Monitoring System

Abstract

A monitoring system includes a first sensor and a second sensor, at least one of which is a camera. A computer system coupled to the first and second sensors includes a memory and stored object types and associations between objects. The computer system is configured to infer a group association between a first and second object by retrieving an input from at least one of the sensors, inferring an interaction at a monitored location, infer possession of the second object by the first object, and terminate the inferred group association based on a subsequent inference.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A monitoring system comprising:
 a first sensor;   a second sensor, at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor being a camera;   a computer system coupled with the first sensor and the second sensor;   a memory associated with the computer system, the memory storing a plurality of object types and associations between objects;   the computer system being configured to infer a group association between a first object and a second object by:
 receiving an input from at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor; 
 inferring an interaction at a monitored location at a first time between the first object and the second object; and 
 inferring a possession of the second object by the first object based on the received input, the inferred interaction, and the plurality of stored object types; and 
 terminating the inferred group association between the first object and the second object based on a second inference at a second time. 
   
     
     
         2 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the group association between the first object and the second object is further inferred based on a disappearance of the first object and the second object at the monitored location within an interval of time. 
     
     
         3 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second object is a person. 
     
     
         4 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first object and second object is a vehicle. 
     
     
         5 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is further configured to determine that at least one of the first object or the second object is localized in an illegitimate location semantic zone for the object, and to generate a notification event based on the determination. 
     
     
         6 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is further configured to determine that the inferred association between the first object and the second object is localized in an illegitimate location semantic zone and to generate an event based on the determination. 
     
     
         7 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the memory further stores a plurality of endpoints and at least one semantic attribute associated with at least one endpoint from among the plurality of endpoints, and further wherein the system is configured to associate the semantic attribute to the inferred group association. 
     
     
         8 . The monitoring system of  claim 7 , wherein the system further stores a plurality of access control rules and further wherein at least one access control rule from among the plurality of access control rules is associated with the semantic attribute associated to the inferred group association. 
     
     
         9 . The monitoring system of  claim 8 , wherein the inferred group association is further associated with an access control action. 
     
     
         10 . The monitoring system of  claim 7 , wherein the associated semantic attribute comprises a semantic weight. 
     
     
         11 . The monitoring system of  claim 7 , wherein the group association between the first object and the second object is invalidated based on the semantic attribute. 
     
     
         12 . The monitoring system of  claim 11 , wherein the system is configured to invalidate the sematic attribute after an interval of time. 
     
     
         13 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the group association is inferred based on a time management rule. 
     
     
         14 . The monitoring system of  claim 7 , wherein the semantic attribute is associated with a time management rule. 
     
     
         15 . The monitoring system of  claim 13 , wherein the time management rule is based on a semantic interval. 
     
     
         16 . The monitoring system of  claim 13 , wherein the time management rule is associated with a weighting rule. 
     
     
         17 . The monitoring system of  claim 8 , wherein at least one of the plurality of access control rules is based on a semantic interval. 
     
     
         18 . The monitoring system of  claim 11 , further wherein the group dependent semantic is inferred based on an input from a user. 
     
     
         19 . The monitoring system of  claim 9 , wherein the system is configured to control a device based on the access control action. 
     
     
         20 . The monitoring system of  claim 11 , wherein the system is configured to control at least one of the first sensor or the second sensor based on the inferred semantic attribute. 
     
     
         21 . The monitoring system of  claim 8 , wherein at least one of the plurality of the access control rules is associated with at least a weighting rule.