METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING VIDEO STREAMS

• US 20090085740A1
• Filed: 09/27/2007
• Published: 04/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Lertola, John F., Livescu, Dorel, Klein, Thierry Etienne
• Granted Patent: US 8,199,196 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/540
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19695 Arrangements wherein non-video detectors start video recording or forwarding but do not generate an alarm themselves
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/21805 enabling multiple viewpoints, e.g. using a plurality of cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234363 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for clients with a lower screen resolution
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2365 Multiplexing of several video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2385 Channel allocation H04N21/266 takes precedence; Bandwidth allocation H04N21/24 takes precedence ; allocation of channels according to the instantaneous demands of the users in time-division multiplex systems H04J3/1682; admission control, resource allocation in open networks H04L12/5692; arrangements for maintenance or administration in data switching networks involving bandwidth and capacity management H04L41/0896; negotiating bandwidth in wireless networks H04W28/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25825 involving client display capabilities, e.g. screen resolution of a mobile phone optimising the visualisation of content during browsing in the Internet G06F16/9577; processing of terminal status or physical abilities in wireless networks H04W8/22; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2662 Controlling the complexity of the video stream, e.g. by scaling the resolution or bitrate of the video stream based on the client capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4347 Demultiplexing of several video streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4621 Controlling the complexity of the content stream or additional data, e.g. lowering the resolution or bit-rate of the video stream for a mobile client with a small screen arrangements for using the results of monitoring on user's side in broadcast systems H04H60/65; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/77 between a recording apparatus and a television camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/188 Capturing isolated or intermittent images triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined event, e.g. an object reaching a predetermined position signal generation from motion picture films H04N5/253

Abstract

The invention includes a method and apparatus for controlling video streams. A method includes monitoring for an event associated with one of a plurality of video camera controllers providing a plurality of video streams where each of the video streams has a first quality level, and, in response to detecting an event associated with one of the plurality of video camera controllers, propagating a control message toward the one of the video camera controllers for which the event is detected, where a control message adapted for requesting the one of the video camera controllers to switch from providing the video stream using the first quality level to providing the video stream using a second quality level. The first quality level may be a low level of quality and the second quality level may be a high level of quality.

Claims

1. A method for controlling video stream quality levels for video streams provided by video camera controllers, comprising:

monitoring for an event associated with one of a plurality of video camera controllers providing a plurality of video streams, each of the video streams having a first quality level; and

in response to detecting an event associated with one of the plurality of video camera controllers, propagating a control message toward the one of the video camera controllers for which the event is detected, wherein the control message is adapted for requesting the one of the video camera controllers to switch from providing the video stream using the first quality level to providing the video stream using a second quality level.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to a determination that an additional video stream having the second quality level cannot be supported;

determining an existing video stream being provided using the second quality level; and

propagating, toward a video camera controller providing the determined existing video stream, a control message adapted for requesting the video camera controller providing the existing video stream using the second quality level to switch to providing the existing video stream using the first quality level.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the event comprises:

detecting a request by a user to receive the video stream using the second quality level.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the event comprises:

processing the video stream from the one of the video camera controllers to determine content of the video stream;

detecting at least one condition associated with the content of the video stream.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the event comprises:

receiving data from a monitoring device; and

processing the received data to detect the event.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the event comprises at least one of a start of audio, a change of temperature, a motion, a presence of a biological agent, a presence of a chemical agent, and a presence of radiation.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

before detecting the event, presenting at least a portion of the received video streams having the first quality level, wherein each of the presented video streams is presented as a video thumbnail.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after detecting the event, continuing to present at least a portion of the video streams having the first quality level, wherein each of the video streams having the first quality level is presented as a video thumbnail.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first quality level comprises a first video rate and a first video resolution and the second quality level comprises a second video rate and a second video resolution.

10. An apparatus for controlling video stream quality levels for video streams provided by video cameras, comprising:

means for monitoring for an event associated with one of a plurality of video camera controllers providing a plurality of video streams, each of the video streams having a first quality level; and

means for propagating a control message toward one of the video camera controllers for which an event is detected in response to detecting the event, wherein the control message is adapted for requesting the one of the video camera controllers to switch from providing the video stream using the first quality level to providing the video stream using a second quality level.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

means for determining an existing video stream being provided using the second quality level, in response to a determination that an additional video stream having the second quality level cannot be supported; and

means for propagating, toward a video camera controller providing the determined existing video stream, a control message adapted for requesting the video camera controller providing the existing video stream using the second quality level to switch to providing the existing video stream using the first quality level.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the means for detecting the event comprises:

means for detecting a request by a user to receive the video stream using the second quality level.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the means for detecting the event comprises:

means for processing the video stream from the one of the video camera controllers to determine content of the video stream;

means for detecting at least one condition associated with the content of the video stream.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the means for detecting the event comprises:

means for receiving data from a monitoring device; and

means for processing the received data to detect the event.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the event comprises at least one of a start of audio, a change of temperature, a temperature satisfying a threshold, a motion, a presence of a biological agent, a presence of a chemical agent, and a presence of radiation.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

means for presenting at least a portion of the received video streams having the first quality level, wherein each of the presented video streams is presented as a video thumbnail.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

means for continuing to present at least a portion of the video streams having the first quality level, wherein each of the video streams having the first quality level is presented as a video thumbnail.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first quality level comprises a first video rate and a first video resolution and the second quality level comprises a second video rate and a second video resolution.

19. A method for presenting video streams, comprising:

receiving a plurality of video streams having a first quality level;

presenting the received video streams according to the first quality level; and

in response to detecting that one of the video streams originally received at the first quality level is currently being received at a second quality level, switching from presenting the received one of the video streams according to the first quality level to presenting the received one of the video streams according to the second quality level;

wherein the one of the video streams received at the first quality level is received at a second quality level in response to an event associated with a video camera providing the one of the video streams.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein presenting the received video streams according to the first quality level comprises presenting the video streams as video thumbnails and presenting the one of the video streams according to the second quality level comprises presenting the one of the video streams with a higher level of quality.