Audio monitoring using steganographic information
First Claim
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1. An audio monitoring device comprising:
- a microphone for receiving sound energy from a loudspeaker; and
a steganographic decoder coupled to the microphone and responsive to data steganographically encoded in a human-audible portion of the sound spectrum so that it is essentially imperceptible to human listeners;
wherein the steganographically encoded data represents at least two fields of information, a first of said fields serving to index sale or distribution information, a second of said fields serving to track particular audio data.
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Abstract
An audio monitoring device includes a microphone for receiving sound energy from a loudspeaker, and a steganographic decoder that decodes the signal produced by the microphone. By reference to the steganographically-decoded information, the device can be used to monitor the musical selections played in a venue for copyright royalty purposes and the like.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. An audio monitoring device comprising:
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a microphone for receiving sound energy from a loudspeaker; and
a steganographic decoder coupled to the microphone and responsive to data steganographically encoded in a human-audible portion of the sound spectrum so that it is essentially imperceptible to human listeners;
wherein the steganographically encoded data represents at least two fields of information, a first of said fields serving to index sale or distribution information, a second of said fields serving to track particular audio data.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of monitoring, music played over a loudspeaker in an environment, comprising:
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using a microphone to produce an electrical signal; and
steganographically decoding from said electrical signal information that is steganographically encoded in a human-audible portion of the sound spectrum so that it is generally imperceptible to human listeners;
wherein the steganographically encoded information represents at least two fields of information, a first of said fields serving to index sale or distribution information, a second of said fields serving to track particular audio data.- View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of steganographically decoding data from audio comprising:
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receiving sound energy from a loudspeaker; and
decoding data steganographically encoded in a human-audible portion of the sound spectrum so that it is essentially imperceptible to human listeners;
wherein the data includes a public code and a private code.- View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of steganographically decoding data from audio comprising:
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receiving an audio signal representing sound; and
decoding data steganographically encoded in a human-audible portion of the sound spectrum so that it is essentially imperceptible to human listeners;
wherein the data includes a public code and a private code.- View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
transferring the audio signal to a remote device for steganographic decoding.
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35. The method of claim 34 wherein the remote device performs content monitoring based on the steganographically encoded data.
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36. The method of claim 34 wherein the remote device performs metering or royalty tracking based on the steganographically encoded data.
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37. The method of claim 25 wherein the public and private codes are embedded into the audio by different devices.
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38. The method of claim 25 wherein the public code degrades quality of the audio, but is removable and replaceable by a different public or private code that is substantially imperceptible in the audio.
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39. The method of claim 38 wherein the different code serves to track the audio.
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40. The method of claim 39 wherein the different code is inserted in the audio at the time of a commercial transaction relating to the audio.
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41. The method of claim 40 wherein the commercial transaction comprises a purchase of the audio signal.
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42. A computer readable medium on which is stored instructions for performing the method of claim 25.
Specification