Secure access to camera systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12170664-B2
Application number	US-202217964277-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 12, 2022
Priority date	Nov 16, 2018
Publication date	Dec 17, 2024
Grant date	Dec 17, 2024

Abstract

Embodiments include a system, method, and computer program product that enable secure access to cameras in smart buildings. Some embodiments control outbound video from an environment such as a local network through an intelligent on-event video pushing mechanism. The local intelligent on-event video pushing mechanism hides the IP address of a source video camera, transcodes the video to a reduced size for wide area distribution, and pushes video to a recipient upon an event triggered received within the local environment (e.g., the local network.) Embodiments enable a remote video client on the far-side of the local network firewall to view the video streams of cameras on the near-side of the local network firewall when an event or trigger occurs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device on a local network, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor coupled to the memory and configured to:
receive a trigger; and
in response to the trigger, establish a persistent data connection with a signaling server, wherein the electronic device is behind a firewall of the local network and the signaling server is on another side of the firewall;
subscribe to a topic relating to the local network;
receive first information corresponding to the topic via the persistent data connection from the signaling server;
based on the first information received, request video data from a camera on the local network;
receive the video data requested from the camera; and
based on the first information received, transmit the video data received through the firewall.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to process the video data received based on the first information received before transmitting the video data, wherein to process the video data, the processor is further configured to: encrypt the video data; transcode a video format of the video data; change a resolution or a frame rate of the video data; change a video compression of the video data; transform the video with metadata; obscure or alter image data; or insert visual water marks.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
designate an internet protocol (IP) address or a uniform resource locator (URL) of a recipient;
tile multiple camera feeds of the local network including the video data, into a single or fewer video streams;
dynamically select or switch video streams from multiple cameras on the local network into a single or fewer video streams; or
create low-resolution image thumbnails of the video data or high resolution image subsections of the video data.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
authenticate with the signaling server;
request information related to the local network; and
in response to the requesting, receive the first information.

5. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to request the information based on a real time publication-subscription, data-sync, or request-response protocol, such as, but not limited to, Message Queueing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol, XMPP, STOMP, AMQP, WAMP, JMs, ZeroMQ, or proprietary messaging protocols.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
integrate with a legacy camera;
convert the first information received to a first format compatible with the legacy camera;
request second video data from the legacy camera;
receive the second video data from the legacy camera;
convert the second video data to a second format that is different than the first format; and
transmit the second video data in the second format through the firewall.

7. The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the first format comprises video streaming protocols comprising: real time streaming protocol (RTSP), real time messaging protocol (RTMP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), or real time transport protocol (RTP).

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first information comprises:
data associated with a sensor or an Internet of Things (IoT) device on the local network or another network to which the local network or device on the local network may be connected, such as a sensor unique identification, a serial number, a sensor type, a location, a sensor reading, a reading value, a translated or interpreted meaning of a reading value or series of reading values in the form of a symbol, a state or representation such as a warning, alarm, notification or text message, a numerical value, a visual representation, an audio signal; or
other relevant information or data associated with the sensor or conditions relating to an environment of the sensor, such as a relative location of the sensor to another object on a georeferenced or fixed reference coordinate system, a map, a floor plan, or a three-dimensional model.

9. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the sensor or the IoT device on the local network comprises: a gas sensor; a smoke/fire detector; a contact closure of a switch or panic button; an artificial intelligence or analytics based object, event, condition; or a state change state detection module that interprets video data, either alone or in concert with other real time, historical or predictive data from other sensors, systems, databases, analytical functions, or information sources, where the sensor itself or when coupled to another device or module causes an alarm, event notification or warning signal to be transmitted to a rules-based or pre-designated recipient agent.

10. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
maintain the persistent data connection using keep-alive pings; and
receive second information via the persistent data connection using a same socket used for receiving the first information.

11. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
prior to the transmitting the video, utilize a rules-based software module in conjunction with the first information received,
wherein to utilize the rules-based software module, the processor is further configured to determine a recipient of the video data based on rules that include: event data, sensor data, recipient data, or other criteria,
wherein the event data comprises: an event type, an event severity, an event priority, or a date or time,
wherein the sensor data comprises: a sensor reading, a warning, a state, a condition, a location, or a duration, and
wherein the recipient data comprises an identity of the recipient, a location, a security classification or authorization level, a function, a skill, a capability, or an availability.

12. An electronic device on a local network, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor coupled to the memory and configured to:
receive from a video pusher on the local network, a subscription to a topic relating to the local network;
establish a persistent data connection with the video pusher, wherein the video pusher is behind a firewall on the local network and the electronic device is on another side of the firewall;
receive an event signal associated with the local network;
based on the event signal received, transmit a message via the persistent data connection that designates which camera on the local network streams video data, wherein the message transmitted includes information corresponding to the subscription;
receive a second event signal associated with a different local network; and
based on the second event signal received, transmit a second message to a second video pusher indicating which second camera on the different local network streams second video data.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the message includes instructions for processing the video data that is streamed, comprising: encrypting the video data; changing a resolution or frame rate of the video data; or changing a video compression codec of the video data.

14. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the message includes instructions comprising:
designating an internet protocol (IP) address or uniform resource locator (URL) of a recipient of the video data streamed;
tiling multiple camera feeds of the local network including the video data streamed, into a single or fewer video streams;
dynamically selecting or switching video streams from multiple cameras on

Assignees

• Mutualink Inc

Inventors

• Setlur Anand
• Mazzarella Joseph R
• Wengrovitz Michael S
• Lipman Derrell

Classifications

• H04L65/612

  for unicast · CPC title

• H04L69/08

  Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion · CPC title

• H04L63/0876 Primary

  based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint · CPC title

• H04L63/02 Primary

  for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title