Drive recorder system

• US 7,706,940 B2
• Filed: 05/08/2008
• Issued: 04/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Itatsu, Takao
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Kim T
• Application Number:
  US12/117,346
• Publication Number:
  US 20080288136A1
• Time in Patent Office: 719 Days
• Field of Search: 701/35, 701/36, 340/438, 348/148, 713/193
• US Class Current: 701/35
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0858 wherein the data carrier is removable
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0891 Video recorder in combination with video camera

Abstract

A drive recorder system capable of ensuring a fixed level of security of drive recorder information at a comparatively low cost is provided. The drive recorder system includes an on-vehicle camera capable of constantly obtaining an image of the surroundings of a subject vehicle, an HDD, a terrestrial digital broadcast receiving apparatus in which content is managed in compliance with a copyright protection technology, and a controller. Control is performed so that content protection prescribed by the terrestrial digital broadcast receiving apparatus is performed on image data obtained by the on-vehicle camera and is recorded and stored in the HDD.

Claims

1. A drive recorder system comprising:

an on-vehicle camera configured to constantly obtain an image of the surroundings of a subject vehicle;

a recording medium for recording drive recorder information;

an apparatus comprising a content protection providing unit with a content protection function which manages content in compliance with a copyright protection technology, wherein the apparatus is one of a broadcast receiving apparatus and a pre-recorded medium playback apparatus, and the content protection providing unit receives the obtained image data from the on-vehicle camera; and

a controller configured to control the content protection providing unit to perform the content protection function on the obtained image data received from the on-vehicle camera, and the image data is recorded and stored on the recording medium.

2. The drive recorder system according to claim 1,

further comprising a microphone configured to detect sound that is generated in the surroundings of the subject vehicle,

wherein the controller controls the content protection providing unit to perform the content protection function on the audio data detected by the microphone, and the audio data is recorded and stored on the recording medium.

3. The drive recorder system according to claim 2,

wherein the controller causes the image and audio data on which content protection has been performed to be successively stored on the recording medium while buffering the data.

4. The drive recorder system according to claim 3, further comprising a vehicle sensor configured to output signals indicating a state of the subject vehicle, the vehicle sensor including a sensor capable of detecting at least the presence or absence of a shock received by the subject vehicle,

wherein the controller determines whether or not the subject vehicle has received a shock on the basis of an output signal from the sensor, and when the controller determines that a shock has been received, the controller causes the data stored at the time of the determination to be recorded and stored as drive recorder information on the recording medium.

5. The drive recorder system according to claim 4, wherein, when the controller determines that a shock has not been received on the basis of an output signal from the sensor, the controller causes a fixed amount of data that is stored first within the data stored at the time of the determination to be deleted from the recording medium.

6. The drive recorder system according to claim 4, wherein, when the data stored at the time of the determination is to be recorded and stored as drive recorder information on the recording medium, the controller causes information on at least the time at which the data has been obtained to be recorded and stored as additional data together with the drive recorder information.

7. The drive recorder system according to claim 6, wherein, when the controller is incorporated in such a manner as to be shared with part of a navigation system including a global positioning system receiver, the controller obtains information on the time that is to be recorded and stored as the additional data on the recording medium from the global positioning system receiver.

8. The drive recorder system according to claim 7, wherein the controller also causes information on the current position of the subject vehicle, which is obtained from the global positioning system receiver, to be recorded and stored on the recording medium as additional data.

9. The drive recorder system according to claim 7, wherein the recording medium is shared with a recording medium storing map data in the navigation system.

10. The drive recorder system according to claim 6, wherein, when the controller is incorporated in such a manner as to be shared with part of a terrestrial digital broadcast receiving apparatus that functions as the apparatus with a content protection function, the controller obtains, from the terrestrial digital broadcast receiving apparatus, information on the time that is to be recorded and stored as the additional data on the recording medium.

11. The drive recorder system according to claim 6, wherein the controller also causes information based on a signal output from the vehicle sensor to be recorded and stored as additional data on the recording medium.

12. The drive recorder system according to claim 6, further comprising:

a removable medium that can be connected to the recording medium; and

a graphical user interface configured to receive an instruction from a user,

wherein, when the controller detects an instruction from the user via the graphical user interface, the controller extracts a predetermined amount of data from within the drive recorder information recorded and stored on the recording medium, performs prescribed content protection on the extracted data on the basis of generation management information contained in the data, and causes the data to be stored on the removable medium.

13. The drive recorder system according to claim 2, wherein the controller performs content protection prescribed by the apparatus with a content protection function on each of image data obtained by the on-vehicle camera and audio data detected by the microphone, and causes the image data and the audio data to be directly output to the outside.

14. The drive recorder system according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus with a content protection function is a terrestrial digital broadcast receiving apparatus.

15. The drive recorder system according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus with a content protection function is a digital versatile disc playback apparatus.