JP4703658B2 - Image storage and delivery system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a network-type image storage / delivery device, and more particularly to a network-type image storage / delivery device that performs effective display.

For example, various studies have been made on network-type image storage and delivery devices (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
The network type image storage and distribution apparatus acquires and distributes images (videos) via the network, and also acquires internal state information such as change of settings and acquisition status and distribution status via a network setting client. From the machine. When a system with a large number of connected cameras and a large number of distribution clients is assembled, a system using a plurality of network-type image storage and distribution apparatuses is operated.

JP 2003-274383 A

However, even when the internal state information is acquired via the network during the maintenance of the system as described above, the contents of any of the devices are physically viewed among a plurality of network-type image storage and distribution devices. It was difficult to figure out. In particular, conventionally, for example, there has been no display method for displaying an IP address, an image acquisition state, and a distribution state for identification on the front panel of a network type image storage and distribution device.
The present invention has been made in view of such conventional circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a network-type image storage / delivery device capable of performing effective display.

In order to achieve the above object, the network-type image storage / delivery device according to the present invention receives and distributes images via a network with the following configuration.
That is, the receiving means receives an image via a network, the storage means accumulates the image, and the distribution means distributes the image via the network. In addition, display means for displaying and outputting information is provided, and the display control means causes the display means to display and output identification information relating to the network-type image storage and delivery apparatus, information relating to image reception status, and information relating to image delivery status. .
Therefore, in the network type image storage / delivery device, it is possible to perform effective display when receiving and distributing images via the network. For example, in a situation where a plurality of network type image storage / distribution devices are provided. It is possible to improve the work efficiency of a person (user) who confirms the operation state of the network type image storage / delivery apparatus.

Here, the network-type image storage / delivery device is connected to, for example, one or a plurality of image transmission devices via a network, and receives images transmitted from the image transmission device via the network. As the image transmission device, a camera or a device equipped with a camera can be used. Further, one type of image data may be transmitted from one image transmission device, or two or more types of image data may be transmitted.
The network-type image storage / delivery device is connected to, for example, one or a plurality of image reception devices via a network, and transmits (distributes) images to the image reception device via the network. As the image receiving device, a client terminal device or the like can be used. Further, one type of image data may be transmitted to one image receiving apparatus, or two or more types of image data may be transmitted.
Further, in the network-type image storage / delivery device, for example, data other than images such as voice and text may be received, stored, and distributed.

Further, as the network, a wired network may be used, or a wireless network may be used.
Further, the storage means can be configured using, for example, a memory for storing image data.
In the network-type image storage / delivery device, for example, image data received via a network is stored by a storage unit, and image data stored in the storage unit is read and distributed as necessary.
Various display means may be used. For example, a panel or a screen can be used.

Various types of information may be used as the identification information related to the network-type image storage / distribution device. For example, identification name information or IP (Internet Protocol) address information may be used.
In addition, various types of information may be used as the information regarding the reception status of the image. For example, information regarding whether the reception status is good or bad, information regarding the presence / absence of reception, whether the reception is in a standby state, or being received Information indicating that the information is present, information determined for each mode, and the like can be used, and information regarding errors can be displayed. In addition, when receiving images of a plurality of channels, it is preferable to display information regarding the reception status of the images for each channel.
Various information may be used as the information related to the image distribution status. For example, information regarding the number of devices that are currently image distribution destinations may be used, and information regarding errors may be used. Can also be displayed.
In addition, as a mode of displaying and outputting a plurality of information on one panel or the like, for example, a mode of displaying and outputting a plurality of information collectively may be used, or by a switch operated by a person (user) A mode in which information to be displayed and output is switched may be used.

The network-type image storage / delivery apparatus according to the present invention has the following configuration as one configuration example.
That is, the image reception status determination unit determines the image reception status. The display control means causes the display means to display and output symbol information corresponding to the determination result by the image reception status determination means as information relating to the reception status of the image.
Therefore, since the information regarding the reception status of the image is displayed using symbols, for example, the information can be presented in a manner that is easy for a person (user) to grasp at a glance.

Here, various modes may be used as the mode for determining the image reception status. For example, it is determined in advance by determining whether the image reception status is good or bad using one or a plurality of threshold values. Further, it is possible to use a mode for determining which one of the plurality of reception status levels corresponds to.
Various information may be used as the symbol information. For example, information in which a different symbol is assigned to each of the plurality of reception status levels may be used.
As the symbol information, for example, it is preferable that information of a small number of symbols such as one character is used, but two or more characters may be used.

The network-type image storage / delivery apparatus according to the present invention has the following configuration as one configuration example.
That is, the setting content storage unit stores the setting content related to the network-type image storage / delivery device, and the setting content change unit is accessed from the external device via the network and received from the external device. Then, the setting content stored in the setting content storage means is changed. The display control means causes the display means to display and output information relating to the status of access from the external device.
Accordingly, information regarding the situation when the network type image storage / delivery device is accessed from an external device and the setting contents are changed is displayed. For example, in a situation where a plurality of network type image storage / delivery devices are provided, either It is possible to improve the work efficiency of a person (user) who changes the setting contents by accessing the network type image storage and distribution apparatus.

Here, various settings may be used as the setting contents related to the network-type image storage / delivery device. For example, the setting contents such as the rate and mode related to image reception, the rate and mode related to image distribution, and the access authority , Setting contents such as access authority for changing the setting contents, setting contents such as threshold values and display contents for displaying information, and the like can be used.
The setting content storage means can be configured using a memory, for example.
In addition, various devices may be used as an external device that is accessed to change the setting contents. For example, a client terminal device may be used.
Various information may be used as information regarding the status of access from an external device that changes the setting content. For example, information on the number of devices that are accessed to change the setting content Alternatively, information on the presence / absence of an accessing device can be used to change the setting contents.

The present invention can also be provided as a method, a program, a recording medium, and the like.
In the method according to the present invention, each means executes various processes in the network-type image storage / delivery device.
The program according to the present invention causes a computer constituting the network-type image storage / delivery device to execute, and realizes various functions by the computer.
In the recording medium according to the present invention, a program to be executed by a computer constituting the network-type image storage / delivery device is recorded so as to be readable by input means of the computer, and the program executes various processes on the computer. Let

  As described above, according to the network-type image storage / delivery device according to the present invention, when receiving and distributing an image via a network, the identification information about the network-type image storage / distribution device and the information about the reception status of the image In addition, since the information regarding the distribution status of the image is displayed and output, it is possible to perform highly convenient and effective display for a person (user) who performs various operations on the network image storage and distribution apparatus. it can.

An embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of an image storage / delivery system including a network-type image storage / delivery device 1 to which a display panel according to the present invention is applied.
The image storage / delivery system of this example includes an image storage / delivery server 11 having a disk device 12 for storing image (including sound) data, a network 2 such as the Internet, and an image storage / delivery server via the network 2. 11 (in this example, n) network cameras (Web encoders) A1 to An that are connected to the image storage / delivery server 11 via the network 2 (in this example, m) client terminals B1 to Bm.

In this example, an image storage / delivery server 1 and a disk device 12 in a single housing are referred to as a network-type image storage / delivery device 1.
In this example, one network type image storage / delivery device 1 is shown. However, in the image storage / distribution system of this example, a plurality of network type image storage / delivery devices 1 are provided and operated in parallel.
Further, the disk device 12 has a plurality (n in this example) of circular recording areas C1 to Cn corresponding to the channel numbers CH1 to CHn, respectively.

Each of the Web cameras A1 to An has channel numbers CH1 to CHn, compresses each frame of the captured image (video) by an image compression method such as JPEG, and compresses the compressed image data in an IP packet format. The image is transmitted to the image storage / delivery server 11.
The image storage / delivery server 11 extracts compressed image data (hereinafter referred to as image data) from each packet received from the Web cameras A1 to An via the network 2, and circulates by channel reserved in advance in the disk device 12. Recording is performed in the recording areas C1 to Cn.
Each of the client terminals B1 to Bm requests the image storage / delivery server 11 to distribute image data by designating a channel number and a frame number.
In response to a request from the client terminals B1 to Bm, the image storage and delivery server 11 reads the image data of the designated channel stored in the disk device 12, and delivers the delivery service to the requesting client terminals B1 to Bm in the IP packet format. .

In this example, there are two types of image acquisition methods from the Web cameras A1 to An by the image storage / delivery server 11: reception in the normal mode (normal mode reception) and reception in the alarm mode (alarm mode reception).
In normal mode reception, images are always acquired and recorded from the Web cameras A1 to An at a numerical frame rate given in the settings.
In the alarm mode reception, images for a certain period of time before and after the alarm signal is input to the Web cameras A1 to An are acquired and recorded at a numerical frame rate given by the setting.
As another configuration example, a mode in which normal mode reception and alarm mode reception are combined may be used. As an example, images are always acquired from the Web cameras A1 to An at a frame rate of the first numerical value that is normally given in the settings, and only when an alarm signal is input, predetermined before and after when the alarm signal is input It is possible to use a mode in which an image for a time is acquired and recorded at a second numerical frame rate (a higher rate than the first numerical frame rate).

In this example, there are two types of access methods from the client terminals B1 to Bm to the image storage / delivery server 11: viewing mode and setting change mode.
In the viewing mode, the image storage / delivery server 11 is accessed from the client terminals B1 to Bm, and the requested image data is extracted and distributed.
In the setting change mode, the setting information of the image storage / delivery server 11 is changed from the client terminals B1 to Bm.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the external appearance of the housing of the network type image storage / delivery device 1.
In this example, the housing of the network-type image storage / delivery device 1 has a display panel 21 for displaying state information on the front surface thereof.
In this example, a display panel 21 having a display space for two to three character strings is used.
The display panel 21 is not limited to the front surface of the housing, and may be provided at a place other than the front surface such as a side surface.

FIG. 3 shows a block configuration example of the image storage / delivery server 11.
The image storage / delivery server 11 of this example is used as a processor 31, a program storage memory 32 storing various programs executed by the processor 31, a buffer area for transmission / reception image frames, and a disk cache area for write / read image data. Data storage memory 33.
The image storage / delivery server 11 also displays a network interface 34 for connecting to the network 2, a disk interface 35 for connecting to the disk device 12, and a display for displaying information according to instructions from a program executed by the processor 31. A panel 21 is provided.

FIG. 4 shows an example of display information on the display panel 21 in the steady state.
In the steady state, an identification name (showing the display position in the figure) 41, an IP address (showing the display position in the figure) 42, an image receiving state (showing the display position in the figure) 43, and a client The number of accesses (indicating the display position in the figure) 44 is displayed.
The identification name 41 indicates an identification name assigned to each network-type image storage / delivery device 1, and for example, “REC001” or the like is used.
The IP address 42 indicates the IP address of the network interface 34 of the network-type image storage / delivery device 1, and for example, “192.168.1.100” is used.
The image reception state 43 indicates the state of one Web camera A1 to An, and for example, “◎◎ ○○: ◎◎◎◎: XX −−: − a @ −” is used. Here, if the characters indicating the state are continuous, it is difficult to determine the number of characters, so in this example, every four characters are separated by a “:” character.

In the image reception state 43 of this example, the first character from the left indicates the reception state from the Web camera A1 for channel 1 (CH1), and the second character from the left indicates the Web camera A2 for channel 2 (CH2). Similarly, the nth character (except for the delimiter “:”) indicates the reception state from the Web camera An for channel n (CHn).
In addition, “二 重” (double circle) indicates a frame rate that is equal to or higher than a ratio indicated by a predetermined “◎” threshold with respect to a specified value of the acquired frame rate in reception from the Web cameras A1 to An in normal mode reception. Displayed when receiving is possible.
In addition, “◯” (single circle) is equal to or higher than a ratio indicated by a predetermined “◯ ×” threshold with respect to a specified value of the acquisition frame rate in reception from the Web cameras A1 to An in normal mode reception. Displayed when reception is possible at a frame rate less than the ratio indicated by the “◎” threshold.

Further, “@” (at mark) is displayed when image data is being received from the Web cameras A1 to An in the alarm reception mode.
“A” is a channel for receiving an image from the Web cameras A1 to An in the alarm reception mode, and is displayed when no alarm is generated and no image data is received (when the alarm is on standby). .
In addition, “X” (X) is a frame rate that is less than the ratio indicated by the predetermined “X” threshold when the communication with the Web cameras A1 to An is not possible or with respect to the acquisition frame rate. Displayed when only receiving is possible.
In addition, “-” (horizontal line) is displayed when the setting of the Web cameras A1 to An to be connected to the corresponding channel is not performed (when it is not set).
Note that the delimiter “:” in the image reception state 43 is an example of a mark for facilitating determination of what character, that is, which Web camera A1 to An, as described above. Yes, as another configuration example, it is possible to use a mode in which numbers and the like corresponding to the respective Web cameras A1 to An are displayed on a symbol indicating a state.

The number of client accesses 44 indicates the number of client terminals B1 to Bm (number of clients) accessing the network type image storage / delivery device 1, and for example, “A1 U4” is used.
In this example, the number following “U” indicates the number of clients accessing in “viewing mode”. If there is no client accessing in the viewing mode, “U0” is displayed.
The number following “A” indicates the number of clients accessing in “setting change mode”. It is not displayed when there is no client accessing in the setting change mode.
As a specific example, “U1” is displayed when the setting change mode access is 0 and the viewing mode access is 1, and “A1 U0” is displayed when the setting change mode access is 1 and the viewing mode access is 0. Is displayed.
In this example, since access in the setting change mode is not normally performed, it is sufficient to display only when there are client terminals B1 to Bm accessed in the setting change mode. The configuration is not displayed when there is no client terminal B1 to Bm accessed in the setting change mode. However, as another configuration example, when there is no client terminal B1 to Bm accessed in the setting change mode, “ A0 "can also be displayed.

5 and 6 show examples of display information on the display panel 21 in an abnormal state.
FIG. 5 shows an example of the display state when the recording device (disk device 12) cannot be accessed via the disk interface 35 (mainly when the recording device fails). The fact that it is not possible is displayed as a disk access error display (showing the display position in the figure) 51 by a message “HDD ACCESS ERROR”.

Here, when the detailed information on the reason why the recording apparatus cannot be accessed can be acquired, it is preferable to describe the detailed information as the disk access error display 51.
In this example, due to the display space, the detailed information is not displayed as a character string, and a number corresponding to the predetermined detailed information is displayed after the message “HDD ACCESS ERROR”. Specifically, a number determined in advance according to the type of error is displayed on the display panel 21 of the apparatus, and the number and the type of error corresponding to each number are separately described in a manual or the like. Then, a person (user) confirms the type of error by a manual or the like based on the number displayed on the display panel 21.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a display state when the network 2 cannot be accessed via the network interface 34 (for example, when the IP address setting is wrong or the network cable is disconnected). The fact that the network 2 cannot be accessed is displayed as a network access error display (showing the display position in the figure) 61 by a message “NETWORK ERROR”.
Here, when the detailed information on the reason why the network 2 cannot be accessed can be acquired, it is preferable to describe the detailed information as the network access error display 61.
As described with reference to FIG. 5, in this example, due to the display space, detailed information is not displayed as a character string, and a number corresponding to the predetermined detailed information is displayed in the message “NETWORK ERROR”. Display later.

FIG. 7 shows an example of display information in a system in which the image storage / delivery server 11 acquires two types of data from one Web camera A1 to An.
For example, two types of data may be acquired from one Web camera A1 to An, for example, when acquiring data of different media such as acquiring image data and audio data, or with a low frame rate When acquiring data at different rates, such as acquiring normal mode data and alarm mode data at a high frame rate, or by using different encoding methods such as JPEG image data and MPEG image data. There is a case to acquire. Here, for convenience of explanation, each output data will be numbered and will be referred to as first output data and second output data.

In such a case, as in the image reception state 71 (showing the display position in the drawing) 71 shown in FIG. 7, the image reception state 71 is displayed on the display panel 21 over two lines, and each Web is displayed on the first line. The reception status of the first output data from the cameras A1 to An is described, and the reception status of the second output data from each of the web cameras A1 to An is described in the second row. Here, the reception state of each data is described using, for example, the same symbols “◎, ○, ×, −, a, @,:” as shown in FIG. 4.
In this example, when two types of data are acquired from one camera, an example in which the image reception state 71 is displayed in a two-stage configuration (first row and second row) is shown. When three or more types of data are acquired from a single camera, the image reception state can be displayed with a configuration of three or more stages.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the configuration of functional blocks related to a part that handles information output to the display panel 21 in the image storage / delivery server 11 to which the display method according to the present invention is applied.
In this example, a plurality of reception frame buffers 81 (each channel D1 to Dn) and disk write cache 83 (each channel F1 to Fn) corresponding to the number n of channels are formed in the data storage memory 33. That is, a reception frame buffer 81 and a disk write cache 83 are formed separately for channel numbers 1 to n.
In addition, a plurality of transmission frame buffers 88 (respective clients M1 to Mm) and disk read caches 87 (respective clients K1 to Km) corresponding to the number m of client terminals B1 to Bm are formed in the data storage memory 33. Is done.

The entity of the reception thread 82 (E1 to En for each channel) is a received image frame processing program prepared in the program storage memory 32. In this example, the reception thread 82 exists for each channel.
Each reception thread 82 reads information about the IP addresses and frame rates of the Web cameras A <b> 1 to An, which are information for the thread, from the setting file 92.
Each reception thread 82 requests image data from the Web cameras A1 to An corresponding to the channel number, receives the image data, and stores the image data in the disk write cache 83 corresponding to the channel number. At this time, each reception thread 82 registers the frame acquisition time and the frame rate specified in the setting file 92 in the item column of the thread in the reception state information table 93. If the access to the network 2 has failed, the error content is registered in the item column of the thread in the network access state information table 95.

The Web cameras A1 to An transmit image data in response to requests from the reception threads 82.
The image frame packet transmitted from the Web cameras A1 to An is received by the network interface 34 and input to the reception frame buffer 81 corresponding to the channel number. The image frame input to the reception frame buffer 81 is transferred to the disk write cache 83 corresponding to the channel number by the reception thread 82 corresponding to the channel number.
In this example, each disk write cache 83 corresponding to each channel is composed of a plurality of cache areas.
Each reception thread 82 packs a plurality of pieces of image data within the size of the cache area in the order of reception in one cache area. When each reception thread 82 finishes packing image data in one cache area, the subsequent reception image data is packed in another cache area. Each reception thread 82 registers the identifier of the cache area filled with image data in the write-waiting block queue 84.

  The entity of the disk writing thread 85 (L is a natural number of L <n and L threads I1 to IL) is a program for data block processing prepared in the program storage memory 32. The cache area identifier is read, and the image data in the cache area is written into the disk device 12. At this time, if the disk write thread 85 detects a disk write error, the error content is registered in the disk access status information table 96.

The substance of the distribution thread 86 (each client J1 to Jm) is a transmission data processing program prepared in the program storage memory 32.
When receiving an image frame distribution request from the client terminals B1 to Bm, the distribution thread 86 checks whether or not the request is from the client terminals B1 to Bm with the access right. The last access time of the client terminals B1 to Bm stored in the status information table 94 is updated with the current time, the requested image data is read from the disk read cache 87 or the disk device 12 in the following procedure, and the transmission frame Transfer to buffer 88.
That is, if the requested image data exists in the disk read cache 87, the image data is read from the disk read cache 87 and transferred to the transmission frame buffer 88. If the requested image data does not exist in the disk read cache 87, the image data is read from the disk device 12, transferred to the disk read cache 87, and further transferred to the transmission frame buffer 88.

The image data input to the transmission frame buffer 88 is transmitted to the network 2 via the network interface 34.
The entity of the state management thread 91 is a state information processing program prepared in the program storage memory 32.
In this example, the state management thread 91 performs display processing on the display panel 21 and timeout monitoring of the login user.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the contents of the setting file 92.
In this example, login in the viewing mode is referred to as viewing login, and login in the setting change mode is referred to as setting manager login.
The setting file 92 includes the connection Web camera information 101, the viewing login upper limit number 102, the timeout period 103, the viewing login user information 104, the setting manager information 105, the network interface IP address 106, the server identification name 107, and the “◎” threshold 108. , “○ ×” threshold 109.
The connected web camera information 101 indicates information of each of the web cameras A1 to An connected by the image storage / delivery server 11. For each web camera A1 to An, a camera number 1011, an IP address 1012, a frame rate 1013, and an acquisition mode 1014 are displayed. , With items.

The camera number 1011 is a convenient number (1 to n in this example) assigned to the connected Web cameras A1 to An, and matches the channel number recorded on the image storage / delivery server 11.
An IP address 1012 indicates the IP addresses of the Web cameras A1 to An to be connected.
The frame rate 1013 indicates information on the rate of images acquired from the Web cameras A1 to An. For example, if “30 fps” is designated in this field, the image storage / delivery server 11 acquires 30 images per second (30 frames per second) from the Web cameras A1 to An.

In this example, there are two types of values indicated by the acquisition mode 1014: “normal mode” and “alarm mode”. When this field is designated as “normal mode”, the image storage / delivery server 11 always acquires images from the Web cameras A1 to An at the frame rate specified by the frame rate 1013. When this field is designated as “alarm mode”, when alarm information is input from the Web cameras A1 to An, images are acquired from the Web cameras A1 to An.
Here, the alarm information from the Web cameras A1 to An includes the values of the acquisition rate and the number of acquisitions. When the alarm information enters the image storage and distribution server 11 from the Web cameras A1 to An, the image storage and distribution server. 11 obtains the number of images designated at the frame rate designated by the Web cameras A1 to An.

The network interface IP address 106 indicates an IP address used by the network interface 34, that is, an IP address of the image storage / delivery server 11.
The server identification name 107 indicates the identification name of the image storage / delivery server 11.
The “◎” threshold 108 indicates the threshold of “◎” and “◯” in the image reception states 43 and 71 that display the reception states from the Web cameras A1 to An. This value is a value between 0 and 1.
A “◯ ×” threshold 109 indicates a threshold of “◯” and “×” in the image reception states 43 and 71 for displaying the reception states from the respective Web cameras A1 to An. This value is a value between 0 and 1.

The viewing login upper limit number 102 indicates an upper limit value of the number of client terminals B1 to Bm connected for simultaneous viewing in the viewing mode.
The timeout period 103 indicates the timeout period of the client terminals B1 to Bm. If there is no access from the client terminals B1 to Bm during the viewing login for the time indicated by the timeout value, it is determined that the viewing has ended, and the image storage / delivery server 11 communicates with the client terminals B1 to Bm. Exit.
The viewing login user information 104 indicates a list of users who can log in to the image storage / delivery server 11. Each user has items of an account number 1041, an account name 1042, and a password 1043.
The account number 1041 is a convenient number assigned for account management. In this example, it is a serial number starting from 1 and increasing by 1.
The account name 1042 indicates an account name (user name).
A password 1043 indicates a password corresponding to the account.

The setting manager information 105 indicates a list of users who can log in to the setting manager in the setting change mode with respect to the image storage / delivery server 11. Each user has items of an account number 1051, an account name 1052, and a password 1053.
The account number 1051 is a convenient number assigned for account management. In this example, it is a serial number starting from 1 and increasing by 1.
An account name 1052 indicates an account name (user name).
A password 1053 indicates a password corresponding to the account.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the contents of the reception status information table 93.
The reception state information table 93 includes a reception state information table 111 and a frame acquisition time table array area number 112.
The reception status table 111 includes a channel number 1111, reception status information 1112, a frame acquisition time table 1113, an acquisition frame number 1114, and a frame number 1115 at the time of changing the final frame rate for each channel CH 1 to CHn.
The channel number 1111 indicates a channel number. For example, in a system configured to acquire the above-described two types of data from one Web camera A1 to An, these two types of data are recorded in separate channels.

The reception status information 1112 indicates the value of the channel reception status. In this example, there are five values: “not set”, “connection failure”, “normally receiving”, “alarm receiving”, and “alarm waiting”.
“Not set” indicates that the corresponding Web camera information of the connected Web camera information 101 is not set (for example, all IP addresses are 0 or the frame rate is 0).
“Connection failure” indicates that the Web camera A1 to An could not be accessed from the image storage / delivery server 11. This is because, for example, the Web cameras A1 to An are not turned on, or there is an error in the information of the IP address 1012 of the connected Web camera information 101.
“Normally receiving” indicates a case where the acquisition mode 1014 of the corresponding Web camera A1 to An is “normal mode” and image reception is being performed.
“Receiving alarm” indicates that the acquisition mode 1014 of the corresponding Web camera A1 to An is “alarm mode” and alarm information is received from the Web camera A1 to An and an image is being received.
“Waiting for alarm” means that the acquisition mode 1014 of the corresponding web camera A1 to An is “alarm mode” and is waiting for alarm information from the web camera A1 to An (waiting for alarm information). Indicates.

Since the frame acquisition time table 1113 holds the acquisition time of each image, the frame acquisition time table 1113 has time information 1113a and frame rate setting information 1113b as many as the values set in the frame acquisition time table array area number 112. It is. The time information 1113a holds the time when the frame is acquired, and the frame rate setting information 1113b holds the designated value of the frame rate at that time.
The acquisition frame number 1114 indicates the number of frames acquired in total for the corresponding channel.
The frame number 1115 at the time of the final frame rate change holds the acquired frame number 1114 when the frame rate designation changes in “normal mode reception”, and the acquired frame number 1114 when an alarm signal is received in “alarm mode reception”. That is, the number of the frame where recording is started by the current alarm is held.

The frame acquisition time table array area number 112 indicates the number of arrays in the frame acquisition time table 111. For example, when “8” is set as the frame acquisition time table array area number 112, if there is no change in the frame rate, it will be described later based on the acquired image information for the past 8 frames. The reception state (in this example, the ratio between the theoretical value of frame acquisition and the actual measurement value obtained in step S20 in FIG. 15) is calculated.
The value of the reception status information table 93 is updated by the reception thread 82 having the same channel number.
For example, the reception thread Ei that acquires an image from the Web camera Ai (i is a natural number greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n) indicates the current time and the current frame rate designation every time the image is acquired, in the frame acquisition time table 1113. Recorded in time information 1113a and frame rate setting information 1113b of the array [(acquired frame number 1114 of channel number i) mod (number of frame acquisition time table array area 112)], add 1 to the acquired frame number 1114 of channel number i. To do.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the contents of the distribution status information table 94.
The distribution status information table 94 includes a viewing login user information table 121, a viewing login number 122, and a setting manager login information table 123.
The viewing login user information table 121 shows information on the client terminals B1 to Bm being accessed in the viewing mode, and includes login client information 1211, login status information 1212, access right information 1213, login account name 1214, and last access time 1215. .
The login client number 1211 indicates the number of the client terminals B1 to Bm that are logging in.
The login status information 1212 has a value indicating “free” or “logged in”. “Free” indicates that the corresponding login client number 1211 is not currently accessed, and “Logged in” indicates that the corresponding login client number 1211 is being used for communication.
The access right information 1213 indicates information related to the access right, and is a value created based on the time when the user logs in. The value at non-login is 0.
The login account name 1214 indicates the account name of the logged-in user.
The last access time 1215 indicates the last access time of the logged-in user.

The viewing login number 122 indicates the number of users who are currently logged in in the viewing mode.
The setting manager login information table 123 shows information of the setting manager that is being accessed in the setting change mode, and includes login status information 1231, access right information 1232, login account name 1233, and last access time 1234.
The login status information 1231 has a value indicating “free” or “logged in”. “Free” indicates that access as a setting manager is not currently being performed, and “logged in” indicates that access as a setting manager is being performed. In this example, only one user can be accessed as a setting manager at the same time.
The access right information 1232 indicates information related to the access right, and is a value created based on the time when the user logs in. The value at non-login is 0.
The login account name 1233 indicates the account name of the logged-in user.
The last access time 1234 indicates the last access time of the setting manager user who is logging in.

FIG. 12 shows an example of the contents of the network access status information table 95.
The network status information table 95 includes a network access error table 131 and a network error occurrence count 132.
The network access error table 131 is a table having items of network error number 1311, occurrence time 1312, error type 1313, and error level 1314, and H columns.
The network error number 1311 indicates how many times the error information in this column is information on an error that has occurred.
The occurrence time 1312 indicates the occurrence time of the error.
The error type 1313 describes information indicating the type of error, such as “IP camera connection error” or “network interface error”.
The error level 1314 is a value indicating the seriousness of the error. In this example, the error level 1314 has a value indicating “stop level” or “continuation level”. The “stop level” indicates an error that causes a problem in the operation of the image storage / delivery server 11, and the “continuation level” indicates an error that has detected an error but has no problem in the operation of the image storage / delivery server 11.

The network error occurrence count 132 indicates the number of occurrences of a network error, with 0 when the server program of the image storage / delivery server 11 is started.
If the reception thread 82 or the distribution thread 86 detects an error when performing network communication, the error content is described in the [(Network error occurrence count 132) mod H] column of the network access error table 131. The network error occurrence count 132 is incremented by one. Note that H indicates the number of arrays in the network access error table 131 as shown in FIG.

Here, a specific example of an IP camera connection error detection method will be described.
When the network recorder (network type image storage / distribution apparatus 1) is connected to a plurality of IP cameras (Web cameras A1 to An) via the network 2, but an IP camera connection error is not possible to connect to a specific IP camera. Is an error. The main cause is that the power of the IP camera is not turned on or the network cable of the IP camera is disconnected. As a detection method from the program, it is possible to detect by trying to communicate with the corresponding IP camera and returning an error indicating that the IP camera cannot be connected to the IP address.
A specific example of a method for detecting a network interface error will be described.
The network interface error is an error when the network recorder (network type image storage / delivery device 1) cannot connect to the network 2. In this case, it is not possible to connect to all IP cameras (Web cameras A1 to An) and client terminals B1 to Bm from the network recorder. The main cause is that the network cable of the network recorder is disconnected, or the network interface 34 is broken for some reason, or the network settings of the network recorder are wrong. As a detection method from the program, it is possible to detect by trying to communicate to the outside via the network 2 and returning an error indicating that the network 2 cannot be used.

FIG. 13 shows an example of the contents of the disk access status information table 96.
The disk access status information table 96 includes a disk access error table 141 and a disk access error occurrence count 142.
The disk access error table 141 is a table having items of disk access error number 1411, occurrence time 1412, error type 1413, and error level 1414, and G columns.
The disk access error number 1411 indicates how many times the error information in this column is information on an error that has occurred.
The occurrence time 1412 indicates the occurrence time of the error.
The error type 1413 describes information indicating the type of error, such as “disk access error”.
The error level 1414 is a value indicating the seriousness of the error. In this example, the error level 1414 has a value indicating a “stop level” or a “continuation level”. The “stop level” indicates an error that causes a problem in the operation of the image storage / delivery server 11, and the “continuation level” indicates an error that has detected an error but has no problem in the operation of the image storage / delivery server 11.

The disk access error occurrence frequency 142 indicates the number of occurrences of a disk access error, with 0 when the server program of the image storage / delivery server 11 is started.
If the disk writing thread 85 or the distribution thread 86 detects an error when performing disk access, the error content is displayed in the [(Disk access error occurrence count 142) mod G] column of the disk access status information table 96. And the network error occurrence count 142 is incremented by one. Note that G indicates the number of arrays in the disk access error table 141 as shown in FIG.

Here, a specific example of a disk access error detection method will be shown.
The disk access error is an error when writing to the disk device 12 or reading from the disk device 12 cannot be performed. The main cause is hard disk damage. When the recording device (disk device 12) is externally connected, there may be a cause of abnormality in the connection cable. As a detection method from the program, when trying to write data to the disk device 12 or read data from the disk device 12, the writing or reading function fails, and the disk device 12 has an error. Can be detected by returning an error indicating.

Here, the access right information 1213 shown in FIG. 11 is effective when access from the client terminals B1 to Bm to the image storage / delivery server 11 is started in the viewing mode.
When starting access to the image storage / delivery server 11 from the client terminals B1 to Bm, the client terminal B1 to Bm prompts the user to enter an account name and password on the screen, and transmits this information to the image storage / delivery server 11 together with a login request. To do.
Of the client threads J1 to Jm of the distribution thread 86, the thread Ji acquires the login request, account name, and password information. The client thread Ji compares the viewing login number 122 described in the distribution status information table 94 with the viewing login upper limit number 102 described in the setting file 92, and “viewing login number 122 <viewing login upper limit number 102”. Make sure that the above conditions are met. If not satisfied, an error message indicating “crowded” is transmitted to the client terminals B1 to Bm that have requested the login, and the communication is terminated.

The client thread Ji of the distribution thread 86 checks whether the information of the account name 1042 and the password 1043 on the setting file 92 matches the transmitted information. If they do not match, an error message indicating “no authority” is transmitted to the client, and communication is terminated.
The client thread Ji searches the viewing login user information table 121 of the distribution status information table 94 and searches for a column in which the login status information 1212 indicates “free”. The field found here is the client number j field.
Next, a number indicating the access right is created from the time, and the client number and access right information are transmitted to the client terminals B1 to Bm that have made the login request together with the login success message, and the login client number in the viewing login user information table 121 is transmitted. A numerical value indicating the access right is registered in the j column of 1211, the login status information 1212 in the same column is set to “logged in”, the viewing login number 122 is incremented by one, the current time is digitized, and the value of the access right information 1213 And

Thereafter, when requesting image data to the image storage / delivery server 11 from the client terminals B1 to Bm that have logged in, the access right information 1213 obtained at the time of login is assigned to perform access. The image storage / delivery server 11 returns an “unauthorized” error to an image data request without access right information.
The access right termination process is performed when the distribution thread 86 receives a logout request from the client terminals B1 to Bm that are logged in for viewing or when there is no access for the timeout period described in the setting file 92. The access right end process is a process of setting the login state information 1212 of the corresponding client information in the distribution state information table 94 to the “free” state, a process of deleting the access right information 1213 in the same column, and the viewing login number 122 by one. It consists of processing to subtract one.

When the distribution thread 86 receives a logout request from the client terminals B1 to Bm that are logged in for viewing, the distribution thread 86 performs an access right termination process.
The state management thread 91 monitors the timeout.
The state management thread 91 periodically monitors the distribution state information table 94, compares the current time with the last access time 1215 of each of the client terminals B1 to Bm in the logged-in state, and is described in the setting file 92. If there is no access for the timeout time 103 or longer, the state management thread 91 performs an access right termination process as a timeout.

  In the above description, an operation example has been described in which the client terminal B1 to Bm logs in the viewing mode (viewing login) and logs out after necessary processing. However, the client terminal B1 to Bm logs in the setting change mode (setting management). The operation is the same when the user logs in and logs out after necessary processing. In the case of setting manager login, information in the setting manager login information table 123 of the distribution status information table 94 is used.

Next, with reference to FIG. 14, an example of the procedure of the display process on the display panel 21 that is periodically performed by the state management thread 91 every predetermined time is shown. In this example, the state management thread 91 outputs display information to the display panel 21 as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6.
First, the network interface IP address 106 is displayed on the display panel 21 at the predetermined display position 42, and the server identification name 107 is displayed at the predetermined display position 41 (step S1).
Next, conditional branching is performed (step S2). That is, the condition that the disk access error occurrence frequency 142 is 1 or more and the error level 1414 in the [(disk access error occurrence frequency 142-1) mod G] column of the disk access error table 141 is “stop level”. If it is satisfied, the error type 1413 in that column is displayed at the predetermined display position 51, and the display process is terminated (step S6). In this case, the display as shown in FIG. 5 is performed.

  On the other hand, in the conditional branch (step S2), if the condition is not satisfied, the conditional branch is performed (step S3). That is, the condition that the network access error occurrence count 132 is 1 or more and the error level 1314 in the [(Network access error occurrence count 132-1) mod H] column of the network access error table 131 is “stop level”. If it is satisfied, the error type 1313 in that column is displayed at the predetermined display position 61, and the display process is terminated (step S7). In this case, the display as shown in FIG. 6 is performed.

On the other hand, in the conditional branch (step S3), when the condition is not satisfied, the character string indicating the reception status information is generated based on the connection Web camera information 101 and the reception status information table 93, and is generated. A character string is displayed at a predetermined display position 43 (step S4).
Also, a character string indicating the distribution status is created from the number of viewing logins 122 in the distribution status information table 94 and the login status information 1231 in the setting manager login information table 123, and the created character string is displayed at a predetermined display position 44. Then, the display process is finished (step S5). In this case, the display as shown in FIG. 4 is performed.

In this example, when the error level 1414 of the disk access error table 141 or the error level 1314 of the network access error table 131 indicates “stop level”, the error is recovered from the “stop level” error. The process of changing the error levels 1414 and 1314 from the “stop level” to the “continuation level” is performed.
Accordingly, in the processing flow shown in FIG. 14, an error of “stop level” occurs when the latest error information in the error tables 141 and 131 is referred to in the conditional branch processing related to step S2 or step S3. If it is, the display as shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 will be made once, and then after returning from the error and returning to normal operation, it will be changed to “continuation level”, so the same This avoids error determination again.

Next, an example of the procedure of reception status information character string creation processing will be shown with reference to FIG. This process is a process performed in step S4 shown in FIG.
First, the channel number counter Ch is initialized to 1 (step S11).
Next, condition determination is performed (step S12). That is, when the condition “number of channels n <channel number counter Ch” is satisfied, display processing for all (n in this example) channels has been performed, and thus the display processing ends.
On the other hand, if the above condition is not satisfied, the process proceeds to the following process.

  In the next process, conditional branching is performed (step S13). That is, if the reception status information 1112_Ch (where “_Ch” indicates a line corresponding to the channel number Ch in the table, and so on) is “undefined”, the output character is set to “−”. If it is “connection failure”, “x” is set to the output character (step S15), and if “alarm waiting”, “a” is set to the output character (step S16). After the output character is set, the output character is displayed and output at a position corresponding to the channel number Ch in the display position 43 of the image reception state on the display panel 21 (step S29), and the value of Ch indicating the channel number is set to 1. Are added (step S30), and the process returns to the first condition determination process (step S12). In this example, the output character is a variable that holds one character.

When the reception status information 1112_Ch is “normally receiving” or “alarm receiving”, the value of the acquired frame number 1114_Ch is set to the variable F_now, and the variable F_cnt is set to (F_now−frame number when the final frame rate is changed). 1115_Ch) is set (step S17). Here, F_cnt represents the number of frames acquired at the current frame rate.
Next, condition determination is performed (step S18). That is, when F_cnt is equal to or larger than the value of the frame acquisition time table array area number 112, F_cnt is set as the value of the frame acquisition time table array area number 112 (step S19). Therefore, F_cnt represents the number of frames held in the frame acquisition time table 1113 among the number of frames acquired at the current frame rate.

After completion of this process (step S19) or when F_cnt is less than the value of the frame acquisition time table array area number 112 in the condition determination (step S18), the variable T_old is set to [ (F_now-F_cnt) mod Time information 1113a in the field of frame acquisition time table array area] is set, the value of (current time-T_old) is set in variable T, and each value at current frame rate is set in variable FBT. (Frame time interval value) is set, and the value of {(FBT × F_cnt) / T} is set to the variable P (step S20).
Here, T_old indicates the acquisition time of the oldest frame held in the frame acquisition time table 1113 for the frame acquired at the current frame rate. T corresponds to the difference from the time when T_old is acquired to the current time, is the actual time of frame acquisition, and indicates the actual time of acquiring the number of frames F_cnt. P indicates a ratio between a theoretical value (ideal value) of frame acquisition and an actual measurement value. The closer to 1, the closer to the ideal value, and the closer to 0, the longer the time is required than the ideal value.

Next, conditional branching is performed (step S21). That is, when the reception status information 1112_Ch is “under normal reception”, the following processing is performed.
As a conditional branch (step S22), if the value of P is less than the “○ ×” threshold 109, “×” is set to the output character (step S23), and the value of P is greater than the “○ ×” threshold 109 If “Yes” is less than the threshold 108, “○” is set to the output character (step S24), and if the value of P is equal to or higher than the “「 ”threshold 108,“ 「” is set to the output character. Set (step S25). After the output character is set, the output character is displayed and output at a position corresponding to the channel number Ch in the display position 43 of the image reception state on the display panel 21 (step S29), and the value of Ch indicating the channel number is set to 1. Are added (step S30), and the process returns to the first condition determination process (step S12).

Further, in the conditional branch (step S21) described above, when the reception state information 1112_Ch is “alarm receiving”, the following processing is performed.
As a conditional branch (step S26), if the value of P is less than the “◯ ×” threshold 109, “×” is set as the output character (step S27), and the value of P is greater than or equal to the “○ ×” threshold 109. If there is, “@” is set as the output character (step S28). After the output character is set, the output character is displayed and output at a position corresponding to the channel number Ch in the display position 43 of the image reception state on the display panel 21 (step S29), and the value of Ch indicating the channel number is set to 1. Are added (step S30), and the process returns to the first condition determination process (step S12).

Here, in the processing flow shown in FIG. 15, an example of processing when realizing the display as shown in FIG. 4 is shown. As another configuration example, when two types of data are received from one Web camera A1 to An and the reception status of the two types of data is displayed in a two-stage configuration as shown in FIG. , Which channel region and which channel region stores two types of data from the same Web camera A1 to An are managed, as shown in FIG. Process to display. Similarly, when three or more types of data are received from one Web camera A1 to An, display is performed so that the correspondence between each data and the reception state of each data is grasped.
Further, in this example, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the configuration in which the display is performed using the display panel 21 for displaying the character string is shown. However, for example, a display panel having a high display resolution is used. It is also possible to display a large amount of information in more detail.

  As described above, the network-type image storage / delivery device 1 in the image storage / delivery system of this example includes the display panel 21 capable of displaying information, and the display panel 21 has an identification name 41 and an IP address for identifying the device. 42 information, image acquisition status information (image reception status 43), and image distribution status information (client access count 44) are displayed. The image acquisition status is displayed for each channel. Further, the image acquisition status in each channel is detected based on the ratio between the set value related to image acquisition and the number of frames actually acquired, and the display symbols are changed according to the detection value. In addition, the display panel 21 is identified and displayed as being accessed with the setting change authority (setting change mode) or with the viewing authority (viewing mode).

  As described above, in the network-type image storage / delivery device 1 of this example, the network-type image storage / delivery device 1 performs the process of distributing the time-series data to a plurality of partners simultaneously with the process of accumulating a plurality of time-series data via the network 2. A display panel 21 is provided in each housing of the image storage / delivery device 1, and the identification name 41, the IP address 42, the image input state (image reception state 43) from the Web cameras A1 to An, and the client terminals B1 to Bm. By displaying the image output state (number of client accesses 44), the user can easily know the identification information and input / output state of each case.

  For example, conventionally, in a configuration in which a plurality of network-type image storage / distribution devices are installed and operated in parallel, when setting change or acquisition of status information is performed only via a network, any case ( It was difficult to determine whether the settings of the network-type image storage / distribution device) have been changed or which casing state is being used when performing maintenance in front of a plurality of casings. In this example, such a problem is solved.

  Specifically, for example, a plurality of cases of the network-type image storage / delivery device 1 as shown in FIG. 2 are provided, and how many cases have the same (or similar) appearance as these. In the case of using a configuration in which a plurality of the images are stacked, if any identification information is not displayed, it is impossible to know at all which network type image storage / delivery device 1 corresponds to each housing. However, in this example, such a problem can be solved. Further, when changing the setting of such a case (network-type image storage / delivery device 1), an IP address is required to access the case. It is preferable to display the IP address 42 on the display panel 21 of the casing.

In addition, as in this example, if the reception status is displayed to the extent that symbols such as “◎, ○, ×, @” are used, the reception status from any of the Web cameras A1 to An can be displayed without knowing the details. It is very convenient for maintenance because it is easy to see whether it is good or bad.
Further, detailed information such as the reception status (for example, information such as specific numerical values instead of “◎, ○, ×, @”, etc.) is displayed on the display panel 21 of the network-type image storage / delivery device 1. In this example, the network-type image storage / delivery device 1 is accessed separately from a maintenance terminal, not from the display panel 21 of the network-type image storage / delivery device 1. It can be confirmed as follows.
In this way, in this example, an example of the display information is shown in consideration of what is convenient to display on the display panel 21 having a limited display space. There is no particular limitation on the information displayed on the screen, and various types of information may be used.

  In the network-type image storage / delivery apparatus of this example, the image storage / delivery server 11 has a function of receiving images from the Web cameras A1 to An via the network 2, and the image storage / delivery server 11 The storage means is configured by the function of storing the received image in the disk device 12, and the image storage / delivery server 11 reads out the image stored in the disk device 12 and sends a network to the client terminals B1 to Bm that are requested. 2 is constituted by the function of transmitting via 2, the display means is constituted by the function of the display panel 21, and the display control means is constituted by the function of controlling the display output by the state management thread 91. , Image reception status by the function to determine the quality of the image reception status using the threshold Setting means is configured, and a setting content storage unit is configured by a function of storing various setting contents by the setting file 92 or the like, and a setting content changing unit is configured by a function of changing the stored setting contents. Yes.

Here, the configurations of the image storage and delivery system and the network-type image storage and delivery device according to the present invention are not necessarily limited to those described above, and various configurations may be used. The present invention can also be provided as, for example, a method or method for executing the processing according to the present invention, a program for realizing such a method or method, or a recording medium for recording the program. It is also possible to provide various devices and systems.
The application field of the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above-described fields, and the present invention can be applied to various fields.
In addition, as various processes performed in the image storage / delivery system and the network-type image storage / delivery device according to the present invention, for example, a processor is stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) in hardware resources including a processor and a memory. A configuration controlled by executing the control program may be used, and for example, each functional unit for executing the processing may be configured as an independent hardware circuit.
The present invention can also be understood as a computer-readable recording medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk or a CD (Compact Disc) -ROM storing the control program, and the program (itself). The processing according to the present invention can be performed by inputting the program from the recording medium to the computer and causing the processor to execute the program.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the image storage delivery system based on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a network type image storage delivery apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structural example of an image storage delivery server. It is a figure which shows an example of the steady display state of a display panel. It is a figure which shows an example of the hard disk error display of a display panel. It is a figure which shows an example of the network error display of a display panel. It is a figure which shows the example of a display at the time of the channel number increase of a display panel. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the program operation | movement of an image storage delivery server. It is a figure which shows an example of a setting file. It is a figure which shows an example of a reception status information table. It is a figure which shows an example of a delivery status information table. It is a figure which shows an example of a network access status information table. It is a figure which shows an example of a disk access status information table. It is a figure which shows an example of the procedure of the display process of a display panel. It is a figure which shows an example of the procedure of a reception condition information character string preparation process.

Explanation of symbols

  1. Network type image storage / delivery device, 2. Network, 11. Image storage / delivery server, 12. Disk device, A1-An ... Web camera (encoder), B1-Bm ... Client terminal, C1- Cn .. Circular recording area, 21. Display panel, 31. Processor, 32. Program storage memory, 33. Data storage memory, 34. Network interface, 35. Disk interface, 41. Identification name, 42..IP address 43, 71..Image reception status 44..Number of client accesses 51..Disk access error display 61..Network access error display 81. D1-Dn..Reception frame buffer 82 , E1 to En .. receiving thread, 83, F1 to F ..Disk write cache, 84..Waiting block queue, 85, I1 to IL ..Disk write thread, 86, J1 to Jm ..Delivery thread, 87, K1 to Km ..Disk read cache, 88, M1 Mm ... Transmission frame buffer 91 ... Status management thread 92 ... Setting file 93 ... Reception status information table 94 ... Delivery status information table 95 ... Network access status information table 96 ... Disk access Status information table 101 ··· Connection Web camera information · 102 ··· Viewing login upper limit number · ···················································································· 107 ・ ・ Sir Identification name, 108... ◎ threshold, 109 .. XX threshold, 1011 .. camera number, 1012 .. IP address, 1013 .. frame rate, 1014 .. acquisition mode, 1041, 1051 .. account number, 1042 , 1052 ··· Account name, 1043, 1053 ··· Password, 111 ··· Reception status table, 112 ·· Frame acquisition time table array area number, 1111 ··· Channel number, 1112 ··· Reception status information, 1113 ··· Frame acquisition Time table, 1113a, time information, 1113b, frame rate setting information, 1114, acquisition frame number, 1115, frame number when final frame rate is changed, 121, viewing login user information table, 122, viewing login number , 123 ... Regular administrator login information table, 1211 ··· Login client number, 1212, 1231 ··· Login status information, 1213, 1232 · · Access right information, 1214, 1233 · · Login account name, 1215, 1234 · · Last access time, 131 ··· Network access error table, 132 · · Network error occurrence count, 1311 · · Network error number, 1312, 1412 · · Time of occurrence, 1313, 1413 · · Error type, 1314, 1414 · · Error level, 141 ··· Disk access error table, 142... Disk access error occurrence frequency, 1411... Disk access error number,

Claims (3)

One or more cameras connected to a network, an image storage / delivery device that receives and stores images from the cameras via the network, and an image stored in the image storage / distribution device connected to the network In an image storage and delivery system comprising one or more terminals that request delivery via
Each of the cameras has a channel, compresses a captured image frame with a predetermined image compression method, and transmits the compressed image data in an IP packet format.
The image storage / delivery device is an image storage / delivery device that extracts compressed image data from each packet received via the network from the camera and records it in a circular recording area for each channel reserved in advance in the recording device,
The terminal specifies a channel number and a frame number and requests the image storage / delivery device to deliver image data;
In response to a request from the terminal, the image storage / delivery device reads the image data of the designated channel stored in the recording device, and distributes the image data to the requesting terminal in an IP packet format. Image storage and delivery system. The image storage and delivery system according to claim 1,
The image storage / delivery apparatus displays an image acquisition status for each channel. The image storage / delivery system according to claim 1 or 2,
Whether the image storage / distribution device is accessed in a setting change mode for changing the settings of the image storage / distribution device or access in a viewing mode for extracting image data from the image storage / distribution device with respect to access from the terminal. An image storage and delivery system characterized by identifying and displaying the image.

Images