MEMORY MANAGEMENT IN EVENT RECORDING SYSTEMS
First Claim
1. A vehicle event recorder configured to be mounted in a vehicle, the vehicle event recorder comprising:
- a video camera having a field-of-view that includes an environment about the vehicle, the video camera configured to acquire consecutive frames of visual information representing the environment about the vehicle;
a buffer memory configured to electronically store information;
one or more sensors configured to generate output signals conveying information related to vehicle events; and
a controller configured to;
effectuate storage of the consecutive frames of visual information in the buffer memory with a first frame storage density;
detect vehicle events based on the output signals; and
responsive to detecting a vehicle event, designate individual frames of visual information stored in the buffer memory related to the vehicle event for long-term storage,wherein the individual frames designated for long-term storage have the first frame storage density during a first period of time that includes the vehicle event,wherein the individual frames identified for long-term storage have a second frame storage density for a second period of time before the first period of time and a third period of time after the first period of time, andwherein the first frame storage density is higher than the second frame storage density.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle event recorder is provided that includes a camera for capturing a video as discrete image frames, and that further includes a managed loop memory and a management system for generating a virtual ‘timeline dilation’ effect. To overcome size limits in the buffer memory of the video event recorder, the maximum time extension of a video series is increased by enabling a reduction in temporal resolution in exchange for an increase in the temporal extension. Memory cells are overwritten in an ‘interleaved’ fashion to produce a reduced frame rate for the recording of certain time periods connected to an event moment. In time periods furthest from the event moment, the resulting frame rate is minimized while in time periods closest to the event moment, the resulting frame rate is maximized.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A vehicle event recorder configured to be mounted in a vehicle, the vehicle event recorder comprising:
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a video camera having a field-of-view that includes an environment about the vehicle, the video camera configured to acquire consecutive frames of visual information representing the environment about the vehicle; a buffer memory configured to electronically store information; one or more sensors configured to generate output signals conveying information related to vehicle events; and a controller configured to; effectuate storage of the consecutive frames of visual information in the buffer memory with a first frame storage density; detect vehicle events based on the output signals; and responsive to detecting a vehicle event, designate individual frames of visual information stored in the buffer memory related to the vehicle event for long-term storage, wherein the individual frames designated for long-term storage have the first frame storage density during a first period of time that includes the vehicle event, wherein the individual frames identified for long-term storage have a second frame storage density for a second period of time before the first period of time and a third period of time after the first period of time, and wherein the first frame storage density is higher than the second frame storage density. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for storing visual information related to a detected vehicle event, the method comprising:
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acquiring consecutive frames of visual information representing the environment about a vehicle with a video camera having a field-of-view that includes an environment about the vehicle; effectuating storage of the consecutive frames of visual information in a buffer memory with a first frame storage density; generating output signals conveying information related to vehicle events; detecting vehicle events based on the output signals; and responsive to detecting a vehicle event, designating individual frames of visual information stored in the buffer memory related to the vehicle event for long-term storage, wherein the individual frames designated for long-term storage have the first frame storage density during a first period of time that includes the vehicle event, wherein the individual frames identified for long-term storage have a second frame storage density for a second period of time before the first period of time and a third period of time after the first period of time, and wherein the first frame storage density is higher than the second frame storage density.
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14-18. -18. (canceled)
Specification