Monitoring system and method

• US 7,158,038 B2
• Filed: 02/15/2005
• Issued: 01/02/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd. (Funai Electric Holdings Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd. (Funai Electric Holdings Company Limited)
• Inventors: Fujie, Hidekatsu
• Primary Examiner(s): Pope; Daryl C
• Application Number:
  US11/057,207
• Publication Number:
  US 20050179553A1
• Time in Patent Office: 686 Days
• Field of Search: 340/573.4, 340/937, 340/539.13, 340/539.25, 340/573.1, 340/825.36, 340/825.49, 340/572.1, 340/5.8, 340/5.83, 340/5.2, 348/152, 348/61, 348/14.16
• US Class Current: 340/573.4
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19613 Recognition of a predetermined image pattern or behaviour pattern indicating theft or intrusion
• 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: G08B 13/2454 Checking of authorisation of a person accessing tagged items in an EAS system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/22 responsive to presence or absence of persons

Abstract

Sensing devices 1a, 1b, . . . , 1n for sensing a person 2 moving close to a plurality of previously selected locations and receivers 4a, 4b, . . . , 4n for receiving identification data transmitted from an identification tag 3 co-operate to acquire behavior data indicative of the movement pattern of a person 2, and a processing device 6 compares the behavior data to reference data relating to an authorized person previously identified by the identification data, in order to determine whether or not the result of the comparison indicates the existence of a difference. Then, when the processing device determines that the result of the comparison does not indicate the existence of a difference, it does not transmit the image data acquired via cameras 5a, 5b, . . . , 5n disposed in predetermined locations to a delivery system 8. In contrast, when the processing device determines that the result of the comparison indicates the existence of a difference, the processing device outputs the image data to the delivery system 8 which in turn delivers the data to a supervisor.

Claims

1. A monitoring system comprising:

an identification tag capable of storing identification data used for identification of an authorized person and transmitting the identification data;

sensing means, disposed in a plurality of previously selected locations, for sensing a person moving close to the locations;

receiving means, disposed in the same locations as the sensing means, for receiving the identification data transmitted from the identification tag;

cameras, disposed in the same locations as the sensing means, for capturing the image of the person sensed by the sensing means;

processing means for storing, as reference data, a normal pattern of movement behavior of an authorized person, who has been previously identified by his/her own identification tag, usually moving between the plurality of previously selected locations, comparing behavior data relating to the person and produced based on information acquired by the receiving means and sensing means to the reference data, and if the result of the comparison does not indicate the existence of a difference therebetween, outputting no image data and if the result indicates the existence of the difference, outputting image data relating to the person;

delivery means for delivering the image data output from the processing means to a monitoring device; and

alerting means for sending an alert in response to the outputting of the image data from the processing means.

2. A monitoring system comprising:

an identification tag capable of storing identification data used for identification of an authorized person and transmitting the identification data;

sensing means, disposed in a plurality of previously selected locations, for sensing a person moving close to the locations;

receiving means, disposed in the same locations as the sensing means, for receiving the identification data transmitted from the identification tag;

cameras, disposed in the same locations as the sensing means, for capturing the image of the person sensed by the sensing means;

processing means for storing, as reference data, a normal pattern of movement behavior of an authorized person, who has been previously identified by his/her own identification tag, usually moving between the plurality of previously selected locations, comparing behavior data relating to the person and produced based on information acquired by the receiving means and sensing means to the reference data, and if the result of the comparison does not indicate the existence of a difference therebetween, outputting no image data and if the result indicates the existence of the difference, outputting image data relating to the person; and

delivery means for delivering the image data output from the processing means to a monitoring device.

3. A monitoring method comprising:

a step of acquiring behavior data relating to a person and image data derived from a captured image of the person;

a step of determining whether or not the person holds an identification tag capable of storing previously registered identification data and transmitting the identification data;

a step of, when identification data contained in an identification tag held by the person matches the previously registered identification data, comparing the behavior data to reference data indicative of a normal pattern of movement behavior of an authorized person who has been identified by the previously registered identification data;

a step of, when the comparison between the behavior data and reference data results in coincidence, causing the image data not to be transmitted to a delivery system; and

a step of, when the previously registered identification data has not been received or when the previously registered identification data has been received and the behavior data relating to the person does not match the reference data, transmitting the image data to the delivery system while sending an alert.

4. A monitoring method comprising:

a step of acquiring behavior data relating to a person and image data derived from a captured image of the person;

a step of determining whether or not the person holds an identification tag capable of storing previously registered identification data and transmitting the identification data;

a step of, when identification data contained in an identification tag held by the person matches the previously registered identification data, comparing the behavior data to reference data indicative of a normal pattern of movement behavior of an authorized person identified by the previously registered identification data;

a step of, when the comparison between the behavior data and reference data results in coincidence, causing the image data not to be transmitted to a delivery system; and

a step of, when the previously registered identification data has not been received or when the previously registered identification data has been received and the behavior data relating to the person does not match the reference data, transmitting the image data to the delivery system.