Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to identify media presentation devices

• US 9,712,626 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2015
• Issued: 07/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Besehanic, Jan
• Primary Examiner(s): Miah, Razu A
• Application Number:
  US14/798,042
• Publication Number:
  US 20160014218A1
• Time in Patent Office: 736 Days
• Field of Search: 709223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• 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 21/42684 Client identification by a unique number or address, e.g. serial number, MAC address, socket ID network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming H04L61/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/436 Interfacing a local distribution network, e.g. communicating with another STB or one or more peripheral devices inside the home
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8352 involving content or source identification data, e.g. Unique Material Identifier [UMID]

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to identify media presentation devices are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes receiving, at a port in communication with a local network, a data packet including a source identification, the data packet being addressed to a destination in a wide area network and originating from a media presentation device in the local network; identifying, using a processor in communication with the port, a device type of the media presentation device based on the source identification, wherein the source identification is a User-Agent field in the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP); and storing the device type and an indication of media exposure.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a port in communication with a local network, a data packet including a source identification, the data packet being addressed to a destination in a wide area network and originating from a media presentation device in the local network;

querying, using a processor in communication with the port, a User-Agent database using the source identification, wherein the source identification is included in a User-Agent field in a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request to identify a device type of the media presentation device;

storing the device type and an indication of media exposure;

aggregating media requests for the device type to generate usage information;

ranking a plurality of device types by usage information; and

generating a report of the ranking of the plurality of device types.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, further including forwarding the data packet to a wide-area network.

3. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein the receiving of the data packet includes receiving the data packet from a wide-area network port of a router or gateway device.

4. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein the receiving of the data packet includes receiving the data packet at a local-area network port of a router or gateway device, the forwarding of the data packet including sending the data packet via a wide-area network port of the router or gateway device.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the User-Agent database is a database internal to the local network.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the storing of the indication of the media exposure includes storing the destination of the data packet.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, further including determining the indication of media exposure without cooperation from any content provider sites.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a local network interface to receive a data packet from a local network, the data packet including a source identification, being addressed to a destination in a wide area network, and originating from a media presentation device in the local network;

a device identifier to;

query a User-Agent database using the source identification, the source identification included in a User-Agent field in the data packet to identify a device type of the media presentation device;

store the device type and an indication of media exposure; and

transmit the indication of media exposure to a data collection facility to direct the data collection facility to;

aggregate media requests for the device type to generate usage information;

rank a plurality of device types by usage information; and

generate a report of the rank of the plurality of device types.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 8, further including a wide-area network interface to forward the data packet to a wide-area network.

10. An apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the local network interface is to receive the data packet from a wide-area network port of a router or gateway device.

11. An apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the apparatus is a router or a gateway device.

12. An apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the User-Agent database is a database internal to the local network.

13. An apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the device identifier is to store the indication of the media exposure by storing a destination of the data packet.

14. A tangible computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least:

access, via a port in communication with a local network, a data packet including a source identification, the data packet being addressed to a destination in a wide area network and originating from a media presentation device in the local network;

query a User-Agent database using the source identification, wherein the source identification is included in a User-Agent field in a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request, to identify a device type of the media presentation device;

store the device type and an indication of media exposure;

aggregate media requests for the device type to generate usage information;

rank a plurality of device types by usage information; and

generate a report of the rank of the plurality of device types.

15. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 14, wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to forward the data packet to a wide-area network.

16. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 14, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to access the data packet based on receiving the data packet from a wide-area network port of a router or gateway device.

17. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 14, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to access the data packet via a local-area network port of a router or gateway device, the instructions to cause the processor to forward the data packet by sending the data packet via a wide-area network port of the router or gateway device.

18. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 14, wherein the User-Agent database is a database internal to the local network.

19. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 14, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to store the indication of the media exposure by storing the destination of the data packet.

20. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 14, wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to determine the indication of media exposure without cooperation from any content provider sites.