Retrospective Capture Trigger
Patent No. US11189321 (titled "Retrospective Capture Trigger") was filed by L4T Innovations Llc on Mar 17, 2020.
What is this patent about?
’321 is related to the field of event logging, specifically to devices and methods for marking the occurrence of notable events in real-time. The background involves scenarios where users capture media (video, audio) and want to easily retrieve specific portions related to important moments, avoiding the tedious task of sifting through hours of recordings. This is particularly relevant in sports, surveillance, or any situation where capturing events as they happen is crucial.
The underlying idea behind ’321 is to provide a dedicated device that, upon a user's action or automatically, records the precise time of an event. This timestamp can then be used to quickly locate the corresponding segment in a larger media recording or to trigger an external device to save the recording. The core insight is to create a simple, reliable mechanism for correlating real-world events with captured media, streamlining the process of finding and accessing important moments.
The claims of ’321 focus on an event marking device comprising a housing containing a microcontroller, memory, real-time clock, communication interface, and a trigger circuit. The microcontroller reads the real-time clock and writes a timestamp to memory when the trigger circuit is activated, either by the user or automatically. The device then outputs this timestamp via the communication interface to an external device, causing the external device to preserve a recording captured at the time of the trigger circuit enablement.
In practice, the device can be implemented as a wearable (like a smartwatch) or attached to equipment (like a bicycle). When a notable event occurs, the user presses a button or the device automatically detects the event (e.g., a crash via an accelerometer). The device records the time and sends it to a connected camera, which then flags or saves the corresponding video segment. This allows for quick access to the relevant footage without manual searching.
This approach differs from prior solutions by providing a dedicated, streamlined system for event marking. Instead of relying on manual note-taking or complex video analysis, ’321 offers a simple, reliable way to correlate events with media recordings. The use of a real-time clock and trigger circuit ensures accurate timestamping, while the communication interface allows for seamless integration with external devices like cameras or editing systems. The ability to trigger events automatically based on motion or sound further enhances the device's utility in situations where manual input is not feasible.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical landscape at the time
In the late 2010s when ’321 was filed, at a time when event logging was typically implemented using dedicated hardware or software modules, when systems commonly relied on internal clocks for time-stamping rather than external synchronization, and when hardware constraints made real-time data capture and storage non-trivial.
Novelty and Inventive Step
The examiner approved the application because the prior art, specifically Laska, Fazel, Chaudhri, and Kopetz, did not teach or suggest in detail the claimed combination of elements. The invention includes a housing, a microcontroller, a memory, a real-time clock, a communication interface, and a trigger circuit, all disposed within the housing and operatively coupled. The microcontroller is configured to read the real-time clock, write corresponding real-time data to memory upon receiving a trigger signal, and output the real-time data via the communication interface. The real-time datum causes an external device to preserve a recording captured at the time of the trigger circuit enablement. The examiner stated that Laska only taught an event marking device with a housing, microcontroller, and memory, and a trigger circuit, but did not teach a real-time clock within the housing or the specific configuration of the microcontroller to read the clock and write data to memory upon a trigger event. Kopetz discussed real-time event detection but was silent on the specificity of a real-time clock for data capture and event marking, and also silent on a trigger circuit for allowing a user to identify an event for recording.
Claims
This patent contains 18 claims, of which claims 1, 8, and 15 are independent. The independent claims are directed to an event marking device, a method for event marking, and a device for event marking, respectively, all involving a trigger, real-time clock, memory, microcontroller, and communication interface. The dependent claims generally elaborate on specific features, components, or functionalities of the event marking device, method, or device described in the independent claims.
Key Claim Terms New
Definitions of key terms used in the patent claims.
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Date
Description
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US11189321
- Application Number
- US16821423
- Filing Date
- Mar 17, 2020
- Status
- Granted
- Expiry Date
- Oct 1, 2038
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO, Google Patents