Method and apparatus of controlling a plurality of video surveillance cameras

• US 20060088092A1
• Filed: 10/21/2004
• Published: 04/27/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chen, Wen-hsiung, Wu, Fang, Graham, Philip R., Pelton, Gregory D., Eisenberg, Blane A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,649,938 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/240.10
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19656 Network used to communicate with a camera, e.g. WAN, LAN, Internet
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19667 Details realated to data compression, encryption or encoding, e.g. resolution modes for reducing data volume to lower transmission bandwidth or memory requirements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/115 Selection of the code volume for a coding unit prior to coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/14 Coding unit complexity, e.g. amount of activity or edge presence estimation H04N19/146 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/179 the unit being a scene or a shot
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/40 using video transcoding, i.e. partial or full decoding of a coded input stream followed by re-encoding of the decoded output stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• 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

An apparatus, a method, and a software product to control a plurality of surveillance video camera/encoder combinations. The method includes receiving a plurality of encoded video streams from a respective surveillance camera/encoder combination, and accepting a measure of the level of activity for each encoded video stream. Each measure is obtained from the output of the camera of the corresponding camera/encoder combination. The method further includes assigning output bit rates for each encoded stream according to the accepted level of activity such that a maximum overall bit rate is not exceeded. One version is for controlling camera/encoder combinations that accept remote bit rate control, and a second is for controlling camera/encoder combinations that send at a pre-set bit rate. One version includes a network connection between the camera/encoder combinations, and the method or apparatus for central control.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a plurality of encoded video streams, each stream received from a respective surveillance camera/encoder combination of a plurality of camera/encoder combinations;

accepting a measure of the level of activity for each encoded video stream, each measure obtained from the output of the camera of the corresponding camera/encoder combination; and

assigning output bit rates for each encoded stream according to the accepted level of activity such that a maximum overall bit rate is not exceeded.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein at least some of the camera/encoder combinations accept a remotely generated bit rate control to set the output bit rate of the encoded stream from the camera/encoder combination, the method further comprising:

sending the assigned bit rates as respective bit rate controls to each of the camera/encoder combinations that accept a remotely generated bit rate control.

3. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the receiving is over a packet network, and the sending of the assigned bit rates is over a network.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein at least some of the camera/encoder combinations output their respective encoded video stream at a respective pre-set bit rate, the method further comprising:

transcoding the encoded video streams from the at least some of the camera/encoder combinations from the respective pre-set bit rate to the assigned bit rates.

5. A method as recited in claim 4, wherein the pre-set bit-rate of at least one of the encoded streams from at least one of the camera/encoder combinations is locally set at the location of the camera/encoder combination according to at least one local criterion of a set of local criteria consisting of motion detected at a local motion detector, the local time of day, time of the week, time of the year, and the amount of light in the video of the encoded camera/encoder combination output.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the measure of the level of activity for each stream is determined at the corresponding camera/encoder combination, the method further comprising:

receiving the measures of the level of activity for each stream from the respective surveillance camera/encoder combinations.

7. A method as recited in claim 6, further comprising:

receiving at least one local measure from at least one of the camera/encoder combinations, the local measure being at least one of a set of local measures consisting of;

the local time of day, time of the week, time of the year, and the amount of light in the video of the encoded camera/encoder combination output,

wherein the assigning of the bit rate for any camera/encoder combination for which at least one of the local measures is received uses one or more of the received local measures.

8. A method as recited in claim 6, wherein the receiving of the measures of the level of activity for at least some of the streams is over a packet network.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining the measure of the level of activity for each encoded video stream from the stream received from the corresponding camera/encoder combination.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the receiving of at least some of the encoded streams is over a packet network.

11. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the received streams or transcoded versions thereof are stored in a storage device.

12. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the accepting of a measure of the level of activity for each encoded video stream further includes receiving information on the location in the video of the encoded camera/encoder combination output of any area of relatively high activity.

13. A carrier medium carrying one or more computer readable code segments to instruct a processor of a processing system to execute a method comprising:

receiving a plurality of encoded video streams, each stream received from a respective surveillance camera/encoder combination of a plurality of camera/encoder combinations;

accepting a measure of the level of activity for each encoded video stream, each measure obtained from the output of the camera of the corresponding camera/encoder combination; and

assigning output bit rates for each encoded stream according to the accepted level of activity such that a maximum overall bit rate is not exceeded.

14. A carrier medium as recited in claim 13, wherein at least some of the camera/encoder combinations accept a remotely generated bit rate control to set the output bit rate of the encoded stream from the camera/encoder combination, and wherein the method further comprises:

sending the assigned bit rates as respective bit rate controls to each of the camera/encoder combinations that accept a remotely generated bit rate control.

15. A carrier medium as recited in claim 14, wherein the receiving is over a packet network, and the sending of the assigned bit rates is over a network.

16. A carrier medium as recited in claim 13, wherein at least some of the camera/encoder combinations output their respective encoded video stream at a respective pre-set bit rate, and wherein the method further comprises:

transcoding the encoded video streams from the at least some of the camera/encoder combinations from the respective pre-set bit rate to the assigned bit rates.

17. A carrier medium as recited in claim 16, wherein the pre-set bit-rate of at least one of the encoded streams from at least one of the camera/encoder combinations is locally set at the location of the camera/encoder combination according to at least one local criterion of a set of local criteria consisting of:

motion detected at a local motion detector, the local time of day, time of the week, time of the year, and the amount of light in the video of the encoded camera/encoder combination output.

18. A carrier medium as recited in claim 13, wherein the measure of the level of activity for each stream is determined at the corresponding camera/encoder combination, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving the measures of the level of activity for each stream from the respective surveillance camera/encoder combinations.

19. A carrier medium as recited in claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving at least one local measure from at least one of the camera/encoder combinations, the local measure being at least one of a set of local measures consisting of;

the local time of day, time of the week, time of the year, and the amount of light in the video of the encoded camera/encoder combination output,

and wherein the assigning of the bit rate for any camera/encoder combination for which at least one of the local measures is received uses one or more of the received local measures.

20. A carrier medium as recited in claim 18, wherein the receiving of the measures of the level of activity for at least some of the streams is over a packet network.

21. A carrier medium as recited in claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

determining the measure of the level of activity for each encoded video stream from the stream received from the corresponding camera/encoder combination.

22. A carrier medium as recited in claim 13, wherein the receiving of at least some of the encoded streams is over a packet network.

23. A carrier medium as recited in claim 13, wherein the received streams or transcoded versions thereof are stored in a storage device.

24. A carrier medium as recited in claim 13, wherein the accepting of a measure of the level of activity for each encoded video stream further includes receiving information on the location in the video of any area of relatively high activity.

25. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of encoded video streams, each stream received from a respective surveillance camera/encoder combination of a plurality of camera/encoder combinations;

means for accepting a measure of the level of activity for each encoded video stream, each measure obtained from the output of the camera of the corresponding camera/encoder combination; and

means for assigning output bit rates for each encoded stream according to the accepted level of activity such that a maximum overall bit rate is not exceeded.

26. An apparatus as recited in claim 25, wherein at least some of the camera/encoder combinations includes means for accepting a remotely generated bit rate control to set the output bit rate of the encoded stream from the camera/encoder combination, the apparatus further comprising:

means for sending the assigned bit rates as respective bit rate controls to each of the camera/encoder combinations that accept a remotely generated bit rate control.

27. An apparatus as recited in claim 26, wherein the means for receiving is for receiving over a packet network, and the means for sending of the assigned bit rates is for sending over a network.

28. An apparatus as recited in claim 25, wherein at least some of the camera/encoder combinations output their respective encoded video stream at a respective pre-set bit rate, the apparatus further comprising:

means for transcoding the encoded video streams from the at least some of the camera/encoder combinations from the respective pre-set bit rate to the assigned bit rates.

29. An apparatus as recited in claim 28, wherein the pre-set bit-rate of at least one of the encoded streams from at least one of the camera/encoder combinations is locally set at the location of the camera/encoder combination according to at least one local criterion of a set of local criteria consisting of:

motion detected at a local motion detector, the local time of day, time of the week, time of the year, and the amount of light in the video of the encoded camera/encoder combination output.

30. An apparatus as recited in claim 25, wherein the measure of the level of activity for each stream is determined at the corresponding camera/encoder combination, the apparatus further comprising:

means for receiving the measures of the level of activity for each stream from the respective surveillance camera/encoder combinations.

31. An apparatus as recited in claim 30, further comprising:

means for receiving at least one local measure from at least one of the camera/encoder combinations, the local measure being at least one of a set of local measures consisting of;

the local time of day, time of the week, time of the year, and the amount of light in the video of the encoded camera/encoder combination output,

wherein the means for assigning of the bit rate for any camera/encoder combination for which at least one of the local measures is received uses one or more of the received local measures.

32. An apparatus as recited in claim 30, wherein the means for receiving of the measures of the level of activity for at least some of the streams is for receiving over a packet network.

33. An apparatus as recited in claim 25, further comprising:

means for determining the measure of the level of activity for each encoded video stream from the stream received from the corresponding camera/encoder combination.

34. An apparatus as recited in claim 25, wherein the means for receiving of at least some of the encoded streams is for receiving over a packet network.

35. An apparatus as recited in claim 25, further comprising means for storage such that the received streams or transcoded versions thereof are stored in the means for storage.

36. An apparatus as recited in claim 25, wherein the means for accepting a measure of the level of activity for each encoded video stream further includes means for receiving information on the location in the video of any area of relatively high activity.

37. An apparatus comprising:

at least one receiver configured to receive a plurality of encoded video streams, each stream being from a respective surveillance camera/encoder combination of a plurality of camera/encoder combinations; and

a video rate controller coupled to the at least one receiver and configured to accept a measure of the level of activity for each encoded video stream, each measure obtained from the output of the camera of the corresponding camera/encoder combination, the video rate controller further configured to assign output bit rates for each encoded stream according to the accepted level of activity such that a maximum overall bit rate is not exceeded.

38. An apparatus as recited in claim 37, wherein at least some of the camera/encoder combinations are configured to accept a remotely generated bit rate control to set the output bit rate of the encoded stream from the camera/encoder combination, the apparatus further comprising:

at least one transmitter coupled to the video rate controller configured to send the assigned bit rates as respective bit rate controls to each of the camera/encoder combinations that accept a remotely generated bit rate control.

39. An apparatus as recited in claim 38, wherein the at least one receiver and the at least one transmitter include a network interface configured to receive at least one of the encoded video streams over a packet network, and to send the assigned bit rates over a network.

40. An apparatus as recited in claim 37, wherein at least some of the camera/encoder combinations are configured to output their respective encoded video stream at a respective pre-set bit rate, the apparatus further comprising:

at least one transcoder coupled to the at least one receiver and to the video rate controller, the at least one transcoder arranged to accept the encoded video streams from the at least some of the camera/encoder combinations, to accept the respective assigned bit rates, and to transcode from the respective pre-set bit rate to the respective assigned bit rates.

41. An apparatus as recited in claim 40, wherein the pre-set bit-rate of at least one of the encoded streams from at least one of the camera/encoder combinations is locally set at the location of the camera/encoder combination according to at least one local criterion of a set of local criteria consisting of motion detected at a local motion detector, the local time of day, time of the week, time of the year, and the amount of light in the video from the camera/encoder combination.

42. An apparatus as recited in claim 37, wherein the measure of the level of activity for each stream is determined at the corresponding camera/encoder combination, and wherein the receivers are further configured to receive the measures of the level of activity for each stream from the respective surveillance camera/encoder combinations.

43. An apparatus as recited in claim 42,

wherein the receivers are further configured to receive at least one local measure from at least one of the camera/encoder combinations, the local measure being at least one of a set of local measures consisting of:

the local time of day, time of the week, time of the year, and the amount of light in the video from the camera/encoder combination, and

wherein the video rate controller is arranged to set the bit rate for any camera/encoder combination for which at least one of the local measures is received using one or more of the received local measures.

44. An apparatus as recited in claim 42, wherein at least one receivers includes a network interface arranged to receive the measures of the level of activity for at least some of the streams over a packet network.

45. An apparatus as recited in claim 37, further comprising:

a motion detector configured to determine the measure of the level of activity for each encoded video stream from the stream received from the corresponding camera/encoder combination.

46. An apparatus as recited in claim 37, wherein the at least one receiver includes a network interface configured to receive at least some of the encoded streams over a packet network.

47. An apparatus as recited in claim 37, further comprising a storage subsystem such that the received streams or transcoded versions thereof are stored in the means for storage.

48. An apparatus as recited in claim 37, wherein the video rate controller is further configured to accept for at least some of the received encoded video streams information on the location in the video frame of any area of relatively high activity.