Patent ID: 8732738
Filing Date: 2014-05-20
Classification: H04H,H04N

Abstract:
1. A rating system to monitor a digital television or radio receiver, the receiver to receive a broadcast channel comprising multiple programs, at least one of the programs being packed as a minor channel in the broadcast channel and each minor channel including an identification datum, the receiver to read a first identification datum from a first channel to which the receiver is tuned and to subsequently read a second identification datum from a second channel to which the receiver is tuned, the rating system comprising: a software agent to read the first identification datum from a packet label included in a first packet of a digital stream corresponding to the first channel and to time stamp the first identification datum at a first time at which the first identification datum is read, the software agent to read the second identification datum from a second packet label included in a second packet of a digital stream corresponding to the second channel and to time stamp the second identification datum at a second time at which the second identification datum is read; a detector to detect an audio code embedded in an audio portion of at least one of the programs; an extractor to extract a signature from one or more characteristic features of the audio portion of the at least one of the programs; wherein at least one of the first and second channels is a minor channel and the system is to use the software agent and at least one of the detector and the extractor to record data to identify a first program tuned by the receiver.