Monitoring system having wireless remote viewing and control

• US 6,385,772 B1
• Filed: 04/15/1999
• Issued: 05/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Courtney, Jonathan D.
• Primary Examiner(s): BRITTON, HOWARD W
• Application Number:
  US09/292,501
• Time in Patent Office: 1,118 Days
• Field of Search: H04/N.718, 348/143, 348/144, 348/148, 348/149, 348/152, 348/153, 348/154, 348/155, 348/159, 725/105
• US Class Current: 725/105
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19602 Image analysis to detect motion of the intruder, e.g. by frame subtraction
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19641 Multiple cameras having overlapping views on a single scene
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1966 Wireless systems, other than telephone systems, used to communicate with a camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19667 Details realated to data compression, encryption or encoding, e.g. resolution modes for reducing data volume to lower transmission bandwidth or memory requirements
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19684 Portable terminal, e.g. mobile phone, used for viewing video remotely
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19695 Arrangements wherein non-video detectors start video recording or forwarding but do not generate an alarm themselves
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/10 using wireless transmission systems G08B25/009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/21805 enabling multiple viewpoints, e.g. using a plurality of cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A monitoring apparatus (10) includes a video camera (12) with a section (16) that permits remote control of the camera. A computer 24 subjects video images from the camera to video processing (61-63), which includes temporal sampling, spatial sampling, and dithering. The processed image (71) is integrated into a document in hypertext mark-up language format. A portable unit (46) is operatively coupled to the computer through a wireless link (49), a cellular base station (36), and a network (38) or telephone line (41). An infrared sensor (19) can detect an event of interest in the monitored area, causing the computer to place a telephone call to the portable unit. The person possessing the portable unit can then use the portable unit to access the document which contains the processed image through the network, in order to observe or verify the event. The person can also use the portable unit to remotely control the operation of the video camera.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a detector operative to periodically detect an image of a monitored area;

a system operative to receive the detected image from said detector;

a portable unit having a display; and

a wireless communication link which includes portions of said system and said portable unit and which is operative to facilitate wireless communication between said system and said portable unit, including transmission of the detected image from said system to said portable unit;

said portable unit being operative to present the detected image on said display; and

said system being further operative to detect an occurrence of an event of interest in the monitored area, and to automatically transmit through said wireless communication link to said portable unit an indication of the occurrence of the event of interest.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the event of interest is detected through image processing of a succession of the images detected by said detector.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, including a sensor which is separate and independent from said detector and which monitors said area, said sensor producing an output signal in response to the occurrence of the event of interest, and said system being operative to effect the transmission of the indication of the occurrence of the event in response to the output signal from said sensor.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said sensor is an infrared sensor.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said portable unit includes a telephone, said wireless communication link includes a wireless telephone link, and the transmission of the indication is effected by placing a telephone call through said wireless telephone link to said telephone in said portable unit.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said system includes a computer which integrates the detected image into a hypertext markup language document, and includes a computer network operatively coupled to said computer, said wireless communication link communicating with said computer through said computer network;

and wherein said portable unit includes a network browser which is operative to retrieve the hypertext markup language document from said computer through said wireless communication link and said computer network, and to present the document and the image therein on said display.

15. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said system is further operative to form a compressed image from said periodically detected images, whereby said wireless communication link transmits said compressed image from said system to said portable unit.

16. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein:

said system forms said compressed image by temporal sampling of said detected image by selection of a subset of said periodically detected images.

17. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein:

said system forms said compressed image by spatial sampling of said detected image by selection of a subset of pixels of said detected image.

18. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein:

said system forms said compressed image by dithering of said detected image by selection of either black or white for each pixel of said detected image.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

a detector operative to periodically detect an image of a monitored area;

a system operative to receive the detected image from said detector;

a portable unit having a display and having an operator input portion;

a wireless communication link which includes portions of said system and said portable unit and which is operative to facilitate wireless communication between said system and said portable unit, including transmission of the detected image from said system to said portable unit; and

a control section coupled to said system and operative to adjust a predetermined characteristic of the image detected by said detector;

said portable unit being operative to present the detected image on said display, being operative to permit an operator to use said operator input portion to specify a change in the predetermined characteristic, and being operative to transmit to said control section through said wireless communication link and said system an indication of the specified change in the predetermined characteristic; and

said control section being operative to respond to the indication received from said portable unit by effecting the specified change in the predetermined characteristic.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined characteristic is an orientation of said detector with respect to the monitored area, said control section being operative to change a physical position of said detector relative to the monitored area in response to the indication received from said portable unit.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined characteristic is a field of view of said detector with respect to the monitored area, said control section being operative to change the field of view of said detector relative to the monitored area in response to the indication received from said portable unit.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

a first detector operative to periodically detect an image of a monitored area;

a second detector operative to periodically detect an image of a monitored area;

a system operative to receive the detected images from each of said first and second detectors;

a portable unit having a display and having an operator input portion; and

a wireless communication link which includes portions of and which is operative to facilitate wireless communication between said system and said portable unit;

said portable unit being operative to permit an operator to identify one of said first and second detectors as a currently selected detector, and being operative to transmit to said system through said wireless communication link an indication of the currently selected detector;

said system being operative to respond to the indication received from said portable unit by transmitting to said portable unit through said wireless communication link the detected image from the currently selected detector; and

said portable unit being operative to present on said display the detected image from the currently selected detector.

11. An apparatus, comprising:

a detector operative to periodically detect an image of a monitored area;

a system operative to receive a detected image from said detector, and to process the detected image in order to obtain a processed image;

a portable unit having a display; and

a wireless communication link which includes portions of said system and said portable unit and which is operative to facilitate wireless communication between said system and said portable unit, including transmission of each of the processed images from said system to said portable unit;

said portable unit being operative to successively present the processed images on said display as they are received, said processed images having a resolution which is less than a resolution of the detected images and which corresponds to a resolution of said display.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said system is operative to select a subset of the detected images produced by said detector, and to carry out the image processing only on the detected images which are selected for said subset.

13. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said system is operative to carry out the image processing by reducing the resolution of each of the detected images in said subset.

14. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the pixels of the processed image each have one of two predetermined colors which are different.