VIDEO SURVEILLANCE PLAYBACK SYSTEM WITH MULTI-TIERED STORAGE

Abstract

This invention relates to video surveillance management solutions. More specifically this invention relates to the integration of multiple tiers of dissimilar computer data storage technologies in such a manner to deliver longer term video retention and easy video playback. The device captures video data from multiple surveillance cameras and stores it on computer hard drive and then replicates to a second tier of digital data tape storage. Video retention policies are determined from parameters for the number of cameras, frame rates, resolution, and number of days of video retention desired. Storage procedures are set for multiple tiers of video storage that will allow for the highest quality video to be recorded without alteration or manipulation. A human video operator will then have the ability to select any available recorded video under management and have that video retrieved and available for display and playback without any additional steps or human interaction.

Claims

1. A method with the underlying computer program for an overarching video surveillance management platform encompassing of a video management software (VMS) program, integrated with middleware software, all of which actively ingests, records, and stores video data to multiple tiers of video data storage, manages the movement of recorded video data amongst the various tiers of storage, all for the purpose of unimpeded video playback of any available recorded video by a human video operator.

2. A system of integrating computer hardware devices comprising of a standard computer server, with appropriate computer memory storage, NVMe flash storage module, traditional hard disk data storage, and digital data tape storage such as Linear Tape Open (LTO) or T10000 format in such a manner to facilitate the moving of data through multiple tiers of data storage.

3. A method with the underlying computer program (middleware) that manages the various interactions between the base VMS software and that of the associated storage hardware devices.

4. A portion of the VMS software program derived from claim 1, that includes the underlying methods that actively ingests, records, and stores surveillance video from various surveillance cameras initially to an NVMe flash storage module and then onto a first tier of hard disk-based storage.

5. A portion of the VMS software and middleware program derived from claim 3, that automatically manages and controls a complex digital computer data tape library device comprising of one or more digital computer data tape drives, one or more tape cartridge slots, and the robotic gripper/picker armatures, and elevators to move tapes as needed through the tape library device.

6. A portion of the VMS software and middleware program derived from claim 3, that continually manages the available storage capacities of each tier of storage.

7. A portion of the VMS software and middleware program derived from claim 3, that automatically replicates video data from tier one hard disk to second tier tape storage.

8. A portion of the VMS software and middleware program derived from claim 3, that automatically groups the recorded video data by camera onto an automatically specified second tier tape storage cartridge as opposed to a chaotic fashion to ensure viable reading and playback of needed video data at a later time.

9. A portion of the VMS software and middleware program derived from claim 3, that automatically deletes video data from hard disk tier one when tier one storage is nearing capacity limits of that tier of storage.

10. A portion of the VMS software and middleware program derived from claim 3, that automatically deletes video data from tape-based tier two storage when tier two storage preset retention policy limits have been reached and automatically reformats the Tape for re-use.

11. A portion of the VMS software and middleware program derived from claim 3, that automatically assigns, formats, and makes available the next tape cartridge within the tape library for continual video storage.

12. A portion of the VMS software program derived from claim 1, for when a human video operator requests to playback specific video, wherein a process of the VMS checks if the requested video is on tier one storage and if that check determines that the requested video is not on tier one storage then checks to determine if that requested video is on tier two storage.

13. A portion of the VMS software and middleware program derived from claim 3, that once operator requested video has been identified as being located on tier two tape storage, will automatically replicate that needed videoalong with recorded video on a preset amount of time either side of the requested video (e.g. 15 minutes before and after)back to tier one hard disk storage for immediate reading of such data and video playback.

14. A portion of the VMS software and middleware program derived from claim 3, a process that when requested video is on tier two tape storage and that the requested video is located on a specific tape cartridge not already inserted into the tape library tape drive, the tape library will automatically select the appropriate tape cartridge with the requested video data files and re-insert that tape into the tape library tape drive.

15. A portion of the VMS software and middleware program derived from claim 3, wherein it will manage the amount of time any recently inserted tape will remain within the tape drive of the tape library, before it is removed and replaced into its designated tape slot within the tape library.

16. A portion of the VMS software program derived from claim 1, wherein no additional steps outside of those detailed herein nor any other human intervention is required for the human video operator to receive the requested video displayed and available for review, providing seamless video playback to the VMS software.

17. A portion of the VMS software program derived from claim 1, wherein it is specifically claimed that there is no need for any reduction in the video frame resolution or the reduction in the number of video frames recorded, nor any other quality or file size reduction is necessary.

18. A portion of the VMS software and middleware program derived from claim 3, to add new digital computer data tape storage libraries to the System to expand the retention capacity of recorded video as needed.

19. A portion of the VMS software program derived from claim 1, wherein the timeline feature of the VMS software is the only human interaction that is needed to initiate the video retrieval and playback.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0098] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the overarching video capture and playback process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

[0099] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of the video ingest process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

[0100] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of the video playback process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

[0101] FIG. 4 is a table of a Video File Storage Management Database in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

[0102] FIG. 5 is a table of a Tape Library Storage Database in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

[0103] FIG. 6 is a table of the Hard Disk Storage Database in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

[0104] FIG. 7 is a Table of the primary high-level components in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

[0105] FIG. 8 is a reference to the video management software (VMS) video playback timeline in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

[0106] FIG. 9 is a reference software screen of the video management software (VMS) video playback user interface (GUI) depicting the dialog message to the video operator to stand by for video retrieval and playback in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

[0107] FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a robotic digital computer data tape library (aka Jukebox) designed to house a plethora of data tapes for video storage in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0108] The present invention provides a system, a method, and an apparatus for video surveillance and multiple tiers of video data storage allowing for unincumbered recall, retrieval, and playback of any video data under storage management. The present invention collects, stores, and manages video data from various video surveillance cameras and manages the storage placement, movement, and retrieval of all recorded video based on storage capacity attributes of the various tiers of storage available within the apparatus.

System Architecture

[0109] One embodiment of the present invention is a system, a method, and an apparatus for video surveillance and multiple tiers of video data storage allowing for unincumbered recall, retrieval, and playback of any video data under storage management. With reference to FIG. 1 the computer system 200 includes a traditional computer server 7000 with a CPU, significant RAM memory, an NVMe flash storage module, and initial hard disk data storage 400. The system 200 would also include a separate but connected digital computer data Tape storage library 500. A video display unit 600 is also part of the system to view live and recorded video surveillance feeds from a plethora of video surveillance cameras 100.

[0110] This system would also include the appropriate networking capabilities to connect to a traditional modern network. This system also includes the computer connectors known as host bus adapters (HBAs) to connect the computer server to the Tape storage library. This system would also contain all of the necessary computer accessories typically found on a modern computer system.

[0111] With reference to FIG. 2 the proposed computer software used to automatically manage and facilitate the video data from the various video surveillance cameras would have the typical features of a modern video management software (VMS) program whereby it creates computer network connections to IP-based video surveillance cameras, ingests the video data feeds from those numerous surveillance cameras, 360 creates the appropriate video file for live display and subsequent storage to a hard disk 364. The VMS software is also capable of displaying a Timeline FIG. 9 feature to the human VMS operator that indicates the amount of video that has been recorded and stored and is under VMS management, which allows the human operator to use a mouse to click on a particular date and time on that Timeline in order to recall and playback that recorded video.

[0112] With reference to FIG. 2 the proposed invention will have additional computer software, known as middleware, that will interact between the base VMS 200 software and the various hardware components to manage the movement of the recorded video data from one tier of storage 366 to another tier of storage 372. This middleware will also manage a database 5000/6000 that tracks the current location of all recorded video data and interacts with the base VMS 200 software to allow the human video operator to request any available recorded video that is under management in order to recall and playback such recorded video.

[0113] This Middleware software, incorporated into the VMS, is what provides the unique functionality of automatically locating the requested video 2102/2110 and controlling the tape library jukebox 5200 in a manner that would load the requested video, no matter which digital computer data tape 5210 the video data was stored upon.

[0114] With reference to FIG. 1 a proposed method and set of techniques for ingesting video data from one or more surveillance video cameras 150 into the VMS Software 200 operating on the main computer server FIG. 7 7100. That video data is then processed 300 and recorded onto a first tier 400 of data storage.

[0115] FIG. 2 highlights the video ingest process. The proposed invention also needs to utilize specific hardware devices to accomplish the overall process. During video frame ingest procedure 360 we must use an NVMe 7110 memory device within 7100 CPU Server in order to process in a timely manner a plethora of video frames from a plethora of surveillance cameras into individual video files.

[0116] The VMS 200 will copy the video frames 360 and ultimately video files 364 from the NVMe 7110 to the first tier of storage 400.

[0117] In line with the VMS preset conditions 200, the system will continually monitor the recorded surveillance video on tier one storage 400 and when appropriate replicate 372 that recorded surveillance to tier two storage 500 wherein the surveillance video will be located on both tier one storage 400 and tier two storage 500.

[0118] A video operator may at any time request video 150 to be retrieved and played back for review on a video display station 60017170 wherein the proposed invention would automatically retrieve the specified video from either tier one video storage 400 or tier two video storage 500 via the appropriate back-end commands 550 650 without any other steps, human intervention, or video file manipulation.

[0119] In order to viably read back and playback specific video surveillance camera data as stated in [0011], the VMS 200 will cluster (or group) specific surveillance camera feeds during the ingest process 366 onto a specified Tape cartridge 5210. This is critical for the solution to work properly in that if video data 364 is replicated to ungrouped Tape cartridges 5210 then the machinations needed to read and playback requested recorded video would become unusable as a solution.

[0120] In line with the middleware software, as a specified Tape cartridge 5210 is filled to capacity 374, the middleware will automatically format another Tape cartridge 5210 and automatically remove the now filled Tape cartridge that is already inserted into the tape library drive 5230 and replace that with the newly formatted Tape cartridge.

[0121] The middleware software will continually monitor, format, and rotate the Tape cartridges 5210 in and out of the tape library drive 5230 until all available unused Tape cartridges have been filled to storage capacity.

[0122] In line with any computer data storage device, this proposed invention tier two storage 500 does have data capacity limitations when considering the capacity of the various computer digital computer Tapes 5210 and the overall size and capacity of the Tape Library device 5200. This proposed invention will take into account these capacities and create a process within the overall method to account for this capacityalso known as retentioncapability to monitor and manage such retention. It is acknowledged that as those technologies advance and the data capacities increase, the proposed invention will utilize such data capacities.

[0123] As this method and techniques actively monitors and manages the retention capacity of all tiers under management, the system will 380 determine if any specific digital computer data Tape 5210 has reached its data capacity limit and automatically unload and insert a new Tape 5210 into an available Tape Library Drive 5230 to continue recording and storing new incoming video data.

[0124] Once all of the available Tapes have been written to with video data, the System's Retention Policies 380 will determine the oldest Tape 5210 used and then reformat that Tape to make that Tape available for new incoming video data to be recorded to once again. This tier two retention policy is a key aspect of the continual operation of the overall System.

[0125] Once all previously available Tape cartridges 5210 have been used, the middleware software will identify 380 the oldest video data stored on which Tape cartridge 5210 and then reformat that oldest tape to make data storage available for new incoming video data to be stored.

[0126] In line with the VMS preset conditions 200, the system will monitor the capacity of tier one storage 400 and when capacity nears 100% the System will 371 delete the oldest dated video data previously recorded/stored from tier one storage 400.

[0127] When this occurs, the surveillance video will only be available on tier two storage 500.

[0128] Reference FIG. 3 highlights a proposed specific method and set of techniques of retrieving and displaying requested video by a human video operator. At any time, a human video operator may request a time and date specific video file 2100 from The System utilizing the VMS 200 Timeline bar FIG. 8. The VMS 200 will do an initial hard disk database lookup 6000 then a Tape library database lookup 5000 to determine if the requested video 2102 is located on tier one hard disk based video storage 400 or 2110 on tier two tape based video storage 500.

[0129] If the video is determined to be located on tier one video storage 400 then the VMS program 200 will initiate a normal video data storage Read call to retrieve the specified video from tier one storage 400 and that video will be loaded and ready for playback to the human operator.

[0130] If the video is determined to be located on tier two video storage 500 then the VMS 200 will initiate a computer program call 2112 to retrieve the specified videoplus a predefined set of minutes (e.g. 15-minutes) before the specified date time requested and a predefined set of minutes (e.g. 15-minutes) after the specified data time requested. All of that identified video data 2112 is then copied back 2114 onto tier one storage 400. The VMS 200 will then load all of the requested and specified video 2020 data into the VMS 200 for display and playback for the human video operator.

[0131] If during the FIG. 3 video retrieval and playback process, the video has been determined 2110 to be located on tier two 500 storage a dialog box FIG. 9 will appear in the VMS 200 to inform the human video operator that the video is being retrieved from multiple tiered storage and to stand by as this process could take up to predetermined number of minutes (e.g., eight) FIG. 9.

[0132] If during the FIG. 3 video retrieval and playback process, the video has been determined 2110 to be located on tier two 500 storage and the specific video data is located on a digital computer data Tape cartridge 5210 that is not currently in the Tape library drive 5230, the system will control the tape library robotics 5220 to select the tape cartridge that does contain the requested video files, move the tape into an available Tape library tape drive, and advance the tape to the appropriate sector on the tape media where the specific video requested video and copy that videoplus the video data pre- and post-time of the requested video date/time2114 back to tier one 400 storage all automatically without any human interaction or intervention.

[0133] It is critical to appreciate this complete overarching process and how it is unique to any prior art. Currently, there is no other System such as the proposed invention that simultaneously utilizes multiple tiers of video data storage for an active video storage and playback system and integrates the user interface (VMS Timeline) FIG. 8 into one seamless System. By implementing specific computer programming calls as depicted in FIG. 3 and the databases 5000 6000 to register and track where the video files are stored, the VMS 200 can make the automatic determination 2102 2110 as to where to retrieve the requested video either tier one 400 or tier two 500 utilizing the Tape library jukebox 5200.

[0134] It is this process that allows for the seamless video retrieval and playback of all the video that has been recorded and stored in the System. If the proposed invention was not available, the human video operator would have to engage with other software packages and personnel to locate and make available to needed video.

[0135] Special attention needs to be focused on the video retrieval and playback functionality of this proposed invention whereas other prior art may make use of multiple tiers of video data storage, those systems do not provide for an automatic, seamless, non-interventive method for identifying, locating, and playback of the recorded video.

[0136] Special attention needs to also focus on the proposed invention wherein it does not attach and pre-determined priority, importance, or value to the video data, as it is the perspective of the inventor that all video has the same level of importance and value and must be stored.

[0137] Special attention needs to also focus on the proposed invention wherein no video is altered in resolution, frame rate, or compressed in any additional manner as it is the perspective of the inventor that all video must remain as originally recorded for chain of custody and evidentiary value.