Monitoring system, camera, and video encoding method
First Claim
1. A monitoring system comprising plural cameras connected through a transmission path,wherein each of said plural cameras includes:
- an object detecting unit configured to detect an object that is a moving object to be monitored;
a video capturing unit configured to capture the object detected by said object detecting unit so as to obtain video;
a video encoding unit configured to encode the video obtained by said capturing unit;
a collaboration parameter storage unit for storing a collaboration parameter indicating a relative amount of a target code amount assigned to a camera and a target code amount assigned to a neighboring camera, the target code amount being a target value for video encoding, and said neighboring camera being a predetermined camera, among said plural cameras, that is located near said camera;
a communication interface unit configured to exchange, by communicating with said neighboring camera, the collaboration parameter stored in said collaboration parameter storage unit of said camera and the target code amount assigned to said camera;
a neighboring camera information storage unit for storing position identification information for identifying a position of said neighboring camera, as well as the collaboration parameter and the target code amount for said neighboring camera that are obtained by said communication interface unit;
a collaboration parameter updating unit configured to update the collaboration parameter stored in said collaboration parameter storage unit, based on a position of the object detected by said object detecting unit as well as the position identification information and the collaboration parameter of said neighboring camera that are stored in said neighboring camera information storage unit, so that (i) a distribution pattern, which indicates a distribution of a value of the collaboration parameter in a space in which said plural cameras are present, forms concentric circles having the object detected by said object detecting unit as an origin, and that (ii) the target code amount for a camera capturing the object becomes larger than the target code amount for a camera not capturing the object; and
a target code amount determining unit configured to determine the target code amount to be assigned to said camera, based on the collaboration parameter updated by said collaboration parameter updating unit as well as the collaboration parameter and the target code amount for said neighboring camera that are stored in said neighboring camera information storage unit, andwherein said video encoding unit is configured to encode the video so that an amount of code generated in the encoding attains the target code amount determined by said target code amount determining unit.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a monitoring system enabling efficient determination of code amounts for respective cameras according to the movement of an object. Each camera (101) making up the monitoring system includes: a collaboration parameter updating unit (413) which updates a collaboration parameter, based on the position of the object detected by a sensor (106) and position identification information and collaboration parameter of a neighboring camera stored in a neighboring camera information storage unit (405), so that (i) a distribution pattern indicating the distribution of the collaboration parameter value in a space where plural cameras are present forms a concentric circle with the object being the origin, and (ii) the target code amount for a camera capturing the object becomes larger than that of a camera not capturing the object; and a target code amount determining unit (410) which determines the target code amount assigned to the camera based on the updated collaboration parameter, and the collaboration parameter and the target code amount for the neighboring camera stored in the neighboring camera information storage unit (405).
33 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A monitoring system comprising plural cameras connected through a transmission path,
wherein each of said plural cameras includes: -
an object detecting unit configured to detect an object that is a moving object to be monitored; a video capturing unit configured to capture the object detected by said object detecting unit so as to obtain video; a video encoding unit configured to encode the video obtained by said capturing unit; a collaboration parameter storage unit for storing a collaboration parameter indicating a relative amount of a target code amount assigned to a camera and a target code amount assigned to a neighboring camera, the target code amount being a target value for video encoding, and said neighboring camera being a predetermined camera, among said plural cameras, that is located near said camera; a communication interface unit configured to exchange, by communicating with said neighboring camera, the collaboration parameter stored in said collaboration parameter storage unit of said camera and the target code amount assigned to said camera; a neighboring camera information storage unit for storing position identification information for identifying a position of said neighboring camera, as well as the collaboration parameter and the target code amount for said neighboring camera that are obtained by said communication interface unit; a collaboration parameter updating unit configured to update the collaboration parameter stored in said collaboration parameter storage unit, based on a position of the object detected by said object detecting unit as well as the position identification information and the collaboration parameter of said neighboring camera that are stored in said neighboring camera information storage unit, so that (i) a distribution pattern, which indicates a distribution of a value of the collaboration parameter in a space in which said plural cameras are present, forms concentric circles having the object detected by said object detecting unit as an origin, and that (ii) the target code amount for a camera capturing the object becomes larger than the target code amount for a camera not capturing the object; and a target code amount determining unit configured to determine the target code amount to be assigned to said camera, based on the collaboration parameter updated by said collaboration parameter updating unit as well as the collaboration parameter and the target code amount for said neighboring camera that are stored in said neighboring camera information storage unit, and wherein said video encoding unit is configured to encode the video so that an amount of code generated in the encoding attains the target code amount determined by said target code amount determining unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A video encoding method used in a camera in a monitoring system including plural cameras connected through a transmission path,
wherein each of said plural cameras includes: -
an object detecting unit configured to detect an object that is a moving object to be monitored; a video capturing unit configured to capture the object detected by said object detecting unit so as to obtain video; a video encoding unit configured to encode the video obtained by said video capturing unit; a collaboration parameter storage unit for storing a collaboration parameter indicating a relative amount of a target code amount assigned to a camera and a target code amount assigned to a neighboring camera, the target code amount being a target value in video encoding, and said neighboring camera being a predetermined camera, among said plural cameras, that is located near said camera; a communication interface unit configured to exchange, by communicating with the neighboring camera, the collaboration parameter stored in said collaboration parameter storage unit of said camera and the target code amount assigned to said camera; and a neighboring camera information storage unit for storing position identification information for identifying a position of said neighboring camera, as well as the collaboration parameter and the target code amount for said neighboring camera that are obtained by said communication interface unit, and wherein said video encoding method includes; a collaboration parameter updating step of updating the collaboration parameter stored in said collaboration parameter storage unit, based on a position of the object detected by said object detecting unit as well as the position identification information and the collaboration parameter of said neighboring camera that are stored in said neighboring camera positioning information unit so that;
(i) a distribution pattern, which indicates a distribution of a value of the collaboration parameter in a space in which said plural cameras are present, forms concentric circles having the object detected by said object detecting unit as an origin, and that (ii) the target code amount for a camera capturing the object becomes larger than the target code amount for a camera not capturing the object;a target code amount determining step of determining the target code amount to be assigned to said camera, based on the collaboration parameter updated in said collaboration parameter updating step as well as the collaboration parameter and the target code amount for said neighboring camera that are stored in said neighboring camera information storage unit; and a video encoding step of encoding the video so that an amount of code generated in the encoding attains the target code amount determined in said target code amount determining step. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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Specification