Patent Publication Number: US-2019173590-A1

Title: Sonic signaling communication for user devices

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Communication with electronic user devices has become a large part of everyday life. For many people, user devices such as mobile telephones, laptops, and tablet computers are an integral part of their life. Also, many people are often recipients of broadcast content provided by television and radio networks, cable companies, internet web sites, and a variety of closed circuit systems. Broadcasters of content typically strive to improve communication with recipients for a wide variety of reasons and use a wide variety of tactics to effect the desired communication improvements. Similarly, recipients of a content broadcast may desire a better content receiving experience. For example, television broadcasters may want to improve viewer reception of advertisements, while viewers may want to receive more highly relevant content from advertisements. Many systems are presently available for optimizing the available communication channels and communication techniques have been implemented by broadcasters of content, however, the current content delivery methods employed in the prior art may be further improved as presently disclosed. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure provides a new and innovative system, methods and apparatus for sonic signaling communication. In one example embodiment, a broadcast device transmits a sonic signal including an audible signal component including primary information and an inaudible signal component including secondary information. The primary information is audibly transmitted from the broadcast device for reception by a user. The inaudible signal component is received by a user device configured to take an action responsive to the receipt of the secondary information. 
     Additional features and advantages of the disclosed method and apparatus are described in, and will be apparent from, the following Detailed Description and the Figures. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  is a high level block diagram of an example communication system, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a detailed block diagram showing an example of a communication device, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  includes a flowchart illustrating an example process for sonic signaling communication, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a high level block diagram of an example communication system, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a high level block diagram of an example communication system, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  provides an illustration of an example user interface displaying user content, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS 
     The present disclosure relates in general to a communication system and, in particular, to a system, methods, and apparatus for communication using sonic signaling. Briefly, in an example embodiment, a system is provided which transmits a message from a traditional broadcast to a user device using wireless communication. For example, a television wirelessly sends data to a user and a mobile phone using sonic signaling. In one example embodiment, the sonic signaling may include a signal portion that is within a frequency range that is inaudible to a typical human, but can be understood by the mobile phone. It should be appreciated that humans above the age of eight are generally unable to sense sounds above approximately 18 kHz, but microphones in user devices can typically detect frequencies of up to 22.05 kHz or 24 kHz. Also, broadcast device speakers, even cheaper commodity speakers or stock speakers, can typically produce sounds above 20 kHz. Accordingly, the sonic signaling may include an audible portion for humans and an inaudible portion recognizable by machines but not within the normal hearing range of a typical human. 
     In an example embodiment, the broadcast device (e.g., a television) may be playing an advertisement which is part of the programming content (e.g., a television show), and the sonic signal broadcast by a speaker includes an audible track, such as music and a voiceover, and an inaudible data signal which is received by a microphone of a user device (e.g., mobile phone). The user hears the audible track and the user device performs an action based on the received inaudible machine signal, such as displaying a text message, providing rewards points to the user, accessing a web page, or storing a coupon. In a preferred embodiment, a machine signal intended for reception at the user device is entirely inaudible to humans. As further discussed below, it should be appreciated that the disclosed sonic signaling communication provides many benefits to content providers and broadcasters of content as well as recipients of broadcasted content. 
     A high level block diagram of an example communication system  100  is illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The illustrated example communication system  100  includes a plurality of communication devices  101 , including a broadcast content server  102 , a broadcast device  104 , a user device  106 , and a user content server  108 . 
     A broadcast content server  102  may be, for example, a content server of a television broadcasting network, a radio broadcasting network, a web site, a movie production company, or any type of closed system video and/or audio providing service. A broadcast content server  102  may be a high end computer with a large storage capacity, one or more fast microprocessors, and one or more components for broadcasting content via a variety of mediums. A broadcast content server  102  may be configured according to a particular operating system, application, memory, hardware, transmitter, etc., and may provide various options for managing the execution of broadcasting programs and applications, as well as various administrative tasks. 
     A broadcast device  104  may be, for example, a television, a radio or stereo system, a movie theater system, a closed circuit video and/or audio system, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone, etc. A broadcast device  104  typically receives data representing an audio and/or visual broadcast via a signal (e.g., radio frequency signal, cable signal, satellite signal, IPTV signal) or a computer readable medium (e.g., CD, DVD, memory card). A broadcast device  104  broadcasts content for user consumption, typically including video content and/or audio content. For example, a television may display programming images from a network broadcaster or a DVD, while also actuating one or more speakers for an audible portion of the programming. A user  110  may watch the visual portion of the programming and listen to the audible portion of the programming. It should be appreciated that a broadcast device  104  may include multiple components (e.g., screen, set top box, digital video recorder, speakers), typically connected with wires. It should also be appreciated that data received as a broadcast signal may be temporarily stored on a computer readable medium (e.g., random access memory). 
     A user device  106  may be, for example, a mobile device, such as a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant or PDA, a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet computer, or a desktop computer, as well as any other user devices. The user device  106  is used by a user  110  for any of a wide variety of tasks or functions, including business uses and recreational uses. The user device  106  typically includes, for example, a display, a speaker, and a microphone. Typically, a microphone would receive voice signals from a user or some other sonic signals which a user would wish to record. The user device  106  may have a connection to one or more communications channels such as the Internet or some other voice and/or data network, including, but not limited to, any suitable wide area network or local area network. 
     A user content server  108  may be, for example, a web server that receives a shortened uniform resource locator (“URL”) and serves a web page to a user  110  by processing the shortened URL to return a web page. For example, a customized web page may be provided to a user  110  based on identifying information from the user device  106  which allows the user content server  108  to provide a customized experience for the user  110 . Also, for example, a user content server may generate an email message or SMS text message to the user  110 . A user content server  108  may be a high end computer with a large storage capacity, one or more fast microprocessors, and one or more high speed network connections. A user content server  108  may be configured according to a particular operating system, application, memory, hardware, network, etc., and may provide various options for managing the execution of programs and applications, as well as various administrative tasks. A user content server  108  typically stores one or more of a plurality of files, programs, databases, and/or web pages in one or more memories for use by user devices  106 . 
     It should be appreciated that the example communications system  100  is illustrated using a single device for each stage of the communication system, however, the illustrated devices may be representative of a plurality of devices. For example, the communications system  100  may include a plurality of different broadcast content servers  102 , a plurality of different broadcast devices  104 , a plurality of different a user devices  106 , and/or a plurality of different user content servers  108 . For example, a single broadcast content server  102  may communicate with many broadcast devices  104 , and a single broadcast device  104  may communicate with many broadcast content servers  102  and/or many user devices  106 . Likewise, for example, a single user device  106  may communicate with many broadcast devices  104  and/or many user content servers  108 , and a single user content server  108  may communicate with many user devices  106 . Further, for example, a broadcast content server  102  and a user content server  108  may communicate with each other. In an example embodiment, a single server system may perform the functions of the broadcast content server  102  and the user content server  108 . 
     A detailed block diagram of the electrical systems of an example communication device  101  is illustrated in  FIG. 2 . In this example, the communication device  101  includes a main unit  202  which preferably includes one or more processors  204  electrically coupled by an address/data bus  206  to one or more memory devices  208 , other computer circuitry  210 , and one or more interface circuits  212 . The processor  204  may be any suitable processor, such as a microprocessor from the INTEL PENTIUM® family of microprocessors. The memory  208  preferably includes volatile memory and non-volatile memory. Preferably, the memory  208  stores a software program that interacts with the other devices in the communication system  100  as further described below. This program may be executed by the processor  204  in any suitable manner. The memory  208  may also store digital data indicative of documents, files, programs, web pages, etc. received from a communication device  101 . Other computer circuitry  210  may include a wide variety of hardware components including ASICs, or other specialized circuitry for manipulating data in a specific format, such as streaming video data. 
     The interface circuits  212  may be implemented using any suitable interface standard and/or protocol including, for example, an ATSC interface, a WiFi interface, a Bluetooth interface, an Ethernet interface and/or a Universal Serial Bus interface. The interface circuits may interact with one or more communication networks  213 , as well as one or more local components. It should be appreciated that many communication devices  101  may have multiple interface channels which may be used simultaneously or alternatively used. One or more input devices  214  may be connected to the interface circuits  212  for entering data and commands into the main unit  202 . For example, the input devices  214  may be a keypad, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, track pad, track ball, isopoint, remote controller, and/or a voice recognition system. 
     One or more speakers, displays, printers, and/or other output devices  216  may also be connected to the main unit  202  via the interface circuits  212 . The speaker may include a single speaker or a multi-speaker system. The display  112  may be a liquid crystal display or any other type of display. The speaker and display may generate an audio-visual content for a user  110  or administrator during operation of the communication devices  101 . For example, the output devices  216  may act as a user interface that provides one or more web pages received from a communication device  101 . A user interface may also include prompts for human input from a user  110  via input devices  214  including links, buttons, tabs, checkboxes, thumbnails, text fields, etc., and may provide various outputs in response to the user inputs, such as still images, videos, audio, animations, and text. 
     One or more storage devices  218  may also be connected to the main unit  202  via the interface circuits  212 . For example, a hard drive, CD drive, DVD drive, and/or other storage devices may be connected to the main unit  202 . The storage devices  218  may store any type of data, such as image data, video data, audio data, tagging data, historical access or usage data, statistical data, security data, etc., which may be used by the communication device  101 . A storage device  218  may be manufactured as a mass produced item, be custom generated and/or be modified by a communication device  101 . 
     The communication device  101  may also transmit, receive, or exchange data with other network devices  220  via a communication network  213 . A network device  220  may be a different communication device  101  as illustrated in  FIG. 1 , or any other device accessible via a communication network  213 . Network devices  220  may include one or more servers  226 , which may be used to store certain types of data, and particularly large volumes of data, for example, video data stored in one or more data repository  222 . However, a server  226  may include any kind of data  224  including programs, files, libraries, configuration data, index or tagging data, historical access or usage data, statistical data, security data, etc. A server  226  may store and operate various applications relating to receiving, transmitting, processing, and storing the large volumes of data. It should be appreciated that various configurations of one or more servers  226  may be used to support and maintain the communication system  100 . Also, certain data may be stored in a communication device  101  which is also stored on the server  226 , either temporarily or permanently, for example in memory  208  or storage device  218 . The network connection may be any type of network connection, such as a cellular or wireless connection, an Ethernet connection, digital subscriber line, telephone line, coaxial cable, etc. Access to a communication device  101  can be controlled by appropriate security software or security measures. An individual users&#39;  110  access can be defined by the communication device  101  and limited to certain data and/or actions. Accordingly, users  110  and/or administrators of the communication system  100  may be required to register with one or more communication device  101 . For example, registered users  110  or administrators may be able to manipulate data, such as by storing, editing, tagging, uploading, transmitting data or video content, rating content, suggesting content to other users  110 , etc. 
     As noted previously, various options for managing data located within a communication device  101  and/or in a server  226  may be implemented. A management system may manage security of data and accomplish various tasks such as facilitating a data backup process. A management system may be implemented in communication device  101  and/or in an external server  226 . Accordingly, the management system may update, store, and back up data locally and/or remotely using any suitable method of data transmission, such as the Internet or any other communication network  213 . 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart of an example process  300  for providing sonic signaling communication. Although the process  300  is described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in  FIG. 3 , it will be appreciated that many other methods of performing the acts associated with the process  300  may be used. For example, intervening processes or sub-processes may occur, the order of some of the blocks may be changed, and some of the blocks described are optional. 
     The example process  300  may begin with receiving, at a broadcast device, data representative of a sonic signal including an audible signal component having primary information and an inaudible signal component having secondary information (block  302 ). For example, a television receives a radio frequency (“RF”) signal including video and audio components, the audio component including the audible portion of the television programming and an inaudible portion with additional information for reception by a user device. Typically, a broadcast device  104  may automatically demodulate and/or decode data which was previously modulated and/or encoded by a broadcaster of content or content distributor to broadcast the content to users  110 . It should be appreciated that a television, or any other broadcast device  104 , may receive signals to broadcast content using any one of a variety of standard formats or protocols including signals received via cables from a computer readable medium instead of via RF communication. The primary information may include any audible content which may be presented to the user, while the secondary information may include any additional content which may be received by the user device  106 . For example, secondary information could include a text string, a URL, a shortened URL, or any other type of message only subject to the amount of data being delivered in the secondary information, which may be bound by technical considerations. It should be appreciated that a message may be broken down into subparts to be communicated as secondary information over time. 
     Once the data representative of the sonic signal has been received, the example process  300  may continue with generating, at a broadcast device, a sonic signal including an audible signal component including primary information and an inaudible signal component including secondary information (block  304 ). For example, a television may demodulate the received RF signal to generate a sonic signal including an audible portion below 18 kHz and an inaudible portion in the range of 18 kHz to 22 kHz. It should be appreciated that an inaudible portion as used herein refers to a sonic signal that is generally inaudible to typical human being over the age of eight years old. A signal may be inaudible because it is of a frequency which is not within the typical hearing range, or because the amplitude of the signal is too low, or a combination of these factors. To the extent that a human would be able to hear the machine signal which carries the secondary information, it is preferable for many applications that the noise heard would be minimally noticeable so as to not destroy the user&#39;s  110  ability to receive the primary information provided in the sonic signal. In an example embodiment, a user  110  may be able to hear a machine signal which includes secondary information and is generally audible. However, there are a variety of techniques which may be employed to provide the secondary information inaudibly, as discussed in further detail below. Also, it should be appreciated that demodulation of RF signals or other inputs to a television may follow various standards and protocols. Typically, an audio signal is generated or converted into in a standard format which is useable by a television. An audio signal may be stored in any format including, for example, MP2, MP3, AC-3, AAC, or HE-AAC. 
     The example process  300  may continue with transmitting, from a broadcast device, a sonic signal including an audible signal component and an inaudible signal component (block  306 ). For example, a single television speaker produces the audible portion and the inaudible portion of the sonic signal. It should be appreciated that a sonic signal is typically transmitted by actuating a speaker to propagate the sonic signal through the air to a receiver (e.g., human ear, microphone). A single television speaker may be a commodity speaker, or stock speaker, which is included in the television. Alternatively, more than one speaker may be used, for example, current televisions are typically used with multiple speakers and may provide a stereo or other multi-speaker surround sound arrangement. For example, a television may transmit the received visual and audio signals of a programming signal from a network broadcast company in the standard manner, for example, by demodulating and/or decoding data which has been modulated and/or encoded in an RF signal for display on a screen and transmission through a speaker. 
     Next, the example process  300  may continue with receiving the primary information in the audible portion of the sonic signal (block  308 ). For example, a user  110  hears the audible portion of an advertisement. The primary information may be any information which would normally be presented in audible form to a user  110  listening to the broadcast device  104 . 
     In response to the transmission of the sonic signal, the example process  300  may continue with, receiving the inaudible portion of the sonic signal at a user device (block  310 ). For example, a microphone of a mobile phone detects the inaudible portion of the sonic signal, for example, during an advertisement. The inaudible portion of the sonic signal may then be stored and deciphered in the mobile phone. In an example embodiment, the inaudible sonic signal may be provided during normal program content as opposed to a commercial break, for example, in relation to a product placement. 
     The mobile phone may have an application which periodically polls the microphone to check for the presence of sound waves, for example, in the 18 to 22.05 kHz range. If found, the software may demodulate and/or decode the inaudible portion of the sonic signal in reverse to the prior modulation and/or encoding of the secondary information as the inaudible sonic signal. For example, the secondary information may be modulated using spread spectrum techniques, such as frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) or direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS). Using spread spectrum techniques may allow for weaker signals to be received by using a wider bandwidth. In an alternative example embodiment using spread spectrum techniques, one or more frequencies below 18 kHz may be used in the inaudible signal component of the sonic signal. It should be appreciated that, even though these frequencies are audible to most humans, the use of spread spectrum techniques may mask the machine signal. For example, using spread spectrum techniques may allow for use of lower power levels than would be perceivable by a human who is simultaneously listening to an audible signal. 
     Next, example process  300  may proceed with the user device  106  taking an action based on the secondary information of the inaudible portion of the sonic signal (block  312 ). For example, the mobile phone determines the secondary information is a URL and uses the URL to access a web site that relates to the advertisement the user is listening to via a cellular network. The user device  106  may be programmed to take a wide variety of actions, including displaying a visual or audible message to the user  110  immediately or at a later time, opening or accessing an application, storing data in local or remote memory, etc. The user device  106  may take an action without communicating with any other device, for example, the user device  106  may simply display a text message to the user  110 . In an example embodiment, the user device  106  does not display anything to the user  110 , but may update a user account, such as a rewards points account. For example, if a user watches a television program, awards points or rewards points may be awarded during the television programming. In an example embodiment, the points may only be awarded if the user device receives the secondary information from the sonic signal which is provided during commercial advertisements. Also, it may be preferable to broadcasters of content that viewers or listeners receive the programming in real-time. In an example embodiment, the secondary information may need to be received by the user device  106  in real-time in order to provide any benefit to the user  110 . 
     It should be appreciated that the example process  300  may be ongoing continuously or intermittently. For example, sonic signal components including secondary information may be sent occasionally during the course of a television program. In an example embodiment, each commercial advertisement may have secondary information which is transmitted during the advertisement. It should be appreciated that the duration of the transmission of the secondary information may be based on the amount of data sent and other factors. For example, a message may be sent many times within a short period of time to ensure the user device  106  can reliably receive the message. 
     A high level block diagram of an example communication system  400  is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . The illustrated example communication system  400  includes a plurality of communication devices  101 , including a network content server system  402 , a television set  406 , a mobile phone  410 , and a user content web server  414 . 
     The network content server system  402  could be a television broadcast station server storing television programming including commercial advertisements, promotional material, and the like. The network content server system  402  may include servers storing content and programming data, equipment for modulating and transmitting a broadcast signal with video and audio signal components, for example, including an encoder and a broadcast antenna. It should be appreciated that video and audio data can be transmitted using standard RF communication formats and protocols which are known in the industry. 
     The network content server system  402  may add the audible portion of a program to a data signal which includes secondary information. For example, the secondary information is a message for a user  110 , which may include a character string which is digitally encoded as a series of bits, which is modulated as an inaudible signal. Encoding and/or modulating of secondary information may be performed using a black box service. A URL which may be encoded and modulated according to a predefined protocol and added to an audible signal with primary information, to form a sonic signal which when reproduced by a broadcast device  104 , such as television set  406 , will transmit an audible portion including primary information and an inaudible portion including secondary information. A black box service might begin its processing by shortening a URL using a service such as Bit.ly™. The resulting shortened URL may be converted into a binary format which may be modulated according to any of a variety of techniques to generate an audio file. A spread spectrum modulation technique may be preferred for certain applications, because increased security may be attainable with reception of relatively weaker signals. Accordingly, the audio file may include one or more ultrasonic frequencies and may be stored in a variety of formats. A black box service may be provided, for example, entirely by a third party, performed on a third party server, or may be performed entirely within the network content server system  402 . Once the network content server system  402  has generated a signal to transmit, the signal may be transmitted as an RF signal  404 . 
     The television set  406  may receive and process RF signal  404  using standard techniques and processes. For example, the RF signal  404  may be demodulated to provide video and audio components. It should be appreciated that an RF signal may be transmitted via a variety of mediums (e.g., air, fiber optic cable, coaxial cable). It should also be appreciated that a television signal may be a digital data signal that is not an RF signal (e.g. TCP/IP data packets, FiOS). The television set  406  may display the video signal on a screen and produce a sonic signal  408  using a speaker. The sonic signal  408  may include an audible portion which may be heard by a user  110 , and an inaudible portion which may be received by a mobile phone  410 . The television set  406  may supplement or modify the inaudible sonic signal component received by the network content server system  402 . For example, if the inaudible sonic signal includes secondary information which is customizable, the television set  406 , or any other broadcast device  104 , may insert or embed additional data into the inaudible sonic signal prior to transmission to the mobile phone  410 , or any other user device  106 . If an inaudible sonic signal includes a variable which allows for custom information to be inserted, and no custom information is available, a stock message may be provided in the inaudible sonic signal. Also, the television set  406  may insert an inaudible signal component if no inaudible sonic signal component is received from the network content server system  402 . For example, an advertisement for the television brand or manufacturer may occasionally be transmitted via an inaudible sonic signal. 
     The mobile phone  410  may be, for example, the user&#39;s  110  cellular phone or laptop computer. As discussed above, a mobile phone  410  may check for an inaudible sonic signal using an application, for example, by periodically polling the microphone. It should be appreciated that similar software may run on any mobile phone  410  that has an operating system that allows access to a microphone (e.g., iOS, Android, Blackberry OS, webOS, Windows Phone 7, Symbian). Software running on the mobile phone  410  may be a native application or a third-party application developed using libraries developed for use with the mobile phone  410 . In the latter case, a “white label” application may be created or a software development kit may be distributed for implementing the system. 
     Once an inaudible sonic signal is detected, software on the mobile phone  410  may attempt to demodulate the inaudible sonic signal using the reverse process of the modulating technique used. If an inaudible sonic signal is successfully demodulated, the resulting signal may represent the binary form of the input information, for example, a shortened URL. If only a unique key portion of a URL has been transmitted, a full URL may be recreated, for example, by prepending a protocol and domain name to the unique key. In order to allow for message customization, the software on the mobile phone  410  may optionally append unique identifiers to a recreated URL. In an example embodiment, a user ID, a geolocation coordinate, and/or a device ID may be appended to the URL in the form of URL parameters. The full URL may then be sent to a user content web server  414 , for example, as a mobile data connection or a WiFi connection illustrated as RF signal  412 . Optionally, a request, for example, a URL or shortened URL, may be transmitted using a secure protocol such as HTTPS. Further, in an example embodiment, the mobile phone  410  may not send any requests to external devices or servers, and may provide a user  110  with user content from memory or the data received in an inaudible sonic signal. 
     The user content web server  414  receive a request from a mobile phone  410 , or any user device  106 . For example, the user content web server  414  may receive a shortened URL, expand the URL, and then return the response to the mobile phone  410 . For example, if a request was made for a website, the mobile phone  410  may launch a browser to display the website page. In an example embodiment, the resource identified by a URL may be a web service, and the data returned to a mobile phone  410  may be processed before being displayed to the user  110 . In an example embodiment, third party applications may be launched by the mobile phone  410 . A user content web server  414  may perform a wide variety of tasks based on the received RF signal  412 , and accordingly, may be usefully implemented to provide substantial benefits to users  110 . For example, the user content web server  414  may provide customized content, for example, rewards points may be credited to a user account and a customized message may be returned to the mobile phone  410 . 
     It should be appreciated that if the mobile phone&#39;s  410  reception of the sonic signal  408  is impeded by obstructions between the television set  406  and the mobile phone  410 , the sonic signal  408  may not be reliably received. For example, the mobile phone  410  may have trouble receiving the inaudible component of the sonic signal  408  if the mobile phone  410  is in the user&#39;s  110  pocket. It should be appreciated that the robustness of the system may be modified or adjusted based on the application at hand. 
     A high level block diagram of an example communication system  500  is illustrated in  FIG. 5 . The illustrated example communication system  500  includes a plurality of communication devices  101 , including a DVD production content system  502 , a stereo system  506 , a laptop computer  510 , and a user content web server  514 . These communication devices  101  are similar to the exemplary network content server system  402 , television set  406 , mobile phone  410 , and user content web server  414 , which were described above in relation to  FIG. 4 . 
     The DVD production content system  502  may produce a DVD  504  including content such as movies, music, video games, software, etc. An audio file stored on a DVD  504  may have an inaudible signal with secondary information added to the primary audio information. For example, a movie stored on a DVD  504  may include an advertisement or message relating to a new sequel. For example, a music DVD  504  may include artist and track information which may be transmitted with the music. Also, a DVD  504  may include software which may be run locally at a broadcast device, for adding an inaudible signal to an audible signal as described above. It should be appreciated that the DVD production content system  502  may produce computer readable media, other than DVDs  504 , for performing the disclosed sonic signaling methods. 
     The stereo system  506  may receive audio signals from a DVD  504  to provide sound for a movie or to play music, or the like. Similar to the television set  406  described above, the stereo system  506  may process an audio signal to produce a sonic signal  508 , which includes an audible sonic signal component and an inaudible sonic signal component. It should be appreciated that the stereo system  506  may additionally or alternatively receive an audio signal from any other data source (e.g., FiOS). The stereo system  506  may supplement or modify the inaudible sonic signal component to customize a message for a user  110 . 
     The laptop computer  510  may receive the inaudible sonic signal component of the sonic signal  508 . For example, the laptop computer  510  provides the user  110  with information, such as the artist and track title of a currently playing song. Similar to the mobile phone  410 , the laptop computer  510  may send a request to a user content web server  514 . The user content web server  514  may receive, via an RF signal  512 , a request or message from the laptop computer  510 . In response, the user content web server  514  may send a message, web page, data file, or request to open an application to the laptop computer  510 , for presentation to a user  110 . Similarly, the laptop computer  510  may send a response signal to a stereo  506 , or another broadcast device  104 . For example, the response signal may include a confirmation that an inaudible sonic signal was received by the laptop computer  510 . 
     In addition to a DVD production content system  502 , or a network content server system  402 , many content producers may employ the disclosed sonic signaling communication system. For example, closed circuit content providers may provide content in a similar manner as discussed above. For example, in a grocery store or at a bus stop, a dedicated speaker may be providing music or spoken information to users  110 . These types of content providing systems may provide machine signals to user devices  106 , including inaudible signals, by supplementing audible signals that are already being transmitted during the normal course of business. Virtually any type of business or service may utilize the disclosed sonic signaling for communication and/or advertising purposes. 
       FIG. 6  provides an example user interface  600  displaying example user content  602  via a user device  106 . In this example, the example user interface  600  is illustrated as text message which displays an advertisement which may include a special offer for the user  110 . For example, a user  110  may be walking through a store when an inaudible sonic signal is transmitted from an overhead speaker which is also playing music. The inaudible sonic signal may provide the illustrated message to the user  110 . For example, the user content  602  may be time limited and may be customized to the user based on a user profile. 
     In an example embodiment, an inaudible sonic signal includes a shortened URL, which is used to access a web page which may provide for an increased level of detail, such as images, animations, videos, audio, etc. For example, a coupon including a bar code may appear on a user&#39;s  110  smartphone, which may then be scanned at the register of a grocery store. In an example embodiment, the user interface  600  may display a wide range of messages to the user including, for example, emergency notification information, news bulletins, invitations to events, interesting trivia, donation requests, etc. Typically, a web browser may be used to display a web page on the user interface  600 . It should be appreciated that a user interface  600  may be implemented using a visual display of information, audio communication, or any other output stimuli, as well as allowing a user  110  to provide input for an improved user experience. For example, a web page may include an interactive game or allow a user to instantly purchase items, win prizes, interact with a social network, or the like. Also, for example, a printer may print a coupon, directions to a specified location, or some other message for the user  110 . It should be appreciated that coupon distribution may be performed selectively by targeting specific users  110  using various filters or algorithms to determine a coupon distribution. 
     It should be appreciated that broadcasters of content, including advertisers, may take advantage of the sonic signaling communication system disclosed herein in a wide variety of ways to increase the effectiveness of marketing, customer awareness and loyalty, and the like. Also, users  110  may set controls as to the type of user content  602  delivered via a user device  106 , for example, with settings on the user device  106  or at a web site for controlling content by opting in or opting out of receiving certain user content  602 . Further, allowing access to third parties may require user  110  consent. For example, an inaudible sonic signal which requests that a user access a URL may require user approval, and should the user  110  not approve the access of the user content  602  at the URL, a text message or other message which may be a subset of the full message may be provided on the user device  106 . Additionally, a message for a user may invoke a social media (e.g., Twitter), which may introduce a viral coefficient into the system. 
     It will be appreciated that all of the disclosed methods and procedures described herein can be implemented using one or more computer programs or components. These components may be provided as a series of computer instructions on any conventional computer-readable medium, including RAM, ROM, flash memory, magnetic or optical disks, optical memory, or other storage media. The instructions may be configured to be executed by a processor, which when executing the series of computer instructions performs or facilitates the performance of all or part of the disclosed methods and procedures. 
     It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the example embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.