SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VIDEO-ASSISTED IDENTIFICATION OF MOBILE PHONE USERS

• US 20120051604A1
• Filed: 07/24/2011
• Published: 03/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cognyte Technologies Israel Ltd. (Cognyte Software Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Verint Systems Limited (Verint Systems Incorporated)
• Inventors: Dudovich, Boaz, Hazzani, Gideon
• Granted Patent: US 9,025,833 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/115
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69

Abstract

Methods and systems for identifying and tracking individuals in a area-of-interest that may be covered by a video surveillance subsystem and by a communication location subsystem, and a correlation system correlates the outputs of the two subsystems. The communication location subsystem may monitor communication of mobile phones. The video subsystem captures video images of the area-of-interest, and processes the video images so as to identify individuals who are present in the area. The correlation system correlates a given mobile phone with a given individual who was identified by the video subsystem as being engaged in a phone conversation. After correlating the mobile phone with the individual using the phone, the correlation system outputs correlated information regarding the phone and its user to an operator.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

identifying a mobile communication terminal that is active in an area under surveillance by monitoring communication conducted between the mobile communication terminal and a wireless communication network;

automatically identifying, in video images of the area, that an individual is engaged in a communication session; and

correlating the identified individual with the identified mobile communication terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the individual comprises applying to the video images an automated image recognition process, which recognizes a person holding a communication terminal.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the mobile communication terminal comprises detecting a first time at which the mobile communication terminal initiates the communication, wherein identifying the individual comprises detecting a second time at which the individual initiates the communication session, and wherein correlating the individual with the mobile communication terminal comprises correlating the first and second times.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein detecting the second time comprises applying to the video images an automated image recognition process, which recognizes a person initiating the communication.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the mobile communication terminal comprises extracting information regarding the mobile communication terminal from the monitored communication, wherein identifying the individual comprises extracting one or more images of the individual from the video images, and wherein correlating the individual with the mobile communication terminal comprises correlating the information regarding the mobile communication terminal with the images of the individual.

6. The method according to claim 5, and comprising presenting the information regarding the mobile communication terminal and the images of the individual to an operator.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein extracting the information comprises extracting at least one information type selected from a group of types consisting of a telephone number and an International Mobile Station Identity (IMSI) of the mobile communication terminal.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein identifying the individual further comprises matching the extracted images of the individual with at least one image drawn from a list of known individuals, and wherein correlating the individual with the mobile communication terminal comprises correlating the mobile communication terminal with the matching image drawn from the list.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the mobile communication terminal comprises interrogating the mobile communication terminal by an interrogation device that is separate from the wireless communication network.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein a coverage area of the interrogation device is aligned with a field-of-view of a video camera that captures the video images.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the mobile communication terminal comprises accepting an identification of the mobile communication terminal from the wireless communication network.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the mobile communication terminal further comprises retrieving an image of a subscriber of the identified mobile communication terminal, and comprising matching a given individual who appears in the video images with the image of the subscriber of the identified mobile communication terminal.

13. Apparatus, comprising:

a communication location subsystem, which is configured to identify a mobile communication terminal that is active in an area under surveillance by monitoring communication conducted between the mobile communication terminal and a wireless communication network;

a video subsystem, which is configured to identify, in video images of the area, that an individual is engaged in a communication session; and

a correlation processor, which is configured to correlate the individual with the identified mobile communication terminal.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the video subsystem is configured to identify the individual by applying to the video images an automated image recognition process, which recognizes a person holding a communication terminal.

15. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the communication location subsystem is configured to detect a first time at which the mobile communication terminal initiates the communication, wherein the video subsystem is configured to detect a second time at which the individual initiates the communication session, and wherein the correlation processor is configured to correlate the first and second times.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the video subsystem is configured to detect the second time by applying to the video images an automated image recognition process, which recognizes a person initiating the communication.

17. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the communication location subsystem is configured to extract information regarding the mobile communication terminal from the monitored communication, wherein the video subsystem is configured to extract one or more images of the individual from the video images, and wherein the correlation processor is configured to correlate the information regarding the mobile communication terminal with the images of the individual.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the correlation processor is configured to output the information regarding the mobile communication terminal and the images of the individual for presentation to an operator.

19. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the communication location subsystem is configured to extract at least one information type selected from a group of types consisting of a telephone number and an International Mobile Station Identity (IMSI) of the mobile communication terminal.

20. A computer software product, the product comprising a computer-readable medium, in which program instructions are stored, which instructions, when read by one or more processors, cause the processors to accept an identification of a mobile communication terminal that is active in an area under surveillance, wherein the identification is obtained by monitoring communication conducted between the mobile communication terminal and a wireless communication network, to accept video images of the area, to identify in the video images of the area that an individual is engaged in a communication session, and to correlate the individual with the identified mobile communication terminal.