(19) United States
`
`(12; Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2007/0070185 A1
`Dy et al.
`(43) Pub. Date:
`Mar. 29, 2007
`
`US 20U'70070l35Al
`
`(54) SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTE
`DISPLAY OF SECURITY VIDEO IMAGES
`
`Publication Classification
`
`(75)
`
`lnvcnlorsz Lady (.'. Dy. (.‘l1icago. ll. [US]:
`(‘-“H-“rd Kraft Napcwillcs 11' (US):
`Vasilias D. Dossas, Chicago. IL (US)
`
`(Ton-espondencc Address:
`(jfiffurd Kn,“
`320 Robin Hi“ Dr.
`Napcrfillc [L 60540 (US)
`‘
`"
`
`(2')
`
`-’\PP1- N0-3
`
`11I"235a242
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Sep. 27, 2005
`
`(SI)
`
`Int. (fl.
`IIIMJV 7/I4
`
`[2(l{)6.(ll)
`
`(20O6'0l}
`“(MN 7/18
`(52) U.S. CI.
`......................................... 348;'l4.03‘._ 348E159
`(57)
`ABS.l.RA(:.l.
`A system and method for viewing video images from
`security systems on a remote handheld cotmnunications
`device like a cellular telephone. Video can be collected at a
`surveillance
`location. digitized and compressed.
`and
`streamed over a telephone lmc ma cnmpr_csscd Form such as
`Ml-’l EG4 to a remote communications device. A mcnu on the
`remote device as well as a local joy-slick (or lclcphonc
`navigation buttons) and other keys could allow sclcclion 0|‘
`various cameras andfor pan. tilt and zoom functions on a
`particular camera. Split screen displays of more than one
`camera can be presented. In an alternative embodiment. the
`security video can be streamed from a web site.
`
`TELEPHONE
`
`Page 1 of 7
`
`Page 1 of 7
`
`RPX Exhibit 1006
`
`RPX Exhibit 1006
`RPX v. MD Security
`RPX V. MD Security
`
`

`
`Patent Application Publication Mar. 29, 200? Sheet 1 of 3
`
`US 2007l0070l85 Al
`
`CAMERA
`
`TELEPHONE
`
`FIG. 1
`
`Page 2 of 7
`Page 2 of 7
`
`

`
`Patent Application Publication Mar. 29, 200? Sheet 2 of 3
`
`US 200770070185 A1
`
`COMPRESSOR
`
`
`
`& ENCODER
`
`TELEPHONE
`
`LINE
`
`FIG. 2
`
`Page 3 of 7
`Page 3 of 7
`
`

`
`Patent Application Publication Mar. 29, 2007 Sheet 3 of 3
`
`US 200770070185 Al
`
`FIG. 3
`
`Page 4 of 7
`Page 4 of 7
`
`

`
`US 2007/00?Dl85 Al
`
`Mar. 29, 200?
`
`SYSTEM AND MICTIIOI) FOR R1£M()'I'1C DISPLAY
`OF SECURITY VIDEO IIVIAGES
`
`BACKGRC )I JNI )
`
`[0001]
`
`l. liield of the Invention
`
`[0002] The present invention relates generally to the field
`of security video a11d more specifically to a system and
`method for tl1e remote display of secttrity video images.
`
`[0003]
`
`2. Description of the Prior Art
`
`[0004] Video cameras are frequently used in security
`systems. Normally galneras are placed in rooms of build-
`ings.
`in warehouse and store ceilings and ill various other
`locations to monitor activity in a particular area. Video
`cameras can also be placed in different rooms of residential
`structures such as homes to provide primary or secondary
`security.
`
`[0005] Prior art systems generally route video signals from
`cameras to a monitoring site proximate to the surveillance
`area or at a remote location. Normally, several monitors are
`located at this site where guards or other personnel view
`them. Altematively, or in addition. video from the cameras
`can be recorded for later replay.
`l11 some security systems.
`video is continttously recorded in a circttlar buffer that is
`saved when an alarm occurs.
`
`It is also known in the art to stream commercial
`[0006]
`video or movies to a cellular telephone. However. it would
`be advantageous to be able to control and view images from
`security cameras on a remote handheld mobile device such
`as a cellular telephone.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0007] The present invention relates to a security system
`with video cameras that provide video surveillance of a
`predetermined residential or commercial area along with a
`control point for receiving video signals li'om each o'f tl1e
`video cameras and a communications interface device for
`
`interfacing with the control point. The communications
`interface device generally receives command signals from a
`user where the cotrunand signals specify one or more of the
`video cameras as selected video cameras. and the control
`point supplies a transmission signal representative ofat least
`one of the video signals to the communications interface
`device. The present invention can also include a hand-held
`mobile conunun.icatiot1 device remote frotn the control point
`that receives transmission signals from the communications
`interface device, selects particular video cameras from
`which the user wants to view images. and displays video
`images from at least one of the selected video cameras. The
`handheld mobile conununications device can be a cellular
`telephone or any other portable communications device.
`
`[0008] The present invention allows a remote user to dial
`in or otherwise connect with their residence or other pro-
`tected building, area or asset and view real—time streamed
`video from security cameras on a handheld communications
`device like a cellular telephone. The user, by interlacing
`witl1 a menu. can select and command 11p video from one or
`more of the cameras.
`
`l)|iSCl{lP’l‘l()N OI-‘ Tllli FJGURIES
`
`FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment
`[0010]
`present invention.
`
`FIG. 3 shows a remote, handheld communications
`[0011]
`device with a split screen and menu displayed.
`
`[0012] Several drawings and illustrations have been pre-
`sented to better aid in the understanding of the present
`invention. The scope of the present invention is not limited
`to the embodiments shown in the drawings.
`
`DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
`
`invention relates to a system and
`[0013] The present
`method of displaying and controlling images from security
`systems on a re1note_. handheld eonununications device like
`a cellular telephone.
`
`[0014] Turning to FIG. 1, a typical security system is
`shown for a residential location. Several motion detectors 1.
`access control switches 2 and video cameras 3 cover the
`surveillance area. In particular. each video camera produces
`a stream of continuous video that
`is wired back to a
`
`collection point 4 in the residence. The collection point 4 can
`be coupled to a telephone or ot.l1er oommurtications interface
`5 that allows access to the public switched telephone ne -
`work (PSTN) or access to a network or any other type of
`wired or wireless communications. A remote user 6 can
`
`command up display of video from any of the cameras 3 on
`a l1:—.lndheld communications device 7 such as a cellular
`telephone by calling a particular telephone number. access-
`ing a particular web—site or by any other access method.
`While a residence is shown in FIG. 1, the present invention
`also relates to any type ofarea including, but not limited to.
`commercial buildings or locations such as olhce buildings,
`parking lots. restaurants or warehouses.
`
`[0015] The collection point 4 can generally combine or
`switch the video. In addition. video may be compressed at
`this point. In one embodiment of the present invention. the
`collection point can act as a video compressor and switch so
`that various of the video feeds can be litted into the band-
`
`width provided by a commercial telephone line. The tele-
`phone interface 5 can provide access to a regular telephone
`line (known as “plain old telephone service” POTS). or to a
`dedicated wider bandwidth service such as a T1 line, ISDN,
`fiber optic or other dedicated data service including a
`wireless service.
`
`[0016] A block diagram of an embodiment of the present
`invention is shown in FIG. 2. Here several video feeds fmin
`cameras 3 can be combined and compressed so that they can
`be made available to leave the residence on a POTS or
`telephone line or otherwise. Black and white security camera
`video generally occupies a bandwidth of from around 2 to 5
`MI [2 and is usually analog in nature. Several standard video
`formats are m general use including NTSC. PAL. SECAM.
`S—Vfideo and RS-170 and others. The embodiment shown in
`
`1’ K}. 2 uses black and white cameras producing NTSC video
`with a bandwidth of around 5 MI Iz. Ilorizontal and vertical
`synchronization and blanking are contained in the NTSC
`signal according to the standard. While black and white is
`preferred because of possible lower bandwidth and greater
`simplicity in compression. color video and coding is within
`the scope of the present invention.
`
`FIG. 1 shows a security system that can relay video
`[0009]
`to a remote. handheld communications device.
`
`[0017] The 5 M119: video can be digitized by an All.)
`converter 8 as shown in FIG. 2 to produce a raw digital
`Page 5 of 7
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`
`

`
`US 2007/00?Dl85 Al
`
`Mar. 29, 200?
`
`stream of I0-15 m-samplesfsec. liach sample can contain
`from around 10-16 bits. For security work, samples can
`generally be smaller then in broadcast or multi-media arts.
`For example, the A!’ I ) converter 8 can produce a s1.rean1 of
`digital samples or can be part of a more complex compres-
`sion encoder. A video switch 13 can optionally be placed
`between the AID converter 8 and the encoder 9 to select one
`
`or more particular cameras for encoding and subsequent
`transmission via the telephone or comlnunications interface
`5. l-'I(i. 2 shows a11 Ml-’|'iG4 encoder 9 coupled to die Ml)
`converter 8 (MPEG standards are video and audio co1npres-
`sion standards known in the art). Some MPEG encoders
`contain internal Ail) converters and are supplied as a com-
`plete unit. Wliile Ml-’Ii(i4 has been shown as the compres-
`sion standard for tl1e embodiment shown in FIG. 2. any
`compression method or standard is within the scope of the
`present invention including no compression at all (which
`cottld include. as a subset. low bit rate digital cameras or
`sampling cameras].
`
`[0018] The MPEG4 standard is particularly designed for
`low data rate video streaming. lt is based on t.l1e techniques
`of the Ml-’l7.Gl standard with some advanced bandwidth
`reduction techniques. MPEG4 output can be adjusted to
`stream video into a telephone line modem at 50 kb.r‘s. This
`works particularly well for security video because many
`times scenes are static for lo11g periods of time.
`
`In the preferred embodiment of the present inven-
`[0019]
`tion, a retnote user 6 with a cellular telephone or other
`communications device 7 can call the telephone number of
`the telephone interface 5, receive, or generate. a particular
`menu, and select one or more cameras to view (or alterna-
`tively view images from a single camera). hnages in
`MPIEG4 or other digital formats can then be streamed to the
`communication device. This allows a remote user to dial in
`
`to their residence or other protected asset and view live
`video from one or n1ore cameras. The digital interface to the
`user can be controlled locally at the protected premises or
`froin a central monitoring point.
`In 1" IG. 2, a user sends
`commands from his cellular telephone 7 to the telephone
`interface 5 stating which camera or cameras he wishes to
`view. The telephone interface 5 sends a conunand to the
`collection point 4 via a processor that causes the correct
`video feed or feeds to be compressed and transmitted to the
`remote unit. The user can then watch one or more images on
`his handheld communications device 7 for as long as
`desired.
`
`In the case of a cellular telephone, the handheld
`[0020]
`communications device 7 may be controlled by a mini-
`joystick 11 (as is known i11 l.l1e art of cellular telephones for
`lelit-right-up-down) to automatically select cameras or to
`send conunands back to the collection point 4 to cause a
`particular camera to pan. tilt or zoom. A particular button 12
`push could select a diflerent security camera. A meml option
`could allow simultaneous. split-screen display of more than
`one camera. FIG. 3 shows a cellular telephone with a split
`screen display and navigation menu so that various button
`pushes can select cameras and the telephone joy-stick can
`CHLISC C'cI['l'lCl'd ]T]0VC['l'lCl'll ¢':l.l'lCl Z['l['l['l'li['lg.
`
`In an alternate embodiment of the present inve11-
`[0021]
`tion. compressed video data can be streamed onto a web site
`where it could be made available to anyone with access to
`that site. In that case, a remote user with a cellular telephone
`Page 6 of 7
`Page 6 of 7
`
`or PDA would simply log onto the web site [gain authorized
`access) and then stream the video from the site server as is
`known in the art. Access control to the site could be by any
`ofthc generally known access control methods used in the
`site server art.
`
`illustrations and examples
`[0022] Several descriptions.
`have been presented to better aid in understanding the
`present invention. One skilled in the art will realize that
`many changes and variations are possible. All of these
`changes and variations are within the scope of the present
`invention.
`
`We claim:
`1. A security system comprising:
`
`a plurality of video cameras for providing video sttrvcil-
`lance of a predetermined residential or commercial
`area:
`
`a control point for receiving video signals from each of
`said video cameras:
`
`a communications interface device interfacing with said
`control point. said communications interface device
`receiving command signals from a user, said command
`signals specifying one or more of said video cameras as
`selected video cameras;
`
`said control point supplying a transmission signal repre-
`sentalive of at least one of said video signals to said
`conununications interface device:
`
`a hand-held mobile communication device remote from
`
`said control point receiving said transmission signal
`from said communications interface device a11d dis-
`
`playing video from at least one of said selected video
`cameras.
`
`2. The security system ofclaim 1 wherein said handheld
`mobile communications device is a cellular telephone.
`3. The security system of claim 1 wherein said transmis-
`sion signal is compressed.
`4. The security system of claim 3 wherein said compres-
`sion follows an MP1-EG standard.
`5. The security system of claim 4 wherein said MPEG
`standard followed is MPEG4.
`
`6. The security system of claim 1 wherein said remote,
`handheld communications device further contains a naviga-
`tion device.
`
`7. The security system of claim 6 wherein said navigation
`device is used to select images front particular cameras.
`8. A method of provid.ing remote video surveillance ofa
`predetermined location comprising the steps of:
`
`providing a plurality of video cameras configured to
`provide video surveillance ofsaid location. each ofsaid
`video cameras producing a video signal;
`
`receiving command signals from a user remote from said
`video cameras using a handheld mobile communica-
`tions device. said command signals specifying one or
`more of said video cameras as selected video cameras;
`
`transmitting a signal representative ofvideo signals from
`said selected cameras to said remote user. said remote
`user displaying video from at least one of said selected
`video cameras on said handheld lnobile communica-
`tions device.
`
`

`
`US 2007/00?Dl85 Al
`
`Mar. 29, 200?
`
`9. The method of Claim 8 wherein said handheld mobile
`communications device is a cellular telephone.
`10. The 1netl1od of claim 8 wherein said signal represen-
`tative of signals from selected cameras is encoded.
`1]. The method of claim 10 wherein said encoding
`follows an MPEG standard.
`12. The method of claim 11 wherein said MPEG standard
`is MPEG4.
`13. The method ofclaim 8 wherein said handheld mobile
`communications device further contains a navigation device.
`14. The method of claim 13 wherein said navigation
`device is used to select an image from a particular camera.
`15. A method o l‘ remotely viewing video from a security
`site comprising the steps of:
`
`providing a plurality of video cameras configured to
`provide video surveillance of said location, each ofsaid
`video cameras producing a video signal:
`
`transmitting a signal representative of a video signal from
`at least one ol‘ said cameras to a remote user, said
`
`remote user displaying video from at least one of said
`selected video cameras on a cellular telephone or PDA.
`16. The method ofclaim 15 further comprising the step of
`receiving comnland signals from a user remote from said
`video cameras using said cellular telephone or PDA, said
`command signals specifying one or more of said video
`cameras as selected video cameras.
`
`17. The method of claim 16 wherein a joystick device on
`said cellular telephone or PDA is used to specify one or more
`of Said cameras for viewing.
`18. The method of claim 15 wherein said signal repre-
`sentative ofa video signal from at least one of said cameras
`is compressed.
`19. The method of elai111 15 wherein said signal repre-
`Selltative o la video signal froili at least one of said cameras
`is encoded.
`
`20. The method of claim 19 wherein said signal
`encoded according to an Ml-’lfl(i standard.
`>1:
`99
`BE:
`30:
`BE:
`
`is
`
`Page 7 of 7
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