Surveillance System with Direct Database Server Storage

• US 20110279678A1
• Filed: 04/14/2011
• Published: 11/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Gottardi, Victor, Van Der Elst, Yves, Tink, Edsel James
• Granted Patent: US 8,830,327 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/159
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/71 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/78 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19645 Multiple cameras, each having view on one of a plurality of scenes, e.g. multiple cameras for multi-room surveillance or for tracking an object by view hand-over
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19693 using multiple video sources viewed on a single or compound screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/90 Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A video surveillance system includes at least one of a camera or a streamer. A data base server is coupled to the camera and can store metadata for a video clip from the camera or streamer. A media storage server is coupled to both the camera or, the streamer, and to the data base server to store the clip in the absence of any network video recorders.

Claims

1. A surveillance system comprising:

a plurality of cameras;

a storage unit which receives and stores at least video signals from the cameras; and

a database control system coupled to the cameras and the storage units where the control system can search stored video signals in response to a user'"'"'s query.

2. A system as in claim 1 which includes a plurality of user input units, coupled to the database control system wherein a search command can be manually entered and executed by the control system.

3. A system as in claim 2 which includes circuitry to select and initiate operation of a camera.

4. A system as in claim 3 wherein selected information relative to video and audio data from an operating camera is stored in the storage unit.

5. A system as in claim 4 where the selected information comprises metadata.

6. A system as in claim 2 wherein a query from a user input unit can retrieve selected, stored video from the storage unit.

7. A system as in claim 1 where the storage unit stores audio signals in addition to the video signals and the database control system comprises a data base server to implement centralized management and search functions of video and audio stored in the storage unit.

8. A video surveillance system comprising:

at least one of a camera or a streamer;

a data base server to store metadata for a video clip from the camera or streamer; and

a media storage server coupled to the camera or the streamer and to the data base server, wherein the storage server receives the clip from the camera in the absence of any intervening recording device.

9. A system as in claim 8 which includes circuitry to generate a trigger which activates at least the camera to obtain the video clip therefrom, and wherein metadata for the clip is stored in the data base server.

10. A system as in claim 9 which includes a user station coupled to the servers wherein a query can be entered at the user station and, responsive thereto, the clip can be retrieved from the media storage server.

11. A system as in claim 10 where the media storage server receives and stores audio clips wherein in response to a query from the user station, a selected audio clip can be retrieved from the media storage server.

12. A system as in claim 11 where the data base server implements centralized management and search functions of video and audio clips stored in the media storage server.

13. A method of acquiring at least one video clip comprising:

at least intermittently obtaining video indicative of a region being monitored;

obtaining metadata associated with the video;

storing the metadata at a first server;

storing at least the obtained video at a different server;

responding to a query from the first server by retrieving the stored video from the second server; and

visually presenting the retrieved video.

14. A method as in claim 13 which includes coupling the servers together and coupling each server to a source of the video.

15. A method as in claim 13 which includes obtaining audio and storing the obtained audio at the different server, and where the first server implements centralized management and search functions of video and audio clips stored in the different server.