METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND APPARATUS TO SYNCHRONIZE ACTIONS OF AUDIO SOURCE MONITORS
First Claim
1. A method to calibrate a delay period between an audience monitor and a base unit, comprising:
- invoking an audience monitor to transmit a radio frequency (RF) initialization packet to a base unit;
receiving an indication that the base unit has received the RF initialization packet at a first time;
invoking the base unit to transmit an RF acknowledgement packet to the audience monitor;
receiving an indication that the RF acknowledgement packet is received by the audience monitor and waiting for an end to a delay period having a first value;
identifying whether the audience monitor has finished processing the RF acknowledgement packet when the delay period ends at a second time; and
incrementing the delay period to a second value when the audience monitor is still processing the RF acknowledgement packet and the delay period has ended.
10 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems, methods, articles of manufacture and apparatus are disclosed to align actions of audio source monitors. An example method disclosed herein includes invoking an audience monitor to transmit a radio frequency (RF) initialization packet to a base unit, receiving an indication that the base unit has received the RF initialization packet at a first time, and invoking the base unit to transmit an RF acknowledgement packet to the audience monitor. The example method also includes receiving an indication that the RF acknowledgement packet is received by the audience monitor and waiting for an end to a delay period having a first value, identifying whether the audience monitor has finished processing the RF acknowledgement packet when the delay period ends at a second time, and incrementing the delay period to a second value when the audience monitor is still processing the RF acknowledgement packet and the delay period has ended.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method to calibrate a delay period between an audience monitor and a base unit, comprising:
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invoking an audience monitor to transmit a radio frequency (RF) initialization packet to a base unit; receiving an indication that the base unit has received the RF initialization packet at a first time; invoking the base unit to transmit an RF acknowledgement packet to the audience monitor; receiving an indication that the RF acknowledgement packet is received by the audience monitor and waiting for an end to a delay period having a first value; identifying whether the audience monitor has finished processing the RF acknowledgement packet when the delay period ends at a second time; and incrementing the delay period to a second value when the audience monitor is still processing the RF acknowledgement packet and the delay period has ended. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system to determine a delay period of an audience monitor, comprising:
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a calibration test manager to invoke an audience monitor to transmit a radio frequency (RF) initialization packet to a base unit; a base unit interface to receive an indication that the base unit has received the RF initialization packet at a first time, the calibration test manager to invoke the base unit to transmit an RF acknowledgement packet to the audience monitor; an audience monitor interface to receive an indication that the audience monitor has received the RF acknowledgement packet, the calibration test manager to identify whether the audience monitor has finished processing the RF acknowledgement packet when a delay period having a first value ends; and a delay period adjuster to increment the delay period to a second value when the audience monitor is still processing the RF acknowledgement packet when the delay period having the first value ends. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A method to initiate a recording action of a first audience recording unit, comprising:
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transmitting, from the first audience recording unit, a radio frequency (RF) initialization packet to a base unit and monitoring for a corresponding RF acknowledgement packet; waiting for a delay period in response to receiving the RF acknowledgement packet from the base unit, the delay period of the first audience recording unit equal to the delay period of the base unit and initiated by the RF acknowledgement packet; and initiating an audio recording action on the first audience recording unit when the delay period of the mobile unit expires. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A tangible machine accessible medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to, at least:
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invoke an audience monitor to transmit a radio frequency (RF) initialization packet to a base unit; receive an indication that the base unit has received the RF initialization packet at a first time; invoke the base unit to transmit an RF acknowledgement packet to the audience monitor; receive an indication that the RF acknowledgement packet is received by the audience monitor and waiting for an end to a delay period having a first value; identify whether the audience monitor has finished processing the RF acknowledgement packet when the delay period ends at a second time; and increment the delay period to a second value when the audience monitor is still processing the RF acknowledgement packet and the delay period has ended. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A tangible machine accessible medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to, at least:
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transmit, from the first audience recording unit, a radio frequency (RF) initialization packet to a base unit and monitoring for a corresponding RF acknowledgement packet; wait for a delay period in response to receiving the RF acknowledgement packet from the base unit, the delay period of the first audience recording unit equal to the delay period of the base unit and initiated by the RF acknowledgement packet; and initiate an audio recording action on the first audience recording unit when the delay period of the mobile unit expires. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification