Media exposure and verification utilizing inductive coupling

• US 8,977,194 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2011
• Issued: 03/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Jain, Anand, Stavropoulos, John, Neuhauser, Alan, Kuznetsov, Vladimir, Crystal, Jack, Lynch, Wendell
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Tuan A
• Application Number:
  US13/327,993
• Publication Number:
  US 20130157563A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,180 Days
• Field of Search: 455405-408, 4554141-4144, 455 411- 412, 455/67.11, 455/67.13, 455 68- 69, 725 9- 21, 705/14.4, 705/14.44, 705/14.49, 705 1451- 1456
• US Class Current: 455/41.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/24 Inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/45 Transponders
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup

Abstract

A computer-implemented system and method for establishing media data exposure, where a media device, such as a computer, radio, television and the like, receive media data and produces research data from it. The research data may be based on computer-based or computer network-based characteristics, ancillary codes or audio signatures. As the research data is being produced, an inductive coupling is sought for nearby portable computer devices. Once a portable computing device inductively couples to the media device, information is transferred, allowing a system to determine and/or verify that specific users were exposed to particular media data.

Claims

1. A method for processing media exposure, comprising:

collecting research data relating to media received in a computer processing device;

when a portable computing device is not inductively coupled to the computer processing device, presenting a message requesting communicative coupling of the portable computing device to the computer processing device;

receiving information from the portable computing device via an inductive connection when it is detected that the portable computing device is coupled to the computer processing device; and

associating the information to the research data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media comprises at least one of a web page, audio, video, text or an image.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the research data comprises at least one of a cookie, a logfile, a page tag, a code detected from an audio portion of the media or an audio signature generated from the audio portion of the media.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, when no portable computing device is inductively coupled, continuing to collect the research data until one of (a) a threshold amount of time has expired, (b) media is no longer being received, or (c) different media is received in the computer processing device, at which time the computer processing device presents the message requesting the communicative coupling.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information from the portable computing device is received via a load modulated signal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the information from the portable computing device is received using at least one of full-duplex communication, half-duplex communication or sequential communication.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the information received from the portable computing device via the inductive connection comprises information relating to the portable computing device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the information relating to the portable computing device is user data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting of the message comprises presenting the message to a user of the portable computing device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the information to the research data comprises confirming that a user of the portable computing device was present relative to the computer processing device when the media was received in the computer processing device.