Mobile camera system

• US 8,866,908 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2005
• Issued: 10/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Inventors: Chishima, Makoto, Morita, Kugo
• Primary Examiner(s): Henn, Timothy J
• Assistant Examiner(s): PRABHAKHER, PRITHAM DAVID
• Application Number:
  US11/318,654
• Publication Number:
  US 20060152592A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,220 Days
• Field of Search: 348143-159
• US Class Current: 348/149
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/123 indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles; Managing passenger vehicles circulating according to a fixed timetable, e.g. buses, trains, tramstransmission of navigation instructions to vehicles G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/26 at least one of which is mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2179 Interfaces allowing access to a plurality of users, e.g. connection to electronic image libraries
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2187 with image input from a plurality of different locations or from a non-central location, e.g. from one or more users
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32128 attached to the image data, e.g. file header, transmitted message header, information on the same page or in the same computer file as the image for information embedded in the image H04N1/32144
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/21 Server components or server architectures
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23 Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0039 Connection via a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0055 By radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0084 Digital still camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0096 Portable devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3215 of a time or duration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3253 Position information, e.g. geographical position at time of capture, GPS data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/185 from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control

Abstract

A mobile camera system is provided in which a user can view images of various desired locations while staying in a location remote from those locations. A control server acquires positions of a plurality of mobile camera apparatuses set up on mobile bodies such as vehicles, and images that are acquired by the mobile camera apparatuses, via radio communication. Then, the control server manages the positions and the images in its image DB. Then, in response to an imaging request that is issued from a terminal apparatus to designate a location (area), the control server searches for the image satisfying the request, in the image DB, or newly acquires the image satisfying the request, from the mobile camera apparatus. Then, the control server transmits the image to the terminal apparatus via radio communication.

Claims

1. A mobile camera system, comprising:

at least one mobile camera which is assigned with identification information;

a terminal apparatus; and

a server,

wherein the mobile camera includes;

a first communication section for communicating with the server;

an imaging section for imaging a subject; and

a transmitting section which transmits image data of an image that is imaged in the imaging section and the identification information to the server,

wherein the terminal apparatus includes;

a second communication section for communicating with the server; and

a requesting section which transmits an imaging request signal to the server, said imaging request signal designating a location and requesting imaging of the designated location,

wherein the server includes;

a third communication section for communicating with the mobile camera and the terminal apparatus, said third communication section receiving the image data from the mobile camera;

a location search section which has location information of the mobile camera and the identification information that are correlated with each other, and searches for and specifies the mobile camera that is in the location designated by the imaging request signal based on the location information; and

an imaging instructing section which transmits an imaging instruction signal to the specified mobile camera, said imaging instruction signal instructing the mobile camera to perform imaging, and

wherein, in response to the imaging request signal that is issued from the terminal apparatus to designate location, the server searches for image data satisfying the imaging request signal in a continuously updated image database, and if the image data satisfying the imaging request signal is not found in the searching, the server newly acquires the image data satisfying the imaging request signal from the mobile camera.

2. The mobile camera system according to claim 1, wherein

said at least one mobile camera includes a plurality of said mobile cameras,

the terminal apparatus further includes a selecting section which selects the mobile camera to which the imaging instructing section of the server transmits the imaging instruction signal, from the mobile cameras specified by the location search section, and

the imaging instructing section transmits the imaging instruction signal to the mobile camera selected by the selecting section.

3. The mobile camera system according to claim 1, wherein

the transmitting section of the mobile camera transmits information about a scheduled running route and a speed of the mobile camera to the server, and

the location search section of the server searches for and specifies the mobile camera that is scheduled to move to the location designated by the imaging request signal within a predetermined period, based on the received information about the scheduled running route and the speed.

4. The mobile camera system according to claim 1, wherein

the imaging request signal further designates a time, and

the location search section of the server searches for and specifies the mobile camera that is in the designated location at the designated time, based on the location information of the mobile camera.

5. The mobile camera system according to claim 1, wherein

the server further includes a storage which stores the image data received from the mobile camera, and

the second communication section of the terminal apparatus acquires the image data stored in the storage.

6. The mobile camera system according to claim 1, wherein the imaging instructing section of the server continuously transmits the imaging instruction signal to the mobile camera that is specified by the location search section, while the specified mobile camera is in the location designated by the imaging request signal.

7. The mobile camera system according to claim 1, wherein the location search section of the server sequentially searches for and specifies the mobile camera that is in the location designated by the imaging request signal.

8. The mobile camera system according to claim 7, wherein

said at least one mobile camera includes a plurality of said mobile cameras,

the server further includes a selecting section which selects the mobile camera of which camera setting condition is the same as that stored in the server, from the mobile cameras specified by the location search section,

the imaging instructing section transmits the imaging instruction signal to the selected mobile camera continuously, and

the camera setting condition includes at least one of a setting height, an elevation angle and a zoom, of the mobile camera.

9. The mobile camera system according to claim 1, wherein, in response to an imaging request that is issued from a terminal apparatus to designate location, the server searches for the image satisfying the request in the continuously updated image database or newly acquires the image satisfying the request, from the mobile camera.

10. A mobile camera system, comprising:

at least one mobile camera;

a terminal apparatus; and

a server,

wherein the mobile camera includes;

a first communication section for communicating with the server;

an imaging section for imaging a subject; and

a first transmitting section which transmits image data of an image that is imaged in the imaging section to the server,

wherein the terminal apparatus includes;

a second communication section for communicating with the server; and

a requesting section which transmits a search request signal to the server, said search request signal designating information that includes at least one of an imaging location and an imaging time, and said search request signal requesting a search of the image data that is correlated with the designated information, and

wherein the server includes;

a third communication section for communicating with the mobile camera and the terminal apparatus, said third communication section receiving the image data from the mobile camera;

a storage for storing the received image data and information that includes at least one of an imaging location and an imaging time of the image data, said image data and said information being correlated with each other;

an image search section which searches for and specifies the image data that is correlated with the information designated by the search request signal, from the image data stored in the storage, in response to the search request signal received from the terminal apparatus; and

a second transmitting section which transmits the specified image data to the terminal apparatus, and

wherein, in response to the search request signal that is issued from the terminal apparatus to designate location, the server searches for image data satisfying the search request signal in a continuously updated image database, and if the image data satisfying the search request signal is not found in the searching, the server newly acquires the image data satisfying the search request signal from the mobile camera.

11. The mobile camera system according to claim 10, wherein

the mobile camera acquires the information that includes at least one of the imaging location and the imaging time, and

said first transmitting section of the mobile camera transmits the acquired information and the image data to the server, that are correlated with each other.

12. The mobile camera system according to claim 10, wherein

the server further includes a selecting section which selects the image data of the image that is imaged by the mobile camera of which camera setting condition is the same as that stored in the server, from the image data specified by the image search section,

the second transmitting section of the server transmits the selected image data to the terminal apparatus continuously, and

the camera setting condition includes at least one of a setting height, an elevation angle and a zoom, of the mobile camera.