Title of Invention

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC IMAGE MANAGEMENT

Abstract The present invention, in general, relates to the field of mobile communication. More particularly, the invention relates to a system a,nd method for automatic capturing of images. This method explains a method for automatic image management in an imaging device wherein "n" number of frames are recorded and stored in a buffer as still images with a duration of "t" between any two adjacent still images dynamically; where at any point of time when the device receives a new frame, the device discards the oldest frame and replaces the old frame with the received new frame.
Full Text FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention, in general, relates to the field of mobile communication. The invention relates to the field of Mobile phone with camera facility, Feature Phone (Mobile Phone) and Smart phone & handheld devices with camera, Software Desktop application, etc. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for automatic image management.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
Patent publication number: WO/2005/055585 bearing title "Camera for Recording of an Image Sequence". The Invention describes a camera (100) with the functionality of taking a picture at the instant of activating a shutter release button (130) as well as a plurality of pictures that is stored in a buffer storage (102). The plurality of pictures contains pictures taken before as well as after the traditionally taken picture. This provides the user with the possibility of reviewing the pictures taken at the instant of activation of the shutter release button as well as the pictures in the plurality of pictures and selecting one or more preferred pictures to be stored in a non-volatile memory (101) of the camera.
The relevant claims / specifications from the patent are- 20A method of taking pictures with a camera (100) which method comprises: taking and storing, substantially continuously, a first plurality of pictures (140) independently of activation of the activation means (130) [during camera preview]; taking and storing a picture (150) [user-clicked image] in a storage means (10; 101) [main memory] upon activation of activation means (130); taking and storing a second plurality of pictures (160) [after user-clicked image] in response to the activation of the activation means (130); displaying the picture (150) taken upon activation of said activation means (130) and stored in said storage means (10; 101) on the display means ; on user demand, displaying pictures from the first the second plurality of pictures on the display means (110); providing the user with the possibility to choose a picture in the first [preview images] or in the second [post view images] plurality of pictures to be stored in the storage means (10; 101); and if the user chooses a picture from the first or the second plurality of pictures to be stored in the storage means (10; 101), storing the chosen picture in the storage means (10; 101).
A user can experience an operation of the camera 100 as follows: When he/she turns on the camera so that the view finder is active, e. g. by activating a button to activate the functions of the camera, the camera 100 begins storing a certain number of pictures [preview images] with full resolution in a buffer memory, i. e. the second storage means 102. This preferably is a circular buffer memory, so that whenever the buffer memory is full, the oldest pictures are substituted in the memory by recent pictures. By substituting pictures in the buffer memory by newer pictures, excessive filling of the storage means can be avoided. Whenever the user activates the activation means 130, e.g. presses a shutter release button, a picture [user-clicked image] is taken and stored in the first storage means 101. This picture can be shown to the user on the display 110 of the camera 100, either automatically or by user demand.
Thus, one of the merits of the invention is that the user experiences a possible" going back in time" in relation to the moment of activation of the activation means: pictures from before (as well as after) the moment of activation of the activation means are stored in the camera and can be shown to the user and be kept.
The camera would continue to store for instance 25 more pictures after the activation of the activation means, so that the circular buffer contains 25 pictures from before and 25 pictures from after the activation of the activation means, whereof the pictures taken before the activation of the activation means correspond to the first plurality of pictures and the pictures taken after said activation correspond to the second plurality of pictures. The number of pictures in the first and second pluralities need not be equal. The counter value in the buffer register would contain the information of which indices correspond to which pictures as well as where the boundary in the circular buffer between pictures taken before and after activation of the activation means is to be found.
LIMITATIONS
1.lt so happens many times that user has initiated a camera application to perform take picture activity or Video Recording etc but sometimes there is a chance that he forgets to take a picture or forgets to Record video and close the camera (Accidentally or voluntarily).
2. In mobile platform there are many applications, which make use of camera, but 'take picture' is the only explicit means to store a still image. User may want to Record series of Last 'n' still Images simultaneously when he is using other applications like Video Telephony, Video Recording, IMS Video Sharing etc.
3.In mobile platform there are many applications that make use of camera and user often switches among these applications and user cannot continue recording of series of Last 'n' Images when user switches from one camera application to another.
4.While user is recording a Sequence of still Images he cannot Pause the Recording of series of still images for a particular interval of time, and resume the same later.
User has started camera to capture series of still images, suddenly VT call happens, but user feels that the current last 'n' still images available in the buffer are very important and wants them for later reviewing, but does not want it to be overwritten and still carry on with VT immediately.
5.Some times it so happens that user feels that the currently available images in the buffer is very important to him and wants to review the last 'n' snaps available in the buffer and also save the images of his choice.
6.Some times it so happens that user does not want the current 'n' snaps available in the buffer to be overwritten and wants it for later reviewing. That is user intends to continue the camera application without stopping the camera /blocking the viewfinder. Also user may want to start a fresh set of recording a sequence of last "n" still images without interrupting the camera/view finder
7. User starts camera preview & after sometime, say after few minutes feels that this is the right moment and wants to take a picture, unfortunately if the battery goes down suddenly at this instant then take-picture application is closed hence user cannot take the picture, even though the moment to be captured is on the viewfinder, due to low battery.
8. User starts camera preview & selects "multi-shot" option to get next "m" snaps. User may miss the right moment to start "multi-shot" capturing & because of this may not get exact snap he wanted.
9. User might start the camera application with preconfigured setting of No of snaps and Duration between the two snaps. After sometime user feels that he should change the no of snaps or duration between the snaps because of the change in importance of the scene.
10.lt is not possible to get last "n" still images when the user has initiated camera by applications like IMS VideoSharing / Video Telephony, Video Recording at the same time save the Currently available 'n' snaps in the buffer during anytime when the user wishes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In mobile platform there are many applications, which make use of camera, but 'take picture' is the only explicit means to take a photograph.
This invention proposes a new application [also termed as "Magic Moments"] which allows user to capture a series of last 'n' still images with the specified number of still images with the specified duration between two still images when the camera device is in use by any applications like Take picture, Video Recording / Video Telephony, video sharing, etc.
The magic moment application runs in background when any such application using camera is running and provides series of still images whenever required.
The application also manages to continue capturing images even if user switches from one camera application to other except for the small duration if camera needs to be switched off & on automatically.
The application provides a means to pause & resume the recording of series of pictures dynamically for the efficient use of memory & duration of last "n" snaps. This also helps to stay him longer in past.
The idea behind the application is to capture some moments in the form of a 'series of last 'n' still images during all circumstances where the camera is active and user is able to get the series of last 'n' still images at any instant during the entire life the camera is active.
It also allows user to freeze the last "n" snaps at a particular time instant and go for next set of last "n" snaps without interruption of the camera multiple times as long as camera is ON.
It allows user to change the duration between snaps & number of snaps dynamically depending on the situation.
All above features helps user not to miss any important event during all circumstances where the camera is active. Camera is active means that user is able to watch whatever camera is seeing on the display screen.
The application also has a mechanism to buffer the last frame ( at the time of closing the application) captured by camera.
The application provides last "n" camera frames as still images with duration of "t" between two still images anytime. The format of still image, number of frames "n" & duration between two images "t" can be configured by user. The duration "t" is the interval between two still images & not camera capture or preview rate.
Accordingly, this invention explains a method for automatic image management in an imaging device wherein "n" number of frames are recorded and stored in a buffer as still images with a duration of "t" between any two adjacent still images dynamically; where at any point of time when the device receives a new frame, the oldest frame is discarded and replaced by the new frame received.
The said imaging device is adapted to pause the recording of frames dynamically. The imaging device is also adapted to resume the recording of frames dynamically. The device is adapted to freeze the last "n" frames at any particular time instant for later reviewing & start with fresh/new set of last "n" still images. The device keeps the buffer consisting of the series of last 'n' still images intact when the user switches among different camera applications. The method further involves encoding of the still images depending on user settings. The number of frames "n" and duration between two images "t" are configurable dynamically also. For viewing the content, the imaging device provides last "n" still images in the buffer in addition to the frame taken by a user at any instance to time to make the total number of frames "n +1". The buffer size can be dynamically varied. The content of the buffer can be freezed by the user at any instance to time & a new buffer with fresh set of last "n" still images can be created. Later at any instance to time the user can view the present contents of the buffer in addition to the contents of the buffer freezed during the last freeze operations performed. The user can select all the frames or subset of frames shown while viewing the buffer content. Frames captured by the imaging device are adapted to undergo compression before storing into storage. The user can set start and stop the automatic image management option for a particular period when any other image application is active. The user can select plurality of image formats for storing the frames. A multi-shot option in the imaging device can be activated to capture "m" frames enabling the user to get last "n" frames previous stored in the buffer before multi-shot and next "m" frames due to multi-shot providing the user with "n +m" frames to choose from. At any instance of time when the imaging feature in the device being terminated the imaging device provides last "n" still images in the buffer in addition to the last frame taken by the user.
Accordingly, this invention also explains a system for automatic image management in an imaging device comprising:
(a) means for storing 'n' number of frames;
(b) means for controlling the enabling and disabling of the image management and capturing of the frames;
(c) means for providing user inputs; and
(d) an image process unit to process the captured images .
The means for controlling captures the frames provided by the camera process unit after regular interval "t". An image encoder encodes the captured frame in still image format set by a user. The said imaging device includes a means for pausing and resuming the recording of frames dynamically. The said imaging device includes a means for freezing and selecting the last "n" frames at any particular time instant for later reviewing and storing. The said imaging device also includes a means for compressing the captured frames. It also includes a means for capturing "m" frames enabling the user to get last "n" frames previously stored and next "m" frames providing the user with "n +m" frames to choose from.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the ensuing detailed description of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS Figure 1 depicts the components involved in the implementation. Figure 2 depicts the working of the present invention.
Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 depict time line of camera being active from Oth second to 21st second.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood however that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. The following description and drawings are not to be construed as limiting the invention and numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, as the basis for the claims and as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to make and/or use the invention. However in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention in detail.
It often happens that user has initiated a camera application to perform take picture activity or Video Recording etc but sometimes there is a chance that he forgets to take a picture or forgets to Record video and close the camera (Accidentally or voluntarily). But as "Magic Moments" Records series of last 'n' still images during all circumstances when the camera is ON at any instant of time, \ therefore user is able to get the series of last 'n' still images.
In mobile platform there are many applications, which make use of camera, but 'take picture' is the only explicit means to store a still image.
1. It so happens many times that user is recording a particular event and later feels that the recording of the event is of less importance or may find that recorded video is occupying more memory and he is running out of memory, hence user wishes he could have taken few snaps of that event which would be sufficient rather than a complete video. But since user is recording, he can't take the pictures at the same time. [Other wise user has to edit the video into small clips or extract images, which are a cumbersome activity].
2. It so happens many times that user is interested in recording an event that is lengthy and also wishes to capture a series of still images of the same event at the same time. So that he can send at least images (video is lengthy and is difficult to send it over network) to his friends as EMS/MMS. [Otherwise user has to edit the video into small clips or extract images, which is a cumbersome activity].
3. It so happens many times when user is doing video telephony, IMS video sharing, etc. wishes to store series of still images of the same.
This new application allows user to capture a series of last 'n' still images with the specified number of still images with the specified duration between two still images when the camera device is in use by any applications like Take picture, Video Recording/ Video Telephony, video sharing, etc.
In mobile platform there are many applications that make use of camera and user often switches among these applications and user would like to continue recording of series of Last 'n' still Images even when user switches from one camera application to another. The application manages to continue capturing still images even if user switches from one camera application to other except for the small duration if camera needs to be switched off & on automatically by keeping the Buffer (consisting of a series of last 'n' still Images) intact.
1. User has started the camera with the intention to take a picture, later feels that he should start Video recording and switches to Video Recording application but wishes to keep the Last 'n' snaps buffer intact and continue the same buffer during Video recording also.
The application provides a means to "pause" & "resume" the recording of series of pictures dynamically for the efficient use of memory & also dynamically the duration of last "n" snaps. This helps to stay him longer in past with less memory.
1. User has started the camera application, after sometime feels that the snaps currently available in the buffer are more meaningful/important than the coming frames or after having recorded last "n" meaningful frames user is not interested in storing next frames for particular time duration. Because there is possibility that coming frames will overwrite the existing frames in the buffer or may unnecessarily occupy space in buffer. In such situations giving the user facility to pause and resume helps to avoid overwriting the buffer with unwanted camera frames. The advantage is that he can stay back in time for a longer duration. In effect redundant snaps are not stored in the buffer, thus the existing memory is used efficiently by the user himself.
2. Since Mobile environment has many applications that use camera and user often switches from one camera application to another camera application, for e.g. User has started camera to capture series of still images, suddenly VT call happens, but user feels that the current last 'n' still images available in the buffer are very important and wants them for later reviewing, but does not want it to be overwritten and still carry on with VT immediately. In such situations user can simply pause the Magic Moments and later when the call is finished he can continue capturing the series of still images or review the images available in the buffer before the VT call.
The application allows user to freeze/select the last "n" snaps at any particular time instant for later reviewing (store in volatile memory) or store permanently (in nonvolatile memory like flash, ROM etc) & go on with a fresh set of last 'n' snaps without breaking the continuity i.e .without blocking the view finder/stopping camera, multiple times as long as camera is ON.
1. Say For e.g. user is watching a FootBall match, when ever he feels the moments he is viewing are important he can freeze the last 'n' snaps for later reviewing (store in volatile memory) or store permanently (in nonvolatile memory like flash, ROM, etc.) that are available in the Buffer till that point without breaking the continuity of Camera ViewFinder & go on with a fresh set of last "n" images..
Some times it so happens that user feels that the currently available still images in the buffer is very important to him and wants to review the last 'n' snaps available in the buffer also save the images of his choice. (Note that intention is not take picture).
It so happens many times that user suddenly witnesses an event of his interest and starts the camera to take a picture immediately, luckily he finds the event on the viewfinder, unfortunately the event that the user wants to capture has vanished before he could initiate the take picture activity. [This is a case where in the user sees the event on the viewfinder but before he could click the button to take a picture the moment vanishes].
User starts camera preview & after sometime, say after few minutes feels that this is the right moment and wants to take a picture, unfortunately if the battery goes down suddenly at this instant then take-picture application is closed hence user cannot take the picture, even though the moment to be captured is on the viewfinder, due to low battery. The application also has a mechanism to buffer the last frame ( at the time of closing the application) captured by camera in order to tackle the case where in the required frame to be captured is on the view finder but before user could initiate Take Picture, the application is closed accidentally ( due to low battery the camera application is terminated automatically, also instead of activating the key designated to initiate take picture user can press by mistake a key designated to terminate the application.) or voluntarily, in addition to the last 'n' frames also last frame ( at the time of closing the application) captured by camera is buffered. Thus user is readily available with the Last 'n' still images as well as the Last image captured by camera at the time of closing of application accidentally.
User starts camera preview & takes a picture but does not get "good or quality" picture due to some reasons like improper focusing, moving object, and camera shaking etc or not satisfied with the picture. It is impossible to go back in time so user misses important & precious moments. But as "Magic Moments" application provides last "n" still images in addition to the snap taken by user it is possible to get the images of missed events & therefore user can select a best picture out of "n +1" (Current + last "n") snaps. The magic moments application also can be considered as "multi-shot in past" in order to get a best picture out of many.
User starts camera preview & takes a picture, at the time of capture some obstacle comes in front of camera sensor. Obstacles can be in the form of people/object accidentally coming in front of camera or the finger of the person taking the picture can come in front of camera
Because of this user will not get proper image. But later feels that he should have taken snaps of those moments at least as a "token of remembrance" of the occasion. It is impossible to go back in time so user misses important & precious moments. But as "Magic Moments" application provides last "n" still images in addition to the snap taken by user it is possible to get the images of missed events & therefore user can select a best picture out of "n +1" (Current + last "n") snaps.
User starts camera preview with an intention of taking a picture & forgets to take a picture or misses the right moment to take a picture. But later feels that he should have taken snaps of those moments at least as a "token of remembrance" of the occasion. It is impossible to go back in time so user misses important & precious moments. But as "Magic Moments" application provides last "n" still images at any point of time it is possible to get the images of missed events even during a camera preview & without taking actual picture at any time. It is possible to get last "n" still images any time as long as camera is ON & even multiple times if camera is ON.
User starts camera preview & selects "multi-shot" option to get next "m" snaps. User may miss the right moment to start "multi-shot" capturing & because of this may not get exact snap he wanted. . The "Magic Moments" application will get disabled automatically during a multishot & will get enabled after multishot. Because of this user will get last "n" snaps previous to multi-shot (before multi- shot) & next "m" snaps due to multi-shot. It is possible to get the images of missed events & therefore user can select a best picture out of "n +m" ("m"multi-shot + last "n" before multi-shot) snaps.
The last "n" number of snaps & duration between two snaps is configurable /programmable by user.
Magic Moments application does not alter or change the camera frames per second set by the application that uses camera. It works independently & captures the frame from camera with an interval set by the user to encode frames in the format specified by the user. This puts a restriction on the duration of magic moments snaps that the duration should be equal to or greater than the camera capture duration.
It is possible to get last "n" still images during any application that uses camera.
User can get last "n" still images till the point user closes camera or any application that uses camera and view the same at any point of time when the Camera is ON or even after closing the camera application also.
Whenever user takes a picture, "Magic Moments" application provides, last "n" snaps along with the snap taken by the user. User can save any/all snaps as per his wish.
In all cases user can save or delete any or all snaps provided by "Magic Moments".
There is an option to enable/disable magic moments application.
"Magic Moments" is an application where last "n" camera frames will be readily available as still images (snaps) at instant. User can select the image format of his own choice like JPEG, JPEG2000, MrSID, PNG, SPIFF, SVG, TGA, TIFF, GIF, DNG, CPC, etc. The concept can be extended to any image format if codec support is available. During the time of recording, camera frames obtained are compressed and stored in the buffer.
The following are required for implementation of the invention
• A Mobile Terminal or any handheld device or PC with camera facility
• Software/hardware to encode camera frames to the format specified by user
• CPU to control & meet the real time constraint of application
• Display device
Following explains the working of Magic Moments:
> Magic Moments makes use of volatile memory like RAM etc to store last 'n' snaps. This buffer is different from the buffer that is used for take picture/Multishot applications.
> The buffer is maintained in a cyclic manner like a FIFO.
> Whenever any application that makes use of Camera like Video TelephonyA/ideo SharingA/ideo Recording/Take Picture etc (Camera being on) is running, the Magic Moment control block in the background
checks the enable/disable status. If the Magic Moments application is in enabled state, depending on the duration "t" set by the user, Magic Moment control block captures the frame provided by the camera process unit after regular interval "t".
> The Magic Moment control block (Refer Figure no 1) with the help of image encoder block encodes the captured frame in still image format set by user & stores encoded frame in Magic Moment circular buffer as shown in the diagram. This encoding is not mandatory, it's a trade off between the Performance or Memory utilization. Encoding can be skipped if better performance is required, Encoding is necessary if better memory utilization is required. It also depends on the user Input setting i.e. duration't'.
> Initially Magic Moment control block stores first "n" encoded frames in buffer & after that at any point of time whenever it receives encoded frame, it discards the oldest frame & replaces it with the received frame. Because of this technique "Magic Moments" application always has last "n" frames at any point of time & the last "n" frames are updated after an interval "t" set by the user.
> Because of this technique "Magic Moments" application always has last "n" frames at any point of time & the last "n" frames are updated after an interval "t" set by the user. Whenever user wants to see last "n" frames at any point of time Magic moment control block shows "n" frames available in circular buffer in required format on display device.
> Suitable means is provided for the user to dynamically change the User Input setting i.e. the no of snaps to be buffered 'n' and the duration between two snaps't'. Depending on this information the application readjusts the Buffer size and Duration dynamically. There is a limitation on this setting depending on the hardware /memory resource limitation and also depends on the Resolution of the captured image. Hence a mechanism exists which makes a check whether the No of Snaps and Duration between the two snaps is realistic are not. For e.g. Consider a camera XYZ whose capability is 5 FPS, if the user initially has
configured Magic Moments with 'n' as 15 and duration 't' as 400 milliseconds.
User is allowed to change the duration 't' dynamically with an increase or decrease in steps of say 100 millisecond on a key press. Now user dynamically wants to decrease the duration and presses the hotkey thrice i.e. intends to change't' to 100 millisecond, this is not acceptable because with a 5 FPS camera you get a frame once in 200 Millisecond, hence minimum duration't' possible with such a camera XYZ is 200 milliseconds.
The same applies to No of snaps which depends on the amount Volatile Memory available.
> When user takes a picture using camera application Magic moment control block de-activates "Magic moments" application during that time temporarily & activates back after taking a picture. Suitable means is provided for the user to view the current snap taken by user & last "n" frames captured by Magic moments application previous to current snap. He can select all the snaps or subset of snaps available in the buffer along with the Current snap taken by the user.
> Similarly when user takes a picture using multi-shot feature of camera application Magic moments control block de-activates "Magic moments" application during that time temporarily & activates back after multi-shot is over.
> Due to this it is possible to provide "m" snaps taken by user during multi-shot & last "n" frames captured by Magic moments application before multishot started. Due to the de-activation of "Magic Moment" application during take picture scenario for single shot & for multi- shot(series capture) the performance & original functionality of take picture scenario remains unaffected & user gets actual snaps taken by him as well as last "n" snaps.. Suitable means is provided for the user to view the 'm' snaps taken by user via MultiShot & last "n" frames captured by Magic moments application previous Multi shot activation.
He can select all the snaps or subset of snaps available in the buffer along with the Multishot snaps taken by the user.
> Depending on the image format set by the user Magic moments control block provides last "n" snaps in required format any time whenever user wants.
> In a mobile platform user often switches from one camera application to another camera application, Magic Moments takes care of keeping the buffer contents intact during this switch that is it does not destroy the buffer contents during the switch.
> Suitable means is provided for the user to Pause and Resume (on a key press) the Recording of sequence of Images. So when ever the magic Moments application is paused by the user, the application goes to a sleep state until resumed again by the user. During this state Buffer contents are not updated.
> Suitable means is provided for the user (On a key Press) to View the contents of the buffer at any point of time. Incase user wants to view the contents of the buffer i.e last 'n' snaps, user is shown last 'n' snaps, along with it also the snaps preserved by him using Select/Freeze option.. He can select all the snaps or subset of snaps shown to him.
> Suitable means is provided for the user to Freeze/Select (On a key Press) the contents of the Circular buffer at any point of time multiple times without disturbing the camera viewfinder. Each time user Freezes, Magic Moment application will preserve the buffer contents by creating a new circular buffer used for further capturing of frames in a FIFO manner. Also each time user Freezes, buffer contents can be saved onto flash without disturbing the Camera View finder and make it available to the user for later reviewing whenever required.
User inputs to the Magic Moments application are Number of snaps 'n' and Duration't' (interval between two snaps), 'n' can have any value but is restricted by the Resolution of the picture and volatile memory available, 't' can be in miliseconds, seconds are event in minutes. Restriction on't' is the Camera FPS.
The working of Magic Moments are explained diagrammatically in Figure no 2 of the Drawings.
Scenario 1: Take Picture/View: Assume that user has cpnfigured the duration (interval between two snaps)'t' as 1 second and 'n' the no of snaps as "2".With this setting if user presses a key to take a picture at 4th second. Then user is readily available with snap at 2nd second, snap at 3rd second plus snap at 4th second (take picture). In magic moments User need not take a picture, at any instant of time he can (via a hot key) review the content of Buffer, in this scenario if user intends to view the contents of buffer at 15thth second, then user gets images at 15th second and 14th second as shown in FIG 3 .
Scenario 2: Freeze/Select: Assume that user has configured the duration( interval between two snaps) 't' as 1 second and 'n' the no of snaps as "2".With this setting at 4th second user can press select/freeze, indicating Magi Moments that user is interested in reviewing the buffer contents at a later point in time. With this operation the buffer contents are preserved for later reviewing. Say User takes a picture at 15th second as shown in the figure . Then user is readily available with 3rd snap, 4th snap as well as 13th, 14th and 15th snap.The major advantage here is to avoid overwriting of buffer contents when ever user is interested in contents of buffer particular instant( refer FIG 4).
Scenario 3: Pause/Resume; Magic Moments provides Pause and Resume Feature, with the help of this user can keep the buffer intact by not overwriting it when ever he feels camera is seeing something i.e. not of much importance. Thus Application allows the user to make the usage of buffer efficiently. In mobile platform there are many applications that make use of camera and user often switches among these applications.
Assume that user has configured 'n' as 10 and 't' as 1 sec.
For e.g. user has started the camera preview application with an intention of
storing last "n" frames & after few seconds he gets VT call which he wants to attends. But user feels the contents of the buffer (last "n" frames) before the VT call is important to him and hence does not want it to be overwritten by what camera is seeing during VT call, also wants the buffer to be intact during the small interval of switch from Camera preview application to VT application. In such case user can Pause the Magic Moments and carry on with the VT call, since Magic Moments is Paused it makes sure that what ever camera viewfinder is seeing at the time of VT call, is not pushed into the buffer, once the VT call is over again user wishes to switch back to camera preview application, now user can resume Magic Moments and at 21st second contents of the buffer will be still images recorded at 1st,2nd,3rd,4th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th,20th,21st second. This shows that the buffer is used in efficient manner and thus user is able to stay back in time for longer duration.(Refer FIG 5)
Scenario 4 - Typical use case of Magic Moments: Assume that user has configured the duration (interval between two snaps) 't' as 1 second and 'n' the no of snaps as "2".(Refer FIG 6)
1) User has started the camera application with the intention of taking a picture.
2) Now after few seconds user gets a VT call.
3) But at this point of time user is interested in the contents of the buffer at 5th (shown in the above diagram)second, so he applies the Freeze option (Preserve the contents of the buffer for later reviewing).
4) Then attends the VT call.
5) Again during VT calls also user is interested in the contents of the buffer at 9th (shown in the above diagram)second, so he applies the Freeze option (Preserve the contents of the buffer for later reviewing).
6) User is not interested in Recording sequence of Still images during the VT call from 10th second (shown in the above diagram), so he pauses the magic Moment application.
7) Once VT call is done, he resumes the Magic Moments and wants to view the contents of the buffer at 20th second (shown in the above diagram),as shown in the above diagram.
8) At this instant user gets the snaps recorded at 4th,5th ,8th,9th,19th and 20th second.
The above scenario explains how freeze, pause/resume and View options provided by MagicMoment application can be used. With Freeze option user is able to get the snaps recorded at 4th and 5th second, notice that user has swiftly switched from one camera application to another camera application but still has retained snaps recorded back in time.
Operation Details - Suitably user is given a set of keys to realize Freeze, Pause n Resume, View Options. Dynamically changing the Duration't' (Interval between two snaps) and No of snaps 'n' can be realized by incremental or decremental steps of units via a key press.
Whenever user wants to View the contents of the buffer, user is shown last 'n' snaps, along with it also the snaps preserved by him using Select/Freeze option. He can select all the snaps or subset of snaps shown to him by navigating the contents.
In case user closes the camera application voluntarily or accidentally, user is shown last 'n' snaps plus the last frame captured by the camera, along with it also the snaps preserved by him using Select/Freeze option. He can select all the snaps or subset of snaps shown to him by navigating the contents.
Low Battery with respect to Magic Moments should be interpreted in the following way, in Mobile phones it requires more battery power to start multimedia applications that involves camera. Thus if sufficient amount of Battery is not available generally the application is closed automatically.This does not mean that mobile cannot be used for other purposes like viewing call list, setting alarm etc.
User is provided a mechanism where in he can save the contents of the buffer in such scenarios as explained in the above paragraph.
As Magic Moments is a background activity, its active across multiple applications that make use of camera, except for the small duration if camera needs to be switched off & on automatically (without switching off the mobile phone ) by keeping the Buffer ( consisting of a series of last 'n' Images ) intact.
In Magic Moments its possible to repeat FreezeA/iew options successively/Quick succession and care is taken to number the snaps in accordance with the time of Freeze/Select. The no of Freeze operations depends on the available memory in the system.
There is an option to get last "n" images as a slide show. O/p Snaps ( last 'n' snaps) is best suitable for Slideshow as they are in sequence, there will be a good effect as user can feel the continuous effect.
Suitable means of mechanism is provided to disable/Enable MagicMoments application via user interface. User can set start & stop time to enable this option. Magic Moments application is summarized in the following manner- This new application allows user to capture a series of last 'n' still images with the specified number of still images with the specified duration between two still images when the camera device is in use by any applications like Take picture, Video Recording/ Video Telephony, video sharing etc....The magic moment application runs in back-ground when any such application using camera is running & provides series of still images whenever required .The application also manages to continue capturing images even if user switches from one camera application to other except for the small duration if camera needs to be switched off & on automatically .The application provides a means to pause & resume the recording of series of pictures dynamically for the efficient use of memory & duration of last "n" snaps. This also helps the user as he can stay in past for a longer duration with less memory. The idea behind the application is to capture some moments in the form of a 'series of last 'n' still images during all circumstances where the camera is active and user is able to get the series of last 'n' still images at any instant during the entire life the camera is active. It allows the user to freeze last "n"snaps at any instant of time & to go for next set of last "n" snaps without interruption of the camera viewfinder. It allows user to change the duration between snaps & number of snaps dynamically depending on the situation / User's wish.
ADVANTAGES
It so happens many times that user has initiated a camera application to perform take picture activity or Video Recording etc but sometimes there is a chance that he forgets to take a picture or forgets to Record video and close the camera (Accidentally or voluntarily). But as "Magic Moments" Records series of last 'n' still images during all circumstances when the camera is ON at any instant of time, therefore user is able to get the series of last 'n' still images .
In mobile platform there are many applications which make use of camera, but 'take picture' is the only explicit means to store a still image.
1. It so happens many times that user is recording a particular event and later feels that the recording of the event is of less importance or may find that recorded video is occupying more memory and he is running out of memory, hence user wishes he could have taken few snaps of that event which would be sufficient rather than a complete video. But since user is recording, he can't take the pictures at the same time. [Other wise user has to edit the video into small clips or extract images which are a cumbersome activity].
2. It so happens many times that user is interested in recording an event that is lengthy and also wishes to capture a series of still images of the same event at the same time. So that he can send the at least images (video is lengthy and is difficult to send it over network) to his friends as EMS/MMS. [Other wise user has to edit
the video into small clips or extract images which are a cumbersome activity], 3. It so happens many times when user is doing video telephony, IMS video sharing, etc. wishes to store series of still images of the same.
This new application allows user to capture a series of last 'n' still images with the specified number of still images with the specified duration between two still images when the camera device is in use by any applications like Take picture, Video Recording/ Video Telephony, video sharing etc.
In mobile platform there are many applications that make use of camera and user often switches among these applications and user would like to continue recording of series of Last 'n' still Images even when user switches from one camera application to another. The application manages to continue capturing still images even if user switches from one camera application to other except for the small duration if camera needs to be switched off & on automatically (without switching off the mobile phone) by keeping the Buffer (consisting of a series of last 'n' still Images) intact.
I.User has started the camera with the intention to take a picture, later feels that he should start Video recording and switches to Video Recording application but wishes to keep the Last 'n' snaps buffer intact and continue the same buffer during Video recording also.
The application provides a means to "pause" & "resume" the recording of series of pictures dynamically for the efficient use of memory & duration of last "n" snaps. This helps to stay him longer in past with less memory.
1. User has started the camera application, after sometime feels that the snaps currently available in the buffer are more meaningful/important than the coming frames or after having recorded last "n" meaningful frames user is not interested in storing next frames for particular time duration. Because there is possibility that coming frames will overwrite the existing frames in the buffer or may unnecessarily occupy space in buffer. In such situations giving the user facility to pause and resume helps to avoid overwriting the buffer with unwanted camera frames. The advantage is that he can stay back in time for a longer duration. In effect redundant snaps are not stored in the buffer, thus the existing memory is used efficiently by the user himself.
2) Since Mobile environment has many applications that use camera and user often switches from one camera application to another camera application, for e.g. User has started camera to capture series of still images, suddenly VT call happens, but user feels that the current last 'n' still images available in the buffer are very important and wants them for later reviewing, but does not want it to be overwritten and still carry on with VT immediately. In such situations user can simply pause the MagicMoments and later when the call is finished he can continue capturing the series of still images or review the images available in the buffer before the VT call.
The application allows user to freeze / select the last "n" snaps at any particular time instant for later reviewing (store in volatile memory) or store permanently (in nonvolatile memory like flash, ROM etc ) & go on with a fresh set of last 'n' snaps without breaking the continuity i. e. without blocking the view finder/stopping view finder, multiple times as long as camera is ON.
1. Say For e.g. user is watching a FootBall match, when ever he feels the moments he is viewing are important he can freeze the last 'n' snaps for later reviewing (store in volatile memory) or store permanently (in nonvolatile memory like flash, ROM, etc.) that are available in the Buffer till that point without breaking the continuity of Camera ViewFinder.
Some times it so happens that user feels that the currently available still images in the buffer is very important to him and wants to review the last 'n' snaps available in the buffer also save the images of his choice. (Note that intention is not take picture).
It so happens many times that user suddenly witnesses an event of his interest and starts the camera to take a picture immediately, luckily he finds the event on the viewfinder, unfortunately the event that the user wants to capture has vanished before he could initiate the take picture activity. [This is a case where in the user sees the event on the viewfinder but before he could click the button to take a picture the moment vanishes].
User starts camera preview & after sometime, say after few minutes feels that this is the right moment and wants to take a picture, unfortunately if the battery goes down suddenly at this instant then take-picture application is closed hence user cannot take the picture, even though the moment to be captured is on the viewfinder, due to low battery. But as "Magic Moments" application provides last "n" still images it is possible to have snaps of those moments.
User starts camera preview & takes a picture but do not get "good or quality" picture due to some reasons like improper focusing, moving object, and camera shaking etc or not satisfied with the picture. It is impossible to go back in time so user misses important & precious moments. But as "Magic Moments" application provides last "n" still images in addition to the snap taken by user it is possible to get the images of missed events & therefore user can select a best picture out of "n +1" (Current + last "n") snaps. The magic moments application also can be considered as "multi-shot in past" in order to get a best picture out of many.
User starts camera preview & takes a picture, at the time of capture some obstacle comes in front of camera sensor. Obstacles can be in the form of
1. People / Object accidentally coming in front of camera
2. Finger of the person taking the picture can come in front of camera
Because of this user will not get proper image. But later feels that he should have taken snaps of those moments at least as a "token of remembrance" of the occasion. It is impossible to go back in time so user misses important & precious moments. But as "Magic Moments" application provides last "n" still images in addition to the snap taken by user it is possible to get the images of missed events & therefore user can select a best picture out of "n +1" (Current + last "n") snaps.
User starts camera preview with an intention of taking a picture & forgets to take a picture or misses the right moment to take a picture. But later feels that he should have taken snaps of those moments at least as a "token of remembrance" of the occasion. It is impossible to go back in time so user misses important & precious moments. But as "Magic Moments" application provides last "n" still images at any point of time it is possible to get the images of missed events even during a camera preview & without taking actual picture at any time. It is possible to get last "n" still images any time as long as camera is ON & even multiple times if camera is ON.
User starts camera preview & selects "multi-shot" option to get next "m" snaps. User may miss the right moment to start "multi-shot" capturing & because of this may not get exact snap he wanted. . The "Magic Moments" application will get disabled automatically during a multishot & will get enabled after multishot. Because of this user will get last "n" snaps previous to multi-shot (before multi- shot) & next "m" snaps due to multi-shot. It is possible to get the images of missed events & therefore user can select a best picture out of "n +m" ("m"multi-shot + last "n" before multi-shot) snaps.
The last "n" number of snaps & duration between two snaps is configurable / programmable by user.
Magic Moments application does not alter or change the camera frames per second set by the application that uses camera. It works independently & captures the frame from camera with an interval set by the user to encode frames in the format specified by the user. This puts a restriction on the duration of magic moments snaps that the duration should be equal to or greater than the camera capture duration.
It is possible to get last "n" still images during any application that uses camera
User can get last "n" still images till the point user closes camera or any application that uses camera and view the same at any point of time when the Camera is ON or even after closing the camera application also.
Whenever user takes a picture, "Magic Moments" application provides last "n" snaps along with the snap taken by the user. User can save any/all snaps as per his wish.
In all cases user can save or delete any or all snaps provided by "Magic Moments".
There is an option to enable/disable magic moments application.
"Magic Moments" is an application where last "n" camera frames will be readily available as still images (snaps) at instant. User can select the image format of his own choice like JPEG, JPEG2000, MrSID, PNG, SPIFF, SVG, TGA, TIFF, GIF, DNG, CPC, etc. The concept can be extended to any image format if codec support is available. During the time of recording, camera frames obtained are compressed and stored in the buffer.
It will also be obvious to those skilled in the art that other control methods and apparatuses can be derived from the combinations of the various methods and apparatuses of the present invention as taught by the description and the accompanying drawings and these shall also be considered within the scope of the present invention. Further, description of such combinations and variations is therefore omitted above. It should also be noted that the host for storing the applications include but not limited to a microchip, microprocessor, handheld communication device, computer, rendering device or a multi function device.
Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are possible and are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND DEFINITIONS THEREOF
IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem
UE User Equipment




WE CLAIM
1. A method for automatic image management in an imaging device wherein "n" number of frames are recorded and stored in a buffer as still images with a duration of "t" between any two adjacent still images dynamically; where at any point of time when the device receives a new frame, the oldest frame is discarded and replaced by the new frame received.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said imaging device is adapted to pause the recording of frames dynamically.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said imaging device is adapted to resume the recording of frames dynamically.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said imaging device is adapted to freeze the last "n" frames at any particular time instant for later reviewing and storing and starts recording a fresh sequence of last "n" still images without interrupting the camera/view finder.
5. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said imaging device is adapted to select the last "n" frames once the frames are freezed at any particular time instant.
6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said imaging device keeps the buffer consisting of the series of last 'n' still images intact when the user switches among different camera applications.
7. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said method comprises the further step of encoding of the still images depending on user settings.
8. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein, number of frames "n" and duration between two images "t" are configurable.
9. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein for viewing the content, the imaging device provides last "n" still images in the buffer in addition to the frame taken by a user at any instance to time to make the total number of frames "n +1".
10. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the buffer size can be dynamically varied.
11. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the contents of the buffer is viewed along with the buffer contents freezed during multiple freeze operation by the user at any instance to time.
12. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the user can select all the frames or subset of frames shown while viewing the buffer content.
13. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein frames captured by the imaging device are adapted to undergo compression before storing into storage.
14. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the user can set start and stop the automatic image management option for a particular period when any other image application is active.
15. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the user can select plurality of image formats for storing the frames.
16. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein a multi-shot option in the imaging device can be activated to capture "m" frames enabling the user to get last "n" frames previous stored in the buffer before multi-shot and next "m" frames due to multi-shot providing the user with "n +m" frames to choose from.
17. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein at any instance of time when the imaging feature in the device being terminated the imaging device provides last "n" still images in the buffer in addition to the last frame taken by the user.
18. A system for automatic image management in an imaging device comprising:
(a) means for storing 'n' number of frames;
(b) means for controlling the enabling and disabling of the image management and capturing of the frames;
(c) means for providing user inputs; and
(d) an image process unit to process the captured images.
19. A system as claimed in claim 18 wherein the said means for controlling
captures the frames provided by the camera process unit after regular interval
iijii
20. A system as claimed in claim 18 wherein an image encoder encodes the captured frame in still image format set by a user.
21. A system as claimed in claim 18 wherein the said imaging device includes a means for pausing and resuming the recording of frames dynamically.
22. A system as claimed in claim 18 wherein the said imaging device include a means for freezing and selecting the last "n" frames at any particular time instant for later reviewing and storing.
23. A system as claimed in claim 18 wherein the said imaging device includes a means for compressing the captured frames.
24. A system as claimed in claim 18 wherein the said imaging device includes a means for capturing "m" frames enabling the user to get last "n" frames previous stored and next "m" frames providing the user with "n +m" frames to choose from.
25. A method for automatic image management substantially as herein described particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings.
26. A system for automatic image management substantially as herein described particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

1209-CHE-2006 AMENDED PAGES OF SPECIFICATION 28-01-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 AMENDED CLAIMS 28-01-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS 25-02-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 EXAMINATION REPORT REPLY RECEIVED 28-01-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 FORM-1 28-01-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 FORM-13 28-01-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 FORM-3 25-02-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 FORM-3 28-01-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 FORM-5 28-01-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 OTHER PATENT DOCUMENT 28-01-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 OTHER PATENT DOCUMENT 1 28-01-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 OTHERS 28-01-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 POWER OF ATTORNEY 25-02-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 POWER OF ATTORNEY 28-01-2013.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 ABSTRACT.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 CLAIMS.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 DESCRIPTION (COMPLETE).pdf

1209-CHE-2006 DRAWINGS.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 FORM-1.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 FORM-18.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 FORM-5.pdf

1209-CHE-2006 POWER OF ATTORNEY.pdf


Patent Number 255956
Indian Patent Application Number 1209/CHE/2006
PG Journal Number 15/2013
Publication Date 12-Apr-2013
Grant Date 08-Apr-2013
Date of Filing 10-Jul-2006
Name of Patentee SAMSUNG INDIA SOFTWARE OPERATIONS PRIVATE LIMITED
Applicant Address BAGMANE LAKEVIEW,BLOCK 'B',NO.66/1,BAGMANE TECH PARK, C V RAMAN NAGAR, BYRASANDRA,BANGALORE,
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 GIRISH KULKARNI, BAGMANE LAKEVIEW,BLOCK 'B',NO.66/1,BAGMANE TECH PARK, C V RAMAN NAGAR, BYRASANDRA,BANGALORE,560 093,
2 GUMMAGATTA NARAYANAREDDY SRIKANTH, BAGMANE LAKEVIEW,BLOCK 'B',NO.66/1,BAGMANE TECH PARK, C V RAMAN NAGAR, BYRASANDRA,BANGALORE,560 093,
PCT International Classification Number G06KT7/00
PCT International Application Number N/A
PCT International Filing date
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 NA