Signature-based program identification apparatus and methods for use with digital broadcast systems

• US 20060184961A1
• Filed: 12/20/2005
• Published: 08/17/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nielsen Media Research, Inc. (Nielsen Holdings plc)
• Inventors: Schilp, William H., Lee, Morris, Wright, David H., Deng, Kevin, Hicks, Michael A., Schwerer, Ronald
• Granted Patent: US 8,255,938 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1235 with control of digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/90 characterised by the use of signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/372 Programme
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/40 for identifying broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/43 for identifying broadcast channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/56 Arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition covered by groups H04H60/29-H04H60/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/58 of audio determination or detection of speech characteristics in general G10L25/00; speech recognition in general G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/59 of video recognising characters or patterns in general G06F18/00, G06V20/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23418 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics television picture signal circuitry for scene change detection H04N5/147; filtering for image enhancement G06T5/00; methods or arrangements for recognising scenes G06V20/00; arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/433 Content storage operation, e.g. storage operation in response to a pause request, caching operations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8352 involving content or source identification data, e.g. Unique Material Identifier [UMID]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17309 Transmission or handling of upstream communications

Abstract

Signature-based program identification apparatus and methods for use with digital audio and/or video systems are disclosed. The disclosed systems and methods develop signatures of digital audio and/or video content from a digital data stream at two or more sites and compare the signatures to one another to identify the content.

Claims

1. A method of identifying a digital data stream having at least one of audio content and video content, comprising:

receiving first signature information associated with a content consumption site, wherein the first signature information is generated using digital information extracted from predetermined portions of the digital data stream;

comparing the first signature information to second signature information associated with a reference site; and

identifying the digital data stream based on the comparison of the first and second signature information.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the predetermined portions of the digital data stream are computed based on another portion of the digital data stream.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the predetermined portions of the digital data stream are associated with non-payload portions of the digital data stream.

4. A method as defined in claim 3, wherein the non-payload portions of the digital data stream include a checksum.

5. A method as defined in claim 4, wherein the checksum is a cyclical redundancy check.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the predetermined portions of the digital data stream are extracted from at least one of an audio data packet and a video data packet.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the first signature information includes a plurality of digital values associated with a plurality of data packets extracted from the digital data stream.

8. A method as defined in claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of digital values is generated by combining information extracted from at least two of the plurality of data packets.

9. A method as defined in claim 8, wherein combining the information extracted from the at least two of the plurality of data packets includes concatenating the information extracted from the at least two of the plurality of data packets.

10. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising receiving a time value associated with the digital information.

11. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising determining if at least a portion of the first signature information matches at least a portion of the second signature information.

12. A method as defined in claim 11, wherein the at least one portion of the first signature information is a first digital value and the at least one portion of the second signature information is a second digital value.

13. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein comparing the first and second signature information includes comparing the first signature information to digital signatures associated with a plurality of digital data streams, each digital data stream having at least one of digital audio content and digital video content.

14. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein the digital signatures associated with the plurality of digital data streams are generated at the reference site.

15. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein comparing the first and second signature information includes using time values to select a relevant portion of the second signature information.

16. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the digital data stream is at least one of a digital television program and a digital radio program.

17. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the digital data stream is in a format suitable for transmission via the Internet.

18. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the audio content is in a format that is compliant with an audio transmission standard.

19. A method as defined in claim 18, wherein the audio transmission standard is compliant with at least one of AC-3, MPEG, and MPEG advanced audio coding.

83. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the predetermined data packets are computationally related to other data packets.

84. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein receiving the consumption site signature information includes receiving a plurality of digital values and time values associated with the digital values.

85. A method as defined in claim 84, wherein the digital values are generated using checksums extracted from a digital television signal.

86. A method as defined in claim 1, including determining if at least some of the consumption site signature information matches at least some of the reference signature site information.

87. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein identifying the digital television program based on the comparison of the consumption site signature information and the reference site signature information includes using a program identifier associated with the reference site signature information to identify the digital television program.

20. An apparatus for identifying a digital data stream having at least one of audio content and video content, comprising:

a program consumption analyzer programmed to;

receive first signature information associated with a content consumption site, wherein the first signature information is generated using digital information extracted from predetermined portions of the digital data stream;

compare the first signature information to second signature information associated with a reference site; and

identify the digital data stream based on the comparison of the first and second signature information.

21. An apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein each of the predetermined portions of the digital data stream are computed based on another portion of the digital data stream.

22. An apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein the digital information is extracted from at least one of an audio data packet and a video data packet.

23. An apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein the first signature information includes a plurality of digital values associated with a plurality of data packets extracted from the digital data stream.

24. An apparatus as defined in claim 23, wherein each of the plurality of digital values is generated by combining information extracted from at least two of the plurality of data packets.

25. An apparatus as defined in claim 24, wherein combining the information extracted from the at least two of the plurality of data packets includes concatenating the information extracted from the at least two of the plurality of data packets.

26. An apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein the digital information includes a checksum.

27. An apparatus as defined in claim 26, wherein the checksum is a cyclical redundancy check.

28. An apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein the first signature information includes a time value associated with the digital information.

29. An apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein the program consumption analyzer determines if at least a portion of the first signature information matches at least a portion of the second signature information.

30. An apparatus as defined in claim 29, wherein the at least one portion of the first signature information is a first digital value and the at least one portion of the second signature information is a second digital value.

31. An apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein the program consumption analyzer compares the first and second signature information by comparing the first signature information to digital signatures associated with a plurality of broadcast programs.

32. An apparatus as defined in claim 31, wherein the digital signatures are generated at a reference site.

33. An apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein the program consumption analyzer compares the first and second signature information using time values to select a relevant portion of the second signature information.

34. An apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein the digital data stream includes at least one of a digital television program, and a digital radio program.

35. A method as defined in claim 20, wherein the digital data stream is in a format suitable for transmission via the Internet.

36. An apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein the audio content is in a format that is compliant with an audio transmission standard.

37. An apparatus as defined in claim 36, wherein the audio transmission standard is compliant with at least one of AC-3, MPEG and MPEG advanced audio coding.

38. A machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to:

receive first signature information associated with a content consumption site, wherein the first signature information is generated using digital information extracted from predetermined portions of a digital data stream associated with the content;

compare the first signature information to second signature information associated with a reference site; and

identify the content based on the comparison of the first and second signature information.

39. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38, wherein the content is audio content.

40. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38, wherein the content is video content.

41. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38, wherein each of the predetermined portions of the digital data stream are computed based on another portion of the digital data stream.

42. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38, wherein the digital information is extracted from at least one of an audio data packet and a video data packet.

43. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38, wherein the first signature information includes a plurality of digital values associated with a plurality of data packets extracted from the content.

44. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 43, wherein each of the plurality of digital values is generated by combining information extracted from at least two of the plurality of data packets.

45. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 44, wherein combining the information extracted from the at least two of the plurality of data packets includes concatenating the information extracted from the at least two of the plurality of data packets.

46. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38, wherein the digital information includes a checksum.

47. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 46, wherein the checksum is a cyclical redundancy check.

48. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to receive a time value associated with the digital information.

49. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to determine if at least a portion of the first signature information matches at least a portion of the second signature information.

50. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 49, wherein the at least one portion of the first signature information is a first digital value and the at least one portion of the second signature information is a second digital value.

51. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to compare the first and second signature information by comparing the first signature information to digital signatures associated with a plurality of digital data streams.

52. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 51, wherein the digital signatures are generated at the reference site.

53. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to compare the first and second signature information using time values to select a relevant portion of the second signature information.

54. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38, wherein the content includes at least one of a digital television program, and a digital radio program.

55. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38, wherein the content includes content that is in a format that is suitable for transmission via the Internet.

56. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 38, wherein the content is in a format that is compliant with an audio transmission standard.

57. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 56, wherein the audio transmission standard is compliant with at least one of AC-3, MPEG and MPEG advanced audio coding.

58. A method of generating digital data stream signatures, comprising:

acquiring a plurality of data packets associated with a digital data stream;

extracting digital values from at least some of the plurality of data packets; and

generating a plurality of signatures based on the digital values.

59. A method as defined in claim 58, further comprising:

associating at least one of an identifier indicative of a content contained in the digital data stream and a time value with the plurality of signatures.

60. A method as defined in claim 58, wherein each of the digital values is computationally related to a corresponding one of the plurality of data packets.

61. A method as defined in claim 58, wherein the digital data stream includes audio content and wherein each of the plurality of data packets is associated with the audio content.

62. A method as defined in claim 61, wherein each of the plurality of data packets is formatted according to an audio transmission standard.

63. A method as defined in claim 62, wherein the audio transmission standard is compliant with at least one of AC-3, MPEG and MPEG advanced audio coding.

64. A method as defined in claim 58, wherein the digital data stream includes content comprising at least one of a digital television program and a digital radio program.

65. A method as defined in claim 58, wherein the digital data stream is formatted for transmission via the Internet.

66. A method as defined in claim 58, wherein extracting the digital values from the at least some of the plurality of data packets includes extracting checksums from the at least some of the plurality of data packets.

67. A method as defined in claim 58, wherein generating the plurality of signatures based on the digital values includes combining at least portions of the digital values to generate the signatures.

68. A method as defined in claim 67, wherein combining the at least portions of the digital values to generate the signatures includes concatenating the at least portions of the digital values.

69. A method as defined in claim 58, wherein the digital values are checksums.

70. An apparatus for generating signatures, comprising:

a signal processor that acquires at least one data packet associated with a content comprising at least one of digital audio content and digital video content; and

a signature generator that extracts values from the at least one data packet and generates a signature based on the extracted values.

71. An apparatus as defined in claim 70, wherein each of the extracted values is computationally related to a corresponding one of the at least one data packet.

72. An apparatus as defined in claim 70 including a time stamper that associates time values with the extracted values.

73. An apparatus as defined in claim 70 including a program stamper that associates an identifier indicative of the content with the signature.

74. An apparatus as defined in claim 70, wherein the at least one data packet is associated with audio information contained in the content.

75. An apparatus as defined in claim 70, wherein the at least one data packet is formatted to comply with an audio transmission standard.

76. An apparatus as defined in claim 75, wherein the audio transmission standard is compliant with at least one of AC-3, MPEG and MPEG advanced audio coding.

77. An apparatus as defined in claim 70, wherein the content is a digital television program.

78. An apparatus as defined in claim 70, wherein the signature generator is configured to extract the values from the at least one data packet by extracting a checksum from the data packet.

79. An apparatus as defined in claim 70, wherein the signature generator is configured to generate the signature based on the extracted values by combining at least portions of the extracted values to generate the signature.

80. An apparatus as defined in claim 79, wherein the signature generator is configured to combine the at least portions of the extracted values to generate the signatures by concatenating the at least portions of the extracted values.

81. An apparatus as defined in claim 80, wherein the extracted values are checksums.

82. A method of identifying a digital television program, comprising:

receiving consumption site signature information associated with the digital television program from a consumption site;

comparing the consumption site signature information to reference site signature information associated with the digital television program, wherein the consumption site signature information and the reference site signature information are generated using predetermined data packets; and

identifying the digital television program based on the comparison of the consumption site signature information and the reference site signature information.

88. An apparatus for identifying a digital television program, comprising:

a processing site; and

a database coupled to the processing site, wherein the processing site is programmed to;

receive consumption signature information associated with the digital television program from a consumption site, wherein the consumption signature information is generated based on one or more predetermined data packets;

compare the consumption signature information to reference signature information associated with the digital television program; and

identify the digital television program based on the comparison of the consumption signature information and the reference signature information.

89. An apparatus as defined in claim 88, wherein at least portions of the predetermined data packets are computationally related to at least portions of other data packets.

90. An apparatus as defined in claim 88, wherein the processing site is programmed to receive the consumption signature information including a plurality of digital values and time values associated with the digital values.

91. An apparatus as defined in claim 90, wherein the digital values are generated using checksums extracted from a digital television signal.

92. An apparatus as defined in claim 88, wherein the processing site is programmed to determine if at least some of the consumption signature information matches at least some of the reference signature information.

93. An apparatus as defined in claim 88, wherein the processing site uses a program identifier associated with the reference signature information to identify the digital television program.