System and method for storing pattern data

• US 20030151662A1
• Filed: 01/22/2003
• Published: 08/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pelco (Schneider Electric SE)
• Original Assignee: Pelco (Schneider Electric SE)
• Inventors: Bopp, Eric
• Granted Patent: US 7,312,814 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/139
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A video surveillance system is provided for recording and executing camera operation patterns. Each pattern includes a plurality of records having a camera condition field and a count field. The system reads a camera condition and writes the condition to memory in a pattern record. The system compares each new camera condition with the condition stored in memory, and records a newly read condition into a new pattern record if the new camera condition is different from the condition data stored in the most recent pattern record. Otherwise, the count field is updated in the most recent pattern record by incrementing a count data therein. Patterns are executed by sequentially moving the camera through the camera condition stored in the pattern records, and keeping the system at a particular condition for a duration equal to the count data of each pattern record multiplied by a predetermined time interval.

Claims

1. A method of video surveillance using a camera having a memory storing one or more pattern data sets, each pattern data set comprising one or more pattern records, each pattern record comprising one or more camera condition fields and a count field, the method comprising:

moving the camera through a first plurality of camera conditions;

storing a first camera condition data in a first pattern record;

reading a second camera condition data;

comparing the second camera condition data with the first camera condition data;

incrementing the count field of the first pattern record if the second camera condition data matches the first camera condition data; and

storing the second camera condition data in a new pattern record if the second camera condition data does not match the first camera condition data.

2. The video surveillance method of claim 1, further comprising writing the new pattern record to the memory.

3. The video surveillance method of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of camera conditions includes at least a first camera condition and a second camera condition, and the first camera condition data corresponding to the first camera condition, and the second camera condition data corresponding to the second camera condition data.

4. The video surveillance method of claim 1, further comprising:

reading the first camera condition data at a first point in time; and

reading the second camera condition data at a second point in time, the second point in time being one predetermined time interval after the first point in time.

5. The video surveillance method of claim 4, wherein the predetermined time interval is one sixtieth of a second.

6. The video surveillance method of claim 1, further comprising resetting the count field of the new pattern record to an initial value.

7. The video surveillance method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the count field of the first pattern record to an upper limit value;

storing the upper limit value as the count field of the first pattern record if the compared count field equals the upper limit value; and

resetting the count field of the new pattern record to an initial value.

8. The video surveillance method of claim 1, wherein the one or more camera condition fields of each pattern record include one or more data command selected from the group consisting of a tilt data command, a pan data command, a tilt speed data command, a pan speed data command, a zoom data command, a focus data command, an automatic scan data command, a manual scan data command, and an iris data command.

9. The video surveillance method of claim 1, wherein the one or more camera condition fields of each pattern record include a set of data commands including a tilt data command, a pan data command, a tilt speed data command, a pan speed data command, a zoom data command, a focus data command, an automatic scan data command, a manual scan data command, and an iris data command.

10. A method of recording and storing camera scan patterns in an active video surveillance system executing a plurality of camera conditions, each pattern comprising one or more pattern records, each pattern record comprising a camera condition data and a count data, the method comprising:

storing a first camera condition data corresponding to a first camera condition in a first pattern record;

reading a second camera condition data corresponding to a second camera condition;

comparing the second camera condition data with the first camera condition data;

incrementing the count data of the first pattern record if the second camera condition data is identical to the first camera condition data; and

storing the second camera condition data in a new pattern record if the second camera condition data is not identical to the first camera condition data.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

reading the first camera condition data at a first point in time;

reading the second camera condition data at a second point in time, the second point in time being one predetermined time interval after the first point in time.

12. A method of video surveillance using a camera having a memory storing one or more pattern data sets, each pattern data set comprising one or more pattern records, each pattern record comprising a camera condition field and a count field, the method comprising:

selecting a first pattern record from a first pattern data set;

reading a first camera condition data from the camera condition field of first pattern record, the first camera condition data including a first set of camera commands corresponding to a first camera condition;

reading a first count data from the count field of the first pattern record; and

moving the camera in accordance with the first camera condition for a duration equal to the first count data multiplied by a predetermined pattern time interval.

13. The video surveillance method of claim 12, further comprising:

selecting a second pattern record from the first pattern data set;

reading a second camera condition data from the camera condition field of the second pattern record, the second camera condition data including a second set of camera commands corresponding to a second camera condition;

reading a second count data from the count field of the second pattern record;

moving the camera in accordance with the second camera condition for a duration equal to the second count data multiplied by the predetermined pattern time interval.

14. The video surveillance method of claim 12, wherein the first pattern data set includes an initialization record having a starting location, wherein the method further includes moving the camera to the starting location prior to selecting the first pattern record.

15. The video surveillance method of claim 13, wherein the first count data and second count data have a maximum value of 255.

16. The video surveillance method of claim 13, wherein the first camera condition data and the second camera condition data are each four bytes.

17. The video surveillance method of claim 13, wherein the predetermined pattern time interval is one sixtieth of a second.

18. The video surveillance method of claim 13, wherein the camera condition field of each pattern record includes one or more data commands selected from the group consisting of a tilt data command, a pan data command, a tilt speed data command, a pan speed data command, a zoom data command, a focus data command, an automatic scan data command, a manual scan data command, and an iris data command.

19. The video surveillance method of claim 13, wherein the camera condition field of each pattern record includes a set of data commands including a tilt data command, a pan data command, a tilt speed data command, a pan speed data command, a zoom data command, a focus data command, an automatic scan data command, a manual scan data command, and an iris data command.

20. A video surveillance system, comprising:

a memory, the memory storing one or more pattern records, each pattern record comprising a camera condition field and a count field, each camera condition field including a camera command data corresponding to a camera condition, and

a processor electrically coupled to the memory, the processor reading a plurality of camera conditions at predetermined time intervals.

21. The video surveillance system of claim 20, wherein the one or more pattern records include a most recent pattern record and a new pattern record, the processor executing programmatic code to:

compare a first camera command data stored in the most recent pattern record to a second camera command data corresponding to second camera condition, and

write into the memory, the second camera command data into the camera condition field of the new pattern record if the first camera command data is different from the second camera command data.

22. The video surveillance system of claim 21, wherein each count field includes a count data, the processor further executing programmatic code to increment the count data of the most recent pattern record if the first camera command data is the same as the second camera command data.

23. The video surveillance system of claim 22, wherein the count data has an upper limit value, the processor further executing programmatic code to:

compare the count data of the most recent pattern record to the upper limit value, and

write into the memory the second camera command data into the camera condition field of the new pattern record if the count data of the most recent pattern record is equal to the upper limit value.

24. The video surveillance system of claim 20, wherein the camera condition field of each pattern record includes one or more data commands selected from the group consisting of a tilt data command, a pan data command, a tilt speed data command, a pan speed data command, a zoom data command, a focus data command, an automatic scan data command, a manual scan data command, and an iris data command.

25. The video surveillance system of claim 20, wherein the camera condition field of each pattern record includes a set of data commands including a tilt data command, a pan data command, a tilt speed data command, a pan speed data command, a zoom data command, a focus data command, an automatic scan data command, a manual scan data command, and an iris data command.

26. The video surveillance system of claim 20, further comprising:

a central controller, the central controller including the memory and the processor;

one or more monitor displays electrically coupled the central controller; and

a camera electrically coupled to the central controller, the camera capturing a video image displayable on one or more of the monitors.

27. The video surveillance system of claim 26, wherein the central controller is a matrix switch.