JPH09172504A - Supervisory camera system using personal handy phone system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a fault due to disconnection and to detect occurrence of an abnormality early as possible. SOLUTION: A radio telephone terminal 10 consisting of a camera section 12 and a portable telephone set 11 execute processing such as system check while awaiting as incoming call or transfer of image data resulting from picking up an image or the like, a service control station 40 having a radio base station 20 calls a set radio telephone terminal equipment 10 and executes emergency processing such as emergency contact or urgent visit to a site when no reply is obtained. Furthermore, the control station 40 executes monitor processing such as a prescribed of system check data, transfer of image data or supervision of the image data or the like when the terminal equipment 10 makes a reply. Thus, the disruption of supervision due to a broken cable is not caused which is different from a wired system, and when supervision is disrupted, since the terminal equipment cannot reply a call, the occurrence of a fault is surely detected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surveillance camera system using a simple portable telephone system in which a service control station and a radio telephone terminal constantly respond by a control signal via a radio base station.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional surveillance camera system, a surveillance camera is installed at a place to be monitored, a monitor is installed at a place where a person is to be monitored, and a cable is laid between them. That is, a cable is laid and the image is monitored at a place different from the place where the surveillance camera is installed.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional surveillance camera system, since the surveillance camera is connected via a cable, if an intruder cuts the cable, an image cannot be obtained. Has a problem that it cannot detect abnormalities such as cable disconnection. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a surveillance camera system capable of preventing a failure due to a disconnection or the like and quickly detecting the occurrence of an abnormality.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a simplified type in which a service control station and a radiotelephone terminal constantly make a response by a control signal via a radio base station. A monitoring camera system using a mobile phone system, wherein the wireless telephone terminal includes a monitoring camera and image data transmitting means for capturing image data from the monitoring camera and transferring the image data. Terminal calling means for calling a radiotelephone terminal via a radio base station; unanswered processing means for performing a predetermined unanswered processing when the wireless telephone terminal is unanswered by calling by the terminal calling means; A response processing means for performing a predetermined response process when the wireless telephone terminal responds is provided.

[0005]

In the invention according to claim 1 configured as described above, the terminal calling means of the service control station calls the radiotelephone terminal via the radio base station, and when the radiotelephone terminal has not responded, it does not respond. The processing means performs predetermined processing such as emergency contact. On the other hand, if the wireless telephone terminal responds, the image data transmitting means of the wireless telephone terminal captures the image data from the surveillance camera and transfers it according to the setting, and the response processing means receives the transferred image data and transfers it. Perform predetermined processing.

[0006] Here, the call of the radio telephone terminal can be made as a call of a general telephone call, or only a response of a control signal using a control channel may be used. If the call is made in response to the control signal, the channel for communication is not required. Further, when there is a response, it may be possible to confirm whether or not the image data is transmitted / received, depending on the setting, and to confirm that the image data can be transmitted.

[0007]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the radio telephone terminal is called and monitored depending on the presence or absence of a response, the failure due to the disconnection of the cable as in the case of the wired line is prevented. It is possible to provide a surveillance camera system capable of immediately determining an abnormality if the wireless telephone terminal does not respond.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a wireless telephone terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the entire system. In the figure,
The radio telephone terminals 10 are radio base stations 2 that are scattered and arranged.
0, and the wireless base station 20 is connected to the service control station 40 via the commercial digital communication network 30. Further, the service control station 40 is connected to the security company 50 and the client 60 via the commercial digital communication network 30. In the present embodiment, the security company 50 and the client 60 are assumed to be fixed telephone terminals connected to the commercial digital communication network 30, but it is sufficient that they can be contacted in some way, and the wireless telephone terminal 70 may be used. ,
Alternatively, any device capable of communicating with the wireless telephone terminal 10, such as a fixed telephone terminal having an analog line connected through the digital network / analog network switching device 80, may be used.

The radiotelephone terminal 10 comprises a mobile phone 11 and a camera section 12 connected to the mobile phone 11 in order to receive an instruction when an incoming call is received and transfer image data from a surveillance camera. The mobile phone 11 is a so-called PHS
It is a digital radio telephone adopting the TDMA / TDD system, which has a transmission capacity of 32 kilobits / second, and constantly transmits a control signal to the service control station 40 for updating position information. Sending and receiving. The camera unit 12 includes a CCD image pickup device and is connected to the digital input terminal of the mobile phone 11. The mobile phone 11 and the camera unit 12 are installed in places where monitoring is required.

In the present embodiment, the mobile phone 11 and the camera unit 12 are separately configured so that the existing hardware can be used easily, but an integrated video phone type is used. It is also possible to provide a bracket for facilitating installation at a surveillance place. Further, the lens may be fixed or replaceable. In this case, a wide angle can be set so that a wide range can be photographed, and a telephoto can be set so that a predetermined portion can be photographed up. It may also have zoom, tilt, and pan functions.

For long-term monitoring, a built-in battery can be sequentially charged by connecting to a commercial power source.
Further, in a place where it is difficult to wire a commercial power source, it is possible to connect the solar cell panel 13 as shown in FIG. 3 and charge the solar cell panel 13 during the daytime. It is preferable to have a charging function, but it is not always necessary when it is assumed that the battery is operated only in a bright state. In this mobile phone 11, terminal side control is performed by software corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. First, the use mode of the mobile phone 11 can be set, and the mode setting is selected within a predetermined function setting, and as shown in FIG. 4, it is used as a normal phone or as a surveillance camera in step 110. Or select. In the normal telephone mode, normal incoming and outgoing calls are made, and in the surveillance camera mode, the standby process and the image transmission process shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are executed. That is, in the standby process, step 12
At 0, the presence or absence of an incoming call is constantly monitored. If an incoming call is received, it is determined at step 121 whether image data is requested as a response process or simply a system check is requested. If so, the process branches to a subroutine for image transmission in step 122. Regarding the response process, it is also important to transfer the monitoring image, but whether or not the response is successful is also an important factor. In step 218 of the data setting on the service control station 40 side, the image data request is made as a check option. Either system check or system check is selected.

In the branched image transmission process, step 13
At 0, the camera unit 12 is caused to shoot a monitoring image, and at step 132, image data is transmitted from the mobile phone 11. When the transmission of the image data is completed, the image transmission process is terminated and the process returns to the standby process. After the on-hook in step 124 to disconnect the line, the process returns to the incoming call standby state in step 120. On the other hand, if the request is a system check request, a system check is made in step 126 as to whether the mobile phone 11 is operating normally, and the system check data is transmitted.

In the present embodiment, the user sets the mode of the mobile phone 11. However, for example, when the camera unit 12 is connected, it is automatically controlled to be in the surveillance camera mode. Is also possible. Further, it is possible not only to take an image when an incoming call is received, but also to take an image at regular intervals and collectively send the incoming call. Further, a sensor for detecting an intruder may be arranged, and when the sensor is activated, the photographing interval may be shortened so that a plurality of images are photographed and transmitted. Further, the selection of image data request or system check may be set on the wireless telephone terminal 10 side.

On the other hand, the service control station 40 performs data setting processing and monitoring processing corresponding to the flow charts shown in FIGS.
If the wireless telephone terminal 10 that has called does not respond, emergency contact is made, and when the wireless telephone terminal 10 responds, system check data is received, and image data to be transferred is received and transferred or saved. The process of is executed. In order to call the wireless telephone terminal 10, it is necessary to set data in advance. In the data setting, in addition to the check option in step 218 described above, the telephone number of the camera terminal, which is the wireless telephone terminal 10 to be called in step 210, is set, and in step 212, the emergency contact if no response is set. In step 214, the transfer destination of the image data is set. The telephone numbers of the wireless telephone terminal to be called, the emergency contact, and the transfer destination are basically indispensable, but the emergency contact and the transfer destination may be the same.

In step 216, options for transferring the same image data are set. In the present embodiment, for example, a sequential transfer option of transferring image data each time it is received and a batch transfer option of transferring image data collectively at a predetermined time can be selected. The transfer method can be appropriately changed by further combining these and transferring the images continuously when the intruder is detected by the sensor on the wireless telephone terminal 10 side as described above.

With the telephone number of the radio telephone terminal to be called in this way set, the service control station 40 selects the telephone number of the camera terminal in step 220 and calls in step 222. When selecting the telephone number of the camera terminal, the telephone numbers may be selected in order as in the list or may be selected randomly. It is also possible to set the required frequency and change the selection frequency. Regarding the call to the wireless telephone terminal 10, the call is made like a normal call. However, if only the system check is requested by the check option, the control signal that is constantly transmitted and received is used to call only the control channel without using the call channel. A check may be requested.

In the case of an ordinary wireless or wireless telephone system, the number of channels available for communication is fixed. Therefore, if all the call channels are used at a certain time, the call cannot be made even if the intention of the call is a system check. If such a situation occurs, the reliability of the surveillance system will be deteriorated. However, in the case of the simple mobile phone system, the control channel can always be used even if all the call channels are used. Therefore, the system check can always be performed at the same frequency, and the reliability of the system can be improved.

When a call is made, the processing differs depending on the response from the radio telephone terminal 10 depending on whether the call has not been made or not. Whether or not the call has not been answered is determined in step 224 by determining whether or not there is a response, and in step 226 whether or not a designated time or more has elapsed since the call was started. As described above, the wireless telephone terminal 10 waits for an incoming call and waits for the image data to be transferred. Therefore, if the system is normal, the incoming call comes within a predetermined time. Therefore, if there is no incoming call within the designated time after receiving the call, it is possible that a failure or an intruder has broken the surveillance camera.
Will automatically contact the emergency contact. This emergency contact was recorded in the data setting process, but the security company 5
It is 0 or the requester 60. For contact information,
It may change depending on the time of day, both parties may be called, or the police may be contacted. Such processing corresponds to the non-response processing.

On the other hand, if a response is received, step 229
Then, it is determined whether the image data request or the system check request is made, and the command command corresponding to each is transmitted to the wireless telephone terminal 10. In this case, the service control station side transmits the command command. However, when the service control station 40 sets the call command as described above, when the service control station 40 performs call processing, The data automatically transmitted from the side may be judged and the branch processing may be performed in step 229.

When requesting the image data, the image data taken by the camera unit 12 is transmitted from the wireless telephone terminal 10, and therefore the processing of this image data is determined. That is, it is determined whether the sequential transfer option or the batch transfer option is selected in the data setting. If the batch transfer option is set, step 23
In 2 receive and save for the time being. Then, in step 234, it is determined whether or not it is the timing for batch transfer.
For example, in the case of transferring every five times, it is judged that it is not the transfer timing from the first time to the fourth time, and this monitoring process is ended. However, if it is the fifth time, step 23
Call the transfer destination at 6. This transfer destination is set by the above-mentioned data setting. If connection is possible within a predetermined time (step 238), transfer is performed at step 240, and if connection is not possible within a predetermined time (step 2).
38), in step 242, it is saved as an error image. Various methods can be considered for processing the stored error image, but a hard copy may be transferred by another means such as a fax, or the operator may be prompted to contact by another means. In this case, the emergency contact may be contacted. In the present embodiment, the transfer is performed every fifth time, but the image data may be compared, and if there is a change, the transfer may be performed regardless of the transfer timing. In addition, since the communication amount is usually small at night, image data may be frequently sent at night. This is because there is a great demand for night surveillance,
It will be extremely convenient.

When the sequential transfer option is set, the same processing as that of step 236 and thereafter is performed, the transfer destination is called every time, and the received image is transferred without being saved. Whether or not to save the received image can be appropriately changed according to the situation of the system, and the image data may be received and saved, and the saved data may be transferred. In this case, for example, the image data of the past five times may be stored in the service control station 40.

On the other hand, in the case of the system check, the system is not judged to be normal only by the response, but in step 246 the system check data is received and it is judged whether the system is normal or not. If it is normal, the monitoring process may be terminated. However, if it is determined that the operation is not normal, for example, if the camera has an abnormality, the process branches to step 228 to make sure that the above-mentioned emergency contact is made. To do. Although the above processing corresponds to the response processing, the processing is not necessarily limited to the above-described processing, and at least the wireless telephone terminal 10 that responds may be processed by some method. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the image data is transferred, but the original image may be restored from the received image data, and the presence or absence of abnormality may be determined by looking at the image. In this case, instead of the wireless telephone service control station, the security company calls the camera terminal, confirms the image if it responds, and if there is no response, execute emergency processing such as rushing to the site. Good.

In this way, the camera unit 12 and the mobile phone 11 are
The wireless telephone terminal 10 including is performing standby processing such as waiting for an incoming call to perform a system check or transferring image data of a captured image, and the service control station 40 including the wireless base station 20 is set. If it does not respond, it performs emergency processing such as emergency contact as a system abnormality or rush to the site. If it responds, it judges system check data or transfers image data. Since monitoring processing such as monitoring and monitoring is performed, there is no possibility that the cable will be disconnected and monitoring will not be possible as in the case of wired, and if it cannot be monitored, it cannot respond to the next call, so be sure It becomes possible to detect this.

Since the main task of the service control station is the communication service, if the service control station only performs a system check and the image data processing is performed by the security company or the client using the call channel, Changes in existing facilities can be extremely reduced. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the calling process is performed from the service control station 40 side, but it is sufficient that the service control station 40 and the radio telephone terminal 10 constantly make a response by the control signal. Therefore, it is also possible to perform the calling process from the wireless telephone terminal 10 side. The timing for performing this calling process may be regular, abnormal times such as detection of an intruder, or a combination thereof. Of course, in this case as well, the control channel may be used to respond to the control signal, and at this time, the system check data including the detection data may be transmitted. On the other hand, on the side of the service control station 40, not only the monitoring of the wireless telephone terminal 10 but the response of the normal control signal is executed, and the wireless telephone terminal 10 equipped with such a monitoring camera is used. The above-described processing may be started when the response of the control signal is received.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wireless telephone terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the entire system.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a wireless telephone terminal using a solar power generation panel.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart corresponding to a mode setting process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart corresponding to a standby process.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart corresponding to image transmission processing.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart corresponding to a data setting process.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart corresponding to a monitoring process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Wireless telephone terminal 11 ... Mobile phone 12 ... Camera section 20 ... Base station 30 ... Commercial digital communication network 40 ... Control station 50 ... Security company 60 ... Client

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A surveillance camera system using a simplified mobile phone system in which a service control station and a wireless telephone terminal constantly respond by a control signal via a wireless base station, wherein the wireless telephone terminal comprises: The service control station includes a surveillance camera and image data transmission means for capturing and transferring image data from the surveillance camera. The service control station calls the radio telephone terminal via the radio base station and the terminal calling means. And a response processing means for performing a predetermined response process when the wireless telephone terminal responds. A surveillance camera system comprising: