Distributed Control of a Heterogeneous Video Surveillance Network

Abstract

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.

What is claimed is: 
     
         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:   a 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 of said plurality of surveillance domains, 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 the one or more clients have been granted access to one or more other surveillance domains, wherein a first client is granted access to a first set of video surveillance domains containing multiple video surveillance domains but fewer than all of said plurality of video surveillance domains by respective authorization records corresponding to each surveillance domain of the first set, and wherein a second client is granted access to a second set of surveillance domains containing some but not all fo the sources to which the first client has access by respective authorization records corresponding to each surveillance domain of the second set, wherein at least one authorization record specifies conditional authorization based on a respective at least one specified condition.   
     
     
         2 . The surveillance video broker  claim 1 , wherein said authorization records are stored in said surveillance video broker. 
     
     
         3 . The surveillance video broker of  claim 1 , wherein multiple respective authorization records are defined for each surveillance domain, each authorization record of the multiple respective authorization record for a first surveillance domain granting access to a respective set of at least one client, at least some of the respective sets of at least one client and at least one condition of access being different. 
     
     
         4 . The surveillance video broker  claim 1 , wherein at least one authorization record specifies unconditional access authorization for one or more respective clients. 
     
     
         5 . The surveillance video broker  claim 1 , wherein at least one authorization record specifies conditional authorization based on an alarm condition detected by an automatic sensor in the corresponding video surveillance domain. 
     
     
         6 . The surveillance video broker method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one authorization record specifies conditional authorization based on a scheduled event. 
     
     
         7 . The surveillance video broker of  claim 1 , wherein at least one authorization record specifies conditional authorization based on physical proximity of the requesting client to the corresponding surveillance video domain. 
     
     
         8 . The surveillance video broker of  claim 1 , wherein at least one authorization. 
     
     
         9 . The surveillance video broker of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an event 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 he 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.   
     
     
         10 . A method for authorizing access to video surveillance data, comprising:
 registering a plurality of clients in a video broker data processing system;   registering a plurality of video surveillance domains in said video broker data processing system, 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;   recording a plurality of authorization records, each authorization record associated with a single respective video surveillance domain of said plurality of video surveillance domains and independently specifying authorization on behalf of the respective video surveillance domain with which it is associated to allow at least one respective client real-time access to at least some surveillance video generated by the respective video surveillance domain with which it is associated, 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 and independently of whether the one or more respective clients have been granted access to one or more other video surveillance domains, wherein a first client is granted access to a first set of video surveillance domains containing multiple video surveillance domains but fewer than all of said plurality of video surveillance domains by respective authorization records associated with each video surveillance domain of the first set, and wherein a second client is granted access to a second set of video surveillance domains containing some but not all of the sources to which the first client has access by respective authorization records associated with each video surveillance domain of the second set;   receiving in said video broker a plurality of video access requests, each request requesting real-time access by a respective client to at least some video produced by a respective surveillance domain;   responsive to each said video access request, automatically using the one or more authorization records associated with the respective surveillance domain to which the respective client requested access to determine whether the respective client is authorized to access the requested video;   responsive to determining that the respective client is authorized to access the requested video of a video access request, automatically granting real-time access by the respective client to the requested video.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein said recording in said video broker data processing system a plurality of authorization records comprises recording a first and a second authorization record specifying authorization on behalf of a first video surveillance domain, the first authorization record granting access to a first set of at least one client and the second authorization record granting access to a second set of at least one client, said first and second sets being different, said first authorization record specifying conditional access based on a first at least one specified condition, said second authorization record not specifying conditional access based on said first at least one specified condition. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said second authorization record specifies unconditional access by said second set of at least one client. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein at least one authorization record specifies conditional authorization based on an alarm condition detected by an automatic sensor in the respective video surveillance domain. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein at least one authorization record specifies conditional authorization based on a scheduled event. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein at least one authorization record specifies conditional authorization based on physical proximity of the requesting client to the surveillance video domain. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein at least one authorization record specifies conditional authorization based on a declared state of emergency. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein automatically granting real-time access by the respective client to the requested video comprises generating and transmitting a respective access token to the respective client, the access token being used by the client to obtain real-time access to the requested video directly from a provider of the requested video, without transmitting the requested video through said video broker data processing system. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said provider of the requested video is a video distribution service which distributes video received from a plurality of surveillance domains. 
     
     
         19 . A method for operating a data processing system of a surveillance video broker, comprising:
 registering a plurality of clients in a data processing system of a surveillance video broker;   registering a plurality of video surveillance domains in said data processing system of said surveillance video broker, each video 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 video surveillance domains are operated by different respective operating entities;   recording in said data processing system a plurality of authorization records, each authorization record associated with a single respective video surveillance domain of said plurality of video surveillance domains and independently specifying authorization on behalf of the respective video surveillance domain with which it is associated to allow at least one respective client real-time access to at least some surveillance video generated by the respective video surveillance domain with which it is associated, 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 and independently of whether the one or more respective clients have been granted access to one or more other video surveillance domains;   recording in said data processing system a plurality of notification records, each notification record associated with a single respective video surveillance domain of said plurality of video surveillance domains and independently specifying on behalf of the respective video surveillance domain with which it is associated at least one respective client authorized to receive notification of one or more respective alert events generated by the respective video 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 respective video surveillance domain with which the respective notification record is associated;   receiving in said data processing system of said surveillance video broker a plurality of alert event notification requests, each alert event notification request being received from a respective video surveillance domain and identifying an alert event detected at the respective surveillance domain for which notification to clients is requested;   responsive to receiving each said alert event notification request, accessing each notification record associated with the respective surveillance domain from which the respective alert event notification request was received s to determine in said data processing system a respective set of clients to receive notification of the respective alert event, and transmitting an alert notification to each client of the respective set;   receiving in said data processing system of said surveillance video broker a plurality of video access requests, each request requesting real-time access by a respective client to at least some video produced by a respective surveillance domain;   responsive to each said video access request, automatically using the one or more authorization records associated with the respective surveillance domain to which the respective client requested access to determine whether the respective client is authorized to access the requested video;   responsive to determining that the respective client is authorized to access the requested video of a video access request, automatically granting real-time access by the respective client to the requested video.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein at least one authorization record specifies conditional authorization based on at least one respective specified condition.