JPWO2012014473A1 - Image recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To develop an image collection system that can be used for criminal investigation and information collection by increasing the prevalence of an image recording device that functions as a surveillance camera while protecting the public's privacy at a high level. An image recording apparatus mounted in a vehicle has a recording means for recording an image acquired by a camera and subjected to an encoding process on a recording medium, and a first for inputting a reference for submitting the recorded image. An input means, a second input means for inputting image search information from a receiving means for receiving image search information transmitted from the outside, a reference input by the first input means, and an input by the second input means A comparison means for comparing the image search information and a submission means for submitting an image based on the comparison result. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus, an image recording method, a communication system for collecting images recorded in the image recording apparatus, a business model relating to image management, an image management method thereof, an image management server, and an image management system.

In recent years, the low clearance rate has become a problem. In recent years, the number of criminal offenses recognized in Japan has exceeded 2 million, and the clearance rate has remained around 30%. Compared to 40% 10 years ago, the clearance rate is decreasing as a long-term trend. There are many incidents where the criminals have not been cleared, but they have been left open despite being serious crimes such as murder.

In recent years, it has been difficult to collect information about incidents as a major factor for such a decrease in the clearance rate. A long time ago, local residents were actively interacting with each other in the form of neighborhood relationships, and in the event of an incident, in order to ensure the safety of the region, the victim's personality, friendship, and criminal Information about sightings of people who seem to have been actively received from local residents. However, as a trend in recent years, exchanges and interests between local residents are diminishing, and it is not unusual to know what kind of person the next resident is.

In such a recent situation where interest in others is fading, even if it happens in the district where you live, it tends to be perceived as having nothing to do with you, and it happens after the crime occurs Information gathering from local residents is no longer functioning. In other words, from the information provider's point of view, when the information is provided, the police request a long period of time to provide detailed information several times after that, the police will not be able to retaliate against the criminal for providing the information. There is a tendency to refrain from proactively providing information by feeling the possibility. In addition, information provision may be refrained from the ambiguity of memory or the psychology of avoiding uncertain information provision.

As a method for compensating for the decrease in information collection efficiency due to the above reasons, there is an image collection system described in Patent Document 1. In this document, an image recorded by an in-vehicle image recording device mounted on a plurality of moving bodies such as cars can be collected as necessary, so that images can be collected while maintaining privacy. Technologies that can be used effectively are disclosed.
JP 2009-60477 A

In the image collection system of Patent Document 1, useful information can be obtained only by integrating images that are distributed and recorded in a plurality of devices. Therefore, the more popular the image recording device, the more useful the system. Develop. Therefore, it is necessary to increase incentives for general consumers to purchase image recording apparatuses. However, although the image recording device described in Patent Document 1 has a possibility of obtaining a monetary reward as a reward for cooperation in criminal investigation, it cannot be said that the property value of the photographed image has been taken into consideration. There may be consumers who refrain from purchasing because of their low merit. In addition, although the owner can guarantee whether or not to submit an image, there may be a consumer who refrains from purchasing from the viewpoint of privacy protection and the high possibility of image abuse by a public institution.

In view of the above problems, in the image recording apparatus of the present invention, paying attention to the property value of the acquired image, the owner can more flexibly control the submission of the image, thereby increasing the penetration rate of this apparatus. It aims to develop as a more useful image collection system as a whole.

An image recording apparatus of the present invention includes a recording unit that records an image acquired by a camera and subjected to an encoding process on a recording medium, a first input unit that inputs a reference for submitting the recorded image, and an external A second input means for inputting image search information from a receiving means for wirelessly receiving the image search information transmitted from, a comparison means for comparing the input reference with the input image search information, and the comparison result Submitting means for submitting an image based thereon.

In the image recording apparatus of the present invention, an image acquisition unit that acquires an image, an encoding unit that encodes the acquired image, and the encoded image is recorded on a recording medium in association with an image acquisition position. Information relating to images recorded within the recording medium, acquired within a range specified based on the image search information, and receiving means for receiving the image search information and the image submission request information are recorded. A management file generating means for generating a management file; an extracting means for extracting an image specified based on the received image submission request information; and a transmitting means for transmitting the management file and the extracted image. To do.

Further, the image recording method of the present invention is a standard for acquiring an image with a camera, performing an encoding process on the acquired image, recording the image subjected to the encoding process on a recording medium, and submitting the recorded image The image search information is input from the receiving means for wirelessly receiving the image search information transmitted from the outside, the input reference is compared with the input image search information, and the image is submitted based on the comparison result. To do.

The image management server of the present invention also includes an image submission request receiving unit that receives an image submission request, a generation unit that generates image search information based on the received image submission request, and the generated image search information. Image search information transmitting means, image receiving means for receiving images transmitted from a plurality of image recording apparatuses that have received the image search information, and image transmitting means for transmitting the received images to the image submission requester. Are provided.

Further, the image management method of the present invention receives a plurality of image submission requests from a plurality of image submission requesters, generates image search information based on the received image submission requests, transmits the image search information, Receiving images transmitted from a plurality of image recording devices that have received the image search information, distributing the received images for each image submission request based on information associated with the images, and for each image submission request The sorted image is transmitted to the corresponding image submission requester.

Further, the image management method of the present invention receives an image submission request from an image submission requester, creates image search information based on the received image submission request, transmits the image search information, and transmits the image search information. Receiving the additional information management file transmitted from the plurality of image recording devices, generating a submitted image list file in which the received plurality of additional information management files are summarized for each image submission request, and submitting the submitted image list file The image selection notification is received, the image submission request information is generated based on the image selection notification, the image submission request information is transmitted, and the image submission request information is received and extracted by the image recording device An image is received, and the received image is transmitted to the image submitter.

According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the flexibility of image submission by an image owner or the flexibility of image selection by a client who makes an image request. As a result, an increase in image request requests derived from the client's peace of mind, an increase in the total amount of consideration, or an increase in the number of image recording devices due to the motivation of purchasing the image recording device led by the flexibility of image submission. An image collecting system can be further evolved by causing a virtuous spiral of an increase in image request requests due to an increase in the possibility of obtaining an image requested by a guided client.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The image recording apparatus 1000 mainly includes a camera unit 110, an image encoding unit 120, a data buffer unit 130, a position detection unit 140, a recording unit 150, a system controller (hereinafter abbreviated as SC) 160, a wireless reception unit 170, and a comparison. A processing unit 180, a search processing unit 190, an input unit 200, an image display unit 210, and an external output interface (hereinafter abbreviated as an external output IF) 220 are provided.

The camera unit 110 acquires an image and outputs it to the image encoding unit 120. The image encoding unit 120 performs an encoding process on the digital image data acquired by the camera unit 110. JPEG or TIFF for still images, MPEG2 or H.264 for moving images. Encoding is performed according to a predetermined codec such as H.264 / AVC, and is output to the data buffer unit 130. The data buffer unit 130 temporarily stores the encoded image data, and outputs the image data to the SC 160 based on the control from the SC 160.

The position detection unit 140 calculates a pseudo distance to each satellite based on the reception timing of signals transmitted from a plurality of satellites, and obtains the current position and time. The position detection unit 140 is combined with information from a vehicle speed sensor that detects the vehicle speed, an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration, and a direction sensor that detects the direction of the vehicle body, and represents position information indicating the current position and current time. Time information is generated, and position information and time information are output to the SC 160 based on control from the SC 160.

The recording unit 150 mainly includes a memory controller (MC) and an information recording medium. The MC controls writing and reading of data to and from the information recording medium. The image data output from the SC 160 is recorded in a state associated with the position and time on an information recording medium such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) under the control of the MC. The information recording medium also stores a setting file indicating a criterion for whether or not to submit an image, which will be described later, and a management file that summarizes the correspondence between the image data and the position and time at which the image data was acquired.

The management file in which the correspondence with the time is recorded is also output together. FIG. 2 shows an example of the image management file. In the image management file, an image management number assigned to a series of images taken to manage images, a file name for identifying the image, a position where the image was taken, and a time are recorded in association with each other. ing. In addition, the image management file also records the creation date when the image data was created, the update date when the image management file was updated, the start address indicating the recording position of the image data, and the like. The image management file is also created / updated sequentially with the image to be erased. When the image data is output to the outside via an external output IF described later, a management file in which the association between the image data and the acquisition position and time of the image data is also output may be output.

The SC 160 includes a CPU that performs each calculation, a ROM that stores programs, a RAM provided as a work area, a clock generation circuit, and the like, and manages and controls the entire apparatus. In addition, the SC 160 obtains the position and time at which the image data is acquired by the camera unit 110 based on the position information and time information input from the position detection unit 140, and performs a process of associating the obtained position and time with the image data. . This association may be performed by generating an image management file in which the image data and the image acquisition position and time are collected, or the image acquisition position and time may be directly associated with the file name of the image data. The image acquisition position and time may be embedded in the data for association. The image data associated with the position and time is output to the recording unit 150 and recorded for a certain period. Further, the SC 160 performs control to output image search information received by the wireless reception unit 170 described later to the comparison processing unit 180 and the search processing unit 190.

The wireless reception unit 170 receives a signal transmitted from an external wireless communication base station. Here, as a wireless communication (wireless broadcast) system, FM broadcast, beacon, mobile phone wireless communication, digital TV, wireless communication with a roadside device, and the like can be considered. In the following description, the wireless communication system is FM broadcast. Will be described. An FM transmitter station installed outside transmits frequency-multiplexed traffic information, DGPS correction data, image search information described later, and the like in addition to content such as music. The reception signal transmitted from the FM broadcast station and received via the antenna is subjected to amplification processing, FM detection processing, and the like in the wireless reception unit 170, and the processed signal is converted into a stereo signal using a BP filter. Further, the multiplex signal is separated, and the multiplex signal is extracted and demodulated and decoded. The data decoded here includes DGPS correction data, VICS data (VICS is a registered trademark, hereinafter omitted), etc., and the VICS data includes accident information, traffic jam information, parking lot availability information, advertisements, etc. In addition to existing information such as commercial information, image search information is newly included. The image search information includes information related to the position and time for designating a range to be searched by the search processing unit 180, importance information related to image submission, monetary information indicating the price for image submission, and the like. The decrypted data is selected and discarded by the SC 160, and then output to each unit as appropriate.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the data format of the image search information transmitted from the FM broadcast station. The first program header is information for specifying a program target, and includes a service identification code for specifying information types such as traffic jam information, accident information, commercial information, news, weather forecast, and image search information. Further, the program header includes a program number indicating the number of the program in the same service and total page number information indicating the number of pages of the program. Each page following the program header describes information related to each item included in the image search information. Each page is composed of a page header and page data. In the page header, in addition to the page number, the project number assigned to each project in order to identify each project, location information and time information for specifying the scope for image submission, importance information, and monetary information Etc. are written. Such information is stored in the image search information in the image data recorded in the recording unit performed in the comparison processing with the reference value set by the user in the comparison processing unit in the image recording apparatus and in the search processing unit. This is used for search processing to determine whether there is image data photographed in the range of the position and time specified based on the included position information and time information.

The location designation type and the time designation type included in the location information and the time information respectively indicate a designation method for designating a range for requesting image submission. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the location designation type is represented by 3 bits. Is done. The bit string 000 indicates that the designation method uses two latitude information and two longitude information, and an area for which image submission is requested is an image recorded within a range surrounded by these four lines. The bit string 001 indicates that the designation method uses two pieces of coordinate information, and a region surrounded by a square having two coordinates as vertices on a diagonal line is a region for requesting image submission. The time designation type is represented by, for example, 2 bits, the bit string 00 describes two time information for designating a time zone, and the bit string 01 describes one time information and time interval information. Here, the time information is a time including the date and time, and the time interval information is a value such as 2 hours.

The importance level information is represented by, for example, 4 bits, and 16 types of importance levels of bit strings 0000 to 1111 are assigned according to the urgency level of image submission, the size of the case, the type of the case, and the type of the image request source. The monetary information is information related to the price paid when an image is received, and is represented by, for example, a price set for each still image or a price set for each moving image. The number of requested images is information relating to the number of still images requested to be submitted and the length of a moving image. The submission destination information indicates the submission destination of the image of the case, and is, for example, information related to the IP address of the server of the police or the image information management company that is the submission destination of the image. The page data portion includes specific information on individual projects such as the image requesting organization, company specific information, image usage purpose, monetary information, and specific contents of the case. The information is output to the image display unit 210 such as a monitor and displayed as an image.

The input unit 200 is an input means for a user to mainly input a reference value related to image submission, and a signal input from an operation panel such as a touch panel or an input key is input to the SC 160 via the IF. The input from the user may be input by voice. FIG. 5 shows an example relating to the input criteria. The importance indicates the importance related to image submission, and has a one-to-one correspondence with the importance information included in the image search information. In FIG. 5, it is set to submit images having an importance level of 1 to 5. The price indicates the amount of money consideration required when the image is submitted. In this case, one still image is set at 3,000 yen and a moving image is set at 8,000 yen per minute, and an image is submitted in response to an image request that pays a higher price than this amount. As the exclusion position, a place where no image is submitted is set. This is because, for example, some users do not want to submit images around their home from the viewpoint of privacy. In this case, a square range with two coordinates of coordinates 1 north latitude 34 ”09'3024” east longitude 132 ″ 40′3000 ”and coordinates 2 north latitude 34 ″ 10′0024” east longitude 132 ″ 41′3000 ″. The image acquired in the position range included in is set to not submit even if an image submission request is issued in this range. These input settings are collected in a setting file and recorded in the recording unit 150.

FIG. 6 shows a list of importance levels. The importance levels are divided into 16 levels, with importance levels 1-8 assigned to public institutions, 9-14 assigned to private institutions, and 15 and 16 assigned as reservations.

The comparison processing unit 180 compares the received image search information with the input standard for image submission. Specifically, when new image search information is received by the wireless reception unit 170, the image search information is output to the comparison processing unit 180 in accordance with the control of the SC 160. When the image search information is input, the comparison processing unit 180 reads a setting file in which criteria for image submission are recorded. The comparison processing unit 180 compares the importance recorded in the read setting file with the importance included in the image search information. Further, the comparison processing unit 180 compares the price of the image, which is the money price in the image submission recorded in the read setting file, and the money information included in the image search information. In addition, the comparison processing unit 180 compares the excluded position recorded in the read setting file with the information regarding the position included in the image search information. The comparison process is performed for each case for a plurality of cases included in the image search information. The comparison processing unit 180 outputs the comparison result to the SC 160. As a result of the comparison, when the importance recorded in the setting file is lower than the importance included in the image search information for a certain case, or the price recorded in the setting file is included in the image search information. If it is lower than the price, or if a position range other than the range specified by the exclusion position recorded in the setting file is included in the range specified by the information about the position included in the image search information Since there is a possibility that an image that may be submitted is stored in the storage unit 150, image search information is output from the comparison processing unit 180 to the search processing unit 190 in accordance with the control of the SC 160, and the image is output to the search processing unit 190. A search instruction is issued.

The search processing unit 190 uses the image search information and the image management file to capture an image captured within a range specified by information on the position and time included in the image search information in the image recorded in the recording unit 150. A search process is performed to determine whether there is a search result, and the search result is output to the SC 160. Based on the search result output from the search processing unit 190, the SC 160 extracts an image photographed within the range specified by the image search information from the images recorded in the recording unit 150, and outputs the image to the outside. The MC is instructed to output to the IF 220. Also, a management file in which the correspondence between the image extracted by the search processing unit 190 and output to the outside as needed, and the position information and time information indicating the image acquisition position and time for the extracted image is recorded. May be newly created and output together with the image. Further, a separate conversion processing unit may be provided in the SC 160 to perform conversion processing for incorporating the correspondence relationship between the image recorded in the image management file, the position information, and the time information into the image data. The position information and time information indicating the position and time at which the image was acquired are output in association with the image data itself, thereby facilitating later data management.

The image display unit 210 displays importance, monetary information, position and time information included in the image search information, a setting screen for setting importance, price of money, etc., and a comparison result in the comparison processing unit 180. Overlay display such as notification indicating that display and image submission has been completed is performed as necessary.

The external output IF 220 is an interface for outputting the image output from the recording unit 150 to the outside. As the external output IF 220, a dedicated slot for outputting to a memory card, a wireless communication interface for outputting by wireless transmission, or the like can be used.

Next, an image collection system using the image recording apparatus will be described. FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of an image collection system according to the present embodiment. Sources that collect images are broadly divided into public and private institutions. The image information management company gathers image collection requests (image submission requests) including information such as the set amount of compensation money, image collection position and time from these multiple private organizations, and the collected image collection requests are from the Road Traffic Information Center. Sent to.

The Road Traffic Information Center collects image collection requests sent from image information management companies and image collection requests sent from public organizations, and the collected image collection requests are collected in a predetermined format for image retrieval. Information is transmitted to each image recording apparatus. Auditing organizations monitor public and private organizations for collecting unnecessarily large amounts of information. The personal information management organization manages personal information. FIG. 8 shows an example of a personal information list file recorded in the information server of the personal information management organization. The personal information management organization is based on information for identifying the image provider, such as the MAC address of the image recording device, the owner's handle name, the car registration number, etc. sent from a public organization or an image information management company. Referring to the personal information file, request personal information such as the account number of the owner of the corresponding image recording device, encrypt the personal information as necessary, Reply to target organization or image information management company. The image data and management file wirelessly output from each image recording apparatus are transmitted to the image information management company via the provider.

As described above, in the image recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present application, the image acquired by the image acquisition unit that captures an external landscape like the camera unit is subjected to the encoding process in the encoding processing unit. Is recorded on the recording medium. This apparatus has an input unit for inputting a standard for submitting an image recorded by the owner of the apparatus, and can control whether or not to submit the image. The comparison processing unit inputs the image search information from the receiving unit that wirelessly receives the image search information transmitted from the outside, and inputs a setting file that records the settings related to the reference input by the input unit, and compares each Contrast items. As a result of the comparison, if the request for image search information satisfies the input criteria, an image is output. In this way, the owner can set the criteria for image submission and control whether or not to submit images, thereby creating a free society through the collection of inappropriate images from the image requesting police and private companies. This makes it possible to eliminate the danger of the image and to set only the image that is beneficial to the owner, so that the balance between supply and demand of the image is maintained.

In the above description, a configuration has been described in which a comparison processing unit is provided as a comparison unit and a search processing unit is separately provided as a search unit. However, the present invention is not limited to this. You may be comprised so that a contrast process and a search process may be performed. Further, the transmission format of the image search information is not limited to the format described above, and an existing format may be used, or the image search information may be transmitted in a new format as shown in FIG. In the format of FIG. 9, a preamble bit for synchronization is arranged at the head, and a CRC bit for error detection is arranged at the rear end following the header part and the data part. Recorded in the header section is an information type for identifying image search information, a provision time indicating a time when this data was provided, presence / absence of frame division, a frame ID for identifying each frame, and a data section This includes the effective data length that has been set. In the data section, position information, time information, importance information, etc. for each case are arranged, and in the contrast processing section in the device, the owner is based on the importance information, monetary information, etc. described in the data section. Whether there is image data acquired within the position range and time range specified from the information on the basis of the position information and time information in the search processing unit based on the position information and time information. Each search process is performed.

Generally, when a surveillance camera is installed, a privacy problem always appears. In particular, the fact that images acquired by surveillance cameras are managed centrally by the police and the state means that even if they are not guilty, their actions may always be monitored by someone on the monitor. Can be a great stress. However, when monitoring is performed using the image recording apparatus of the present invention, the image data is recorded and managed in a distributed manner among the owners of the respective image recording apparatuses, and only the image data relating to the time and place as necessary is owned by the owner of the apparatus. It will be provided to the nation based on the good will of Japan. In other words, the appearance of each citizen in daily life is recorded as image data with a high frequency, but it is distributed and recorded for several seconds each on image recording devices mounted on multiple cars that have passed close to you. Will be. Therefore, it does not become a situation where a specific person / institution continues to monitor his / her actions. The image recorded by each image recording device is almost the same as the landscape that the driver who is the owner of the image recording device jumps into the eyes while driving. Recording does not lead to privacy violations. Therefore, the crime investigation cooperation method using the image recording apparatus of the present invention has a great advantage from the viewpoint of privacy protection as compared with the method in which a national organization such as the police installs a surveillance camera in the city for crime investigation. .

Here, the purchaser of this apparatus has various incentives for purchase such as improvement of security and monetary reward, and it may be considered that he / she wants to refuse the provision of images except for the purpose. In order to satisfy such a requirement, by setting the standard for submitting images and making it possible to compare with image requests, the owner can control the supply of images, so unnecessary use of images The device can be purchased with peace of mind. As a result, this image collection system can be developed by being able to boost the spread of this apparatus.

As described above, when the image recording apparatus of the present invention is used, a person's figure is distributed and recorded in a plurality of apparatuses in a state of being photographed by chance without involving the photographer's intention, so that certain privacy can be ensured. In addition, since the user purchases and installs the image recording apparatus, it is not necessary to construct or repair a new large-scale infrastructure, so that it can be quickly introduced. In addition, for users, installation of an image recording device in the vehicle can restore security from a long-term perspective, and it can be used for ordinary drive recorders and car navigation aids, so there are significant advantages in purchasing. is there. In addition, there is a great merit of purchasing because the possibility of collecting an amount more than the cost of purchasing the image recording apparatus is increased not only by the reward paid from the police as required, but also by the money consideration paid from the private company. In addition, if the amount paid as a reward is set by law so that the criminal bears it, a large amount of reward can be set without squeezing the national budget, and a synergistic effect can be expected to improve the image collection rate.

Further, when associating the moving image data with the shooting position and shooting time of the moving image data, for example, a management file describing the position and time at which each picture constituting the moving image data or a representative picture is acquired is generated. May be associated with each other, or may be associated with a file name of the moving image data with information on one or more positions and times representative of the moving image data, or a moving image is captured in the moving image data Information regarding the position and time may be embedded. FIG. 11 is an example of a management file that records the correspondence between moving image data and the position and time at which the moving image data was acquired. As described above, the moving images captured by the camera unit are segmented at predetermined time intervals and recorded as different moving image data in the recording unit. In this case, the moving image is divided and recorded as one moving image file every minute. Further, as position information related to the moving image shooting position and time, the shooting position and shooting time are recorded in the management file every unit second. In this way, a management file that records the correspondence between the moving image and its moving image acquisition position and time is created, and the search processing unit specifies the position and time recorded in the management file based on the image search information. The moving image data is extracted by searching whether it is within the position / time range.

In the above description, the image data is recorded in association with the image acquisition position and time. However, the image shooting direction is obtained from the difference between the positions at two times calculated by the direction sensor and the position detection unit 140, and the obtained shooting direction and A configuration in which image data is associated may be used. Images collected by this configuration can be used more effectively. Further, in the above description, the search processing is performed in the search processing unit after the comparison processing in the comparison processing unit is performed on the received image search information, but this order may be reversed. The image search information is first input to the search processing unit, and after the corresponding image is searched / extracted, the image search information is input to the comparison processing unit and compared with the reference set by the user. In other words, the image may be submitted based on the comparison result.

In the above description, the case where components such as a camera unit, a position detection unit, a wireless reception unit, a recording unit, and an image display unit are built in the main body has been described. It may be installed, and an image, position information, time information, and image search information may be input from each unit to the main body via a connector or a wireless LAN. In other words, these units can be installed as independent devices outside the main body and connected to each other to constitute an image recording system. This is because, for example, by designing the camera as a separate device and securing the degree of freedom of the installation location, more appropriate image acquisition may be possible.

(Embodiment 2)
The image recording apparatus according to the second embodiment has a configuration in which a wireless communication unit is provided and an extracted image is submitted through communication with a roadside communication apparatus. In the present embodiment, the image search information includes an encryption key and image submission deadline information. The encryption key is used for encryption of an image to be submitted in an encryption processing unit to be described later, and the image submission deadline information is information representing the deadline for submission of the extracted image.

FIG. 12 shows an image recording apparatus and a roadside communication apparatus according to the second embodiment. A part of the same blocks as those of the image recording apparatus in FIG. In this embodiment, the camera unit 110, the position detection unit 140, and the wireless reception unit 170 are installed outside the main body and are connected via a connection interface 2240. The image captured by the camera unit 110, the position information and time information obtained by the position detection unit 140, and the image search information received by the wireless reception unit 170 are transferred to the inside of the main body via the connection interface 2240 according to the control of the SC 2160. Entered.

FIG. 13 shows an example of a setting screen related to image submission criteria input from the input unit 200 displayed on the image display unit 210. In this case, the importance is set to 1, 2, 3, 9, and 10. For the public institution, the image is submitted only for mass communication related to the serious crime, and for the private institution, the mass communication related to which large monetary feedback is desired. It is set. As for the consideration money, the image requests of importance 1, 2 and 3 are set to provide an image even when there is no money consideration from the viewpoint of social contribution, and the importance 9 and 10 are 200 per unit image. Yen money consideration is set. The exclusion time is a setting item that does not provide an image for an image taken in the set time zone. For example, when the camera unit 110 does not have an optical correction function, an image shot at night is set so as not to transmit an image shot from 6:00 to 6:00 in the morning because the image value is low. ing.

The exclusion request indicates a setting for not providing an image when the range of the image request is unreasonably wide. It seems unlikely that it can happen in a healthy country like Japan, but in some dictatorship countries and socialist countries, for example, this image collection system is abused to collect illegal images illegally and Since there is a possibility of being abused for excessive monitoring of the image, the owner side is guaranteed a means to counter the image collector. In FIG. 13, when the image request range specified from the information regarding the position included in the image search information exceeds 9 square km, it is assumed that it is a request to collect an unnecessarily wide range of images. It is set by the user not to provide. Similarly, if the image request range specified from the information related to the time included in the image search information exceeds 4 hours, an image is provided for this request, assuming that images are collected in an unnecessarily long time range. Absent. The exclusion request may be set for the total range of time and space. This is because even if the position or time range specified from the image search information is large, there may be no problem if it is small in terms of time and space. In this case, even if the image request position range is as wide as 100 square km, if the image request time range is less than 3 minutes, the setting condition is cleared, and an image is submitted for such an image request. To do. Even if the image request time range is a long time of 100 minutes, the setting condition is satisfied if the image request position range is less than 3 square kilometers. Note that the setting regarding the exclusion request may be configured to be individually set according to the importance. This is because there is a user who wants to submit an image even if the request is for a wide range because only the case relating to the terrorism case of importance 1 is related to his life.

The image submission upper limit defines a limit on the amount of image data submitted per unit period. This is because there are users who want to limit the amount of image data to be submitted. The image recording apparatus is newly provided with a measurement unit that measures the data amount of the image newly transmitted from the wireless transmission unit. The measurement unit creates and updates a management file that records the total amount of data, the number of transmitted images, and the like transmitted for each item, each image transmission destination, and each image submission date and time. In the case of FIG. 13, when the transmission amount per month exceeds 100 Gbytes, the image is not transmitted in that month even if the image specified from the image search information is recorded in the recording unit. In addition, no transmission is performed even if 100 Mbytes per day are exceeded. This image submission upper limit setting may be configured to control the submission amount by determining the upper limit of the number of still images and the upper limit of the total time of moving images, not the total amount of image data. Moreover, the structure which can set the image submission upper limit separately for every importance may be sufficient. In addition, the image submission upper limit may be individually set for each image request requester, each transmission destination, and each image request item.

As a result of the search processing, the search processing unit 190, when an image shot within a range specified based on the position and time information included in the image search information is recorded in the recording unit 150, the search processing unit 190 Extract and create / update the extracted image management file. The extracted image is output to the encryption processing unit 2250 in accordance with an instruction from the SC 2160. The encryption key included in the image search information is also output to the encryption processing unit 2250 in accordance with the instruction of the SC 2160 and stored in the RAM in the encryption processing unit 2250.

The encryption processing unit 2250 selects an encryption key having an encryption key number corresponding to the image to be encrypted from encryption keys stored in the RAM, and encrypts the image. The encryption processing unit 2250 outputs the encrypted image to the wireless communication unit 2230. The encryption processing unit 2250 reads a management file in which a correspondence relationship between an image and an image acquisition position and time is recorded, if necessary, and outputs the management file to the wireless communication unit 2230.

The wireless communication unit 2230 communicates with the roadside communication device. The encrypted image data and management files output from the encryption processing unit 2250 are subjected to transmission processing such as encoding processing, modulation processing, up-conversion and A / D conversion, and the processed signal is transmitted through an antenna. To the roadside communication device. The image data sent to the roadside communication device is transmitted to the image submission destination indicated by the IP address through the Internet network. On the other hand, after the signal transmitted from the roadside communication device is received by the antenna, reception processing such as down-conversion and A / D conversion, demodulation processing, and decoding processing are performed, and the decoded data is subjected to control of SC2160. It is output to each necessary part as appropriate.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the image data extracted for each item included in the image search information is submitted after being encrypted using a different encryption key for each item. For example, the image data is incorrect. Even if it is output to the submission destination, it does not have a decryption key, so the image cannot be decrypted and privacy is protected. In the above description, the configuration in which the wireless reception unit 170 receives image search information by means of FM broadcasting or the like has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It may be a configuration.

(Embodiment 3)
In this image collection system, for example, a case where an image is submitted from an image recording device mounted on a car that runs in almost the same place at the same time, such as a car that runs in parallel, is assumed. Assuming that the client requesting image provision pays the consideration money, the client requests only one of the images acquired at the same time and range. In this case, in the case of the first and second embodiments, the criteria for determining which image recording apparatus is the best image is poor, and the monetary consideration for the image acquired by the randomly selected image acquisition apparatus However, it may not be possible to satisfy the request of the client. This leads to a decrease in the number of requests for image submission using the image collection system, which in turn reduces the purchase incentive of the image recording apparatus due to a decrease in the total amount of money, and the function of the image collection system.

In order to solve the above problems, the image recording apparatus according to the third embodiment is newly provided with a configuration that allows the client to select images flexibly. In the present embodiment, the image recording apparatus will be described with the aid of the image recording apparatus 2000 of FIG. In the image recording apparatus according to the third embodiment, when the image acquired by the camera unit is recorded in the recording unit, in addition to the file name of the image, the acquired position, and the time, the camera that acquired the image Are recorded in association with information (hereinafter referred to as additional information) such as the model, the number of pixels of the camera, and the vehicle traveling speed. As will be described later, the additional information is information that is referred to when the client selects an image to be submitted. This is because the difference in image quality from an image submitted from another image recording apparatus can be compared by referring to the additional information.

FIG. 14 shows an image management file in the present embodiment. In the management file, the acquired image is associated with the additional information. Information related to hardware such as the manufacturer name or model number of the camera unit or image display unit connected to the apparatus is recorded in the recording unit at the time of driver installation. The SC records the acquired image in association with the image management file by referring to the information related to the recorded camera model and the number of pixels. In the SC, the vehicle speed information output from the detection unit that detects the speed and acceleration of the vehicle based on the number of rotations of the tire and the movement amount on the GPS per unit time is associated with the image. Further, an input means for inputting the operating status and operating speed of the wiper may be provided, the weather information obtained based on the inputted information may be obtained, or a detection unit for detecting the brightness of the surroundings may be provided, and time information and A configuration may be used in which weather information is obtained by predicting the weather at that time in combination. Further, the SC may be configured to associate an image with information related to an acquisition condition such as an exposure amount, ISO sensitivity, and shutter speed at the time of image capturing at the time of image acquisition. In this way, the acquired image is recorded on the information recording medium in the recording unit in a state associated with the additional information.

The search processing unit of the image recording apparatus extracts a portion of the image extracted through the search of the image search unit from the image management file, and a management file that summarizes the correspondence between the image related to the extracted image and the additional information ( (Hereinafter referred to as an additional information management file). FIG. 15 shows an example of the additional information management file. Among the images recorded in the recording unit, the images of srdc000001.jpg to srdc000004.jpg are images acquired in the range specified based on the position information and time information in the case with the case number 009783, and are added to the image An information management file is created. The additional information management file is an identification number unique to the image recording apparatus such as the handle number of the owner, the car registration number, and the MAC address in addition to the correspondence with the case number, the image file name, the image acquisition position and time, and the additional information. Are also recorded in association with the extracted image and table. This information is used to specify the submitter of the image after submitting the image. Further, information indicating an encryption key for encrypting the extracted image and image search information for extracting the image may be recorded together in the additional information management file. The created additional information management file is transmitted together with the image from the wireless communication unit to the image information management company.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a business sequence of the image information management company (an operation sequence of the image collection system). The image information management company includes a recording server that stores an image transmitted from the image recording apparatus for a certain period of time, and an encryption key that generates a pair of encryption key and decryption key for encrypting and decrypting the image transmitted from the image recording apparatus Decryption key generation means, image search information generation means for generating image search information used for image search in the image recording apparatus based on the request contents from the client, additional information management file transmitted from a plurality of image recording apparatuses And a submission image list file generation means for generating a submission image list file.

An image information management company receives a request for an image request from a client such as a contracted television station, company, or public institution. Usually, the request form for an image request includes information about the requester, such as the name of the requester, request number, information about the position and time at which the image is requested, the number of still images to be requested and the moving image time, the money price to be paid, and the image search described later. Information such as a period for transmitting information and a transmission frequency, an image collection period, and an image use purpose are described. Simultaneously with the request, the image information management company receives a request money from the client. The request fee mainly consists of a fee of the image management company and a reward for the image provider. When receiving the request, the image information management company generates an encryption key and a decryption key for encrypting the image submitted for the requested item. The decryption key is stored separately for each item in the recording server. Next, the image information management company collects information such as a case number for managing the request case, contents of a request from the client, an IP address of a recording server of the image information management company, and an encryption key in a predetermined format. The collected information is transmitted to each image recording device in the form of image search information via a road traffic information center (not shown). The image search information is repeatedly transmitted to the image recording apparatus according to the transmission period and transmission frequency specified in the request form. The image recording apparatus that has received the image search information performs image search / extraction.

Each image recording apparatus extracts a corresponding image as a result of the image search based on the image search information and creates an additional information management file. The extracted image and the created additional information management file are transmitted from the image recording apparatus and collected in the recording server of the image information management company. When the additional information management file is encrypted, it is decrypted with a decryption key held by the image information management company. The additional information management file sent to the image information management company is distributed for each item according to the processing of the computer distribution program of the image information management company (not shown). Specifically, the program refers to the case number recorded in the received additional information management file, and distributes the additional information management file to individual folders for each case. Similarly, the received image is sorted for each item according to the above program. FIG. 17 shows the folder structure of the recording server of the image information management company. Folders are created in parallel for each case, and according to the above distribution program, the additional information management file of the same case is distributed to the lower folder of the case, and the image of the same case is distributed to the lower folder of the case.

The image information management company collects a plurality of additional information management files for each project and collects additional information such as image numbers, image file names, shooting positions and times, camera models, and traveling speeds that are uniformly assigned to images. Create a new submitted image list file. Specifically, the submitted image list file creation program is recorded in the folder for storing the additional information management file of the matter for the matter whose image submission deadline indicated in the image submission deadline information included in the image search information has passed. An additional information management file transmitted from a plurality of image recording apparatuses is collected to create a single submitted image list file. FIG. 18 is an example of a submitted image list file. For the image numbers 1 to 4, 5 to 7, and 8 to 10, the additional information management files transmitted from the three different image recording apparatuses are collected to create one submitted image list file. The created submitted image list file is transmitted to the client. The client refers to the submitted submitted image list file and finally selects the requested image. The client selects an image using the additional information recorded in the submitted image list file as a clue. For example, there may be a situation where there are a plurality of images taken at substantially the same position and time, and only one image may be used for the position and time. In this case, it seems that the client seeks a higher resolution and higher quality image. Therefore, the client refers to the submitted image list file, and considers images taken with a higher-spec camera, images taken while driving slowly, images taken closer to the desired location, etc. It becomes possible to select an image that is finally requested to be submitted. The client notifies the image information management company of the selected image number.

The image information management company submits the encrypted image of the image number notified from the client and the decryption key for decrypting the encryption to the client. The client can obtain an image that finally satisfies the requested condition by decrypting the encrypted image. The image information management company refers to the submitted image list file or the additional information management file, and registers the car registration number corresponding to the image number notified from the client, the image recording device unique number, the handle name of the owner of the image recording device (hereinafter referred to as the image recording device number). The personal information management company).

The personal information management company keeps a personal information file in which correspondence between at least the image submitter identification information and the account number of the image submitter is summarized. The personal information company notifies the image information management company of the corresponding account number based on the image submitter identification information notified from the image information management company. The image information management company transfers the money to the account of the notified account number.

In the image collection system, since the requester who requests the image can select an appropriate image on the basis of more information, the requester can request the image request with peace of mind. As a result, the number of requests for image requests increases as a whole, and the total amount of money consideration is expected to increase. Therefore, purchase / introduction of an image recording apparatus is promoted by seeking this money consideration. That is, it is desired that the monitoring function for crime prevention use is improved and the image collection system is further developed. In addition, a new business opportunity as an image information management company is created.

In the above description, the configuration in which the encrypted image and the decryption key are transmitted from the image information management company to the client is not limited to this. The image information management company performs the decryption process and performs the encryption. A configuration may be adopted in which the solved image is transmitted to the client. In the above description, the image information management company stores additional information management files transmitted from a plurality of image recording devices in a server, collects the plurality of management files, creates a submitted image list file, and submits it to the client However, the present invention is not limited to this. Additional information management files transmitted from a plurality of image recording apparatuses may be submitted to the client. This is because the client may desire to submit an image as soon as possible by referring to the additional information management file that has already been submitted. In this case, the client stores information in the additional information management file such as information for specifying the additional information management file such as the additional information management file number assigned to the additional information management file to the image information management company and the image file name. Information for specifying the displayed image is notified. The image information management company identifies an image based on the notified information, and submits the identified image and a decryption key for decrypting the image to the client. In the above description, the image number of the image selected by the client is notified. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and information specifying the image selected by the client may be notified. For example, the configuration may be such that the file name of the image is notified.

Needless to say, each process performed by the image information management company may be performed by an image management server. Needless to say, an image management system in which a plurality of devices perform the above-described processing may be used. For example, image submission request receiving means for receiving an image submission request (request form) including at least an image acquisition position, and image search information transmission for transmitting image search information including at least information on the image acquisition position based on the image submission request. Means, image receiving means for receiving an image acquired at the image acquisition position transmitted from the image recording device based on the image search information, and image transmission for transmitting the received image to the image submission request sender And an image management server comprising means. The image receiving unit may receive an additional information management file including at least position information indicating an image acquisition position, and the image transmitting unit may transmit the additional information management file to the image submission request sender. . The image submission request receiving means further receives image specifying information (selected image notification) for specifying an image notified from the image submission request sender who received the additional information management file, and based on the image specifying information. The configuration may further include a submitted image management unit that identifies an image to be submitted. Further, the image processing apparatus may further include a generating unit that regenerates the additional information management files transmitted from the plurality of image recording devices and generates a submitted image list file, and the image transmitting unit transmits the submitted image list file as an image request transmission. It may be configured to transmit to a person.

The configuration of the image management system will be described again with reference to FIG. Specifically, the image management system includes an image management server 400 and an extracted image / additional information management file recording server 500 (hereinafter abbreviated as a recording server). The image management server 400 includes an image submission request / selected image notification reception unit 410, an encryption key / decryption key generation unit 420, an image search information generation unit 430, an image search information transmission unit 440, and an extracted image / additional information management. A file receiving unit 450, a submitted image list file generating unit 460, a submitted image managing unit 470, and a selected image / submitted image list file transmitting unit 480 are provided. The recording server 500 also includes an extracted image / additional information management file recording unit 510.

The image submission request / selected image notification receiving unit 410 receives an image submission request transmitted via the Internet or the like from a client that requests an image submission, that is, a client. The content of the information included in the image submission request is the same as the request form described above. The image submission request / selected image notification receiving unit 410 receives the selected image notification transmitted from the requester (image submission request sender). The image submission request and the selected image notification are each output to a submitted image management unit 470 described later. The image submission request is also output to the encryption key / decryption key generation unit 420 and the image search information generation unit 430. When the image submission request is input, the encryption key / decryption key generation unit 420 generates an encryption key / decryption key pair for each request. The encryption key is output to the image search information generation unit 430, and the decryption key is output to the submitted image management unit 470. Based on the input image submission request, the image search information generation unit 430 collects the contents specified in the image submission request, and further generates image search information including the input decryption key. As described above, the image search information includes at least information regarding the position. The generated image search information is output to the image search information transmission unit 440. The image search information transmission unit 440 transmits the input image search information to a plurality of image recording apparatuses. The extracted image / additional information management file receiving unit 450 searches the plurality of image recording devices based on the image search information transmitted by the image search information transmitting unit 440, extracts the image encrypted with the encryption key, and The generated additional information management file is received. The received extracted image and additional information management file are stored in the recording unit 510 in the recording server. The additional information management file is output to the submitted image list file generation unit 460. The submitted image list file generation unit 460 generates the above-described submitted image list file by collecting the additional information management files transmitted from the plurality of input image recording apparatuses for each case (for each request), and submits the submitted image list file. The image is output to the image management unit 470 and the selected image / submitted image list file transmission unit 480. The submitted image management unit 470 temporarily stores the input image submission request, decryption key, and submitted image list file in an internal recording unit. Further, the submitted image management unit 470 refers to the stored submitted image list file based on the input selected image notification, determines an image specified by the selected image notification, and accesses the recording unit 510. The corresponding image is acquired as a selected image selected by the image submission request sender. The submitted image management unit 470 acquires a decryption key corresponding to the selected image from the internal recording unit, and outputs the decryption key and the acquired image to the selected image / submitted image list file transmission unit 480. The selected image / submitted image list file transmission unit 480 transmits the submitted image list file input from the submitted image list file generation unit 460 to the image submission request sender. The selected image / submitted image list file transmission unit 480 transmits the selected image input from the submitted image management unit 470 and the decryption key corresponding to the selected image to the image submission request sender.

In the above description, the selection image / submitted image list file transmission unit 480 has been described with respect to the case where the decryption key is transmitted when the submission image is transmitted, but the present invention is not limited to this. The decryption key may be output to the selected image / submitted image list file transmission unit 480 at the stage of generating the key and transmitted prior to the selected image. Alternatively, the submitted image management unit 470 may extract the image from the recording server, release the encryption, and output the selected image to the selected image / submitted image list file transmission unit 480. Moreover, although the case where the encryption key and the decryption key are generated and transmitted has been described, the configuration can be omitted. Further, the extracted image / additional information management file recording unit may be provided in the image management server and may be closed by a single device. Further, a part of the configuration in the image management server described above may be realized by another device and connected to each other to configure the image management system.

FIG. 20 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the image collection system. This operation has already been described with reference to FIG. The requester creates the above-mentioned request form (image submission request) on a PC or the like (S401). The requester transmits the created request form (image submission request) to the image management system via the Internet or the like (S402). The image management system generates image search information based on the received request document (image submission request) (S403). In addition, when taking the structure which encrypts an extraction image, the pair of an encryption key and a decryption key is also produced | generated based on the received request document (image submission request). The image management system transmits the generated image search information to a plurality of image recording devices (S404). In each image recording device, image search and image extraction are performed based on the received image search information (S405). When an image is extracted in S405, the image recording apparatus generates an additional information management file together (S406). The image recording apparatus encrypts the extracted image as necessary, and transmits the extracted image and the additional information management file to the image management system (S407). The image management system collects the additional information management files transmitted from the plurality of image recording devices and generates a submitted image list file for each image submission request (for each item) (S408). Further, the additional information management file and the extracted image transmitted from the plurality of image recording apparatuses are temporarily stored in the storage server at this stage. The image management system transmits the generated submitted image list file to the image submission request sender (requester) (S409). The image submission request sender refers to the received submitted image list file, selects an image that he / she wants (buy) finally (S410), and transmits a selection image notification (S411). The selected image notification is information for specifying the selected image, and may be an image number included in the submitted image list file. When the image management system receives the selected image notification, the image management system extracts the image specified based on the notification from the recording server, and transmits it to the requester together with the decryption key for encrypting the image (S412). Such a configuration is possible.

In this way, by incorporating the presence and processing sequence of the image management company in the present embodiment into the image collection system, it is possible to appropriately respond to image requests from private institutions and to manage images appropriately, so public In addition to an image collection system that restricts the use of images to specific institutions, it promotes more image use opportunities and money flow, and as a result, improves the purchase incentives of general image purchasers for this image recording device. The system can be developed.

(Embodiment 4)
The image collection system according to the fourth embodiment further includes a configuration that suppresses unnecessary image submission in the image collection system according to the third embodiment. In the present embodiment, the encryption key for encrypting the image is not included in the image search information.

FIG. 21 shows an image collection sequence according to the fourth embodiment. Note that a part of the same parts as those in FIG. The image recording apparatus according to the present embodiment uses an image recording apparatus 2000 shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, when the search processing unit in the image recording apparatus performs an image search based on the image search information, the corresponding image is recorded in the recording unit of the image recording apparatus. As a result, an additional information management file is created for the corresponding image. The created additional information management file is transmitted from the wireless communication unit to the roadside communication device, and is transmitted to the image information management company via the Internet network or the like. On the other hand, image extraction and transmission of the extracted image are not performed at this stage. The additional information management file is temporarily stored in the recording unit for search processing to be described later.

As in the case of FIG. 16, the image information management company collects the additional information management files transmitted from the plurality of image recording apparatuses and creates the submitted image list file shown in FIG. 18 and transmits it to the client. The client selects an image requesting an image based on the submitted image list file and notifies the image information management company of the selected image number. The image information management company creates image submission request information for the image with the notified image number. The image submission request information is information for requesting submission of an image finally determined by the client. FIG. 22 is an example of image submission request information. The client refers to the submitted image list file shown in FIG. 18 and finally selects four images of image field numbers 1, 2, 5, and 9 and notifies the image information management company. Since the image information management company collects these four images from each image recording device, information for specifying each image recording device and an image recorded in the recording unit in each image recording device are specified. Create image submission request information including information. The image information management company generates an encryption key / decryption key for encrypting the image. The image submission request information includes a MAC address that is a unique identifier of the image recording device as information for specifying the image recording device, and an image file name as information for specifying an image in each image recording device. Etc. are included. Also, if necessary, information indicating the image submission destination, such as the project number for specifying the image submission request for which item that sent the additional information management file, the encryption key for encrypting the image, and the IP address Included.

Similar to the image search information, the image submission request information is transmitted to each image recording device through a wireless means such as FM broadcast and beacon via a road traffic information center (not shown) according to a predetermined format. The image submission request information received by the wireless communication unit or the wireless reception unit is output to the search processing unit according to the control of the SC. The search processing unit refers to the MAC address, which is information for specifying the image recording device included in the received image submission request information, and whether information regarding an image that matches the MAC address of the image recording device is included. Perform a search. That is, it is determined whether the image submission request information is addressed to the own apparatus. As a result of the search, if the information related to the matching image is included, the search processing unit reads the image management file recorded in the recording unit, and specifies the image in the image recording device included in the image submission request information. An image having an image file name that is information for performing the extraction is extracted. The SC outputs the encryption key included in the image submission request information to the encryption processing unit, and the encryption processing unit encrypts the extracted image using the corresponding encryption key. The encrypted image is transmitted from the wireless transmission unit to the image information management company via the roadside communication device. The image information management company submits the received image and the corresponding decryption key to the client.

In the above description, the configuration in which the encryption key is included in the image submission request information has been described. However, the configuration may be included in the image search information as in the second embodiment. By adopting the above processing sequence, unnecessary image data communication between the image recording apparatus and the roadside communication apparatus can be suppressed.

Further, as in the third embodiment, each of the above processes performed by the image management company may be performed by an image management server provided to the image management company, or realized by combining a plurality of devices to form an image management system. It goes without saying that it may be done.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the image management system. Note that a part of the description of FIG. 19 is omitted. The image management server 600 includes an image submission request / selected image notification reception unit 410, an encryption key / decryption key generation unit 420, an image search information generation unit 430, an image search information / image submission request information transmission unit 640, and an extraction An image / additional information management file receiving unit 450, an extracted image list file generating unit 460, a submitted image managing unit 470, a selected image / submitted image list file transmitting unit 480, and an image submission request information generating unit 690 are provided. To do.

The image submission request / selected image notification reception unit 410 receives the above-described image submission request and outputs the request to the encryption key / decryption key generation unit 420, the image search information generation unit 430, and the submission image management unit 470. The image submission request / selected image notification receiving unit 410 receives the selected image notification transmitted from the requester (image submission request sender) and outputs the selected image notification to the image submission request information generation unit 690. The image search information / image submission request information transmission unit 440 transmits the image search information input from the image search information generation unit 430 to a plurality of image storage devices. The image search information / image submission request transmission / transmission unit 440 transmits the above-described image submission request information input from the image submission request information generation unit 690 described later to a plurality of image recording apparatuses. The extracted image / additional information management file receiving unit 450 receives additional information management files generated in a plurality of image recording devices based on the image search information transmitted by the image search information transmitting unit 440. The extracted image / additional information management file receiving unit 450 outputs the received additional information management file to the submitted image list file generation unit 460. Also, the extracted image / additional information management file receiving unit 450 extracts extracted images extracted by a plurality of image recording devices based on the image submission request information transmitted by the image search information transmitting unit 440 and encrypted as necessary. Receive. The extracted image / additional information management file receiving unit 450 stores the received extracted image in the recording unit in the recording server 500. The submitted image list file generation unit 460 inputs a plurality of additional information management files transmitted from a plurality of image recording apparatuses, and after a predetermined period specified as necessary in the image submission request, for each item (request The above-mentioned submitted image list file is generated collectively. The submitted image list file generation unit 460 outputs the generated submitted image list file to the submitted image management unit 470, the selected image / submitted image list file transmission unit 480, and the image submission request information generation unit 690. The submitted image management unit 470 temporarily stores the input image submission request, decryption key, and submitted image list file in an internal recording unit. In addition, the submitted image management unit 470 receives the notification that the extracted image has been received from the extracted image / additional information management file receiving unit 450 after the elapse of a predetermined period indicated in the image submission request. The corresponding image is acquired as a selected image selected by the image submission request sender. The submitted image management unit 470 acquires a decryption key corresponding to the selected image from the internal recording unit, and outputs the decryption key and the acquired selected image to the selected image / submitted image list file transmission unit 480. The selected image / submitted image list file transmission unit 480 transmits the submitted image list file input from the submitted image list file generation unit 460 to the image submission request sender. The selected image / submitted image list file transmission unit 480 transmits the selected image input from the submitted image management unit 470 and the decryption key corresponding to the selected image to the image submission request sender. The image submission request information generation unit 690 stores the submission image list file input from the submission image list file generation unit 460 in an internal storage unit. When the selected image notification is input from the image submission request / selected image notification receiving unit 410, the image submission request information generation unit 690 generates the above-described submitted image request information with reference to the submitted image list file, and the image search information / image submission The data is output to the request transmission / transmission unit 440. The image management system can take such a configuration.

Note that an extracted image recording unit may be provided in the image management server instead of installing the image recording server. Further, a part of the configuration in the image management server described above may be realized by another device and connected to each other to configure the image management system.

FIG. 24 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the image collection system. Since this operation has already been described with reference to FIG. Note that S601 to S604 and S608 to S611 are the same as S401 to S404 and S408 to S411 in FIG. Each image recording apparatus that has received the above-described image search information performs a search to determine whether the image specified by the image search information is recorded in the apparatus (S605). If the image is recorded as a result of the search, the image recording apparatus generates an additional information management file (S606) and transmits it to the image management server (S607). The image management server that has received the selected image notification from the requester generates image submission request information (S612) and transmits it to a plurality of image recording devices (S613). Each image recording device that has received the image submission request information confirms whether the image submission request information is addressed to its own device, and if it is addressed to itself, the image specified in the image submission request information. Is extracted (S614), and the extracted image is transmitted to the image management server (S615). The image management server extracts the decryption key corresponding to the received extracted image, and transmits it to the image submission request sender together with the extracted image (S616).

With such a system, it is possible to prevent unnecessary images from moving from the image recording apparatus side to the image management system side.
(Embodiment 5)
The image collection system according to the fifth embodiment is configured to output a sample image in addition to the additional information management file so that the client can select a more appropriate image in the image collection system of the third or fourth embodiment. Take.

Although the client can select an image by referring to the submitted image list file in which the additional information management files sent from a plurality of image recording apparatuses are collected, there is a case where an image satisfying the request cannot be obtained only with the information. For example, depending on the installation conditions of the camera of the image recording device and the cause of poor contact, there may be cases where an appropriate image cannot be acquired even if the image is taken with a high-performance camera. Therefore, the image recording apparatus according to the present embodiment transmits a sample image in addition to the additional information management file when the corresponding image exists in the recording unit as a result of the search process. The SC randomly selects one or a plurality of images acquired within the range of the position and time included in the image search information. The selected sample image is transmitted from the wireless communication unit together with the additional information management file. The sample image is transmitted from the image information management company to the client together with the submitted image list file. That is, the SC reads the image acquired within the range specified based on the image search information and recorded in the recording unit as a sample image, and transmits the sample image together with the additional information management file. The image management server transmits the received sample image together with the submitted image list file to the client (image submission request sender).

With this configuration, the client sees not only the information included in the submitted image list file (additional information management file) but also the image submitted as a sample, and which image recording device captures the desired image. Since the determination can be made, the client can request the image submission with peace of mind. As a result, the number of requests increases, which leads to the development of the image collection system.

In the above description, the sample image is selected from the images acquired in the position / time range specified by the image search information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an image recorded in the recording unit is randomly selected. You may choose to send. What the client mainly wants to know from the sample image is that the camera is properly installed and operated, and does not need to be in the position / time range specified by the image search information. Note that the sample image was converted to a low-quality image by outputting the image once recorded in the recording unit to the image encoding unit and performing conversion processing such as high compression, file format change, and image size reduction. It may be configured to output as a sample image later, or may be configured to record both the sample image (thumbnail) and the normal image at the stage of image capturing.

(Embodiment 6)
In the configurations of the first to fifth embodiments, the image search information includes money information related to money paid as a reward for image submission, and the price of the consideration money input by the user in the comparison processing unit in the image recording apparatus. In this configuration, comparison is performed. Therefore, when the price set by the client is lower than the price set by the user, the image recording apparatus does not perform image search, and neither the image nor the additional information management file is submitted. However, the client may regret that it should have been set at a slightly higher price depending on the image collection status. As described above, since the requester cannot grasp how the image recording device owner sets the price for the image submission, it becomes difficult to set the price at the time of request, and the appropriate price cannot be set. This leads to a decrease in image request requests, a decrease in the total amount of consideration money, and a decrease in incentive to purchase an image recording apparatus. Therefore, the image collection system according to the present embodiment employs a configuration in which no comparison process is performed in money in the image recording apparatus. The processing sequence in the image collection system will be described with reference to FIG. However, the request money in step 2 does not include the monetary consideration for image submission.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram of the image recording apparatus 4000 in the present embodiment. The image recording apparatus 4000 does not have a comparison processing unit as compared with the image recording apparatus 2000 shown in FIG. This will be specifically described below. A part of the description of the same parts as those of the image recording apparatus 2000 will be omitted. The owner of the image recording apparatus sets the price of the image from the input unit 200. FIG. 26 shows a setting file that records the price of an image set by the owner, and the setting file is recorded in the recording unit 150. The price of an image is individually set based on the importance of the project, whether it is a still image or a moving image, an image taken during the day or an image taken at night. For example, a low price is set for importance 1 to 8 which means an image request from a public organization, but a relatively high price is set for importance 9 to 16 which means an image supply from the private sector. . In addition, in the images related to the importance levels 9 to 13, since images taken after 18:00 are degraded in image quality, it seems that few people purchase images at a high price. The price is discounted compared to the images taken in The price may be set based on the image acquisition position. This is because, for example, there are many image recording devices in the city, and images may not be purchased unless the price is set low. The structure which can set a price for every predetermined prefecture and city may be sufficient.

The image search information wirelessly received by the wireless communication unit 2230 is output to the search processing unit 190 in accordance with the control of the SC 2160. The image search information of the present embodiment is different from the image search information shown in FIG. 3 in that it does not include money information. As a result of the search in the search processing unit 190, when an image acquired in a range specified from the position information and time information included in the image search information is recorded in the recording unit 150, the search processing unit 190 The result is output to SC2160.

The SC 2160 creates an additional information management file for the corresponding image based on the search result. Here, the additional information associated with the image includes the price of the image. The SC 2160 refers to the setting file in which the price of the image input by the owner shown in FIG. 26 recorded in the recording unit is recorded, and associates the price of the image input by the owner with the image to manage additional information. Create a file. FIG. 27 shows an additional information management file in the present embodiment. In this case, the price of one still image corresponding to the image acquisition position / image acquisition time / importance specified based on the image search information is set to 500 yen by the owner. Information is shown in the additional information management file. The additional information management file is transmitted from the wireless communication unit 2230 to the image information management company.

The image information management company creates a submitted image list file by collecting additional information management files including information related to money sent from a plurality of image recording apparatuses, and submits the file to the client. The client refers to the submitted image list file and selects an image to be submitted. Here, since the client can select an image in consideration of the price of the image, the client can select the image flexibly while balancing with the budget. The image number, which is information for specifying the selected image, is notified from the client to the image information management company. In addition, the client pays the total price of the selected image displayed in the submitted image list file to the image information management company. The image information management company creates image submission request information shown in FIG. 22 based on the notified image number and transmits it to the image recording apparatus. The image recording device searches whether the received image submission request information includes an image submission request to the device itself, extracts the image specified by the image submission request information, and transmits it from the wireless communication unit 2230.

According to this configuration, since the client can select an image while referring to the amount of the image, for example, even if the image is expensive, if there is no other image that satisfies the requirements, the client can select this image. Is possible. As described above, focusing on the property value of images acquired by the image recording apparatus and building an image collection system that can be used effectively, the development of the image collection system can be expected through promotion of the penetration rate of the image recording apparatus . In the above description, the information regarding the image price set by the user is recorded in the additional information management file and transmitted. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 28, information different for each acquired image such as the image acquisition position, time, and traveling speed is collected in a table as a first additional information management file. Information that hardly changes may be arranged in a table as the second additional information management file, and the plurality of additional information management files may be transmitted. Here, the second additional information management file is stored in the recording server of the image management company, and when the first additional information management file is newly received, the second additional information management file is used to generate the submitted image list file. 2 may be configured to refer to the additional information management file. With this configuration, it is possible to eliminate repeated transmission of similar information. In the above description, the image search information is described as being transmitted from the roadside communication device to the wireless communication unit. However, the image search information may be received by a wireless reception unit (not shown) through FM broadcasting or the like. In addition, the image information management company collects the received additional information management files and creates a submitted image list file, and submits the submitted image list file to the client. The information management file may be submitted to the client as it is. Further, sample images may be transmitted together as in the sixth embodiment. Needless to say, each process performed by the image management company may be performed by an image management server or an image management system.

(Embodiment 7)
The image collection system according to the seventh embodiment is configured to allow an image to be distributed more flexibly than the image collection system described in the sixth embodiment. As shown in the above embodiments, the image acquired by the image recording apparatus has a property value. In each of the above embodiments, an image is submitted by using image search information based on a request from a client. However, when an image is regarded as a property, there are also owners of image recording apparatuses who want to actively sell the image. Therefore, the present image collecting system is configured so that the owner of the image recording apparatus can actively sell images. By promoting the distribution of the image by this configuration, it is possible to improve the penetration rate of the image recording apparatus and develop the image collection system.

  FIG. 29 is a block diagram of an image recording apparatus 5000 according to the seventh embodiment. A part of the same components as those in the block diagram of the image recording apparatus shown in FIGS. In the image recording apparatus according to the present embodiment, an image acquired by a camera is input to an image encoding unit and encoded according to a predetermined CODEC. The encoded image is input to SC5160, and position information indicating the current position detected by a position detection unit that detects the current position, such as a GPS device, is input. The SC 5160 obtains the image acquisition position based on the input position information, and records the encoded image on the information recording medium in the recording unit 150 in association with the image acquisition position. Note that the SC 5160 may also associate the image acquisition time with the image. The image management file in which the correspondence between the image and the image acquisition position / image acquisition time is recorded is also recorded in the recording unit 150. The image management file also includes information regarding a period for recording an image. The recording unit 150 deletes the image and updates the image management file when the recorded image has passed the image storage time limit indicated in the image management file due to the relationship with the recording capacity.

The additional information management file generation unit 5260 creates an additional information management file in which images, image acquisition positions, and image sales prices are recorded at a predetermined timing. For the predetermined timing, for example, an additional information management file may be created at predetermined intervals in accordance with an instruction from SC5160. In addition, according to the instruction of SC5160, every time a predetermined number of still images, a predetermined length of moving images, a predetermined amount of still images / moving images are acquired by the camera and recorded in the recording unit, an additional information management file May be created. The SC 5160 has a measuring unit that measures the number of images and the amount of data recorded in the recording unit 150, and creates an additional information management file in the additional information management file generation unit when a predetermined measurement value is exceeded. Is output. According to the instruction, an additional information management file is created for an image from which image number to which image number, or an additional information management file is created for an image acquired and recorded from which time to which time. Contains information. The SC 5160 simultaneously returns the measurement counter to 0 and continues measurement again.

When the additional information management file generation unit 5260 receives an instruction to create an additional information management file from the SC 5160, the additional information management file generation unit 5260 accesses the recording unit 150 and reads the image management file for the specified image. Further, through the input unit 200, for example, as shown in FIG. 26, a setting file in which information related to the selling price of an image set by the owner of the apparatus is recorded is read. The additional information management file generation unit 5260 creates an additional information management file by combining information recorded in the two read files.

FIG. 30 shows an example of the additional information management file. An image number, a file name of the image, an image acquisition position, a sales price of the image, and a time limit for storing the image in the apparatus recording unit are recorded as a management table. Here, the TZFCRWSX character string attached to a part of the file name of the image is a unique ID of the image recording apparatus. As described above, the additional information management file associates an image with an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, an image sales price, information for specifying an image acquisition device, and information about an image storage time limit. The created additional information management file is assigned a unique name and number to the additional information management file and stored in the RAM in the additional information management file generation unit 5260.

FIG. 31 shows an example of a file for managing the created additional information management file. In the management file, the additional information management number uniquely assigned to the created additional information management file, the creation date and time of the additional information management file, transmission of the additional information management file is completed or not completed Alternatively, a start address indicating the recording location of the additional information management file is recorded in a table.

The SC 5160 reads the management file and determines whether there is an additional information management file that has not been transmitted. If present, the encryption processing unit 2250 encrypts the untransmitted additional information management file using an encryption key designated in advance by the image information management company as necessary, and then in the wireless communication unit 2230 Is output to the buffer. When the wireless communication unit 2230 becomes communicable by entering the wireless zone of the roadside communication device, the additional information management file is divided into IP address packets indicating the server of the image information management company registered in advance. After that, it transmits to the roadside communication device.

The wireless communication unit 2230 receives the image submission request information. FIG. 32 shows a transmission format of the image submission request information. The image submission request information includes information such as a device ID that is information for identifying a device, an image number for identifying an image recorded in the device, a time limit for submitting the image, and an image transmission destination. . The received image submission request information is output to SC5160.

SC 5160 determines whether the device ID included in the image submission request information is the same as the ID of its own device. As a result of the comparison, if the device ID of the own device is not included, it is determined that the image submission request information is not addressed to the own device, the image submission request information is discarded, and the processing is terminated. On the other hand, when the device ID of the own device is included, it is determined that the information includes an image submission request addressed to the own device. The SC 5160 outputs the image number notified in accordance with the part including the device ID of the own device to the recording unit 150. Further, the SC 5160 outputs information indicating the transmission destination included in the image submission request information to the encryption processing unit 2250 and the wireless communication unit 2230, and outputs information indicating the image submission deadline to the wireless communication unit 2230. The memory controller in the recording unit refers to the image management file, extracts the image with the input image number, and outputs the extracted image to the encryption processing unit 2250 according to the control of the SC 5160. The encryption processing unit 2250 selects an encryption key corresponding to information indicating the transmission destination notified from the SC 5160 from encryption keys stored in advance for the input image, and outputs the encryption key to the wireless communication unit 2230. . The image is temporarily stored in a buffer unit in the wireless communication unit. When communication with the roadside communication device becomes possible, the wireless communication unit 2230 divides the image stored in the buffer unit into packets with the IP address of the transmission destination notified from the SC 5160 and transmits the divided images. Also, images temporarily stored in the buffer of the wireless communication unit are deleted when the image submission deadline is exceeded, and wireless transmission is not performed.

FIG. 33 is a sequence diagram showing an image flow of the image collection system in the present embodiment. An image is acquired by the image recording apparatus, and an additional information management file for the acquired image is created and transmitted to the image information management company. The image information management company collects additional information management files transmitted from a plurality of contracted image recording apparatuses, and publishes a list of images that can be purchased, for example, on an Internet homepage. Or, it is made public by sending an email to the contracted customer in the form of a list of available images. The price of the image is presented by adding the company's commission to the price specified in the additional information management file. An image information management company can sell images to a wider general consumer by providing such a service. Here, for example, if it is configured so that a map at a certain time on a home page and an icon indicating an acquisition position of a purchaseable image can be displayed in a multiplexed manner, a general consumer can purchase an image more easily.

A general consumer who purchases an image notifies the information management company of information specifying the image to be purchased, for example, an image number assigned to the image to be purchased. At the same time, the amount of the selected image is transferred from the consumer to the image information management company. In addition, the image information management company is notified of the image submission deadline by the consumer as necessary. The image information management company creates the image submission request information shown in FIG. 32 with reference to the additional information management file for the image notified from the consumer. Here, the image information management company refers to the additional information management file shown in FIG. 30 and uses the character string of TZFCRWSX, which is device-specific ID information for specifying the device included in the image file name, in the image submission request information. The image number corresponding to the image selected by the consumer is included in the image number in the image submission request information, and the image submission deadline specified by the consumer as required is included in the image submission request information. The image submission request information is created using the company's recording server as an IP address and transmitted to the image recording apparatus. As described above, the image recording apparatus extracts the image specified by the image submission request information and transmits it to the recording server of the image information management company. The image information management company, after decrypting / re-encrypting the encrypted image, submits the image and a decryption key for decrypting the image to the consumer. The image information management company notifies the personal information management company of the device ID of the image submitter as image submitter identification information, and transfers the amount specified in the additional information management file to the account notified by the personal information management company. , The sale of the image is completed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the owner of the image recording apparatus contracts with an image information management company to increase the chances of selling his / her own image as much as possible. Submit the additional information management file to the image information management company. An image information management company distributes images by presenting a list of images that can be sold together with additional information management files that are periodically transmitted from a plurality of contracted image recording devices to the consumer via a homepage or the like. Is promoted. This is because, for example, a general consumer can easily visit a homepage and purchase an image of a place of interest as compared with Embodiments 1 to 6. Image acquisition, image recording, image management, image transmission, and image sales are performed by the above-described method, so that the property value of the image is further extracted. It leads to the penetration rate improvement.

Note that the additional information management file may include information such as camera model, resolution, shutter speed and ISO value, image acquisition conditions, vehicle traveling speed, weather, and the like, and these additional information may be associated with the image. . In the above description, the additional information management file is generated by associating the unique ID of the device with the file name. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an image and the MAC address of the device as in the additional information management file shown in FIG. May be associated. In the above description, the case where the image submission request information is transmitted from the roadside information device to the wireless communication unit has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. You may receive by the radio | wireless receiving part which is not shown in figure. Further, the additional information management file and the extracted image may be transmitted without being encrypted. The image submission request information may include an encryption key, and the image may be transmitted after being encrypted using the encryption key. The additional information management file may be created and transmitted using additional information management file creation information transmitted from the image information management company. The additional information management file creation information is information for instructing creation of a new additional information management file for an image for which an additional information management file has not yet been created. The information is received by the wireless communication unit or the wireless reception unit. In this case, the SC 5160 outputs an additional information management file creation instruction to the additional information management file generation unit 5260. As described above, the creation / transmission may be performed based on the instruction from the image information management company. Further, as in the case of the first to sixth embodiments, it may be configured to operate in combination with the case of receiving image search information. Further, as a result of the search based on the image search information, an additional information management file is created only for images acquired within the range specified from the position information or time information included in the image search information, and the created additional information management file is The input unit 200 can be used to input and set switching between the passive mode for transmission and the positive mode for creating and transmitting the additional information management file for each stage where a certain period of time has passed or a certain image has been acquired as described above. It may be configured as follows. For example, because there are a large number of image recording devices in the city, there is little possibility of selling images taken with the device itself, and there is little merit because the price must be set low, so you run in such a place If you are driving in the countryside, on the other hand, if you are driving in the countryside, there are few cars equipped with image recording devices that run in such places, so the possibility of selling images at a high price increases. Therefore, switching such as setting to positive mode is effective. It is also effective to send sample images periodically to give consumers a range of choice.

As described above, in the image collection system according to the present embodiment, a so-called image recording device owner is regarded as an image seller, and an image is regarded as a product. That is, a consumer who wants a predetermined product (image) presents a product list (additional information management file) from a plurality of sellers (image recording device owners), and the product quality (acquisition position / camera model) and product Considering the price of the product, a normal product distribution market for purchasing products has been formed. This can be said to bring out the property value of the image acquired by the image recording apparatus. And this means that it is more likely that the product will be sold if it is taken with a device that can obtain a product (image) of better quality, and the person recognition function, night vision mode, high quality vibration correction, This also leads to the development of cameras with additional functions such as retrograde correction and the continuous creation of the camera market.

Needless to say, each processing performed by the image management company may be performed by the image management server or the image management system. FIG. 34 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image management system. The image management server 700 includes a selected image notification reception unit 710, an encryption key / decryption key generation unit 420, an image submission request information transmission unit 740, an extracted image / additional information management file reception unit 450, and a sellable image list. A file generation unit 760, a sales image management unit 470, a sales image / saleable image list file transmission unit 780, and an image submission request information generation unit 690 are provided.

The extracted image / additional information management file receiving unit 450 includes an image acquired (captured) by each image recording apparatus periodically transmitted from a plurality of image recording apparatuses, an acquisition (capturing) position, and an acquisition (capturing) time. The additional information management file in which at least the relationship is described is received, and the received additional information management file is output to the saleable image list file generation unit 760. It should be noted that it is better if the additional information management file includes the storage period of the image indicated in the additional information management file in the image recording apparatus. When the extracted image / additional information management file receiving unit 450 receives the extracted image extracted by the apparatus from the image recording apparatus, the extracted image / additional information management file receiving unit 450 records the extracted image in the recording server 500 and outputs the extracted image to the sales image management unit 470. . The saleable image list file generation unit 760 generates the saleable image list file by collecting the received additional information management files. Here, the image list file that can be sold includes information on images that can be sold (submitted). As an example, specifically, an image number, an image acquisition position, an image acquisition time, a sales possible period, a sales amount, and the like are associated with each other in the marketable image list file. The saleable image list file generation unit 760 outputs the generated saleable image list file to the sale image management unit 470 and the image submission request information generation unit 690. Further, when a transmission request for a saleable image list file is received from a control unit (not shown), it is output to the sale image / saleable image list file transmission unit 780. Further, the sellable image list file may be output to the recording server 500 and viewed by a third party. The saleable image list file generation unit 760 updates the information described in the additional information management file newly input every certain period to the saleable image list file, and relates to an image whose image storage period has expired in the image recording apparatus. The information is updated to be deleted from the available image list file. The sales image management unit 770 identifies an image to be sold (submitted) from the input sellable image list file and the selected image notification, and checks whether the image is recorded in the recording server 500. If it is recorded, the image is taken out and decrypted with the corresponding decryption key, and then output to the sales image / sales image list file transmission unit 790. The sales image / sales image list file transmission unit 790 transmits the input sales image to the client (selected image notification sender). A sales image list file is also transmitted as necessary. The selected image notification receiving unit 710 receives a selected image notification. The selected image notification is information for specifying an image to be purchased (selected), and includes, for example, an image number for specifying the image. The selection image notification reception unit 710 outputs the received selection image notification to the sales image management unit 770, the encryption key / decryption key generation unit 420, and the image submission request information generation unit 690. When the selection key notification is input, the encryption key / decryption key generation unit 420 generates an encryption key and outputs it to the image submission request information generation unit 690, and outputs the decryption key to the sales image management unit 770. When the image specified by the selected image notification is not recorded on the recording server, the image submission request information generation unit 690 requests the image submission based on the selected image notification and the sales image list file input including the encryption key. Information is generated and output to the image submission request information transmission unit 740. The image submission request information transmission unit 740 transmits the input image submission request information to the image recording apparatus. Such a configuration is possible.

FIG. 35 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the image collection system. Since this operation has already been described with reference to FIG. Each image recording apparatus acquires an image (S701), and generates and updates an additional information management file in which information such as the acquisition position of the image is collected (S702). For example, the image recording apparatus transmits the additional information management file every predetermined period measured by the time measuring unit or every time a predetermined number of images / capacity are acquired (S703). The image management system collects the additional information management files transmitted from the plurality of image recording devices and generates a sellable image list file (S704). The image management system presents information related to images that can be sold to general consumers by sending it to general consumers who request browsing of the list of images available for sale or by storing it on a recording server accessible via the Internet. (S705). The general consumer who refers to the available image list file purchases the desired image with reference to the price and the image acquisition position (S706). Specifically, a selection image notification that is information for specifying an image to be purchased, such as an image number, is transmitted. The image management system includes the encryption key as necessary based on the received selected image notification, generates image submission request information (S707), and transmits the generated image submission request information to the image recording apparatus (S708). ). The image recording apparatus receives the image submission request information, and if it is addressed to the own apparatus, the image recording apparatus extracts an image designated based on the information from the recording unit (S709). Further, the image is encrypted using the encryption key included in the image submission request information (S710). The image recording apparatus transmits the extracted and encrypted image to the image management system (S711). When receiving the image, the image management system stores it in the recording server (S712). Further, the encryption of the image is canceled (S713), and the image is transmitted as a sales image to the purchaser (selected image notification sender). Such an operation can promote the buying and selling of images. Note that when the image management system receives a new selected image notification in S706 and the same image has already been purchased and stored in the recording server, the processing of S707 to S712 is skipped, and the recording server After the corresponding image is read out and decrypted, the sales image is transmitted to the purchaser. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the image recording apparatus and the image management system from repeatedly flying for the same image, and it is possible to save radio resources.

Note that the additional information with little change such as the image sales price and the camera model is collected in the second additional information management file and stored in the recording server or the like in the image management system as in the sixth embodiment. There may be. When the received additional information management file is the second additional information management file, the extracted image / additional information management file 450 is stored in the recording server. On the other hand, if it is the first additional information management file in which information such as the image, image acquisition position, and acquisition time is collected, it is output to the sales image list file generation unit 760. The sales image list file generation unit 760 receives the first additional information management file input from the extracted image / additional information management file 450 and the second additional information management file recorded in the recording server. The sales image list file may be created / updated based on the additional information management file.

(Embodiment 8)
The image collection system according to the eighth embodiment has a new setting that enables real-time image provision. When an incident occurs, the image collection system of the present invention collects images around the incident as objective data afterwards, thereby reducing the false crime and dramatically improving the arrest rate. The first purpose is to promote self-heading due to difficulty. However, there are cases where you want to collect images in real time, such as when a police car tracks in a car chase and loses track of a getaway car. In order to respond to such a request, in this embodiment, the user sets ON / OFF of real-time transmission in addition to the importance and price settings shown in FIG. 5 when inputting the image submission criteria. . This setting value is recorded in the setting file.

In the present embodiment, real-time transmission request information is included in the image search information. This real-time transmission request information is assigned by 1 bit. Bit 0 indicates information related to normal image search, and bit 1 indicates that the case is a signal requesting image transmission in real time. When the real-time transmission request information is bit 1, only position information is included as information for specifying a range for which image submission is requested for this case, and time information is not included.

The image search information received by the wireless communication unit is output to the comparison processing unit according to the control of the SC, and a comparison process is performed for each item included in the image search information. When the real-time transmission request information of a case included in the image search information is bit 1 and the setting value of real-time transmission described in the read setting file is ON, the comparison processing unit Since real-time transmission is requested from the user, the owner determines that real-time transmission is permitted, and outputs the comparison result to the SC. The SC shifts the device to the real-time transmission mode based on the input comparison result. Specifically, when the current location input from the position detection unit is within the range specified from the position information included in the image search information, the image acquired by the camera unit is associated with the acquisition position and the acquisition time in the recording unit. After recording and simultaneously encrypting the image with the encryption processing unit using the encryption key included in the image search information as necessary, the IP address included in the image search information is transmitted from the wireless communication unit as the image submission destination To do. The real-time transmission mode ends in accordance with real-time end information that instructs the end of real-time transmitted later.

According to this configuration, since images are transmitted from a plurality of image recording devices to the police in real time, the police can grasp the current situation, and it is possible to resolve the case early by using it for tracking the escapers and the like. .

In the above description, the real-time transmission request information is newly transmitted. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It may be configured to enable real-time transmission by designating. In this case, when the time information included in the image search information is designated up to a time later than the current time, the SC determines that the image is requested in real time for the case, and the real time You may switch to mode.

  As described above, in the image collection system according to the present invention as described in each embodiment, the image recording apparatus includes a recording unit that records an image acquired by a camera and subjected to an encoding process on a recording medium, and a user A first input means for inputting a criterion for submitting a recorded image; a second input means for inputting image search information from a receiving means for wirelessly receiving image search information transmitted from the outside; Comparing means for comparing the input image search information is provided, and whether to submit the image is determined based on the comparison result. With this configuration, the user can flexibly control the image submission, so that the user can purchase and use the device with peace of mind, and the device purchase incentive is increased. In addition, since the additional information management file is submitted to the requester from the image recording device, the requester can select a more appropriate image from a group of images that satisfy the requirements for image submission. Therefore, the client can obtain an image more in line with his / her wishes. Therefore, the requester can make a request for image submission with peace of mind, and an increase in the total number of requests as a result is promoted, and the total amount of money consideration increases, so that an incentive to purchase an image recording apparatus is increased. Accordingly, the image collection system is further developed, and it is more effective for the police and the like to use the system as a clue for solving the case.

In the present invention, an image information management company is set up in the image collection system in order to collect image submission requests from private organizations. The image information management company has a receiving department that receives a request for image submission from a client. The request for image submission request includes information such as the location and time range for requesting image submission, the period for requesting image submission, the monetary compensation paid for image submission, and the intended use of the submitted image. . In addition, the image information management company has a creation department that collects request contents in a predetermined format and creates image search information. The image search information is transmitted to a plurality of image recording devices via a wireless communication medium. Further, the image information management company receives images submitted from a plurality of image recording devices and a management file for managing the images. The image information management company has a creation department that creates a submitted image list file based on management files from a plurality of image recording apparatuses received for the same item as necessary. The submitted image list file is submitted to the client, and the final image designated by the client is submitted to the client. In this way, by introducing a presence managing the distribution of images between the requester requesting image submission and the image recording apparatus, an appropriate image collection system can be constructed.

In the above description, the MAC address is notified as the image provider specifying information. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the image recording device records the registration number of its own device on the personal information management file stored in the personal information management company, and transmits the image to be submitted and the additional information management file including the registration number. There may be. By notifying the personal information management company of the registration number indicated in the additional information management file, the image information management company knows the account number of the image provider of the registration number from the personal information management company and It may be configured to transfer. Further, the image recording apparatus includes an image management file that is a first management file that manages images in the recording unit, an extracted image management file that is a second management file that manages images extracted based on image search information, An image search information management file that is a third management file for managing received image search information, and a fourth management file that is output to an image information management company (image management server) for use in image selection performed by the client. Additional information management file and image submission request information management file, which is a fifth management file for managing received image submission request information, are created, updated, and recorded as necessary, thereby enabling more flexible image management. This is possible, leading to reduction of comparison processing / search processing, reduction of wireless communication amount, and the like.

In the above description, the configuration is shown in which the additional information management file in which the association between the image and the additional information is recorded separately from the image is not limited to this, but is added to the file name or image data of the image. The configuration may be such that the image and the additional information are associated and output to the image information management company by including the information. Here, the image information management company reads and submits additional information such as the image acquisition position, image acquisition time, identifier unique to the image recording device, and image acquisition model, running speed, shutter speed, and exposure conditions associated with the image itself. The image list file may be created and submitted to the client. In the above description, the encryption key for encrypting the image to be submitted has been individually transmitted for each item in the image search information. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A plurality of encryption keys are periodically transmitted from an image information management company, the police, etc., and the plurality of encryption keys received by the wireless communication unit of the image recording apparatus are stored in an encryption processing unit under the control of the system controller, etc. Are recorded for a certain period in association with the encryption key number. In the encryption key management file for managing the encryption key, an encryption key number, a start address indicating a location where the corresponding encryption key is recorded, and the like are recorded. The image search information includes an encryption key number that specifies an encryption key for encrypting an image for each item. The encryption key number is output to the encryption processing unit according to the control of the system controller, and the encryption processing unit refers to the encryption key management file when encrypting the image extracted for the case corresponding to the encryption key number, Encryption is performed using an encryption key specified based on the encryption key number. Such a configuration is also possible. In addition, the encryption key is not limited to being transmitted, but a plurality of encryption keys are recorded in advance in the ROM in the encryption processing unit, and the extracted image is encrypted by selecting the encryption key according to the encryption key number included in the image search information. It may be configured to do so. In addition, regarding the price set by the input from a user, you may be comprised so that a different price can be set according to a time zone and a position. At times when there is a lot of traffic or in the city center, many cars equipped with image recording devices run, so the value of the images decreases. This is because the client is highly likely to obtain an image without setting a high price as the money consideration. On the other hand, the value of images is high in the countryside where there are few cars. It is desirable for the configuration to be able to respond flexibly to such situations. The contrast processing unit reads a setting file in which the reference value input by the user is recorded, the price set for the position and time specified by the position information and time information included in the received image search information, and the image It may be configured to compare with money information included in the search information.

  The in-vehicle camera is not limited to photographing the front of the car. For example, the in-vehicle camera may be installed to photograph the rear of the car, or may be configured to photograph and record a plurality of directions with a plurality of cameras. Good. When taking a picture of the rear, the video inside the car can be acquired at the same time, so it is possible to effectively cope with the case where a suspicious person gets into the car. In this case, the image captured by the front camera is recorded together with “Front” information indicating that the front is captured when recording, and the image captured by the rear camera is recorded as “Back” information. If they are combined and recorded in the image management file, later management can be simplified. In addition, an infrared camera, a night vision camera, and the like may be included in the plurality of in-vehicle cameras. By photographing with such a special camera, it is possible to obtain an image more effective for investigation.

  Further, the recording unit may be detachable. For example, the recording unit is a USB-connected external HDD, and when submitting an image, the recording unit is removed from the in-vehicle image recording device and connected to a terminal installed in a home PC or police, and the recorded image is submitted to the police. You may comprise so that it can do. By doing so, it is not necessary to move the data separately using a recording medium, and it is not necessary to separately provide output means such as a memory card slot, so that the cost can be reduced.

The idea of the present invention is that images taken by a general user are recorded in a distributed manner, and can be submitted to an image management system that manages images according to conditions when those images are required. Therefore, as described above, the image acquisition unit (camera) that acquires an image and the recording unit that records the image do not need to be integrated, and can be separated as individual devices. FIG. 36 is a diagram showing an image recording form. An image may be recorded in an image recording device attached to the car like the user A, or an image obtained by the image obtaining device attached to the car like the user B is transferred to a home server or the like. The configuration may be recorded, or an image acquired by the image acquisition device like the user C may be raised to the cloud and stored in a storage server in the cloud system. In any form, each image recording apparatus or image recording system is separated from the image management system, and is connected via image search information and image submission request information. That is, each image recording device or image recording system receives (inputs) image search information and image submission request information, transmits (outputs) an additional information management file, and when the mutual agreement is obtained, An image is transmitted (output) from the image recording system side to the image management system side. Accordingly, since the image is not forcibly sucked from the image recording apparatus / image recording system side to the image management server side managed by the police or the like, the image collecting system maintains high privacy as a whole.

Moreover, you may use the image image | photographed with the camera part of this invention for the measurement of the distance between vehicles, the presence detection of a person, etc. In this case, in order to detect the boundary between the car running in front and the landscape and to calculate the distance between the detection results, and to determine whether there is a person in the photographed image, a person pattern is previously set. A separate recording unit and a matching unit for performing a matching process on whether there is a feature in the image that matches a pattern recorded in the ROM are required. It can also be used in a driving assistance system that detects a white belt from a photographed image and automatically corrects the traveling position.

Note that Embodiments 1 to 7 may be implemented independently or in combination.

  Needless to say, the image recording apparatus of the present invention can be used as a conventional drive recorder used as evidence in the event of an accident of the host vehicle. Further, the data may be encrypted and recorded in the recording unit so that the image data or the like cannot be falsified. The image recording apparatus of the present invention is mounted not only on a private car but also on various movable vehicles such as trucks, buses, taxis, motorcycles, trains, bicycles, strollers, etc. Images can be recorded in association with each other. In the above description, the device of the present invention has been described as an image recording device for recording an image. However, a car navigation device having a function of recording an image may be used, or a wireless reception device having a function of recording an image, It may be a video camera. In the above description, the case where the image recording apparatus is mounted on a vehicle has been described. However, the image recording apparatus described above may be incorporated in the vehicle body in advance to provide a vehicle having an image recording function.

In addition, the system controller, the comparison processing unit, the search processing unit, the encryption processing unit, the image encoding unit, the position detection unit, and the like described above may be realized using semiconductor integrated circuits.

In addition, the design can be changed as appropriate without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  The image recording apparatus according to the present invention can be used as a security camera by being mounted in a vehicle and photographing and recording a scenery. Furthermore, since the acquired image can be used by a private organization, the acquired image can be effectively used.

Block diagram of the image recording apparatus of the present invention Image management file that records the correspondence between images and shooting positions and times Diagram showing the format of image search information The figure which shows the correspondence of the designation method of the image search range and the type bit The figure which shows the setting screen which sets the standard of image submission which is displayed in the image display section Figure showing a list of importance levels The figure which shows the image collection system of this invention The figure which shows the personal information management file which the personal information management company possesses Diagram showing the format of image search information Image search information management file Image management file that records the correspondence between images and shooting positions and times The block diagram which shows communication with the image recording device of this invention, and a roadside communication apparatus The figure which shows the setting screen which sets the standard of image submission which is displayed in the image display section Image management file that records the correspondence between images and shooting positions and times Diagram showing additional information management file Sequence diagram of the image acquisition system of the present invention The figure which shows the folder constitution of the record server of the image management company Figure showing submitted image list file Block diagram of the image collection system of the present invention Sequence diagram of the image acquisition system of the present invention Sequence diagram of the image acquisition system of the present invention Diagram showing image submission request information Block diagram of the image collection system of the present invention Sequence diagram of the image acquisition system of the present invention Block diagram of the image recording apparatus of the present invention Diagram showing image pricing criteria Diagram showing additional information management file Diagram showing additional information management file Block diagram of the image recording apparatus of the present invention Diagram showing additional information management file Figure showing a management file for managing additional information management files Figure showing format of image submission request information Sequence diagram of the image acquisition system of the present invention Block diagram of the image collection system of the present invention Sequence diagram of the image acquisition system of the present invention Conceptual diagram of the image collection system of the present invention

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 System bus 110, 4110 Camera part 120 Image encoding part 130 Data buffer part 140 Position detection part 150 Recording part 160, 2160, 5160 System controller 170 Radio | wireless receiving part 180 Contrast processing part 190 Search processing part

200 Input unit 210 Image display unit 220 External output IF
410 Image submission request / selected image notification reception unit 420 Encryption key / decryption key generation unit 430 Image search information property western part 440 Image search information transmission unit 450 Extracted image / additional information management file reception unit 460 Submitted image list file generation unit 470 Submitted image Management unit 480 Selected image / submitted image list file transmission unit 510 Extracted image / additional information management file recording unit 640 Image search information / image submission request information transmission unit 690 Image submission request information generation unit 710 Selected image notification reception unit 740 Image submission request Information transmission unit 760 Salesable image list file generation unit 770 Sales image management unit 780 Sales image / saleable image list file generation unit 2230 Wireless communication unit 2240 Connection interface 2250 Encryption processing unit 5260 Additional information management file generation unit

Claims (17)

Recording means for recording an image acquired by the camera and subjected to encoding processing on a recording medium, first input means for inputting a reference for submitting the recorded image, and image search information transmitted from the outside A second input means for inputting image search information from a receiving means for receiving; a comparison means for comparing the reference input by the first input means with the image search information input by the second input means; An image recording apparatus comprising: submission means for submitting an image based on a comparison result. The image processing apparatus further includes generation means for calculating position and time at the time of image acquisition and generating position information and time information, and the recording means corresponds to the image subjected to the encoding process with the position information and the time information. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image recording apparatus is attached and recorded. The image search information includes information on a position or time, the first input means inputs an image acquisition position range or an image acquisition time range in which no image is submitted, and the contrast means includes the position Alternatively, the range specified based on the information related to time is compared with the range input by the first means, and the submitting means is specified based on the information related to the position or time as a result of the comparison. The image recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an image acquired in the range that is input by the first input unit is not submitted. The first input means inputs a range width relating to a position or a length relating to a time, and the comparison means determines the width or length of the input range and the position or time included in the image search information. The image recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image recording apparatus performs comparison with a width or length of a range specified based on the information regarding. The image search information includes information representing an importance level of the image, the first input means inputs an importance level for submitting an image, and the contrast means includes the importance level included in the image search information and the importance level. 2. The input importance is compared, and the submission unit does not submit an image when the importance included in the image search information is lower than the input importance as a result of the comparison. Image recording device. The image search information includes monetary information related to consideration for image submission, the first input means inputs an amount for the image to be submitted, and the comparison means compares the input amount with the money information. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the submitting unit does not submit an image when the amount of consideration included in the money information is lower than the input amount as a result of the comparison. Image acquisition means for acquiring an image, encoding means for encoding the acquired image, recording means for recording the encoded image on a recording medium in association with an image acquisition position, image search information, and image submission Receiving means for receiving request information; and management file generating means for generating a management file in which information relating to images acquired within a range specified based on the image search information and recorded on the recording medium is collected. An image recording apparatus comprising: extraction means for extracting an image specified based on the received image submission request information; and transmission means for transmitting the management file and the extracted image. The image submission request information includes an encryption key, and the encryption unit encrypts the image extracted based on the image submission request information using the encryption key. The image recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the transmission unit transmits the extracted and encrypted image. The image recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the management file generation unit includes at least information regarding an image acquisition position and an image price. The image search information includes at least information related to a position, and the management file generation unit collects information related to an image acquired within a position range specified based on the image search information and recorded on the recording medium. The image recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the management file is generated. The image recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the extraction unit extracts an image specified based on the image submission request information from images recorded in the transmitted management file. An image acquired by a camera, encoded processing is performed on the acquired image, the encoded image is recorded on a recording medium, a criterion for submitting the recorded image is input, and an image transmitted from the outside An image recording method for inputting image search information from a receiving means for receiving search information wirelessly, comparing the input reference with the input image search information, and submitting an image based on the comparison result. Image submission request receiving means for receiving an image submission request, generation means for generating image search information based on the received image submission request, image search information transmitting means for transmitting the generated image search information, and the image An image management server comprising: an image receiving unit that receives an image transmitted from a plurality of image recording apparatuses that have received search information; and an image transmitting unit that transmits the received image to the requester of image submission. The image receiving means receives additional information management files generated by a plurality of image recording apparatuses that have received the image search information from a plurality of image recording apparatuses, and collectively submits the received plurality of additional information management files. 14. The image management server according to claim 13, further comprising generating means for generating a list file, wherein the image transmitting means transmits the generated submitted image list file. The image submission request receiving means further receives a selected image notification that is information for specifying an image selected based on the submitted image list file, and generates an image submission request information based on the selected image notification The image management server according to claim 14, further comprising request information generation means, wherein the image search information transmission means further transmits the image submission request information. Receiving a plurality of image submission requests from a plurality of image submission requesters, generating image search information based on the received image submission requests, transmitting the image search information, and receiving the image search information Receiving an image transmitted from a recording device, sorting the received image for each image submission request based on information associated with the image, and corresponding image submission requester for the image sorted for each image submission request Image management method to send to. An image submission request is received from an image submission requester, image search information is created based on the received image submission request, the image search information is transmitted, and the image search information is transmitted from a plurality of image recording apparatuses that have received the image search information Receiving the received additional information management file, generating a submitted image list file in which the plurality of received additional information management files are summarized for each image submission request, transmitting the submitted image list file, and receiving an image selection notification. Generating image submission request information based on the image selection notification, transmitting the image submission request information, receiving an image extracted by the image recording apparatus that received the image submission request information, and receiving the received image An image management method for transmitting to the image submitter.