Monitoring system, monitoring method and camera terminal

• US 7,929,016 B2
• Filed: 04/07/2006
• Issued: 04/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Araki, Shoichi, Yoshida, Atsushi, Aoki, Katsuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Rao; Andy S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kim; Hee-Yong
• Application Number:
  US10/592,386
• Publication Number:
  US 20090262195A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,838 Days
• Field of Search: 348/159
• US Class Current: 348/159
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/667 Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/695 Control of camera direction for changing a field of view, e.g. pan, tilt or based on tracking of objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/185 from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control

Abstract

A monitoring system is provided that thoroughly covers an area subject to monitoring, through shooting areas of plural camera terminals, while shooting with resolution according to distribution of importance for monitoring. The monitoring system includes camera terminals, each including a camera having a shooting area adjustment function, a camera controlling unit controlling an adjustment of the shooting area of the camera, a communication IF communicating with an other camera terminal, and a processing unit adjusting a resolution of the shooting area of the camera terminal by controlling the camera via the camera controlling unit to reduce a difference between a weighted resolution of the shooting area of the camera terminal and a weighted resolution of shooting area of the other camera terminal based on information regarding the shooting area of the other camera terminal obtained through the communication IF.

Claims

1. A monitoring system that monitors an area subject to monitoring, said monitoring system comprising a plurality of camera terminals,

wherein a self camera terminal of said plurality of camera terminals includes:

a camera having a function for adjusting a shooting area of said self camera terminal;

a camera controlling unit operable to control the adjusting of the shooting area of said self camera terminal;

a communication interface for communicating with another camera terminal of said plurality of camera terminals; and

a processing unit operable to adjust a resolution of the shooting area of said self camera terminal by controlling, via said camera controlling unit, said camera, so as to reduce a difference between a weighted resolution of the shooting area of said self camera terminal and the weighted resolution of a shooting area of said other camera terminal, based on information related to the shooting area of said other camera terminal obtained from said other camera terminal via said communication interface, the weighted resolution being defined as a degree in which (i) a resolution of a highly important shooting area becomes higher, and (ii) a resolution of a less important shooting area becomes lower,

wherein, said monitoring system further comprises a first storage unit that holds a resolution weight map, the resolution weight map identifying a resolution weight of importance corresponding to each small area of a plurality of small areas of the area subject to monitoring, the plurality of small areas being obtained by dividing the area subject to monitoring,

wherein said processing unit is operable to determine the weighted resolution by specifying the resolution weight of importance corresponding to the shooting area of said self camera terminal with reference to the resolution weight map held in said first storage unit, and operable to adjust the resolution of the shooting area of said self camera terminal,

wherein said first storage unit is further operable to store a plurality of the resolution weight maps and a resolution weight selection list defining a rule for selecting one resolution weight map of the plurality of stored resolution weight maps based on a monitoring situation, and

wherein said processing unit is further operable to (i) specify the monitoring situation, (ii) select a resolution weight map, of the plurality of resolution weight maps, corresponding to the specified monitoring situation, based on the rule defined in the resolution weight selection list, and (iii) specify, from the selected resolution weight map, the resolution weight of importance corresponding to the shooting area of said self camera terminal.

2. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said processing unit is further operable to adjust a location of the shooting area of said self camera terminal in relation to the shooting area of said other camera terminal, which is adjacent to the shooting area of said self camera terminal, so as to thoroughly cover the area subject to monitoring, while making the shooting area of said self camera terminal be adjacent to the shooting area of said other camera terminal by controlling said camera via said camera controlling unit.

3. The monitoring system according to claim 2, wherein said processing unit is operable to adjust the location of the shooting area of said self camera terminal, such that the shooting area of said self camera terminal and the shooting area of said other camera terminal become adjacent and have a certain amount of overlap.

4. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the weighted resolution is obtained by multiplying, in advance, the resolution of a shooting area of a camera terminal of said plurality of camera terminals by a resolution weight of importance corresponding to the shooting area of said camera terminal.

5. The monitoring system according to claim 1,

wherein the rule is defined in the resolution weight selection list for selecting the one resolution weight map, of the plurality of the resolution weight maps, according to a date and a time of shooting by said self camera terminal, and

wherein said processing unit is operable to specify the date and the time of shooting by said self camera terminal, and operable to select the resolution weight map, of the plurality of resolution weight maps, corresponding to the specified date and time, based on the rule defined in the resolution weight selection list.

6. The monitoring system according to claim 1,

wherein said monitoring system further comprises a second storage unit storing (i) a template image defining a characteristic of a specific target object, and (ii) a template image list identifying a resolution weight of importance corresponding to the template image, and

wherein said processing unit is further operable to (i) determine, for an image shot by said camera, an existence of a target object similar to the template image stored in said second storage unit, (ii) specify the resolution weight of importance corresponding to the template image by referring to the template image list, when the target object is determined to exist, (iii) determine the specified resolution weight of importance to be the weighted resolution of the shooting area of said self camera terminal, and (iv) adjust the resolution of the shooting area of said self camera terminal.

7. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said processing unit includes:

a shooting area deciding unit operable to specify a location of the shooting area of said self camera terminal;

a resolution weight deciding unit operable to specify a resolution weight of importance corresponding to the location of the shooting area, of said self camera terminal, specified by said shooting area deciding unit;

a communication unit operable to (i) transmit, to said other camera terminal via said communication interface, the location of the shooting area, of said self camera terminal, specified by said shooting area deciding unit and the resolution weight of importance corresponding to the location of the shooting area, of said self camera terminal, specified by said resolution weight deciding unit, and (ii) control said communication interface to receive a location of the shooting area of said other camera terminal from said other camera terminal and the resolution weight of importance corresponding to the location of the shooting area of said other camera terminal;

an adjacent area deciding unit operable to specify a shooting area, which is adjacent to the shooting area of said self camera terminal, based on the location of the shooting area of said other camera terminal received by said communication interface and the location of the shooting area of said self camera terminal specified by said shooting area deciding unit;

a resolution adjusting unit operable to adjust the resolution of the shooting area of said self camera terminal by controlling a size of the shooting area of said camera, via said camera controlling unit, so as to reduce the difference between the weighted resolution of the shooting area of said self camera terminal and the weighted resolution of the shooting area of said other camera terminal specified by said adjacent area deciding unit, based on (i) the location of the shooting area of said other camera terminal received via the said communication interface, (ii) the resolution weight of importance corresponding to the location of the shooting area of said other camera terminal, and (iii) the resolution weight of importance corresponding to the location of the shooting area of said self camera terminal specified by said resolution weight deciding unit; and

a shooting area adjusting unit operable to adjust the location of the shooting area of said self camera terminal by adjusting the location of the shooting area of said camera via said camera controlling unit to have the specified location of the shooting area of said self camera terminal and the specified shooting area be adjacent, based on the location of the shooting area of said self camera terminal specified by said shooting area deciding unit and the shooting area specified by said adjacent area deciding unit.

8. The monitoring system according to claim 1,

wherein each camera terminal of said plurality of camera terminals includes a respective camera, a respective camera controlling unit, a respective communication interface, and a respective processing unit, and

wherein each respective camera terminal of said plurality of camera terminals adjusts a focal distance of said respective camera to adjust the resolution of the shooting area of said respective camera terminal.

9. A monitoring system that monitors an area subject to monitoring, said monitoring system comprising a plurality of camera terminals,

wherein a self camera terminal of said plurality of camera terminals includes:

a camera having a function for adjusting a shooting area of said self camera terminal;

a camera controlling unit operable to control the adjusting of the shooting area of said self camera terminal;

a communication interface for communicating with another camera terminal of said plurality of camera terminals; and

a processing unit operable to adjust a resolution of the shooting area of said self camera terminal by controlling, via said camera controlling unit, said camera, so as to reduce a difference between a weighted resolution of the shooting area of said self camera terminal and the weighted resolution of a shooting area of said other camera terminal, based on information related to the shooting area of said other camera terminal obtained from said other camera terminal via said communication interface, the weighted resolution being defined as a degree in which (i) a resolution of a highly important shooting area becomes higher, and (ii) a resolution of a less important shooting area becomes lower,

wherein said camera terminal further includes a third storage unit storing a resolution weight map creation rule defining a rule for creating a resolution weight map, the resolution weight map identifying a resolution weight of importance corresponding to each small area of a plurality of small areas of the area subject to monitoring, the plurality of small areas being obtained by dividing the area subject to monitoring based on an image shot by said camera, wherein said processing unit is operable to (i) create the resolution weight map from the image shot by said camera according to the resolution weight map creation rule stored in said third storage unit, (ii) determine the weighted resolution of the shooting area of said self camera terminal by specifying, from the created resolution weight map, a resolution weight of importance corresponding to the shooting area of said self camera terminal, and (iii) adjust the resolution of the shooting area of said self camera terminal,

wherein said third storage unit is further operable to store a template image defining a characteristic of a specific target object,

wherein the resolution weight map creation rule defines, according to a ratio of time for a specific target object to exist at a discretional location, a rule for deciding the resolution weight of importance at the discretional location, and

wherein said processing unit is operable to (i) determine, for the image shot by said camera, an existence of a target object similar to the template image stored in said third storage unit, (ii) specify the ratio of time for the specific target object to exist at the discretional location, and (iii) create the resolution weight map that identifies the resolution weight of importance corresponding to the specified ratio as the resolution weight of importance at the discretional location.

10. A monitoring method of using a monitoring system to monitor an area subject to monitoring, the monitoring system including a plurality of camera terminals for monitoring the area subject to monitoring, said monitoring method comprising:

a step of adjusting a resolution of a shooting area of a self camera terminal of the plurality of camera terminals by controlling a camera of the self camera terminal via a camera controlling unit of the self camera terminal to reduce a difference between a weighted resolution of the shooting area of the self camera terminal and the weighted resolution of a shooting area of another camera terminal of the plurality of camera terminals, based on information related to the shooting area of the other camera terminal obtained from the other camera terminal via communication between the self camera terminal and the other camera terminal, the weighted resolution being defined as a degree in which (i) a resolution of a highly important shooting area becomes higher, and (ii) a resolution of a less important shooting area becomes lower,

wherein, the monitoring system further comprises a first storage unit that holds a resolution weight map, the resolution weight map identifying a resolution weight of importance corresponding to each small area of a plurality of small areas of the area subject to monitoring, the plurality of small areas being obtained by dividing the area subject to monitoring,

wherein said monitoring method includes a step of determining the weighted resolution by specifying the resolution weight of importance corresponding to the shooting area of the self camera terminal with reference to the resolution weight map held in the first storage unit, and adjusting the resolution of the shooting area of the self camera terminal,

wherein the first storage unit stores a plurality of the resolution weight maps and a resolution weight selection list defining a rule for selecting one resolution weight map of the plurality of stored resolution weight maps based on a monitoring situation,

wherein said step of adjusting the resolution further includes (i) specifying the monitoring situation, (ii) selecting a resolution weight map, of the plurality of resolution weight maps, corresponding to the specified monitoring situation, based on the rule defined in the resolution weight selection list, and (iii) specifying, from the selected resolution weight map, the resolution weight of importance corresponding to the shooting area of the self camera terminal.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having a program recorded thereon, the program causing a computer to execute the monitoring method according to claim 10,

wherein the program is for the self camera terminal of the monitoring system.

12. A camera terminal, of a monitoring system, having a shooting area adjustment function, said camera terminal comprising:

a camera controlling unit operable to control an adjustment of a shooting area of said camera terminal;

a communication interface for communicating with another camera terminal; and

a processing unit operable to adjust a resolution of the shooting area of said camera terminal by controlling said camera terminal via said camera controlling unit to reduce a difference between a weighted resolution of the shooting area of said camera terminal and the weighted resolution of a shooting area of the other camera terminal, based on information related to the shooting area of the other camera terminal obtained from the other camera terminal via said communication interface, the weighted resolution being defined as a degree in which (i) a resolution of a highly important shooting area becomes higher, and (ii) a resolution of a less important shooting area becomes lower,

wherein, the monitoring system includes a first storage unit that holds a resolution weight map, the resolution weight map identifying a resolution weight of importance corresponding to each small area of a plurality of small areas of the area subject to monitoring, the plurality of small areas being obtained by dividing the area subject to monitoring,

wherein said processing unit is operable to determine the weighted resolution by specifying the resolution weight of importance corresponding to the shooting area of said camera terminal with reference to the resolution weight map held in the first storage unit, and operable to adjust the resolution of the shooting area of said camera terminal,

wherein the first storage unit is further operable to store a plurality of the resolution weight maps and a resolution weight selection list defining a rule for selecting one resolution weight map of the plurality of stored resolution weight maps based on a monitoring situation, and

wherein said processing unit is further operable to (i) specify the monitoring situation, (ii) select a resolution weight map, of the plurality of resolution weight maps, corresponding to the specified monitoring situation, based on the rule defined in the resolution weight selection list, and (iii) specify, from the selected resolution weight map, the resolution weight of importance corresponding to the shooting area of said camera terminal.