HK1127828B - Systems and methods to wirelessly meter audio/visual devices - Google Patents

Description

System and method for wireless metering of audio/visual devices

This application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No.60/749443, filed on 12.12.2005, and is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to metering audio/visual (a/V) devices, and more particularly to a system and method for wirelessly metering audio/visual devices.

Background

Consuming a media presentation typically involves listening to audio information and/or viewing video information, such as radio programs, music, television programs, movies, still images, and the like. Media-centric companies, such as advertising companies, broadcast networks, etc., are often interested in viewer behavior, such as viewing and listening interests of their viewers. Measuring such audience behavior allows media-centric companies to better distribute their advertising fees and better sell their products.

Audience measurement of television and/or radio programs has been practiced for many years. Audience measurement devices installed in statistically selected households typically collect tuning information (e.g., information indicative of content presented to the audience, such as channel information, consumption time information, program information, etc.) and demographic information (e.g., information about the demographic of the audience). Such information is collected, recorded and combined to produce meaningful ratings data.

Tuning information is typically collected by a tuning meter, otherwise known as an active/passive (a/P) meter. The a/P meter collects tuning data from devices such as set-top boxes, video game devices, Video Cassette Recorders (VCRs), Digital Video Recorders (DVRs), and Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) players, to name a few. In addition to collecting such tuning data, the a/P meter determines which of the several devices feeds the television. The channel and content information and device source information are sent to a back office (backoffice) for analysis. Personnel information is typically collected by a personnel Meter, the Peer Meter (PM), such as the Nielsen Peer Meter offered by NielsenMedia Research. The PM collects various demographic information relating to the viewer and the tuning behavior of the viewer. The a/P meter and PM together collect and transmit information enabling the determination of the tv rating. Such rating information is useful for various business decisions, including setting the cost of commercial breaks.

Wire-based (fixed) hardware devices typically employ traditional audience measurement. Audio/visual (a/V) devices, such as televisions, are hardwired to the media source cable to provide broadcast content to audience members. Audience measurement devices may be placed on or near televisions to detect audio and/or video signals emitted by the television so that the device can determine audience behavior. Data obtained by the audience measurement devices is hardwired to the data collection facility, for example, through a telephone modem or a broadband modem, to allow further analysis of the collected data. However, conventional audience measurement devices are unable to provide audience measurement services when the a/V devices are wireless, such as when audience members are using a radio television.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system that wirelessly meters an A/V device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating further details of one example implementation of the system of FIG. 1.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the example Wireless User Identifier (WUI) of fig. 2 querying a user for a/V devices and receiving a user response to the query.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of the example Wireless Microphone Receiver (WMR) of fig. 2 receiving a modulated RF signal and converting it to an audio signal.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the example Mobile Device Interface (MDI) of FIG. 2 receiving infrared and audio signals and transmitting a modulated RF signal.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart representing an example process for implementing the metering system of FIGS. 1-5.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram of an alternative example implementation of the wireless interface of fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram of another alternative example implementation of the wireless interface of fig. 1.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an alternative example implementation of the system of FIG. 1.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram of the example alternative Wireless User Identifier (WUI) of fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram of the example personalized tag of fig. 9 receiving a personalized code comprising an audio signal, including the audio signal, and transmitting a modulated RF signal.

Fig. 12 is a flow chart representing an example process for implementing signaling for the alternative example Wireless User Identifier (WUI) of fig. 10.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram representing an example process for implementing the example personalized tag of FIG. 11.

Fig. 14 is a flow diagram representing an example process for implementing signal reception and watermark detection for the alternative example Wireless User Identifier (WUI) of fig. 10.

Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of an example processor system that may perform the processes of fig. 6 and 12-14, respectively, to implement the audience measurement systems shown in fig. 1-5, 7, 8, and 9-11.

Detailed Description

Referring now to FIG. 1, an example system 100 for wireless metering of audio/visual (A/V) devices is shown. The system 100 of fig. 1 includes a central data store 105, a data acquisition and home interface 110, a wireless interface 115, and an a/V device 120. The central data store 105 includes one or more databases, or other similar data storage devices, accessible by entities interested in collecting a/V device user behavior information. Such user behavior information may include user identification, demographics, broadcast program channels watched or listened to, movies watched, and a/V device channel changes, to name a few. The user information collected at the central data store 105 may be further analyzed at a back office, business, and/or marketing entity to determine, for example, broadcast program ratings and movie ratings. Among other things, rating information may enable advertisers to determine effective advertising strategies and advertising pricing.

As discussed in further detail below, the data acquisition and home interface 110 includes devices typically found in a user's home, such as a cable set-top box, VCR, DVD player, video game device, satellite dish receiver, and various audio/visual devices (a/V devices), to name a few. In addition, for statistically selected households and viewers, such as rating by Nielsen Media Research, the data acquisition and home interface 110 may also include a rating data meter or similar A/V data aggregator to collect and correlate data regarding user behavior. Further, the data acquisition and home interface 110 may also include means for determining and collecting demographics data for home viewers via an A/V data aggregator and/or a subscriber identification module/means (ID means), such as the Nielsen Peerlemeter available from Nielsen Media Research.

As discussed in further detail below, the wireless interface 115 includes an interface that allows a user to receive content provided by the data acquisition and home interface 110. In particular, the wireless interface 115 allows a user to wirelessly transmit content to the wireless A/V device 120, such as from a set-top box, VCR, and/or DVD player of the data acquisition and home interface 110. In other words, the wireless interface 115 bridges the wireless gap between the user's standard A/V equipment (e.g., set-top box, VCR, DVD player, etc.) and the A/V device 120 (e.g., television, mobile television, etc.). As described below, the wireless interface 115 may include a Wireless User Identifier (WUI), a Wireless Access Point (WAP), and a Wireless Microphone Receiver (WMR) to wirelessly transmit A/V content and receive viewer behavior information, which will be discussed in further detail below.

a/V device 120 includes one or more devices capable of providing a/V information to a user. A/V device 120 may include, but is not limited to, a television, a mobile television, a radio, and/or an entertainment center having an audio and/or visual display device. Since the a/V devices are wireless, they are not limited to use in areas proximate to the data acquisition and home interface 110.

In operation, the system 100 of fig. 1 for wireless metering of a/V devices allows a/V device 120 to be located in a home or business without being limited to a conventional cable-based connection for data acquisition and home interface 110. Such user freedom is provided in part by the wireless interface 115 which also allows for the collection of user behavior while using the a/V device 120. User behavior is further collected and/or accumulated by the data acquisition and home interface 110 and provided to the central data store 105 for further analysis. Because each of the central data store 105, the data acquisition and home interface 110, the wireless interface 115, and the a/V device 120 are communicatively connected, various types of data are exchanged therein. For example, the central data store 105 sends a data acquisition request signal 125 to the data acquisition and home interface 110 to begin receiving the collected user data 130. The request signal 125 may be sent periodically and/or the data acquisition and home interface 110 may automatically send the collected user data 130 at predetermined intervals. The collected subscriber data may include, but is not limited to, the channels and stations watched and listened to by the user of a/V device 120, the time and date the user was watched and/or listened to, and the identification of the user. The data acquisition and home interface 110 also receives program content 127 from various sources. For example, a cable provider, a satellite service provider, and/or a local broadcaster may provide program content 127 to a user.

The data 135 transmitted by the data acquisition and home interface 110 to the wireless interface 115 may include, but is not limited to, viewer programming from broadcast content such as television signals, satellite signals, cable signals, VCRA/V signals, DVD player a/V signals, and video game device a/V signals. The data 135 transmitted by the data acquisition and home interface 110 may also include watermarks embedded in the audio and/or video portions of the various a/V signals. The watermark may contain in-band encoding of the program transmission identifying the date and time of broadcast, program identification information, and/or identification information about the entity transmitting the program. Such watermarks are typically hidden into the sound and/or visual signal and are not perceptible to the a/V device user. In the case where a statistically selected home uses the wireless a/V device 120 (e.g., mobile television), the wireless interface 115 enables data acquisition and devices of the home interface 110 to transmit to the wireless a/V device 120. As discussed further below, the data 140 received by the data acquisition and home interface 110 from the wireless interface 115 may include user identification information and an extracted watermark.

As discussed in further detail below, the data 145 transmitted by the wireless interface 115 to the a/V device 120 may include retransmitted viewer program data and user query messages. Data 150 received by wireless interface 115 from a/V device 120 may include audio signals transmitted from a/V device 120 and processed by wireless interface 115. When a user interacts with a/V device 120 (e.g., changes a channel on an exemplary television), the output of the a/V device is modulated by wireless interface 115 and retransmitted to a/V device 120. The wireless interface 115 also transmits user behavior data and program content information to the data acquisition and home interface 110, as discussed in further detail below. Further, the wireless interface 115 enables the system 100 to obtain demographic data from the a/V device user and send such data to the data acquisition and home interface 110 and then to the central data store 105.

FIG. 2 illustrates further details of one example implementation of the system 100 of FIG. 1 for wireless metering of A/V devices. Dashed lines 205, 210 and 215 in fig. 2 divide fig. 2 into components corresponding to the central data store 105, the data acquisition and home interface 110, the wireless interface 115 and the a/V device 120, respectively.

As described above, the data acquisition and home interface 110 includes various A/V devices, such as a set-top box 220, a video game console 225, and a DVD player 230. Such example a/V devices (220, 225, 230) provide various forms of audio and visual entertainment, information, and programming. As described above, a user may receive various forms of program content 127, such as cable television, satellite programming, and/or programming broadcast from one or more local television stations via an antenna. The user may receive such programming content through set top box 220. The data acquisition and home interface 110 also includes an example A/V data aggregator 235 to collect user behavior and demographic information.

As discussed in further detail below, the wireless interface 115 includes a Wireless User Identifier (WUI)240, the wireless user identifier 240 for receiving a/V signals from a/V devices (220, 225, 230) and embedding an identification inquiry signal on the received a/V signals. The WUI240 forwards the a/V signal including the embedded inquiry signal to a Wireless Access Point (WAP)245 for wireless retransmission to the user's a/V device 120. As discussed in further detail below, the wireless interface 115 also includes a Wireless Microphone Receiver (WMR)250 for receiving the retransmitted audio signals from the a/V device 120.

FIG. 2 also illustrates an example A/V device 120, such as a mobile A/V device 255. The example mobile a/V device 255 may include, for example, a mobile television that is not obstructed by a wire-based data cable and/or a power cable. However, the example a/V device 120 may also include a standard television connected to a data cable and/or a power cable. The example mobile a/V device 255 may also include a speaker 260 for outputting audible signals to a user and an Infrared (IR) receiver 265 for receiving user commands (e.g., channel change, volume adjustment, power on/off, etc.). The A/V device 120 may also include a Mobile Device Interface (MDI)270 for receiving audio signals from the mobile A/V device 255 through a microphone 275. The MDI270 may also include an IR receiver 280 similar to the IR receiver of the mobile a/V device 255 to receive user identification information from a user interacting with the mobile a/V device 255. The IR receiver 265 of the mobile A/V device 255 and the IR receiver 280 of the MDI270 may each receive IR signals from an IR transmitter (remote control) 285.

A home having the metering system 100 of fig. 2 includes a bi-directional connection to the central data store 105. The bi-directional connection may include a connection via telephone, an Internet connection, satellite, and/or a cable network, such as a cable network owned or leased by the content provider. The central data store 105 may be communicatively connected to the home interface 105 through the a/V data aggregator 235 of the data acquisition and home interface 110. As discussed in further detail below, the data aggregator 235 receives information regarding the behavior and identification of a/V devices 120 interacting with the user and forwards such information to the central data store 105. To bridge the data acquisition and communication gap between the home interface 110 and the a/V device 120, the example wireless interface 115 of fig. 2 is employed.

Signals from various standard a/V devices, such as set-top box 220, are typically hardwired directly to the viewer's standard television set (e.g., a television set plugged into a power outlet and connected to a coaxial data cable). However, viewers with mobile television, for example, typically employ the use of Wireless Access Points (WAPs) to wirelessly retransmit television signals to the viewer's entire home. Additional examples may include a home user with a standard television set simply relocating the television from one location to another location in the home. Instead of moving the a/V data aggregator 235 and the television together, the example wireless interface 115 allows the functionality of the a/V data aggregator 235 without regard to the proximity of the a/V data aggregator 235 to the television. Also, wireless interface 115 allows a/V data aggregator 235, as well as one or more devices of wireless interface 115 itself, to be located anywhere in the home, e.g., in a basement, attic, closet, etc. The WAP may include 802.11a/b/g communications capability, thus allowing any signals from the data acquisition and home interface 110 to be spread throughout the viewer's home or business. Similarly, the A/V device 120 (e.g., mobile television) in the viewer's home may also include the capability to receive transmitted signals (e.g., 802.11 a/b/g).

Data acquisition in the home of a user watching standard, wired-based television typically employs a hard-wired connection from a wired a/V device (e.g., a set-top box) directly to a non-mobile (standard) television. In addition, the cable a/V device (e.g., a set-top box) typically includes a hard-wired connection to the data aggregator so that when the viewer changes a channel on the set-top box, the viewer sees the result on the television and the data aggregator captures the change. Furthermore, data acquisition in the viewer's home using standard television typically includes a hard-wired ID device to determine which member of the home is watching or interacting with the standard a/V device. Each member of the family typically has an identification button on the ID device or, if the ID device includes an IR remote control, each member presses an appropriate button on the IR remote control to identify who is watching television. However, because a viewer of standard or mobile television may be in any room of a home or business, the hardwired ID device and hardwired data are not capable of data acquisition or identification of the viewer.

The example a/V interface 115 portion represented in fig. 2 enables a/V device mobility (e.g., standard television, wireless television, etc.), data acquisition for a user, and user identification. As briefly described above, the example a/V interface 115 includes a Wireless User Identifier (WUI)240, a Wireless Access Point (WAP)245, and a Wireless Microphone Receiver (WMR) 250. Generally, signals transmitted by a wire-based a/V device (e.g., set-top box 220, video game console 225, DVD player 230, etc.) are received by the WUI240, which WUI240 in turn integrates a bitmap image overlay on the video channel. The bit-mapped image may be a message requesting the viewer to provide instant identification information. As indicated by the dashed arrow labeled 1, the WUI240 forwards the integrated a/V signal to the WAP245, and the WAP245 modulates the a/V signal (including the bitmap overlay) received by the WUI240 for wireless retransmission to the a/V device 255. The a/V device 255, such as the exemplary mobile television shown in fig. 2, receives the retransmitted signal, demodulates it back into the a/V domain, and presents the signal in audio and/or video format (e.g., movie, television program, etc.) to the viewer.

The user or viewer of the example mobile television 255 is viewing an integrated bitmap requesting that the user provide identification information. For example, after the viewer begins using the A/V devices 220, 225, 230, the WUI240 sends a video overlay, "please select your identification button". The user may provide such identification feedback through a remote control, such as the example Infrared (IR) remote control 285 shown in fig. 2. As discussed in further detail below, the IR remote control 285 contains user Identification (ID) buttons for each viewer in the household (e.g., "Jack," "Jane," and "Junior" one button for each person) and transmits ID selection information from the IR remote control 285 to the IR receiver 280 of the MDI 270. The IR remote control 285 may include other functions to control the example mobile television 255 by sending control commands to the IR receiver 265 of the mobile television 255. Such controls may include, but are not limited to, changing channels, adjusting volume, and on/off power controls. The user ID button located on the MDI270 may additionally or alternatively provide user ID information.

The user ID selection information is wirelessly transmitted from the MDI270 to the WUI240 as indicated by the dashed arrow labeled 2. User ID selection information is sent from the WUI240 to the a/V data aggregator 235, and the WUI240 removes the integrated bitmap image overlay on the video channel. After a predetermined amount of time, the WUI240 may again apply the bitmap overlay image to the video signal to reconfirm who is using the mobile a/V device 255.

Various watermarks embedded within the audio of the program content presented on the mobile a/V device 255 emanate from one or more speakers 260. The audio watermark is not perceived by the listener but is received by the microphone 275 of the MDI 270. As indicated by the dotted arrow marked 3, the audio signal received by the microphone 275 is RF modulated by the MDI270 and transmitted to the WMR 250. Alternatively, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the audio signal may exit the mobile A/V device 255 in the form of an electrical signal rather than an audible speaker output. For example, the mobile a/V device 255 audio output may include RCA terminals (also referred to as RCA jacks, voice plugs, etc.) to accommodate audio cables connected to the audio input of the MDI 270. Those skilled in the art will also readily appreciate that the watermark may be embedded within the video signal rather than, or in addition to, the audio signal. The modulated RF signal received at the WMR 250 is demodulated to extract the watermark information before sending the watermark to the a/V data aggregator 235 of the data acquisition and home interface 110.

While the a/V data aggregator 235 may simply receive such audio signals containing embedded watermarks directly from the devices (220, 225, 230) or directly from the WAP245, receiving the audio signals after they are transmitted by speakers 260 on the a/V device, such as the example mobile television 255, ensures that the information provided to the user of the audience measurement device is a reflection of the viewer's behavior and the actual content displayed by the mobile a/V device 255. For example, if the A/V data aggregator 235 receives audio signals directly from the set-top box 220, video game console 225, or DVD player 230, the received information may not reflect the viewer's interaction with the A/V device 255. This is particularly problematic if the a/V device is a mobile television that is not powered on, but the set-top box 220 may continue to transmit directly to the a/V data aggregator 235 (with a hard-wired connection directly from the set-top box 220 to the a/V data aggregator 235). Alternatively, such a situation is problematic if the set-top box 220 is powered on and transmits its signal over the WUI240 and further retransmitted by the WAP245, but instead the viewer of the example mobile television 255 is diverted to a local television station. Likewise, the retransmission of the audio signal (including the embedded watermark) from the television 255 ensures that the information received by the a/V data aggregator 235 is indicative of viewer behavior and indicative of what is actually displayed by the television 255.

Information gathered regarding the user's viewing behavior and demographics may be stored locally in a/V data aggregator 235. At predetermined intervals, or in the case of an external request to obtain data, the data acquisition and home interface 110 sends the information collected from the a/V data aggregator 235 to the central data store 105 to process and determine the rating information.

An example WUI240 of the wireless interface 115 of fig. 2 is shown in more detail in fig. 3. a/V signals from a/V devices (220, 225, 230) are received by the input a/V interface 305 and mixed with the bitmap at the video overlay 310 (to provide the functionality of prompting the user or viewer ID) before being re-sent to the output a/V interface 315. The a/V signal from the output a/V interface 315 continues to the WAP245 for retransmission to the a/V device 120, as described above. The example WUI240 of fig. 3 also includes a serial port 320 to allow control of the timer 325, control of the bitmap position control 330, and addition/deletion of various bitmap libraries in the bitmap generator 335. There may be a serial port 320 access, if desired, that typically occurs once during WUI240 setup prior to installation in a user's home. For example, a technician may program the WUI240 to contain several different bitmap images, one for each family member. One of the five bitmaps may be a message phrase, for example, "Mr. Smith, are you? Or "viewer, please identify oneself". The technician may also program the timer 325 to redisplay the bitmap image at predetermined intervals, such as 44 minutes, to identify which family member is watching television. Upon expiration of the time interval, the timer 325 provides a trigger signal to the bitmap generator 335 to forward the bitmap to the video overlay 310. Also, the technician may program the position control module 330 to place each bitmap image at a particular coordinate of the television.

At least one a/V device 120 receives (after WAP245 resend) an a/V signal from the output a/V interface 315 that includes an embedded bitmap. As discussed in further detail below, after the user/viewer responds to the identification request (e.g., "viewer, please identify oneself"), the RF receiver 340 receives an RF signal containing the viewer identification. The RF receiver demodulates the RF signal and forwards it to the IR signal decoder 345 to extract the identification information. For example, the IR signal decoder 345 analyzes the received signal for the presence of an ID signal of a family member, such as mr smith. In the event that Mr. Smith or any other family member is confirmed to provide the identification information, the IR signal decoder 345 transmits a signal to the bitmap generator 335 that the image can be removed from the viewer's A/V device. In addition, the IR signal decoder 345 provides the extracted identification information to the ID output interface 350. As shown in fig. 2, ID output interface 350 is connected to an "ID information" cable and provides such viewer identification information to a/V data aggregator 235. The example WUI240 of fig. 3 may be implemented in hardware and powered by a power supply 355, such as a standard AC/DC inverter. The example WUI240 of fig. 3 may also be implemented by software as machine-readable instructions executed by: (a) a processor, such as the processor 1512 shown in the example computer 1500 discussed below in connection with fig. 15, (b) a controller, and/or (c) any other suitable processing device.

An example WMR 250 of the wireless interface 115 of fig. 2 is shown in more detail in fig. 4. As discussed in further detail below, the retransmitted audio signals transmitted by the wireless a/V devices include embedded watermarks. As shown in fig. 4, the WMR 250 includes an antenna 405 for receiving the retransmitted audio signal, and an RF demodulator 410 for demodulating the retransmitted RF signal. The low pass filter 415 converts the demodulated digital signal to an analog audio signal that is passed to the analog audio output interface 420 for transmission to the a/V data aggregator 235. The WMR 250 may be connected to an electrical outlet of the viewer's home and include a power supply 425. Typically, the WMR 250 is located close to the user's a/V data aggregator 235, but it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the WMR 250 may be integrated within the a/V data aggregator 235 as a single unit.

As shown in FIG. 5, one implementation of the MDI270 includes a microphone 275 for receiving audio signals rendered by the A/V device 255 and a CODEC 510 for digitizing (A/D) the received audio signals. The encoder 515 allows the digitized signal to be addressed to a particular destination, e.g., an RF receiver of the WMR 250. The digitized and encoded audio is modulated by RF modulator 520 and transmitted to antenna 525 for transmission to WMR 250. As described above, the watermark contained in the audio presented by the A/V device 255 is captured by the microphone 275 and wirelessly transmitted by the MDI270 to the WUI 240. In addition, the MDI270 includes an IR receiver 280 for receiving IR transmissions from the IR transmitter 285 (as shown in FIG. 2). IR transmitter 285 transmits a user/viewer identification selection containing the user/viewer identification of the a/V device 255 being used. Such IR transmissions are received by IR receiver 280 and, much like encoder 515 for audio signals, encoded by encoder 530 for IR signals containing user identification information. The RF modulator 520 modulates the encoded IR signal to a radio frequency before transmission to the WUI 240. As described above, the WUI240 receives and demodulates such user identification signals at the RF receiver 340, further decodes them to identify the user and remove the bitmap overlay from the video signal sent to the a/V devices 255.

In operation, the MDI270 is a relatively small device having a power source 535 (e.g., a battery), thereby allowing it to be easily and unobtrusively attached to the a/V device 255. One skilled in the art will also readily recognize that the MDI270 may instead be integrated into the a/V apparatus 255. The sound signals presented by the A/V device 255 are received by the microphone 275 of the MDI270, digitized (A/D) by the CODEC 515, encoded by the encoder 515, and modulated to radio frequencies by the RF modulator 520. The modulated and encoded signal is transmitted to an antenna 525 for transmission to the WMR 250. As described above in connection with fig. 4, the WMR 250 includes an antenna 405 to receive the modulated RF signal transmitted by the MDI270, demodulate the RF signal through an RF demodulator 410, convert the digital signal to analog audio through a low pass filter 415, and an analog audio output connector 420 allows various cable connections to route the audio signal to the a/V data aggregator 235. Such audio signals, including the embedded watermarks provided by the network broadcaster, propagate from one or more a/V devices (220, 225, and 230) and are ultimately provided to an a/V data aggregator 235. The embedded watermark signal of the audio signal is used by the a/V data aggregator 235, or an entity associated with the central data store 105, to determine which program the user is receiving. The receiver 280 of the MDI270 operates to receive IR signals from the user's IR remote control 285. For example, while IR remote control 285 may include standard control buttons/commands (e.g., channel change, volume change, power on/off, etc.), IR remote control 285 may also include an identification button. As described above, when the user sees a bitmap prompt such as "viewer, please identify oneself," the user presses an appropriate identification button (e.g., the button labeled "Jane") on IR remote control 285. The receiver 280 of the MDI270 receives the identification signal from the IR remote control 285 before the encoder 515 encodes it. Much like the audio signal received by the microphone 275, the RF modulator 520 modulates the encoded IR signal to a radio frequency before being sent to the antenna 525 for transmission to the WUI 240.

A flowchart of example machine readable instructions for implementing the example system for wireless metering of an a/V device of fig. 1-5 is shown in fig. 6. In this example, the machine readable instructions comprise a program for execution by: (a) a processor, such as the processor 1512 shown in the example computer 1500 discussed below in connection with fig. 15, (b) a controller, and/or (c) any other suitable processing device. The program may be implemented as software stored on a tangible medium such as a flash memory, a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), or a memory associated with the processor 1512, but it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the entire program and/or parts thereof could also be executed by other means other than the processor 1512 and/or implemented in firmware or dedicated hardware in a well known manner (e.g., it may be implemented by an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), a Field Programmable Logic Device (FPLD), discrete logic, etc.). Further, some or all of the machine readable instructions represented by the flowchart of FIG. 6 may be implemented manually. Further, while the example program is described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 6, persons skilled in the art will recognize that many other methods of implementing the example machine readable instructions may be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, substituted, eliminated, or combined.

The process of fig. 6 begins at block 602, and at block 602 the a/V data aggregator 235 or WUI240 begins a time-based reminder period. Generally, audience measurement systems and devices periodically confirm whether a user is actively interacting with (e.g., watching) an a/V device. Sometimes a user may start watching a program, DVD, or playing a game, but then walk away from the a/V device without turning it off. Periodic user reminders allow the audience measurement devices to associate the obtained data with an indication of whether the user responded to a "presence query" (indicating active use) or did not respond to a "presence query" (indicating that the a/V device may not have an interactive user). If the time base (timebase) does not expire, the method waits (loops) (block 604), otherwise the method prompts the bitmap generator 335 to forward (block 606) the particular user's message to the video overlay 310. For example, the memory of the bitmap generator 335 may have a large number of graphs (e.g., "n" users, one per person), including graphs that read "Jane, please confirm you exist". At block 608, the video overlay 310 integrates the graph with a/V signals input from at least one of the various devices (220, 225, 230). The WAP245 receives the integrated signal and retransmits (block 610) it to the a/V device 225 where it is presented to the user at the a/V device 225. If no response is received after a predetermined amount of time after the bitmap message is sent (block 612), the WUI240 determines whether any other known viewers are queried (block 614). If there are other known viewers for a particular household, the WUI240 may apply a bitmap prompt (e.g., "John, please confirm you are present") to a different known user (block 616). Otherwise, control returns to block 604 when the A/V device 255 is processed to be discarded. After the next predetermined period of time has elapsed, the method may repeat by prompting the bitmap generator 335 to forward (block 606) the particular user's message to the video overlay 310. One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that instead of an application specific user message bitmap, a generic message may be displayed to any user to indicate that a/V device 255 is being actively used. However, such an off-the-shelf query may require an additional "yes/no" type of question to confirm the demographic information of the user. For example, the WUI240 may also enable a reminder, "do you between 18-24 years of age? "and/or" do you be a male? "and the like.

After the user presses the identification button on the IR remote control 285, a response from the user captured by the MDI270 is determined (block 612). The MDI270 receives the IR remote control 285 signal and sends it back to the WUI240 as an RF signal. As described above in connection with fig. 3, the RF signal is received by RF receiver 340 and decoded by IR signal decoder 345. The decoder 345 then prompts the bitmap generator 335 to remove the bitmap message from the user's a/V signal (block 618). In addition, decoder 345 provides the user identification information to a/V data aggregator 235 via ID interface 350 (block 620). Control returns to block 604 and the method repeats after the next time base has elapsed. One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the wireless interface 115 may continue to monitor user behavior (e.g., channel change, volume change, device used, etc.) as well as monitoring content information (e.g., watermark detection) while waiting for the next time base to elapse (e.g., 44 minutes before presenting another query message to the user).

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the mobile interface 115, including the WUI240, WAP245 and WMR 250, may be combined or separated into various functional partitions without limitation. Similar to fig. 2, an alternative example wireless interface 715 is shown in fig. 7. The dashed arrows labeled 1 and 3 are merged in fig. 7 as a single dashed arrow to represent the merging of the WUI and WMR instances into a single module 720. The combined WUI and WMR module 720 receives all RF signals. Alternatively, as shown in fig. 2, each module may remain separate, with one of the modules designated to send and/or receive all wireless communications. In this way, each discrete module may be interconnected by a network cable or similar connection. Also similar to fig. 2, an alternative example wireless interface 815 is shown in fig. 8. The dashed arrows labeled 1, 2, and 3 are combined in fig. 8 as a single antenna to indicate that the WUI, WMR, and WAP examples are combined into a single module 820.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an alternative example system 100 of FIG. 1 for wirelessly metering A/V devices. As discussed below, fig. 9 is the same as fig. 2, except that the personalized tag 970 replaces the MDI (identifier 270 of fig. 2) and the WUI940 is replaced. All other components of fig. 9 that are similar to fig. 2 are provided with similar reference numerals in the "900" series. Generally, instead of using a bitmap overlay on the a/V signal to prompt the user for a response, the WUI940 inserts an imperceptible audio watermark into the a/V signal that the WUI940 sends to the a/V devices 955. Note that the watermarks added by the WUI940 are in addition to any watermarks that may be added by network broadcasters for content identification purposes or otherwise. Thus, the WMR950 operates in the same manner as the WMR 250 of fig. 2, and is thus unaffected by the alternative example system 100 of fig. 9 for wireless metering of a/V devices. The personalized tag 970 is carried by the user or is conveniently attached to the a/V device 955 because of its small size. As shown in fig. 9, a microphone in the tag 970 picks up the audio output including the imperceptible watermark from the a/V device 955 and sends the signal plus the added identification signal back to the WUI 940. If the WUI940 receives a watermark including an added identification signal injected by the tag 970, the WUI940 automatically provides the user demographic information to the a/V data aggregator 935, thereby eliminating the need to receive manual prompts from the user to provide identification. The alternative example system 100 of fig. 9 for wireless metering of a/V devices effectively eliminates coverage bitmap instructions and subsequent user responses to the user.

Fig. 10 is a more detailed diagram of the example WUI940 of fig. 9. Similar to fig. 3, a/V signals pass through the WUI940 via the input a/V interface 1005 and the output a/V interface 1015, just as in the example WUI240 of fig. 3. However, instead of injecting a bit map overlay on the video signal, the example WUI940 adds a personalized watermark signal to the audio portion of the a/V signal through the audio encoder 1010. The a/V signal continues to WAP945 where it is sent to a/V device 955. As discussed in further detail below, the microphone 985, which re-transmits the tag 970 with the embedded watermark and the newly identified encoded audio signal, picks up the audio output from the a/V device 955. When the personalized tag 970 transmits its RF modulated signal, the WUI940 decodes and receives it through the RF receiver 1040 and demodulates it through the RF demodulator 1045. As shown in fig. 9, the audio decoder 1050 looks for the watermark originally added to the audio signal and if a watermark is detected, the WUI940 generates a signal to the a/V data aggregator 935 through the ID interface 1055 and the "ID info" line. Such signals also include personalized identification codes added by the tag 970, thereby allowing demographic information to be correlated with user behavior. Other signals that may occupy the same transmit frequency are ignored because they are considered unrelated to the WUI 940.

Fig. 11 is a more detailed diagram of the example tag 970 of fig. 9. The personalized tag 970 is a device that uses a small battery 1100 that may be easily and unobtrusively attached to the a/V device 955. Alternatively, the user may carry the personalized tag 970 by a shirt pocket, a clothing clip, or hanging with a strap around the user's neck when using the a/V device 955. Inputs to the tag 970 include audio from the microphone 785 and tag configuration data through the data port 1105. The data port 1105 allows the configuration of the identification code to be saved to the tag memory 1110 before the tag 970 is used by the user of the statistically selected household. Data port 1105 may include a serial port, network cable, wireless transceiver, or similar known data communication connection, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Each identification code is unique to each statistically selected user and is stored in a database of an organization (e.g., Nielsen Media Research) that obtains the user data. Post-processing of the collected user behavior data references the identification code to correlate the particular user demographics with the user behavior.

The audio output of the a/V device 955 of fig. 9, including the watermark injected by the WUI940, is picked up by the microphone 775 and provided to the CODEC1115 for digitization (a/D conversion). The memory 1110 provides the CODEC1115 with a personalized identification code so that it can be added to the digital signal modulated by the RF modulator 1120 and transmitted wirelessly through the antenna 1125. Such an identification code allows the recipient of the RF modulated signal to identify which user is using the a/V device 955.

A flowchart representative of example machine readable instructions for implementing the alternate WUI940 of fig. 10 is shown in fig. 12. Although the example program is described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 12, persons skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many other methods of implementing the example machine readable instructions may alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, substituted, eliminated, or combined.

The routine of fig. 12 begins at block 1202 where the WUI940 inserts a watermark into all input audio of an a/V signal received from a device (e.g., 920, 925, 930) at block 1202. The encoded a/V signal is sent to WAP945 (block 1204), where it is further sent to an a/V device, such as a standard television or the example wireless television 955 of fig. 9.

A flowchart representative of example machine readable instructions for implementing the tag 970 of fig. 11 is shown in fig. 13. The process of fig. 13 begins at block 1302, where the tag 970 determines whether it is associated with an ID at block 1302. If the tag does not have an ID in memory 1110, the ID is programmed into memory 1110 at block 1304. A technician may access the memory 1110 through the data port 1105 to program a predetermined ID for at least one member of the household using the tag 970. After the tag 970 is associated with the ID, or if the tag 970 already has an associated ID, program control passes to block 1306. If the tag 970 is in audible proximity of the A/V device 955, the microphone 775 receives an audio signal from the A/V device speaker, including the embedded watermark containing the personalized identification code from the WUI 940. In addition, the tag 970 combines or modulates the received audio with the ID through the CODEC 1115. The combined audio is RF modulated by an RF modulator 1120 and transmitted via an antenna 1125, at block 1308. The signal transmitted at block 1308 includes the personalized identification code combined by the tag 970, the personalized identification code from the WUI940, and any other embedded watermarks (e.g., from a network broadcaster) that contain program identification information. The behavior of WMR950 is not different from that previously discussed in connection with fig. 2 and is not repeated here.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart representative of example machine readable instructions for implementing the alternate WUI940 of fig. 10. Unlike the flowchart of fig. 12, which generally describes an example of a/V signal output from an a/V device (e.g., set top box 920), the flowchart of fig. 14 illustrates an example signal reception of WUI 940. At block 1402, the WUI940 receives and demodulates the RF signal through the RF receiver 1040 and the RF demodulator 1045, respectively. The audio decoder 1050 decodes the demodulated signal at block 1404 and if the personalized watermark embedded by the WUI940 in advance before transmission to the a/V device 955 is not detected at block 1406, program control passes to block 1404 to continue searching for the personalized watermark. If a personalized watermark is detected at block 1406, indicating that the personalized tag 970 of the home viewer is viewing the A/V device, the identification information is forwarded to the ID interface 1055 at block 1408.

As shown in fig. 12-14, if the viewer is not watching the television 955, or walks out of the room in which the television 955 is located, the tag 970 does not transmit the embedded ID. In such a case, the tag 970 properly prevents invalid viewing data from being recorded and/or forwarded to the a/V data aggregator 935. However, if the viewer returns to the viewing proximity of the television 955, the tag 970 carried by the viewer may again receive audio signals from the television speakers via the tag microphone 985. Because the tag 970 automatically and passively identifies the viewer of the television 955, the example alternative wireless interface of fig. 9-11 effectively eliminates the need for the viewer to manually respond to visual cues to provide identifying information to the a/V data aggregator 935.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an example computer 1500 capable of implementing the apparatus and methods disclosed herein. For example, computer 1500 may be a server, a personal computer, a set-top box, or any other type of computing device. The system 1500 of the present example includes a processor 1512, such as a general purpose programmable processor. The processor 1512 includes a local memory 1514, and executes coded instructions 1516 that reside in the local memory 1514 and/or in another memory device. The processor 1512 may also execute the example machine readable instructions illustrated in fig. 6 and 12-14. Processor 1512 may be any type of processing unit, such as from IntelCentrinoFamily of microprocessors, IntelPentiumFamily of microprocessors, IntelItaniumFamily of microprocessors and/or Intel XscaleA microprocessor of a processor family. Of course, other processors from other families are also suitable.

The processor 1512 communicates with main memory including volatile memory 1518 and nonvolatile memory 1520 over a bus 1522. The volatile memory 1518 may be implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM), and/or any other type of random access memory device. Non-volatile memory 1520 may be implemented by flash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. A memory controller (not shown) typically controls access to the main memory 1518, 1520 in a conventional manner.

The computer 1500 also includes a conventional interface circuit 1524. The interface circuit 1524 may be implemented by any type of well-known interface standard, such as an ethernet interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB), and/or a third generation input/output (3GIO) interface.

One or more input devices 1526 are connected to the interface circuit 1524. An input device 1526 allows a user to enter data and commands into the processor 1512. The input means may be implemented, for example, by a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, track pad, track ball, mouse grid (isopoint) and/or speech recognition system.

One or more output devices 1528 are also connected to the interface circuit 1524. The output devices 1528 can be implemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display (CRT), a printer and/or speakers). Thus, the interface circuit 1524 typically includes a graphics driver card.

The interface circuit 1524 also includes a communication device such as a modem or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data with external computers via a network (e.g., an ethernet connection, a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), a telephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

The computer 1500 also includes one or more mass storage devices 1530 for storing software and data. Examples of such mass storage devices 1530 include floppy disk drives, hard disk drives, compact disk drives, and Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) drives.

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

Claims (15)

1. A wireless audio/visual a/V presentation device metering method in a home, comprising:

embedding a watermark in media received from a home media device by a wireless user identifier at the home;

wirelessly resending the media to the wireless sound/visual A/V rendering device via a wireless access point along with the watermark;

acoustically receiving audio-based media emitted from the wireless sound/visual A/V presentation device; and

associating a user with media received from the home media device when audio-based media acoustically received from the wireless sound/visual A/V rendering device includes a watermark embedded at the home.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media received from the home media device is received in an a/V signal having an audio portion and a video portion.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the a/V signal is at least one of a set-top box a/V signal, a video game console a/V signal, a video cassette recorder VCR a/V signal, a digital video recorder DVR a/V signal, or a digital versatile disk DVD a/V signal.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the a/V signal is converted to a radio frequency, RF, signal.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the RF signal is transmitted with a signal suitable for 802.11.

6. A system for metering wireless audio/visual a/V presentation devices in a home, the system comprising:

a wireless interface that embeds a watermark in media received from a home media device through a wireless user identifier at the home and wirelessly retransmits the watermark along with the media to the wireless sound/visual A/V rendering device; and

a mobile device interface that acoustically receives audio-based media emitted from the wireless sound/visual A/V rendering device and combines the watermark with an identification code associated with an audience member when the watermark is detected, the mobile device interface communicating the combined watermark and identification code to a data acquisition interface.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the A/V source device provides the media and comprises at least one of a set-top box, a video game console, a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) player, a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), or a video recorder (VCR).

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the wireless interface comprises a Radio Frequency (RF) receiver for receiving a signal indicative of an audience member identification.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the wireless interface comprises a wireless access point for converting the media to Radio Frequency (RF) signals.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the mobile device interface comprises:

a microphone that receives an audio signal from an A/V source device;

an infrared IR receiver that receives IR signals from a viewer remote controller; and

a Radio Frequency (RF) modulator that modulates at least one of the audio signal or the IR signal into an RF signal.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the wireless interface comprises a wireless microphone receiver that receives the RF signal from the mobile device interface.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the wireless microphone receiver comprises an RF demodulator that demodulates received RF signals, the demodulated signals being communicated to the data acquisition interface.

13. A system for metering wireless audio/visual a/V presentation devices in a home, the system comprising:

an A/V source device that provides media;

a wireless interface that integrates a watermark in media received from the A/V source device using a wireless user identifier at the home, the wireless interface re-transmitting the watermark along with the media to the wireless audio/visual A/V rendering device; and

a mobile device interface that acoustically receives audio-based media emitted from the wireless sound/visual A/V rendering device and combines the watermark with an identification code associated with an audience member when the watermark is acoustically detected, the mobile device interface adapted to communicate the combined watermark and identification code to a data acquisition interface and to continue searching for the watermark in the audio-based media emitted from the wireless sound/visual A/V rendering device when the watermark is not present in the acoustically received audio.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the mobile device interface comprises:

a microphone that acoustically receives the audio-based media;

a CODEC that digitizes the received media encoded with the identification; and

a Radio Frequency (RF) modulator that modulates the digitized media into an RF signal, the RF modulator transmitting the RF signal.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the wireless interface further comprises a wireless subscriber identifier comprising:

an RF receiver that receives RF signals transmitted by the mobile device interface;

an RF demodulator that demodulates a received RF signal; and

an audio decoder that detects the identification code and identifies the audience member.