Abstract:
A data acquisition source management system for providing centralized management of multimedia acquisition sources and distribution of multimedia data acquired in real-time from the sources over various channels and bearers including cellular Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and the Internet is disclosed according to an embodiment of the invention. The data acquisition source management system and 10 method for implementing thereof, allows multimedia acquisition sources, independent of fixed-line or wireless connectivity to the Internet or an Internet protocols-enabled network, to register with a server as an acquisition source. This enables the server to monitor the acquisition source&#39;s availability with minimal setup and configuration. The server will distribute a list of available acquisition sources to users for the users to be able to request for real-time data to be captured by the acquisition sources for the data to be transmitted to the user, thereby facilitating optimal utilization of bandwidth.

Description:
FIELD OF INVENTION  
       [0001]     The invention relates to a data acquisition source management method. Specifically, the invention relates to a data acquisition source management method for implementing a data acquisition source management system for providing centralized management of multimedia data acquisition sources and distribution of the multimedia data captured in real-time from the acquisition sources over various channels and bearers including cellular MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) and the Internet is disclosed.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     Real-time multimedia data on demand systems, such as Internet-based real-time multimedia data on demand systems, are basically image or audio acquisition sources that are connected to a computer that is connected directly via an Internet connection to a server with the server having capabilities to distribute the multimedia data acquired by the acquisition source over the Internet.  
         [0003]     Conventionally, distribution of acquired multimedia data from the acquisition source in the real-time multimedia data on demand systems is accomplished with a permanent FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or the like dedicated connection to a server. The acquisition source continuously transmits acquired data via the FTP connection for storage on a server. When a request for data is received, the data stored on the server is distributed to the source of the request.  
         [0004]     One drawback of the abovementioned method is that it requires intensive bandwidth utilization as the acquisition sources are continuously sending data to the server to be stored. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the data retrieved by a request is in real-time as the status of the acquisition source is not continuously monitored. Special software is also required in the setup used by conventional systems for the acquisition source to retrieve and transmit data. Furthermore, the implementation of such systems are often complex, and technical knowledge and proficiency in networking protocol are requirements as setup of the connection to the server can be complicated, and often beyond the capabilities and/or knowledge and/or patience of the average Internet user.  
         [0005]     Hence, this clearly affirms a need for a data acquisition source management method and system for addressing the foregoing disadvantages of conventional real-time multimedia data on demand systems.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0006]     The present invention is directed to a system and method for the centralized management of data acquisition sources and the distribution of acquired real-time multimedia data. In an embodiment of the invention, a method is provided using a client server model for multiple acquisition sources to function independently under the control of a central server.  
         [0007]     The invention relates to a data acquisition source management method. Specifically, the invention relates to a data acquisition source management method for implementing a data acquisition source management system for providing centralized management of multimedia data acquisition sources and distribution of the multimedia data captured in real-time from the acquisition sources over various channels and bearers including cellular MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) and the Internet is disclosed. Data acquisition sources, independent of having fixed-line or wireless connectivity to the Internet or an alternative Internet protocols-enabled network, are registered with a central server for the server to monitor the status of the acquisition sources with minimal setup and configuration and to further allow request for real-time data directly from any registered acquisition sources with significantly reduced utilization of available bandwidth.  
         [0008]     Therefore, in accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is disclosed a data acquisition source management method for managing acquisition sources, the data acquisition source management method comprising the steps of: 
        generating a source list for containing at least one acquisition source by a Real-time Multimedia Data On Demand (RTMDOD) server, each of the at least one acquisition source contained in the source list being for provision of data therefrom and being in data communication with the RTMDOD server;     providing the source list to a data requestor system, the source list being provided by the RTMDOD server in response to the RTMDOD server receiving a list request from the data requestor system, the data requestor system being in data communication with the RTMDOD server; and     receiving a data request from the data requestor system by the RTMDOD server, the data request being a request for data from one or more of the at least one acquisition source being registered on the source list and being indicated thereby.        
 
         [0012]     In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is disclosed a data acquisition source management system for managing acquisition sources, the data acquisition source management system comprising: 
        the means for generating a source list for containing at least one acquisition source by a Real-time Multimedia Data On Demand (RTMDOD) server, each of the at least one acquisition source contained in the source list being for provision of data therefrom and being in data communication with the RTMDOD server;     the means for providing the source list to a data requestor system, the source list being provided by the RTMDOD server in response to the RTMDOD server receiving a list request from the data requestor system, the data requestor system being in data communication with the RTMDOD server; and     the means for receiving a data request from the data requestor system by the RTMDOD server, the data request being a request for data from one or more of the at least one acquisition source being registered on the source list and being indicated thereby.       
 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]     Embodiments of the invention are described hereinafter with reference to the following drawings, in which:  
         [0017]      FIG. 1  shows a process flow diagram of a data acquisition source management method according to an embodiment of the invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  shows a first system layout diagram of a data acquisition source management system for implementing the data acquisition source management method of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0019]      FIG. 3  shows a process flow diagram of generating a source list in a step of the data acquisition source management method of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0020]      FIG. 4  shows a process flow diagram of disseminating the source list in a step of the data acquisition source management method of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0021]      FIG. 5  shows a system representation diagram of a Real-time Multimedia Data On Demand (RTMDOD) server of the data acquisition source management system of  FIG. 2 ; and  
         [0022]      FIG. 6  shows a second system layout diagram of the acquisition management system of  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0023]     A data acquisition source management method for addressing the foregoing problems is described hereinafter.  
         [0024]     According to an embodiment of the invention, a data acquisition source management system  20 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , for implementing a data acquisition source management method  100  is described with reference to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  shows a process flow diagram of the data acquisition source management method  100 , and  FIG. 2  shows a first system layout diagram of the data acquisition source management system  20 .  
         [0025]     With reference to  FIG. 2 , the data acquisition source management system  20  comprises of a Real-time Multimedia Data On Demand (RTMDOD) server system  22 , a plurality of data requestor systems  24  (also known as a data requestor) and a plurality of acquisition sources  26 . The RTMDOD, the plurality of data requestor systems  24  and the plurality of acquisition sources  26  are interconnected over a network system  21 . The network system  21  may be the Internet, an Intranet, a cellular Multimedia Messaging Service system, or the like communication infrastructures.  
         [0026]     The architecture of the RTMDOD system  22  follows the client/server model, where multiple clients function independently under the control of a central server with the data requestors  24  and the acquisition sources  26  being the clients and the RTMDOD system  22  being the central server.  
         [0027]     The acquisition sources  26  are wherefrom data originates. Software programs are customized for interfacing the hardware of the acquisition sources  26  and the RTMDOD server  22 .  
         [0028]     The data acquisition source management method  100  is for managing the acquisition sources  26 . In the data acquisition source management method  100 , the RTMDOD server  22  generates a source list (not shown) containing the quantity of acquisition sources available  26  in a step  102  as shown in  FIG. 1 . The quantity of acquisition sources available can be zero, one or more. The acquisition sources  26  contained in the source list are for provision of data therefrom. The acquisition sources  26  are in data communication with the RTMDOD server  22 .  
         [0029]     The source list is then provided to a data requestor  24  in a step  104 , in response to the RTMDOD server receiving a list request from the data requestor  24 . The data requestor  24  is in data communication with the RTMDOD server  22 . Once the source list has been disseminated to the data requestor  24 , the RTMDOD server  22  is able to receive a data request from the data requestor  24  in a step  106  of  FIG. 1 . The data request (not shown) is a request for data from one or more acquisition sources available  26  that has been registered on the source list.  
         [0030]     In response to the data request being received by the RTMDOD server  22  in the step  106 , the RTMDOD server  22  proceeds to provide a data response to the data requestor  24  in a step  108  as explained hereinafter. The data request may be initiated independently by the data requester  24  or may be initiated by an external stimulus, for example, a mobile phone generated SMS from a user, the receipt of an email from a user or the like event-based activations.  
         [0031]     In the step  102 , the source list is generated and updated when one or more acquisition sources register with the RTMDOD server  22 . Registration is initiated upon starting-up of each acquisition source  26 . In the step  102 , registration data (not shown) is transmitted from the acquisition source  26  to the RTMDOD server  22  in a step  120  of  FIG. 3 , which shows a process flow diagram of generating a source list. The registration data is then verified by the RTMDOD server in a step  122  of  FIG. 3 . Once the registration data has been verified in the step  122 , the acquisition source  26  is finally registered onto the source list, in a step  124 , with the registration data corresponding to the acquisition source  26  being stored onto a source database (not shown).  
         [0032]      FIG. 4  shows a process flow diagram of disseminating the source list in the step  104  of  FIG. 1 . In the step  104 , log-in data is first transmitted from the data requestor  24  to the RTMDOD server  22  in a step  130  of  FIG. 4 . With reference to  FIG. 4 , the log-in data is provided for logging the data requestor  24  into the RTMDOD server  22 . In response to the log-in data being received in the step  130 , the data requestor is registered onto a requestor list (not shown) in a step  132 . The requestor list contains at least one data requestor  24 . Once the data requestor has been registered or logged onto the RTMDOD server  22 , the source list is transmitted from the RTMDOD server  22  to the corresponding data requestor  24  in a step  134 .  
         [0033]     However, one or more of the acquisition source  26  may be deactivated after a period of time. Therefore, the status of each acquisition source  26  in the source list has to be constantly checked. The status of each acquisition source  26  is one of active or inactive. Further in the step  104 , the status of each of the acquisition source  26  is verified periodically in a step  140 . Alternatively, the status of each of the acquisition sources  26  is further verified by requiring that the corresponding acquisition source  26  periodically send a status signal to the RTMDOD server  22 .  
         [0034]     The periodic verification step, as aforementioned, is akin to a heartbeat for pulsing status request signals from the RTMDOD server  22  to the acquisition source  26  or vice versa (not shown). If a status signaling is used and in such a case if a status signal is not received from the acquisition source  26  within a predetermined time interval, the status of the corresponding acquisition source  26  is updated as being inactive and the corresponding acquisition source  26  is then removed from the source list in a step  142 , thereby updating the source list. Upon updating of the source list in the step  142 , the source list is retransmitted to all the data requester  24  that are logged onto the RTMDOD server  22 , and registered on the requester list, in a step  144 . The status verification of the acquisition source  26  is preferred in situations where a dynamically assigned IP is used by the acquisition source  26 .  
         [0035]     Following the data request from the data requestor  24  in the step  106 , the RTMDOD server  22  proceeds to prepare and transmit a data response as aforementioned in the step  108  of  FIG. 1 . In the step  108 , the data requested is transmitted from the RTMDOD server  22  to the data requestor  24 . But before this takes place, a request is sent to the corresponding acquisition source  26  to acquire the data (not shown). The data received by the RTMDOD server  22  from the corresponding acquisition source  26  is then transmitted to the data requestor  24  in real-time, with the data being multimedia data. Alternatively, an error message is sent as the data response when an error occurs before or during transmission of the data.  
         [0036]     The handling of the data request and data response by the RTMDOD server  22  is preferably serialized. Once one data request has been sent, the RTMDOD server  22  will not try to send another data request before a data response is received for the previous data request. This is to prevent the RTMDOD server  22  from overloading the acquisition source  26  which may have limited networking and computing capabilities.  
         [0037]     However, the RTMDOD server  22  is capable of serving multiple data requests from the data requestors  24  to multiple acquisition sources  26  simultaneously.  
         [0038]     Once the data corresponding to the data request has been completely received by the data requestor  24 , the data requestor  24  can proceed to log-out from the RTMDOD server  22 . Once a log-out instruction has been received from the data requestor  24 , the RTMDOD server  22  proceeds to remove the corresponding data requestor  24  from the requester list. This reduces the quantity of data requestor  24  that has to be updated by the RTMDOD server  22  whenever the source list is updated.  
         [0039]     Preferably, the RTMDOD server  22  comprises of four sub-systems: a verification sub-system  30 , the data-pull sub-system  32 , the data dispatch sub-system  34  and the data source management sub-system  36 . The four sub-systems are shown in  FIG. 5 , which shows a system representation diagram of the RTMDOD server  22 . The verification sub-system  30  is for verifying and updating the status of the acquisition source  26  contained in the source list. The data-pull sub-system  32  is for managing the retrieval of data from the acquisition source  26  upon receiving the data request from the data requestor  24 . The data dispatch sub-system  34  is for managing communications with and data transmission to the data requestor  24 . The data source management system  36  is for managing and updating the source list and the requestor list.  
         [0040]     The data acquisition source management system  20  improves upon current real-time multimedia data on demand systems as it enables the acquisition source  26 , for example video  26   a , audio  26   b  (as shown in  FIG. 6 ) or any other media types, to connect and register with the RTMDOD server  22  regardless of connection type and the presence of security devices like firewalls. Preferably, the acquisition source  26  uses only existing device drivers, for example a digital camera using its TWAIN driver instead of requiring special acquisition software, thereby making the data acquisition source management system  20  device independent and significantly reducing installation and configuration complexity.  
         [0041]     Compared to conventional systems, only minimal bandwidth is required as the data acquisition source management method  100  does not require the acquisition sources to continuously transmit data to the RTMDOD server  22  for storage therein. Request and transmission of data will only occur when a request is made from a data requestor, thereby substantially reducing bandwidth usage.  
         [0042]     In the foregoing manner, a data acquisition source management method for implementing a data acquisition source management system is described according to an embodiment of the invention for addressing the foregoing disadvantages of conventional acquisition source management system. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of this disclosure that numerous changes and/or modification can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.