this modified example, the priority of the vicinity of the position of the monitoring target is further changed according to the degree of congestion, so that when the image is congested, the image captured is compared with the case where it is not. The image quality can be further increased, and the amount of data processed per unit time in image processing can be further increased.

[2-9] Shooting Device In the above embodiment, the monitor terminal 10 and the fixed camera 40 are used as the shooting device for shooting the video of the monitoring area, but only one of them may be used. Even in that case, even if the target to be monitored is dynamically changed by determining the processing related to the video captured by the plurality of imaging devices according to the priority, the target of the target as in the embodiment is changed. Abnormal events that occur in the vicinity can be quickly grasped.

[2-10] Priority Priority may be expressed differently from the above examples. For example, “Lv1, Lv2,...”, “A, B, C,. In short, the priority expressed in any way may be used as long as the priority of the photographing device can be determined as high and low.

[2-11] Monitoring Area Monitor In the above-described embodiment, the monitoring staff arranged in the monitoring area is a monitoring role playing a role of monitoring in the monitoring area, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the staff other than the supervisor working in the surveillance area may be the supervisor. Specifically, for example, when a marathon venue is a monitoring area, the staff is a venue guide, a course organizer, a water supply staff, a spectator guide, etc., and when a stadium or the like is a monitoring area, In addition to security guards equivalent to the above, they are ticket sales, store clerk, and cleaning staff. Moreover, it is not limited to a human being, but may be, for example, a self-propelled robot or drone with a built-in monitoring camera, an animal (such as a dog trained like a police dog) equipped with a monitor terminal.

[2-12] Apparatus for Realizing Each Function The apparatus for realizing the functions shown in FIG. 4 and the like is not limited to the above-described apparatuses. For example, the monitoring center server device may include an input device and an output device, and each unit included in the operator terminal 30 may be realized. On the contrary, the operator terminal may realize each unit included in the monitoring center server device 20. Further, a function realized by the monitoring center server device may be realized by sharing a plurality of information processing devices. For example, the first device implements the functions from the supervisor terminal information acquisition unit 201 to the priority determination unit 205, and the second device implements the functions from the process determination unit 206 to the notification unit 210. In any case, the above-described functions may be realized by the entire apparatus included in the monitoring system.

[2-13] Automation of instruction In the embodiment, the operator using the operator terminal 30 gives an instruction to the monitoring staff. However, in the future, the work of the operator including this instruction may be automated. For example, by utilizing AI (Artificial Intelligence), a monitor closest to the information acquisition position of the case indicated by the posted information from the monitor terminal 10 is selected, and information (case) required for the selected monitor is selected. Information indicating the location of the occurrence). In this way, work that can be realized by processing based on certain rules may be automated.

[2-14] Category of Invention The present invention can be used as a monitoring system including these devices in addition to the devices such as the supervisor terminal 10, the monitoring center server device 20, the operator terminal 30, the fixed camera 40, and the accompanying terminal 50. Be captured. The present invention can also be understood as an information processing method for realizing processing performed by each device. It can also be understood as a program for causing a computer that controls each device to function. This program may be provided in the form of a recording medium such as an optical disk in which it is stored, or may be provided in the form of being downloaded to a computer via a network such as the Internet, installed and made available for use. May be.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Monitoring system, 10 ... Monitoring terminal, 20 ... Monitoring center server apparatus, 30 ... Operator terminal, 40 ... Fixed camera, 50 ... Accompanying terminal, 101 ... Positioning part, 102 ... Position information transmission part, 103 ... Shooting part , 104 ... Video transmission unit, 105 ... Shooting operation control unit, 201 ... Monitor terminal information acquisition unit, 202 ... Fixed camera information acquisition unit, 203 ... Accompanying person information acquisition unit, 204 ... Monitoring target position specifying unit, 205 ... Priority Degree determination unit, 206 ... process determination unit, 207 ... shooting instruction unit, 208 ... image processing operation control unit, 209 ... image processing unit, 210 ... notification unit, 211 ... status information acquisition unit, 212 ... congestion degree determination unit, 301 ... notification information display unit, 401 ... imaging unit, 402 ... video transmission unit, 403 ... imaging operation control unit, 501 ... positioning unit, 502 ... position information transmission unit.

Claims (8)

Obtaining means for obtaining position information of a plurality of photographing devices for photographing images of the monitoring area;
A specifying means for specifying a position in the monitoring area of the priority monitoring target that changes as the event progresses;
Determining means for determining the priority of each of the plurality of imaging devices based on the identified position of the monitoring target and the acquired positional information of the plurality of imaging devices;
A monitoring system comprising: a determining unit that determines a process related to the video according to the priority determined for the imaging device that captures the video. The process related to the video is a shooting related process related to shooting the video,
The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines a transmission data amount per unit time when the video obtained by the shooting-related processing is transmitted according to the priority. The processing related to the video is image processing for the video,
The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the image processing according to the priority. The monitoring target is a person,
The monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the specifying unit specifies a position of the monitoring target based on a position information terminal possessed by the monitoring target or a companion of the monitoring target. The monitoring target is a person,
5. The monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the specifying unit specifies the position of the monitoring target based on a position measured by a positioning unit included in a moving object that can move according to the movement of the monitoring target. system. The monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the specifying unit specifies the position of the monitoring target based on information related to the event distributed by a real-time distribution service. Comprising status acquisition means for acquiring status information indicating the progress status of the event;
The monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the specifying unit specifies a position of the monitoring target based on a progress status indicated by the acquired status information. Congestion determination means for determining the degree of congestion in the vicinity of the specified position of the monitoring target,
The determination unit determines a priority of the plurality of imaging devices based on the determined congestion level in addition to the position of the monitoring target and the position information of the plurality of imaging devices. The monitoring system according to item 1.

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