ATTACHMENT FOR METERING CHANNEL SERIAL DATA

Abstract: An attachement is disclosed which permits the channel metering of any of a variety of digital receivers which incorporate serial data communication buses. The attachment includes a computer (28) for reading channel information carried by the serial data communication bus of a monitored receiver, a field programmable gate array (26) which may be programmed to customize the attachment to the serial data communication bus arrangement and to the data format of any of a wide variety of digital receivers, and an isolator (24) to isolate the attachment from the monitored receiver.

Description: ATTACHMENT FOR METERING CHANNEL SERIAL DATA Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an at¬ tachment and system for metering the use of digital entertainment appliances such as digital tele¬ visions., radios, video cassette recorders, and the like. Background of the Invention Various arrangements have been provided in the past to determine the channel to which a receiv¬ er is tuned so that audience share information can be gathered. This audience share information esti¬ mates the number of people receiving a program as a percentage of the total audience receiving programs over the same media during the same time slot. In one example of such arrangements, dia¬ ries are furnished to cooperating households having televisions and/or video cassette recorders (VCRs) . These diaries are filled out manually by those peo- pie who watch or record television programs in the cooperating households. Diaries have several draw¬ backs, including lack of attention and human error in making diary entries. Other known systems have been designed to reduce human intervention in the metering of chan¬ nels to which receivers are tuned. Such channel metering systems typically gather such information as the on-off condition of the receivers being moni¬ tored and the identity of the channels to which these receivers are tuned while the receivers are in the on condition. These systems generally store this information for later transmission over tele- phone lines to a central computer. In one such channel metering system, the position of a tuning element of a monitored receiv¬ er, such as a tuning dial of a receiver, is deter¬ mined in order to identify the channel to which the monitored receiver is tuned. This system requires a direct mechanical coupling to the tuning element of the monitored receiver. While such mechanical sys¬ tems are reliable, the direct mechanical coupling of this system requires skilled installation practices. Also, variations in the mechanical configurations of tuner elements between various receivers require a large assortment of adapters to implement direct me¬ chanical couplings. Moreover, most modern day re¬ ceivers use electronic tuning rather than mechanical tuning so that mechanical coupling arrangements are not practical. In another known channel metering system, the tuning voltage across a varactor diode of a voltage tunable receiver is monitored in order to determine the channel to which the voltage tunable receiver is tuned. However, this channel metering system is applicable only to voltage tunable receiv¬ ers. In yet another known channel metering system, monitoring signals are injected into the tuner of a monitored receiver. Each injected moni¬ toring signal corresponds to one of the channel fre¬ quencies to which the monitored receiver can be tuned. The monitoring signals are injected in order of either increasing or decreasing channel frequen¬ cies. By detecting which of the injected monitoring signals passes through the tuner of the monitored receiver, the channel to which the monitored receiv- er is tuned may be determined. In this type of system, care must be exercised to ensure that the injected monitoring signals do not interfere with the program being perceived; otherwise, the enjoy¬ ment by the audience of the program may be impaired. Furthermore, current metering technology is based on the assumption that all states of a tunable receiver, such as that used in a television, a radio, a video cassette recorder, or the like, may be staticly determined. This assumption means, for example, that a unique voltage or combination of voltages, or a unique tuning element position, must be observable for each state of the tunable receiv¬ er. Although this assumption has been valid for receivers using analogue technology, it is less valid for digital receivers. Decreasing costs in digital integrated circuit technology has allowed receiver manufacturers to design and manufacture digital receivers. Thus, complex analogue control circuitry can be replaced with a set of integrated circuits or even with a single integrated circuit. The resulting reduction in the number of components of digital receivers increases reliability, reduces manufacturing costs, and simplifies the design of such receivers. Accordingly, the number of digital receivers available to viewing and listening audi¬ ences has grown dramatically in recent years. Ex¬ isting metering systems, which are designed to pri¬ marily monitor analogue receivers, are not capable of easily and efficiently monitoring the channels to which such digital receivers are tuned.. Summary of the Invention Digital receivers, for the most part, have a modular design. In this modular design, a central microprocessor communicates with a plurality of receiver components over a serial data communication bus in order to coordinate the operation of the receiver components. Therefore, additional func- tionality may be easily provided in such digital receivers by simply interfacing additional add-on components to the serial data communication bus and updating the control software of the control micro¬ processor to reflect the additional components. Moreover, the serial data communication bus may have different configurations depending upon the communi¬ cation protocol implemented by the receiver manufac¬ turer. The present invention is directed to a chan¬ nel metering attachment which monitors the serial data communication bus of a digital receiver in order to determine the channel to which the digital receiver is tuned and, if desired, to determine other functions of the receivers as well as. Also, the channel metering attachment of the present in- vention may be customized to most or all of the different serial data communication bus configura¬ tions used in digital tunable receivers. In accordance with one aspect of the pres- ent invention, a channel metering attachment is provided for metering channels to which a receiver is tuned. The receiver may be of the type having a plurality of components and a bus which carries serial data between the components. The channel metering attachment includes a channel determining apparatus for determining, from the serial data carried by the serial data communication bus of the receiver, a channel to which the receiver is tuned. An output apparatus of the channel metering attach- ment is connected to the channel determining appara¬ tus, and provides an output identifying the channel to which the receiver is tuned. In another aspect of the present inven¬ tion, a channel metering system includes a receiver for receiving a plurality of broadcast signals over a plurality of channels. The receiver has a serial data communication bus for carrying serial data between components of the receiver. A channel de¬ termining apparatus determines, from the serial data carried by the serial data communication bus, a channel to which the receiver is tuned. The channel determining apparatus is connected to the serial data communication bus of the receiver. An output apparatus is connected to the channel determining apparatus, and provides an output identifying the channel to which the receiver is tuned. In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a channel metering attachment is provided for metering channels to which a select- ed receiver is tuned. The selected receiver is selected from among a plurality of different receiv¬ ers. Each of the plurality of different receivers has a serial data communication bus for carrying serial data between components thereof. The channel metering attachment includes a channel determining apparatus for determining the channel to which the selected receiver is tuned. The channel determining apparatus is connected to the serial data communica¬ tion bus of the selected receiver, and determines the channel to which the receiver is tuned in re¬ sponse to the serial data carried by the serial data communication bus of the selected receiver. A cus¬ tomizing apparatus customizes the channel determin¬ ing apparatus to the selected receiver so that the serial data carried by the serial data communication bus of the selected receiver can be decoded by the attachment. An output apparatus of the channel metering attachment provides an output identifying the channel to which the selected receiver is tuned. Brief Description of the Drawing These and other features and advantages will become more apparent from a detailed consider¬ ation of the invention when taken in conjunction with the drawing in which: Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating a channel metering system in which the channel meter¬ ing attachment of the present invention may be used; Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating the preferred embodiment of the channel metering attachment of the present invention as well as the manner in which it is connected in the channel me¬ tering system of Figure 1; Figures 3A-3J are schematic diagrams il¬ lustrating in greater detail the channel metering attachment shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating the channel determining functions of the channel meter¬ ing attachment shown in Figures 3A-3J; and, Figures 5-7 show examples of serial data communication buses currently used by digital re¬ ceivers. Detailed Description As shown in Figure 1, a metering system 10 includes a plurality of channel metering attachments 12 each of which monitors one of a variety of tun¬ able receivers within a household. For example, one channel metering attachment 12 monitors the channels to which a first television receiver 14 may be tuned, another channel metering attachment 12 moni¬ tors the channels to which a second television re¬ ceiver 16 may be tuned, and yet another channel metering attachment 12 monitors the channels to which a video cassette recorder 18 may be tuned. Because each of the tunable receivers 14, 16, and 18 may have different serial data communication bus configurations and different data formats, the chan¬ nel metering attachments 12 must preferably be pro- grammable in order to customize each channel meter¬ ing attachment 12 to the specific tunable receiver which it monitors. Each of the channel metering attachments 12 is connected to a home unit 20. The channel metering attachments 12 may be connected to the home unit 20 by way of a hard wire connection, by way of the power line carriers of the household in which the metering system 10 is installed, by way of in- frared communication channels, or the like. The home unit 20 collects and stores the channel, on- off, and other information related to the tuning of the receivers 14, 16, and 18, and periodically com¬ municates this information to a central facility over a communication channel 22. The communication channel 22 may be the public switched telephone system, a microwave communication system, or any other suitable communication system. The home unit 20 may be any device which is currently used in channel metering systems and which collects informa¬ tion from channel meters for periodic transmission to a central computer. As illustrated in Figure 2, a channel metering attachment 12 may include an isolation circuit 24 for receiving suitable inputs from a monitored receiver 25, such as the first television receiver 14, the second television receiver 16, or the video cassette recorder 18. The isolation cir¬ cuit 24 provides isolation between the signals of the monitored receiver 25 and signals of the channel metering attachment 12. The isolation circuit 24 receives the channel, on-off, and other information from the monitored receiver 25, and provides that information to a field programmable gate array 26 of the channel metering attachment 12. The field programmable gate array 26 is programmable in order to customize the channel me¬ tering attachment 12 to any of a plurality of digi¬ tal tunable receivers. Thus, the channel metering attachment 12 can be used to monitor nearly any format of serial digital data carried by nearly any configuration of serial data communication buses em¬ ployed by monitored receivers. The field programma¬ ble gate array 26 is connected to, and communicates with, a computer 28 of the channel metering attach¬ ment 12. The computer 28 of the channel metering attachment 12 is also connected to the home unit 20. At the time that the metering system 10 is installed within a cooperating household, the com- puter 28 of each channel metering attachment 12 may be connected to a programmer 30. The programmer 30 may be used to program the field programmable gate array 26 of each channel metering attachment 12 in order to customize each channel metering attachment 12 to the particular protocol, serial communication data bus, and serial digital data format of the monitored receiver to which each such channel meter¬ ing attachment 12 is connected. Thus, each channel metering attachment 12 shown in Figure 1 may be customized for its corresponding first television receiver 14, second television receiver 16, and video cassette recorder 18. The programmer 30, for example, may be a personal computer which stores the necessary config- urations for the field programmable gate array 26 so that a channel metering attachment 12 may be custom¬ ized to the various monitored receivers which may be encountered in cooperating households. At the time of installation, therefore, an installer merely con- nects the programmer 30 to the computer 28 of the channel metering attachment 12 in order to download the selected configuration to thereby properly pro¬ gram the field programmable gate array 26. The circuit illustrated in Figure 3A con- nects the computer 28 to the home unit 20. Power for the channel metering attachment 12 is provided by the home unit 20 over an input line 32. This power is supplied through a filter 34 to a voltage regulator 36. The output of the voltage regulator 36 is a source terminal 38 which provides power to the other positive terminals shown in Figures 3A-3J. Data is communicated between the home unit 20 and the channel metering attachment 12 over a communication line 40. The communication line 40 is connected through filters 42 and 44 to the input of an invertor 46. The output of the invertor 46 is connected through a terminal PIHO to a parallel I/O port A of the computer 28, as shown in Figures 3A and 3G. Data is communicated by the channel meter¬ ing attachment 12 to the home unit 20 over the same communication line 40. Accordingly, data from the parallel 1/0 port A of the computer 28 is supplied over a terminal POHI to the input of an invertor 48. The output of the invertor 48 is connected through the filter 42 to the communication line 40. The programmer 30 is connected to the computer 28 of the channel metering attachment 12 by way of lines 50, 52, 54, and 56. The line 50 may provide alternative power to the channel metering attachment 12 from the programmer 30 during the time that the programmer 30 is connected to the channel metering attachment 12. Data is communicated by the channel meter¬ ing attachment 12 to the programmer 30 over the line 52. A parallel I/O port D of the computer 28 of the channel metering attachment 12 supplies this data over a terminal TXD to an input of an invertor 58. The output of the invertor 58 is connected through a filter 60 to the line 52. Data is communicated by the programmer 30 to the channel metering attachment 12 over the line 54. The line 54 is connected through a filter 62 and through a filter 64 to an input of an invertor 66. The output of the invertor 66 is connected over a terminal RXD to the parallel 1/0 port D of the computer 28. Finally, the line 56 provides a BOOT/RESET signal from the programmer 30 over a terminal MODE A/B to the MODA and MODB pins of the computer 28. The BOOT/RESET signal is supplied to the terminal MODE A/B through a filter 68, an invertor 70, and an invertor 72. The BOOT/RESET signal on the line 56 is also provided through the filter 68, through the invertor 70, and through an invertor 74 to the volt¬ age regulator 36. Figure 3B illustrates the isolation cir- cuit 24 in additional detail. As shown in Figure 3B, the isolation circuit 24 includes a plurality of isolators 80, 82, 84, 86, 88, and 90. A plurality of isolators are provided so that the channel meter¬ ing attachment 12 may be connected to different receiver serial data communication bus configura¬ tions. Furthermore, one or more of the isolators 80-90 may be specifically arranged for higher data rates, one or more of the isolators 80-90 may be arranged for lower data rates, and the isolator 90 may be arranged to sample power supplied to one of the tunable receivers 14, 16, and 18 over the con¬ nection INTERFACE POWER so that the corresponding channel metering attachment 12 may determine whether the tunable receiver is on or off. Figure 3C illustrates an isolator which is arranged for higher data rates. This isolator, which may be, for example, the isolator 80 shown in Figure 3B, includes an optical isolator 92 having two channels. A first of the two channels of the optical isolator 92 receives an input over an input line 94. The input line 94, which may be connected to one line of a receiver serial data communication bus, is connected through a filter 96 and an inver¬ tor 98 to the optical isolator 92. This first chan- nel of the optical isolator 92 has an output, 10, which is connected to one input pin of the field programmable gate array 26 as shown in Figure 3H. A second of the two channels of the opti¬ cal isolator 92 receives an input over an input line 100. The input line 100, which may be connected to another line of the receiver serial data communica¬ tion bus, is connected through a filter 102 and an invertor 104 to the optical isolator 92. This sec¬ ond channel of the optical isolator 92 has an out- put, II, which is connected to another input pin of the field programmable gate array 26. Figure 3D illustrates an isolator which is arranged for slower data rates. This isolator, which may be, for example, the isolator 86 shown in Figure 3B, includes an optical isolator 106 having two channels. A first of the two channels of the optical isolator 106 receives an input over an input line 108. The input line 108, which may be connect¬ ed to one line of a receiver serial data communica- tion bus, is connected through a filter 110 and an invertor 112 to the optical isolator 106. This first channel of the optical isolator 106 provides an output through an invertor 114 to an output 16 which is connected to an input pin of the field programmable gate array 26. A second of the two channels of the opti¬ cal isolator 106 receives an input over an input line 116. The input line 116, which may be connect¬ ed to another line of the receiver serial data com- munication bus, is connected through a filter 118 and an invertor 120 to the optical isolator 106. This second channel of the optical isolator 106 provides an output through an invertor 122 to an output 17 which is connected to another input pin of the field programmable gate array 26. The input sides of the isolators 80-90 are provided with power through a terminal VDUM by the monitored receiver to which the channel metering at¬ tachment 12 is connected. Accordingly, as shown in Figure 3E, a line 130 is connected at one end to re¬ ceive power from the monitored receiver 25, and at another end through a filter 132 to a voltage regu¬ lator 134. The output of the voltage regulator 134 is connected to the terminal VDUM. The output sides of the isolators 80-90 are provided with power through terminals VCCA-VCCF by the channel metering attachment 12. As shown in Figures 3F and 3H, the terminals VCCA-VCCF connect outputs of a plurality of invertors 140, 142, 144, 146, 148 and 150 to the output sides of correspond- ing isolators 80-90. The inputs of the invertors 140-150 are connected to corresponding output lines 01-06 of the field programmable gate array 26. Accordingly, power is provided over the terminal VCCA to the output side of the isolator 80, power is provided over the terminal VCCB to the output side of the isolator 82, power is provided over the ter¬ minal VCCC to the output side of the isolator 84, power is provided over the terminal VCCD to the output side of the isolator 86, power is provided over the terminal VCCE to the output side of the isolator 88, and power is provided over the terminal VCCF to the output side of the isolator 90. The computer 28, and its connections to the field programmable gate array 26, its connec¬ tions to the home unit 20, and its connections to the programmer 30, are shown in more detail in Fig¬ ure 3G. The computer 28 may be a microprocessor, such as a Motorola 68HC811E2 microprocessor. The computer 28, as arranged herein, is capable of oper¬ ating in an expanded multiplex mode through the use of a demultiplexer 160 shown in Figure 31 in order to access more memory than is otherwise possible. In this mode, a parallel I/O port C (i.e., pins PC0- PC7) of the computer 28 may act as a low address byte for both the field programmable gate array 26 (see Figure 3H) and external memory units 162 and 164 (see Figures 31 and 3J) . The external memory unit 162 may be a 32K byte EEPROM (i.e., 32K x 8 bits) and the external memory unit 164 may be a 32K byte RAM (i.e., 32K x 8 bits). The parallel I/O port C of the computer 28 may also provide, and re¬ ceive, an eight bit data byte between itself, the field programmable gate array 26, and the external memory units 162 and 164. A parallel I/O port B (i.e., pins PB0-PB7) of the computer 28 is dedicated to the high address byte for the field programmable gate array 26 and the external memory units 162 and 164. The falling edge of the address strobe pulse on the AS pin of the computer 28 is used to latch addresses into the field programmable gate array 26 and the demultiplexer 160. This address strobe pulse pulses low, high, and then low again during the low half cycle of the ECCLK clock signal. On the other hand, data is placed on the data bus by the parallel I/O port C of the computer 28 during the high half cycle of the ECCLK clock signal. The parallel I/O ports A and D of the computer 28, in addition to providing for communication between the computer 28, the home unit 20, and the programmer 30, provide control functions between the computer 28 and the field programmable gate array 26. As shown in Figure 31, the demultiplexer 160 is used to demultiplex the low address byte and the data byte provided on the parallel I/O port C of the computer 28 under control of the address strobe pin AS. Addresses which appear on the parallel I/O ports B and C of the computer 28 during the low half cycle of the ECCLK clock signal provide addresses A0-A14 to the external memory units 162 and 164. Data on the parallel I/O port C of the computer 28 is transferred between the external memory units 162 and 164 and the field programmable gate array 26 over the data lines AD0-AD7 during the high half cycle of the ECCLK clock signal. The selection between the external memory units 162 and 164 is provided by the glue logic shown in Figures 31 and 3J. The expanded multiplex mode may be select¬ ed by the programmer 30. Accordingly, the program¬ mer 30 must hold the BOOT/RESET signal on the line 56 low for at least 8 clock periods of the ECCLK clock signal. At least two clock periods of the ECCLK clock signal before the BOOT/RESET signal from the programmer 30 is released, the mode select pins MODA/MODB must be in the desired state. As long as the BOOT/RESET signal on the line 56 is held low, the mode select pins MODA/MODB are held low. The BOOT/RESET signal on the line 56 must be released at least two microseconds before the signal on the RESET terminal is released. The timing capabilities of PC-DOS (the operating software of the programmer 30) do not allow such precise timing. Consequently, the signal on the RESET terminal must be held long enough to allow for the limitations of DOS. The BOOT/RESET signal on the line 56 is, therefore, held low for about 100 milliseconds to allow the computer 28 to enter the expanded multiplex mode. The delay of the signal on the RESET terminal beyond the re¬ lease of the BOOT/RESET signal on the line 56 is accomplished by proper selection of capacitors 166 shown in Figure 3A. The combined value of the ca¬ pacitors 166 may be, for example, lOOxlO -9 farads. The external memory unit 162 stores both the application software for the channel metering attachment 12 and the programmable logic software for programming the field programmable gate array 26. The configuration of the field programmable gate array 26 to customize it to the particular monitored receiver to which the channel metering attachment 12 is connected is controlled by the computer 28 in accordance with the programming logic sof ware stored in the external memory unit 162. This programming logic software is supplied by the programmer 30 at installation, and is stored in the external memory unit 162 under control of the com¬ puter 28. The external memory unit 164 is accessi- ble only after the programmable gate array 26 has been programmed by the programmable logic software stored in the external memory unit 162. Addressing of the external memory unit 162 should be un¬ restricted on power-up so that data can be both read out of, and written into, its memory locations. Selection of the external memory unit 162 is provided by a NAND gate 170 of the glue logic, and read/write control is provided by a NAND gate 172 of the glue logic. Chip selection for the ex- ternal memory unit 164 is provided by the field programmable gate array 26. Thus, channel and sta¬ tus information of the monitored receiver to which the channel metering attachment 12 is connected is decoded by the field programmable gate array 26 under control of the computer 28, and this informa- tion is stored in the external memory unit 164. Periodically, the information stored in the external memory unit 164 is accessed by the computer 28, and is supplied to the home unit 20. The field programmable gate array 26, as shown in more detail in Figure 3H, may be a Xilinx XC3090PC84, a Xilinx XC3030PC68, a Xilinx XC2064PC68, or the like. The choice of which of these devices is to be used for the field programma- ble gate array 26 depends upon the desirable size of the field programmable gate array 26. The field programmable gate array 26 is connected to the com¬ puter 28, to the external memory units 162 and 164 of the computer 28, and to the isolation circuit 24 by the terminals shown in Figure 3H. Appendix A shows how the field programmable gate array 26 may be programmed to customize the channel metering attachment 12 for a Zenith digital television which uses an Intermetall bus. A flow chart for the application software stored in the external memory unit 162 is shown in Figure 4. After the field programmable gate array 26 has been configured, and the computer 28 has been initialized so that the channel metering attachment 12 begins metering the monitored receiver to which it is connected, a block 200 determines whether an interrupt has been provided by the field programma¬ ble gate array 26. When a complete data packet from the serial data communication bus of the monitored receiver to which the channel metering attachment 12 is connected has been captured by a captured data register of the field programmable gate array 26, an interrupt is provided by the field programmable gate array 26 to the computer 28. If such an interrupt has not been provided, a complete data packet has not yet been captured by the captured data register of the field programmable gate array 26, and the computer 28 merely waits for an interrupt to be supplied to it by the field programmable gate array 26. When such an interrupt is supplied to the computer 28 by the field programmable gate array 26, a block 202 tests the data packet captured by the captured data register of the field programmable gate array 26 to determine whether the data packet contains an address indicating that the data in the data packet relates either to the status of the monitored receiver 25 or to the channel to which the monitored receiver 25 is tuned. For example, the block 202 may test the data packet captured by the captured data register of the field programmable gate array 26 to determine whether the address con¬ tained in the data packet is the address of the tuner of the monitored receiver 25. If this address is the address of the tuner, then the data following that address is channel data instructing the tuner which channel has been selected. Alternatively, or additionally, since many monitored receivers provide digital displays of the channels to which the tuners of the monitored receivers are tuned, the block 202 may test to determine whether the address in the data packet captured by the captured data register of the field programmable gate array 26 is the ad¬ dress of the display which digitally displays the channel number of the selected channel. If so, the data information following the display address in the data packet captured by the captured data regis¬ ter of the field programmable gate array 26 is chan¬ nel information. If the address in the data packet captured by the captured data register of the field program¬ mable gate array 26 does not indicate that the data packet also contains channel (or status) informa¬ tion, then the computer 28 waits for the next inter- rupt from the field programmable gate array 26. On the other hand, if the address in the data packet captured by the captured data register of the field programmable gate array 26 does indicate that the data packet also contains channel (or status) infor- mation, a block 204 causes that channel (or status) information contained in the data packet to be read and stored in the external memory unit 164. If the data packet also includes the address of the compo¬ nent within the monitored receiver 25 which is the source of data packet, the block 204 may also cause that address to be read in order to identify the source of the data packet. Thereafter, a block 206 causes the comput¬ er 28 to supply an acknowledgement to the field programmable gate array 26. This acknowledgement clears the captured data packet from the captured data register of the field programmable gate array 26. A block 208 then determines whether it is time to transmit the information stored in the ex¬ ternal memory unit 164 to the home unit 20. If it is not yet time to transmit that information, the program returns to wait for the next interrupt to be supplied to the computer 28 by the field programma- ble gate array 26. On the other hand, if it is time to transmit the information stored in the external memory unit 164 to the home unit 20, a block 210 causes that information to be accessed from the external memory unit 164 and to be transmitted to the home unit 20. Figures 5-7 show examples of the serial data communication bus arrangements used in digital receivers. For example, some receivers use a latch¬ ing serial shift register bus configuration as shown in Figure 5 wherein a computer, such as a micro¬ controller, communicates with various components 1-N of a receiver over a serial data communication bus which includes a clock line, a data line, and latch lines 1-N. Accordingly, each line of the serial data communication bus shown in Figure 5 is connect¬ ed to a corresponding input of the isolators 80-90. An inter integrated circuit (I C) bus used by certain Phillips digital receivers is shown in Figure 6. The I 2 C bus includes a clock line and a data line. Accordingly, each line of the I 2 C bus shown in Figure 6 is connected to a corresponding input of the isolators 80-90. Therefore, two of the inputs of the isolators 80-90 are used to connect the channel metering attachment 12 to the I 2 C bus shown in Figure 6. The Intermetall (IM) bus of IIT is shown in Figure 7. This bus includes a clock line, a data line, and an Ident line. The Ident line of the IM bus is held low during the address portion of the data packets carried on the data line. Each line of the IM bus shown in Figure 7 is connected to a cor¬ responding input of the isolators 80-90. Therefore, three of the inputs of the isolators 80-90 are used to connect the channel metering attachment 12 to the IM bus shown in Figure 7. Accordingly, the channel metering attach¬ ment 12 is capable of monitoring serial data commu¬ nication buses of digital receivers in order to determine the channels to which the receivers are tuned. The channel metering attachment 12 is also programmable so as to be customized to the different serial data communication bus and data structures used by digital receivers. Modifications of the attachment according to the present invention may be made without departing from the scope of the inven¬ tion as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. _ 3£ ιrεεo/s6sα/X3d 90I9Z/S6 OΛV ;Pins Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 AO Al A4 NC A8 A9 AlO All A12 A13 A14 NC ;Pins Number 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ECLK ACK CEl CEO IOR IOW SL2 SLl SLO RW NC RW RW RW )A0 A4 A4 A4 SEL2=(/A4+(/RW*/Al) ) SELl=((Al*RW)+(/RW*A4*/Al)) SEL0=(A0+(/RW*/A4) ) Input combinations STRING IOENA ' (/A15 * /A14 * /A13 * /A12 * /All * /AlO * /A9 * A8 * ECLK) ' STRING SEL2 ' (/A4 + (/RW * /Al) ) ' STRING SEL1 • ( (Al * RW) + (/RW * A4 * /Al) ) • STRING SELO ' ( AO + (/RW * /A4) ) ' STRING ACKNOWLEDGE «A4 * /Al * AO * RW 1 ;ACK (Read IMS1) STRING EEPROM • (A15 * A14 * A13 * A12 * All)' ;Internal EEPROM F800-FFFF EQUATIONS SL0= SELO SL1= SEL1 SL2= SEL2 CE0= A15 * /EEPROM ;High 32K, Active high output CE1= /(/A15 * ECLK * /IOENA) ;Low 32K, Active low output ACK= IOENA * ACKNOWLEDGE ;Read IMS1 IOW= /(IOENA * /RW) ;Latch LEDs " ^= /(IOENA * RW) ;Tri-State bus interface

Claims: AMENDED CLAIMS [received by the International Bureau on 25 July 1995 (25.07.95); original claims 2,3,5,8,13,16,22,24 and 30 amended; remaining claims unchanged (11 pages)] 1. An attachment for metering channels to which a receiver is tuned, the receiver having a serial data communication bus for carrying serial data between components of the receiver, the attach¬ ment comprising: channel determining means for determining a channel to which the receiver is tuned, the chan¬ nel determining means determining the channel in response to the serial data; connecting means for connecting the chan¬ nel determining means to the serial data communica¬ tion bus of the receiver; and, means connected to the channel determining means for carrying an output identifying the channel to which the receiver is tuned. 2. The attachment of claim 1 wherein the channel determining means comprises means for read¬ ing an address from the digital serial data and for reading channel data associated with the address if the address indicates that data associated with the address is channel data. 3. The attachment of claim 2 wherein the connecting means comprises isolating means for iso¬ lating the channel determining means from the serial data bus of the receiver. 4. The attachment of claim 2 wherein the connecting means comprises a plurality of line con¬ necting means for connecting the channel determining means to a selectable number of lines of the serial data communication bus. 5. The attachment of claim 4 wherein at least two of the plurality of line connecting means operate at different data rates. 6. The attachment of claim 5 wherein each line connecting means of the plurality of line connecting means comprises isolating means for iso¬ lating the channel determining means from the lines of the serial data communication bus. 7. The attachment of claim 1 wherein the connecting means comprises a plurality of line con- necting means for connecting the channel determining means to a selectable number of lines of the serial data communication bus. 8. The attachment of claim 7 wherein at least two of the plurality of line connecting means operate at different data rates. 9. A metering system comprising: receiving means for receiving a plurality of broadcast signals over a corresponding plurality of channels, the receiving means having a serial data communication bus for carrying serial data between components of the receiving means; channel determining means for determining a channel to which the receiving means is tuned, the channel determining means determining the channel in response to the serial data; connecting means for connecting the chan¬ nel determining means to the serial data communica¬ tion bus of the receiving means; and, means connected to the channel determining means for carrying an output identifying the channel to which the receiving means is tuned. 10. The attachment of claim 9 wherein the channel determining means comprises means for read¬ ing an address from the serial data and for reading channel data associated with the address if the address indicates that data associated with the address is channel data. 11. The attachment of claim 10 wherein the connecting means comprises isolating means for isolating the channel determining means from the serial data communication bus of the receiving means. 12. The attachment of claim 10 wherein the connecting means comprises a plurality of line connecting means for connecting the channel deter- mining means to a selectable number of lines of the serial data communication bus. 13. The attachment of claim 12 wherein at least two of the plurality of line connecting means operate at different data rates. 14. The attachment of claim 13 wherein each line connecting means of the plurality of line connecting means comprises isolating means for iso¬ lating the channel determining means from the lines of the serial data communication bus. 15. An attachment for metering channels to which a selected receiver is tuned, the selected receiver being selected from among a plurality of different receivers, each of the plurality of dif- ferent receivers having a unique serial data commu¬ nication bus for carrying serial data between compo¬ nents thereof, the attachment comprising: channel determining means for determining a channel to which the selected receiver is tuned, the channel determining means determining the chan¬ nel in response to the serial data carried by the serial data communication bus of the selected re¬ ceiver; connecting means for connecting the chan- nel determining means to the serial data communica¬ tion bus of the selected receiver; customizing means connected to the channel determining means and to the connecting means for customizing the attachment to the selected receiver so that the serial data of the selected receiver can be decoded by the attachment; and, means connected to the channel determining means for carrying an output identifying the channel to which the selected receiver is tuned. 16. The attachment of claim 15 wherein the connecting means comprises a plurality of line connecting means for connecting the channel deter¬ mining means to a selectable number of lines of the serial data communication bus, the selectable number being dependent upon which of the plurality of dif¬ ferent receivers is selected as the selected receiv¬ er. 17. The attachment of claim 16 wherein the customizing means comprises a programmable gate array. 18. The attachment of claim 17 wherein the channel determining means comprises storing means for storing a program for programming the programmable gate array so that the programmable gate array is customized to the selected receiver. 19. The attachment of claim 15 wherein the channel determining means comprises means for reading an address from the serial data and for reading channel data associated with the address if the address indicates that data associated with the address is channel data. 20. The attachment of claim 19 wherein the customizing means comprises a programmable gate array. 21. The attachment of claim 20 wherein the channel determining means comprises storing means for storing a program for programming the programmable gate array so that the programmable gate array is customized to the selected receiver. 22. The attachment of claim 21 wherein the connecting means comprises a plurality of line connecting means for connecting the channel deter¬ mining means to a selectable number of lines of the serial data communication bus, the selectable number being dependent upon which of the plurality of dif¬ ferent receivers is selected as the selected receiv¬ er. 23. The attachment of claim 22 wherein the connecting means comprises isolating means for isolating the channel determining means from the serial data communication bus of the selected re- ceiver. 24. The attachment of claim 22 wherein at least two of the plurality of line connecting means operate at different data rates. 25. The attachment of claim 24 wherein each line connecting means of the plurality of line connecting means comprises isolating means for iso¬ lating the channel determining means from the lines of the serial data communication bus of the selected receiver. 26. The attachment of claim 15 wherein the means for carrying an output is connected to a home unit, the home unit receiving the output iden¬ tifying the channel to which the selected receiver is tuned. 27. The attachment of claim 15 wherein the connecting means comprises first connecting means for connecting the channel determining means to the serial data communication bus of the selected receiver, wherein the connecting means further com¬ prises second connecting means for connecting the channel determining means to an installation port so that the customizing means may be customized by an installer. 28. The attachment of claim 27 wherein the customizing means comprises a programmable gate array. 29. The attachment of claim 28 wherein the channel determining means comprises storing means for storing a program for programming the programmable gate array so that the programmable gate array is customized to the selected receiver. 30. The attachment of claim 29 wherein the connecting means further comprises third con- necting means for connecting the channel determining means to indicators. 31. The attachment of claim 30 wherein the means for carrying an output is connected to a home unit, the home unit receiving the output iden¬ tifying the channel to which the selected receiver is tuned. 32. The attachment of claim 15 wherein the customizing means comprises a programmable gate array. 33. The attachment of claim 32 wherein the channel determining means comprises storing means for storing a program for programming the programmable gate array so that the programmable gate array is customized to the selected receiver. 34. The attachment of claim 15 wherein the channel determining means comprises storing means for storing a program for programming the customizing means so that the customizing means is customized to the selected receiver. 35. The attachment of claim 15 wherein the channel determining means comprises means for determining, from the serial data carried by the serial data bus, an address of a component of the selected receiver. 36. The attachment of claim 35 wherein the address is an address of a component which is a source of the serial data from which the address is determined. AMENDED SHEFT(ARTICLE 19)

Inventors: FRETT KENNETH J, MADUZIA KENNETH S, VITT JAMES J, FRETT, KENNETH, J., MADUZIA, KENNETH, S., VITT, JAMES, J.
Applicants: NIELSEN A C CO, A.C. NIELSEN COMPANY
Application year: 1995
Main classification: H04N7
IPC codes: H04H1, H04H60, H04N7, H04N17