(19; United States
`(12; Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2007/0070185 A1
`Dy et al.
`(43) Pub. Date:
`Mar. 29, 2007
`
`US 20070070185Al
`
`(54) SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTE
`DISPLAY OF SECURITY VIDEO IMAGES
`
`Publication Classification
`
`(76)
`
`Inventors: Lady C. Dy, Chicago, IL (US);
`Cliflord Kraft, Napervfllea IL (US);
`Vasilios D. Dossas, Chicago, IL (US)
`
`Correspondence Address;
`Cliflord K1-aft
`320 Robin Hill Dr_
`Naperville, IL 60540 (US)
`
`(21) APP1~ N05
`
`11/236342
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Sep. 27, 2005
`
`(51)
`
`Int. Cl.
`(2006.01)
`H04N 7/14
`(200601)
`H04N 7/18
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`....................................... .. 348/14.03; 348/159
`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`A system and method for viewing video images from
`security systems on a remote handheld communications
`device like a cellular telephone. Video can be collected at a
`surveillance
`location, digitized and compressed,
`and
`streamed over a telephone line in a compressed form such as
`MPEG4 to a remote communications device. A menu on the
`remote device as well as a local joy-stick (or telephone
`navigation buttons) and other keys could allow selection of
`various cameras and/or 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
`
`1
`
`POI 1006
`
`1
`
`POI 1006
`
`

`
`Patent Application Publication Mar. 29, 2007 Sheet 1 of 3
`
`US 2007/0070185 A1
`
`TELEPHONE
`
`FIG. 1
`
`2
`
`

`
`Patent Application Publication Mar. 29, 2007 Sheet 2 of 3
`
`US 2007/0070185 A1
`
`CAMERAS
`
`COMPRESSOR
`
`
`
`& ENCODER
`
`TELEPHONE
`
`LINE
`
`FIG. 2
`
`3
`
`

`
`Patent Application Publication Mar. 29, 2007 Sheet 3 of 3
`
`US 2007/0070185 A1
`
`CAM1RCAM2U/D
`
`H L
`
`12
`
`FIG. 3
`
`4
`
`

`
`US 2007/0070185 A1
`
`Mar. 29, 2007
`
`SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTE DISPLAY
`OF SECURITY VIDEO IMAGES
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`[0001]
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`
`[0002] The present invention relates generally to the field
`of security video and more specifically to a system and
`method for the remote display of security video images.
`
`[0003]
`
`2. Description of the Prior Art
`
`[0004] Video cameras are frequently used in security
`systems. Normally cameras are placed in rooms of build-
`ings, in warehouse and store ceilings and in 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. Alternatively, or in addition, video from the cameras
`can be recorded for later replay. In so1ne security systems,
`video is continuously recorded in a circular 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 from each of the
`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 command signals specify one or more of the
`video cameras as selected video cameras, and the control
`point supplies a transmission signal representative of at least
`one of the video signals to the communications interface
`device. The present invention can also include a hand-held
`mobile communication device remote from 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 communications 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 interfacing
`with a menu, can select and command up video from one or
`more of the cameras.
`
`DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
`
`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.
`
`Several drawings and illustrations have been pre-
`[0012]
`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 remote, handheld communications 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 other communications interface
`5 that allows access to the public switched telephone net-
`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 handheld 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 of area including, but not limited to,
`commercial buildings or locations such as office 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 fitted 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 from
`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
`MHZ and is usually analog in nature. Several standard video
`formats are in general use including NTSC, PAL, SECAM,
`S-Video and RS-170 and others. The embodiment shown in
`
`FIG. 2 uses black and white cameras producing NTSC video
`with a bandwidth of around 5 MHZ. Horizontal 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.
`
`[0009] FIG. 1 shows a security system that can relay video
`to a remote, handheld communications device.
`
`[0017] The 5 MHZ video can be digitiZed by an A/D
`converter 8 as shown in FIG. 2 to produce a raw digital
`
`5
`
`

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`US 2007/0070185 A1
`
`Mar. 29, 2007
`
`stream of 10-15 m-sarnples/sec. Each 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/D converter 8 can produce a stream of
`digital samples or can be part of a more complex compres-
`sion encoder. A video switch 13 can optionally be placed
`between the A/D converter 8 and the encoder 9 to select one
`
`or more particular cameras for encoding and subsequent
`transmission via the telephone or communications interface
`5. FIG. 2 shows an MPEG4 encoder 9 coupled to the A/D
`converter 8 (MPEG standards are video and audio compres-
`sion standards known in the art). Some MPEG encoders
`contain internal A/D converters and are supplied as a com-
`plete unit. While MPEG4 has been shown as the compres-
`sion standard for the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, any
`compression method or standard is within the scope of the
`present invention including no compression at all (which
`could 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. It is based on the techniques
`of the MPEG1 standard with some advanced bandwidth
`
`reduction techniques. MPEG4 output can be adjusted to
`stream video into a telephone line modem at 50 kb/s. This
`works particularly well for security video because many
`times scenes are static for long periods of time.
`
`In the preferred embodiment of the present inven-
`[0019]
`tion, a remote 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-
`tivc y vicw images from a single camcra).
`Images in
`MPEG4 or other digital formats can then be streamed to the
`communication device. This allows a remote user to dial in
`
`to t1eir residence or other protected asset and view live
`video from one or more cameras. The digital interface to the
`user can be controlled locally at the protected premises or
`from a central monitoring point. In FIG. 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 command 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.
`
`I11 the case of a cellular telephone, the handheld
`[0020]
`communications device 7 may be controlled by a mini-
`joystick 11 (as is known in the art of cellular telephones for
`left-right-up-down) to automatically select cameras or to
`send commands back to the collection point 4 to cause a
`particular camera to pan, tilt or zoom. A particular button 12
`push could select a different security camera. A menu 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
`cause camera movement and zooming.
`
`In an alternate embodiment of the present inven-
`[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
`
`or PDA would simply log onto the web site (gain authorized
`access) a11d then stream the video from the site server as is
`known in the art. Access control to the site could be by any
`of the generally known access control methods used in the
`site server art.
`
`illustrations and examples
`Several descriptions,
`[0022]
`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 surveil-
`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-
`sentative of at least one of said video signals to said
`communications interface device;
`a hand-held mobile communication device remote from
`
`said control point receiving said transmission signal
`from said communications interface device and dis-
`
`playing video from at least one of said selected video
`cameras.
`
`2. The security system of claim 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 MPEG 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 from particular cameras.
`8. A method of providing remote video surveillance of a
`predetermined location comprising the steps of:
`
`providing a plurality of video cameras configured to
`provide video surveillance of said location, each of said
`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 of video 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 mobile communica-
`tions device.
`
`6
`
`

`
`US 2007/0070185 A1
`
`Mar. 29, 2007
`
`9. The method of claim 8 wherein said handheld mobile
`commtmications device is a cellular telephone.
`10. The method of claim 8 wherein said signal represen-
`tative of signals from selected cameras is encoded.
`11. 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 of claim 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 of 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 of said
`video cameras producing a video signal;
`
`transmitting a signal representative of a video signal from
`at least one of 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 of claim 15 further comprising the step of
`receiving command 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 of a video signal from at least one of said cameras
`is compressed.
`19. The method of claim 15 wherein said signal repre-
`sentative of a video signal from at least one of said cameras
`is encoded.
`
`20. The method of claim 19 wherein said signal
`encoded according to an MPEG standard.
`*
`*
`*
`*
`*
`
`is
`
`7