HK1181544A - Methods and apparatus for metering portable media players - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for metering a portable media player

This application is a divisional application of the original patent application No. 200680045794.7 (application date: 10/20/2006, PCT application No.: PCT/US2006/060118, title: method and apparatus for metering a portable media player).

RELATED APPLICATIONS

Priority of this patent to U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/729,421 filed on 21/10/2005, U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/786,196 filed on 27/3/2006, and U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/813,757 filed on 14/6/2006, U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/729,421, U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/786,196, and U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/813,757 are hereby incorporated by reference.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to audio and visual audience measurement (audio measurement), and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for metering a portable media player.

Background

Consuming a media presentation generally involves listening to audio information and/or viewing video information, such as, for example, radio programs, music, television programs, movies, still images, and the like. For example, media center companies such as advertising companies, broadcast networks, etc. are often concerned with the viewing and listening interests of their audience to better distribute their advertising spending and to better sell their products.

One known technique for measuring the listening viewing of media by audiovisual personnel involves installing a metering device within a home that is connected to one or more televisions and/or stereo systems within the home. When a family member watches television or other video media content (e.g., digital video disks, video cassette recorders, personal video recorders, etc.) and/or listens to radio programming or audio from Compact Disks (CDs), tapes, etc., the metering device collects metering information (e.g., video or audio signatures (e.g., samples of a monitoring signal or proxies (proxies) representing such samples), identification codes (e.g., codes attached to the programming content that are inserted into the programming for purposes of audience measurement), time-date stamps, user identifiers, demographics, etc.).

Another known technique for measuring the listening viewing of media by audiovisual personnel involves the use of personal portable metering devices (PPM), also known as portable metering devices and portable personal meters. A PPM is an electronic device that can be worn (e.g., clipped to a belt or other apparel) or otherwise carried by an audiovisual person for monitoring the audiovisual person's media consumption (e.g., viewing and/or listening activities). To detect audio, some PPMs are provided with a microphone to pick up audio emitted from a speaker (e.g., a television speaker, stereo system speaker, computer speaker, etc.). To detect video, some PPMs are provided with optical sensors (e.g., light sensors, camera sensors, etc.) that pick up video emitted by the screen or display.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary media consumption environment including an exemplary portable media player metered by a media measurement entity through the use of an exemplary portable media player meter.

Fig. 2A is a plan view of the exemplary portable media player of fig. 1 illustrating the front, top and bottom panels of the portable media player.

Fig. 2B is a three-dimensional view of a charging/docking device (also shown in fig. 1) for use with the exemplary portable media player of fig. 1.

Fig. 3A-3C are plan views of the exemplary portable media player meter of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary portable media player of fig. 1 and 2.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary portable media player meter of fig. 1 and 3.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a communication/power port of the example portable media player of FIG. 1 and a set of communication/power ports associated with an example portable media player meter.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions for monitoring an audio signal that may be executed by the example portable media player meter of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions for generating an audio signature that may be executed by the example portable media player meter of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram representing exemplary machine readable instructions that may be executed by the exemplary portable media player meter of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3 for controlling when to perform audio encoding detection in an audio signal.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram representing exemplary machine readable instructions for detecting/extracting audio encoding from an audio signal that may be executed by the exemplary portable media player meter of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a system for monitoring wireless (e.g., Bluetooth)) A flow diagram of example machine readable instructions of a signal that may be executed by the example portable media player meter of fig. 1, 3, and/or 5.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions for monitoring video signals that may be executed by the example portable media player meter of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3.

Fig. 13 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions for generating a video signature that may be executed by the example portable media player meter of fig. 1 and/or 3.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram representing exemplary machine readable instructions that may be executed by the exemplary portable media player meter of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3 for controlling when to perform video coding monitoring.

Fig. 15 is a flow diagram representing exemplary machine readable instructions for detecting/extracting video encoding from a video signal that may be executed by the exemplary portable media player meter of fig. 1 and/or 3.

Fig. 16 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions executable by the example portable media player meter of fig. 1 and/or 3 to perform video encoding detection and/or video signature generation.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions that may be executed by the example portable media player meter of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3 to perform audio encoding detection and/or audio signature generation.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions that may be executed by the example portable media player meter of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3 to perform audio and/or video encoding detection and/or signature generation.

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions that may be executed by the example portable media player meter of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3 for communicating with the example personal computer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions that may be executed by the example portable media player meter of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3 for communicating with an example personal computer.

FIG. 21 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions that may be executed by the example portable media player meter of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 3 to communicate with an example personal computer.

Fig. 22 is a block diagram illustrating the portable media player of fig. 1 and an exemplary portable media player meter configured for insertion between the portable media player and a set of headphones (earphones).

Fig. 23 is a block diagram illustrating the portable media player of fig. 1 and an exemplary portable media player meter configured for insertion between the portable media player and a set of headphones in a manner such that the length of the meter is parallel to the width of the portable media player.

Fig. 24 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary set of headphones/earphones and an exemplary portable media player meter installed therein.

Fig. 25 is a block diagram illustrating a set of headphones/earphones, an exemplary small form factor meter, and an exemplary portable media player.

Fig. 26 is a flow chart illustrating a method of distributing a portable media player meter to a consumer in cooperation with one or more headphone/earset manufacturers/vendors.

FIG. 27 is an exemplary system that can be used to enable communications between a portable media player and a computer and to monitor these communications.

FIG. 28 depicts an exemplary personal computer that can be used to monitor media presented via the personal computer and/or an exemplary portable media player.

Fig. 29 depicts an exemplary incremental frame recording (FIL) mark encoding embedded in a plurality of video frames.

FIG. 30 depicts an exemplary data structure used to store multiple embodiment FIL flag encodings.

FIG. 31 depicts an exemplary system that can be used to monitor media presented via a personal computer and/or an exemplary portable media player.

Fig. 32 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions that may be executed to implement the example system of fig. 31.

FIG. 33 is a flow diagram representing exemplary machine readable instructions that may be executed to monitor a portable media player.

FIG. 34 is a flow diagram representing exemplary machine readable instructions that may be executed to monitor a computer media player.

FIG. 35 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions that may be executed to perform a background metering information collection process.

FIG. 36 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions that may be executed to monitor for a frame marker.

Fig. 37 is a block diagram of an example processor system that may be used to execute the example machine readable instructions of fig. 7-21, 26, and/or 30-32 to cause implementation of the example systems, portable media player meters, and/or methods described herein.

Detailed Description

The example portable media player meters, methods, apparatus, and/or machine-readable instructions described herein may be used to monitor media presented by a portable media presentation device. An exemplary method of monitoring media presented by a portable media presentation device involves collecting media metering information associated with media content presented by the portable media presentation device and communicating the media metering information to a media metering company for analysis of media consumption by audio-visual personnel. Preferably, the media metering company is a neutral entity that does not generate and/or distribute media content, and thus, may act as a trusted third party that monitors the distribution and/or consumption of media content.

An exemplary device for monitoring media presented by a portable media presentation device includes a signal line interface for receiving media presentation information (e.g., media content such as video information, audio information, graphical information, etc. and/or metadata associated with the media content (e.g., content title, author, release date, source and/or distributor information, copyright information, digital rights management information, etc.)) from a media signal line associated with the portable media presentation device. The example apparatus also includes a processor communicatively coupled to the signal line interface and configured to receive the media presentation information and generate media metering information based on the media presentation information. To store the media presentation information, the apparatus is provided with a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. In addition, the apparatus includes a communication interface for communicating media metering information to a processor system (e.g., a computer, a media measurement entity, etc.).

In other embodiments, the methods and apparatus used to monitor media presented by a portable media presentation device may additionally or alternatively be used to monitor media presented by other media player devices (e.g., computers, set-top boxes, digital versatile disk ("DVD") players, video cassette recorders ("VCRs"), televisions, stereos, etc.) and/or media player applications (e.g., media player software applications, media player hardware applications, etc.).

The portable media player may also transmit and receive information wirelessly. For example, wireless telephone service providers allow users to make and receive voice telephone calls, send and receive photographs, engage in text communications, send and receive email messages, browse web pages, and/or download and/or stream (stream) music broadcasts, MP3 files (including private and non-private digital audio/video format changes), conversational radio broadcasts, news broadcasts, and various broadcast entertainment programs (e.g., drama, movie, etc.). The portable media player may include a speaker for allowing the user to listen to analog audio signals and/or a display, such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen, for allowing the user to view video signals. Alternatively, or in addition, the portable media player may include a headphone/earset connector for allowing the user to privately consume the audio signals, thereby minimizing eavesdropping and/or preventing the audio signals from disturbing people nearby. For example, some jurisdictions require that car drivers use ear buds (earpieces) when speaking on a wireless telephone, or else be penalized in terms of money.

Wireless headphones/earpieces are not limited to wireless telephones, but are also used in residential stereo systems and portable (e.g., handheld) media players, such as MP3 players (e.g.,Cowonetc.). Wireless technologies for communicating audio signals from a portable media player to a user's headphones/earphones include, but are not limited to, infrared signals, IEEE-802.11 signals, audio signals,Signals, and/or other optical and radio frequency signal technologies.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary media consumption environment 10 in which apparatus and methods, which will be described in more detail below, may be used to meter media content presented/displayed by an exemplary portable media player in the exemplary media consumption environment 10. The exemplary media consumption environment 10 shown in fig. 10 includes a household 14 of media consumers having media consumers 16 (only one shown), the media consumers 16 having agreed to permit a media measurement entity 18 having a central data collection facility to meter their viewing/listening habits/behaviors (i.e., media consumption). The home 14 includes an exemplary media presentation system 20 having a video display device 22 with speakers 24, and also includes a portable player ("media player") 26 capable of playing audio and/or displaying video (i.e., presenting media). Exemplary implementations of the portable media player 26 include those sold by AppleAnd/or other MP3 players.

The example home 14 of fig. 1 includes a docking/charging device 28 communicatively coupled to a personal computer 29 (e.g., a processor system). The docking/charging device 28 is provided to enable data (e.g., media content, control data, metadata, or any other data) to be transferred between the media player 26 and the personal computer 29 and to charge the media player 26. The consumer 26 may mechanically and communicatively couple the media player 26 to the docking/charging device 28 to communicate data and/or charge the media player 26. The docking/charging device 28 may be eliminated and may be replaced, for example, with a USB cable for docking the media player 26 to the personal computer 29 and performing the functions of the docking/charging device 28. In some example implementations, a personal computer 29 may be used to implement the docking/charging device 28, or at least its functionality, and a USB cable may be used as a data transmission medium and/or a power transmission medium between the media player 26 and the personal computer 29.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a home media meter 30 and a portable media player meter 32 are provided to meter the media content presented. The home media meter 30 of the illustrated embodiment (a "home meter," also referred to as a "site unit") is configured to meter audio and/or video content presented by the display device 22 and/or speakers 24. The portable media player meter ("meter") 32 of the illustrated embodiment is removably coupled to the portable media player 26 and is configured to meter the media content presented by the media player 26. The portable meter 32 generates and/or collects media presentation metering information reflecting and/or identifying the media content presented by the media player 26. For example, the portable meter 32 may detect and/or collect auxiliary audio coding and/or video coding present in the content presented by the media player 26, may detect and/or collect metadata embedded in or otherwise associated with the content presented by the media player 26, and/or may generate and/or collect signatures (e.g., video rasterization data, audio sampling data, etc.) representative of the media content presented by the media player 26. While the portable meter 32 is shown coupled to the media player 26 in the embodiment of fig. 1, other implementations are possible, such as embedding the portable meter 32 in a listening device such as a pair of headphones, as discussed in further detail below.

To communicate metering information to the media measurement entity 18, the example household 14 illustrated in FIG. 1 is provided with a dwelling unit 31 that may be communicatively coupled to a home meter 30 and/or a portable meter 32. The dwelling unit 31 may be communicatively coupled to the media measurement entity 18 via a communication network 34. The communication network 34 may be implemented using any suitable data communication media and/or services. For example, the communication network 34 may be, for example, a wired or wireless telephone network, a cable network, a satellite network, a public (e.g., electrical service) network, etc., and may provide internet services and/or media content delivery services to the home 14. In the illustrated embodiment, the communication network 34 may also be communicatively coupled to the media presentation system 20 and the personal computer 29.

The dwelling unit 31 of the illustrated embodiment collects metering information from the portable meters 32 and the home meters 30 and sends the collected metering information to the media measurement entity 18. In the illustrated embodiment, the dwelling unit 31 combines the metering information received from the portable meters 32 and the home meters 30 and forwards the combined metering information to the media measurement entity 18 via the communication network 34. In an alternative embodiment, the dwelling unit 31 does not combine the metering information received from the portable meters 32 and the home meters 30, but instead, sends the metering information received from the portable meters 32 separately from the metering information received from the residential meters 30. For example, some media providers may permit the portable media player 26 to display audio and/or video that is also broadcast to the consumer's home 14 via the presentation system 20. Likewise, any auxiliary audio and/or video coding embedded in the home broadcast also resides in the media content presented on the portable media player. Separating the metering information received from the portable meter 32 from any metering information received from the home meter 30 allows the media measurement entity 18 to determine the source of the metering information, thereby identifying the rendering device via which the associated content is consumed. Alternatively, the portable meter 32 may append an additional source signal to the metering information to identify that the associated metering information originated from the portable media device, such that all of the metering information from the home meter 30 and the portable meter 32 may be combined and still be recognizable/distinguishable by the metering entity. The source identification is performed, for example, at a post-processing at the media measurement entity 18, where additional source signals may be detected to determine whether the received metering information originated from the home meter 30 or the portable meter 32.

In yet another embodiment, the docking device 28 is adapted to receive metering information from the portable meter 32 and send the metering information to the personal computer 29, which personal computer 29 may in turn communicate the metering information to the media measurement entity 18 via the communication network 34. In yet another embodiment, the dwelling unit 31 may be provided as a communication device adapted to transmit only information received from the portable meters 32 to the media measurement entity 18. In such embodiments, the media consumption environment 10 may completely eliminate or forgo metering of the display device 22 and speaker 24.

In addition to enabling the transfer of metering information to the media measurement entity 18, the communication network 34 may also enable the presentation system 20 and/or the personal computer 29 to receive or retrieve media content from a plurality of content providers (not shown) via the communication network 34. The content provider provides a variety of media content, such as, for example, television programs, advertisements, audio (e.g., radio) programs, still image information (e.g., web pages), etc., to a broadcast station (not shown) in a known manner. The broadcast station (not shown) then transmits one or more signals containing the media content to the media consumption environment 10 via the communication network 34.

In the illustrated embodiment, the media player 26 receives media content from a personal computer 29 via a docking device 28. In particular, the consumer 16 may use the personal computer 29 to download and/or retrieve media content provided by the content provider via the communication network 34, and may then synchronize, copy or download the retrieved media content to the media player 26 via the docking device 28. The media player 26 may then present (e.g., display video/graphics and/or emit audio) the media content to the consumer 16. Additionally or alternatively, the portable media player 26 may receive media content wirelessly, e.g., via any suitable wireless protocol and corresponding hardware, including but not limited to IEEE-802.11900MHz, and/or a mobile communication protocol (e.g., CDMA, TMDA, GSM, AMPS, EDGE, etc.). For example,through which it passesThe program provides audio/video media content based on the wireless telephone, andproviding broadcast media content via wireless telephony, including WeatherAnd FoxNews

Fig. 2A is a plan view of the exemplary media player 26 of fig. 1. The media player 26 may utilize a music player (e.g., an MP3 player,Etc.), game player, video playerVideo recorders, cameras, image viewers, audio and/or video enabled wireless telephones, and the like. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2A, media player 26 utilizes an Apple capable of presenting video and/or audio to consumer 16To be implemented. Further details regarding the configuration and operation of an exemplary media player may be found in U.S. patent No. 6934812 to Robbin et al, which is incorporated herein by reference. In the embodiment of fig. 2A, the front panel 35 of the media player 26 includes a display device 36, through which display device 36 live action video (live action video), streaming video, still images, etc. may be viewed. The front panel 35 of the media player 26 also includes a user input device 38, through which user input device 38 the consumer 16 (see FIG. 1) can select content to be presented through the media player 26. The top panel 41 of the media player 26 includes a headphone jack 40 that enables audio to be presented to the consumer 16 (see fig. 1). The top panel 41 also includes a communication port 39 for exchanging information between the media player 26 and a remote control (not shown). The information exchanged by the communication port 39 may include, for example, presentation control signals (e.g., stop, play, search, etc.) and media presentation information (e.g., track title, volume level, etc.).

Referring to fig. 2A and 2B, the backplane 44 of the exemplary media player 26 includes a media player communication port 42 that is configured to engage a docking communication port 46 on the charging/docking device 28. As described below, the docking communication port 46 may be used to transfer media content and/or other information between the media player 26 and, for example, the personal computer 29 via the charging/docking device 28. The docking communication port 46 may also be used to transfer power from the charging/docking device 28 to a rechargeable battery (e.g., rechargeable battery 65 depicted in fig. 4) disposed in the media player 26.

Fig. 3A-3C are plan views of an exemplary gauge 32. The exemplary meter 32 has a top plate 50 (shown) including a player-side communication port 523A) In that respect The player-side communication port 52 is configured to engage the media player communication port 42 (see fig. 2A) such that the portable meter 32 can be physically and communicatively coupled to the media player 26. The bottom panel 56 (fig. 3C) of the portable meter 32 includes a docking side communication port 54 that is configured to engage the docking communication port 46 on the charging/docking device 28 (see fig. 2B). The portable meter 32 has a signal pass-through feature that enables signals associated with the media player communication port 42 and the docking communication port 46 to be communicated or passed between the ports 52 and 54. Thus, if the media player 26 is engaged or coupled to the portable meter 32, the signals available at the media player communication port 42 are at least approximately the same as the signals available at the docking side communication port 54 of the portable meter 32. In this manner, if the docking-side communication port 54 is engaged to or mechanically coupled to the docking communication port 46, the media player 26 may be electrically and/or communicatively coupled to the charging/docking device 28 via the portable meter 32 for charging and/or information transfer without requiring the portable meter 32 to be detached from the media player 26. Alternatively, the portable meter 32 may be configured to reside in a headset/earset arrangement, as discussed in further detail below. For example, the portable media player 26 may be supportiveAnd can be supported by the consumerThe headphones/earphones of (1) wirelessly transmit audio content. Support forThe media content collected by the portable meter 32 may be electrically and/or communicatively coupled to the media measurement entity 18, for example, via a USB port, mini-USB port, and/or other communication ports of the consumer's headphones/ear headphones.

In the illustrated embodiment, the player-side communication port 52 engages or is mechanically coupled to the media player port 42 to present or substantially present the media player 26 and the portable meter 32 as a single, monolithic unit. In the illustrated embodiment, the portable meter 32 and the media player 26 have at least some corresponding dimensions (e.g., width and depth dimensions) that are substantially similar or identical. In other words, the form factor (e.g., housing) of the portable meter corresponds and/or is complementary to the form factor (e.g., housing) of the portable player 26 such that the combined meter and player appear as a single device in appearance. In this manner, the portable meter 32 does not detract from or detract from the portability of the media player 26.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the exemplary media player 26 includes a processor 58 coupled to a display device 36, a user input device 38, a file system storage disk 60, a cache memory 62, and a codec 64. The user input device 38 enables selection of audio and/or video content (e.g., stored in the file system storage disk 60 and/or the cache memory 62) to be played through the media player 26. The processor 58 accesses or causes the codec 64 to access selected audio/video content from the file system storage disk 60 and/or the cache memory 62. In the illustrated embodiment, the codec 64 accesses audio content for decoding, while the processor 58 accesses video content for decoding. For example, codec 64 processes audio content to generate and transmit analog audio signals to headphone jack 40 for emission through speakers (not shown) disposed in headphones/earphones (not shown) coupled to headphone jack 40.

In other embodiments, wireless transceiver 43 may be used in place of headphone jack 40 to transmit audio signals to the consumer's headphones/earphones. For example, supportTransmission/reception ofThe device is relatively inexpensive, wireless, allows for relatively high bandwidth communications, and consumes a small amount of battery power.The low power radio waves employed by the standard operate at a frequency of about 2.45GHz and transmit signals at a power of about 1 milliwatt, thereby supportingThe mutual operation (interaction) of the devices of (a) is limited to about 10 meters. In thatBefore devices successfully operate with each other, they create a Personal Area Network (PAN), also known as a personal area network (piconet). To prevent unauthorized snoopingSending, the user can establish a trusted device that can exchange data without querying permissions. On the other hand, an unauthorized device will not be able to participate in the established piconet of trusted devices without authorization from at least one authorized device. Wireless transceiver 43 may also be implemented using any suitable wireless protocol and corresponding hardware, including, for example, IEEE-802.11900MHz, and/or mobile communication protocols (e.g., CDMA, EDMA, GSM, AMPS, EDGE, etc.).

The processor 58 may execute video decoding software (e.g., an MPEG-2 decoder, an MPEG-4 decoder, etc.) stored, for example, in the processor 58 and/or the file system storage disk 60 to generate video display rasterization information and to transmit the rasterization information to the display 36. The media player 26 also includes a rechargeable battery 65 that provides power to each component of the media player 26 to enable operation thereof. The rechargeable battery 65 may be charged by docking the media player 26 into the charging/docking device 28.

Referring now to fig. 5, the portable meter 32 includes a processor 66 (e.g., a metering information generator) that accesses and/or stores information in a memory 68. The memory 68 may be implemented using large storage capacity optical, magnetic, and/or solid state memory and may be used to store collected media monitoring information. The memory 68 may also be used to store machine-readable instructions (e.g., software and/or firmware) that are retrieved and executed by the processor 66 and that cause the processor 66 to perform functions, processes and/or operations related to media monitoring presented by the media player 26. A flowchart representative of exemplary machine readable instructions that may be stored in memory 68 and executed by processor 66 is described below. In some example implementations, the processor 66 may be implemented with circuitry (e.g., an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)) configured to generate audio signatures, collect metadata, and/or extract audio encoding. For example, the processor 66 may be provided with an audio signature generator circuit and/or an audio encoding and/or metadata extractor circuit.

The portable meter 32 of the illustrated embodiment also includes a wireless transceiver 70 for communicating media metering information, for example, to the dwelling unit 31 (see fig. 1). Wireless transceiver 70 may be implemented using any suitable wireless protocol and corresponding hardware, including, for example, IEEE-802.11900MHz, mobile communication protocol (e.g., CDMA, TDMA, GSM, AMPS, EDGE, etc.).

To power the meter assembly (e.g., the processor 66, the memory 68, and the wireless transceiver 70), the portable meter 32 includes a rechargeable battery 71. If the media player 26 and portable meter 32 are docked in the charging/docking device 28, the rechargeable battery 72 may be charged with power drawn from the charging/docking device 28. In some embodiments, the rechargeable battery 71 may additionally or alternatively be charged by drawing power from a rechargeable battery 65 disposed within the media player 26 when the portable meter 32 is coupled to the media player 26. In an alternative embodiment, the portable meter 32 may not include a rechargeable battery 71, and the meter assembly (e.g., the processor 66, the memory 68, and the wireless transceiver 70) may instead be powered directly by a power line 72 (e.g., 3.3V) that carries electrical power from the rechargeable battery 65 of the media player 26.

To enable the processor 66 to monitor the presented media information, the processor 66 is provided with or communicatively coupled to a signal line interface 73 comprising a plurality of signal lines 74-77 as shown in FIG. 5. The signal lines 74-77 may also be communicatively coupled to the media player 26 via the communication ports 42 and 52 as shown in FIG. 6, and used to retrieve (e.g., transmit, receive, transmit) information related to media content presented by the media player 26. Specifically, signal line interface 73 comprises a media information signal line comprising a VIDEO output (VIDEO)_OUT) Signal line 74, left audio output (LINEOUT)_LEFT) Signal line 75a, and right audio output (LINEOUT)_RIGHT) And a signal line 75 b. The signal line interface 73 also includes a CLOCK (CLOCK) signal line 76 and a DATA (DATA) signal line 77 (e.g., control signals and DATA signals). VIDEO_OUTThe signal lines 74 provide video signals corresponding to video or graphics data (e.g., rasterized data) that is presented via the media player display 36. LINEOUT_LEFTSignal line 75a and LINEOUT_RIGHTThe signal line 75b provides audio data (e.g., audio sample data) corresponding to audio emitted or rendered via speakers connected to the media player headphone jack 40.

In some embodiments, the CLOCK signal line 76 and the DATA signal line 77 may be used to implement a serial DATA transfer interface to enable transfer of DATA formatted according to one or more desired serial transfer protocols, such as, for example, the Universal Serial Bus (USB) transfer protocol and/or the FireWire transfer protocol (i.e., IEEE-1394). A serial transfer interface ground pin and a power pin may also be included to provide power to a device (e.g., the portable meter 32) via the serial transfer interface. The serial transfer interface may be used to transfer or synchronize media content and/or other information between the media player 26 and the personal computer 29 via the charging/docking device 28.

In another alternative embodiment, the portable meter 32 is embedded within the consumer's headphones. The audio information is via a communication channel such asThe transceiver's wireless transceiver 43 transmits from the portable media player 26 and receives through the wireless transceiver 70 of fig. 5. The portable meter/headphones 32 may also include a codec that processes received audio content to generate and transmit analog audio signals to speakers 79, such as headphone/earpiece speakers. It will be clear to one of ordinary skill in the art that in this embodiment, signal lines 74-77 may not be necessary.

In another alternative embodiment, the consumer may be provided with supportTo listen to audio information transmitted from the portable media player 26 via the wireless transceiver 43. The SFF device may, for example, implement the portable meter 32 of FIG. 5, and may be monitoring and collecting via supportWhile conveniently and unobtrusively attaching to the consumer's belt buckle and/or placing in a pocket.Alternatively, the SFF device may be coupled to the player 26 in a similar manner as the meter 32 of fig. 1. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that this embodiment may not require the signal lines 74-77, the codec 78, and/or the speaker 79. The collected media information may be stored in the memory 68 for subsequent delivery to the media measurement entity 18.

Fig. 6 depicts an exemplary mechanical arrangement that may be used to communicatively couple the plurality of signal lines 74-77 to the media player 26. The media player communication port 42 includes a plurality of media player signal lines (e.g., VIDEO) to_OUTSignal line 74, LINEOUT_LEFTSignal line 75a, LINEOUT_RIGHTSignal line 75b, CLOCK signal line 76, and DATA signal line 77) provide access to a plurality of conductive pins 78.

The signal lines 74-77 coupled to the media player communication port 42 of the media player 26 are input to the player side communication port 52 of the portable meter 32 and are provided to the docking side communication port 54 of the portable meter 32 in an uninterrupted manner (e.g., passing through) such that the signal provided at the media player communication port 42 is substantially the same as the signal provided at the docking side communication port 54. As a result, the docking-side communication port 54 of the portable meter 32 is substantially similar or identical in form and function (e.g., mechanical and electrical) to the media player communication port 42. In this manner, the communication and charging functions provided by the media player communication port 42 remain intact/undisturbed by the presence of the portable meter 32. That is, coupling the media player 26 to the docking/charging device 28 via the portable meter 32 enables the media player 26 to be communicatively and electrically coupled to the docking/charging device 28 as if there were no additional portable meter 32. Any signal of interest (e.g., VIDEO) for the purpose of metering the media content presented by the media player 26 or for the purpose of tracking/identifying any media content sent to and stored on the media player 26_OUTSignal 74, LINEOUT_LEFTSignal line 75a, LINEOUT_RIGHTA signal line 75b,CLOCK signal line 76, and DATA signal line 77) are provided to one or more of the components 66, 68, and 70 disposed in the portable meter 32.

Referring to fig. 5 and 6, in the illustrated embodiment, the VIDEO is implemented as a VIDEO_OUTThe signal 74 is provided to a processor 66 which may be arranged to operate as the video signature processor 66. The video signature processor 66 collects one or more characteristics of the video signal representing the program content to generate a substantially unique proxy or signature (e.g., a series of digital values, waveforms, etc.) representative of the content. Signature information for media content presented on the player 26 may be compared to a set of reference signatures corresponding to a set of known media content. In the illustrated embodiment, the reference signature is generated at a reference site where all or most of all of the media content is available and then stored for comparison with signature information collected by one or more meters (e.g., portable meters 32). If there is a substantial match, the media content identity presented by the media player 26 may be identified with a relatively high probability. Methods and apparatus for implementing the video signature processor 66 are known in the art. For example, U.S. patent No. 6577346, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a video signature extraction technique. As another example, U.S. patent No. 6633657, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a signature-based program identification apparatus and method for use with a broadcast system. As another example, U.S. patent No. 4677466, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a signature-based program identification apparatus and method. These and/or any other suitable techniques may be used to implement the video signature processor 66. Additionally or alternatively, example machine readable instructions such as those described below may be executed to implement the video signature processor 66.

The processor 66 may additionally or alternatively be arranged to operate as an audio signature processor 66. Still referring to fig. 5 and 6, in the illustrated embodiment, the audio LINEOUT_RIGHTAnd audio LINEOUT_LEFTThe signal lines 75a and 75b may beIs provided to an audio signature processor 66 (e.g., processor 66). The audio signature processor 66 uses characteristics of the audio signal representing the media content to generate a substantially unique proxy or signature (e.g., a series of digital values, waveforms, etc.) representative of the media content. This signature information is then stored for later comparison with a plurality of reference signatures, each corresponding to a piece of known media content, as described above with reference to video signatures. Methods and apparatus for implementing the audio signature processor 66 are known in the art. Audio signature extraction and related techniques are disclosed, for example, in U.S. patent application serial No. 09/427970 to Srinivasna et al, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As another example, in Lee et al, patent Cooperation treaty application No. PCT/US03/22562, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, a signature-based program identification apparatus and method for use with a digital broadcast system is disclosed. These and/or any other suitable techniques may be used to implement the audio signature processor 66. Additionally or alternatively, example machine readable instructions such as those described below may be executed to implement the audio signature processor 66.

Additionally or alternatively, the processor 66 may be arranged to operate as an audio coding detector 66. Still referring to fig. 5 and 6, in another embodiment, the audio LINEOUT_RIGHTAnd audio LINEOUT_LEFTSignal lines 75a and 75b are provided to audio code detector 66 (e.g., processor 66). The exemplary audio encoding detector 66 is configured to detect that the signal may be embedded through LINEOUT_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTThe audio in the audio signals provided by the signal lines 75a and 75b is encoded. Audio coding may be used, for example, to encode and/or embed identifying information (e.g., broadcast/network channel numbers, program identification codes, broadcast time stamps, source identifiers used to identify networks and/or stations providing and/or broadcasting content, etc.) in portions of the audio signal accompanying the broadcast program. Preferably, the audio coding is embedded in other ways that would be substantially masked by the audio content and/or would not be heard by human hearing. In the art, the method of implementing the audio coding detector 66Methods and apparatus are well known. For example, in U.S. patent No. 6272176 to Srinivasn et al, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, a broadcast encoding system and method for encoding and decoding information transmitted within an audio signal is disclosed. These and/or any other suitable techniques may be used to implement audio coding detector 66. Additionally or alternatively, example machine readable instructions such as those described below may be executed to implement audio coding detector 66.

In a similar manner, the processor 66 may be configured to operate as a video encoding detector 66. Still referring to fig. 5 and 6, in another embodiment, a VIDEO_OUTThe signal 74 may be provided to the video encoding detector 66 (e.g., the processor 66). Methods and apparatus for implementing the exemplary video encoding detector 66 are known in the art. For example, in U.S. patent No. 5526427 to Thomas et al, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, a broadcast video encoding system and method for encoding and decoding information transmitted within a video signal is disclosed. As a further example, U.S. patent No. 5481294, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a broadcast audience measurement system for collecting signatures and encodings. These and/or any other suitable techniques may be used to implement video encoding detector 66. Additionally or alternatively, example machine readable instructions such as those described below may be executed to implement video encoding detector 66.

Additionally or alternatively, the processor 66 may be configured to operate as a metadata collector 66. For example, in addition to generating signatures and/or detecting encoding, information (e.g., metadata) transmitted with media content downloaded to the media player 26 via the docking device 28 may also be used to obtain information related to the viewing/listening habits/activities/preferences of the user 16 of the media player 26. Exemplary metadata associated with particular media content may include, for example, the title of the content, the content distributor, the content description, the content originator, the track number, album identifier, and the like. In some embodiments, for example, the metadata may be stored in the known MP3 ID3 tag of an audio MP3 file, or in any other header information or file information of any other type of media. To enable detection and extraction of metadata from media content downloaded to the media player 26, communication signals between the media player 26 and the docking device 28 (e.g., the CLOCK signal line 76 and the DATA signal line 77) are additionally routed to the processor 66. The processor 66 causes the communication signal to be monitored and, depending on what is detected, may cause a portion of the communicated information to be stored in the memory 68 for later analysis. For example, the information may be conveyed in a known format, and processor 66 may be programmed to parse the entire information based on the known format and retrieve/store information of interest (e.g., including the title of the content, the content distributor, the content description, the content originator, the track number, album identifier, etc.).

Depending on the implementation of the signature generator, the encoding detector, and/or the metadata collector, the processor 66 causes the generated signatures, the detected encodings, and/or the collected metadata to be stored in the memory 68 in correspondence with, for example, time stamps indicative of the times at which the respective signatures, metadata, and/or encodings were generated and/or stored. As used herein, metering data may refer to one or more audio and/or video signatures, one or more audio and/or video encodings, and/or metadata.

In the illustrated embodiment, the metering information stored in the memory 68 is downloaded to the home meter 30 (see fig. 1) periodically, aperiodically, or in real-time using a wireless transceiver 70 disposed in the portable meter 32. In the illustrated embodiment, the wireless transceiver 70 is adapted to communicate upon receipt of a notification signal from another wireless transceiver (not shown) disposed in the home meter 30. In another embodiment, the wireless transceiver 70 is adapted to transmit an identification signal. If the portable meter 32 is close enough to the home meter 30 for the home meter 30 to detect an identification signal, the home meter 30 responds to the identification signal with a request for data. In response to the request for data, the portable meter 32 begins sending metering information to the home meter 30. The home meter 30, in turn, stores the metering information for subsequent transmission to the media measurement entity 18, or alternatively, immediately transmits the information to the media measurement entity 18 for further processing.

Fig. 7-21 show flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions that may be executed to implement the functionality of the portable meter 32. In these examples, the machine readable instructions represented by each flowchart may include one or more programs that are executed by the following components: (a) a processor, such as processor 66 of FIG. 5; (b) a controller; and/or (c) any other suitable device. The one or more programs may be embodied in software stored on a tangible medium such as, for example, the memory 68 (see fig. 5), but it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the entire program and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executed by other means than the processor 66 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware in a well-known manner (e.g., implemented with Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Logic Devices (FPLDs), discrete logic, etc.). For example, processor 66 and associated components may be implemented using any combination of software, hardware, and/or firmware. Also, some or all of the machine readable instructions represented by the flow charts of FIGS. 7-21 may be implemented manually. Moreover, although the example machine readable instructions are described with reference to the flowcharts shown in fig. 7-21, it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many other techniques for implementing the example methods and apparatus described herein may alternatively be used. For example, with reference to the flow diagrams of fig. 7-21, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks may be changed, eliminated, combined, and/or sub-divided into multiple blocks.

Referring to fig. 7, the processor 66, when configured to operate as an audio signature generator, monitors LINEOUT provided by the media player 26 via the media player communication port 42_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTSignal lines 75a and 75b (see fig. 5 and 6) to determine whether an audio signal is present (block)82). If such a signal is present, processor 66 begins monitoring the audio signal until such a signal is no longer present at LINEOUT (block 84)_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTAs described herein in connection with fig. 8, at signal lines 75a and 75 b. After processor 66 completes monitoring the audio signal at block 84, processor 66 determines whether the presence of another audio signal should be monitored (block 86). For example, if the processor 66 does not detect that a "power off" command has been issued in the media player 26, it may determine that the presence of another signal should be monitored. If the processor 66 determines that the presence of another audio signal should be monitored, the processor 66 returns control to the operation of block 82 and monitors for the presence of another audio signal. Otherwise, if processor 66 determines that it is not necessary to monitor for the presence of another audio signal, process 80 of FIG. 7 ends.

Monitoring the audio signal (see block 84 of fig. 7) may involve a number of operations, including, for example, operation 90 of fig. 8. Specifically, the audio signature processor 66 generates an audio signature using the detected audio signal (see block 82 of FIG. 7) (block 92), stores the audio signature in a memory (e.g., memory 68 of FIG. 5) (block 94), and then determines that the signal is at LINEOUT_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTWhether audio signals are still present at the signal lines 75a and 75b (box 96). If the audio signal is still present, control returns to block 92 to generate a signature. Conversely, if the audio signal is no longer present, the audio signature processor 66 returns control to a calling function, operation, or process such as process 80 of FIG. 7.

Referring now to FIG. 9, the processor 66, when configured to operate as an audio encoding detector, may be configured to monitor LINEOUT provided by the media player 26 via the media player communication port 42_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTSignal lines 75a and 75b to determine if an audio signal is present (block 102). If such a signal is not present, the audio encoding detector 66 returns to monitoring LINEOUT_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTThe signal lines 75a and 75b until a signal is detected. If such a signal is detected, audio encoding is performedThe code detector 66 begins analyzing the audio signal to determine if coding is present in the detected signal (block 104). If no coding is detected, the audio coding detector 66 returns to monitoring LINEOUT_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTSignal lines 75a and 75b (block 102). If encoding is detected, the audio encoding detector 66 monitors the encoding (e.g., performs an encoding monitoring technique) (block 106), for example, as described below in connection with FIG. 10. After the audio encoding detector 66 monitors for encoding (block 106), the audio encoding detector 66 determines whether the presence of another audio signal should be monitored (block 108). If audio encoding detector 66 determines that the presence of another audio signal should be monitored, audio encoding detector 66 returns control to the operation of block 102 and monitors for the presence of another audio signal. Otherwise, if the audio encoding detector 66 determines not to monitor for the presence of another audio signal, the process 100 of fig. 9 ends.

Performing an audio coding detection technique for implementing the operations of block 106 (see fig. 9) may entail a number of operations, including, for example, the exemplary operation 110 of fig. 10. Specifically, the audio encoding detector 66 extracts the encoding from the audio signal (block 111) and then stores the extracted encoding in the memory 68 (see fig. 5) (block 114). If desired, the audio coding detector 66 may be arranged to store additional information, including for example time stamp information, with the extracted coding. After storing the encoding in the memory 68 (block 112), the audio encoding detector 66 again monitors LINEOUT_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTSignal lines 75a and 75b to determine if the audio signal is still present (block 113). If the audio signal is still present, the audio coding detector 66 continues to extract and store the audio coding (blocks 111 and 112). If audio is no longer present (block 113), the audio encoding detector 66 returns control to a calling function, operation, or process, such as, for example, process 100 of FIG. 9.

Referring now to FIG. 11, processor 66 is now configured to operate in support ofSuch as a portable meter 32 embedded in the consumer's headphones/ear-phones, or such as a support carried by the consumer in a waist clip, pocket, or other locationSFF portable meter 32) may be configured to execute instructions 114, instructions 114 to monitorThe signal starts (block 115). If no such signal is present, processor 66 returns to monitoring via wireless transceiver 70Until such a signal is detected. If such a signal is detected, the processor 66 and/or wireless transceiver 70 determines whether the detected signal is an authorized device for which the portable meter 32 may operate (block 116). As described above, many supportsMay be consumer supportWireless headphones/earphones that are not associated with the consumer. Therefore, the temperature of the molten metal is controlled,the protocol enables the consumer to allow only authorized devices to participate, thereby protecting the privacy of the consumer. If it is detectedIf the signal is not authorized, processor 66 returns to monitoring for other authorization via wireless transceiver 70A signal. In additionOn the one hand, if it is detectedThe signal comes from an authorized device on the consumer's piconet, processor 66 begins monitoring the embedded deviceAudio signals within the signal until such signals are no longer detected (block 117). It will be clear to one of ordinary skill in the art that the detection is embedded inThe audio signal in the signal may be subjected to any or all of the processes of fig. 7 to 10. Determining at processor 66 that no longer is detectedFollowing the signal, processor 66 determines whether another should be monitoredThe presence of a signal (block 118). If processor 66 determines that another should be monitoredThe presence of a signal, the processor 66 returns control to block 115 and monitors for anotherThe presence of a signal. Otherwise, if processor 66 determines not to monitor for the presence of another audio signal, process 114 of FIG. 11 ends.

Referring now to fig. 12, the processor 66 (see fig. 5), when arranged to operate as the video signal generator 66, may be arranged to execute instructions 120 for detecting video presentation information and generating a video signature. To this end, the processor 66 initially monitors the VIDEO provided by the media player 26 via the media player communication port 42_OUTSignal lines 74 (see fig. 5 and 6) to determineWhether a video signal is present (block 122). If no such signal is present, the VIDEO signature generator 66 returns to monitoring VIDEO_OUTSignal line 74 until a signal is detected. If such a signal is detected, the VIDEO signature generator 66 begins monitoring the VIDEO signal until at VIDEO_OUTSuch a signal is no longer present at the signal line 74 (block 124), as described below in connection with fig. 13. After the video signature generator 66 completes monitoring the video signal, the video signature generator 66 determines whether monitoring for the presence of another video signal should continue (block 126). If the video signature generator 66 determines that the presence of another video signal should continue to be monitored, control returns to block 122. Otherwise, process 120 ends.

Performing video signal monitoring (block 124 of fig. 12) may involve a number of operations, including, for example, the exemplary operation 130 shown in fig. 13. Specifically, the VIDEO signature generator 66 generates a VIDEO signature using the detected VIDEO signal (block 132), stores the VIDEO signature in the memory 68 (see FIG. 5) (block 134) and then determines that it is in a VIDEO_OUTWhether the video signal is still present at signal line 74 (block 136). If a video signal is still present, control returns to block 132 and the video signature generator 66 continues to generate signatures (block 132) and store the signatures in memory (block 134). On the contrary, if at VIDEO_OUTThe video signature is no longer present at the signal line 74, the video signature processor 66 returns control to a calling function, operation, or process such as, for example, process 120 of fig. 13.

Referring now to fig. 14, the processor 66, when configured to operate as the video encoding detector 66, may be configured to execute instructions 140, the instructions 140 for detecting video presentation information and collecting ancillary video encodings. Initially, the VIDEO encoding detector 66 monitors the VIDEO provided by the media player 26 via the media player communication port 42_OUTSignal line 74 to determine if a video signal is present (block 142). If no VIDEO signal is present, VIDEO encoding detector 66 returns to monitoring VIDEO_OUTSignal line 74 until a video signal is detected.Otherwise, if VIDEO encoding detector 66 determines to be in VIDEO_OUTWith a video signal present at signal line 74, video encoding detector 66 begins analyzing the video signal to determine if encoding is present in the detected video signal (block 144). If no encoding is detected, VIDEO encoding detector 66 returns to monitoring VIDEO_OUTSignal line 74 (block 142). If video encoding is detected (block 144), video encoding detector 66 performs an encoding detection technique (block 146), as described below in connection with FIG. 15.

After the video signature generator 66 completes monitoring the video encoding (block 146), the video signature generator 66 determines whether monitoring for the presence of another video signal should continue (block 148). If the video signature generator 66 determines that the presence of another video signal should continue to be monitored, control returns to block 142. Otherwise, process 140 ends.

Performing the video encoding detection technique (block 146 of fig. 14) may perform a number of operations, including, for example, the exemplary operation 150 shown in fig. 15. Specifically, video encoding detector 66 extracts the encoding from the video signal (block 152) and then stores the extracted encoding in memory 68 (block 154). The video encoding detector 66 may be arranged to store the extracted encoding together with additional information, including for example time stamp information, if desired. After storing the encoding in memory (block 154), VIDEO encoding detector 66 again monitors the VIDEO_OUTSignal line 74 to determine if video signals are still present (block 156). If the video signal is still present, video encoding detector 66 continues to extract and store the audio encoding (blocks 152 and 154). If the video signal is no longer present (block 156), the video encoding detector 66 returns control to a calling function, operation, or process, such as the exemplary process 140 of FIG. 14, for example.

In alternative embodiments, the processor 66 of the portable meter 32 may be implemented as several signal processors, including, for example, for monitoring secondary video encoding and/or generating video signatures by, for example, executing the exemplary instructions 160 depicted in fig. 16A video encoding detector and a video signature generator. In this embodiment, the processor 66 monitors the VIDEO of the media player communication port 42_OUTSignal line 74 to determine if a video signal is present (block 162). If a video signal is detected, processor 66 causes the video encoding detector to determine if there is encoding in the detected signal (block 164). If video encoding is present (block 164), processor 66 causes a video encoding detector to monitor the encoding (block 166), for example, using the encoding detection techniques described above in connection with instructions 150 represented in FIG. 15. If no video encoding is present (block 164), the processor 66 causes the video signature generator to generate a signature for the detected video signal (block 167). The instructions for generating the signature (block 167) may be implemented using the instructions 130 described above in connection with fig. 13.

After the video encoding detector collects any video encoding present (block 166) or after the video signature generator generates a signature (block 167), the processor 66 determines whether the presence of another video signal should be monitored (block 168). If the processor 66 determines that the presence of another video signal should be monitored (block 168), control passes back to block 162. Otherwise, process 160 ends.

In yet another alternative embodiment, the processor 66 of the portable meter 32 may be implemented as several signal processors, including, for example, an audio encoding detector and an audio signature generator for monitoring secondary audio encodings and/or generating audio signatures, such as by executing the example instructions 170 depicted in FIG. 17. Initially, the processor 66 monitors LINEOUT provided by the media player communication port 42 of the media player 26_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTAudio lines 75a and 75b to determine if an audio signal is present (box 172). If no audio signal is present (block 172), processor 66 again monitors LINEOUT_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTAudio lines 75a and 75b to determine if an audio signal is present (box 172). Otherwise, if an audio signal is detected (block 172), the processor 66 causes the audio coding detector to determine whether coding is present in the detected signal (block 174). If audio is presentEncode (block 174), processor 66 causes a video encoding detector, such as the encoding detection technique described above in connection with method 110 (see fig. 10), to monitor for audio encoding (block 176). If no audio encoding is present (block 174), the processor 66 causes the audio signature generator to generate a signature for the detected video signal (block 177). The instructions for generating a signature (block 177) may be implemented by the instructions 90 described above in connection with fig. 8.

After the audio encoding detector monitors the audio encoding (block 176) or after the audio signature generator generates the signature (block 177), the processor 66 determines whether the presence of another audio signal should be monitored (block 178). If the processor 66 determines that the presence of another audio signal should be monitored (block 178), control passes back to block 172. Otherwise, process 170 ends.

In yet another embodiment, the processor 66 of the portable meter 32 may be implemented as several signal processors, including, for example, an audio code detector, a video code detector, an audio signature generator, and/or a video signature generator for monitoring secondary video and/or audio codes and/or generating video and/or audio signatures, such as by executing the instructions 180 depicted in FIG. 18. In this embodiment, the processor 66 monitors for VIDEO provided by the media player communication port 42 of the media player 26 in addition to the VIDEO_OUTIn addition to the signal line 74, LINEOUT is also monitored_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTSignal lines 75a and 75b to determine whether an audio signal is present and/or whether a video signal is present at the respective lines 74, 75a and 75b (block 182). If an audio signal is detected, processor 66 causes the audio signature generator to perform signature generation (block 186) up to LINEOUT, e.g., using the exemplary signature generation technique described above in connection with FIG. 8_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTUntil the audio signal is no longer present at signal lines 75a and 75 b. In addition, processor 66 causes the audio coding detector to determine whether there is any audio coding in the signal (block 184). If the processor 66 determines that no coding is present in the audio signal (block 184), or at LINEOUT_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTThe absence of audio signals at signal lines 75a and 75b (block 182), processor 66 continues to monitor LINEOUT_RIGHTAnd LINEOUT_LEFTSignal lines 75a and 75b to determine if an audio signal is present (block 182).

If processor 66 determines that audio encoding is present (block 184), an audio encoding detector performs an encoding detection technique (block 187), for example, using the exemplary encoding detection technique described above in connection with FIG. 10. In this manner, processor 66 may perform audio signature generation and audio encoding detection in parallel or at approximately the same time.

Likewise, if at block 182 a VIDEO signal is detected, processor 66 causes the VIDEO signature generator to perform signature generation (block 186) up to VIDEO, for example, using the exemplary signature generation technique described above in connection with fig. 13_OUTUntil the video signal is no longer present at signal line 74. In addition, processor 66 causes the video encoding detector to determine whether there is any video encoding in the signal (block 184). If processor 66 determines that there is no encoding in the VIDEO signal (block 184) or at VIDEO_OUTThe absence of a VIDEO signal at signal line 74 (block 182), processor 66 continues to monitor VIDEO_OUTSignal line 74 to determine if a video signal is present (block 182).

If processor 66 determines that video encoding is present, then a video encoding detector performs an encoding detection technique (block 187), for example, using the exemplary encoding detection technique described above in connection with FIG. 15. In this manner, processor 66 may perform video signature generation and video encoding detection in parallel or at approximately the same time.

After the audio encoding detector completes detecting audio encoding or the video encoding detector completes detecting video encoding (block 187) and the audio signature generator completes generating an audio signature or the video signature generator completes generating a video signature (block 186), the processor 66 determines whether monitoring for the presence of another audio signal or video signal should continue (block 188). If the processor 66 determines that the presence of another signal should be monitored, control passes back to block 182. Otherwise, process 180 ends.

Referring now to fig. 19, the portable meter 32 may execute instructions 200 to enable wireless communication with the home unit 30 using the wireless transceiver 70 (see fig. 5). Initially, the processor 66 of the portable meter 32 determines whether a dwelling unit 31 has been detected (block 202). For example, the dwelling unit 31 may transmit a beacon signal that is detectable by the portable meter 32 via the wireless transceiver 70 when the portable meter 32 is sufficiently close to the dwelling unit 31. If the processor detects the signal (block 202), the processor 66 responds by sending metering information (block 204) via the wireless transceiver 70. The metering information may include, for example, a plurality of signatures, a plurality of encodings, a plurality of metadata, and/or any combination thereof.

After processor 66 sends the metering information (block 204), processor 66 determines whether the presence of dwelling units 31 should be monitored again (block 196). For example, if the memory 68 (see FIG. 5) does not contain any other metering information to be sent to the dwelling unit 31, the processor 66 may determine that the presence of the dwelling unit 31 does not need to be monitored again. Alternatively or additionally, processor 66 may be adapted to communicate with dwelling units 31 only after a predetermined time interval, e.g., based on expiration of a timer, in which case processor 66 may determine that dwelling units 31 do not need to be monitored again if the timer has not expired. In any event, if processor 66 determines that the presence of dwelling unit 31 should be monitored again, control passes back to block 192. Otherwise, process 190 ends.

Referring now to FIG. 20, in another embodiment, the portable meter 32 may execute instructions 210 for communicating with the dwelling unit 31. Initially, the wireless transceiver 70 of the portable meter 32 transmits an identification signal (block 212). Processor 66 then determines whether a response is received from dwelling unit 31 (block 214). For example, if the portable meter 32 is sufficiently close to the dwelling unit 31 to enable communication therewith, the dwelling unit 31 receives the identification information and prompts the processor 66 with a message or information to send metering information in response to the identification information. If the processor 66 determines that a response message from the residential unit 31 has not been received (block 214) (e.g., the portable meter 32 is not close enough to the residential unit 31, or assuming the residential unit 31 is inoperable), control returns to block 212. Otherwise, if processor 66 determines that a response is received from residential unit 31, processor 66 responds to the message by sending metering information (block 216) (the metering information may include multiple signatures, multiple encodings, multiple metadata, or any combination thereof). After processor 66 completes sending the metering information (block 216), process 210 ends. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the portable meter 32 may be adapted to insert a delay between transmitting the identification signal in an effort to conserve battery power.

As described above, metering information received by the dwelling unit 31 is sent to the media measurement entity 18 (see fig. 1) immediately or later.

Referring to fig. 21, the example instructions 220 may be executed to communicate information between the portable meter 32 and the media measurement entity 18 (see fig. 1) using the docking/charging device 28 (see fig. 2B). In particular, the docking apparatus 28 comprises a communication device (not shown) for enabling communication between the media player 26 (when in a docked position with respect to the docking apparatus 28) and the network 34 (see fig. 1). The media player 26 may receive/download media content and/or transfer information via the docking/charging device 28. In the illustrated embodiment, the portable meter 32 is adapted to communicate metering information to the media measurement entity 18 via the docking device 28 by executing the exemplary instructions 220.

Initially, the docking device 28 determines whether the media player 26 (coupled to the portable meter 32) has been inserted into the docking device 28 (block 221). If the docking device 28 determines that the media player 26 is inserted (block 221), the portable meter 32 or a communication device disposed in the docking device 28 determines whether the docking device 28 has been network-attached (block 222) (e.g., determines whether the docking device 28 is coupled to the network 34 or to a personal computer 29 that has been coupled to the network 34). If no network is detected at block 222, the docking device 28 determines whether the presence of the network 34 should continue to be monitored (block 223). For example, if the media player 26 has not been removed, the docking device 28 or portable meter 32 may determine that monitoring for the presence of the network 34 should continue. If the docking device 28 or the portable meter 32 determines that the presence of the network 34 should continue to be monitored, control passes back to block 222.

If the network 34 is detected (block 222), the portable meter 32 establishes communication with the media measurement entity 18 using a communication device disposed in the docking apparatus 28 (block 224). As will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, various communication synchronization functions will occur when communication is established between the media player 26 and the personal computer 29 via the docking station 28. Such communication synchronization functions are known in the art and will not be discussed. After the synchronization process, the media player 26 communicates with the personal computer 29 to download the content. After any such communication between the media player 26 and the personal computer 29 is completed, the portable meter 32 begins communicating with the personal computer 29 to download any media information collected by the portable meter 32 to the personal computer 29 (block 225).

After the media information has been sent (block 225), the media player 26 determines whether more metering information should be sent (block 226). For example, after sending the media metering information (block 225), the portable meter 32 may be set to not subsequently communicate with the media measurement entity 18 via the processor 29 until a predetermined amount of time has elapsed, or a predetermined amount of new metering information has been collected, or any other desired event has occurred. In this embodiment, the wireless transceiver 70 (see fig. 5) may be implemented as a wireless transceiver. If the media player 26 determines that more metering information should be sent (block 226), control passes back to block 225.

If the media player 26 determines that no more metering information should be sent (block 226) or if the docking device 28 or portable meter 32 determines that the presence of the network 34 should not continue to be monitored, the docking device 28 determines whether an undocking event has been detected (block 227). For example, an undocking event may occur when the media player 26 is physically removed, undocked, decoupled, etc. from the docking device 28. If the docking device 28 determines that an undocking event is not detected (block 227), control passes back to block 226.

If the docking device 28 determines that an undocking event is detected (block 227) or if the docking device 28 does not detect a docking insertion (block 221), the docking device 28 determines whether the next docking insertion event should continue to be monitored (block 228). If the docking device 28 determines that another docking insertion event should be monitored (block 228), control passes back to block 221. Otherwise, process 220 ends.

Referring now to fig. 22, while the example portable meter 32 shown in fig. 3 is coupled to the media player communication port 42 of the media player 26, an example portable meter 230, which is substantially similar to the portable meter 32 (see fig. 1 and 5), may instead be configured to be coupled to the media player 26 via the headphone jack 40. More specifically, the portable meter 230 may be configured to include a headphone/earset plug 232 adapted to be inserted into the headphone/earset jack 40, instead of having the communication ports 52 and 54 shown in fig. 3. In addition, the portable meter 230 may include a headphone/earset jack 234 into which the user 16 (see fig. 1) may plug a headphone/earset device 236 having headphones/bud (earstems) 237 for listening to the media player 26.

LINEOUT may be accessed and monitored by portable meter 230 via headphone/ear-phone jack 40 and plug 232_LEFTAnd LINEOUT_RIGHTSignal lines 75a and 75b for the purpose of acquiring and/or generating metering information. The audio signal obtained by inserting the plug 232 into the jack 40 is used by the portable meter 230 to perform the audio signature generation and/orAny of the audio coding detection techniques. Also provided is LINEOUT_LEFTAnd LINEOUT_RIGHTThe signal lines 75a and 75b, as outputs at the headphone/earphone jack 234 that are not disturbed by the operation of the portable meter 230, do not disturb the listening pleasure of the user 16 (see fig. 1).

The portable meter 230 includes all of the same components described in connection with fig. 5, except that the portable meter 230 need not include any video processing circuitry capable of performing video signature generation and/or video encoding detection. In some embodiments, the portable meter 230 may be large enough to mount a battery (e.g., AAA alkaline battery). In yet another embodiment, the portable meter 230 uses LINEOUT_LEFTAnd LINEOUT_RIGHTThe signal lines 75a and 75b provide current to power the electrical components thereof (e.g., components substantially similar or identical to the meter components 66, 68, and 70 of fig. 5). In other embodiments, the portable meter 230 may operate using both battery power and power provided by current from the media player 26.

Referring also to fig. 23, in yet other embodiments, an exemplary portable meter 230 may be adapted to plug into the headphone/earbud plug 40, but configured to be positioned longitudinally along the top of the media player 26 instead of perpendicular thereto as shown in fig. 22. In the embodiment of fig. 23, the portable meter 230 may additionally include a portable meter communication port 233 that is adapted to be inserted into the media player communication port 39 provided on the top panel 41 of the media player 26. The portable meter communication port 233 is adapted to monitor the signals of interest (e.g., play commands, stop commands, pause commands, next/previous commands, media metadata, graphical display information, video signals, audio signals, etc.) available at port 39. For example, any data transfer signal may be monitored for the presence of media content information, and the portable meter 230 additionally monitors for the presence of any audio or video signals. Any audio and/or video signals detected are monitored in the same manner as described for the portable meter 32.

Referring now to fig. 24, in yet another embodiment, an exemplary portable meter 240 is provided in the headphone/bud earphone portion 237 of the ear-headphone/headset assembly 236. In this embodiment, the earset/headphone assembly 236 is configured to include a processing device mounted in the headphone/bud earphone portion 237 of the assembly 236 and is designed to improve sound quality for the pleasure of the user 16 (see fig. 1). The processing device comprises, for example, a provided LINEOUT_LEFT75a (or LINEOUT)_RIGHT75b) A signal processor 242 (e.g., codec, digital-to-analog converter, analog-to-digital converter, etc.) for the audio signal. In an embodiment implementation in which the media player 26 outputs digital signals via the jack 40, the signal processor 242 may be implemented with a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that converts the digital audio signals into analog audio signals suitable for output by speakers 244 mounted in each headphone/bud earphone. In an embodiment implementation in which the media player 26 outputs analog signals via the jack 40, the signal processor 242 may be implemented with an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for generating digital information for use in generating signatures or extracting audio/video encodings.

In order to adapt the headset/earset assembly 236 to contain the portable meter 240, a memory 246 sufficient to store the code and/or signature is installed in one or both of the headset/bud earphones. Additionally, a processor 248 (e.g., a metering information generator) adapted to generate audio signatures and/or extract audio encodings in the same manner as the processor 66 described in connection with fig. 5 is mounted in one or both of the headphones/buds and coupled to the memory 246. Processor 248 may be arranged to execute machine readable instructions that cause the processor to generate an audio signature and/or extract an audio encoding. Alternatively, processor 248 may be implemented with circuitry arranged to generate an audio signature and/or extract an audio encoding (e.g., an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)). For example, the processor 248 may be provided with an audio signature generator integrated circuit and/or an audio code extractor circuit. The portable meter 240 configured in this manner (i.e., mounted in headphones/bud ear-headphones) is programmed/changed to operate in much the same manner as the portable meter 32 described in connection with fig. 5, except that it need not include any equipment for processing video signals. The portable meter 240 may utilize a network via LINEOUT_LEFT75a (or LINEOUT)_RIGHT75b) The received audio signals are powered and include a battery (not shown) coupled to the processor 248 and the memory 246. The battery is used to power the portable meter 240 when the media player 26 is turned off so that the portable meter 240 can still communicate with the personal computer 29. The portable meter 240 also includes a wireless transceiver (not shown) for sending media measurement information (e.g., encoding and/or signatures) to a personal computer 29 (see fig. 1) coupled to the network 34.

Referring now to fig. 25, in yet another embodiment, an exemplary portable meter 500A is in or near the bud earphone/headphone portion of a headphone/headset assembly 502. In this embodiment, the portable meter 500A is configured to include: a processor 66, a memory 68, a wireless transceiver 70A, a battery 71, a codec 78, and a speaker 79 (see fig. 5). The wireless transceiver 70A of the example ear-bud/headphone apparatus 502 can utilize any suitable wireless protocol and corresponding hardware (e.g., including that can establish communication with the wireless transceiver 70 of the example media apparatus 26 of fig. 25)) To be implemented. In this manner, media content transmitted from media device 26 via wireless transceiver 70 is received by portable meter 500A of ear-headphones/headset 502 and processed by codec 78 (see FIG. 5) into analog signals for listening by a consumer. In addition, the portable meter 500A of the illustrated embodiment is embedded from the transmissionIn thatThe metering data is extracted from the audio signal in the signal and saved to memory for later transfer to the media measurement entity 18. In this embodiment, the portable meter 500A has the dual task of audio processing for the consumer's listening pleasure and collecting metering data for the measuring entity.

However, other metering embodiments may share responsibility for collecting metering data with the example SFF portable meter 500B, and may also be employed to communicate with the example media device 26 via the wireless transceiver 70B. In such an embodiment, both the portable meter 500A and the portable meter 500B receive a signal containing embedded audio from the media device 26A signal. However, the portable meter 500A includes the codec 78 for processing the audio content to generate the analog audio signal for the speaker 79, while the portable meter 500B receives the same for metering purposesA signal. Accordingly, the ear-headphones/headsets 502 of these embodiments may be simplified, and smaller memory 68 may be employed, lower power may be drained from the battery 71, and/or the requirements on the capabilities of the processor 66 may be reduced.

Either or both of the portable meter 500A and/or the SFF portable meter 500B of fig. 25 may include a USB port, mini-USB (mini-USB) port, or the like, to communicate collected media information from the memory 68 to the media measurement entity 18. Alternatively, the meters 500A and/or 500B may employ wireless transceivers 70A, 70B for transmitting metering information, as depicted in the view of fig. 19. The various collected signatures and/or encodings may be communicated to the media measurement entity in a number of ways, including but not limited to wirelessly transmitting the collected information to the dwelling unit 31 (see fig. 1). Dwelling units 31 may be provided with wireless transceivers similar to wireless transceivers 43, 70A, 70B shown in fig. 4, 5 and/or 25. Dwelling unit 31 may be a PC with a high speed (e.g., broadband) internet connection, and/or a custom dwelling unit dedicated to the residence of the consumer. Such a high-speed network connection allows for real-time transmission of metering data collected from the portable meters 500A and/or 500B.

As will be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art, complex headphones with processing capabilities are commercially available, and any device provided in these commercially available headphones/earphones can be adapted to operate dually as a meter, provided that the existing processor and memory are sufficient to perform the code extraction and signature generation and storage functions of the meter 240, so that the addition of the processor 248 and additional memory 246 is not required. In addition, the software instructions needed to modify the operation of the processor 248 for the metering tasks must be provided.

The example method 250 shown in fig. 26 may be used to provide portable meters (e.g., the example portable meters 32 of fig. 1, 5, and 6; 230 of fig. 22 and 23; 240 of fig. 24; or one or more of 500A and 500B of fig. 25) to users 16 (see fig. 1) who are willing to have their listening activity monitored. Initially, the media measurement entity 18 (see fig. 1) cooperates with a headphone/earpiece manufacturer (not shown) to design a dual-purpose metering headphone/earphone 236 (see fig. 24 and 25) (block 252). In some embodiments, dual-purpose metering headphones/earphones 236 may be configured to output enhanced sound quality. All or some of the dual-purpose headphones/earsets 236 offer sales to the consumer 16 (see fig. 1) (block 254). Consumer 16 provides information regarding the dual-purpose headphones, for example, in response to a consumer survey (block 256). For example, consumer 16 may be notified that dual-purpose headphones 236 may be purchased with or without metering functionality (block 256). In addition, consumer 16 may be notified to: the cost of the dual-purpose headset 236 will be curtailed if the consumer 16 is voluntarily metered (block 256). If the consumer agrees to be metered (block 258), then the cost is reduced appropriately and the circuitry disposed in the headset 236 that controls metering (e.g., metering components 66, 68, and 70 of fig. 5) is enabled (block 260). Alternatively, the cost may be reduced via a mail-in discount or reduced via discounted access via an internet website (not shown) that the user is complained to visit. Additionally, the consumer may be queried to complete a survey (not shown) that provides demographic information about the consumer to the media measurement entity 18 (see FIG. 1) (block 262). The survey may be provided in a hard copy format or may be made available online via an internet website. If consumer 16 is not willing to be metered, the manufacturer/vendor tracks the sale of the non-dual purpose (i.e., conventional) headphone/earset device (block 264). Once the sale of the headphones is complete, or no sale to consumer 16 is achieved, the manufacturer/vendor determines whether to track another consumer (block 266). If the manufacturer/vendor determines that another consumer should be tracked (block 266), control passes back to block 254 and the next consumer executes subsequent blocks. Otherwise, process 250 ends.

The example method 250 of fig. 26 may be modified in many ways to enable distribution of portable meters 32, 230, or 240 to the consuming public for the purpose of obtaining collaboration by a large number of metering users. For example, the media measurement entity 18 may cooperate with a portable media player manufacturer/seller to provide discounted or reduced cost media players to consumers who agree to be metered. The customer who is metered is granted access to the media measurement entity, which responds by collecting demographic information and issuing to the user a meter that is inserted/installed into the media player, and giving the user a discount based on the agreement. Alternatively, the media measurement entity and the media player manufacturer/seller may cooperate to install the portable meter 32, 230 or 240 into the portable media player 26 and enable the portable meter only if the consumer agrees to be metered. If approved, the portable meter is enabled and the user's media consumption via the media player 26 is thereafter monitored.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the media consumption environment, although represented in FIG. 1 as a household, may be any environment in which media content may be consumed. In the illustrated embodiment, it is intended to enhance the portability of the media player 26 by allowing content consumed via the media player 26 to be metered portably. Additionally, the home meter 30 shown in FIG. 1, although illustrated as a single device, may be any media metering system having any number of components, devices disposed in a home, workplace, street, business zone, etc. coupled in any desired manner. The residential meter 30 may be implemented using the example media metering system of the patents and patent applications referenced herein and disclosed in U.S. patent application serial No. 10/970585, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Referring to fig. 27, an exemplary personal computer 29 (also shown in fig. 1) includes software/hardware 270 that enables the personal computer 29 to communicate with the media player 26 via the docking station 28. In some embodiments, the processor additionally includes software/hardware 272 configured to monitor communications between the software/hardware 270 and the media player 26. Such software/hardware 272 may be designed to review any data table or library containing information regarding downloaded media content and whether such media content has already been rendered/displayed by the media player 26. Such information may be stored, for example, in a memory device 274 installed in the personal computer 29.

Although the exemplary media player 26 shown in fig. 1 and 2A includes a docking station interface in the media player communication port 42 via which the media player 26 obtains media content, the media player 26 may instead have a communication port (e.g., a USB port, a small USB port, a USB port,Ports, ethernet ports, etc.). In this case, all references to the functionality of the docking device 28 are embodied in the media player 26 or the personal computer 29 so that the communication that takes place between the portable meter 32 and the docking device 28 instead takes place directly between the portable meter 32 and the personal computer 29. In other words, in any of the embodiments described herein, the docking device 28 may be implemented by a personal computer 29.

Turning to fig. 28, the exemplary personal computer 29 includes a computer media player application 2604, while the exemplary media player 26 includes a portable media player application 2606. The personal computer 29 is configured to monitor metering information generated by the computer media player application 2604 and the portable media player application 2606. Specifically, media player applications 2604 and 2606 or other metering software applications installed on the player 26 and the computer 29 store metering information in respective media storage data structures 2608 and 2610 (i.e., a computer media storage database ("CDB") 2608 and a portable media storage database ("PDB") 2610). The metering information may include, for example, song titles, media file titles, video titles, movie titles, display titles, number of presentations, last date and time of presentation, amount of media files presented, user identification, media player application identification, portable media player identification, computer identification, software identification, and so forth.

Apple, marketed by Apple computer, Inc. of Coopertino, CalifThe media player application generates a music database that may be used to implement the exemplary CDB 2608. Specifically, AppleThe media player generates "iTunes Music library. xml" and "iTunes 4 Music library. itl" files. In addition, the first and second substrates are,Applethe portable music player generates a music database that may be used to implement the exemplary PDB 2610. Of course, any other computer media player application (e.g.,MediaInc、music Engine, etc.) or any other database generated by any other portable media player may alternatively be used to implement the CDB2608 and the PDB 2610. Additionally or alternatively, a database generated by a metering software application separate from the media player application may be used in addition to, or instead of, the database generated by the media presentation application.

In some embodiments, it is preferable that the media storage data structures 2608 and 2610 be implemented with data structures or files that store metering information using organizational structures that facilitate relatively easy retrieval of media monitoring information of interest. For example, an extensible markup language ("XML") file (e.g., an "iTunes Music library. XML" file) represents metering information using ASCII text that is separated or otherwise organized using XML markup. Utilizing an XML file enables retrieval of metering information using well-known character and string function calls without the need to use a conventional database query language. Of course, XML documents may also utilize XML query languages (e.g., world Wide Web alliance)XQuery developed by the XML query workgroup). Alternatively, it isConventional database files may be used to implement media repository data structures 2608 and 2610, in which case a conventional database query language (e.g., structured query language ("SQL")) may be used to access metering information. Other file types that may be used to implement the media store data structures 2608 and 2610 include, for example, text files, ASCII files, spreadsheet files, database files, and the like.

As shown, the media player 26 may be synchronized with the personal computer 29 using a synchronization process 2612. The synchronization process 2612 copies the PDB 2610 to a PDB copy 2614 stored in the personal computer 29 via a wired or wireless connection to enable the personal computer 29 to access metering information generated by the media player 26. In an alternative embodiment, synchronization process 2612 may copy information from PDB 2610 and instead of merging into PDB copy 2614, the information is merged into CDB 2608. In this case, because metering information generated by the portable media player application 2606 and the computer media player application 2604 is stored in the CDB2608, the personal computer 29 may not need a PDB copy 2610 for monitoring metering information generated in the media player 26.

To collect metering information for subsequent processing, the personal computer 29 extracts metering information from the PDB copy 2614 and the CDB2608 and stores the retrieved metering information in a metering log database 2618 (i.e., a metering log data structure). The personal computer 29 may be configured to retrieve all metering information in the PDB copy 2614 and the CDB2608 or to select only metering information such as, for example, content (e.g., song) title, artist/actor name, date/time stamp, playback duration, user identification, media presentation software identification, etc. (e.g., only metering information of interest to the media measurement entity 18). The personal computer 29 communicates metering information stored in the metering log database 2618 to the media measurement entity 18 described above in connection with fig. 1 via the communication network 34 (see fig. 1).

Although the personal computer 29 is described as utilizing the metering log database 2618 to store metering information retrieved from the PDB copy 2614 and the CDB2608, in alternative embodiments, the personal computer 29 may not have the metering log database 2618. Rather, the personal computer 29 may retrieve some or all metering information from the PDB copy 2614 and/or the CDB2608 and communicate the retrieved metering information to the media measurement entity 18 without storing it in a separate metering log database 2618.

In an alternative embodiment, for purposes of transferring metering information generated at the media player 26 to the media measurement entity 18, the media player 26 may include a metering log database substantially similar or identical to the metering log database 2618, such that some or all of the metering information retrieved from the PDB 2610 is stored and transferred to the media measurement entity 18 without the need for the personal computer 29 to manage the PDB copy 2614. In such embodiments, the media player 26 may include or be communicatively coupled to a communication transceiver (e.g., a wireless or wired network adapter, a cellular communication transceiver, a personal computer 29, etc.) that communicates metering information to the media measurement entity, for example, via a communication network 34.

In an alternative embodiment, the PDB 2610 or another data structure substantially similar or identical to the PDB 2610 may be stored and updated in the portable meter 32 (see fig. 1, 3, 5, and 6). In particular, the portable meter 32 may include a monitoring media line (e.g., a VIDEO as shown in FIG. 6)_OUTSignal line 74, LINEOUT_LEFTSignal line 75a, and LINEOUT_RIGHTMetering software application or metering hardware of the signal line 75 b) and stores the metering information in the PDB stored therein. The synchronization process 2612 may then copy metering information from the PDB in the meter 32 into the PDB copy 2614 via a wired or wireless connection for subsequent transmission to the media measurement entity 18.

Fig. 29 depicts exemplary frame incremental recording (FIL) mark encodings 2702a-c embedded or inserted in a plurality of respective video frames 2704 a-c. The FIL flag encoding is used to store a numerical value representing the number of times the corresponding frame has been presented. For example, each time the portable media player application 2606 of fig. 28 decodes and presents a video frame 2704a, the media player application or a function associated therewith (e.g., a software routine or hardware function) increments the value of the FIL markup encoding 2702a to indicate that the video frame 2704a is presented. If the user selects to play a portion of the video file that is typically more than the other portions, the FIL marker encodings associated with the more frequently presented portions will have higher values than the FIL marker encodings associated with the less frequently presented portions. The FIL markup encoding can also indicate whether a person is fast-forwarding through portions of the media presentation, typically because the media player application (e.g., portable media player application 2606) does not decode each frame of the media presentation when fast-forwarding, and thus does not increment the FIL markup encoding of the undecoded frames.

Each of the FIL marker encodings 2702a-c includes a presentation count portion (e.g., marker encoding value 2804 of FIG. 30) for storing the number of times the corresponding media frame is presented, and an identification portion (e.g., marker encoding identification number 2802 of FIG. 30) for identifying that particular FIL marker encoding. In some embodiments, the identification portion may correspond to a playback time at which a FIL mark encoding is inserted in the media content. FIL flag encodings 2702a-c may be inserted in viewable portions of video frames 2704 a-c. However, because the FIL mark encodings 2702a-c make up a relatively small portion of the viewable area, they are substantially imperceptible to a human when the video frames 2704a-c are presented via a display.

To insert the FIL tag encoding into the media content, the media measurement entity 18 may collaborate or agree with a media production company or media delivery company to insert the FIL tag encoding into the media content. Alternatively, the FIL tag encoding can be defined using industry standards, and any media company interested in obtaining ratings information can insert the FIL tag encoding into their media content prior to delivery of the media content. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 29, FIL marker codes 2702a-c are inserted at five second intervals. However, in other embodiments, FIL marker encodings 2702a-c can be inserted at any other interval. The interval may be defined using a predetermined standard interval determined, for example, by the media measurement entity 18 and/or an industry standard. Alternatively, the interval may vary between different media content (e.g., five seconds for a television display, ten seconds for a movie, one second for an advertising program, etc.). In any case, the interval may be stored in a portion of each FIL mark encoding, or may be known from an interval value or a media type code stored in the media content.

Although in the illustrated embodiment, FIL markup coding 2702a-c is inserted in video frames (video frames 2704 a-c), FIL markup coding may additionally or alternatively be inserted in audio and/or graphical information (e.g., video games, electronic pictures/photographs, electronic artwork, etc.). For example, to track or monitor the number of times a media player application (e.g., media player applications 2604 and 2606 of fig. 28) renders portions of an audio file, FIL mark encodings can be inserted into audio frames of the audio file and incremented each time the media player application decodes and renders them.

In an alternative embodiment, the FIL markup encodings 2702a-c may not be inserted into the media content, but instead stored in a separate FIL markup encoding file (not shown). For example, for each media content file, the metering software application may store the FIL tag encoding in a separate FIL tag encoding file corresponding to the media content file. In yet another alternative embodiment, the FIL mark encoding may be appended to the end or beginning of the media content file. In any alternative embodiment, the metering application may associate a FIL tag encoding and a particular media content frame based on frame identification data (e.g., MPEG frame identification encoding or other encoder frame identification encoding) and a FIL tag encoding identification (e.g., tag encoding identification number 2802 of fig. 30) used to encode the media content.

The media measurement entity 18 may use the FIL mark encodings 2702a-c to determine consumer preferences associated with particular media presentation portions (e.g., consumers rarely prefer violent movie scenes and typically skip or fast forward through violent scenes). The media measurement entity 18 may also use the FIL mark-up encodings 2702a-c to determine whether the consumer is sufficiently exposed to the advertisement (e.g., the consumer does not view or listen to enough of the media presentation to consume the inserted advertising program) to facilitate interventional (i.e., consumer responsiveness, receipt, and/or recall of the advertisement) analysis.

Although described herein in connection with a portable media presentation device (e.g., portable media player 26), FIL markup encodings (e.g., FIL markup encodings 2702 a-c) can be used to monitor media presented by other types of media presentation devices. For example, FIL markup coding can be inserted into television program media, movies distributed on digital versatile disks ("DVDs") or videotapes, Internet protocol television ("IPTV") program media, Internet accessible media, satellite radio, Internet radio, compressed or uncompressed digital media (e.g., JPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-3, MPEG-4, advanced audio coding ("AAC"), Windows media Audio ("WMA"), Windows media video ("WMV"), etc.), compact disk ("CD") audio, analog video, video games, or any other type of media. Additionally, the FIL tag encoding can be processed (e.g., retrieved, read, incremented, stored, etc.) with any media presentation device (e.g., such as a set-top box, digital video recorder, video cassette recorder/player ("VCR"), DVD player, CD player, video game console, portable video game device, computer, stereo, etc.) that can be used to decode and/or present media content having FIL tag encoding.

FIG. 30 depicts an exemplary data structure 2800 used to store a plurality of exemplary FIL flag encodings (e.g., FIL flag encoding values 2702 a-c). The data structure 2800 stores a plurality of FIL tag code identification numbers 2802 and corresponding FIL tag code values 2804. While the media player applications 2604 and 2606 (see fig. 28) present media content, the FIL markup encoding process routine may store FIL markup encodings 2702a-c in respective data structures that are substantially similar or identical to the data structure 2800 and increment each FIL markup encoding value as the media player applications 2604 and 2606 present the corresponding media frame. The FIL markup encoding process routine may then write the FIL markup encoding values 2804 back to the corresponding FIL markup encoding (e.g., FIL markup encoding 2702 a-c) of the presented media content.

The metering routine may also use a data structure substantially similar or identical to the example data structure 2800 to store the FIL tag encoding values returned from the media content for the purpose of communicating the FIL tag encoding values to the media measurement entity 18. For example, data structures used to store FIL marker encoding values may be stored in the CDB2608, the PDB 2610, and/or the metering log database 2618 for subsequent transmission to the media measurement entity 18 for processing.

Fig. 31 depicts an example system 2900 that may be used to monitor media presented via an example personal computer 29 and/or an example portable media player 26. The example system 2900 may be implemented with any desired combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software. For example, one or more integrated circuits, discrete semiconductor components, or passive electronic components may be used. Additionally or alternatively, some or all of the blocks of the example system 2900, or components thereof, may be implemented using instructions, code, and/or other software and/or firmware, etc. stored on a machine-accessible medium that, when executed by, for example, a processor system (e.g., the media player 26 of fig. 1, 2, 4, and 28 and/or the personal computer 29 of fig. 1, 5, and 28), cause the processor system to perform the operations presented in the flow diagrams of fig. 32-35.

To decode media content, exemplary system 2900 is provided with a media decoder 2902. The media decoder 2902 may be configured to decode audio, video, and/or graphics media and may be implemented with any one or more hardware and/or software decoders. The media decoder 2902 may be used to implement a computer media player application 2604 and/or a portable media player application 2606 (see fig. 28).

To retrieve a FIL markup encoding (e.g., FIL markup encodings 2702a-c of fig. 29) from media content, increment a FIL markup encoding, and store the incremented FIL markup encoding in the media content, exemplary system 2900 is provided with a FIL markup encoding processor 2904.

To update metering information in media storage data structures (e.g., CDB 2614 and PDB 2610), the example system 2900 is provided with a media storage data structure interface 2906. For example, the media storage data structure interface 2906 may be configured to update metering information in the CDB 2614, the PDB 2610, and/or the example data structures 2800 regarding media content presented by the computer media player application 2604 and/or the portable media player application 2606. Metering information may include, for example, song titles, media file titles, video titles, movie titles, display titles, number of presentations, last date of presentation, amount of media files presented, user identification, media player application identification, portable media player identification, computer identification, and so forth.

To extract metering information from PDB 2610 and/or CDB2608 and PDB copy 2614 of fig. 28, example system 2900 is provided with a data extractor 2908. Data extractor 2908 may be configured to retrieve metering information from CDB2608 and PDB copy 2614 and store the metering information in metering log database 2618. When implemented in the media player 26, the data extractor 2908 may perform similar operations. For example, the data extractor 2908 may retrieve metering information from the PDB 2610 and transfer the metering information to a metering log database in the media player 26 or directly to the media measurement entity 18. Data extractor 2908 may be configured to retrieve all metering information in CDB2608, PDB 2610, and/or PDB copy 2614, or to select only metering information.

The data extractor 2908 may also be configured to retrieve FIL markup encoding values (e.g., FIL markup encodings 2702 a-c) from the media content and store the retrieved FIL markup encoding values in the data structure 2800 and/or in the CDB2608, the PDB 2610, and/or the metering log database 2618 for subsequent transmission to the media measurement entity 18.

To determine when the data extractor 2908 should copy metering information from the CDB2608 and/or the PDB copy 2614 to the metering log database 2618, the example system 2900 is provided with a comparator 2910. The comparator 2910 is configured to compare the metering information in the CDB2608 and the PDB copy 2614 with the metering information stored in the metering log database 2618 to determine whether the metering information in the CDB2608 and the PDB copy 2614 has changed since the data extractor 2908 copied the metering information from the CDB2608 and the PDB copy 2614 to the metering log database 2618. If the comparator 2910 determines that some metering information differs between the media repository data structures 2608 and 2614 and the metering log database 2618, the comparator 2910 transmits a message indicating the difference to the data extractor 2908 so that the data extractor 2908 may update the metering information in the metering log database 2618 with any new metering information in the media repository data structures 2608 and 2614.

Comparator 2910 may also be configured to perform other comparisons. For example, to determine when to communicate metering information from the metering log database 2618 to the media measurement entity 18, the comparator 2910 may compare the size of the metering log database 2618 to a predetermined size threshold to determine whether the size of the metering log database 2618 exceeds the size threshold, in which case metering information from the metering log database 2618 should be communicated to the media measurement entity 18. Additionally, the comparator 2910 may compare the value of a timer (not shown) to a predetermined time threshold to determine whether the elapsed time (tracked by the timer) has exceeded the time threshold.

To communicate metering information to the media measurement entity 18, the example system 2900 includes a data interface 2912. The data interface 2912 may be implemented using any suitable communication transceiver that transmits data, for example, via the communication network 34 (see fig. 1 and 28). In an example implementation in which example system 2900 is implemented in connection with a personal computer 29, data interface 2912 may be configured to download information from media measurement entity 18 to personal computer 29 and/or media player 26. For example, the data interface 2912 may download metering software and/or metering software updates, upgrades, additions, patches, and the like. In an example implementation in which the example system 2900 is implemented in connection with a media player 26, the data interface 2912 may be configured to communicate metering information generated by the media player 26 to the personal computer 29 and/or the media measurement entity 2912.

To track the elapsed playback time for the media presentation, the example system 2900 is provided with a playback time counter 2914. The playback time counter 2914 stores a value representing the playback position of media presented by, for example, the media player 26 or the personal computer 29. As the playback position of the media presentation is incremented or decremented, the playback time counter 2914 increments or decrements the value stored therein. The position of the media presentation may be incremented when playing back (e.g., regular speed playback or slow motion playback) or fast forwarding the media or skipping portions of the media. The position of the media presentation may be decremented when the media is played back or rewound or skipped in reverse at a regular speed or any other speed (e.g., fast reverse, slow motion, etc.). In any case, the value in the playback time counter 2914 is incremented at a rate proportional to the playback, fast forward, or rewind speed, and adjusted by the amount of the portion skipped according to the media. When the media is paused, the playback time counter 2914 does not increment its value.

Fig. 32 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions that may be executed to implement the example system 2900 of fig. 31. Initially, an audiovisual member (e.g., consumer 16 of FIG. 1) agrees to participate in the audiovisual metering program (block 3002). For example, consumer 16 may answer "yes" for an on-screen prompt displayed via personal computer 29 (see fig. 1, 5, and 28) asking whether the consumer 16 would like to participate in the audiovisual metering program.

Next, the data interface 2912 downloads metering software (block 3004). For example, the data interface 2912 may download one or more metering applications to be installed on the personal computer 29 and/or the media player 26. This metering application may be used to implement the FIL mark encoding processor 2904, repository data structure interface 2906, data extractor 2908, comparator 2910, and data interface 2912 of fig. 31.

Next, the personal computer 29 sets metering software to be executed by the personal computer 29 (block 3006). For example, the personal computer 29 may be installed with executable files, library files, etc. used to implement metering software. In addition, personal computer 29 installs or generates metering log database 2618 and determines file access paths for CDB2608 and PDB copy 2614. The personal computer 29 may store the user identification, personal computer identification, software identification, and creation time/date information in the metering log database 2618. In some embodiments, metering software may be implemented as a plug-in (plug-in) that functions in conjunction with a media player application (e.g., the computer media player application 2604 and/or the portable media player application 2606 of fig. 28). In addition, the personal computer 29 in combination with the media player 26 installs metering software on the media player 26 (block 3008). For example, after coupling the media player 26 to the docking device 28 (see fig. 1 and 2B), the synchronization process 2612 (see fig. 28) may copy a metering software application from the personal computer 29 to the media player 26 and install the metering software application and the PDB 2610 on the media player 26.

During the installation process of the metering software, the data extractor 2908 copies some or all of the metering information from the CDB2608 and/or the PDB copy 2614 to the metering log database 2618 (block 3010). Alternatively, the data extractor 2908 may copy metering information to the metering log database 2618 upon initial execution of the metering software.

Next, the portable media player 26 determines whether the media content presented by the portable media player application 2606 should be monitored (block 3012). For example, the portable media player 26 may determine that the media content presented by the portable media player application 2606 should be monitored at any time the media player 26 is turned on or at any time a user (e.g., consumer 16) selects a media file for presentation. If the portable media player 26 determines that the media content presented by the portable media player application 2606 should be monitored (block 3012), it monitors the media content presented by the portable media player application 2606 (block 3014), for example, by executing metering software downloaded and installed at blocks 3004 and 3008. The monitoring process at block 3014 may be implemented according to a flowchart depicted in fig. 33 and described in detail below.

The personal computer 29 determines whether the media content presented by the computer media player application 2604 should be monitored (block 3016). For example, the personal computer 29 may determine that it should monitor the media content presented by the computer media player application 2604 any time a user (e.g., consumer 16) starts the computer media player application 2604 or selects a media file for presentation. If the personal computer 29 determines that the media content presented by the computer media player application 2604 should be monitored (block 3016), it monitors the media content presented by the portable media player application 2604 (block 3018), for example, by executing metering software downloaded and installed at blocks 3004 and 3006. The monitoring process of block 3018 may be implemented according to the flow diagram depicted in fig. 34 and described in detail below.

The personal computer 29 determines whether the metering information collection application should be started (block 3020) to retrieve metering information from, for example, the CDB2608 and the PDB copy 2614, and to communicate the metering information to the media measurement entity 18 (see fig. 1). For example, the personal computer 29 may determine that it should start the metering information collection application any time the personal computer 29 is turned on. If the personal computer 29 determines that the metering information collection application should be started (block 3020), it executes the metering information collection application as a background process (block 3022), for example, in accordance with the flowchart depicted in FIG. 35 and described in detail below. Although blocks 3012, 3014, 3016, 3018, 3020, and 3022 are shown as being performed in parallel, in other embodiments, these blocks may be performed sequentially.

FIG. 33 is a flow diagram representing exemplary machine readable instructions that may be executed to monitor the portable media player 26. Initially, the media decoder 2902 (see fig. 31) determines whether a playback command has been received (block 3102). If the media decoder 2902 does not receive a playback command (block 3102), the media decoder 2902 proceeds to check if a playback command is received (block 3102). If the media decoder 2902 determines that a playback command was received, the repository data structure interface 2906 updates the PDB 2610 (see FIG. 28) with information (e.g., media identification, current date stamp, current time stamp, etc.) about the media content file selected for presentation (e.g., the media content file selected by the consumer 16) (block 3104).

Next, the media decoder 2902 (see fig. 31) presents the requested media content (block 3106), and the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 (see fig. 31) determines whether the frame flag should be monitored (block 3108), for example, using FIL tag encoding (e.g., FIL tag encoding 2702a-c of fig. 29). If the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 determines that the frame flag should not be monitored (block 3108), the media decoder 2902 presents the selected media content (block 3106) without having the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 monitor for FIL tag encoding. Otherwise, if the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 determines that the frame flag should be monitored (block 3108), the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 monitors the frame flag (block 3110), for example, according to the exemplary flowchart depicted in fig. 36 and described in detail below.

Next, the media decoder 2902 determines whether playback should be stopped (block 3114). For example, if the consumer 16 presses a stop button or a next movie button or a next song button on the media player 26, the media decoder 2902 may determine that playback should be stopped. In addition, the media decoder 2902 may determine that playback should be stopped if the end of the selected media content has been reached. If the media decoder 2902 determines not to stop playback, control returns to block 3112. Otherwise, if the media decoder 2902 determines that playback should stop, the media decoder 2902 stops presenting the media content (block 3114).

Next, the media player 26 determines whether the PDB 2610 and the personal computer 29 should be synchronized (block 3116). For example, if the consumer 16 communicatively couples the media player 26 to a personal computer 29, such as via the docking station 28, and/or if the consumer 16 has selected a synchronize button, the media player 26 may determine that the PDB 2610 should be synchronized. If the media player 26 determines that the PDB 2610 and the personal computer 29 are not synchronized (block 3116), then control passes back to block 3102. Otherwise, if the media player 26 determines that the PDB 2610 and the personal computer 29 should be synchronized (block 3116), the synchronization process 2612 copies metering information from the PDB 2610 to a PDB copy 2614 (see fig. 28) in the personal computer 29, and control returns to a calling function or process, for example, as described above in connection with fig. 32.

Fig. 34 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions that may be executed to monitor media content presented by the computer media player application 2604. Initially, the media decoder 2902 (see fig. 31) determines whether a playback command is received (block 3202). If the media decoder 2902 did not receive a playback command (block 3202), the media decoder 2902 continues to check if a playback command is received (block 3202). If the media decoder 2902 determines that a playback command has been received, the repository data structure interface 2906 updates the CDB2608 (see FIG. 28) with information about media content files selected for presentation (e.g., media content files selected by the consumer 16) (block 3204).

Next, the media decoder 2902 (see fig. 31) presents the requested media content (block 3206), and the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 (see fig. 31) determines whether the frame flag should be monitored (block 3208), for example, using FIL tag encoding (e.g., FIL tag encoding 2702a-c of fig. 29). If the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 determines that the frame flag should not be monitored (block 3208), the media decoder 2902 presents the selected media content (block 3206) without having the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 monitor for FIL tag encoding. Otherwise, if the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 determines that the frame flag should be monitored (block 3208), the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 monitors the frame flag (block 3210), for example, according to the exemplary flowchart depicted in fig. 36 and described in detail below.

Next, the media decoder 2902 determines whether playback should be stopped (block 3214). For example, if the consumer 16 presses a stop button or a next movie button or a next song button on the personal computer 29, the media decoder 2902 may determine that playback should be stopped. In addition, the media decoder 2902 may determine that playback should be stopped if the end of the selected media content has been reached. If the media decoder 2902 determines that playback should not be stopped, control returns to block 3212. Otherwise, if the media decoder 2902 determines that playback should be stopped, the media decoder 2902 stops presenting the media content (block 3214), and control returns to the calling function or process, for example, as described above in connection with fig. 32.

FIG. 35 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions that may be executed to perform a background metering information collection process. Initially, the comparator 2910 compares the contents of the CDB2608 and the PDB copy 2614 with the contents of the metering log database 2618 (see fig. 28) (block 3302), and determines whether the contents of the CDB2608 and/or the PDB copy 2614 have changed based on the comparison (block 3304). For example, if CDB2608 and/or PDB copy 2614 includes information that is different from the information stored in metering log database 2618, comparator 2910 determines that the contents of CDB2608 and/or PDB copy 2614 have changed since the last time data extractor 2908 copied the metering information from CDB2608 and/or PDB copy 2614 to metering log database 2618.

If the comparator 2910 determines that the contents of the CDB2608 and/or the PDB copy 2614 have changed (block 3304), the data extractor 2908 updates the metering log database 2618 (block 3306). Specifically, data extractor 2908 retrieves all or selected changed metering information from CDB2608 and/or PDB copy 2614 and stores the retrieved metering information in metering log database 2618 (block 3306).

After the data extractor 2908 updates the metering log database (block 3306), or if the comparator 2910 determines at block 3304 that the contents of the CDB2608 and/or the PDB copy 2614 have not changed, the comparator 2910 determines whether the metering log database 2618 exceeds a size threshold (block 3308). For example, a predetermined size threshold may be used to determine when to transfer metering log information stored in metering log database 2618 to media measurement entity 18.

If the comparator 2910 determines that the metric log database 2618 has not exceeded the size threshold (block 3308), the comparator 2910 determines whether the elapsed time has exceeded the time threshold (block 3310). For example, a predetermined time threshold may be used to determine when to transfer metering information from the metering log database 2618 to the media measurement entity 18. In this manner, even if the metering log database 2618 never exceeds the size threshold, it may be guaranteed that the media measurement entity 18 may receive metering information at least at approximately regular intervals based on the time threshold. The elapsed time that the comparator 2910 uses to compare to the predetermined time threshold may be tracked, for example, using a timer (not shown) that is reset by the example system 2900 each time the data interface 2912 sends metering information from the metering log database 2618 to the media measurement entity 18.

If the comparator 2910 determines that the elapsed time exceeds the time threshold (block 3310) or if the comparator 2910 determines at block 3308 that the metering log database 2618 exceeds the size threshold, the data interface 2912 (see fig. 31) transmits metering information from the metering log database 2618 to the media measurement entity 18 (block 3312).

After the data interface 2912 transfers metering information from the metering log database 2618 to the media measurement entity 18 (block 3312) or if the comparator 2910 determines that the metering log database 2618 does not exceed the size threshold (block 3308) or if the comparator 2910 determines that the elapsed time does not exceed the time threshold (block 3310), the data interface 2912 determines whether there are any software updates available from the media measurement entity 18 (block 3314). The software update may be an upgrade, add, patch, add feature, etc. to a metering software application installed on the personal computer 29 and/or the media player 26. If the data interface 2912 determines that there are software updates available (block 3314), the data interface 2912 downloads and installs the software updates on the personal computer 29 and/or the media player 26 (block 3316).

Next, the example system 2900 determines whether the background metering information collection process should be stopped (block 3318). For example, exemplary system 2900 may stop the background process if exemplary system 2900 is turned off or if consumer 16 indicates that no further participation in the metered program is required. If the example system 2900 determines that background processing should not be stopped, control passes back to block 3302. Otherwise, the example system 2900 stops background processing (block 3320) and control returns to the calling function or processing, for example, as depicted in the example flowchart in fig. 32.

Fig. 36 is a flow diagram representing example machine readable instructions that may be executed to monitor frame markers using a FIL tag encoding (e.g., FIL tag encoding 2702a-c of fig. 29). Initially, the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 (see fig. 31) retrieves the FIL tag encoding from the selected media content file (block 3402). For example, after a consumer 16 selects a particular media content file (e.g., audio file, video file, etc.) to present, FIL tag encoding processor 2904 retrieves the FIL tag encoding corresponding to the media content file. If the FIL tag encoding is inserted into a frame (e.g., an audio frame or a video frame) of media content as depicted in fig. 29, FIL tag encoding processor 2904 may retrieve the FIL tag encoding from the frame at block 3402. Alternatively, if the FIL tag encoding is appended to the end or beginning of the media content file, or the encoding is stored in a separate file, FIL tag encoding processor 2904 may retrieve the encoding at block 3402. Next, FIL tag encoding processor 2904 stores the retrieved FIL tag encoding in a data structure substantially similar or identical to data structure 2800 of fig. 30 (block 3404). Alternatively, data extractor 2908 may retrieve (block 3402) and store (block 3404) the FIL markup encoding.

As the media decoder 2902 (see fig. 31) presents the selected media content file (e.g., at blocks 3106 and/or 3206 of fig. 33 and 34), the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 and/or comparator 2910 then determines whether the media content has reached the correct time shift representing the position in the media content corresponding to the FIL tag encoding (block 3406). For example, if FIL tag encodings are inserted into media content at five second intervals, exemplary system 2900 may generate a plurality of FIL tag encoding time shift values (e.g., 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds, etc.). Each FIL tag encoded time shift value represents a correct time shift in the media presentation that embeds the FIL tag encoding in a frame of the media presentation. The FIL mark encoding processor 2904 may monitor the playback time counter 2914 (fig. 29) to determine when the five second media content has been presented by comparing the playback time counter value to a correct time shift value corresponding to the FIL mark encoding time shift value derived with a five second interval. Even if the media content is fast-forwarded or fast-reversed, the FIL tag encoding processor 2904 may determine when the played back media content reaches a time interval corresponding to the FIL tag encoding (i.e., the FIL tag encoding time shift value) based on the playback time counter 2914.

If the FIL markup encoding processor 2904 and/or the comparator 2910 determine that the correct time shift has been reached (block 3406), the FIL markup encoding processor 2904 retrieves the FIL markup encoding corresponding to the media frame (e.g., one of the media frames 2704a-c of fig. 29) presented at that time shift (block 3408). For example, FIL tag encoding processor 2904 may retrieve a FIL tag encoding corresponding to a presented media frame from data structure 2800 (see fig. 30) based on the tag encoding identification number of the presented media frame and the tag encoding identification number 2802 stored in data structure 2800. Next, FIL tag encoding processor 2904 increments the retrieved FIL tag encoded value (block 3410) and updates the FIL tag encoded value in data structure 2800 (block 3412).

After the FIL mark encoding processor 2904 has updated the data structure 2800 (block 3412) or if the FIL mark encoding processor 2904 determines at block 3406 that the correct time shift has not been reached, the FIL mark encoding processor 2904 determines whether the media presentation has stopped (block 3414), for example, based on a playback time counter or the state of the media decoder 2902 (see fig. 31). If the FIL mark encoding processor 2904 determines that the media presentation has not stopped (block 3414), control returns to block 3406. Otherwise, FIL tag encoding processor 2904 writes the FIL tag encoding from data structure 2800 to the selected media content file (block 3416), or to the FIL tag encoded file corresponding to the selected media content file. The repository data structure interface 2906 then writes the FIL tag encoding from the data structure 2800 and/or the selected media content file to the media repository database file (block 3418), for example, for communication to the media measurement entity 18 described above in connection with fig. 33. For example, if the process of fig. 34 is implemented in connection with the portable media player 26, the repository data structure interface 2906 writes the FIL tag encoding to the PDB 2610. Alternatively, if the process of fig. 34 is implemented in conjunction with the personal computer 29, the repository data structure interface 2906 writes the FIL markup encoding to the CDB 2608. In addition, the repository data structure interface 2906 writes the media identification information, FIL marker code interval value, date stamp, and time stamp media repository database file in association with the FIL marker code written at block 3418 (block 3420). Control then returns to the calling function or process, for example, as depicted in the embodiment flow diagrams of fig. 33 or 34.

Fig. 37 is a block diagram of an example processor system 3510 that may be used to execute the example machine readable instructions of fig. 7-21, 26, and/or 32-36 to cause implementation of the example systems and/or methods described herein. As shown in fig. 37, a processor system 3510 includes a processor 3512 coupled to an interconnection bus 3514. Processor 3512 includes a register set or register space 3516, which is depicted in fig. 37 as being entirely on-chip, but which may alternatively be located entirely or partially off-chip and coupled directly to processor 3512 via dedicated electrical connections and/or via an interconnection bus 3514. The processor 3512 may be any suitable processor, processing unit, or microprocessor. Although not shown in fig. 37, the system 3510 may be a multi-processor system and, thus, may include one or more additional processors that are identical or similar to the processor 3512 and that are communicatively coupled to the interconnection bus 3514.

The processor 3512 of fig. 37 is coupled to a chipset 3518, the chipset 3518 comprising a memory controller 3520 and an input/output (I/O) controller 3522. As is well known, a chipset typically provides I/O and memory management functions as well as a plurality of general purpose and/or special purpose registers, timers, etc. that are accessible or used by one or more processors coupled to the chipset 3518. Memory controller 3520 performs functions that enable processor 3512 (or multiple processors if there are multiple processors) to access a system memory 3524 and a mass storage memory 3525.

The system memory 3524 can include any desired type of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as, for example, Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), flash memory, Read Only Memory (ROM), and the like. Mass storage 3525 may include any desired type of mass storage device, including hard disk drives, optical drives, tape storage devices, and the like.

The I/O controller 3522 performs functions that enable the processor 3512 to communicate via an I/O bus 3532 and peripheral input/output (I/O) devices 3526 and 3528, as well as a network interface 3530. The I/O devices 3526 and 3528 may be any desired type of I/O device such as, for example, a keyboard, a video display or monitor, a mouse, etc. The network interface 3530 may be, for example, an ethernet device, an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) device, an 802.11 device, a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modem, a cable modem, a cellular modem, or the like that enables the processor system 3510 to communicate with another processor system.

Although the memory controller 3520 and the I/O controller 3522 are depicted in fig. 37 as separate functional blocks within the chipset 3518, the functions performed by these blocks may be integrated within a single semiconductor circuit or may be implemented using two or more separate integrated circuits.

Although certain methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. To the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents.

Claims (12)

1. An apparatus for monitoring a portable media presentation device, the apparatus for monitoring a portable media presentation device comprising:

a metering information generator; and

a wireless Radio Frequency (RF) interface coupled to the metering information generator, the wireless RF interface to:

receiving a plurality of wireless signals associated with a portable communication device; and

selecting one of the plurality of wireless signals, the metering information generator collecting metering information related to media content conveyed in the one of the plurality of wireless signals, the wireless radio interface for selecting the one of the plurality of wireless signals to intercept media content transmitted from a portable media presentation device, the media content intended to be received by a headset.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the headset is provided separately from the metering information generator and the wireless radio frequency interface.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the portable media presentation device is at least one of a mobile digital device or a cellular telephone.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of wireless signals are transmitted by respective media presentation devices, and in response to determining that some media presentation devices associated with some of the plurality of wireless signals are not authorized to be monitored, at least one of the wireless radio frequency interface or meter information generator ignores the some of the plurality of wireless signals.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the metering information generator collects the metering information by at least one of:

generate a signature based on the media content, or

Code is extracted from the media content.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the metering information generator is provided separately from the portable media presentation device.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the wireless radio frequency interface is a bluetooth interface.

8. A method for monitoring a portable media presentation device, the method comprising:

intercepting, with a Radio Frequency (RF) device, media information transmitted by a portable media presentation device in an RF signal to a headset separately disposed from the RF device; and

metering information associated with the received media information is generated using a metering information generator that is separately disposed from the portable media presentation device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the radio frequency device is a bluetooth device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the headset is provided separately from the metering information generator and the radio frequency device.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the portable media presentation device is at least one of a mobile digital device or a cellular telephone.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

second media information is received from other media presentation devices and ignored if the other media presentation devices are not authorized to monitor.