Television – Special applications – Observation of or from a specific location
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-10
2001-12-11
Britton, Howard (Department: 2713)
Television
Special applications
Observation of or from a specific location
C348S153000, C348S159000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06330025
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to surveillance systems in general, and more particularly to digital audio and visual data storage, retrieval, and display, and management systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Surveillance systems employing video cameras and audio input devices are well known. In a typical system, some or all of the video and audio signals are provided on video screens and via speakers for monitoring by security personnel. It is also known to record some or all of the analog video and audio signals on videotape for later retrieval. However, videotape suffers from serious drawbacks as a storage medium, particularly in view of the large quantity of video information generated by a surveillance system. A major concern is the sheer quantity of tapes to be stored, especially when it is desired to record signals generated by a large number of surveillance cameras. Moreover, in a large system many video tape recorders may be required, resulting in a large capital expenditure, the need to allocate space for the recorders, and the high maintenance costs of recorders due to their mechanical nature. Another problem is the need to frequently change tape cassettes. Degradation of the recording quality due to the wear on reused tapes is yet another problem.
Retrieving information of interest from recorded tapes presents additional challenges. It is the nature of video surveillance that a large part of the tape-recorded video surveillance signals is of no interest whatsoever, since it typically represents a static image of a field of view. Finding a particular sequence representing a significant event can be extremely difficult and time-consuming, requiring tedious human review of hours or days of tape-recorded signals, usually only after the event has occurred.
There have been a number of attempts to overcome these disadvantages, but so far with limited success, or at the cost of additional drawbacks. For example, it is known to multiplex and combine signals from multiple video cameras into a single image comprising multiple viewing windows within the image, each window corresponding to one of the cameras. Such multiplexing is based on decimating the frame rate of each of the video sources by a factor of N and combining N such decimated sources into a single video signal of a standard frame rate. This is called time lapsed recording. However, each camera image in the multiplexed image must undergo compression that may reduce the quality of the recorded image. Also, recording of multiplexed images does not address the problems involved in finding sequences of interest on the recorded tapes. It is also known to record the surveillance video signals selectively in response to input from a human operator who is monitoring the signals or in response to signals generated by sensor devices arranged to detect events such as opening of doors or windows. This technique reduces the total information to be recorded, while preventing storage of much uninteresting information, but at the risk of failing to record significant events which cannot readily or timely be detected by sensors or human operators. Also, the reliance on external input can result in unreliability and increased expense, particularly where human operators are to initiate recording.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present seeks to provide a digital audio and visual data storage, retrieval, and display, and management system that overcomes disadvantages of the prior art.
There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a digital video logging system including a plurality of video input devices, a plurality of audio input devices, output apparatus operative to provide either of video and audio output, digital storage apparatus operative to store digitally formatted input, and logging apparatus operative to receive analog input from any of the input devices, convert to digital format any of the analog input received, synchronize any of the digitally formatted input converted from any of the analog input received from more than one of the input devices, selectively provide any of the digitally formatted input to the digital storage apparatus, and selectively provide any of the digitally formatted input to the output apparatus.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the system further includes a database, and the logging apparatus is operative to associate any portion of the digitally formatted input with any of an input channel datum, a time datum, a date datum, a non-ambient characteristic datum, and a trigger datum, and maintain any of the data in the database.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the system further includes a database, and the logging apparatus is operative to associate any portion of the digitally formatted input substantially in real-time to receipt of the portion with any of an input channel datum, a time datum, a date datum, a non-ambient characteristic datum, and a trigger datum, and maintain any of the data in the database.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the logging apparatus is operative to selectively control any of the input devices to provide analog input therefrom.
Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the system further includes at least one cyclic buffer associated with at least one of the input devices, and the logging apparatus is operative to detect a non-ambient characteristic associated with any of the digitally formatted input, cyclically store any of the digitally formatted input in the cyclic buffer prior to detecting the non-ambient characteristic, and provide the any of the digitally formatted input stored in the cyclic buffer to the digital storage apparatus subsequent to the non-ambient characteristic being detected.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the digitally formatted input is digitally formatted video input and the non-ambient characteristic is a non-ambient motion characteristic associated with any of the digitally formatted video input.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the digitally formatted input is digitally formatted audio input and the non-ambient characteristic is a non-ambient sound characteristic associated with any of the digitally formatted audio input.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the logging apparatus is operative to detect the non-ambient characteristic associated with any of the digitally formatted input converted from the analog input received from the at least one input device associated with the at least one cyclic buffer.
Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the logging apparatus is operative to detect the non-ambient characteristic associated with the digitally formatted input converted from the analog input received from any of the input devices other than the at least one input device associated with the at least one cyclic buffer.
Further in accordance with a preferred e embodiment of the present invention the system further includes at least one detection device operative to detect a non-ambient characteristic and provide a signal subsequent to and in connection with detection of the non-ambient characteristic, and at least one cyclic buffer associated with at least one of the input devices, the logging apparatus is operative to receive the signal from the detection device, cyclically store any of the digitally formatted input in the cyclic buffer prior to receiving the signal, provide the any of the digitally formatted input stored in the cyclic buffer to the digital storage apparatus subsequent to receiving the signal.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the non-ambient characteristic is a non-ambient motion characteristic.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention th
Arazi Nitzan
Rosen Gilad
Sheffer Uri
Britton Howard
Eitan Pearl Latzer & Cohen-Zedek
Nice Systems Ltd.
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