CACHING GRAPHICAL INTERFACE FOR DISPLAYING VIDEO AND ANCILLARY DATA FROM A SAVED VIDEO

• US 20090222730A1
• Filed: 04/20/2009
• Published: 09/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arrowsight Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Arrowsight Incorporated
• Inventors: SHIMSHACK, Julie, CHAUDRY, Kassim, WAYMAN, Mark, GULYANSKY, Alex, ROBERTS, Jeff, WIXSON, Lambert, RAFFERTY, Kate, ARONSON, Adam
• Granted Patent: US 9,565,398 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/723
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4143 embedded in a Personal Computer [PC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A system and a method for attaining a selectable image sequence are provided. The system includes a viewer display component configured to transmit a request from a user'"'"'s interface component for the selectable image sequence. The request obtains a handle which corresponds to the selectable image sequence, a display description in which the handle is embedded and a reply response containing the handle that corresponds to the selectable image. The viewer display component is also configured to receive the reply response and to render the selectable image sequence on a display screen of the user'"'"'s interface component.

Claims

1. A method of allowing a user to select a video sequence from stored video data from multiple cameras, said stored video being time-stamped, said method comprising the steps of:

transmitting a request from a first user interface component, wherein the request specifies a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera from said multiple cameras, said request causes the stored video data to be processed dynamically to identify a subset of frames recorded from said at least one camera, said subset of frames having time-stamps that span the specified range, and causing a handle to be generated for each frame of said subset of frames, said handle usable to retrieve each frame from said stored video data;

retrieving said set of frames based on said handles and rendering a display interface that displays said set of frames and a second user interface corresponding to each frame in the set of frames, wherein the second user interface presents a set of new user-selectable requests that subdivide the specified time range into a plurality of sub-time ranges, each sub-time range corresponding to a time range between the time-stamps of each frame of said subset of frames; and

drilling down through the subset of frames by selecting a sub-time range of said plurality of sub-time ranges;

wherein the transmitting step and rendering step are repeated based on the selected sub-time range.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein each handle comprises a pointer to a memory location of said stored video data corresponding to each frame of said subset of frames, respectively.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said transmitting step transmits said request to a server component, which processes said request to generate said handles and transmits said handles to said user interface.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the server component comprises a video server which configured to maintain and serve said stored video data.

5. The method as recited in claim 3, further including a step of caching data in a data cache.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the data cache resides on the server component.

7. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the data cache resides on a viewer display component.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the image retrieval invokes partial transmission of data if a spatial or temporal portion of data for the subset of frames was previously stored in the viewer display component.

9. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the image retrieval invokes partial transmission of data if a spatial or temporal portion of data for the subset of frames was previously stored in the data cache.

10. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the image retrieval invokes retrieval of a portion of the data for the subset of frames from the data cache if the user requests multiple selectable image sequences having overlapping time periods and if a portion of the data for any of the selectable image sequences was previously stored in the data cache.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the request further specifies a number of frames in the subset of frames to return as the reply, a resolution parameter specifying the spatial resolution of each image, a video content specification associated with the content of the stored video data, a video activity specification associated with the activity of the stored video data, and a telemetry data specification associated with the stored video data.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of providing a number of pre-defined requests as business rule requests, each of which specify pre-defined criteria including a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera;

and

selecting a business rule request from said number of pre-defined requests;

wherein said transmitting step and said rendering step are performed for said selected business rule request.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein each business rule request defines a set of time intervals.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the business rule request includes at least one criterion of a video content, video motion or telemetry associated with the video source.

15. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a temporary image file generated on the server in response to the request.

16. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a permanent video file on the server, together with an offset into that file where a frame is located.

17. A system for allowing a user to select a video sequence from stored video data from multiple cameras, said stored video being time-stamped, the system comprising:

a viewer display component configured to transmit a request from a first user interface component, wherein the request specifies a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera from said multiple cameras, said request causes the stored video data to be processed dynamically to identify a subset of frames recorded from said at least one camera, said subset of frames having time-stamps that span the specified range, and causing a handle to be generated for each frame of said subset of frames, said handle usable to retrieve each frame from said stored video data; and

the viewer display component is configured to receive the generated handles and to render a display interface based on said handles that contains said subset of frames and a plurality of second user interfaces, a second user interface corresponding to each frame in the set of frames, wherein the second user interface presents a set of new user-selectable requests that subdivide the specified time range into a plurality of sub-time ranges, each sub-time range corresponding to a time range between the time-stamps of each frame of said subset of frames,

wherein the viewer display component is further configured to allow a drilling-down through the subset of frames by selecting a sub-time range of said plurality of sub-time ranges, transmitting the selected sub-time range and rendering a second subset of frames based on the selected sub-time range.

18. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein each handle comprises a pointer to a memory location of said stored video data corresponding to each of said subset of frames, respectively.

19. The system as recited in claim 17, a server component processes said request to generate said handles and transmits said handles to said user interface.

20. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the server component comprises a video server which configured to maintain and serve said stored video data.

21. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein said video display component includes a data cache for caching at least a portion of said subset of frames.

22. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein said server component includes a data cache for caching at least a portion of said subset of frames.

23. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein the image retrieval invokes partial transmission of data if a spatial or temporal portion of data for the subset of frames was previously stored in the viewer display component.

24. The system as recited in claim 22, wherein the image retrieval invokes partial transmission of data if a spatial or temporal portion of data for the subset of frames was previously stored in the data cache.

25. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein the image retrieval invokes retrieval of a portion of the data for the subset of frames from the data cache if the user requests multiple sets of frames having overlapping time periods and if a portion of the data for multiple sets of frames was previously stored in the data cache.

26. The system according to claim 17, wherein the user interface component is configured to generate the request further specifying a number of frames in the subset of frames to return as the reply, a resolution parameter specifying the spatial resolution of each image, a video content specification associated with the content of the stored video data, a video activity specification associated with the activity of the stored video data, and a telemetry data specification associated with the stored video data.

27. The system according to claim 17, wherein said user interface component allows a user to select from a number of pre-defined requests as business rule requests, each of which specify pre-defined criteria including a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera, and to transmit the selected business rule request and render the subset of frames based on the selected business rule request.

28. The system according to claim 27, wherein each business rule request defines a set of time intervals.

29. The system according to claim 27, wherein the business rule request includes at least one criterion of a video content, video motion or telemetry associated with the video source.

30. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a temporary image file generated on the server in response to the request.

31. The system as recited in claim 19, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a permanent video file on the server, together with an offset into that file where a frame is located.

32. A system for allowing a user to select a video sequence from stored video data from multiple cameras, said stored video being time-stamped, the system comprising:

a viewer display means for transmitting a request from a first user interface means for providing an interface for a user with said system, wherein the request specifies a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera from said multiple cameras, said request obtains a set of generated handles which corresponds to a set of frames of said stored video data, said subset of frames having been recorded from said at least one camera and having time-stamps that span the specified time range, and

the viewer display means also is for receiving the generated handle and rendering a display interface based on said handle that contains said subset of frames and a plurality of second user interfaces, a second user interface corresponding to each frame in the set of frames, wherein the second user interface presents a set of new requests that subdivide the specified time range into a plurality of sub-time ranges, each sub-time range corresponding to a time range between the time-stamps of each frame of said subset of frames,

wherein the viewer display means is further for allowing a drilling-down through the subset of frames by selecting a sub-time range of said plurality of sub-time ranges, transmitting the selected sub-time range and rendering a subset of frames based on the selected sub-time range.

33. The system as recited in claim 32, wherein the handle comprises a pointer to a memory location of said stored video data corresponding to said set of frames.

34. The system as recited in claim 32, a server means for processing and serving the stored video data processes said request to generate said handle and transmits said handle to said user interface.

35. The system as recited in claim 34, wherein the server means comprises a video server which is configured to maintain and serve said stored video data.

36. The system as recited in claim 34, wherein said video display means includes a data cache means for caching at least a portion of said set of frames.

37. The system as recited in claim 34, wherein said server means includes a data cache for caching at least a portion of said subset of frames.

38. The system as recited in claim 36, wherein the image retrieval invokes partial transmission of data if a spatial or temporal portion of data for the subset of frames was previously stored in the viewer display means.

39. The system as recited in claim 37, wherein the image retrieval invokes partial transmission of data if a spatial or temporal portion of data for the subset of frames was previously stored in the data cache means.

40. The system as recited in claim 34, wherein the image retrieval invokes retrieval of a portion of the data for the selectable image sequence from the data cache if the user requests multiple sets of images having overlapping time period and if a portion of the data for multiple sets of images was previously stored in the data cache means.

41. The system according to claim 32, wherein the user interface means is further for generating the request further specifying a number of images in the subset of frames to return as the reply, a resolution parameter specifying the spatial resolution of each image, a video content specification associated with the content of the stored video data, a video activity specification associated with the activity of the stored video data, and a telemetry data specification associated with the stored video data.

42. The system according to claim 32, wherein said user interface means is further for allowing a user to select from a number of pre-defined requests as business rule requests, each of which specify pre-defined criteria including a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera, and to transmit the selected business rule request and render the subset of frames based on the selected business rule request.

43. The system according to claim 42, wherein each business rule request defines a set of time intervals.

44. The system according to claim 42, wherein the business rule request includes at least one criterion of a video content, video motion or telemetry associated with the video source.

45. The system as recited in claim 34, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a temporary image file generated on the server in response to the request.

46. The system as recited in claim 34, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a permanent video file on the server, together with an offset into that file where a frame is located.

47. A method of allowing a user to select a video sequence from stored video data from multiple cameras, said stored video being time-stamped, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request specifying a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera from said multiple cameras;

dynamically processing the stored video data to identify a subset of frames recorded from said at least one camera and having time-stamps that span the specified time range at the specified spacing,

generating one handle for each frame, that can be used to retrieve said each frame;

sending a reply response containing the handles;

displaying a set of frames based on the request and a plurality of second user interfaces, a second user interface corresponding to each frame in the set of frames, wherein each second user interface presents a set of new user-selectable requests that sub-divide the specified time range into a plurality of sub-time ranges; and

drilling down through the subset of frames by selecting a sub-time range with said specified time range;

wherein the receiving, generating, and sending steps are repeated based on the selected sub-time range.

48. The method as recited in claim 47, wherein each handle comprises a pointer to a memory location of said stored video data corresponding to said subset of frames, respectively.

49. The method as recited in claim 47, wherein the step of generating a handle includes a step of querying a database to determine time-stamps of a subset of frames having been recorded from said at least one camera most closely corresponding to the specified time range.

50. The method according to claim 47 further comprising steps of:

providing a video server configured to record and maintain said stored video data; and

downloading said subset of frames from said video server corresponding to said handles.

51. The method as recited in claim 50, further including the step of caching at least a portion of data of said subset of frames in a data cache.

52. The method as recited in claim 51, wherein the data cache resides on a server component.

53. The method as recited in claim 51, wherein the data cache resides on a viewer display component.

54. The method as recited in claim 51, wherein the step of downloading said images invokes spatial or temporal reconstruction if signals of the subset of frames are sampled with different sampling rates and if a portion of the data for the subset of frames was previously stored in the data cache.

55. The method as recited in claim 51, wherein the step of downloading said subset of frames invokes retrieval of a portion of the data for the subset of frames from the data cache if requests for multiple sets of frames having overlapping time periods and if a portion of the data for any sets of frames were previously stored in the data cache.

56. The method as recited in claim 50, wherein the step of generating the handles comprises retrieving a handle from a handle data cache.

57. The method according to claim 47, wherein the request further specifies a number of frames in the subset of frames to return as the reply, a resolution parameter specifying the spatial resolution of each image, a video content specification associated with the content of the stored video data, a video activity specification associated with the activity of the stored video data, and a telemetry data specification associated with the stored video data.

58. The method according to claim 47, further comprising a step of providing a number of pre-defined requests as business rule requests, each of which specify pre-defined criteria including a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera;

and

wherein said request includes a selected a business rule request from said number of pre-defined requests;

wherein the receiving, generating, and sending steps are performed for said selected business rule request.

59. The method according to claim 58, wherein each business rule request defines a set of time intervals.

60. The method according to claim 58, wherein the business rule request includes at least one criterion of a video content, video motion or telemetry associated with the video source.

61. The method as recited in claim 50, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a temporary image file generated on the server in response to the request.

62. The method as recited in claim 50, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a permanent video file on the server, together with an offset into that file where a frame is located.

93. A method as recited in claim 47, wherein the generating further comprises:

generating a hash code for each subset of frames wherein the hash code causes the server component to retrieve selected image sequence.

63. A system for allowing a user to select a video sequence from stored video data from multiple cameras, said stored video being time-stamped, the system comprising:

a server component configured to receive a request specifying a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera from said multiple cameras, to dynamically process the stored video data to identify a subset of frames recorded from said at least one camera and having time-stamps that span the specified time range at the specified spacing, to generate one handle for each frame, that can be used to retrieve said each frame, and to send a reply response containing the generated handles; and

a display component configured to display a set of frames based on the request and a plurality of second user interfaces, a second user interface corresponding to each frame in the set of frames, wherein each second user interface presents a set of new user-selectable requests that sub-divide the specified time range into a plurality of sub-time ranges,

wherein the server component is further configured to allow a drilling-down through the subset of frames by selecting a sub-time range within said specified time range, transmitting the selected sub-time range and rendering a subset of frames based on the selected sub-time range.

64. The system as recited in claim 63, wherein said server component is coupled with a network and said request is received via said network.

65. The system as recited in claim 63, wherein the handle comprises a pointer to a memory location of said stored video data corresponding to said subset of frames.

66. The system as recited in claim 63, further comprising:

a video server component for recording and maintaining said stored video data.

67. The system as recited in claim 63, wherein the system is configured to cache video data of said subset of frames in a data cache.

68. The system as recited in claim 67, wherein the data cache resides on said server component.

69. The system according to claim 63, wherein the request further specifies a number of images in the subset of frames to return as the reply, a resolution parameter specifying the spatial resolution of each image, a video content specification associated with the content of the stored video data, a video activity specification associated with the activity of the stored video data, and a telemetry data specification associated with the stored video data,

and said server component is configured to generate a set of handles based on said request.

70. The system according to claim 63, wherein said server component is further configured to provide a number of pre-defined requests as business rule requests, each of which specify pre-defined criteria including a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera, and to generate said handle based on the selected business rule request.

71. The system according to claim 70, wherein each business rule request defines a set of time intervals.

72. The system according to claim 70, wherein the business rule request includes at least one criterion of a video content, video motion or telemetry associated with the video source.

73. The system as recited in claim 63, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a temporary image file generated on the server in response to the request.

74. The system as recited in claim 63, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a permanent video file on the server, together with an offset into that file where a frame is located.

75. A system for allowing a user to select a video sequence from stored video data from multiple cameras, said stored video being time-stamped, the system comprising:

a server component means for receiving a request specifying a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera from said multiple cameras, for dynamically processing the stored video data to identify a subset of frames recorded from said at least one camera and having time-stamps that span the specified time range at the specified spacing, for generating one handle for each frame, that can be used to retrieve said each frame, and for sending a reply response containing the generated handles; and

display component means for displaying a set of frames based on the request and a plurality of second user interfaces, a second user interface corresponding to each frame in the set of frames, wherein each second user interface presents a set of new user-selectable requests that sub-divide the specified time range into a plurality of sub-time ranges,

wherein said server means is for allowing a drilling-down through the subset of frames by selecting a sub-time range of a plurality of sub-time ranges, and transmitting the selected sub-time range and rendering a subset of frames based on the selected sub-time range.

76. The system as recited in claim 75, wherein said server means is coupled with a network and said request is received via said network.

77. The system as recited in claim 75, wherein the handle comprises a pointer to a memory location of said stored video data corresponding to said subset of frames.

78. The system as recited in claim 75, further comprising:

a video server means for recording and maintaining said stored video data.

79. The system as recited in claim 75, wherein the system is configured to cache video data of said subset of frames in a data cache.

80. The system as recited in claim 79, wherein the data cache resides on said server means.

81. The system according to claim 75, wherein the request further specifies a number of images in the subset of frames to return as the reply, a resolution parameter specifying the spatial resolution of each image, a video content specification associated with the content of the stored video data, a video activity specification associated with the activity of the stored video data, and a telemetry data specification associated with the stored video data,

and said server means is for generating a set of handles based on said request.

82. The system according to claim 75, wherein said server means is for providing a number of pre-defined requests as business rule requests, each of which specify pre-defined criteria including a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera, and to generate said handle based on the selected business rule request.

83. The system according to claim 82, wherein each business rule request defines a set of time intervals.

84. The system according to claim 83, wherein the business rule request includes at least one criterion of a video content, video motion or telemetry associated with the video source.

85. A system of obtaining selectable image sequences, comprising:

receiving means for receiving a business rule request for the selectable image sequences, wherein the business rule requests a set of selectable image sequences;

handle obtaining means for obtaining handles for each of the selectable image sequences in the set of selectable image sequences based upon the user'"'"'s business rule request;

display description generating means for generating a display description in which the handles for each of the selectable image sequences are embedded;

reply response generating means for constructing a reply response containing the display description with the embedded handles that correspond to the selectable image sequences;

sending means for sending the reply response containing the display description with the embedded handles; and

display means for displaying a set of frames based on the request and a plurality of second user interfaces, a second user interface corresponding to each frame in the set of frames, wherein each second user interface presents a set of new user-selectable requests that sub-divide the specified time range into a plurality of sub-time ranges,

wherein the display means is further for allowing a drilling-down through the subset of sub-time ranges, transmitting the selected sub-time range and rendering a subset of frames based on the selected sub-time range.

86. The method as recited in claim 85, wherein the step of rendering the display description renders the selectable image sequence.

87. The method as recited in claim 85, wherein the business rule request defines a set of video sources.

88. The method as recited in claim 85, wherein the business rule request defines a set of time intervals.

89. The method as recited in claim 85, wherein the business rule request includes at least one criterion of a video content, video motion or telemetry associated with the video source.

90. A method as recited in claim 85, wherein the handle generation steps further comprises:

retrieving the subset of frames from the database;

reassembling the subset of frames into a new data format sequences,

storing the new data format sequences in a data cache located on the server component; and

generating a handle for each subset of frames, wherein the handle causes the server component to retrieve each new format sequence.

91. A method as recited in claim 90, wherein the reassembling step further comprises:

transcoding the subset of frames from a first compression format to another compression format.

92. A method as recited in claim 90, wherein the reassembling step further comprises:

writing the subset of frames as separate files located outside of a video database.

94. A system for allowing a user to select a video sequence from stored video data from multiple cameras, said stored video being time-stamped, the system comprising:

a user interface component configured to provide a graphic user interface and to render images coupled with a network;

a server component coupled with said network;

a plurality of cameras coupled with a video server component, said video server component being coupled with said server component;

wherein said user interface component is configured to generate a request specifying a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera from said plurality of cameras, and transmit said request to said server component,

said server component is configured to receive said request, to dynamically process the stored video data to identify a subset of frames recorded from said at least one camera and having time-stamps that span the specified time range at the specified spacing, to generate one handle for each frame, that can be used to retrieve said each frame, and to send a reply response containing the generated handles to said client interface, and

said user interface component is configured to retrieve and display said subset of frames based upon said handles and to display a plurality of second user interfaces, a second user interface corresponding to each frame in the subset of frames, wherein each second user interface presents a set of new user-selectable requests that sub-divide the specified time range into a plurality of sub-time ranges,

wherein said video display component is further configured to allow a drilling-down through the subset of frames by selecting a sub-time range of a plurality of sub-time ranges, transmitting the selected sub-time range and rendering a second subset of frames based on the selected sub-time range.

95. The system as recited in claim 94, wherein each handle comprises a pointer to a memory location of said stored video data corresponding to each of said subset of frames, respectively.

96. The system as recited in claim 94, a server component processes said request to generate said handles and transmits said handles to said user interface.

97. The system as recited in claim 96, wherein the server component comprises a video server which configured to maintain and serve said stored video data.

98. The system as recited in claim 96, wherein said video display component includes a data cache for caching at least a portion of said subset of frames.

99. The system as recited in claim 96, wherein said server component includes a data cache for caching at least a portion of said subset of frames.

100. The system as recited in claim 98, wherein the request invokes partial transmission of data if a spatial or temporal portion of data for the subset of frames was previously stored in the viewer display component.

101. The system as recited in claim 99, wherein the request invokes partial transmission of data if a spatial or temporal portion of data for the subset of frames was previously stored in the data cache.

102. The system as recited in claim 98, wherein the request invokes retrieval of a portion of the data for the subset of frames from the data cache if the user requests multiple sets of frames having overlapping time periods and if a portion of the data for multiple sets of frames was previously stored in the data cache.

103. The system according to claim 94, wherein the user interface component is configured to generate the request further specifying a number of frames in the subset of frames to return as the reply, a resolution parameter specifying the spatial resolution of each image, a video content specification associated with the content of the stored video data, a video activity specification associated with the activity of the stored video data, and a telemetry data specification associated with the stored video data.

104. The system according to claim 94, wherein said user interface component allows a user to select from a number of pre-defined requests as business rule requests, each of which specify pre-defined criteria including a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera, and to transmit the selected business rule request and render the subset of frames based on the selected business rule request.

105. The system according to claim 104, wherein each business rule request defines a set of time intervals.

106. The system according to claim 104, wherein the business rule request includes at least one criterion of a video content, video motion or telemetry associated with the video source.

107. The system as recited in claim 96, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a temporary image file generated on the server in response to the request.

108. The system as recited in claim 96, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a permanent video file on the server, together with an offset into that file where a frame is located.

109. A method for allowing a user to select a video sequence from stored video data from multiple cameras, said stored video being time-stamped, the method comprising:

generating a request that specifies a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera from said multiple cameras;

processing the stored video data dynamically to identify a subset of frames recorded from said at least one camera, said subset of frames having time-stamps that span the specified range;

generating a handle for each frame of said subset of frames, said handle usable to retrieve each frame from said stored video data which corresponds to a subset of frames of said stored video data;

displaying said subset of frames based on said generated handle and a plurality of second user interfaces, a second user interface corresponding to each frame in the subset of frames, wherein each second user interface presents a set of new user-selectable requests that sub-divide the specified time range into a plurality of sub-time ranges; and

drilling down through the subset of frames by selecting a sub-time range of a plurality of sub-time ranges;

wherein the transmitting step and rendering step are repeated based on the selected sub-time range.

110. The method as recited in claim 109, wherein each handle comprises a pointer to a memory location of said stored video data corresponding to each frame of said subset of frames, respectively.

111. The method as recited in claim 109, wherein said processing step is executed on a server component.

112. The method as recited in claim 111, wherein the server component comprises a video server which is configured to maintain and serve said stored video data.

113. The method as recited in claim 111, further including a step of caching data in a data cache.

114. The method as recited in claim 113, wherein the data cache resides on the server component.

115. The method as recited in claim 113, wherein the data cache resides on a viewer display component.

116. The method as recited in claim 115, wherein the request invokes partial transmission of data if a spatial or temporal portion of data for the subset of frames was previously stored in the viewer display component.

117. The method as recited in claim 113, wherein the request invokes partial transmission of data if a spatial or temporal portion of data for the subset of frames was previously stored in the data cache.

118. The method as recited in claim 113, wherein the request invokes retrieval of a portion of the data for the subset of frames from the data cache if the user requests multiple selectable image sequences having overlapping time periods and if a portion of the data for any of the selectable image sequences was previously stored in the data cache.

119. The method according to claim 109, wherein the request further specifies a number of frames in the subset of frames to return as the reply, a resolution parameter specifying the spatial resolution of each image, a video content specification associated with the content of the stored video data, a video activity specification associated with the activity of the stored video data, and a telemetry data specification associated with the stored video data.

120. The method according to claim 109, further comprising a step of providing a number of pre-defined requests as business rule requests, each of which specify pre-defined criteria including a time range, a desired spacing, and at least one camera;

and

selecting a business rule request from said number of pre-defined requests;

wherein said transmitting step and said rendering step are performed for said selected business rule request.

121. The method according to claim 120, wherein each business rule request defines a set of time intervals.

122. The method according to claim 120, wherein the business rule request includes at least one criterion of a video content, video motion or telemetry associated with the video source.

123. The method as recited in claim 111, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a temporary image file generated on the server in response to the request.

124. The method as recited in claim 111, wherein each handle includes a string, generated by the server, that encodes a filename corresponding to a permanent video file on the server, together with an offset into that file where a frame is located.