Distributed Control of a Heterogeneous Video Surveillance Network
15 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A surveillance video broker arbitrates access by multiple clients to multiple surveillance video sources. Both clients and sources register with the broker. Each source independently specifies respective clients permitted real-time access to its video and conditions of access, if any. Preferably, the video source is a local surveillance domain having one or more cameras, one or more sensors, and a local controller, the source specifying clients or client groups permitted access, and independently specifying conditions of access for each client or client group, where conditions may include scheduled events, non-scheduled events, such as alarms or emergencies, and/or physical proximity. The broker automatically authorizes real-time access according to pre-specified conditions. Preferably, the broker can also arbitrate alert notifications to the clients based on pre-specified notification criteria.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1-8. -8. (canceled)
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9. A method for authorizing access to video surveillance data, comprising:
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registering a plurality of clients in a video broker data processing system; registering a plurality of video surveillance domains in said video broker data processing system; recording a plurality of authorization records, each authorization record independently specifying authorization on behalf of a respective video surveillance domain to allow at least one respective client real-time access to at least some surveillance video generated by the respective video surveillance domain, wherein a first client is granted access to a first set of video surveillance domains containing multiple video surveillance domains but fewer than all of said plurality of video surveillance domains, and wherein a second client is granted access to a second set of video surveillance domains containing some but not all of the sources to which the first client has access; receiving in said video broker a plurality of video access requests, each request requesting real-time access by a respective client to at least some video produced by a respective surveillance domain; responsive to each said video access request, automatically using said authorization records to determine whether the respective client is authorized to access the requested video; responsive to determining that the respective client is authorized to access the requested video of a video access request, automatically granting real-time access by the respective client to the requested video. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for operating a data processing system of a surveillance video broker, comprising:
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registering a plurality of clients in a data processing system of a surveillance video broker; registering a plurality of video surveillance domains in said data processing system of said surveillance video broker; recording in said data processing system a plurality of authorization records, each authorization record independently specifying authorization on behalf of a respective video surveillance domain to allow at least one respective client real-time access to at least some surveillance video generated by the respective video surveillance domain; recording in said data processing system a plurality of notification records, each notification record independently specifying on behalf of a respective video surveillance domain at least one respective client authorized to receive notification of one or more respective alert events generated by the respective video surveillance domain, said notification records being independent of said authorization records; receiving in said data processing system of said surveillance video broker a plurality of alert event notification requests, each alert event notification request being received from a respective video surveillance domain and identifying an alert event detected at the respective surveillance domain for which notification to clients is requested; responsive to receiving each said alert event notification request, accessing said notification records to determine in said data processing system a respective set of clients to receive notification of the respective alert event, and transmitting an alert notification to each client of the set; receiving in said data processing system of said surveillance video broker a plurality of video access requests, each request requesting real-time access by a respective client to at least some video produced by a respective surveillance domain; responsive to each said video access request, automatically using said authorization records to determine whether the respective client is authorized to access the requested video; responsive to determining that the respective client is authorized to access the requested video of a video access request, automatically granting real-time access by the respective client to the requested video. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification