Cross-Reference to Related Applications
[0001] This application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application
Serial No. 60/543,727 filed on February 11, 2004, which is fully incorporated herein
by reference, and is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. Patent Application
Serial No. 10/718,447 filed on November 20, 2003, which is fully incorporated herein
by reference.
Technical Field
[0002] The present invention relates to security systems and, in particular, security systems
including a mobile component for accessing and/or receiving security data at a remote
location.
Background Information
[0003] In known security systems, a variety of security data may be communicated to a central
surveillance location from various security devices. However, security personnel who
desire access to such security data must access the data from the central location.
This inhibits their ability to investigate incidents in person and to be timely notified
of various occurrences. For example, security personnel who wish to view live or recorded
video from a security camera must do so at the central surveillance location.
[0004] In addition, security personnel may find it desirous to be actively notified of the
occurrence of a security event while away from a central location and to be provided
with information related to the event, such as video clips and when the event transpired.
[0005] Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for remote access to and/or
notification of security events.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0006] These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood
by reading the following detailed description, taken together with the drawings wherein:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a security system including a system
for remote access to security event information, consistent with one embodiment of
the present invention;
[0008] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of the system for
remote access to security event information;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating another embodiment of the system
for remote access to security event information; and
[0010] FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method for remote access to security event
information, consistent with one embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed Description
[0011] For simplicity and ease of explanation, the invention will be described herein in
connection with various exemplary embodiments thereof. Those skilled in the art will
recognize, however, that the features and advantages of the invention may be implemented
in a variety of configurations. It is to be understood, therefore, that the embodiments
described herein are presented by way of illustration, not of limitation.
[0012] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary security system 100 consistent with an
embodiment of the present invention. In general, the security system 100 may include
one or more remote or mobile access devices 112 connected to a remote access system
120 for remotely receiving and evaluating security event information. The security
system 100 may include a security event data collection system 102 that collects security
event data (also referred to as alarm data) from collection or detection devices 104
and a video surveillance system 108 that captures images of security events using
one or more cameras 110. The security event data collection system 102, the video
surveillance system 108 and the remote access system 120 may be connected to and communicate
via a network 150 such as an Ethernet.
[0013] The remote access system 120 may include a consolidated database 130 that receives
and stores the security data from the security event data collection system 102 and
from the video surveillance system 108. The consolidated database 130 may link the
event data for a particular event to the video data available for that event. The
remote access system 120 may notify the access device 112 of an event and deliver
event data together with video data related to the event, for example, in an event
message. Alternatively, the access device 112 may initiate communication with the
remote access system 120 to access the security data in the consolidated database
130. The access device 112 may be used to view the event data and to play back the
video associated with the event.
[0014] The access device 112 may be a portable personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular
telephone, pager, personal computer, computer terminal, laptop computer, or information
kiosk. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the access device 112 may connect
to and communicate with the remote access system 120 in a variety of ways. The connection
may be over the internet or through a wireless network such as a wireless local area
network (WLAN) or a cellular wide area network (WAN). The access device 112 may also
connect directly to the network 150 through an access point 114 and may receive data
directly from the collection system 102 or the video surveillance system 108.
[0015] The security event data collection system 102 may include any system for detecting
and/or collecting security event data including, but not limited to, an electronic
article surveillance (EAS) based system, a radio frequency identification (RFID) based
system, a motion detection system, an entry/exit monitoring system, a glass window
and door breakage detection system, temperature sensing system, a fire detection system,
a gas detection system, an intrusion detection system, and an electronic access control
system. One example of the security event data collection system 102 is the SENSORMATIC®
ULTRALINK® EAS system available from ADT Security Services, Inc., a division of Tyco
International Ltd. The collection devices 104 may detect security events such as detection
of an active EAS tag, detection of an RFID label, a point of sale (POS) transaction,
a door or window opening or breaking, or a gas or fire. When security events are detected,
the data collection system 102 generates event or alarm data indicative of the detected
event. The event or alarm data may include time stamps indicating a time of occurrence
of the events as well as information describing the location of the event and the
nature of the event or alarm.
[0016] The video surveillance system 108 may include any system for capturing images of
security events. One example of the video surveillance system 118 is the INTELLEX®
V 3.1 video surveillance system available from ADT Security Services, Inc., a division
of Tyco International Ltd. The video camera 110 may take video of a surveillance area
on a continuous basis or at predefined intervals. The surveillance area may be, for
example, an exit/entrance of a retail store, an area around a cash register, an area
around a protected asset, and the like. The camera 110 may be oriented in a fixed
direction or the position of the camera 110 may be controlled, for example, to adjust
the pan-tilt-zoom of the camera 110 and/or to position the camera 110 at various viewing
angles. When the video surveillance system 108 captures images, the video surveillance
system 108 may store the video data representing the recorded images on a multimedia
server such as a digital video recorder (DVR) or a personal computer. The video surveillance
system 108 may also store data pertaining to the recorded video such as time stamps,
duration of the video clips, and a location of the surveillance area. The video surveillance
system 108 may also capture and store audio associated with the images.
[0017] The security system 100 may optionally include an object recognition system 106 connected
to the network 150 and/or connected directly to the video surveillance system 108.
The object recognition system 106 may be configured to recognize any variety of objects
entering the surveillance area. In general, the object recognition system 106 may
receive live video from the camera 110 and analyze the video to detect if an object
has entered the surveillance area. The object recognition system 106 may compare data
representative of the detected object with data representative of a plurality of known
objects to ascertain if an acceptable correlation exists. If a correlation exists,
the object recognition system 106 may act as a security event data collection system
and provide event data to the consolidated database 130.
[0018] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the live video from the camera 110
may be communicated to the object recognition system 106 and video surveillance system
108 in a variety of ways, e.g., through network cables or a wireless connection. Those
skilled in the art will recognize that the object recognition system 106 may include
a computer provided in a variety of known configurations to analyze the live video
from the camera 110 and/or store information about the video, as well as information
about any events associated with or detectable from the video.
[0019] Referring to FIG. 2, one embodiment of the remote access system 120 may be implemented
as a consolidated, server-based architecture used for the collection, storage and
transmission of security event information. The remote access system 120 may include
an alarm interface 122 that obtains event/alarm data 124 from the security event data
collection system 102 and a video interface 126 that obtains video data 128 from the
video surveillance system 108.
[0020] The remote access system 120 may obtain the event data and video data for both real-time
use (e.g., notification of an event when the event occurs) and after the fact use
(e.g., for use in a report on events). The remote access system 120 may employ a common
mechanism to format event records in the consolidated database 130. In one example,
an initialization file may be used to determine the fields that will reside in an
event record and to determine the field ordering. The initialization file may provide
an XML description of the event interface to specify record content and field ordering.
[0021] The consolidated database 130 links the event/alarm data and the video data corresponding
to a particular event and stores the linked alarm and video data 132. The consolidated
database 130 may be implemented as a relational database, for example, using a database
server and database management system software such as the type available from Microsoft
or Oracle. The linked event/alarm data and video data may be stored in a combined
table in the consolidated database 130. Database synchronization software may be activated
to transfer the security event data and/or video data to the consolidated database
130.
[0022] The video data linked to the event data may include digitized video clips as well
as information about the video. The digitized video clips may be stored directly on
the consolidated database 130 as embedded video. When digitized video is stored on
the consolidated database 130, the embedded video clips may be stored in a highly
compressed format using techniques known to those skilled in the art.
[0023] Alternatively, the digitized video clips may include linked video resident on a separate
multimedia server (e.g., in the surveillance system 108). The digitized video clips
on a separate multimedia server may also be associated with the event data on the
consolidated database 130 through database relations. When the digitized video is
stored in a separate location, the video data stored on the consolidated database
130 includes information about the video clips (e.g., time stamps and duration). In
a further alternative, digitized video may also be streamed directly to and stored
in the mobile access device 112.
[0024] The event/alarm data 124 and the video data 126 may be linked based on an indication
of when a security event occurred. The event/alarm data 124 and the video data 126
include timestamps indicating the time that the events occurred and the time when
the video was taken. Both the data collections system 102 and the video surveillance
system 108 may use Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) from a hardware timestamp source
to provide an accurate and consistent timestamp. Thus, event data corresponding to
an event that occurred at a particular time and location may be linked to video data
corresponding to a video taken at that time and at that location.
[0025] In addition to the alarm and video data 132, the consolidated database 130 may include
a device management table 134 containing device information pertaining to the collection
devices 104. The device management table 134 allows a user to obtain information on
the collection devices 104 and/or to manage the collection devices 104 using the mobile
access device 112. The consolidated database 130 may also include notification rules
136 that trigger notification processes, as described below. The mobile access device
112 may be used to customize the notification process by accessing and modifying the
notification rules. Additionally, the rules may be modified externally over the World
Wide Web using the web server 162.
[0026] One embodiment of the remote access system 120 may include a wireless interface 160
to connect with the mobile access device(s) 112 and to transmit data in a format suitable
for wireless transmission. The wireless interface 160 may be implemented using wireless
technologies known to those skilled in the art such as the short-range radio technology
known as Bluetooth and various longer-range radio technologies such as cellular protocols.
[0027] The remote access system 120 may include a web server 162 to make the consolidated
database 130 available to an access device 112. In one embodiment, the web server
may be an Internet Information Services (IIS) Web server available from Microsoft.
The web server 162 may be used to deliver the data on web pages, such as active server
pages (ASP), in response to a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request from a mobile
access device 112.
[0028] The remote access system 120 may include a notification/messaging system 164 to provide
notification of events. The notification/messaging system 160 may transmit an event
or alarm message to the mobile access device 112, for example, on a subscription basis.
In one embodiment, the message may be sent to the user in the form of an email with
the event data and video data. The video data in the message may include an embedded
video clip or a link to a location where the video clip is stored.
[0029] According to one embodiment, Web services publish/subscribe mechanisms may be used
to provide notification of events. The remote access system 120 may support extensible
markup language (XML), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and Uniform Device Discovery
Interface (UDDI) standards. To provide both real-time and batch event information
delivery, the remote access system 120 may also incorporate asynchronous messaging
systems such as the messaging queue systems available from IBM under the name IBM
MQ Series and from Microsoft under the name MSMQ. A messaging queue system is capable
of delivering suitably formatted communications to subscribers using wired or wireless
communications. The system may also use a time coordination protocol supported by
asynchronous messaging, such as Lamport's Algorithm.
[0030] The remote access system 120 may also include information security protection using
security technologies known to those skilled in the art. Examples of security technologies
that may be used include two-factor authentication, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
security, secure sockets layer (SSL) and digital certificates.
[0031] Connection to the consolidated database 130 may be implemented using standardized
database connection technologies such as Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), Java Database
Connectivity (JDBC) and ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). Enterprise Application Interface
(EAI) applications may also use the database connection to direct data from the consolidated
database 130 into enterprise applications known to those skilled in the art. Access
to the data in the consolidated database 130 may be provided via XML I/O, database
synchronization, an enterprise connection, or using other techniques known to those
skilled in the art.
[0032] The remote access system 120, the data collection system 102, and the video surveillance
system 108 may be networked using the Zero Configuration Networking (zeroconf) standards
such as those implemented by Apple Computer under the name Rendezvous. The networked
security system 100 may also be implemented using the Universal Plug and Play standard.
The remote access system 120 may be implemented as a server appliance, for example,
using the Server Appliance Kit (SAK) available from Microsoft.
[0033] The remote access system 120 may also run one or more scheduled or on-demand business
processes 170, 172, 174, 176. A notification business process 170 may be run to initiate
and manage the notification process that is performed using the notification/messaging
system 164. An analysis process 172 may be run to perform a data analysis using the
alarm and video data 132 in the consolidated database 130. A reporting process 174
may be run to generate reports including, for example, event and video data or device
information stored in the consolidated database 130. An enterprise connection process
176 may be run to direct data from the consolidated database 130 into applications
using an Enterprise Application Interface (EAI).
[0034] FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a remote access system 120a. This embodiment of
the remote access system 120a includes a consolidated database 130, a wireless interface
160, a web server 162, and a notification/messaging system 164, similar to the embodiments
described above. In the remote access system 120a, according to this embodiment, the
wireless interface 160 includes both a wireless LAN interface 180 and a cellular WAN
interface 182. The remote access system 120a may include an alarm management interface
202 that interfaces with the data collection system 102 and manages the event/alarm
data received from the data collection system 102. The web server 162 may be connected
to a firewall 204 that restricts external access to the web server 162.
[0035] In this embodiment, the remote access system 120a also includes a video/audio streaming
and control system 210 that controls a camera 110a and provides streaming video data
for transmission over a wireless network. The video/audio streaming and control system
210 may include a dome control 212 that controls the positioning of the camera 104a
using techniques known to those skilled in the art. The video/audio streaming and
control system 210 may also include a video encoder 214 that encodes digitized video
data, an encryption device 216 that encrypts the encoded video data, and a stream
manager 218 that manages the stream of encrypted video data for transmission over
a wireless network via the wireless interface 160.
[0036] The remote access system 120a, according to this embodiment, may also include an
external system interface 220 interfacing with a camera 104b and a video surveillance
system 108. The external system interface 220 may include a video recorder application
programming interface (API) 222 that interfaces with the video surveillance system
108 and an interface API 224 that interfaces with the camera 104b.
[0037] As shown in FIG. 3, one embodiment of the mobile access device 112 may include a
message manager 310, a browser 312 and a video stream receiver 320. The message manager
310 receives and manages notification messages transmitted from a remote access system
120, 120a. The browser 312 may be used to access the web pages provided by the web
server 162. The video stream receiver 320 receives, decrypts and decodes streamed
video data to allow a user to view the video using the access device 112.
[0038] One method of remotely accessing security information is illustrated in FIG. 4. Security
events are monitored 410 (e.g., using one or more detectors or data collection devices).
When a security event is detected 412 and security event data is collected by the
data collection system, the security event data is sent to the consolidated database
and stored 414. If the event has been captured 416 on video (e.g., by a video surveillance
system), video data pertaining to the captured video may be stored 418 in the consolidated
database and linked to the event data. Some or all of the captured video may be stored
with the event data, or the event data may be linked to captured video stored in a
separate location (e.g., on the video surveillance system). A user or subscriber is
notified 420 of the event using the mobile access device (e.g., by a message including
event and video data such as an embedded video clip or a link to a video clip).
[0039] When the user receives the notification on the mobile access device, the user may
acknowledge the alarm or event and access 422 the event and video data stored on the
consolidated database. When accessing the video data, the user may use the mobile
access device to manipulate the video data (e.g., by fast forwarding, rewinding, scanning,
or zooming in/out). In an alternative method, video data may be streamed directly
to the mobile access device in real time.
[0040] Embodiments of the system and method for remote access to security event information
can be implemented as a computer program product for used with a computer system.
Such implementation includes, without limitation, a series of computer instructions
that embody all or part of the functionality previously described herein with respect
to the system and method. The series of computer instructions may be stored in any
machine-readable medium, such as semiconductor, magnetic, optical or other memory
devices, and may be transmitted using any communications technology, such as optical,
infrared, microwave, or other transmission technologies. It is expected that such
a computer program product may be distributed as a removable machine-readable medium
(e.g., a diskette, CD-ROM), preloaded with a computer system (e.g., on system ROM
or fixed disk), or distributed from a server or electronic bulletin board over the
network (e.g., the Internet or World Wide Web).
[0041] Those skilled in the art should appreciate that such computer instructions can be
written in a number of programming languages for use with many computer architectures
or operating systems. For example, preferred embodiments may be implemented in a procedural
programming language (e.g., "C") or an object oriented programming language (e.g.,
"C++" or Java). Alternative embodiments of the invention may be implemented as pre-programmed
hardware elements or as a combination of hardware and software.
[0042] In summary, a security system consistent with one embodiment of the present invention
includes a security event data collection system configured to collect security event
data and a video surveillance system configured to record images of security events
and to generate video data. A remote access system is configured to receive security
event data from the security event data collection system and to receive video data
from the video surveillance system. The remote access system is also configured to
link received video data to received security event data associated with a security
event. The remote access system may include at least one consolidated database configured
to store the linked security event data and video data. The remote access system may
also be configured to provide access to the linked security event data and video data
from an access device.
[0043] Consistent with another embodiment of the present invention, a system for providing
remote access to security event information includes an alarm interface configured
to connect with a security event data collection system and to receive security event
data and a video interface configured to connect to a video surveillance system and
to receive video data. The remote access system may also include a consolidated database
configured to link the video data received from the video surveillance system to the
security event data received from the security event data collection system and to
store the linked video and security event data. The remote access system may also
include a wireless interface configured to connect to a mobile access device and to
provide linked video and security event data to the mobile access device over a wireless
network. The remote access system may further include a notification system configured
to transmit a notification message to the mobile access device providing notification
of an event.
[0044] Consistent with a further embodiment of the present invention, a method of providing
remote access to security event information includes: receiving security event data
indicative of security events detected by a security event data collection system;
receiving video data associated with images of security events recorded by a video
surveillance system; linking security event data indicative of a security event to
video data associated with the security event; storing the linked alarm and video
data in a consolidated database; and transmitting the linked alarm and video data
from the consolidated database to a mobile access device.
While the principles of the invention have been described herein, it is to be understood
by those skilled in the art that this description is made only by way of example and
not as a limitation as to the scope of the invention. Other embodiments are contemplated
within the scope of the present invention in addition to the exemplary embodiments
shown and described herein. Modifications and substitutions by one of ordinary skill
in the art are considered to be within the scope of the present invention, which is
not to be limited except by the following claims.
1. A security system comprising:
a security event data collection system configured to collect security event data;
a video surveillance system configured to record images of security events and to
generate video data; and
a remote access system being configured to receive security event data from said security
event data collection system and to receive video data from said video surveillance
system, said remote access system being configured to link received video data to
received security event data associated with a security event, said remote access
system including at least one consolidated database configured to store said linked
security event data and video data, and said remote access system being configured
to provide access to said linked security event data and video data from an access
device.
2. The security system of claim 1 wherein said security event data collection system
comprises:
at least one detection device configured to detect security events and to generate
alarm data associated with said detected security events; and
at least one security event database configured to store said alarm data.
3. The security system of claim 1 wherein said security event data collection system
includes at least one system selected from the group consisting of an electronic article
surveillance (EAS) system, a radio frequency identification (RFID) system, a motion
detection system, an entry/exit monitoring system, a glass window and door breakage
detection system, temperature sensing system, a fire detection system, a gas detection
system, an intrusion detection system, and an electronic access control system.
4. The security system of claim 1 wherein said video data stored on said consolidated
database and linked to said event data includes digitized video clips.
5. The security system of claim 1 wherein said video data stored on said consolidated
database and linked to said event data includes information about digitized video
clips stored on said video surveillance system.
6. The security system of claim 1 wherein said remote access system includes a web server
configured to provide access to said linked security event data and video data and
other data stored in said consolidated database.
7. The security system of claim 1 wherein said remote access system includes a notification
system configured to notify a mobile access device of an event.
8. The security system of claim 1 wherein said security event data collection system
is an object recognition system.
9. A system for providing remote access to security event information, said system comprising:
an alarm interface configured to connect with a security event data collection system
and to receive security event data;
a video interface configured to connect to a video surveillance system and to receive
video data; and
a consolidated database configured to link said video data received from said video
surveillance system to said security event data received from said security event
data collection system and to store said linked video and security event data;
a wireless interface configured to connect to a mobile access device and to provide
linked video and security event data to said mobile access device over a wireless
network; and
a notification system configured to transmit a notification message to said mobile
access device providing notification of an event.
10. The system of claim 9 wherein said consolidated database is configured to store device
management tables including device information associated with detection devices in
said security event data collection system.
11. The system of claim 9 wherein said consolidated database is configured to store notification
rules governing processes for notifying said mobile access device of security events.
12. The system of claim 9 further comprising a web server configured to provide said linked
alarm and video data to said mobile access device.
13. A method of providing remote access to security event information, said method comprising:
receiving security event data indicative of security events detected by a security
event data collection system;
receiving video data associated with images of security events recorded by a video
surveillance system;
linking security event data indicative of a security event to video data associated
with said security event;
storing said linked alarm and video data in a consolidated database; and
transmitting said linked alarm and video data from said consolidated database to a
mobile access device.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein said security event data is indicative of at least
one event selected from the group consisting of a door opening, a point of sale (POS)
transaction, detection of an active electronic article surveillance (EAS) tag, and
proximity of a radio frequency identification (RFID) label.
15. The method of claim 13 wherein said security event data and said video data is linked
using time stamps associated with said security event data and said video data.
16. The method of claim 13 wherein said video data received and stored on said consolidated
database includes digitized video clips.
17. The method of claim 13 wherein said video data received and stored on said consolidated
database includes information about digitized video clips stored on a multimedia server
in said video surveillance system.
18. The method of claim 13 wherein receiving said security event data and said video data
includes synchronizing said consolidated database with a security event database in
said security event data collection system.
19. The method of claim 13 wherein transmitting said linked alarm and video data from
said consolidated database to said mobile access device includes providing said linked
alarm and video data on a web server.
20. The method of claim 13 further comprising notifying a subscriber of an event according
to rules stored on said consolidated database.