DISTRIBUTED AUDIENCE MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS

• US 20160329058A1
• Filed: 07/21/2016
• Published: 11/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Lynch, Wendell, Neuhauser, Alan, Arshi, Taymoor, Jain, Anand
• Granted Patent: US 10,672,407 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0204 Market segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/018 Audio watermarking, i.e. embedding inaudible data in the audio signal
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/48 specially adapted for particular use
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/51 for comparison or discrimination
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/72 for transmitting results of analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/81 for discriminating voice from music
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/31 Arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/33 Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/46 for recognising users' preferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/58 of audio determination or detection of speech characteristics in general G10L25/00; speech recognition in general G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for customizing, distributing and processing audio fingerprint data. An example method includes receiving, at a first device, an activation signal and a first audio fingerprint via first wireless communications between the first device and a communications network, the receiving occurring while the first device is not recording audio via a microphone of the first device; based on the activation signal, recording audio using the microphone during a first time period; generating a second audio fingerprint representative of the recorded audio; determining whether the second audio fingerprint matches the first audio fingerprint; and sending an indication of whether the second audio fingerprint matches the first audio fingerprint to an audience measurement entity via second wireless communications between the first device and the communications network.

Claims

1. A method to meter media, the method comprising:

in response to an activation signal received at a portable device from a central facility;

storing a first reference fingerprint received with the activation signal in a memory of the portable device;

recording audio with the portable device;

generating, with the portable device, a second fingerprint based on the recorded audio; and

comparing, with the portable device, the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint to generate a match score; and

communicating, from the portable device to the central facility, a match determination based on the match score.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the comparing, with the portable device, the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint to generate a match score further includes determining first characteristics of the first fingerprint and second characteristics of the second fingerprint.

3. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein the comparing, with the portable device, the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint to generate a match score further includes generating a measurement of a difference between the first characteristics of the first fingerprint and the characteristics of the second fingerprint.

4. The method as defined in claim 3, wherein the generating the measurement of the difference between the first characteristics of the first fingerprint and the characteristics of the second fingerprint further includes comparing first vector sequences of the first fingerprint to second vector sequences of the second fingerprint.

5. The method as defined in claim 3, wherein the measurement of the difference is one of a Manhattan distance, a Hamming distance, a Nearest Neighbor classification, or an Exponential Pseudo Norm metric.

6. The method as defined in claim 3, wherein the comparing, with the portable device, the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint to generate a match score further includes comparing the measurement of the difference to a threshold.

7. The method as defined in claim 6, wherein the match score is determined based on the comparing the measurement of the difference to the threshold.

8. The method as defined in claim 7, wherein the comparing, with the portable device, the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint to generate a match score further includes determining a positive match score when the measurement of the difference exceeds the threshold, the positive match score indicating that the first fingerprint matches the second fingerprint, and wherein the match determination is an affirmative result based on the positive match score.

9. The method as a defined in claim 7, wherein the comparing, with the portable device, the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint to generate a match score further includes determining a negative match score when the measurement of the difference is less than the threshold, the negative match score indicating that the first fingerprint is divergent from the second fingerprint, and wherein the match determination is a negative result based on the negative match score.

10. A portable device comprising:

a communication interface to receive an activation signal from a central facility, the activation signal including a first fingerprint;

a microphone to record an audio sample;

a formation module to generate a second fingerprint based on the audio sample; and

a confirmation module to;

generate a match score based on the first fingerprint and the second fingerprint, and

generate a match determination based on the match score.

11. The portable device of claim 10, wherein the communication interface is further to communicate the match determination from the portable device to the central facility.

12. The portable device of claim 10, wherein the portable device further includes a look-up module to determine first characteristics of the first fingerprint and second characteristics of the second fingerprint.

13. The portable device of claim 12, wherein the look-up module is further to generate a measurement of a difference between the first characteristics of the first fingerprint and the second characteristics of the second fingerprint.

14. The portable device of claim 13, wherein to generate the measurement of the difference between the first characteristics of the first fingerprint and the second characteristics of the second fingerprint, the look-up module is further to compare first vector sequences of the first fingerprint to second vector sequences of the second fingerprint.

15. The portable device of claim 13, wherein the measurement of the difference is one of a Manhattan distance, a Hamming distance, a Nearest Neighbor classification, or an Exponential Pseudo Norm metric.

16. The portable device of claim 12, wherein to generate the match score based on the first fingerprint and the second fingerprint, the confirmation module is further to compare the measurement of the difference to a threshold.

17. The portable device of claim 16, wherein the match score is determined based on the comparison of the measurement of the difference to the threshold.

18. The portable device of claim 17, wherein to generate the match score based on the first fingerprint and the second fingerprint, the confirmation module is further to determine a positive match score when the measurement of the difference exceeds the threshold, the positive match score indicating that the first fingerprint matches the second fingerprint, and wherein the match determination is an affirmative result based on the match score.

19. The portable device of claim 17, wherein to generate the match score based on the first fingerprint and the second fingerprint, the confirmation module is further to determine a negative match score when the measurement of the difference is less than the threshold, the negative match score indicating that the first fingerprint is divergent from the second fingerprint, and wherein the match determination is a negative result based on the match score.

20. A tangible machine readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor of a portable device, cause the processor to at least:

in response to an activation signal received at a portable device from a central facility;

store a first reference fingerprint received with the activation signal in a memory of the portable device;

record audio with the portable device;

generate, with the portable device, a second fingerprint based on the recorded audio; and

compare, with the portable device, the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint to generate a match score; and

communicate, from the portable device to the central facility, a match determination based on the match score.

21. The tangible machine readable storage medium as defined in claim 20, wherein the instructions to compare, with the portable device, the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint to generate a match score further cause the processor to determine first characteristics of the first fingerprint and second characteristics of the second fingerprint.

22. The tangible machine readable storage medium as defined in claim 21, wherein the instructions to compare, with the portable device, the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint to generate a match score further cause the processor to generate a measurement of a difference between the first characteristics of the first fingerprint and the second characteristics of the second fingerprint.

23. The tangible machine readable storage medium as defined in claim 22, wherein the instructions to generate the measurement of the difference between the first characteristics of the first fingerprint and the second characteristics of the second fingerprint further causes the processor to compare first vector sequences of the first fingerprint to second vector sequences of the second fingerprint.

24. The tangible machine readable storage medium as defined in claim 22, wherein the measurement of the difference is one of a Manhattan distance, a Hamming distance, a Nearest Neighbor classification, or an Exponential Pseudo Norm metric.

25. The tangible machine readable storage medium as defined in claim 22, wherein the instructions to compare, with the portable device, the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint to generate a match score further cause the processor to compare the measurement of the difference to a threshold.

26. The tangible machine readable storage medium as defined in claim 25, wherein the match score is determined based on the comparison of the measurement of the difference to the threshold.

27. The tangible machine readable storage medium as defined in claim 26, wherein the instructions to compare, with the portable device, the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint to generate a match score further cause the processor to determine a positive match score when the measurement of the difference exceeds the threshold, the positive match score indicating that the first fingerprint matches the second fingerprint, and wherein the match determination is an affirmative result based on the positive match score.

28. The tangible machine readable storage medium as defined in claim 26, wherein the instructions to compare, with the portable device, the first fingerprint to the second fingerprint to generate a match score further cause the processor to determine a negative match score when the measurement of the difference is less than the threshold, the negative match score indicating that the first fingerprint is divergent from the second fingerprint, and wherein the match determination is a negative result based on the negative match score.