Systems, methods, and devices for scanning broadcasts

• US 9,584,843 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2016
• Issued: 02/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: StratosAudio, Inc.
• Original Assignee: StratosAudio, Inc.
• Inventors: Christensen, Kelly M., Hansen, John Phillip, Mock, Thomas Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Flynn, Nathan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Castro, Alfonso
• Application Number:
  US15/018,658
• Publication Number:
  US 20160165283A1
• Time in Patent Office: 386 Days
• Field of Search: 725/61, 725/115, 707/104.1, 709/219
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8023 the game being played by multiple players at a common site, e.g. in an arena, theatre, shopping mall using a large public display
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/10 Indexing; Addressing; Timing or synchronising; Measuring tape travel
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/14 for monitoring programmes
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/22 Arrangements for broadcast of identical information via plural broadcast systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/24 Arrangements for distribution of identical information via broadcast system and non-broadcast system
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/40 characterised in that additional data relating to the broadcast data are available via a different channel than the broadcast channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/37 for identifying segments of broadcast information, e.g. scenes or extracting programme ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/64 for providing detail information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26603 for automatically generating descriptors from content, e.g. when it is not made available by its provider, using content analysis techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2665 Gathering content from different sources, e.g. Internet and satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/278 Content descriptor database or directory service for end-user access details of content or meta data based information retrieval of video data in video databases G06F16/739
• 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 21/4343 Extraction or processing of packetized elementary streams [PES]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8113 comprising music, e.g. song in MP3 format
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/16 Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems

Abstract

The various embodiments disclosed herein provide methods, systems, and devices for capturing broadcast streams, analyzing the broadcast streams to obtain information about the media content transmitted in the broadcast streams, obtaining additional information about the media content if available, and assigning a unique event identifier specific to the instance of broadcast of the broadcast stream and/or media segment transmitted in the broadcast stream. In other embodiments, the unique event identifier is broadcasted to broadcast receiving devices. With the unique event identifier, broadcast receiving devices can access the obtained information associated with the media content.

Claims

1. A broadcast scanning system for uniquely identifying a media segment associated with an electronic transmission of the media segment through acquisition of third party encoded data, the system comprising:

one or more computer readable storage devices configured to store a plurality of computer executable instructions comprising at least a stream scanner module and a stream analysis module; and

one or more hardware computer processors in communication with the one or more computer readable storage devices and configured to execute the plurality of computer executable instructions in order to cause the system to;

obtain, using the stream scanner module, a data stream associated with the electronic transmission of the media segment;

determine data that identifies a source of the data stream;

extract at least third party encoded data obtained from the data stream;

analyze, using the stream analysis module, the third party encoded data extracted from the data stream, whereby the analysis generates analysis data that includes at least an identifying data that initiates identification of the media segment;

correlate the data that identifies the source of the data stream, additional data associated with the transmission of the media segment and at least part of the analysis data;

generate a unique identification of a specific instance of extraction of the third party encoded data associated with the electronic transmission of the media segment;

identify the media segment based on the correlation; and

store in a database the data that identifies the source of the data stream, the unique identification of the specific instance of extraction of third party encoded data associated with the electronic transmission of the media segment and the identification of the media segment based at least in part on the correlation.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the data stream associated with the electronic transmission of the media segment is obtained from a public broadcast.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the data stream is multiplexed with the electronic transmission of the media segment.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the data stream contains at least one of the following:

program associated data, program service data, encoded data, multiplexed data, encrypted data.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware computer processors are configured to execute the plurality of computer executable instructions in order to further cause the system to obtain and analyze relevant meta-data associated with the electronic transmission of the media segment.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware computer processors are configured to execute the plurality of computer executable instructions in order to further cause the system to obtain and analyze the electronic transmission of the media segment associated with the data stream.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the data stream is independent of the electronic transmission of the media segment.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the unique identification of the specific instance of the extraction of the third party encoded data associated with the electronic transmission of the media segment is database indexed to data that enables the unique identification of a specific instance of transmission of the media segment.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the additional data associated with the transmission of the media segment is derived from at least one of the following:

a database of media segments, an internet source, subcarrier channels, frequency analysis, cable television data, satellite radio data, wireless technologies, digital radio technologies, media device data, an IP data stream.

10. A broadcast scanning system for associating data that enables a unique identification of a specific instance of acquisition of encoded third party data with a reception of a specific instance of a media segment in an electronic transmission, the system comprising:

one or more computer readable storage devices configured to store a plurality of computer executable instructions comprising at least a broadcast scanning module; and

one or more hardware computer processors in communication with the one or more computer readable storage devices and configured to execute the plurality of computer executable instructions in order to cause the system to;

receive, using the broadcast scanning module, the specific instance of the media segment in the electronic transmission;

determine data that identifies a source of the electronic transmission;

acquire encoded third party data associated with the reception of the specific instance of the media segment in the electronic transmission;

generate data that enables the unique identification of the specific instance of acquisition of the encoded third party data;

determine an identification of the media segment using at least the encoded third party data; and

store in a database the identification of the media segment determined at least in part using the encoded third party data in association with the data that enables unique identification of the specific instance of acquisition of the encoded third party data and the data that identifies the source of the electronic transmission.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the encoded third party data comprises at least a content identifier.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the database includes third party database entries stored in association with the extracted associated third party encoded data.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more hardware computer processors are configured to execute the plurality of computer executable instructions in order to further cause the system to obtain and analyze relevant meta-data associated with the electronic transmission of the media segment.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more hardware computer processors are configured to execute the plurality of computer executable instructions in order to further cause the system to obtain and analyze the electronic transmission of the media segment.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the unique identification of the specific instance of the acquisition of the third party encoded data associated with the electronic transmission of the media segment is database indexed to data that enables the unique identification of a specific instance of transmission of the media segment.