KR100612023B1 - Network camera providing data communication and data communication method using the network camera - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a network camera that provides data communication such as chat or file transfer between users connected to a network camera, and a data communication method using the same.

The network camera providing data communication according to the present invention provides information of all connected users, and when a data communication service request is received from a user, chatting using a predetermined data communication server module supporting the corresponding service of the network camera. Or data communication such as file transfer.

According to the present invention, data communication such as chat or file transmission is possible between users connected to the same network camera to provide convenience to the user, and information exchange between users can be facilitated.

Description

Network camera providing data communication and data communication method using the same {Network camera providing data communication and data communication method using the network camera}

1 is a view showing a relationship between a network camera and a user according to the prior art.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a network camera and a data communication system using the same according to the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing image information in a network camera according to the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of chatting between users using a network camera according to the present invention.

The present invention relates to a network camera, and more particularly, to a network camera for providing data communication such as chat or file transfer between users connected to the network camera, and a data communication method using the same.

The network camera converts image information inputted by an image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD) into digital image information, and then converts the image information into JPEG or M-JPEG, wavelet or MPEG compression. In this manner, the device is compressed and stored in a memory, and when a user accesses a network camera using a program such as a web browser in a user terminal such as a remote personal computer, the device provides the captured image information to the user. Such a network camera is installed in a desired place and widely used for surveillance security devices.

Conventional network cameras need additional equipment such as a separate network transmission device to transmit image information to a remote user, but recently, with the advent of an integrated network camera, video transmission can be implemented without additional equipment or complicated installation work. . In other words, the recent network camera has a built-in web server, so you can connect to the Internet or intranet without any additional equipment by using Ethernet and view the video through a web browser at a remote location. Control is possible. The network camera is also called a "web camera" or "internet camera." Many users can access these network cameras to monitor video, and anyone can use it easily using a general-purpose browser (Netscape or Explorer).

1 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a network camera and a user according to the related art.

As shown, a plurality of users connected to a network camera through a network, can receive and use the video and audio data provided by the network camera from the screen of their terminal, and remotely pan / tilt as needed Network camera control such as / zoom is possible.

However, a conventional network camera merely provides video or audio data to a plurality of connected users, but does not provide a data communication function for chatting or transferring files between a plurality of users connected to the network camera. It was.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a network camera and a data communication method using the same that enables data communication, such as chat or file transfer between a plurality of users connected to the network camera It has a purpose.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a network camera for providing data communication, comprising: a web server module displaying a web page on a connected user computer and receiving login information; An authentication module for determining whether the user is a legitimate user through the login information; A storage unit for storing the user information when it is determined that the user is a legitimate user through the authentication module; And a predetermined data communication server module for transmitting all user information stored in the storage unit to the user computer according to a user's data communication service request and in charge of data communication between users.

Preferably, the data communication server module may be a chat server module that receives a message input by one connected user and delivers the message to another user to provide a chat service.

Preferably, the data communication server module may be a P2P hybrid server module that receives a list of files stored in each user's computer and provides a file transfer service between users using a P2P protocol.

In addition, the user information stored in the storage unit preferably includes an IP address of the user.

In addition, the data communication method using a network camera according to the present invention comprises the steps of determining whether the user is a legitimate user by receiving login information from the user; Storing user information including an IP address of a legitimate user determined by the step; In response to a user's request for a data communication service, calling the server module for providing a corresponding service includes providing data communication between users.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The network camera according to the present invention provides information of the entire user connected to the network camera and, when a user requests a data communication service, chats using a predetermined data communication server module supporting the corresponding service of the network camera. Or data communication such as file transfer.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a network camera and a data communication system using the same according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the data communication system using the network camera according to the present invention includes an authentication module 110 for determining whether a user who has attempted to access a network camera has a right to use, and displays a web page of a network camera at a connected user computer. Web server module 120 for displaying and receiving login information, Chat server module 130 for providing a chat service between users connected to the network camera, P2P (Peer-TO-) for file transfer between users connected to the network camera Peer) Hybrid server module 140, the network module 150 is connected to the network and outputs a variety of information provided from the modules (110 to 130) to the user connected to the network camera according to a predetermined protocol, connected to the network A storage unit 160 storing user information and the like, and photographing a subject to display digital image information. It includes a network camera 100 having a camera unit 170 for providing, and users connected to the network camera 100 through a network to receive various services.

Here, the chat server module 130 and the P2P hybrid server module 140 is an embodiment of a data communication server module for performing data communication between users, and another module is selected according to a data communication service to be provided. Can be.

In addition, the network referred to in the present invention is an ISDN, a connection through a dedicated line, a connection through a LAN, a connection through a telephone network (PSTN, PSDN), a connection through a WAN, a connection through the Internet, a remote image using the TCP / IP protocol Search includes all commonly connected methods of the network.

Looking at the configuration of the network camera 100 in detail as follows.

The authentication module 110 determines whether the connected user is a legitimate user who can use the network camera through login information such as a user ID and a password.

The web server module 120 displays a web page to a user connected to a network camera and provides information according to an item selected by the user on the web page. In addition, the user may be configured to enter his ID and password through the login screen of the web page displayed through the web server module 120, the ID and password entered by the user to the authentication module 110 It is determined that a valid user is inputted. However, the authentication procedure may be avoided depending on the environment in which the network camera is used. For reference, the network camera has a unique IP address and has a function of displaying a web page to a user accessing the web browser. A user who wants to access the network camera accesses the network camera by inputting an IP address or Uniform Resource Locator (URL) assigned to the network camera through a web browser or the like.

The chat server module 130 enables a chat between users by transmitting a message input by one user to another user when a chat service request is received from the user.

When there is a file transfer service request from a user, the P2P hybrid server module 140 manages and provides a file list of the user and enables P2P file transfer between users.

The network module 150 is a network interface module for connecting a network camera to a network. For example, the network module 150 may be configured as an Ethernet module or a wireless Ethernet module.

When it is determined that the user connected through the authentication module 110 is a legitimate user, the storage unit 160 stores user information such as an ID or an IP address of the user. Here, at least the IP address of the user's computer must be stored for P2P file transfer between chats and users. In addition, the storage unit 160 provides user information when a request is received from the chat server module 130 or the P2P hybrid server module 140.

On the other hand, the authentication module 110, the web server module 120, the chat server module 130, and the P2P hybrid server module 140 may be a device that performs each function independently, it performs each function May be software. In addition, each module may be one module or device in which each function is integrated and is not limited to the embodiment of the present invention.

The camera unit 170 includes an image sensor, an image compression unit, etc., not shown, and encodes an image signal input to the image sensor into a digital image signal and provides it to the web server module 120. The web server module 120 displays image information provided from the camera unit 170 through a web page. On the other hand, the camera unit 170 may be provided with a microphone to encode a voice signal around the network camera is installed with the video signal to provide to the user.

Referring to the operation of the network camera according to the present invention having the configuration as described above are as follows.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing image information in a network camera according to the present invention.

First, a user connected to a network executes a web browser embedded in a user computer and attempts to log in to the network camera 100 (200). Here, the user requests access to the network camera 100 by inputting the URL of the network camera or the IP address assigned to the network camera 100 on a web browser screen, and attempts to log in by inputting a predetermined ID and password. Done.

The web server module 120 of the network camera 100 receiving the connection request displays the web page of the network camera in a web browser of a user computer. In addition, the ID and password input through the web browser of the user computer is input to the authentication module 110 of the network camera 100, the authentication module 110 is compared with the information about the pre-stored user to check the connection, It is determined whether the attempted user has permission (210).

When the determination result 220 of the authentication module 110 is determined to be a user with a right of use, the authentication module 110 calls the web server module 120 to display a web page according to the authentication processing result. .

When the user requests image information photographed by the network camera 100 (230), the web server module 120 receives the image information from the camera unit 170 and provides it to the user (240), the user In operation 250, the image information is decoded and displayed on the screen.

Meanwhile, in order to view an image transmitted from the network camera 10, the user's computer needs to install a plug-in program of the network camera in a web browser. However, the plug-in program may not be necessary depending on the video compression format of the network camera. For the convenience of the user, the plug-in program may be provided to the user from the network camera.

In addition, instead of using a dedicated plug-in program of the network camera, it may be used in conjunction with an existing messenger service.

In addition to the basic operation of such a network camera, the network camera according to the present invention performs a data communication function such as chat or file exchange between connected users. This will be described using the flow chart of FIGS. 4 to 6.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of chatting between users using a network camera according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, a chat is performed between user 1 and user 2.

Referring to FIG. 4, users 1 and 2 who want to chat using a network camera request a login to the network camera by executing a web browser of their computer (300). As described above, each user requests a connection to the network camera 100 by inputting the URL of the network camera or the IP address or URL assigned to the network camera 100 on the web browser screen, and the predetermined ID and You will try to log in by entering your password.

The web server module 120 of the network camera 100 receiving the connection request displays the web page of the network camera in a web browser of a user computer. In addition, the authentication module 110 determines whether the user who attempts to access has the right to use, based on the input login information (310).

As a result of the determination of the authentication module 110, if it is determined that the user has a legitimate use authority, the authentication module 110 notifies the web server module 120 of the result, and the web server module 120 processes the authentication. Display the web page according to the result.

When the computer of the user 1,2 is successfully completed (320), and provides information about the user to the network camera 100 (330, 332). In this case, the user information provided to the network camera 100 includes a name or ID of each user and an IP address of each user computer.

The user information input to the network camera 100 is stored in the storage 160 (340).

The user requests a chat service from the network camera 100 to chat with another user connected to the network (350), and the network camera 100 calls the chat server module 130 (360).

The chat server module 130 provides user information connected to a network camera stored in the storage unit 160, and the users who have received the user information can check which users are currently connected to the network camera. do.

In this state, the user can chat with the other user by using the name or IP address information of the other user.

For example, if user 1 wants to chat by sending a certain message to user 2, user 1 designates user 2 to input a message, and the input message is the chat server module 130 of the network camera 100. Is sent to. The chat server module 130 of the network camera 100 checks the receiver of the input message and delivers the message to the user 2 (380). User 2's computer prints the message. By repeating this process, users connected to the network camera can chat with each other.

In addition, the network camera according to the present invention enables file transfer between users. Referring to FIG. 5, which is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing a file transfer between users using a network camera according to the present invention, each user of the network camera 100 is connected to the network camera 100 from a process of logging in to the network camera. The process of storing the information 400 to 440 is as described above.

However, there is a difference that the P2P hybrid server module 140 is used in the process of performing file transfer using a network camera.

That is, when a user who wants to transfer files between users requests a file transfer service (450), the P2P hybrid server module 140 of the network camera 100 is called (460). The P2P hybrid server module 140 provides user information stored in the storage unit 170, manages an IP address or a file list of each user, and secures a P2P connection between users.

Users are provided with a list of files stored in each user's computer through the P2P hybrid server module 140, and perform file transfer with each other using the P2P protocol (470).

According to the network camera according to the present invention as described above, in addition to the basic functions of the network camera generally used for the surveillance function, it is possible to provide convenience to the user by enabling data communication such as chat or file transfer between users. have.

As such, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The scope of the present invention is shown in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

According to the network camera and the data communication method using the same according to the present invention as described above, it is possible for data communication such as chat or file transfer between users connected to the same network camera to provide convenience to the user, and exchange information between users This can be smooth.

Claims (5)

In the network camera that provides the image information to the user computer connected via a network, A web server module displaying a web page on a connected user computer and receiving login information; An authentication module for determining whether the user is a legitimate user through the login information; A storage unit for storing the user information when it is determined that the user is a legitimate user through the authentication module; And a predetermined data communication server module which transmits all user information stored in the storage to the user computer according to a user's data communication service request, and is responsible for data communication between users. The method of claim 1, The data communication server module is a network camera for providing a data communication, characterized in that the chat server module to provide a chat service by receiving a message input by one connected user to another user. The method of claim 1, The data communication server module is a network camera for providing data communication, characterized in that a P2P hybrid server module for providing a file transfer service between users using a P2P protocol provided with a list of files stored in each user's computer. The method of claim 1, User information stored in the storage unit, the network camera for providing data communication, characterized in that the IP address of the user. In the data communication method using the network camera between users connected to the network camera, Receiving login information from the user and determining whether the user is a legitimate user; Storing user information including an IP address of a legitimate user determined by the step; In response to a user's request for a data communication service, calling a server module for providing a corresponding service to provide data communication between users.

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