Patent Description:
For monitoring and surveillance purpose, cameras are installed at various places such as homes, banks, offices, malls, colleges, hospitals and/or roads for monitoring and surveillance purpose. Such cameras capture images/videos of several activities (such as movement of people, traffic etc.) going on at various places. Further, the cameras are connected wirelessly or through wires with router/s so that they can transmit captured images/videos to a system where a personnel may be watching the captured images/videos.

However, an intruder or a burglar can disconnect or destroy the routers resulting in disconnection of the cameras with the router/s. This would prevent the cameras from transmitting the captured images/videos to a system. Moreover, the intruder can also damage the cameras to erase or destroy the captured images/videos of any activity of the intruder stored inside the cameras. Thus, it would be difficult for an authority or any person to track and identify such an intruder. Existing solutions provide a solution by transmitting an alarm signal to a person in case of disconnection of the cameras with the router. Also, other existing solutions use multiple channels to communicate between the router and the camera or involve an additional cost by requiring to store the captured images/videos in separate storage hard-disks which requires manual intervention.

In view of the aforementioned problems in the existing solutions, there is a need of an efficient and effective system and a method for preventing erasal of images/videos of any suspicious activity of an intruder. There is also a need to provide a cost-effective solution for an automatic prevention of images/videos capturing the suspicious activity of an intruder without manual intervention. In order to solve the problems in the existing solutions, a system and a method are disclosed.

<CIT> discloses a secure gatekeeper adapted to monitor premises by capturing premise data and displaying media.

According to a first aspect of the invention a system for preserving intrusion event/s captured by video surveillance system/s is provided in accordance with independent claim <NUM>. The system comprises a determination unit adapted to determine a first event. The system also comprises a camera adapted to switch from a first mode to a second mode based on the first event, the first event corresponding to the disconnection of the camera with a router. Further, the camera comprises a detection unit adapted to detect a second event and a recording unit adapted to capture the second event based on the detection by the detection unit. A communication unit of the camera is adapted to transmit a copy of the captured second event to one or more devices in the second mode. The one or more devices are adapted to receive the copy of the captured second event from the camera.

The camera is connected to the router through a cellular network or a WiFi network in the first mode and is configured to transmit a copy of the captured second event to a server through the cellular or WiFi network.

The camera is disconnected from the router in the second mode and is configured to establish a cellular connection using a cellular network or a WiFi connection using a WiFi network with the one or more devices in the second mode.

Optionally, the first event corresponds to the disconnection of the camera with the router.

Optionally, the camera detects the second event when the camera receives a signal from one or more sensors.

Optionally, the second event corresponds to an intrusion event by an intruder. Optionally, the camera, the one or more devices and the one or more sensors are installed inside a premises. Also optionally, the camera and the one or more devices are connected via a cellular connection or a WiFi connection.

Optionally, the one or more devices corresponds to a user device, a smoke detector or a fire detector.

Optionally, the one or more devices transmit the copy of the captured second event to a cloud.

According to a second aspect of the invention,a method for preserving intrusion event/s captured by video surveillance system/s is provided in accordance with independent claim <NUM>. The method comprises steps of determining a first event and switching a camera from a first mode to a second mode based on the first event. The method further comprises steps of detecting a second event and capturing the second event based on the detection and transmitting a copy of the captured second event to one or more devices in the second mode.

The camera is connected to a router through a cellular network or a WiFi network in the first mode.

The camera is disconnected from the router in the second mode.

The first event corresponds to the disconnection of the camera with the router.

Optionally, the second event corresponds to an intrusion event by an intruder. Optionally, the camera, the one or more devices and the one or more sensors are installed inside a premises.

According to another aspect of the invention, a computer readable medium is disclosed, which may be for configuring a system for preserving intrusion event/s captured by video surveillance system/s. The computer readable medium comprises instructions executable by a computer processor in order to configure the processor to carry out the method of the second aspect as well as optionally any optional feature thereof. The computer readable medium may comprise one or more processors and a memory coupled to the one or more processors, where the memory stores the instructions that, in use, are executed by the one or more processors. The one or more processors are configured by the instructions to determine a first event and switch a camera from a first mode to a second mode based on the first event. The one or more processors are further configured to detect a second event, capture the second event based on the detection, and transmit a copy of the captured second event to one or more devices in the second mode.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

The following descriptions are by way of example only and are given with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:.

Described herein is the technology with a system and a method for preserving intrusion event/s captured by video surveillance system/s. A camera may be installed at a premises and operates in two modes i.e. a first mode and a second mode. In the first mode, the camera is connected to a router and may operate normally by detecting and capturing second event/s (i.e. intrusion event/s) conducted by any intruder inside the premises. Also, the camera may transmit the captured second event/s to a server or a cloud through a network.

When a first event is determined, the camera switches from the first mode to the second mode. In particular, the first event corresponds to a disconnection of the camera with the router. In the second mode, the camera may detect and capture the second event/s (i.e. intrusion event/s) conducted by the intruder inside the premises. Then, the camera transmits a copy of the captured second event/s to one or more devices instead of the server or the cloud as the camera is disconnected with the router.

As used herein, the camera may determine the first event and/or the second event. The camera may comprise, but is not limited to, a communication unit, a recording unit, a detection unit, a battery, a memory and/or a processor. Such a camera may be a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera, a smart camera or any such camera that is understood by a person skilled in the art.

As used herein, the premises may be a room, building, home, banks, offices, malls, colleges, hospitals, roads and/or or any such premises where the camera can be installed. Further, the router and/or the one or more detectors may also be located or positioned in the premises near the camera.

As used herein, the one or more devices are connected with the camera through a network. The one or more devices may or may not be located or positioned in the premises near the camera. The one or more devices may be user devices, smoke detectors, fire detectors, smart lights, smart fans, smart geysers or any such smart device. Example of the user devices include a desktop, workstation PC, a laptop, a smart phone, a tablet, a wearable device and the like.

As used herein, the server has processing capabilities as disclosed further in the specification. The server may be a cloud storage, a remote database, or any such storage known in the art.

As used herein, the network may refer to a wired network, a cellular network (such as Global System for Mobile (GSM) network, a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network, a narrow-band internet of thing (NB-IoT) technique or category M1 technique, a WiFi network, a ZigBee network or any such network/technique that is known in the art.

Throughout the specification, reference numeral <NUM> depicts one or more devices. The reference numerals 110A, 110B, 110C. 110F each may be considered as a single device. Likewise, throughout the specification, reference numeral <NUM> depicts one or more sensors. The reference numerals 112A and 112B each may be considered as a single sensor.

<FIG> depicts an exemplary system architecture 100A with a camera <NUM> operating in a first mode. As depicted in <FIG>, the camera <NUM> may be installed inside a premises <NUM> and is operating in a first mode. In this first mode, the camera <NUM> is connected with a router <NUM>. The router <NUM> may also be installed or positioned in the premises <NUM>. Also, the camera <NUM> and the router <NUM> may be connected through a wired network, a cellular network or a WiFi network. In an exemplary embodiment, when an intruder <NUM> enters the premises <NUM>, the camera <NUM> may itself detect presence of the intruder <NUM> in the premises <NUM> by analyzing real-time feed of the camera <NUM>. In another exemplary embodiment, when the intruder <NUM> enters the premises <NUM>, one or more sensors <NUM> installed/positioned in the premises <NUM> may sense presence of the intruder <NUM> in the premises <NUM>. Then, the one or more sensors <NUM> may transmit a signal to the camera <NUM> for informing the camera <NUM> regarding the presence of the intruder <NUM> in the premises <NUM>. Also, the intruder <NUM> may perform or do an intruder activity/event (i.e. second event) such as destruction inside the premises <NUM>, stealing objects placed in the premises <NUM> or any such activity. Moreover, the camera <NUM> and the one or more sensors <NUM> may be connected through a network such as a wired network, a cellular network or a WiFi network. As used herein, the one or more sensors <NUM> may be ultrasonic sensors, thermal sensors, microwave detectors, pyroelectric human presence sensors, infra-red sensors or any such sensor that can detect presence and/or movement of the intruder <NUM> in the premises <NUM>.

On detecting presence of the intruder <NUM> in the premises <NUM>, the camera <NUM> may detect the second event (i.e. the intruder activity/event). For this, the camera <NUM> may analyze activities of the intruder <NUM> in the real-time feed of the camera <NUM>. Based on the analysis of the activities of the intruder <NUM>, the camera <NUM> may decide if the activities of the intruder <NUM> in the real-time feed of the camera <NUM> are dangerous or harmful. For an instance, if the intruder <NUM> in the real-time feed is or trying to break a lock of the premises <NUM>, damaging the premises <NUM>, destroying objects present in the premises <NUM>, stealing objects present in the premises <NUM> and/or performing any such activity, then the camera <NUM> may detect/classify/consider such activities as the second event. Alternatively, if the activities of the intruder <NUM> in the real-time feed is not dangerous or harmful, then the camera <NUM> may not detect/classify/consider such activities as the second event. For detecting second event/s, the camera <NUM> may employ or use artificial intelligence technique or machine learning techniques.

When the camera <NUM> detects/classifies/considers such activities as the second event, the camera <NUM> captures or records the second event. Then, the camera <NUM> uses a router <NUM> placed/installed in the premises <NUM> to transmit a copy of the captured second event to a server <NUM> through a network <NUM>. In an alternative embodiment, the camera <NUM> may record the second event without detecting/classifying/considering such activities as the second event and may continuously transmit a copy of the captured second event to the server <NUM>. An owner of the premises <NUM>, security personnel of the premises <NUM> or any other authorized person may access the captured second event from the server <NUM>. Such captured second event may be used as an evidence and may also help in tracking as well as identifying the intruder <NUM>.

<FIG> depicts an exemplary system architecture 100B with a camera <NUM> operating in a second mode. When a first event is determined, the camera <NUM> switches from a first mode to a second mode. The first event is determined when the camera <NUM> gets disconnected from a router <NUM>. Moreover, the first event may be determined by a determination unit. Such a determination unit <NUM> may reside inside the camera <NUM> or may reside outside the camera <NUM> and may be communicably coupled with the camera <NUM>. In an exemplary embodiment, the camera <NUM> gets disconnected with the router <NUM> when an intruder <NUM> turns-off the router <NUM>. In another exemplary embodiment, the camera <NUM> gets disconnected with the router <NUM> when the intruder <NUM> destroys/damages the router <NUM>. In a different exemplary embodiment, the camera <NUM> gets disconnected from the router <NUM> when the intruder <NUM> switches-off a power button of the router <NUM>. This provides a technical advantage of automatically detecting the first event and providing information to the camera <NUM> to switch from first mode to the second mode.

In an exemplary embodiment, when the intruder <NUM> enters the premises <NUM>, the camera <NUM> may itself detect presence of the intruder <NUM> in the premises <NUM> by analyzing real-time feed of the camera <NUM>. In another exemplary embodiment, when the camera <NUM> is in the second mode, the camera <NUM> may receive a signal from one or more sensors <NUM> through a network such as a wired network, or a wireless network such as a cellular network or a WiFi network when the intruder <NUM> enters the premises <NUM>. On detecting the presence of the intruder <NUM> in the premises <NUM>, the camera <NUM> may detect the second event (i.e. the intruder activity/event) as explained above in <FIG>. When the camera <NUM> detects/classifies/considers activities of the intruder <NUM> as the second event (i.e. the intrusion event), the camera <NUM> may capture or record the second event. Also, the camera <NUM> may establish a cellular connection using a cellular network or a WiFi connection using a Wi-Fi network with one or more devices <NUM> installed in the premises <NUM>. Then, the camera <NUM> may create a copy of the captured second event and may transmit the copy of the captured second event to the one or more devices <NUM> installed in the premises <NUM> through the cellular connection or the WiFi connection. In an exemplary embodiment, the camera <NUM> may identify one or more devices <NUM> installed within a pre-defined distance (say, <NUM> meters) of the premises <NUM> for transmitting the copy of the captured second event. In another exemplary embodiment, the camera <NUM> may identify one or more devices <NUM> which are already pre-configured in the camera <NUM> by an owner of the premises <NUM>, a security personnel of the premises <NUM> or by any other person to transmit the copy of the captured second event.

By transmitting the copy of the captured second event to the one or more devices <NUM>, a back-up of the captured second event may be created and such back-up can be used as an evidence even when the intruder <NUM> has damaged the camera <NUM>. Also, by creating a back-up of the captured second event, the evidence capturing the intruder's activity may be preserved. This provides a technical advantage of fail-safe mechanism by saving multiple copies of the captured second event in several devices <NUM>.

When the copy of the captured second event is transmitted, the one or more devices <NUM> may receive the copy of the captured second event and may also store the copy of the captured second event in a memory of the one or more devices <NUM>. In an exemplary embodiment, the owner of the premises <NUM>, the security personnel of the premises <NUM> or any other person may retrieve the copy of the captured second event from the memory of the one or more devices <NUM>. In another exemplary embodiment, the one or more devices <NUM> may transmit the copy of the captured second event to a server/cloud <NUM> using a network. And, the owner of the premises <NUM>, the security personnel of the premises <NUM> or any other person may retrieve the copy of the captured second event from the server/cloud <NUM> using a network. In a different exemplary embodiment, the one or more devices <NUM> may be a user device (or a mobile device) of the owner of the premises <NUM>, or of the security personnel of the premises <NUM> or of any other person that receives the copy of the captured second event and may also store the copy of the captured second event in its memory. This provides a technical advantage of providing users a copy of the captured second event stored in multiple devices <NUM>.

<FIG> depicts a block diagram of different components of a camera <NUM>. The camera <NUM> may comprise of, but is not limited to, a communication unit <NUM>, a recording unit <NUM>, a detection unit <NUM>, a battery <NUM>, a memory <NUM> and/or a processor <NUM>. Also shown is a determination unit <NUM> associated with the camera <NUM>. In an exemplary embodiment, the camera <NUM> may comprise the determination unit <NUM>. In another exemplary embodiment, the camera <NUM> may be communicably coupled with the determination unit <NUM>. The determination unit <NUM> may be adapted to determine a first event, wherein the first event corresponds to a disconnection of the camera <NUM> with a router <NUM> as explained above. When the determination unit <NUM> detects the first event, the determination unit <NUM> may also be adapted to communicate the first event to the camera <NUM>. Accordingly, the camera <NUM> may be adapted to switch from a first mode to a second mode. The detection unit <NUM> may be adapted to detect a second event, wherein the second event corresponds to an intrusion event performed by an intruder <NUM> as explained above. When the detection unit <NUM> detect the second event, the detection unit <NUM> may also be adapted to communicate the second event to the recording unit <NUM>. The recording unit <NUM> may be adapted to capture the second event and may create a copy of the captured second event. Then, the recording unit <NUM> may be adapted to communicate the copy of the captured second event to the communication unit <NUM>. The communication unit <NUM> may be adapted to transmit the copy of the captured second event to one or more devices <NUM> through a network. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication unit <NUM> may be a transceiver. The battery <NUM> may be adapted to provide power to the camera <NUM> to perform operation/s as described herein. The memory <NUM> may be adapted to store the copy of the captured second event and identifiers of each the one or more devices <NUM> etc..

Moreover, the communication unit <NUM>, the recording unit <NUM>, the detection unit <NUM>, the battery <NUM>, the memory <NUM> and/or the determination unit <NUM> may be communicably coupled with the processor <NUM>. The different units described herein are exemplary. There may be one or more units. For example, the tasks executed by the communication unit <NUM>, the recording unit <NUM>, the detection unit <NUM>, the battery <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the determination unit <NUM> and/or the processor <NUM> may be performed by a single unit. Alternatively more number of units as described herein may be used.

<FIG> depicts a flowchart outlining the features of an exemplary method. The method flowchart <NUM> describes a method being for preserving intrusion event/s captured by video surveillance system/s. The method flowchart <NUM> starts at step <NUM>.

At step <NUM>, a determination unit <NUM> determines a first event as explained above in <FIG>. The first event may corresponds to a disconnection of a camera <NUM> with a router <NUM>.

At step <NUM>, the camera <NUM> switches from a first mode to a second mode based on the first event as explained above in <FIG> and <FIG>.

At step <NUM>, the camera <NUM> detects a second event as described above in <FIG> and <FIG> above. In an exemplary embodiment, the camera <NUM> may detect the second event. The second event may correspond to an intrusion event performed by an intruder <NUM>. In an exemplary embodiment, when an intruder <NUM> enters a premises <NUM>, the camera <NUM> may detect presence of the intruder <NUM> in the premises by analyzing real-time feed of the camera <NUM>. In another exemplary embodiment, when the intruder <NUM> enters the premises <NUM>, the camera <NUM> may receive signal from one or more sensors <NUM> for informing the camera <NUM> regarding the presence of the intruder <NUM> in the premises <NUM>. Then, the camera <NUM> captures the second event based on the detection of the second event and may create a copy of the captured second event.

At step <NUM>, the camera <NUM> transmits the copy of the captured second event to one or more devices <NUM> as explained in <FIG> above. Then, the method flowchart <NUM> may end at <NUM>.

The proposals above are applicable in various industries/fields such as, but not limited to, banking industry, hospitality industry, housing industry, building/construction industry, offices, universities, hospitals, colleges, homes and any such industry/field that is well known in the art and where the cameras are used for surveillance and monitoring purpose.

The embodiments discussed herein are exemplary and various modification and alterations to a person skilled in the art are within the scope of the invention, which is defined by the claims.

There may be one or more computer readable devices. The one or more computer readable devices can be associated with a camera <NUM>. A computer readable medium comprises one or more processors and a memory coupled to the one or more processors, the memory stores instructions executed by the one or more processors. The one or more processors configured to determine a first event and switch by a camera <NUM> from a first mode to second mode based on the first event. The one or more processors configured to detect a second event and capturing the second event based on the detection. The one or more processors are also configured to transmit a copy of the captured second event to one or more devices <NUM>.

Exemplary computer readable media includes flash memory drives, digital versatile discs (DVDs), compact discs (CDs), floppy disks, and tape cassettes. By way of example and not limitation, computer readable media comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media are tangible and mutually exclusive to communication media. Computer storage media are implemented in hardware and exclude carrier waves and propagated signals. Computer storage media as referenced herein are not signals per se. Exemplary computer storage media include hard disks, flash drives, and other solid-state memory. In contrast, communication media typically embody computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and include any information delivery media.

Although described in connection with an exemplary computing system environment, the proposals herein are capable of implementation with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments, configurations, or devices.

Implementations of the proposals herein may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices in software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof. There may be any number and organization of such components or modules. There is no limitation to the specific computer-executable instructions or the specific components or modules illustrated in the Figures/Tables and described herein. Other examples may include different computer-executable instructions or components having more or less functionality than illustrated and described herein. A general-purpose computer may transform into a special-purpose computing device when configured to execute the instructions described herein.

The order of execution or performance of the operations illustrated and described herein is not essential, unless otherwise specified. That is, the operations may be performed in any order, unless otherwise specified, and examples of may include additional or fewer operations than those disclosed herein. For example, executing or performing a particular operation before, contemporaneously with, or after another operation is contemplated.

As it employed in the subject specification, the term "processor" can refer to substantially any computing processing unit or device comprising, but not limited to comprising, single-core processors; single-processors with software multithread execution capability; multi-core processors; multi-core processors with software multithread execution capability; multi-core processors with hardware multithread technology; parallel platforms; and parallel platforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, a processor can refer to an integrated circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic controller (PLC), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Processors can exploit nano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecular and quantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimize space usage or enhance performance of user equipment. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing processing units.

In the subject specification, terms such as "data store," "data storage," "database," "cache," and substantially any other information storage component relevant to operation and functionality of a component, refer to "memory components," or entities embodied in a "memory" or components comprising the memory. It will be appreciated that the memory components, or computer-readable storage media, described herein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can include random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM). Additionally, the disclosed memory components of systems or methods herein are intended to comprise, without being limited to comprising, these and any other suitable types of memory.

When introducing elements of aspects of the invention or the examples thereof, the articles "a," "an," "the," and "said" are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. " The phrase "one or more of the following: A, B, and C" means "at least one of A and/or at least one of B and/or at least one of C".

Having described aspects of the invention in detail, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. As various changes could be made in the above constructions, products, and methods, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Claim 1:
A system comprising:
a determination unit (<NUM>) adapted to determine a first event;
a camera (<NUM>) adapted to switch from a first mode to a second mode based on the first event, the first event corresponding to the disconnection of the camera (<NUM>) with a router (<NUM>), the camera further comprising:
a detection unit (<NUM>) adapted to detect a second event;
a recording unit (<NUM>) adapted to capture the second event based on the detection by the detection unit (<NUM>); and
a communication unit (<NUM>) adapted to transmit a copy of the captured
second event to one or more devices (<NUM>) in the second mode; and
the one or more devices (<NUM>) adapted to receive the copy of the captured second event from the camera (<NUM>);
wherein the camera (<NUM>) is connected to the router (<NUM>) through a cellular network or a WiFi network in the first mode and is configured to use the router (<NUM>) to transmit a copy of the captured second event to a server (<NUM>) through the cellular or WiFi network; and
wherein the camera (<NUM>) is disconnected from the router (<NUM>) in the second mode and is configured to establish a cellular connection using a cellular network or a WiFi connection using a WiFi network with the one or more devices (<NUM>) in the second mode.