Broadcast audience surveillance using intercepted audio
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A broadcast-signal source identification method, comprising, in combination,(a) receiving calls from one or more telephones;
- (b) digitizing all or part of the audio-frequency content of said received telephone calls;
(c) receiving broadcast signals from one or more known sources at substantially the same time as the received telephone calls;
(d) digitizing all or part of the audio-frequency content of said received broadcast signals;
(e) comparing the digitized contents of the received telephone calls to the digitized contents of the received broadcast signals to determine the degree of match between the received telephone calls and the received broadcast signals;
(f) sensing the presence of broadcast signals in said received telephone calls based on said degree of match;
(g) recognizing the source of matching broadcast signals based on the identities of the known broadcast sources.
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Abstract
Calls made from mobile or cellular telephones may contain audio signals from broadcasts audible to the caller. Thus, a call made into a call center, perhaps to gain valuable information, such as traffic conditions, may be analyzed at the center to determine the source of the broadcast. This invention takes advantage of the existing communications infrastructure and provides for rapid and statistically improved estimation of listenership.
55 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A broadcast-signal source identification method, comprising, in combination,
(a) receiving calls from one or more telephones; -
(b) digitizing all or part of the audio-frequency content of said received telephone calls; (c) receiving broadcast signals from one or more known sources at substantially the same time as the received telephone calls; (d) digitizing all or part of the audio-frequency content of said received broadcast signals; (e) comparing the digitized contents of the received telephone calls to the digitized contents of the received broadcast signals to determine the degree of match between the received telephone calls and the received broadcast signals; (f) sensing the presence of broadcast signals in said received telephone calls based on said degree of match; (g) recognizing the source of matching broadcast signals based on the identities of the known broadcast sources. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus for identifying the source of a broadcast signal, comprising in combination,
(a) means for receiving one or more incoming telephone calls; -
(b) means for digitizing all or part of the audio-frequency contents of said incoming telephone calls; (c) receivers for one or more broadcast signals; (d) means for digitizing substantially at the same time as said received telephone calls all or part of the audio-frequency output signals from said broadcast receivers; (e) processing means for matching said digitized audio contents of one or more said incoming telephone calls with one or more said digitized audio-frequency output signals of said broadcast receivers; (f) automated decision means for identifying the source of broadcast signal is based on the degree of said matching. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification