Method of extending the operational lifetime of a hard-disk drive memory in video data storage applications

摘要

In video storage applications, such as vehicle based surveillance camera networks, video storage apparatus comprises: a solid state memory such as NAND flash memory operating as a storage buffer 708, and a hard-disk drive 704 operating normally in a powered down state. The hard-disk drive 704 operates in a powered up state only when video data is being transferred from the buffer 708 to the hard-disk. A total hard-disk drive storage time spent transferring to and storing a portion of the video data in the hard-disk drive 704 is substantially less than a total buffer storage time spent storing the video data in the storage buffer. This storage time allocation extends the operational lifetime of the hard-disk drive 704. The powered up state of the hard-disk drive 704 may be established by activation of the read-write head or spinning motion of the disk. Also disclosed is video analytics and a mass storage unit contained in a video camera housing. The video analytics can detect whether there is an occurrence of a defined event of interest in stored video data. Video data stored may be of different qualities that represent the occurrence and non-occurrence of the event.