Embedded appliance for multimedia capture

1. A non-transitory processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to be executed by a processor system within an embedded environment, the code comprising code to cause the processor system to:

receive a schedule configured to trigger capture and compression of an audio signal and capture and compression of at least one of a visual-capture signal or a digital-image signal, the schedule being received from a control device separate from a device having the processor system;

capture the audio signal based on the schedule through a first input port to produce a first captured signal;

capture the at least one of the visual-capture signal or the digital-image signal based on the schedule through a second input port to produce a second captured signal;

detect a device type of a capture device coupled to the first input port;

detect a device type of a capture device coupled to the second input port;

compress the first captured signal based on a first compression variable associated with the schedule and based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the first input port to produce a first compressed signal;

compress the second captured signal based on a second compression variable associated with the schedule and based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port to produce a second compressed signal; and

send the first compressed signal and the second compressed signal after the first compressed signal and the second compressed signal are produced.

2. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1 , the code further comprising code to cause the processor system to:

select, before the first captured signal is compressed, a first codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the first input port; and

select, before the second captured signal is compressed, a second codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port.

3. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1 , the code further comprising code to cause the processor system to:

select a first codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the first input port; and

select a second codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port,

the first captured signal being compressed using the first codec to produce the first compressed signal,

the second captured signal being compressed using the second codec to produce the second compressed signal.

4. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein:

the capture device coupled to the second input port is coupled to the second input port at a second time after a first time,

the code to detect the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port includes code to detect a difference between a capture device coupled to the second input port at the first time and the capture device coupled to the second input port at the second time.

5. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein:

the capture device coupled to the second input port is coupled to the second input port at a second time after a first time,

the code to detect the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port includes code to detect a difference between a capture device coupled to the second input port at the first time and the capture device coupled to the second input port at the second time,

the non-transitory processor-readable medium further including code to:

select a codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port at the second time, the second capture signal being compressed using the codec to produce the second compressed signal.

6. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein:

the captured signal is a digital-image signal,

the capture device coupled to the second input port is coupled to the second input port at a second time after a first time,

the code to detect the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port includes code to detect a difference between a capture device coupled to the second input port at the first time and the capture device coupled to the second input port at the second time,

the non-transitory processor-readable medium further comprising code to:

select a first codec from a plurality of codecs when the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port at the second time is a web camera, the first codec configured to produce the compressed signal in a tiff format; and

select a second codec from the plurality of codecs when the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port at the second time is a digital camera, the second codec configured to product the compressed signal in a JPEG format.

7. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein:

the first compression variable associated with the schedule includes at least one of a frame rate, a bit rate, a frequency, a resolution, a color or a stabilization, associated with the first captured signal,

the second compression variable associated with the schedule includes at least one of a frame rate, a bit rate, a frequency, a resolution, a color or a stabilization, associated with the second captured signal.

8. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein:

the code to compress the first captured signal includes code to compress the first captured signal into a lossy format based on the first compression variable associated with the schedule to produce the first compressed signal,

the code to compress the second captured signal includes code to compress the second captured signal into a lossy format based on the second compression variable associated with the schedule to produce the second compressed signal.

9. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a processor system from a control device separate from the processor system, a schedule configured to trigger capture and compression of an audio signal and capture and compression of at least one of a visual-capture signal or a digital-image signal;

capturing, at the processor system, the audio signal based on the schedule through a first input port to produce a first captured signal;

capturing, at the processor system, the at least one of the visual-capture signal or the digital-image signal based on the schedule through a second input port to produce a second captured signal;

detecting, at the processor system, a device type of a capture device coupled to the first input port;

detecting, at the processor system, a device type of a capture device coupled to the second input port;

compressing, at the processor system, the first captured signal based on a first compression variable associated with the schedule and based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the first input port to produce a first compressed signal;

compressing, at the processor system, the second captured signal based on a second compression variable associated with the schedule and based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port to produce a second compressed signal; and

sending, at the processor system, the first compressed signal and the second compressed signal after the first compressed signal and the second compressed signal are produced.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

selecting, before the first captured signal is compressed, a first codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the first input port; and

selecting, before the second captured signal is compressed, a second codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

selecting a first codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the first input port; and

selecting a second codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port,

the first captured signal being compressed using the first codec to produce the first compressed signal,

the second captured signal being compressed using the second codec to produce the second compressed signal.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein:

the capture device coupled to the second input port is coupled to the second input port at a second time after a first time,

detecting the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port includes detecting a difference between a capture device coupled to the second input port at the first time and the capture device coupled to the second input port at the second time.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein:

the capture device coupled to the second input port is coupled to the second input port at a second time after a first time,

detecting the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port includes detecting a difference between a capture device coupled to the second input port at the first time and the capture device coupled to the second input port at the second time,

the method further comprising:

selecting a codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port at the second time, the second capture signal being compressed using the codec to produce the second compressed signal.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein:

the captured signal is a digital-image signal,

the capture device coupled to the second input port is coupled to the second input port at a second time after a first time,

detecting the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port includes detecting a difference between a capture device coupled to the second input port at the first time and the capture device coupled to the second input port at the second time,

the method further comprising:

selecting a first codec from a plurality of codecs when the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port at the second time is a web camera, the first codec configured to produce the compressed signal in a tiff format; and

selecting a second codec from the plurality of codecs when the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port at the second time is a digital camera, the second codec configured to product the compressed signal in a JPEG format.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein:

the first compression variable associated with the schedule includes at least one of a frame rate, a bit rate, a frequency, a resolution, a color or a stabilization, associated with the first captured signal,

the second compression variable associated with the schedule includes at least one of a frame rate, a bit rate, a frequency, a resolution, a color or a stabilization, associated with the second captured signal.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein:

compressing the first captured signal includes compressing the first captured signal into a lossy format based on the first compression variable associated with the schedule to produce the first compressed signal,

compressing the second captured signal includes compressing the second captured signal into a lossy format based on the second compression variable associated with the schedule to produce the second compressed signal.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor system having a first input port and a second input port,

the processor system configured to receive, from a control device separate from the processor system, a schedule configured to trigger capture and compression of an audio signal and capture and compression of at least one of a visual-capture signal or a digital-image signal,

the processor system configured to capture the audio signal based on the schedule through a first input port to produce a first captured signal, the processor system configured to capture the at least one of the visual-capture signal or the digital-image signal based on the schedule through a second input port to produce a second captured signal,

the processor system configured to detect a device type of a capture device coupled to the first input port, the processor system configured to detect a device type of a capture device coupled to the second input port,

the processor system including a compression module, the compression module configured to compress the first captured signal based on a first compression variable associated with the schedule and based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the first input port to produce a first compressed signal, the compression module configured to compress the second captured signal based on a second compression variable associated with the schedule and based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port to produce a second compressed signal, and

the processor system configured to send the first compressed signal and the second compressed signal after the first compressed signal and the second compressed signal are produced.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein:

the processing system is configured to select, before the first captured signal is compressed, a first codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the first input port, and

the processing system is configured to select, before the second captured signal is compressed, a second codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein:

the processing system is configured to select a first codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the first input port,

the processing system is configured to select a second codec from a plurality of codecs based on the device type of the capture device coupled to the second input port,

the first captured signal being compressed using the first codec to produce the first compressed signal, and

the second captured signal being compressed using the second codec to produce the second compressed signal.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein:

the first compression variable associated with the schedule includes at least one of a frame rate, a bit rate, a frequency, a resolution, a color or a stabilization, associated with the first captured signal,

the second compression variable associated with the schedule includes at least one of a frame rate, a bit rate, a frequency, a resolution, a color or a stabilization, associated with the second captured signal.