Multimedia capture and audit system for a video surveillance network

• US 5,491,511 A
• Filed: 02/04/1994
• Issued: 02/13/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Il Devices LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: James A. Odle
• Inventors: Odle, James A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Britton, Howard W.
• Application Number:
  US08/191,491
• Time in Patent Office: 739 Days
• Field of Search: 348/143, 348/152, 348/153, 348/154, 348/423
• US Class Current: 348/153
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19669 Event triggers storage or change of storage policy
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19673 Addition of time stamp, i.e. time metadata, to video stream
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/107 of operating tapes
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/3036 Time code signal
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/328 on a tape [TTOC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

A multimedia capture and audit system for a video surveillance network provides a tamper resistant and easily reviewable record of each transaction monitored. The system stores a digital record of each physical transaction registered by an electronic device in a standard predefined database format and stores a separate mixed composite video signal containing both a visual record and digital record of each transaction. The separately stored digital record and mixed composite video signal are correlated through the use of a unique system pointer. In the preferred embodiment, the unique system pointer identifies, at a minimum, the electronic device which registered the physical transaction and the date and time of the transaction. Storage of both a mixed composite video signal and digital record makes it difficult to tamper with the transaction record while maintaining a record of each transaction in a digital format provides operators the ability to compile and analyze data for audit purposes. Use of the unique system pointer makes it easy to identify and view the portion of the mixed composite video signal which corresponds to any digital record that may be flagged as of interest in an audit.

Claims

1. A multimedia capture and audit system comprising:

a video surveillance network that monitors a plurality of electronic devices, each of which produce digital transaction data representative of each of one or more physical transactions registered by the electronic device, by using one or more video cameras to generate video signals monitoring the electronic devices;

node means for capturing a plurality of occurrences of digital transaction data from each of the plurality of electronic devices;

first memory means for storing the video signals;

second memory means separate from the first memory means for storing the digital transaction data as part of a database;

control means, operably coupled to the node means and the first and second memory means, for storing, in response to an occurrence of any of the plurality of occurrences of digital transaction data, a mixed composite video signal on the first memory means using a unique system pointer and for storing each of the plurality of occurrences of the digital transaction data and the unique system pointer in the database on the second memory means, the mixed composite video signal comprising a video overlay signal representative of each of the occurrences of the digital transaction data and a video signal of a corresponding physical transaction occurring at the electronic device concurrent with each occurrence represented by the digital transaction data; and

audit means operably coupled to the first and second memory means for auditing the physical transactions registered by the electronic devices by subsequently analyzing the database to identify a user-defined suspect occurrence of the digital transaction data and reviewing the video signal of the corresponding physical transaction stored on the first memory means by using the unique system pointer stored in the database on the second memory means to access a corresponding unique system pointer indicating the suspect occurrence of the digital transaction data stored in the mixed composite video signal stored on the first memory means.

2. A multimedia capture and audit system of claim 1 wherein the first memory means is a videocassette recorder and videotape.

3. A multimedia capture and audit system of claim 1 wherein the second memory means is a digital hard disk.

4. A multimedia capture and audit system of claim 1 wherein the control means includes a processor for processing information and a video interface operably coupled to the processor for managing video signals to be stored on the first memory means.

5. A multimedia capture and audit system of claim 1 wherein said video interface includes a plurality of video cards for processing the mixed composite video signal.

6. A multimedia capture and audit system of claim 1 wherein said audit means includes a processor for processing information, a video controller and video display operably coupled to said processor for displaying a video signal retrieved from the first memory means, a monitor operably coupled to said processor for displaying information and a user input device operably coupled to said processor for inputting information to said processor for action.

7. A multimedia capture and audit method for a video surveillance network that monitors a plurality of electronic devices, each of which produce digital transaction data representative of each of one or more physical transactions registered by the electronic device, by using one or more video cameras to generate video signals representative of the physical transactions, the method comprising steps of:

(a) storing the video signals on a first memory storage device;

(b) for each occurrence of digital transaction data on one of the plurality of electronic devices, storing a mixed composite video signal on the first memory storage device using a unique system pointer and storing each occurrence of the digital transaction data and the unique system pointer in a database on a second memory storage device, the mixed composite video signal comprising a video overlay signal representative of each occurrence of the digital transaction data and a video signal of a corresponding physical transaction occurring at the electronic device and represented by the digital transaction data; and

(c) auditing the physical transactions registered by the electronic devices by subsequently analyzing the database to identify a suspect occurrence of the digital transaction data and reviewing the video signal of the corresponding physical transaction on a single display means using the unique system pointer stored in the database on the second memory storage device to access a corresponding unique system pointer indicating the suspect occurrence of the digital transaction data stored in the mixed composite video signal recorded on the first memory storage device.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein step (c) further comprises the steps of:

(c1) requesting and storing operator defined search criteria to identify the suspect occurrence of the digital transaction data stored in the database;

(c2) searching the database for occurrence of the digital transaction data which matches the defined search criteria;

(c3) displaying the occurrence of the digital transaction data which matches the defined search criteria;

(c4) identifying the unique system pointer for the matching occurrence of the digital transaction data;

(c5) retrieving the mixed composite video signal recorded on the first memory storage device corresponding to the unique system pointer for the matching occurrence of the digital transaction data; and

(c6) displaying the mixed composite video signal retrieved in step (c5) on the single display means.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein step (b) comprises the steps of:

(b1) capturing each occurrence of the digital transaction data from each of the plurality of electronic devices in a first data format native to the electronic device;

(b2) converting each occurrence of the digital transaction data to a second data format that includes a data field identifying the electronic device from which the digital transaction data was captured;

(b3) using each occurrence of the digital transaction data in the second data format to produce the overlay video signal representative of each occurrence of the digital transaction data;

(b4) using the data field in the second data format to identify the video signal of the physical transaction represented by each occurrence of the digital transaction data;

(b5) mixing the video signal identified in step (b3) with the overlay video signal identified in step (b4) to produce the mixed composite video signal;

(b6) recording the mixed composite video signal on the first memory storage device using the unique system pointer to identify the recording of the mixed composite video signal for each occurrence of the digital transaction data; and

(b7) storing each occurrence of the digital transaction data in a third data format in the database stored on the second memory storage device, the third data format including a data field for storing the unique system pointer used in step (b6).

10. The method of claim 9 wherein step (b5) further comprises the step of:

creating said unique system pointer from a date and time stamp representative of the current date and time.