Image acquisition equipment

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides image acquisition equipment, and relates to the technical field of security and protection. The image acquisition device comprises a pre-recording module, a main control module, an image acquisition module and an MCU. The pre-recording module is used for awakening the image acquisition module to perform image acquisition according to a preset awakening interval; after the image frames acquired by the image acquisition module after each awakening are acquired, the acquired image frames are stored, and a sleep instruction is sent to the image acquisition module, so that the image acquisition module enters a sleep mode; the MCU is used for sending a power-off instruction to the pre-recording module and sending a power-on instruction to the main control module when a specified event occurs; the pre-recording module is used for performing power-off after receiving the power-off instruction; the main control module is used for electrifying after receiving the electrifying instruction and acquiring an image frame within a preset duration before the triggering moment of the specified event stored in the pre-recording module after electrifying; therefore, through the scheme, pre-recording can be realized under the condition of low power consumption.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of security technologies, and particularly to an image acquisition device. Background Art

[0002] In the field of security, security devices (such as cat eyes, video doorbells, etc.) usually start the video recording function when an abnormal event occurs. For example, when the video doorbell detects a person with an illegal identity entering the alarm area through an infrared detector, it starts the video recording function.

[0003] In actual security scenarios, users often hope to see the situation in a period of time before an abnormal event occurs, so as to understand a relatively complete process before and after the abnormal event. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the embodiments of this application is to provide an image acquisition device, so as to obtain the image frames before the trigger moment of a specified event under low power consumption, thereby realizing pre-recording under low power consumption. The specific technical solutions are as follows:

[0005] The embodiments of this application provide an image acquisition device, including a pre-recording module, a main control module, an image acquisition module, and a microcontroller unit MCU;

[0006] The pre-recording module is used to wake up the image acquisition module to perform image acquisition according to a preset wake-up interval; after obtaining the image frames collected each time the image acquisition module is woken up, store the obtained image frames, and send a sleep instruction to the image acquisition module to make the image acquisition module enter the sleep mode;

[0007] The MCU is used to send a power-down instruction to the pre-recording module and a power-on instruction to the main control module when a specified event occurs;

[0008] The pre-recording module is further used to power down after receiving the power-down instruction;

[0009] The main control module is used to power on after receiving the power-on instruction, and after powering on, obtain the image frames within a preset duration before the trigger moment of the specified event stored by the pre-recording module.

[0010] Optionally, the MCU is further used to send a power-on instruction to the pre-recording module and a power-down instruction to the main control module when the specified event ends;

[0011] The pre-recording module is further used to power on after receiving the power-on instruction;

[0012] The main control module is further used to power down after receiving the power-down instruction.

[0013] Optionally, the pre-recording module is specifically configured to store the acquired image frames into its own pre-recording storage space after acquiring each image frame collected by the image acquisition module when it wakes up;

[0014] The pre-recording module is specifically configured to, after receiving the power-off instruction, store the image frames stored in the pre-recording storage space into a specified storage space outside the pre-recording module and then power off;

[0015] The main control module is specifically configured to, after power-on, obtain the image frames within a preset time period before the trigger moment of the specified event stored by the pre-recording module from the specified storage space.

[0016] Optionally, the pre-recording module is specifically configured to, after acquiring each image frame collected by the image acquisition module when it wakes up, encode the acquired image frames and store the encoded image frames into its own pre-recording storage space;

[0017] The main control module is further configured to encode the image frames within the preset time period into a specified non-bare stream format.

[0018] Optionally, the pre-recording module is specifically configured to store the acquired image frames into its own pre-recording storage space in a circular overwrite manner.

[0019] Optionally, the main control module is further configured to, after power-on, wake up the image acquisition module to acquire the image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event; obtain the image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event and combine them with the image frames within the preset time period to obtain a complete video for the specified event.

[0020] Optionally, the main control module is further configured to encode the image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event acquired into a specified non-bare stream format.

[0021] Optionally, the main control module is further configured to, after waking up the image acquisition module, send the first image acquisition parameters for setting the operation mode to the image acquisition module so that the image acquisition module acquires the image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event according to the first image acquisition parameters.

[0022] Optionally, the main control module is further configured to, after receiving the configuration instruction for the pre-recording mode of the image acquisition device, write the configuration parameters for setting the pre-recording mode into the shared storage space, and send the first mode instruction indicating entering the pre-recording mode to the MCU after reaching the pre-recording mode start moment indicated by the configuration instruction; wherein the configuration parameters include a preset wake-up interval and the second image acquisition parameters;

[0023] The MCU is further configured to send a power-on instruction to the pre-recording module after receiving the first mode instruction;

[0024] The pre-recording module is further configured to obtain the configuration parameters from the shared storage space after receiving the power-on instruction;

[0025] Specifically, the pre-recording module is configured to wake up the image acquisition module at a preset wake-up interval obtained, and send the second image acquisition parameters to the image acquisition module, so that the image acquisition module performs image acquisition according to the second image acquisition parameters.

[0026] Optionally, the device further includes a wireless network WiFi module;

[0027] The main control module is further configured to send a second mode instruction for instructing to enter the low power consumption mode to the WiFi module after reaching the pre-recording mode start time indicated by the configuration instruction;

[0028] The WiFi module is configured to enter the low power consumption mode after receiving the second mode instruction;

[0029] The MCU is further configured to power off the main control module and enter the low power consumption mode after receiving the first mode instruction.

[0030] Advantageous effects of the embodiments of the present application:

[0031] In the solution provided by the embodiments of the present application, since the image frames within a preset duration before the trigger time of the specified event can be used as the pre-recorded video for the specified event, therefore, through this solution, when the specified event occurs, the main control module can obtain the pre-recorded video before the trigger time of the specified event, so that the user can understand the situation before the specified event occurs. In addition, since the main control module of the image acquisition device only powers on and works when the specified event occurs, and when the specified event does not occur, the pre-recording module wakes up the image acquisition module to work at a preset wake-up interval. At this time, the image acquisition module only needs to work intermittently, which can reduce power consumption compared with working all the time. It can be seen that through this solution, the image frames before the trigger time of the specified event can be obtained under low power consumption, so that pre-recording can be realized under low power consumption.

[0032] Of course, it is not necessary for any product or method implementing the present application to achieve all the above advantages simultaneously. Description of the Drawings

[0033] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other embodiments can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0034] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of an image acquisition device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the pre-recording mode entry process of an image acquisition device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the pre-recording processing process of an image acquisition device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the pre-recording exit process of an image acquisition device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 5 It is a schematic structural diagram of a specific example of the image acquisition device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0039] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, rather than all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the present application belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0040] The image acquisition device provided by the embodiments of the present application can be security devices such as cat eyes, video doorbells, access control products, battery camera products, and intelligent video lock products.

[0041] As Figure 1 shown, the image acquisition device provided by the embodiments of the present application includes a pre-recording module 110, a main control module 120, an image acquisition module 130, and an MCU (Microcontroller Unit) 140.

[0042] In this embodiment, the pre-recording module 110, the main control module 120, the image acquisition module 130, and the MCU 140 are hardware modules in the image acquisition device. In one implementation, the main control module 120 can be the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the image acquisition device, and the image acquisition module 130 can be the camera in the image acquisition device; the pre-recording module 110 can be a chip communicating with the main control module 120. For example, an ARM (Advanced RISC Machines) chip, an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) chip, etc. The processing power and power consumption of this chip are lower than those of the main control module 120. It should be noted that the specific type of the pre-recording module 110 in the embodiments of this application is not limited. In addition, the MCU 140 is a micro-control unit with low power consumption characteristics and is usually used in battery-powered devices. In another implementation, the pre-recording module 110 and the main control module 120 can be two functional modules in the same chip. For example, since the image acquisition device requires more processing resources when in the running mode than in the pre-recording mode, in a four-core chip, when the image acquisition device is in the pre-recording mode, that is, when the main control module 120 is powered off and the pre-recording module 110 is powered on, one core can be powered on; when the image acquisition device is in the running mode, that is, when the main control module 120 is powered on and the pre-recording module 110 is powered off, three cores can be powered on.

[0043] The pre-recording module 110 is used to wake up the image acquisition module 130 to perform image acquisition according to a preset wake-up interval; after obtaining each image frame collected by the image acquisition module 130 when it is woken up, store the obtained image frame and send a sleep instruction to the image acquisition module 130 to make the image acquisition module 130 enter the sleep mode.

[0044] Exemplarily, the preset wake-up interval can be 200 ms or 1 s, etc. When the pre-recording module 110 wakes up the image acquisition module 130, the image acquisition module 130 is powered on and performs image acquisition. Exemplarily, in practical applications, the image acquisition module 130 can collect a preset number of image frames each time it is woken up and send the collected image frames to the pre-recording module 110. After the pre-recording module 110 obtains the preset number of image frames, it sends a sleep instruction to the image acquisition module 130. Among them, the duration of collecting the preset number of image frames is less than the preset wake-up interval. For example, if the preset wake-up interval is 1 s and the frame rate of the image acquisition module 130 for collecting image frames is 24 frames / s, the preset number is less than 24, so that the image acquisition module 130 works intermittently.

[0045] In one implementation, the pre-recording module 110 can wake up the image acquisition module 130 every 1 s. After the image acquisition module 130 is woken up, it acquires one frame of image. Then, the pre-recording module 110 obtains the image frame acquired by the image acquisition module 130 and stores the obtained image frame. Exemplarily, in practical applications, the pre-recording module 110 can store the obtained image frame in its own pre-recording storage space, or store it in a specified storage space outside the pre-recording module, which is reasonable. After the pre-recording module 110 stores the obtained image frame, it sends a sleep instruction to the image acquisition module 130. After receiving the sleep instruction, the image acquisition module 130 enters the sleep mode. At this time, the image acquisition module 130 stops image acquisition until it is woken up next time.

[0046] It can be understood that since the image acquisition module 130 will suspend operation and enter the low-power state in the sleep mode, by waking up the image acquisition module 130 at a preset wake-up interval for image acquisition and controlling the image acquisition module 130 to enter the sleep mode after each wake-up to acquire an image frame, the image acquisition module can work intermittently, which can reduce power consumption compared with working continuously.

[0047] In addition, it should be noted that when the pre-recording module 110 is working, the image acquisition device is in the pre-recording mode. At this time, the main control module 120 does not work, the image acquisition module 130 is woken up by the pre-recording module 110 at a preset wake-up interval, that is, it works intermittently, and the MCU 140 is in a low-power working state to reduce the power consumption of the whole machine in the pre-recording mode.

[0048] The MCU 140 is used to send a power-down instruction to the pre-recording module 110 and a power-on instruction to the main control module 120 when a specified event occurs.

[0049] In this embodiment, the MCU 140 can receive the data collected by the preset sensor and determine whether a specified event occurs based on the data collected by the preset sensor. When a specified event occurs, it sends a power-down instruction to the pre-recording module 110 and a power-on instruction to the main control module 120. Exemplarily, the preset sensor can be a radar sensor, an infrared detector, etc. The specified event can be an abnormal event, or other events that need to be concerned set by the user, which is reasonable. For example, in one way, if the MCU receives the data collected by the infrared detector and detects that someone enters the pre-set alarm area according to the data, it is determined that a specified event occurs.

[0050] The pre-recording module 110 is further used to power down after receiving the power-down instruction.

[0051] The main control module 120 is used to power on after receiving a power-on instruction, and after power-on, obtain the image frames within a preset duration before the trigger moment of a specified event stored in the pre-recording module 110.

[0052] In this embodiment, when the MCU 140 detects a specified event, it powers off the pre-recording module 110 and powers on the main control module 120. After the main control module 120 is powered on, it obtains the image frames within a preset duration before the trigger moment of the specified event stored in the pre-recording module 110. Exemplarily, the preset duration can be 5s or 10s, etc.

[0053] Exemplarily, if the preset wake-up interval is 200ms, the preset duration is 10s, and the image acquisition module 130 enters the sleep mode after waking up and acquiring 1 frame of image each time, then, after the main control module 120 is powered on, it can obtain the last 50 frames of images stored in the pre-recording module 110 and sorted in chronological order. These 50 frames of images are the image frames within the preset duration before the trigger moment of the specified event.

[0054] It should be noted that when the main control module 120 is working, the image acquisition device is in the running mode. At this time, the pre-recording module 110 is powered off, the image acquisition module 130 works normally, and the MCU 140 works normally.

[0055] It can be understood that since the image frames within the preset duration before the trigger moment of the specified event can be used as a pre-recorded video for the specified event, therefore, through this solution, when a specified event occurs, the main control module 120 can obtain the pre-recorded video before the specified event is triggered, so that the user can understand the situation before the specified event occurs. In addition, since the main control module 120 only powers on and works when a specified event occurs, and when no specified event occurs, the pre-recording module 110 wakes up the image acquisition module 130 to work according to the preset wake-up interval. At this time, the image acquisition module 130 only needs to work intermittently, which can reduce power consumption compared to working all the time.

[0056] Optionally, in one implementation, the pre-recording module 110 is specifically configured to store the obtained image frames in its own pre-recording storage space after obtaining the image frames acquired each time the image acquisition module 130 wakes up.

[0057] Correspondingly, in this implementation, the pre-recording module 110 is specifically configured to, after receiving a power-off instruction, store the image frames stored in the pre-recording storage space in a specified storage space outside the pre-recording module 110 and then power off.

[0058] Correspondingly, in this implementation, the main control module 120 is specifically configured to, after power-on, obtain the image frames within a preset duration before the trigger moment of the specified event stored by the pre-recording module from the specified storage space.

[0059] It can be understood that since the pre-recording storage space is the storage space of the pre-recording module itself, after receiving the power-off instruction, the pre-recording module needs to first transfer the stored image frames in the pre-recording storage space and then power off, so that the main control module 120 can subsequently obtain the image frames within a preset duration before the triggering moment of the specified event.

[0060] In this implementation, before powering off, the pre-recording module 110 transfers the image frames stored in the pre-recording storage space to the specified storage space. After the main control module 120 is powered on, it can obtain the image frames within a preset duration before the triggering moment of the specified event transferred by the pre-recording module from the specified storage space, and the obtained image frames can be spliced into a pre-recorded video of the specified event.

[0061] Exemplarily, the specified storage space outside the pre-recording module 110 can be a storage module inside the image acquisition device. For example, memory cards such as SD (Secure Digital Card) and SM (Smart Media), or solid state drives (SSD); additionally, the specified storage space can also be a cloud server outside the image acquisition device, which is all reasonable.

[0062] Exemplarily, in a specific implementation, the pre-recording module 110 is specifically configured to store the obtained image frames in its own pre-recording storage space in a circular overwrite manner.

[0063] It can be understood that since the image frames before the occurrence of the specified event and at a relatively long distance from the occurrence moment of the specified event often have no reference value, the image acquisition device usually only needs to save the image frames collected within a relatively short time period before the occurrence moment of the specified event. Since the space size of the pre-recording storage space of the pre-recording module 110 is limited, the obtained image frames can be stored in a circular overwrite manner.

[0064] It should be noted that in practical applications, the specific circular overwrite method can be set by those skilled in the relevant art according to the space size of the pre-recording storage space and the size of the obtained image frames, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. For example, if the size of the pre-recording storage space is 50MB and the size of an image frame collected by the image acquisition module 130 is 1MB, after storing the 50th image frame in the pre-recording storage space, the pre-recording module 110 will overwrite the 1st image frame with the 51st image frame, the 2nd image frame with the 52nd image frame, and so on, to achieve circular overwrite.

[0065] Optionally, in one implementation, the MCU 140 is further configured to send a power-on instruction to the pre-recording module 110 and a power-off instruction to the main control module 120 when a specified event ends;

[0066] Correspondingly, in this implementation, the pre-recording module 110 is further configured to power on after receiving the power-on instruction;

[0067] Correspondingly, in this implementation, the main control module 120 is further configured to power off after receiving the power-off instruction.

[0068] In this implementation, the MCU 140 can determine whether the specified event ends based on the data collected by the preset sensor. Exemplarily, if the MCU 140 receives the data collected by the infrared detector and detects that someone enters the pre-set alarm area according to the data, it is determined that the specified event occurs. After that, if the MCU 140 detects that the person who enters the alarm area leaves the alarm area based on the data collected by the infrared detector, it is determined that the specified event ends.

[0069] After the specified event ends, the pre-recording module 110 powers on and the main control module 120 powers off. At this time, the image acquisition device returns to the pre-recording mode. Through this solution, the image acquisition device is in the pre-recording mode in other time periods except the occurrence time period of the specified event. Since the main control module 120 powers off and the image acquisition module 130 works intermittently in the pre-recording mode, the power consumption of the image acquisition device in the pre-recording mode is much lower than that in the running mode. Therefore, this solution can achieve pre-recording under low power consumption.

[0070] In the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application, since the image frames within the preset duration before the trigger moment of the specified event can be used as the pre-recorded video for the specified event, through this solution, when the specified event occurs, the main control module 120 can obtain the pre-recorded video before the trigger moment of the specified event, so that the user can understand the situation before the specified event occurs. In addition, since the main control module 120 of the image acquisition device only powers on and works when the specified event occurs, and when the specified event does not occur, the pre-recording module 110 wakes up the image acquisition module 130 to work according to the preset wake-up interval. At this time, the image acquisition module 130 only needs to work intermittently, which can reduce the power consumption compared with working all the time. It can be seen that through this solution, the image frames before the trigger moment of the specified event can be obtained under low power consumption, so that pre-recording can be realized under low power consumption.

[0071] Optionally, in another embodiment of the present application, the pre-recording module 110 is specifically configured to, after obtaining each image frame collected by the image acquisition module 130 when it wakes up, encode the obtained image frame and store the encoded image frame in its own pre-recording storage space;

[0072] The main control module 120 is further configured to encode the image frames within a preset duration into a specified non-bare bitstream format.

[0073] It can be understood that since the processing capacity of the pre-recording module 110 is weaker than that of the main control module 120, in order to improve the encoding efficiency, after obtaining the image frame, the pre-recording module 110 can first perform simple encoding on the obtained image frame, such as adding information such as timestamps to the obtained image frame, or performing compression. Among them, the compression method can be a compression method for partial encoding in implementing the encoding into a specified non-bare bitstream format. For example, when encoding each image frame into the H.264 format, intra-frame compression is required to generate I frames, and inter-frame compression is required to generate B frames and P frames. Then, the compression method adopted in the simple encoding can be intra-frame compression of each image frame in the bare bitstream format to generate I frames.

[0074] After the main control module 120 obtains the image frames within the preset duration stored by the pre-recording module 110, it can re-encode the simply encoded image frames obtained, that is, encode the image frames into a specified non-bare bitstream format, such as the H.264, H.265, etc. formats.

[0075] It should be noted that in another embodiment, the pre-recording module 110 may also not encode the obtained image frames. At this time, the pre-recording module 110 stores the image frames in the bare bitstream format, and the main control module 120 encodes the image frames in the bare bitstream format into a specified non-bare bitstream format.

[0076] Exemplarily, in practical applications, the main control module 120 includes an encoding and decoding sub-module, which is a software module for encoding and decoding, and can re-encode the image frames within the preset duration obtained. For example, first restore the image frames within the preset duration to the original format when the image acquisition module collects, and then encode them into a specified non-bare bitstream format. For example, if the image frames within the preset duration are compressed image frames, the encoding and decoding sub-module can first decompress the image frames and then encode them into a specified non-bare bitstream format; if the image frames within the preset duration are image frames with timestamps added, the timestamps of each image frame can be obtained and added to the specified non-bare bitstream format for re-encoding. In addition, it should be noted that if the image frames within the preset duration are in the bare bitstream format, the main control module 120 directly encodes the image frames within the preset duration. At this time, the timestamps corresponding to each image frame can be calculated according to the frame rate of image acquisition in the pre-recording mode and the preset wake-up interval.

[0077] It can be understood that after encoding the image frames within a preset duration, the main control module 120 can re-store the encoded image frames into a specified storage space to improve the utilization rate of the specified storage space. Additionally, it should be noted that in practical applications, if the pre-recording module 110 has sufficient processing capabilities, the pre-recording module 110 can also directly encode the acquired image frames into a specified non-bare bitstream format, which is all reasonable.

[0078] Optionally, in another embodiment of the present application, the main control module 120 is further configured to, after power-on, wake up the image acquisition module 130 to acquire the image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event; acquire the image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event, and combine them with the image frames within the preset duration to obtain a complete video for the specified event.

[0079] In this embodiment, after power-on, the main control module 120 can wake up the image acquisition module 130 so that the image acquisition module 130 continuously acquires the image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event until the specified event ends. The main control module 120 acquires the image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event from the image acquisition module 130, and splices the image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event after the acquired image frames within the preset duration, then a complete video about before and after the occurrence of the specified event can be obtained.

[0080] Exemplarily, after acquiring the image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event, the main control module 120 can store the image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event after the image frames within the preset duration stored in the specified storage space, so that the specified storage space stores a complete video about before and after the occurrence of the specified event.

[0081] Optionally, in one implementation manner, the main control module 120 is further configured to encode the acquired image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event into a specified non-bare bitstream format.

[0082] In this implementation manner, the specified non-bare bitstream format can be formats such as H.264, H.265, etc. Exemplarily, the main control module 120 may include an encoding and decoding sub-module, which is a software module for encoding and decoding, and is capable of encoding the acquired image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event to encode the image frames into non-bare bitstream formats such as H.264, H.265, etc.

[0083] It can be understood that by encoding the image frames after the trigger moment of the specified event and storing the image frames encoded into the specified non-bare bitstream format into the specified storage space, the main control module 120 can improve the space utilization rate of the specified storage space.

[0084] Optionally, in one implementation, the main control module 120 is further configured to, after waking up the image acquisition module 130, send first image acquisition parameters for running mode setting to the image acquisition module 130, so that the image acquisition module 130 acquires image frames after the triggering moment of the specified event according to the first image acquisition parameters.

[0085] In this implementation, the first image acquisition parameters may include parameters such as frame rate and exposure time. It should be noted that the first image acquisition parameters can be set by relevant technicians according to experience, and the specific content of the first image acquisition parameters is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0086] It can be understood that the first image acquisition parameters may be the same as or different from the image acquisition parameters used by the image acquisition module 130 in the pre-recording mode. For example, in practical applications, in order to further reduce the power consumption of the image acquisition device in the pre-recording mode, the frame rate used by the image acquisition module 130 to acquire a preset number of image frames each time it wakes up in the pre-recording mode may be lower than the frame rate in the first image acquisition parameters. After waking up the image acquisition module 130, the main control module 120 can flexibly configure the acquisition method by sending the first image acquisition parameters for running mode setting to the image acquisition module 130.

[0087] Optionally, in another embodiment of the present application, the main control module 120 is further configured to, after receiving a configuration instruction for the pre-recording mode of the image acquisition device, write configuration parameters for the pre-recording mode setting into the shared storage space, and after reaching the pre-recording mode start moment indicated by the configuration instruction, send a first mode instruction indicating entering the pre-recording mode to the MCU 140; where the configuration parameters include a preset wake-up interval and the first image acquisition parameters;

[0088] The MCU 140 is further configured to send a power-on instruction to the pre-recording module 110 after receiving the first mode instruction;

[0089] The pre-recording module 110 is further configured to obtain the configuration parameters from the shared storage space after receiving the power-on instruction;

[0090] Specifically, the pre-recording module 110 is configured to wake up the image acquisition module 130 according to the obtained preset wake-up interval, and send second image acquisition parameters to the image acquisition module 130, so that the image acquisition module 130 performs image acquisition according to the second image acquisition parameters.

[0091] In this embodiment, the user can configure the pre-recording mode of the image acquisition device. Exemplarily, the user can input the pre-recording mode start time period and the configuration parameters for the pre-recording mode in the client for controlling the image acquisition device. After detecting the pre-recording mode start time period and the configuration parameters input by the user, the client sends a configuration instruction carrying the pre-recording mode start time period and the configuration parameters input by the user to the image acquisition device. After receiving the configuration instruction, the main control module 120 writes the configuration parameters into the shared storage space. The shared storage space is the storage space in the main control module 120 and can be accessed by the pre-recording module 110.

[0092] After detecting that the pre-recording mode start time indicated by the configuration instruction is reached, the main control module 120 sends a first mode instruction indicating to enter the pre-recording mode to the MCU 140. Exemplarily, if the pre-recording mode start time period set is from 00:00 to 7:00 every day, then whenever 00:00 is reached, the main control module 120 sends a first mode instruction to the MCU 140. Additionally, it can be understood that when the pre-recording mode close time period is reached, the main control module 120 can also send an instruction indicating to exit the pre-recording mode to the MCU 140 to power down the pre-recording module.

[0093] It should be noted that the pre-recording mode start time period in the embodiments of this application is not limited. For example, in one way, the pre-recording mode can be set to be always on. At this time, the image acquisition device is in the pre-recording mode in all time periods except for the time period when an abnormal event occurs. It can be understood that in practical applications, the image acquisition device is in the pre-recording mode in all time periods within the set pre-recording mode start time period except for the time period when an abnormal event occurs. Additionally, outside the pre-recording mode start time period, if no abnormal event is triggered, the image acquisition device is neither in the pre-recording mode nor in the running mode. At this time, the image acquisition device is in the sleep mode, that is, the main control module 120, the pre-recording module 110, and the image acquisition module 130 are all powered down.

[0094] Additionally, the preset wake-up interval can be 200 ms or 300 ms, etc. The second image acquisition parameters can include parameters such as the frame rate and exposure time used when acquiring a preset number of image frames each time of wake-up. The specific content of the second image acquisition parameters in the embodiments of this application is not limited. In practical applications, the specific values of the second image acquisition parameters can be the same as or different from the first image acquisition parameters.

[0095] After receiving the first mode instruction, MCU 140 sends a power-on instruction to the pre-recording module 110. After receiving the power-on instruction, the pre-recording module 110 powers on and then reads the configuration parameters set for the pre-recording mode from the shared storage space. After obtaining the configuration parameters, the pre-recording module 110 wakes up the image acquisition module 130 at the preset wake-up interval included in the configuration parameters and sends the second image acquisition parameters to the image acquisition module 130. After receiving the second image acquisition parameters, the image acquisition module 130 performs image acquisition according to the second image acquisition parameters.

[0096] It can be understood that in practical applications, after the pre-recording module 110 powers on, it can establish a communication channel with the image acquisition module 130, so that when the preset wake-up interval is reached, a wake-up instruction can be sent to the image acquisition module 130 through this communication channel to wake up the image acquisition module 130 to work.

[0097] Through this solution, the pre-recording module 110 can work according to the configuration parameters set for the pre-recording mode. When the configuration parameters change, the pre-recording module can update the working mode in time.

[0098] Optionally, in one implementation, the above image acquisition device further includes a WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) module;

[0099] The main control module 120 is further configured to send a second mode instruction for instructing to enter the low power consumption mode to the WiFi module after the pre-recording mode start time indicated by the configuration instruction is reached;

[0100] The WiFi module is configured to enter the low power consumption mode after receiving the second mode instruction;

[0101] MCU 140 is further configured to power off the main control module and enter the low power consumption mode after receiving the first mode instruction.

[0102] In this implementation, the image acquisition device may further include a WiFi module. The image acquisition device can be connected to an external terminal through the WiFi module and receive the message sent by the external terminal to interact with the external terminal.

[0103] It can be understood that in practical applications, both the WiFi module and the MCU140 support low-power modes and normal operating modes. After the main control module 120 reaches the pre-recording mode activation time, it sends a second mode instruction to the WiFi module, causing the WiFi module to enter the low-power mode after receiving the second mode instruction. The MCU140 is also used to power down the main control module 120 and enter the low-power mode after receiving the first mode instruction. It should be noted that in practical applications, if there are multiple image acquisition modules in the image acquisition device, one image acquisition module can be retained. At this time, the MCU140 powers down the other image acquisition modules.

[0104] It can be seen that through this solution, when the image acquisition device enters the pre-recording mode, the main control module 120 is powered down, and the WiFi module and the MCU140 enter the low-power mode, which can further reduce the power consumption of the image acquisition device.

[0105] To more clearly understand the image acquisition device provided by the embodiments of the present application, the following Figures 2 - 5 introduces a specific example of the present application.

[0106] The process of entering the pre-recording mode of the image acquisition device provided by this example is as Figure 2 shown. This process of entering the pre-recording mode involves the interaction between the WiFi module, the MCU, the main control module, the pre-recording module, and the image acquisition module.

[0107] As Figure 2 shown, after the main control module receives the configuration instruction for the pre-recording mode, it writes the configuration parameters carried in the configuration instruction into the shared memory (corresponding to the shared storage space in the above text). Then, the main control module configures the image acquisition module to be controlled by the pre-recording module, that is, establishes a communication channel between the pre-recording module and the image acquisition module, and starts the pre-recording module. After the pre-recording module is started, the image acquisition device enters the pre-recording mode and starts all-day pre-recording. After the main control module reaches the pre-recording mode activation time indicated by the configuration instruction, it notifies the MCU to enter the pre-recording mode and notifies the WiFi module to enter the low-power mode. After receiving the notification, the MCU powers down some peripherals, including powering down the main control module. If there are multiple image acquisition modules, one image acquisition module can be retained and the other image acquisition modules can be powered down. After powering down some peripherals, the MCU enters the low-power mode.

[0108] The pre-recording processing flow of the image acquisition device provided by this example is as Figure 3 shown. This pre-recording processing flow involves the interaction between the pre-recording module and the image acquisition module. Among them, the pre-recording main control is a software module included in the pre-recording module, that is, the main process of the pre-recording module, and the pre-recording storage is the pre-recording storage space in the pre-recording module.

[0109] As Figure 3As shown, after the pre-recording module is powered on, the pre-recording main control reads the configuration parameters from the shared storage space and configures the wake-up interval (corresponding to the preset wake-up interval in the above text) according to the read configuration parameters. When the wake-up interval (e.g., 200 ms) is reached, the image acquisition module is woken up so that the image acquisition module acquires image data. The pre-recording main control sends a request to the image acquisition module to obtain one frame of image, and the image acquisition module feeds back the acquired image data. After receiving the image data, the pre-recording main control performs simple encoding and saves the image data to the pre-recording storage space. The image data stored in the pre-recording storage space is stored in a circular overwrite manner. In addition, after receiving the image data, the pre-recording main control also sends a sleep instruction indicating to enter the sleep mode to the image acquisition module, and the image acquisition module enters the sleep mode after receiving the sleep instruction. When the next wake-up interval is reached, the step of waking up the image acquisition module is returned, that is, the above steps of waking up the image acquisition module and the subsequent steps are cyclically executed according to the wake-up interval.

[0110] The pre-recording exit process of the image acquisition device provided in this example is as Figure 4 shown. This pre-recording exit process involves the interaction between the storage module (corresponding to the specified storage space in the above text), the codec sub-module, the MCU, the main control module, the pre-recording module, and the image acquisition module. Among them, the codec sub-module is a software module in the main control module for encoding and decoding image frames.

[0111] As Figure 4 shown, when the MCU detects a specified event, it sends a power-on instruction to the main control module to power on the main control module; and, sends a power-off instruction to the pre-recording module to instruct the pre-recording module to exit the pre-recording mode. After receiving the power-off instruction, the pre-recording module stops acquiring images and transfers the pre-recorded data, that is, transfers the image data obtained in the above pre-recording process to the storage module, and then powers off. After being powered on, the main control module performs initialization and can reconfigure the image acquisition module, that is, establish a communication channel between the image acquisition module and the main control module. In addition, the main control module configures the codec sub-module so that the codec sub-module can request the pre-recorded data from the storage module. After receiving the request, the storage module returns the pre-recorded data and performs re-encoding, for example, re-encoding it into the format of H.264 or H.265, and then re-stores it in the storage module. At the same time, the codec sub-module can obtain one frame of image from the image acquisition module. After the image acquisition module returns one frame of image, the codec sub-module encodes the image and stores it in the storage module. Among them, the images acquired after the main control module is started are spliced behind the pre-recorded data to obtain a complete video about before and after the occurrence of the specified event.

[0112] It can be understood that if the occurrence time of the specified event is 11:00:00, the main control module wakes up the image acquisition module at 11:00:00 to start acquiring image data. Before that, the pre-recording module has acquired data for a period of time (suppose it is 10s, and the pre-recording duration is related to the storage space in the pre-recording module). Then, after the main control module wakes up, the image data stored in the storage module actually starts from 10:59:50.

[0113] The overall architecture diagram of the image acquisition device provided in this example is as Figure 5 shown. It includes a storage module, a main control module, a WiFi module, an MCU, a pre-recording module, and an image acquisition module. Figure 5 Both parties indicated by the two-way arrows in

[0114] can communicate with each other. Among them, the main control module includes multiple software modules, such as an interface sub-module, a network sub-module, an image processing sub-module, an encoding and decoding sub-module, an audio sub-module, a video sub-module, and so on. Among them, the main control module communicates with other modules through the interface sub-module; the network sub-module is used to communicate with the WiFi module; the image processing sub-module is used to adjust image parameters, such as exposure duration, white balance and other parameters; the encoding and decoding sub-module includes a video sub-module and an audio sub-module. The video sub-module encodes to generate video data in formats such as H.264 or H.265, and the audio sub-module encodes to generate audio data in formats such as ACC (Advanced Audio Coding, an efficient audio coding format), G711 (Pulse Code Modulation), etc. Figure 5 As Figure 5 shown, the working modes of the image acquisition device include an operating mode, a sleep mode, and a newly added pre-recording mode. Among them, in the operating mode,

[0115] all modules except the pre-recording module work. In the sleep mode, only the WiFi module and the MCU work, and other modules are powered off. In the pre-recording mode, only the WiFi module, the MCU, the pre-recording module, and the image acquisition module work, and other modules are powered off.

[0116] It can be seen that by setting the pre-recording mode, only the modules participating in the pre-recording work intermittently in this pre-recording mode, and all-day video recording can be achieved with low power consumption. In addition, compared with an implementation method of realizing pre-recording in the geographical space, that is, compared with adding a pre-alarm area outside the alarm area and performing pre-recording when a specified event is detected in the pre-alarm area, this solution can freely configure the pre-recording duration without being restricted by the geographical space. Users can configure the desired pre-recording duration within the maximum duration corresponding to the pre-recording storage space; there is no geographical space restriction for the pre-recording segments. As long as the time is long enough, the complete video before and after the triggering of the specified event can be recorded; there will be no false alarms generated outside the alarm area in this solution, nor will there be additional false alarm power consumption; moreover, this solution can be used in combination with the existing solutions.

[0117] In the technical solution of this application, operations such as the acquisition, storage, use, processing, transmission, provision, and disclosure of the image frames involved all comply with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations and do not violate public order and good customs.

[0118] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired manner (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wirelessly (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more integrated available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD), or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc.

[0119] It should be noted that in this document, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the term "comprising", "including" or any other variation thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "comprising an..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the said element.

[0120] Each embodiment in this specification is described in a related manner. For the same or similar parts among the embodiments, reference can be made to each other. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments.

[0121] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application are included within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An image acquisition device, characterized in that: It includes a pre-recording module, a main control module, an image acquisition module and a micro control unit MCU; The pre-recording module is used to wake up the image acquisition module to perform image acquisition according to a preset wake-up interval; after acquiring the image frames acquired by the image acquisition module each time it is awakened, the acquired image frames are stored, and a sleep instruction is sent to the image acquisition module to put the image acquisition module into a sleep mode; The MCU is used to send a power-off instruction to the pre-recording module and a power-on instruction to the main control module when a specified event occurs; The pre-recording module is further used to power off after receiving the power-off instruction; The main control module is used to power on after receiving the power-on instruction, and after powering on, obtain the image frames within a preset time length before the triggering moment of the designated event stored in the pre-recording module.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The MCU is further configured to send a power-on instruction to the pre-recording module and a power-off instruction to the main control module when the designated event ends; The pre-recording module is further used to power on after receiving the power-on instruction; The main control module is further used to power off after receiving the power-off instruction.

3. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The pre-recording module is specifically used to store the acquired image frames into its own pre-recording storage space after acquiring the image frames acquired each time the image acquisition module is awakened; The pre-recording module is specifically configured to, after receiving the power-off instruction, store the image frames stored in the pre-recording storage space into a designated storage space outside the pre-recording module and then power off; The main control module is specifically used to obtain, from the designated storage space after power-on, image frames within a preset time period before the triggering moment of the designated event stored in the pre-recording module.

4. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that The pre-recording module is specifically used to encode the acquired image frames after acquiring the image frames acquired by the image acquisition module each time it is awakened, and store the encoded image frames in its own pre-recording storage space; The main control module is further used to encode the image frames within the preset time length into a specified non-naked code stream format.

5. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that The pre-recording module is specifically used to store the acquired image frames in its own pre-recording storage space in a circular overwriting manner.

6. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The main control module is also used to wake up the image acquisition module after power-on to acquire image frames after the triggering moment of the specified event; acquire the image frames after the triggering moment of the specified event, and combine them with the image frames within the preset time length to obtain a complete video for the specified event.

7. The device according to claim 6, characterized in that The main control module is further used to encode the image frames acquired after the triggering moment of the designated event into a designated non-naked code stream format.

8. The device according to claim 6, characterized in that The main control module is further used to send a first image acquisition parameter set for the operating mode to the image acquisition module after waking up the image acquisition module, so that the image acquisition module acquires image frames after the triggering moment of the specified event according to the first image acquisition parameter.

9. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The main control module is further configured to, after receiving a configuration instruction for the pre-recording mode of the image acquisition device, write configuration parameters set for the pre-recording mode into the shared storage space, and after reaching the pre-recording mode start time indicated by the configuration instruction, send a first mode instruction to the MCU to instruct to enter the pre-recording mode; wherein the configuration parameters include a preset wake-up interval and a second image acquisition parameter; The MCU is further configured to send a power-on instruction to the pre-recording module after receiving the first mode instruction; The pre-recording module is further used to obtain the configuration parameters from the shared storage space after receiving the power-on instruction; The pre-recording module is specifically used to wake up the image acquisition module according to the acquired preset wake-up interval, and send the second image acquisition parameter to the image acquisition module, so that the image acquisition module performs image acquisition according to the second image acquisition parameter.

10. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that The device also includes a wireless network WiFi module; The main control module is further configured to send a second mode instruction for instructing to enter a low power consumption mode to the WiFi module after reaching the pre-recording mode start time indicated by the configuration instruction; The WiFi module is configured to enter a low power consumption mode after receiving the second mode instruction; The MCU is further configured to power off the main control module and enter a low power consumption mode after receiving the first mode instruction.

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