Patent Publication Number: US-2013242107-A1

Title: Cloud Technology Surveillance System

Description:
DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART 
     Surveillance systems have been used widely in the offices, banks, stores, restaurants, and other locations but currently are not a household appliance because their high expense and complexity. Currently the internet is ubiquitous, widespread and using the internet for monitoring surveillance systems has become a common solution. Unfortunately, the internet is a digital network and most of the surveillance systems are analog signals, so most surveillance is not fully compatible with the internet. Another significant drawback of traditional surveillance is the security of the video recorder. The video recorder has traditionally been located in the same building as the cameras. This allows the video recorder to be and destroyed or tampered with. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A cloud technology surveillance(CTS) is provided. The CTS features low expense, high security, no configuration and separated owners. A number of remote viewers can access the surveillance server. A first remote viewer, a second remote viewer, and up to a final remote viewer can access the surveillance server via the Internet cloud. 
     The CTS includes a surveillance server and a large number of IP cameras. Cameras send the images(videos or pictures) to cloud storage. The surveillance server locates on the internet, receives the images and audio from cameras and responds to viewers&#39; operation queries. One embodiment the present invention includes an internet cloud technology surveillance system with a large number of IP cameras. This surveillance system has a cloud storage to store the images from IP cameras and a web server to provide the functions of authentication, searching, playback of images for viewers and an organizer for images. To lower the expense of the installations, all cameras share a common cloud storage server where the components of the surveillance system can be owned by different owner end users. Also, the cloud technology raises the security level of this surveillance system. 
     A surveillance system has at least twenty IP cameras including a first location first camera, a first location second camera, a first location second IP camera, a second location IP first camera, a second location IP second camera, and a second location IP third camera. A surveillance server is located in the Internet cloud and stores the images from at least twenty IP cameras and provides Internet access for remote viewers. 
     The surveillance system optionally includes a feature that the cloud storage receives the images from cameras. The cloud storage owns at least one domain name used by remote IP cameras. The web server owns at least one domain name used by remote viewers. The web server provides functions of authentication, searching and playback for viewers. The organizer retrieves the images from cloud storage, organizes and stores images to web server&#39;s storage. 
     Cloud technology surveillance is abbreviated as CTS. Internet protocol is abbreviated as IP. Ownership does not necessarily refer to legal title, but relates more to possession and technical access. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a system diagram showing the hardware components used to construct a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram showing the hardware components and connections between camera and surveillance server. 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram showing the logical components of the surveillance server. 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram showing the logical components of the web server. 
     
    
    
     The following call a list of elements is a useful guide in referencing the elements of the drawings.
       100  First IP Camera     101  Second IP Camera     102  Third IP Camera     103  Final IP Camera     104  Surveillance Server     105  Internet Cloud     106  First Remote Viewer     107  Second Remote Viewer     108  Final Remote Viewer     200  First Location First Camera     201  First Location Second Camera     202  First Location CTS Router     203  Surveillance Server     204  Internet Connection     205  First Location     206  Second Location First Camera     207  Second Location Second Camera     208  Second Location Third Camera     209  Second Location CTS Router     210  Internet Connection     211  Second Location     300  IP Cameras     302  Internet Connections     303  Viewers     304  Surveillance Server     305  Cloud Storage     306  Image Organizer     307  Web Server     400  Web Server     401  Image Storage     402  Authentication     403  http(s) Daemon   

     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     This invention provides a structure and method of security surveillance over the Internet. Images from IP cameras can be stored and viewed by web browsers.  FIG. 1  shows the system structure. 
     This system includes IP cameras  100 ,  101 ,  102 ,  103  and a surveillance server  104 . A large number of IP cameras can be connected to the surveillance server via the Internet including a first IP camera  100 , a second IP camera  101 , a third IP camera  102 , all the way to a final IP camera  103 . There can be for example  100  IP cameras. 
     The surveillance server  104  is located in the Internet cloud  105 . A number of remote viewers can access the surveillance server  104 . A first remote viewer  106 , a second remote viewer  107 , and up to a final remote viewer  108  can access the surveillance server  104  via the Internet cloud  105 . Remote viewers  106 ,  107 ,  108  search and view the images stored on the server by PCs, mobile phones and other Internet terminals through their Internet connections. Remote viewers can also be a large number beginning from a first remote viewer  106 , a second remote viewer  107 , up to a final remote viewer  108 . There can be a large number of viewers connected to the surveillance server  104  such as  100  viewers.  FIG. 1  shows a first user  106  accessing the surveillance server by a laptop terminal. A second user is accessing the surveillance server using a mobile device such as cell phone. A final user is accessing the surveillance server using a mobile device such as a personal computer. 
     In this system, the quantity of connected cameras is infinite in theory. In reality, it is limited by the image size, network bandwidth, storage volume and server&#39;s computing speed. Currently, the quantity can be large, at least one hundred and preferably more than twenty. The cameras used are preferably digital network cameras, also called IP cameras. The digital network cameras can be wired or wireless. The surveillance server may be only one computing machine, or may be grouped by two or more computing machines. The surveillance server has at least two domain names, one used by cameras, and the other used by viewers. 
     Cameras and viewers don&#39;t need to know the physical location of the surveillance server, because they access the surveillance server via the domain names of the server. Lack of a defined physical location protects the camera image data and makes them harder to destroy. The surveillance server&#39;s security level is thus much higher than a traditional surveillance video recorder. 
       FIG. 2  shows the hardware parts and connections between the camera and surveillance server. At a first location  205 , the first location may have a first location first camera  200  and a first location second camera  201 . First location cameras  200 ,  201  connect to first location CTS router  202 . First location CTS router  202  connects to the surveillance server  203  through Internet connection  204 . A second location may have multiple cameras connected to the surveillance server  203 . The second location may have a second location first camera  206 , a second location second camera  207 , and a second location third camera  208 . The second location cameras  206 ,  207 ,  208  connect to second location CTS router  209 . Second location CTS router  209  connects to the surveillance server  203  through the second location Internet connection  210 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , IP cameras which connect to the same surveillance server can be installed in different locations. All cameras use a domain name of the server to send their images. The components in one system can be owned by different people or organizations. For example, person A owns the first location first IP camera  200 , first location second IP camera  201  and first location CTS router  202 , while school B owns second location IP first camera  206 , second location IP second camera  207 , second location IP third camera  208  and second location CTS router  209 , while security company C owns the surveillance server  203  located at a secure location. This configuration is different from a traditional surveillance configuration. 
     Because the camera owners don&#39;t need to pay for the surveillance server which can be the most expensive part, they can own the security monitoring function at a low price. All cameras and CTS routers can be set completely before they are sold. So, the buyers don&#39;t need to config them. When the cameras and routers are connected correctly and powered on, they will work automatically. 
       FIG. 3  depicts the logical configuration of the surveillance server. The surveillance server  304  is combined from three parts: the cloud storage  305 , the image organizer  306  and the web server  307 . The cloud storage  305  receives the images from the IP cameras  300 . The cloud storage  305  has a domain name that is used by the cameras. The IP cameras  300  may include a first location first camera  200 , a first location second camera  201 , a first location second IP camera  201 , a second location IP first camera  206 , a second location IP second camera  207 , and a second location IP third camera  208 . 
     The image organizer  306  retrieves images from the cloud storage  305 , organizes and moves them to the web server  307 . The web server  307  owns a domain name that is used by viewers  303 . 
     Viewers access the web server through the Internet connections  302  and search, playback the images.  FIG. 4  shows the logical parts of the web server. The web server  400  is made of image storage  401 , authentication  402 , and http(s) daemon  403 . 
     The image storage  401  is also a high capacity storage. It can be the same machine of the cloud storage  305  of the surveillance server. The authentication component  402  provides a password authentication for each IP camera&#39;s image data to avoid the illegal access. The http(s) daemon component  403  provides the interne access for viewers.