High resolution network camera with automatic bandwidth control
First Claim
1. A network video camera supporting multiple output modes including output of full resolution full field of view images, output of reduced resolution full field of view images, and output of window-of-interest partial images, said camera comprising:
- an image sensor for sensing and outputting images;
an image buffer memory for storing said output images;
an image processor for decimating said output images to generate images with said reduced resolution and full field of view, and for generating said window-of-interest partial images;
a network interface for transmission of image data off camera; and
a motion detection module configured to detect presence of moving objects in the field of view of the camera and to select between said output modes of the camera based on the results of said motion detection, wherein the network interface is capable of transmitting a selected decimated output of said reduced resolution full field of view and a selected output of window-of-interest partial field of view in a time-interleaved fashion, wherein said motion detection module is configured to select said full resolution full field of view images when the presence of moving objects in the field of view of the camera has been detected and to select said reduced resolution full field of view images when the presence of moving objects in the field of view of the camera has not been detected.
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Abstract
The subject of this invention is the network camera comprising an image sensor, image processor, and network interface, where image processor is capable of detecting the motion in the field of view of the camera, extracting/windowing the portion (sub-window) of the image that corresponds to that motion and submitting thus identified sub-window to the network interface hardware for transmission and where said image processor is also capable of submitting to the network interface the full field of view reduced-resolution (decimated) image either as the only image to be transmitted or as the image to be transmitted in a time-interleaved fashion with the said image window containing the motion.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A network video camera supporting multiple output modes including output of full resolution full field of view images, output of reduced resolution full field of view images, and output of window-of-interest partial images, said camera comprising:
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an image sensor for sensing and outputting images; an image buffer memory for storing said output images; an image processor for decimating said output images to generate images with said reduced resolution and full field of view, and for generating said window-of-interest partial images; a network interface for transmission of image data off camera; and a motion detection module configured to detect presence of moving objects in the field of view of the camera and to select between said output modes of the camera based on the results of said motion detection, wherein the network interface is capable of transmitting a selected decimated output of said reduced resolution full field of view and a selected output of window-of-interest partial field of view in a time-interleaved fashion, wherein said motion detection module is configured to select said full resolution full field of view images when the presence of moving objects in the field of view of the camera has been detected and to select said reduced resolution full field of view images when the presence of moving objects in the field of view of the camera has not been detected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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13. Method of automatic optimization of network bandwidth for image transmission from a network video camera having a field of view, an output camera mode, and equipped with a motion detection module, the method comprising:
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determining presence of moving objects in the field of view of the camera; selecting the output camera mode to be a reduced resolution full field of view image output if said moving objects are not found in the field of view of the camera, otherwise determining a minimum size rectangular area W of an image that contains more than Z percent of all moving objects, wherein Z is a parameter selectable by a user; and selecting the output camera mode to be a full resolution full field of view image output if said image area W is more than F percent of an entire image area, and selecting the output camera mode to be a window-of-interest output including the image area W, if said image area W is less than or equal to F percent of the entire image area, wherein F is a parameter selectable by the user. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. Camera system comprising:
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one or more network cameras equipped to support multiple output modes comprising output of full resolution full field of view images, output of reduced resolution full field of view images, and output of window-of-interest partial images; an image buffer memory; a network interface for transmission of image data off cameras, wherein said cameras select one of said output modes based on an external command delivered to the cameras by said network interface; and a computer system coupled to said cameras configured to acquire the images from said cameras and including software running on said computer system, wherein said software is configured to detect the presence of moving objects in the fields of view of said cameras and to place said cameras in one of said output modes by communicating a command for selecting an output mode from said multiple output modes, to the camera via said network interface, and to determine a size of said window-of-interest having a size of a minimum rectangular area that contains more than Z percent of all moving objects by gradually enlarging the rectangular area W of the image until it contains over Z percent of all moving objects, where, Z is a parameter selectable by a user. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification