Secure access camera and method for camera control

Abstract

A camera and a method for controlling the camera. Also a face recognition secure access camera and a method of capturing an image that is not saturated or too dark.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A camera comprising: 
 a. a body;    b. an image detector for capturing a target image housed in said body, said image detector having a digital signal output;    c. a video digital signal processor connected to said image detector for camera control and processing said digital signal output wherein said image detector and said digital processor are adjacent to each other and housed in said camera body;    d. an operating system for controlling camera functions;    e. a first permanent memory means connected to said video digital signal processor for storing said operating system;    f. a second removable memory means connected to the video digital signal processor for retrievably storing a plurality of images.    
     
     
         2 . The camera as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the image detector has an analogue signal output and is connected to an analogue to digital signal converter.  
     
     
         3 . The camera as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said camera control is accomplished by a micro-controller connected to the video digital signal processor.  
     
     
         4 . The camera as claimed in  claim 3  wherein said first permanent memory means is connected to said micro-controller.  
     
     
         5 . The camera as claimed in claims  1  and  4  wherein camera control comprises control of pan, tilt, focus and zoom.  
     
     
         6 . The camera as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said image detector is a complementary metal-oxide semi conductor sensor having a YUV output.  
     
     
         7 . The camera as claimed in  claim 6  wherein the camera is adjustable for pan, tilt, focus and zoom.  
     
     
         8 . The camera as claimed in  claim 7  wherein said image detector has a resolution of at least 640 pixels by 480 pixels and is capable of operation in ambient lighting of no less than 100 lumens.  
     
     
         9 . The camera as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the first digital signal processing means is a video digital signal processor.  
     
     
         10 . The camera as claimed in  claim 9  wherein the video digital signal processor has at least 32 bits and operates at a speed of at least 100 megahertz, further having a memory port, an input port, an output port and a host port.  
     
     
         11 . The camera as claimed in  claim 10  wherein the video digital signal processor includes a control loop for adjusting image exposure and gain.  
     
     
         12 . The camera as claimed in  claim 11  wherein said input port of the video digital signal processor is directly interfaced with the YUV output of the complementary metal-oxide semi conductor sensor by means of a direct memory access bus.  
     
     
         13 . The camera as claimed in  claim 12  further comprising a video encoder having a video output connection interfaced with the video digital signal processor by way of its output port by means of a direct memory access bus.  
     
     
         14 . The camera as claimed in  claim 13  wherein the video output connection of the video encoder is connected to a monitor.  
     
     
         15 . The camera as claimed in  claim 4  wherein the micro-controller is connected to the host port of the video digital signal processor.  
     
     
         16 . The camera as claimed in  claim 14  or  15  wherein the first permanent memory means is a flash random access memory.  
     
     
         17 . The camera as claimed in  claim 15  wherein said flash random access memory is connected to the micro-controller.  
     
     
         18 . The camera as claimed in  claim 16  wherein an operating system is stored in the flash random access memory.  
     
     
         19 . The camera as claimed in  claim 18  wherein the operating system is stored on a replaceable recordable micro disk.  
     
     
         20 . The camera as claimed in  claim 19  wherein upon camera start-up the operating system is loaded from the flash random access memory to the video digital signal processor.  
     
     
         21 . The camera as claimed in  claim 17  wherein upon camera start-up the operating system is loaded from the flash random access memory to the micro-controller.  
     
     
         22 . The camera as claimed in  claim 21  wherein the micro-controller is connected to a universal asynchronous transmitter receiver for connecting to a bit-serial communications network.  
     
     
         23 . The camera as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the video digital signal processor is connected to a universal asynchronous transmitter receiver for connecting to a bit-serial communications network.  
     
     
         24 . The camera as claimed in  claim 23  wherein means for adjusting image exposure and gain comprises an exposure control loop and a gain control loop respectively.  
     
     
         25 . The camera as claimed in  claim 24  wherein means for tracking the image across a visual field comprises a tracking control loop.  
     
     
         26 . The camera as claimed in  claim 25  wherein the replaceable memory storage means consists of a random access memory module connected to the video digital signal processor by way of its memory bus.  
     
     
         27 . The camera as claimed in  claim 26  wherein said random access memory module has a capacity of at least 8 mega bites and is capable of storing a plurality of images.  
     
     
         28 . The camera as claimed in  claim 27  wherein said video digital signal processor is connected to at least one peripheral device chosen from a group of peripheral devices consisting of proximity card readers, magnetic card readers, bar card readers, smart card readers, finger print readers, voice recognition devices, LCD displays, printers and keypads.  
     
     
         29 . A method of camera control comprising the steps of: 
 a. providing a camera control loop consisting of a first exposure control loop for a first side of the face of a target image and a second exposure control loop for the second side of the face of a target image;    b. using the camera, acquire a target image;    c. acquiring the face of the target image;    d. capture a first image of the face;    e. using the first exposure control loop measuring the average intensity of the pixels on a first side of said face;    f. comparing measured intensity to a predetermined set point;    g. adjusting camera exposure levels so that measured intensity meets said predetermined set point;    h. capturing a second image of the face;    i. using the second exposure control loop measuring the average intensity of the pixels on the side of said second image of the face opposite to that measured on the first image;    j. comparing measured intensity to a predetermined set point;    k. adjusting camera exposure levels so that the measured average intensity meets a predetermined set point;    l. merging the output of said first and second exposure control loops into one image using an image merging method.    
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29  wherein said image merging method consists of the following steps: 
 a. Calculating the average intensity of each pixel of each image by: 
 i. correcting the intensity of each pixel of the first and second image by an exposure factor;  
 ii. summing the intensity of the same pixel of the first and second image;  
 iii. dividing the summed intensity by two.  
 
 b. calculating the maximum averaged intensity of each pixel;  
 c. dividing the average intensity of each pixel by the maximum averaged intensity of each pixel;  
 d. applying a compression factor to the quotient of step c.  
 
     
     
         31 . A method of authorized personnel identity authentication using face recognition and using a camera comprising: a body; an image detector for capturing a target image said image detector having a digital signal output; a video digital signal processor connected to said image detector for camera control and processing said digital output wherein said image detector and said digital processor are adjacent to each other and contained in said camera body; a first permanent memory means connected to said video digital signal processor for storing said operating system; a second removable memory means connected to said first digital processor for retrievably storing a plurality of images; comprising the steps of: 
 a. placing a plurality of cameras at locations where personnel authentication using face recognition is required;    b. connecting said plurality of cameras in a networked configuration;    c. connecting said networked configuration to a central processing unit wherein said central processing unit includes a database of a plurality of images of authorized personnel;    d. capturing the image of an authorized person;    e. transmitting said image to said central processing unit by the network;    f. verifying the image as the image of an authorized person.    
     
     
         32 . A method of surveillance of restricted areas using face recognition and using a camera comprising: a body; an image detector for capturing a target image said image detector having a digital signal output; a video digital signal processor connected to said image detector for camera control and processing said digital signal output wherein said image detector and said digital processor are adjacent to each other and contained in said camera body; a first permanent memory means connected to said digital processor for storing said operating system; a second removable memory means connected to said first digital processor for retrievably storing a plurality of images, comprising the steps of: 
 a. placing a plurality of cameras at locations where personnel authentication using face recognition is required;    b. connecting said plurality of cameras in a networked configuration;    c. connecting said networked configuration to a central processing unit wherein said central processing unit;    d. capturing the facial image of a person entering the restricted area;    e. transforming said captured image to a digital format;    f. indexing the captured image for time and location;    g. transmitting said image to said central processing unit by the network;    h. storing the image for subsequent retrieval.