Distributed control of a heterogeneous video surveillance network
View Patent ↗A surveillance video broker arbitrates access by multiple clients to multiple surveillance video sources. Both clients and sources register with the broker. Each source independently specifies respective clients permitted real-time access to its video and conditions of access, if any. Preferably, the video source is a local surveillance domain having one or more cameras, one or more sensors, and a local controller, the source specifying clients or client groups permitted access, and independently specifying conditions of access for each client or client group, where conditions may include scheduled events, non-scheduled events, such as alarms or emergencies, and/or physical proximity. The broker automatically authorizes real-time access according to pre-specified conditions. Preferably, the broker can also arbitrate alert notifications to the clients based on pre-specified notification criteria.
1. A surveillance video broker for managing access to surveillance video by multiple clients, comprising:
at least one processor;
a memory;
at least one network adapter for communicating with a plurality of surveillance domains and a plurality of clients over at least one network;
a video access controller embodied as a plurality of instructions recordable in said memory and executable on said at least one processor, said video access controller including:
registration function for independently registering a plurality of surveillance domains and a plurality of clients, each surveillance domain producing at least one respective surveillance video stream, each surveillance domain comprising a respective set of one or more video cameras operated by a respective operating entity common to all video cameras of the respective set, wherein at least some of the video surveillance domains are operated by different respective operating entities;
an access authorization function which, responsive to a request from a client registered by said registration function to access in real time video produced by a target surveillance domain of said plurality of surveillance domains, causes at least one access authorization record corresponding to the target surveillance domain to be accessed to determine whether surveillance video access is authorized, and if surveillance video access is authorized, automatically grants real-time access to the requested video, wherein each surveillance domain registered by said registration function independently defines a respective set of clients authorized to access surveillance video produced by the respective surveillance domain in at least one corresponding access authorization record, each authorization record corresponding to a single respective surveillance domain, each authorization record granting access to one or more respective clients independently of association of the one or more respective clients with the respective operating entity of the corresponding surveillance domain and independently of whether one or more clients have been granted access to one or more other surveillance domains;
a notification function which, responsive to an event alert notification request from a surveillance domain identifying an alert event detected at the surveillance domain for which notification to clients is requested, causes at least one notification record corresponding to the surveillance domain for which notification to clients is requested to be accessed to determine a set of clients to receive notification of the alert event, and transmits an alert notification to each client of the set, wherein each notification record corresponds to a single respective surveillance domain of said plurality of surveillance domains and independently specifies on behalf of the corresponding surveillance domain at least one respective client authorized to receive notification of one or more respective alert events generated by the corresponding surveillance domain, each said notification record specifying at least one respective client authorized to receive notification independently of whether the at least one respective client is authorized by said authorization records to access surveillance video generated by the corresponding surveillance domain; and
a plurality of notification filters recorded in said surveillance video broker, each notification filter independently specifying on behalf of a respective client one or more respective alert events for which the client wishes to receive notice;
wherein responsive to receiving each said alert event notification request, said notification function accesses said notification records and said notification filters to determine a respective set of clients to receive notification of the respective alert event, the set being the intersection of a set of clients authorized to receive notification of the respective alert event by said authorization records and a set of clients wishing to receive notification of the respective alert event according to said notification filters.
2. The surveillance video broker of claim 1 , wherein at least one authorization record specifies conditional authorization based on at least one respective specified condition.