JP5378094B2 - Mobile communication terminal - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to a technology that uses a mobile communication terminal as a drive recorder.

  A drive recorder is a device that records scenes in front of a vehicle such as an automobile, and records voices inside and outside the vehicle. By using the data recorded by the drive recorder, the cause of the traffic accident can be easily identified. By installing the drive recorder in the vehicle, there is an advantage that the driver's awareness of safe driving is improved.

  Conventionally, a commercially available drive recorder is generally of a type in which a camera and a drive recorder main body are connected via a cable. This type of drive recorder is complicated to attach to a car. Therefore, it has been studied to incorporate a drive recorder function into a portable communication terminal having a camera function (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this case, it is only necessary to fix the mobile terminal on the dashboard, so that the installation work of the drive recorder can be simplified.

  The portable terminal according to Patent Literature 1 compresses and encodes captured image data captured by a camera to generate moving image stream data. The portable terminal multiplexes the moving image stream data and the audio stream data obtained by compressing and encoding the audio data input from the microphone to generate a multiplexed stream. The multiplexed stream is transmitted to the external storage device via the communication network.

  However, the processing capability of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) mounted on a mobile terminal is significantly lower than the processing capability of a CPU mounted on a personal computer. When moving image stream data is generated from captured image data on a portable terminal, the generation time of the moving image stream data is longer than the actual shooting time. As described above, the mobile terminal cannot generate the moving image stream data in real time by encoding the captured image data output from the camera.

JP 2009-27464 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile communication terminal capable of compressing and encoding video data captured by a camera in real time.

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention

The mobile communication terminal according to the present invention is installed in a vehicle. A mobile communication terminal according to the present invention includes a camera, a photographic image generating means, a microphone, a recording means, a memory, a specifying means, and a transmitting means. The camera captures the situation outside or inside the vehicle. The photographic image generation means encodes a video signal input from the camera, and continuously generates a plurality of photographic image data for a predetermined period. Recording means, an audio signal input into the microphone or al plants constant period by encoding to generate audio data. The memory stores a plurality of photographic image data generated by the photographic image generating means and sound data generated by the recording means. The specifying unit specifies photo image data and audio data stored in a predetermined transmission target period among the plurality of photo image data and audio data stored in the memory. The transmitting unit transmits the plurality of photographic image data and audio data specified by the specifying unit.

The generation time of photographic image data is very short compared to the generation time of moving image stream data. Therefore, the mobile communication terminal according to the present invention can encode the video signal output from the camera in real time. In addition, since the sound data is generated in parallel with the generation of the plurality of photographic image data, the situation of the vehicle can be easily grasped using the photographic image data and the sound data.

Preferably, the portable communication terminal according to the present invention further comprises an acceleration measuring hand stage. The acceleration measuring means measures the acceleration of the vehicle. The specifying means uses a time at which the acceleration measuring means has measured an acceleration equal to or greater than a predetermined value as a reference time, and a time between a time that has passed a predetermined prior target time from the reference time and a time that has passed the predetermined posterior target time from the reference time. Is set as the transmission target period .

  The mobile communication terminal according to the present invention sets the transmission target period based on the time when the acceleration detecting means detects the acceleration equal to or higher than the predetermined value, and specifies the data to be transmitted. As a result, it is possible to easily confirm the state of the vehicle at the time when the traffic accident or the like occurs.

It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile communication terminal by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the attachment state of a portable communication terminal. 6 is a time chart showing image generation timing and recording timing. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement after starting operation | movement as a drive recorder until it complete | finishes. It is a flowchart of an imaging process. It is a flowchart of a recording process. It is a figure which shows the correspondence of transmission object data and the time which detected the acceleration beyond a predetermined value. It is a flowchart of a transmission determination process.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will not be repeated.

{Configuration of mobile communication terminal 1}
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a mobile communication terminal 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The mobile communication terminal 1 is a mobile phone incorporating a drive recorder function. The mobile communication terminal 1 is installed in a vehicle such as an automobile, and records an image of a scenery in front of the vehicle and an audio inside and outside the vehicle. Hereinafter, a case where the mobile communication terminal 1 is installed in a vehicle will be described.

  The mobile communication terminal 1 generates a plurality of photographic image data 41 per second from a video in front of the vehicle. The mobile communication terminal 1 repeatedly generates audio data 42 with a recording time of 1 second. The plurality of photographic image data 41, 41... And the plurality of audio data 42, 42. The combined data 43 is transmitted to the management server 3 via the network 2. The management server 3 stores the combined data 43 received from the mobile communication terminal 1 in the memory 31.

  When the vehicle is involved in a traffic accident, there is a high possibility that a large acceleration occurs in the mobile communication terminal 1. Therefore, when the mobile communication terminal 1 detects an acceleration equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the mobile communication terminal 1 generates the combined data 43 and transmits it to the management server 3. Thereby, the manager of the vehicle can specify the cause of the traffic accident and the like using the combined data 43 transmitted to the management server 3.

  The configuration of the mobile communication terminal 1 will be described. The mobile communication terminal 1 includes a controller 101, a camera 102, an image encoder 103, a monitor 104, a microphone 105, an audio encoder 106, a memory 107, an acceleration sensor 108, and a transmission instruction program 109. A program 110, a mailer 111, operation keys 112, and a communication controller 113 are provided.

  The controller 101 includes a CPU, a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and controls each component of the mobile communication terminal 1.

  The camera 102 photographs a subject. Specifically, the camera 102 captures a scene in front of the automobile as a subject and outputs a video signal. The image encoder 103 encodes the video signal input from the camera 102 and generates a plurality of photographic image data 41, 41... Per second. The monitor 104 is a liquid crystal display or the like, and displays an image captured by the camera 102.

  The microphone 105 inputs sound inside and outside the vehicle and outputs a sound signal. The audio encoder 106 continuously generates audio data 42 by encoding an audio signal input from the microphone 105 for one second.

  The memory 107 is a flash memory or the like. The memory 107 stores a plurality of photographic image data 41, 41... Generated by the image encoder 103 and audio data 42 generated by the audio encoder 106.

  The acceleration sensor 108 measures the acceleration of the mobile communication terminal 1. That is, the acceleration sensor 108 detects the acceleration of the vehicle to which the mobile communication terminal 1 is attached.

  The transmission instruction program 109 executes a transmission determination process for determining whether or not to transmit the data stored in the memory 107 to the management server 3. The transmission instruction program 109 uses a time when the acceleration sensor 108 detects an acceleration equal to or higher than a predetermined value as a reference time, a time that goes back a predetermined prior target time from the reference time, and a time that passes a predetermined posterior target time from the reference time The period between is set as the transmission target period. The transmission instruction program 109 specifies data generated during the transmission target period among the data stored in the memory 107 as transmission target data to be transmitted to the management server 3.

  The combining program 110 generates combined data 43 in which the transmission target data specified by the transmission instruction program 109 is combined. The mailer 111 transmits a mail with the combined data 43 attached thereto to the management server 3 designated as a transmission destination in advance.

  The operation key 112 receives an operation from the driver of the vehicle. The communication controller 113 controls communication using a mobile communication network.

{Attached state of mobile communication terminal 1}
Next, the attachment state of the mobile communication terminal 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the mobile communication terminal 1 is attached to the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile communication terminal 1 is attached to a cradle 52 fixed on a dashboard 51. The cradle 52 is fixed at a position where the mobile communication terminal 1 and the cradle 52 do not hinder the driver's view.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the camera 102 and the monitor 104 are attached to positions on the opposite sides of the housing 10 of the mobile communication terminal 1. An image captured by the camera 102 is displayed on the monitor 104. Thereby, the driver can easily confirm that the mobile communication terminal 1 functions as a drive recorder while sitting on the seat 53. As long as the mobile communication terminal 1 can change the orientation of the camera 102, the attachment position of the camera 102 may not be the opposite side of the monitor 104.

  When the mobile communication terminal 1 is installed in a taxi or the like, the mobile communication terminal 1 may be installed in the vehicle. If the mobile communication terminal 1 is installed in the vehicle, the camera 102 and the monitor 104 may be attached to the same surface of the housing 10. Thereby, since the portable communication terminal 1 can image | photograph the condition in a vehicle, the effect of crime prevention can be anticipated.

{Overview of shooting process and recording process}
An outline of the photographing process for generating the photographic image data 41 and the recording process for generating the audio data 42 will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a time chart showing processing timings of the image encoder 103 and the audio encoder 106. “Encoding” shown in FIG. 3 indicates compression encoding processing of a video signal or an audio signal. “Save” refers to a process for saving data generated by compression encoding.

  By the operation of the driver, the mobile communication terminal 1 starts photographing processing and recording processing from time Ta.

  First, the photographing process will be described. The image encoder 103 acquires a video signal from the camera 102 at time Ta. The image encoder 103 generates photographic image data 41a by starting compression encoding of the acquired video signal from time Ta. The compression encoding of the video signal is performed based on the JPEG format, for example. The compression encoding of the video signal ends at time Tb. For example, the photographic image data 41a is associated with the video signal acquisition time Ta by adding information indicating the time Ta to the file name of the photographic image data 41a. The image encoder 103 starts writing the photographic image data 41a to the memory 107 from time Tb.

  The image encoder 103 newly acquires a video signal at time Tb when the encoding of the photographic image data 41a is completed. The image encoder 103 starts compression encoding of the newly acquired video signal from time Tb, and generates photographic image data 41b. As a result, the storage process of the photographic image data 41a and the compression encoding process of the newly acquired video signal are executed in parallel from time Tb to Tb1. When the compression encoding is completed at time Tc, the image encoder 103 starts the processing for saving the photographic image data 41b and the compression encoding processing of the video signal from time Tc.

  In the following, photographic image data 41c, 41d, 41e, 41f,... Are sequentially generated by repeating the process of acquiring the video signal, the compression encoding process, and the storage process.

  The load applied to the CPU of the controller 101 by the compression encoding process based on the JPEG format is very small compared to the moving image stream data generation process. The time required to generate and store one photographic image data 41 is about several tens of milliseconds to several hundreds of milliseconds. Therefore, the image encoder 103 can generate a plurality of photographic image data 41, 41... Per second.

  In FIG. 3, five photographic image data 41 are generated in one second from time Ta to Tg. However, the number of photographic image data 41 generated per second varies depending on the processing capability of the CPU provided in the controller 101 and processing executed in parallel (processing for generating combined data 43 to be described later).

  The user (vehicle manager) of the management server 3 continuously displays the photographic image data 41 in the order of the time (shooting time) when the video signal was acquired in order to generate the photographic image data 41. 41 can be viewed as if watching a moving image.

  Next, generation of the audio data 42 will be described. The recording process for generating the audio data 42 is executed in parallel with the photographing process, as shown in FIG. The audio encoder 106 starts to acquire the audio signal input from the microphone 105 at time Ta. At the time Tg when 1 second has elapsed from the time Ta, the audio encoder 106 stops the acquisition of the audio signal.

  The audio encoder 106 compresses and encodes the audio signal acquired during the time Ta to Tg based on, for example, the OGG format to generate the audio data 42. After the generation of the audio data 42 is finished, the audio encoder 106 stores the audio data 42 in the memory 107 in association with the time Ta when the audio data 42 was recorded, as with the image encoder 103.

  At the time Th when the storage of the audio data 42 is completed, the audio encoder 106 newly starts acquiring an audio signal. As described above, the audio encoder 106 repeats the process of acquiring the audio signal for 1 second and the process of generating and storing the audio data 42.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the audio encoder 106 does not acquire an audio signal during a period from time Tg to Th when the audio data 42 is generated and stored. That is, the mobile communication terminal 1 does not perform recording during the period from time Tg to Th. However, the period from time Tg to Th is a very short time of about several hundred milliseconds. Therefore, even if the audio data 42 is continuously reproduced in the order of the acquisition start time of the audio time, the traveling state of the vehicle can be sufficiently grasped.

  If the CPU 101 provided in the controller 101 has sufficient processing capacity, the mobile communication terminal 1 may execute the compression encoding of the audio signal and the acquisition of the audio signal in parallel. In the example shown in FIG. 3, acquisition of a new audio signal is started at time Tg. As a result, it is possible to prevent a period during which recording is not performed.

{Operation flow as drive recorder}
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation flow from when the mobile communication terminal 1 starts operating as a drive recorder to when it ends. The process shown in FIG. 4 is started when the driver operates the operation key 112 to instruct activation of the camera 102.

  First, the camera 102 is activated according to the driver's operation (step S1). The video signal output from the activated camera 102 is input to the monitor 104 (step S2). A scene in front of the vehicle is displayed on the monitor 104.

  When the driver operates the operation key 112 to turn on the drive recorder function (Yes in step S3), the transmission instruction program 109 starts transmission determination processing (step S4). Details of the transmission determination process will be described later. The photographing process (step S5) and the recording process (step S6) are executed in parallel. As a result, a video ahead of the vehicle is recorded as photographic image data 41. Voices inside and outside the vehicle are recorded as voice data 42. Although not shown in FIG. 4, the transmission determination process is executed in parallel with the photographing process (step S5) and the recording process (step S6).

  When the driver operates the operation key 112 to instruct to turn off the drive recorder function (Yes in Step S7), the controller 101 instructs the end of the photographing process, the recording process, and the transmission determination process (Step S8). Thereby, the process shown in FIG. 4 is completed.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the photographing process (step S5). First, the image encoder 103 executes shooting initialization processing (step S51). The imaging initialization process is a process for securing a storage area in the memory 107 necessary for storing one photographic image data 41. When the memory area necessary for storing one photographic image data 41 does not exist in the memory 107, the photographic image data 41 having the oldest shooting time is deleted from the memory 107.

  The image encoder 103 compresses and encodes the video signal to generate photographic image data 41 (step S52). The photograph image data 41 is stored in the memory 107 after being given a file name indicating the photographing time (step S53). For example, when the shooting time is July 28, 2009, 16: 23: 54.491 seconds, the file name of the photo image data 41 is “2009 — 0728 — 1623 — 54491.jpg”.

  The image encoder 103 returns to the process of step S51 if the end of shooting is not instructed (No in step S54). Thereby, the process of generating the photographic image data 41 is repeatedly executed. On the other hand, if the end of shooting is instructed (Yes in step S54), the image encoder 103 ends the process shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the recording process (step S6). First, the audio encoder 106 executes a recording initialization process (step S61). The recording initialization process is a process of securing a memory area necessary for storing one audio data 42 in the memory 107, as in the imaging initialization process (step S51). If there is no storage area necessary for storing one audio data 42 in the memory 107, the audio data 42 with the oldest recording start time is deleted from the memory 107.

  The audio encoder 106 starts acquiring an audio signal (step S62). When 1 second has elapsed from the start of acquisition of the audio signal (Yes in step S63), the audio encoder 106 stops acquiring the audio signal, and compresses and encodes the acquired audio signal to generate audio data 42 (step). S64). The audio data 42 is given a file name indicating the recording start time in the same manner as the photographic image data 41, and is stored in the memory 107 (step S65).

  If the end of recording is not instructed (No in step S66), the audio encoder 106 returns to the process of step S61. Thereby, the process which produces | generates the audio | voice data 42 is performed repeatedly. On the other hand, if the end of recording is instructed (Yes in step S66), the audio encoder 106 ends the process shown in FIG.

{Transmission judgment processing}
As described above, the mobile communication terminal 1 starts the transmission determination process when the drive recorder function is turned on (step S4, see FIG. 4). In the transmission determination process, the transmission target data is transmitted to the management server 3 when the acceleration sensor 108 detects an acceleration equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

  First, identification of transmission target data will be described. Generally, if a video for 25 seconds is recorded centering on the time when a traffic accident occurred, it is said that the cause of the traffic accident can be easily identified. Therefore, the mobile communication terminal 1 uses the photographic image data 41 and the audio data 42 recorded for a period of 25 seconds centered on the time when the acceleration sensor 108 outputs an acceleration equal to or higher than a predetermined value (hereinafter referred to as “reference time”). Are identified as transmission target data. Whether the photographic image data 41 and the audio data 42 are included in the transmission target data is determined based on the shooting time of the photographic image data 41 and the recording start time of the audio data 42.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between transmission target data and a reference time. During the period shown in FIG. 7, the photographic image data 41 and the audio data 42 are generated continuously.

  Assume that the acceleration sensor 108 detects an acceleration equal to or greater than a predetermined value at 13:45:17 (reference time). The transmission instruction program 109 specifies the transmission target data at the transmission instruction time (13: 45: 29.5 seconds) after the standby time (12.5 seconds) has elapsed from the reference time.

  The transmission instruction program 109 transmits data recorded in a period between the transmission instruction time and the time (13: 45: 4.5 seconds) before the transmission target time (25 seconds) from the transmission instruction time. As specified. That is, the transmission target data is data generated in a period between a time that goes back 12.5 seconds (pre-target time) from the reference time and a time that has passed 12.5 seconds (post-target time) from the reference time. It is.

  The standby time and the transmission target time are set in advance in the transmission instruction program 109, and the length of these times can be changed. Depending on the change in the waiting time and the transmission target time, the lengths of the prior target time and the subsequent target time are also changed.

  When the generation frequency of the photographic image data 41 is about 5 per second, about 125 photographic image data 41 are specified as transmission target data. Since the voice recording period is 1 second, about 25 pieces of voice data 42 are specified as transmission target data.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of the transmission determination process. The transmission determination process is started according to the process in step S4 (see FIG. 4). In parallel with the transmission determination process, a photographing process (step S5) and a recording process (step S6) are performed.

  The transmission instruction program 109 monitors the acceleration output from the acceleration sensor 108 (step S81). When an acceleration greater than or equal to a predetermined value is detected (Yes in step S81), the transmission instruction program 109 determines that a traffic accident involving the vehicle in which the mobile communication terminal 1 is installed has occurred. The transmission instruction program 109 starts measuring the standby time (12.5 seconds) with reference to the reference time.

  When the standby time has elapsed from the reference time (Yes in step S82), the transmission instruction program 109 specifies transmission target data from the photo image data 41 and the audio data 42 stored in the memory 107 (step S83). . The flow of specifying the transmission target data is as described above.

  If the end of determination is not instructed (No in step S84), the transmission instruction program 109 returns to the process in step S81. Thereby, the transmission determination process is continued. On the other hand, if the end of determination is instructed (Yes in step S84), the transmission instruction program 109 ends the process shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the mobile communication terminal 1 after the transmission instruction program 109 specifies transmission target data will be described. The combining program 110 generates combined data 43 by combining the transmission target data into one. The combined program 110 may further compress the combined data 43 if the CPU 101 provided in the controller 101 has a sufficient processing capacity. The combined data 43 is stored in the memory 107.

  The mailer 111 creates an e-mail with the combined data 43 stored in the memory 107 as an attached file. In the mailer 111, the mail address of the management server 3 is set as the transmission destination of the combined data 43. The mailer 111 transmits an e-mail attached with the combined data 43 with the destination being the management server 3.

  The management server 3 extracts the combined data 43 from the received electronic mail and stores it in the memory 31. The manager of the vehicle can use the photograph image data 41 and the sound data 42 by releasing the combination of the combination data 43.

  Thus, the mobile communication terminal 1 specifies the transmission target data based on the reference time, instead of using all the photographic image data 41 and the audio data 42 stored in the memory 107 as the transmission target data. Since the data size of the combined data 43 can be reduced, it is possible to prevent the communication band between the mobile communication terminal 1 and the management server 3 from being compressed.

  As described above, the mobile communication terminal 1 according to the present embodiment does not generate moving image stream data from the video signal output from the camera 102, but a plurality of photographic image data 41, 41,. Generate The mobile communication terminal 1 can generate the photographic image data 41 within several hundred milliseconds even when the processing capability of the CPU is low. Therefore, it is possible to save the video captured by the camera 102 in real time.

{Modifications}
In the present embodiment, the example in which the combination data 43 is transmitted when an acceleration greater than or equal to a predetermined value is output from the acceleration sensor 108 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead of the acceleration sensor 108, the transmission instruction program 109 may include a program that instructs the transmission instruction program 109 to specify transmission target data every time a preset set time (for example, one hour) elapses. In the mobile communication terminal 1, the combined data 43 is periodically generated and transmitted to the management server 3. The manager of the vehicle can easily create digest data in which the traveling state of the vehicle is recorded by using the combined data 43 that is periodically transmitted.

  In this case, the transmission instruction program 109 may use the timing when the set time has elapsed as the transmission instruction time. That is, the transmission instruction program 109 does not have to measure the standby time. Alternatively, the transmission instruction program 109 may specify the photographic image data 41 and the audio data 42 newly created within a predetermined time from the timing when the set time has elapsed as transmission target data.

  The mobile communication terminal 1 may include a program that instructs the transmission instruction program 109 to specify transmission target data when the management server 3 requests transmission of the combined data 43 instead of the acceleration sensor 108. Specifically, the telephone number of the management server 3 is registered in advance in the mobile communication terminal 1. The transmission instruction program 109 specifies data to be transmitted every time there is an incoming call from the management server 3. Accordingly, since the combined data 43 is transmitted to the management server 3 regardless of the driver's intention, it is possible to create the same situation in which the traveling state of the vehicle is always managed. Since it is thought that the driver will always try to drive safely, traffic accidents can be prevented.

  Although the acceleration sensor 108 has been described with respect to an example in which the mobile communication terminal 1 continuously outputs acceleration while operating as a drive recorder, the present invention is not limited thereto. The driver may be able to set on / off of the acceleration sensor 108. When a vehicle travels on a mountain road with continuous sharp curves, a gravel road, or the like, the frequency of detecting an acceleration exceeding a predetermined value increases. When traveling on such a road, the number of transmissions of the combined data 43 increases even though no traffic accident has occurred. When the driver switches the acceleration sensor 108 on and off according to the road conditions, it is possible to prevent erroneous determination of a traffic accident.

  The mobile communication terminal 1 may include a geomagnetic sensor instead of the acceleration sensor 108. In this case, the mobile communication terminal 1 needs to include an acceleration calculation program for calculating the acceleration of the mobile communication terminal 1 using information output from the geomagnetic sensor.

  While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-described embodiments are merely examples for carrying out the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented by appropriately modifying the above-described embodiment without departing from the spirit thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mobile communication terminal 101 Controller 102 Camera 103 Image encoder 104 Monitor 105 Microphone 106 Audio encoder 107 Memory 108 Acceleration sensor 109 Transmission instruction program 110 Combined program 111 Mailer 41, 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e Photo image data 42 Audio Data 43 Combined data

Claims (2)

A mobile communication terminal installed in a vehicle,
A camera for photographing the situation outside or inside the vehicle;
It encodes the video signal input from the camera, and photographic image generating means for continuously generating a plurality of photographic image data per a predetermined period of time predetermined,
With a microphone,
The audio signal inputted to the prior Kisho constant period from the microphone is encoded, a recording means for generating audio data,
A memory for storing a plurality of photographic image data generated by the photographic image generating means and sound data generated by the recording means;
A specifying means for specifying photo image data and audio data stored in a predetermined transmission target period among the plurality of photo image data and audio data stored in the memory;
A portable communication terminal comprising: transmission means for transmitting photographic image data and audio data specified by the specifying means. The mobile communication terminal according to claim 1, further comprising:
An acceleration measuring means for measuring the acceleration of the vehicle;
The specifying means uses a time at which the acceleration measuring means has measured an acceleration equal to or greater than a predetermined value as a reference time, and passes a predetermined advance target time from the reference time and a predetermined posterior target time from the reference time. A mobile communication terminal that sets a period between times as the transmission target period.

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