SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING MULTIMEDIA ACCOMPANIMENTS TO BROADCAST DATA

• US 20150149326A1
• Filed: 04/12/2013
• Published: 05/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: iBiquity Digital Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Impulse Radio, Inc.
• Inventors: Corts, David, Wells, Bryce, Signorelli, Paul, Hunter, Lee, Snyder, Terrance
• Granted Patent: US 10,044,333 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/27.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/123 Shopping for digital content
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0271 Personalized advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 3/001 Digital control of analog signals
• CPC Class Codes: H03G 3/20 Automatic control H03G3/005 takes precedence; combined with volume compression or expansion H03G7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/18 Arrangements for synchronising broadcast or distribution via plural systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/28 Arrangements for simultaneous broadcast of plural pieces of information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/30 by a single channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/31 using in-band signals, e.g. subsonic or cue signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/93 which locates resources of other pieces of information, e.g. URL [Uniform Resource Locator]
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 2201/18 in band on channel [IBOC]

Abstract

A method and system is presented for coordinating the transmission of supplemental digital data to accompany broadcast data, and in particular, analog radio broadcasts, among a plurality of broadcasters. The supplemental digital data may provide information about the particular broadcast data being transmitted or may be supplemental to such data. The supplemental digital data to be presented is sorted based on particular algorithms which may take into account broadcaster-specified criteria such as target audience, time of day, type of broadcast data presented, and the like. The supplemental digital data may be audio data, visual data, or audio-visual data for presentation with the broadcast data. The supplemental digital data may further be advertisement data. The advertisement data may be sold by the broadcasters or the party coordinating the IBOC transmission of the supplemental digital data. The supplemental digital data may play simultaneously with muted broadcast data or at a user-specified time.

Claims

1. An apparatus for entering into a commercial transaction to purchase a song comprising:

a receiver configured to receive supplemental digital data and broadcast data, the supplemental digital data comprising a song title, artist information, and an action code, wherein the supplemental digital data is synchronized with the broadcast data and the action code comprises information for entering into a commercial transaction to purchase the song identified by the action code; and

the receiver comprising;

a processor; and

memory in communication with the processor, the memory usable for storing a plurality of processing instructions; and

wherein the processor is configured to;

control output of the song through a speaker associated with the receiver;

display at least one of the song title and artist on a display associated with the receiver;

receive an first indication from a user that the user desires to purchase the song; and

transmit a second indication to a system for purchasing the song on behalf of the user.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the receiver further comprises the display and the speaker.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to store the action code associated with the supplemental data in the memory.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor configured to transmit the second indication is configured to transmit the second indication wirelessly to a gateway.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to receive a user identification and payment information.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor configured to transmit the second indication is configured to transmit to a broadcaster responsible for sending the broadcast data.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software including instructions for a processor, the software configured to facilitate entry into a commercial transaction to purchase a song after receipt of synchronized broadcast data and supplemental digital data, the supplemental digital data comprising a song title, artist information, and an action code, the instructions configured to:

decode a digital signal within the supplemental digital data;

identify broadcast data separately from the supplemental digital data;

identify within the supplemental digital data at least one of the song title and artist information,

identify within the supplemental digital data the action code;

identify, within the digital signal, information that synchronizes the supplemental digital data with the broadcast data; and

interface with a software object capable of rendering the supplemental digital data such that an end user may use information within the supplemental digital data to effectuate a purchase of the song.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 7 wherein the software is configured to operate on a receiver that receives the broadcast digital signal.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 7 wherein the software is further configured to receive an indication from the end user to purchase the song based at least in part on the action code.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 7 wherein the software is further configured to receive account information from the end user.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 8 wherein the software is further configured to display elements of the supplemental digital data on a display associated with the receiver.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 7 wherein the digital signal comprises a first channel for the broadcast data and a separate channel for the supplemental digital data.

13. A computer system configured to facilitate entry into a commercial transaction to purchase a song after receipt by a user device of synchronized broadcast data and supplemental digital data, the supplemental digital data comprising a song title, artist information, and a received action code, the computer system comprising:

a memory storing a database of;

song information, the song information including at least one of the song title and artist information,

an action code relating to the song information where the action code is related to the received action code provided to the user device as part of the supplemental digital data, and

information identifying an end user including information for completing a financial transaction on behalf of the end user; and

a processor operatively coupled to;

the memory for accessing the database; and

a network,

the processor capable of receiving and processing instructions, the instructions including the received action code and a command to use financial information of the end user to purchase the song associated with the received action code, and

the processor configured to transmit the song to a device associated with the end user after processing the financial transaction.

14. The computer system of claim 13 wherein the information for completing the financial transaction comprises financial information of the end user.

15. The computer system of claim 13 wherein the processor configured to transmit the song transmits the song over a network.

16. A method comprising:

sending, from two or more radio stations to an information provider, broadcast schedule information comprising data relating to at least one future broadcast by each radio station;

receiving, at each radio station from the information provider, supplemental information associated with the data relating to the at least one future broadcast; and

sending, through an electromagnetic medium from each radio station to one or more end user devices, broadcast content according to the broadcast schedule information and the supplemental information for playback of the broadcast content to the end user in conjunction with access to the supplemental information by the end user.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the supplemental information comprises an aggregation of broadcast schedule information from each of the radio stations.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein sending through the electromagnetic medium comprises sending the broadcast content on a primary channel and sending the supplemental information in a sideband.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein sending through the electromagnetic medium comprises sending the broadcast content in an analog format and sending the supplemental information in a digital format.

20. The method of claim 16 further comprising indicating to the information provider how much space within the supplemental information may be used for advertising.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein receiving supplemental information comprises receiving advertising data.

22. The method of claim 16 wherein sending the supplemental information comprises sending an invitation to the end user to submit a response.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising receiving at at least one of the radio stations a response from the end user.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein receiving the response from the end user comprises receiving a request to participate in a contest sponsored by the radio station.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein receiving the response from the end user comprises receiving a request to participate in a promotion offered by the radio station.

26. A system comprising:

a transmitter at each of two or more radio stations;

a receiver at each radio station; and

a control system for each of the radio stations, the control system operatively coupled to its respective transmitter and receiver and adapted to;

send, to an information provider, broadcast schedule information comprising data relating to at least one future broadcast by the respective radio station;

receive, through the respective receiver, from the information provider, supplemental information associated with the data relating to the at least one future broadcast; and

send, through the respective transmitter, via an electromagnetic medium broadcast content according the broadcast schedule information and the supplemental information to an end user device for playback of the broadcast content to the end user in conjunction with access to the supplemental information by the end user.

27. A method for providing supplemental digital data for presentation to a listener of broadcast data, comprising:

receiving schedule information from a plurality of radio stations, the schedule information including a schedule of broadcast data to be transmitted by each radio station at predetermined times;

receiving, from a first radio station, an identification of particular broadcast data to be transmitted at a predetermined time;

receiving, from the first radio station, a copy order for a digital copy to be transmitted to listeners of the particular broadcast data at the predetermined time;

generating supplemental digital data corresponding to the digital copy; and

transmitting the supplemental digital data to the first radio station for presentation to a listener of the broadcast data.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the broadcast data comprises analog data transmitted to listeners over a radio frequency.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the transmission of broadcast data comprises transmission of broadcast data over at least one of an amplitude-modulated radio frequency and a frequency-modulated radio frequency.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the supplemental digital data for transmission on a side-band of one of:

the amplitude-modulated radio frequency and the frequency-modulated radio frequency.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein said receiving comprises receiving said schedule information on an Internet gateway.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting said supplemental digital data on an Internet gateway.

33. The method of claim 27, wherein the broadcast data comprises an audio track.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the supplemental digital data comprises multimedia information related to the audio track.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the supplemental data comprises a text description of at least one of:

an artist, a title, and identification data corresponding to the audio track.

36. The method of claim 27, wherein the broadcast data comprises audio data corresponding to a sporting event.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the supplemental digital data comprises multimedia information related to the audio data.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the supplemental digital data comprises text data corresponding to at least one of:

a team, a game score, a player and a statistic corresponding to the sporting event.

39. The method of claim 27, wherein the supplemental digital data is unrelated to the broadcast data.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the supplemental digital data comprises at least one of:

an advertisement for a product, an advertisement for a service, an identification of the first radio station, a schedule of further broadcast data for the first radio station, a traffic report, a weather report and a news report.

41. The method of claim 27, wherein the supplemental digital data comprises a plurality of multimedia presentations to be simultaneously presented to the receiver of the broadcast data.

42. The method of claim 27, wherein said determining further comprises:

determining said supplemental digital data based on at least one of;

a type of the scheduled broadcast data, the time of the broadcast data, a geographic location of the first radio station, a broadcast program in which the broadcast data is presented, and demographic information of listeners of the broadcast data.

43. The method of claim 27, wherein the supplemental digital data for broadcast on a mask of one of an amplitude-modulated frequency and a frequency-modulated frequency.

44. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

receiving, from the first radio station, a change to schedule information including second broadcast data at the first predetermined time; and

determining second supplemental digital data to be presented to listeners of the second broadcast data; and

transmitting the second supplemental digital data to the first radio station before the first predetermined time.

45. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

identifying, from the received schedule information, second broadcast data for transmission by a second radio station at a predetermined time;

determining second supplemental digital data to be presented to listeners of the second broadcast data on a digital data receiver; and

transmitting the second supplemental digital data to the second radio station prior to the predetermined time.

46. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

identifying, from the received schedule information, broadcast data for transmission by a second radio station at a second predetermined time;

determining second supplemental digital data to be presented to listeners of the broadcast data on a digital data receiver; and

transmitting the second supplemental digital data to the second radio station prior to the second predetermined time.

47. The method of claim 27, wherein said supplemental digital data comprises advertising data sold by the first radio station.

48. The method of claim 27, wherein said supplemental digital data comprises advertising data sold by a party other than the first radio station.

49. The method of claim 27, wherein a time for presentation of the supplemental digital data is selectable by the listener.

50. The method of claim 27, wherein said selecting comprises selecting a group of supplemental digital data to be presented to a listener of the broadcast data.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the group of supplemental data are to be displayed continuously during a length of the broadcast data.

52. The method of claim 50, wherein the group of supplemental data are to be presented sequentially during a length of the broadcast data.

53. The method of claim 27, wherein the supplemental data is to be presented during at least a portion of a length of the broadcast data.

54. A method of facilitating sale of a song playing on a radio, comprising:

transmitting an audio broadcast for playback on a user'"'"'s radio, wherein the audio broadcast comprises the song;

transmitting supplemental digital data relating to the song to the user'"'"'s radio, wherein the supplemental digital data comprises at least one of;

a name of artist, name of song, network routing information, and radio station identification information;

receiving an indication from a user relating to prospective purchase of the song; and

providing the user the opportunity to purchase the song.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein receiving an indication comprises detecting the user pressing a button.

56. The method of claim 54 wherein receiving an indication comprises receiving through a gateway an indication from the user.