Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9832496B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-06-25 02:55:22
Document Index: 215794138

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'art6', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 06801611', 'Application No. 06801611', 'Application No. 12859707', 'Application No. 12859707', 'Application No. 2013203468', 'Application No. 2010219320', 'Application No. 2013203468', 'Application No. 2012327192', 'Application No. 2015255256', 'Application No. 2012327192', 'Application No. 2015255256', 'Application No. 201280070000']

US9832496B2 - Methods and apparatus for crediting a media presentation device - Google Patents
Methods and apparatus for crediting a media presentation device Download PDF
US9832496B2
US9832496B2 US15/015,784 US201615015784A US9832496B2 US 9832496 B2 US9832496 B2 US 9832496B2 US 201615015784 A US201615015784 A US 201615015784A US 9832496 B2 US9832496 B2 US 9832496B2
US15/015,784
US20160173921A1 (en
2011-12-19 Priority to US201161577467P priority Critical
2012-12-18 Priority to US13/718,878 priority patent/US9473795B2/en
2016-02-04 Application filed by Nielsen Co (US) LLC filed Critical Nielsen Co (US) LLC
2016-02-04 Assigned to THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC reassignment THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: STOKES, ROBERT, NELSON, DAN, RAMASWAMY, ARUN, SRINIVASAN, VENUGOPAL
2016-02-04 Priority to US15/015,784 priority patent/US9832496B2/en
2016-06-16 Publication of US20160173921A1 publication Critical patent/US20160173921A1/en
2017-11-28 Publication of US9832496B2 publication Critical patent/US9832496B2/en
Methods and apparatus for crediting a media presentation device are disclosed. An example method includes detecting whether encoded information is present in audio obtained from a media device during a time period. Determining an on/off state of the media device based on a gain level applied by an automatic gain controller during collection of the audio. Crediting the media device with presenting media during the time period when the encoded information is detected irrespective of the on/off state determined for the media device, and not crediting the media device with presenting the media during the time period when the encoded information is not detected and the on/off state determined for the media device is an off state.
This patent arises from a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/718,878, now abandoned, which was filed on Dec. 18, 2012, and is entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Crediting a Media Presentation Device”, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/577,467, filed Dec. 19, 2011. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/718,878 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/577,467 are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their respective entireties.
Some existing methods for crediting metered environments with media exposure include connecting a metering device to a media presentation device (e.g., a television) in the metered environment and/or to sources of media (e.g., set top boxes, game consoles, etc.). Connecting and configuring the metering devices can be costly and time-consuming. Other existing methods include equipping each person in a metered environment with a personal meter to capture audio codes from ambient sounds. Personal meters are prone to being left in a different location than the associated person, and can result in inaccurate measurements. Still other existing methods include obtaining set top box data from multi-system operators, such as cable and/or satellite delivery systems. However, such information may be proprietary and/or may result in skewed data due to the differing characteristics of the customers of each type of delivery system. For example, customers of cable providers are statistically likely to watch different types of shows than customers of satellite providers. Extrapolating set top box data (or equivalent data) from multi-system operators to a general population may result in inaccurate measurements.
After storing the detected code(s) (block 706), or if no codes are detected in the audio (block 704), the example media creditor 204 (e.g., via the signature generator 222 of FIG. 2) generates signature(s) of the captured audio (block 708). The example signature generator 222 may use any method of digitally characterizing the captured audio. In some examples, the signature generator 222 generates multiple signatures to characterize the time period of the data file. In some examples, the signature generator 222 also generates multiple signatures of identical or overlapping portions of the time period to perform one or more characterization or signaturing methods. The example signature generator 222 stores the generated signature(s) (block 710). For example, the signature generator 222 may store the generated signature(s) in association with the data file for later crediting of the time period represented by the data file. The example signature generator 222 of FIG. 2 may further store time stamp(s) corresponding to time(s) and/or range(s) of time represented by the data file that are characterized by each of the generated signature(s).
detecting, by executing an instruction with a processor, whether encoded information is present in audio obtained from a media device during a time period;
determining, by executing an instruction with the processor, an on/off state of the media device based on a gain level applied by an automatic gain controller during collection of the audio;
crediting, by executing an instruction with the processor, the media device with presenting media during the time period when the encoded information is detected and the on/off state determined for the media device is an on state, and when the encoded information is detected and the on/off state determined for the media device is an off state; and
not crediting, by executing an instruction with the processor, the media device with presenting the media during the time period when the encoded information is not detected and the on/off state determined for the media device is the off state.
2. The method as defined in claim 1, further including obtaining the audio by recording the audio with a microphone at a monitored location.
3. The method as defined in claim 1, further including obtaining the audio by receiving a data file including the audio from the media device.
4. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the detecting of the encoded information includes extracting a steganographically encoded watermark from the audio.
5. The method as defined in claim 1, further including:
when the encoded information is not detected, (1) generating a signature of the audio and attempting to match the generated signature to a set of reference signatures, (2) crediting the media device with presenting media during the time period when the generated signature matches at least one of the reference signatures irrespective of the determination of the on/off state, and (3) not crediting the media device with presenting the media during the time period when the generated signature does not match at least one of the reference signatures and the on/off state determined for the media device is the off state.
6. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least:
detect whether encoded information is present in audio obtained from a media device during a time period;
determine an on/off state of the media device based on a gain level applied by an automatic gain controller to collect the audio; and
credit the media device with presenting media during the time period when the encoded information is detected and the on/off state is determined to be an on state, credit the media device with presenting media during the time period when the encoded information is detected and the on/off state is determined to be an off state, not crediting the media device with presenting the media during the time period when the encoded information is not detected and the on/off state determined for the media device is the off state.
7. The storage medium as defined in claim 6, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to obtain the audio by recording an audio signal sensed by a microphone.
8. The storage medium as defined in claim 6, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to obtain the audio by receiving a data file including the audio from the media device.
9. The storage medium as defined in claim 6, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to detect the encoded information by extracting a steganographically encoded watermark from the audio.
10. The storage medium as defined in claim 6, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
when the encoded information is not detected, (1) generate a signature of the audio and attempt to match the generated signature to a set of reference signatures, (2) credit the media device with presenting media during the time period when the generated signature match at least one of the reference signatures irrespective of the determination of the on/off state, and (3) not crediting the media device with presenting the media during the time period when the generated signature does not match at least one of the reference signatures and the on/off state determined for the media device is the off state.
a means for detecting whether encoded information is present in audio obtained from a media device during a time period;
a means for determining an on/off state of the media device based on a gain level applied by an automatic gain controller during collection of the audio;
a means for crediting the media device with presenting media during the time period when the encoded information is detected and the on/off state determined for the media device is an on state, and when the encoded information is detected and the on/off state determined for the media device is an off state; and
a means for not crediting the media device with presenting the media during the time period when the encoded information is not detected and the on/off state determined for the media device is the off state.
12. The apparatus as defined in claim 11, further including obtaining the audio by recording the audio with a microphone at a monitored location.
13. The apparatus as defined in claim 11, further including obtaining the audio by receiving a data file including the audio from the media device.
14. The apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein the detecting of the encoded information includes extracting a steganographically encoded watermark from the audio.
when the encoded information is not detected, (1) a means for generating a signature of the audio and attempting to match the generated signature to a set of reference signatures, (2) a means for crediting the media device with presenting media during the time period when the generated signature matches at least one of the reference signatures irrespective of the determination of the on/off state, and (3) a means for not crediting the media device with presenting the media during the time period when the generated signature does not match at least one of the reference signatures and the on/off state determined for the media device is the off state.
US15/015,784 2011-12-19 2016-02-04 Methods and apparatus for crediting a media presentation device Active US9832496B2 (en)
US201161577467P true 2011-12-19 2011-12-19
US13/718,878 US9473795B2 (en) 2011-12-19 2012-12-18 Methods and apparatus for crediting a media presentation device
US15/015,784 US9832496B2 (en) 2011-12-19 2016-02-04 Methods and apparatus for crediting a media presentation device
US15/729,395 US20180035141A1 (en) 2011-12-19 2017-10-10 Methods and apparatus for crediting a media presentation device
US13/718,878 Continuation US9473795B2 (en) 2011-12-19 2012-12-18 Methods and apparatus for crediting a media presentation device
US15/729,395 Continuation US20180035141A1 (en) 2011-12-19 2017-10-10 Methods and apparatus for crediting a media presentation device
US20160173921A1 US20160173921A1 (en) 2016-06-16
US9832496B2 true US9832496B2 (en) 2017-11-28
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US13/718,878 Active US9473795B2 (en) 2011-12-19 2012-12-18 Methods and apparatus for crediting a media presentation device
US15/015,784 Active US9832496B2 (en) 2011-12-19 2016-02-04 Methods and apparatus for crediting a media presentation device
US15/729,395 Pending US20180035141A1 (en) 2011-12-19 2017-10-10 Methods and apparatus for crediting a media presentation device
US (3) US9473795B2 (en)
EP (1) EP2795912A4 (en)
JP (1) JP2015506158A (en)
CN (1) CN104137557A (en)
AU (1) AU2012327192C1 (en)
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HK (1) HK1203727A1 (en)
WO (1) WO2013096314A1 (en)
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Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:STOKES, ROBERT;SRINIVASAN, VENUGOPAL;RAMASWAMY, ARUN;AND OTHERS;SIGNING DATES FROM 20121224 TO 20130107;REEL/FRAME:037668/0326