METHODS AND APPARATUS TO ADAPTIVELY SELECT SENSOR(S) TO GATHER AUDIENCE MEASUREMENT DATA BASED ON A VARIABLE SYSTEM FACTOR AND A QUANTITY OF DATA COLLECTIBLE BY THE SENSORS

• US 20110289523A1
• Filed: 07/29/2011
• Published: 11/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nielsen Company (US) LLC (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Original Assignee: Nielsen Company (US) LLC (RR Donnelley & Sons Company)
• Inventors: Ramaswamy, Arun, Mears, Paul M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,539,519 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0245 Surveys
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/50 characterised by the use of watermarks
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/90 characterised by the use of signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/37 for identifying segments of broadcast information, e.g. scenes or extracting programme ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/40 for identifying broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/43 for identifying broadcast channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/44 for identifying broadcast stations
• 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 21/241 Operating system [OS] processes, e.g. server setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/252 Processing of multiple end-users' preferences to derive collaborative data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25808 Management of client data terminal profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/303
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• 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 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4394 involving operations for analysing the audio stream, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in audio streams arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of audio in broadcast systems H04H60/58
• 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 21/44204 : Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44213 : Monitoring of end-user related data arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44218 : Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV program methods or arrangements for recognising human body or animal bodies or body parts G06V40/10; methods or arrangements for acquiring or recognising human faces, facial parts, facial sketches, facial expressions G06V40/16; methods or arrangements for recognising movements or behaviour G06V40/20; arrangements for identifying users in broadcast systems H04H60/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 : Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4667 : Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6332 : directed to client
• 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 21/8358 : involving watermark protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/173 : with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to adaptively gather audience information data are disclosed. The disclosed methods and apparatus monitor system factor(s) and select one or more sensors from a plurality of sensors positioned to gather audience measurement data based on the monitored factor(s). Thus, the disclosed methods and apparatus adapt to the conditions they face by selecting an amount and/or type of audience measurement data they gather.

Claims

1. An apparatus to gather audience measurement data comprising:

a processor associated with a memory to store audience measurement data at a remote collection site, the processor to facilitate collection and storage of audience measurement data from one or more monitored sites, each site including a plurality of sensors located at the monitored site to gather audience measurement data from the monitored site, the processor to communicate with a switch coupled to the plurality of sensors at each monitored site to selectively connect the sensors to the memory; and

a sensor selector to select which of the sensors the switch connects to the memory, wherein the sensor selector is to route data collected from one or more of the sensors to the remote collection site.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor selector is to select which of the sensors the switch connects to the memory based on a comparison involving (a) an amount of audience measurement data per unit of time that is currently capable of being collectively gathered by the plurality of sensors and (b) at least one variable system factor monitored at the remote collection site, wherein the sensor selector is to route data collected from one or more of the sensors to the remote collection site based on the comparison.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one variable system factor comprises at least one of processing speed and storage capacity at the remote collection site.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one variable system factor comprises at least one of processing speed and storage capacity at a monitored site.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a weighting selector to determine an order of sensors based on at least one fixed system factor.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the fixed system factor comprises at least one of:

(a) a presence of two or more affiliates of a broadcasting company in a market, (b) a local preference for a sensor type, (c) a presence of a set top box having an interactive program guide;

(d) a type of communication link;

(e) a cost of using a sensor type;

(f) a complexity of using a sensor type;

(g) a presence of a viewing time shifting device; and

(h) a presence of a viewing place shifting device.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor selector includes a sensor testor to determine which of the plurality of sensors at a monitored site is outputting valid data.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor selector is to be positioned at each of the one or more monitored sites to provide a sensor selection locally at each of the one or more monitored sites.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the remote collection facility comprises a central facility controlling gathering of audience measurement data from sensors at the plurality of monitored sites via the sensor selector.

10. A tangible computer-readable medium storing machine readable instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to implement:

a processor associated with a memory to store audience measurement data at a remote collection site, the processor to facilitate collection and storage of audience measurement data from one or more monitored sites, each site including a plurality of sensors located at the monitored site to gather audience measurement data from the monitored site, the processor to communicate with a switch coupled to the plurality of sensors at each monitored site to selectively connect the sensors to the memory; and

a sensor selector to select which of the sensors the switch connects to the memory, wherein the sensor selector is to route data collected from one or more of the sensors to the remote collection site.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the sensor selector is to select which of the sensors the switch connects to the memory based on a comparison involving (a) an amount of audience measurement data per unit of time that is currently capable of being collectively gathered by the plurality of sensors and (b) at least one variable system factor monitored at the remote collection site, wherein the sensor selector is to route data collected from one or more of the sensors to the remote collection site based on the comparison.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising a weighting selector to determine an order of sensors based on at least one fixed system factor.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the sensor selector includes a sensor testor to determine which of the plurality of sensors at a monitored site is outputting valid data.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the sensor selector is to be positioned at each of the one or more monitored sites to provide a sensor selection locally at each of the one or more monitored sites.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the remote collection facility comprises a central facility controlling gathering of audience measurement data from sensors at the plurality of monitored sites via the sensor selector.

16. A method for storing audience measurement data at a remote collection site, the method comprising:

facilitating collection and storage of audience measurement data from one or more monitored sites, each site including a plurality of sensors located at the monitored site to gather audience measurement data from the monitored site;

communicating, using a processor, with a switch coupled to the plurality of sensors at each monitored site to selectively connect the sensors to the remote collection site for storage;

selecting, using a processor, which of the sensors the switch connects to the remote collection site for storage;

routing data collected from one or more of the sensors to the remote collection site for storage based on the selecting of the one or more sensors.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the selecting of which of the sensors the switch connects to the memory is based on a comparison involving (a) an amount of audience measurement data per unit of time that is currently capable of being collectively gathered by the plurality of sensors and (b) at least one variable system factor monitored at the remote collection site, wherein the sensor selector is to route data collected from one or more of the sensors to the remote collection site based on the comparison.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the selecting further comprises selecting, via a sensor selector positioned at each of the one or more monitored sites, to provide a sensor selection locally at each of the one or more monitored sites.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the remote collection facility comprises a central facility controlling gathering of audience measurement data from sensors at the plurality of monitored sites via the sensor selector.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising at least one of ignoring or discarding data from a sensor in the plurality of sensors at the one or more monitored sites that is not selected for storage at the remote collection facility.