EP1090504A1

EP1090504A1 - Audience rating system for digital television and radio

Info

Publication number: EP1090504A1
Application number: EP99925594A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Enrico Emilio Massetti
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-05-27
Filing date: 1999-05-21
Publication date: 2001-04-11
Also published as: BR9909273A; CA2323937A1; AU4184599A; WO1999062260A1

Abstract

An audience rating system for digital television and radio, using identification codes in control streams (C) of time-multiplexed digital transmissions (12). When a television set (22) or radio, that is being monitored pursuant to the system is turned on and tuned to a channel, and each time that the channel is changed, an identification code for each audio, video or auxiliary digital stream of the channel is extracted from the control stream, and recorded along with the time. The time is also recorded when the television set or radio is turned off. This data makes it possible to determine what stations, channels, and programs members of the audience being monitored are watching or listening to at any particular time.

Description

AUDIENCE RATING SYSTEM FOR DIGITAL TELEVISION AND RADIO

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus

for audience rating systems for digital television and

radio .

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

The television and radio industries and commercial

advertisers have an obvious interest in knowing how many

people are watching or listening to particular stations and

programs. Various systems of audience rating have been

developed for analog television and radio, of which the

most accurate use a meter that is connected to the

television set or radio, that records when the receiver is

turned on and off, and what channels or frequencies it is

tuned to. Digital television and radio are now being

introduced, and are expected to eventually completely

replace analog television and radio. The existing rating devices for analog televison and radio either will not work

at all with digital television and radio, or will work only

poorly. The present invention is a method of audience

rating for digital television and radio, that uses an

apparatus that can be connected to a digital televison set

or radio. It makes use of identification codes in the

control stream of multiplexed digital transmissions to

record the channel being received.

U.S. Patent No. 4,547,804, issued on October 15, 1985,

to Burton L. Greenberg, discloses a method and apparatus

for the automatic identification and verification of

commercial broadcast programs. A digital encoded

identifying number is embedded in the programs, by which

they can be automatically monitored, to verify that they

have been broadcast as and when intended. However, the

digital number is embedded in what is otherwise an analog

program. This method is usable only during the transition

period from analog to digital broadcasting technology, when

some digital equipment or connection is in use together

with older analog equipment or connections. It will not

work when the broadcasting stations have fully digital

operations, e.g., recording a program in digital form,

storing it digitally on tape or disk, performing nonlinear digital edits and digital commercial insertions, and

transmitting digitally in the air, or delivering a digital

stream to a cable or satellite operator to multiplex with

other digital streams. The instant invention is

distinguishable, in that it is fully digital and will work

with broadcasting that is fully digital, and it is designed

for audience ratings, rather than broadcast verification.

U.S. Patent No. 4,647,974, issued on March 3, 1987, to

Robert J. Butler and Ronald G. Schlameuss, discloses a

system for the automatic insertion of auxiliary video

information into an analog television signal. The system

may be used by a local station to insert its call letters

or logo into network programming. The instant invention is

distinguishable, in that it uses digital signals in digital

broadcasts, and is designed to monitor receivers.

U.S. Patent No. 4,697,209, issued on September 29,

1987, to David Kiewit and Daozheng Lu, discloses a method

and apparatus for identifying television programs, by

detecting the occurrence of events such as scene changes in

a video signal, and extracting a signature from the signal.

Signatures and their times of occurrence are stored and

compared with reference signatures to identify the program.

As the system is independent of the format used to transmit the signal, it will work with both analog and digital

television. It has the disadvantage of requiring that a

large volume of reference data be collected for every

possible station and program being transmitted, and for

every site monitored, which will require a large computing

capacity and a long computing time to correlate the two

sets of data to determine which station or program is being

received at each monitored site at each instant that each

receiver is turned on. The instant invention is

distinguishable, in that it is designed to monitor the

reception of digital transmissions only, and will work

efficiently with such transmissions, by using

identification codes in their control streams.

U.S. Patent No. 4,972,503, issued on November 20,

1990, to Everett V. Zurlinden, discloses a method and

apparatus for determining the channel to which a remotely

controlled television receiver is tuned. While it is

independent of the format (analog or digital) used to

transmit the signal, its implementation on a mass scale for

audience ratings will not be practical, as it requires an

individual hardware or software adaptation to each remote

control used in the monitored sites to determine what

function is activated when a key pressing is detected. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that requires no

such adaptation to remote controls, and may be implemented

even if a remote control is not used.

U.S. Patent No. 5,019,899, issued on May 28, 1991, to

Glenn M. Boles et al . , discloses an electronic data

encoding and recognition system for creating digital

signatures from frames of selected video segments such as

television commercials by a digitalizing, compression and

selection process which produces a multi-digit signature

from each frame. The instant invention is distinguishable,

in that it uses digital signals in digital broadcasts, and

may be used to monitor receivers.

U.S. Patent No. 5,278,988, issued on January 11, 1994,

to Jean P. Dejean, Enrico Massetti, Ken Straub and Everett

Zurlinden, discloses a method and apparatus for determining

the transmitting station from which analog program signals

are received and translated by a monitored receiver within

a test area. The instant invention is distinguishable, in

that it is designed to detect and record the reception of

digital transmissions by digital receivers.

U.S. Patent No. 5,425,100, issued on June 13, 1995, to

William L. Thomas, Paul C. Kempter and David H. Harkness,

discloses a multi-level encoded signal monitoring system and a universal broadcast code for identifying programs,

commercial, networks, stations, etc. The instant invention

is distinguishable, in that it is designed for and will

work with fully digital programming, and does not require

multiple levels of encoding.

U.S. Patent No. 5,450,122, issued on September 12,

1995, to Leonard D. Keene, discloses an in-station method

and apparatus for encoding analog television programs,

including commercials, with a digital identification code

recorded on a selected video scan line which is not

normally visible to the television viewer, and for

verifying the proper airing of such programs by television

broadcast stations. The instant invention is

distinguishable, in that it is designed for determining

audience ratings for digital television and radio.

U.S. Patent No. 5,450,490, issued on September 12,

1995, to James M. Jensen et al . , discloses apparatus and

methods for including an inaudible code in an analog audio

signal, and for decoding it. The instant invention is

distinguishable, in that it uses identification codes in

the control streams of multiplexed digital transmissions.

U.S. Patent No. 5,512,933, issued on April 30, 1996,

to Mark A. Wheatley and Peter Wilcox, discloses a system for identifying a program stream being displayed at a

receiver location, by measuring the relative luminance of

a plurality of predetermined areas in each frame of a

television transmission, at both the transmitting station

and the receiver. As the system is independent of the

format used to transmit the signal, it will work with both

analog and digital television. But, as with Kiewi t et al . ,

supra , it has the disadvantage of requiring that a large

volume of reference data be collected for every possible

station and program being transmitted, and for every site

monitored, as well as requiring a large computing capacity

and a long computing time to correlate the two sets of data

to determine which station or program has been received at

each monitored site at each instant that the receiver was

turned on. As before, the instant invention is

distinguishable, in that it is designed to monitor the

reception of digital transmissions only, and will work

efficiently with such transmissions, by using

identification codes in their control streams.

U.S. Patent No. 5,574,962, issued on November 12,

1996, to Michel Fardeau et al . , discloses a method and

apparatus for automatically identifying a program, by

adding an inaudible encoded message to the audio signal . The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it is

designed for multiplexed digital transmissions, and uses

identification codes already present in their control

streams .

U.S. Patent No. 5,646,675, issued on July 8, 1997, to

Robert C. Copriviza et al . , discloses a system and method

for monitoring the reception of video program material,

using codes inserted on scan lines. Again, the instant

invention is distinguishable, in that it is designed for

multiplexed digital transmissions, and uses identification

codes already present in their control streams .

None of the above inventions and patents, taken either

singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant

invention as claimed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an audience rating system for

digital television and radio, using identification codes in

control streams of time-multiplexed digital transmissions.

When a television set or radio, that is being monitored

pursuant to the system, is turned on and tuned into a

channel, and each time that the channel is changed, an identification code for each audio, video or auxiliary

digital stream of the channel is extracted from the control

stream, and recorded along with the time. The time is also

recorded when the television set or radio is turned off.

This data makes it possible to determine what stations,

channels, and programs members of the audience being

monitored are watching or listening to at any particular

time. In the first preferred embodiment, the multiplexed

digital transmission is received separately by the

television set or radio (or an attached integrated receiver

and decoder) and a meter connected to it . The meter

compares the elementary digital streams of the channel

being received by the television set or radio with digital

streams of each of the channels in the multiplexed digital

transmission, until it finds a match. In the second

preferred embodiment, the meter does not receive the

multiplexed digital transmission separately, but has access

to an elementary stream extracted from the multiplexed

digital transmission by an integrated receiver and decoder.

In both embodiments, the meter extracts identification

codes for the channels being received from the elementary

stream. The elementary stream may be accessed through an

auxiliary connector in a digital decoder, through an access control card connector, or through soldering electrical

connections to internal points in the integrated receiver

and decoder. In either embodiment, the digital

transmission may be either a terrestrial or satellite

broadcast, or by cable. The data recorded may be stored

on-site in the meter's memory, and/or transmitted to a

central computer for immediate processing. While designed

as an audience rating system, the invention may also be

used in recording reception of, and billing customers for,

pay-per-view digital television programs (or even "pay-per-

listen" digital radio programs, should any be developed) .

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention

to provide an efficient means of creating reliable audience

rating reports for digital television.

It is another object of the invention to provide an

efficient means of creating reliable audience rating

reports for digital radio.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a

means for recording reception of digital programs for which

a fee is charged to the consumer.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved

elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the

purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.

These and other objects of the present invention will

become readily apparent upon further review of the

following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a flowchart showing the method of the first

preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the apparatus

used in the first preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the method of the second

preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the apparatus

used in the second preferred embodiment of the invention.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding

features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is an audience rating system for

digital television and radio, using identification codes in

control streams of time-multiplexed digital transmissions. The multiplexed digital transmission may be broadcast

through the atmosphere by electromagnetic radiation, and/or

reflected off satellites orbiting the earth in outer space.

Or it may be transmitted by electricity through metal

cables, and/or by light through fiber optic cables. Figure

1 is a flowchart illustrating the method in the first

preferred embodiment of the invention. Multiplexed digital

transmissions are received simultaneously by both an

integrated receiver and decoder (hereinafter referred to as

the "IRD") connected to the television set or radio

(hereinafter referred to as the "receiver") , and by a meter

which is also connected to the receiver. (IRDs are now

generally separate units attached outside the receiver.

But it is expected that eventually they will be placed

inside digital receivers during manufacture. The

transmission may be received by the meter through an access

control card connector, or the meter may have its own

tuner, which can be an IRD.) Both the IRD and the receiver

must then identify the control stream (sometimes also

called the system stream) in the multiplexed digital

transmission.

The next step is demultiplexing the multiplexed

digital transmission into separate digital streams. The control stream is used to allocate digital frames to the

separate digital streams. In digital television the

separate digital streams include at least one video stream

for each channel, at least one audio stream for each

channel, the control stream itself, and may also include

auxiliary streams for each channel. (In digital radio

there is, of course, no video stream.) (As used in this

application, a "channel" means one or more digital streams

that transmit only one program or commercial advertisement

at a time, and applies to digital radio as well as

television.) Identification codes in the control stream

are used to cause only the digital streams of the channel

to which the receiver is tuned to be passed to the

receiver, so that the channel's audio digital streams are

converted to sound, and the channel's video digital streams

are converted to pictures .

When the meter receives a signal indicating that the

receiver has been turned on, or that the channel that the

receiver is tuned to has been changed, the meter selects

one or more audio, video and/or auxiliary digital streams

belonging to a first channel in the multiplexed digital

transmission for comparison with the digital streams of the

channel to which the receiver is tuned. If the comparison shows that the digital streams are identical, the meter

then extracts the identification codes of the streams that

match from the control stream. If the digital streams are

not identical, the meter selects digital streams belonging

to the next channel for comparison, and continues selecting

and comparing digital streams belonging to each channel in

the multiplexed digital transmission, until a match is

found, and the identification codes of the matching digital

streams received by the meter are extracted from the

control stream received by the meter. The identification

codes extracted are recorded by the meter, along with the

time and date. (If no match in found, a message that the

digital stream cannot be identified may be recorded.)

(Alternatively, the meter may continuously compare the

digital streams in each of the channels in the multiplexed

digital transmission to the digital streams in the channel

to which the receiver is tuned, and extract and record the

identification codes and the time and date whenever the

continuous comparison shows that the channel has been

changed.) The meter also records the time and date when

the receiver is turned off or reception is otherwise ended.

Assuming that the times each program and each commercial

are transmitted on each channel belonging to each station are known, the data recorded by the meter makes it possible

to determine what stations, channels, programs and

commercials members of the audience being monitored are

watching or listening to at any particular time.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the apparatus

used in the first preferred embodiment of the invention.

The digital television station 10 broadcasts (or transmits

by cable) a time-multiplexed digital stream 12 containing

segments of a control stream C, a video stream V, and an

audio stream A. (In practice many video and audio streams

would normally be broadcast together in a single time-

multiplexed stream, but for the sake of clarity, only a

single channel with one of each is shown.) The multiplexed

stream is then received and demultiplexed by an integrated

receiver and decoder 14 into the control stream (not

shown), the video stream 16, and the audio stream 18. The

meter 20 independently receives the same multiplexed

stream, and likewise demultiplexes it into the control

stream and video and audio streams. The video stream of

the channel selected is passed to both the cathode ray tube

22 (or liquid crystal display or other visual display

device) and the meter, which compares it to each video

stream in the multiplexed digital stream. The audio stream of the channel selected is passed to both the speaker 24

and the meter, which compares it to each audio stream in

the multiplexed digital stream. (Of course, in the case of

radio, there are no video streams to be compared) . The

video stream received causes pictures to be displayed by

the visual display device, and the audio stream received

causes sounds to be emitted by the speaker. Information

recorded by the meter may be stored in an internal memory

unit for later retrieval. Optionally, in order to

instantly generate audience ratings in real time,

information recorded in the meter may be transmitted by a

cable 26 or other means to a computer 28 where data from

many different receivers being simultaneously monitored may

be compiled.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the method of the second

preferred embodiment of the invention. In the second

embodiment, only the IRD receives a multiplexed digital

transmission, identifies its control stream, and

demultiplexes the separate digital streams. As in the

first embodiment, the IRD uses identification codes in the

control stream to select the audio and video streams in the

channel to which the receiver is tuned, and passes the

streams to the receiver, where they are converted into sound and/or pictures. The IRD extracts the elementary

stream for the channel (i.e., the audio, video and

auxiliary streams for the channel, and the identification

codes for these streams) and makes it available on an

auxiliary connector (usually for the purpose of

descrambling a controlled access channel) and passes it to

the meter, which extracts the identification codes, and

records them along with the time and date when the receiver

is turned on or the channel that the receiver is tuned to

is changed. (Alternatively, the meter may have its own

tuner, which can be an IRD with a conditional access module

for a specific broadcaster.) As before, the meter also

records the time when the receiver is turned off or

reception is otherwise ended.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the apparatus

used in the second preferred embodiment of the invention,

showing that the multiplexed digital transmission 12 is

received only by the IRC 14, which passes the elementary

stream 30 (including an audio stream, a video stream, and

identification codes) for the channel to which the receiver

is tuned to the meter 20. In the second embodiment, the

elementary stream may be accessed by the meter through an

auxiliary connector in a digital decoder, or through an access control card connector, or by soldering an

electrical connection to an internal point in the IRD.

In either embodiment, it is possible that a plurality

of multiplexed digital transmissions can be received at

different frequencies. In this case, when the receiver is

turned on, the meter records a first frequency received,

and the time reception of the first frequency begins, and

when the frequency received is changed, the meter records

any subsequent frequency received, and the time reception

of the subsequent frequency begins.

Auxiliary streams for a channel may carry binary

strings or text characters, by means of which information

concerning the station or program being transmitted may be

displayed by the receiver. Information concerning programs

and/or stations may be displayed in a menu to enable

viewers to select transmissions, or to enable viewer to see

which transmissions have been selected.

The invention is primarily designed and intended for

use in compiling audience rating reports, but may also be

used in recording reception of, and billing customers for,

pay-per-view digital television programs (or even "pay-per-

listen" digital radio programs, should any be developed) . It is to be understood that the present invention is

not limited to the preferred embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of

the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMSI claim:

1. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio, comprising the steps of:

extracting at least one identification code for at

least one digital stream of a first channel, from a control

stream of a multiplexed digital transmission, when

reception of the first channel by a receiver begins;

recording at least one identification code extracted

and the time reception of the first channel begins;

extracting at least one identification code for at

least one digital stream of any subsequent channel, from

the control stream of the multiplexed digital transmission,

when reception of the subsequent channel by the receiver

begins ;

recording at least one identification code extracted

and the time reception of the subsequent channel begins;

and

recording the time that reception by the receiver is

ended .

2. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 1, wherein the multiplexed

digital transmission is transmitted by electromagnetic

radiation.

3. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 1, wherein the multiplexed

digital transmission is transmitted by electricity.

4. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 1, wherein the identification

codes, the time reception of each channel begins, and the

time reception ends, are recorded by a meter and stored in

a memory unit of the meter.

5. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 1, wherein the identification

codes, the time reception of each channel begins, and the

time reception ends, are recorded by a meter and

transmitted to a computer.

6. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 1, wherein the multiplexed

digital transmission is received separately by the receiver

and by a meter; when the receiver is turned on, and when the channel

that the receiver is tuned to is changed, the meter

compares digital streams of the channel that the receiver

is tuned to, to digital streams of each of the channels in

the multiplexed digital transmission, until it finds a

match and extracts at least one identification code for at

least one digital stream of the channel from the control

stream, and records the identification code along with the

time; and

when reception by the receiver is ended, the meter

records the time .

7. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 6, wherein a plurality of

multiplexed digital transmissions can be received at

different frequencies;

when the receiver is turned on, the meter records a

first frequency received, and the time reception of the

first frequency begins; and

when the frequency received is changed, the meter

records any subsequent frequency received, and the time

reception of the subsequent frequency begins.

8. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 7, wherein:

the receiver has a first tuner; and

the meter has a second tuner which is automatically

tuned to the first frequency received when reception

begins, and to any subsequent frequency when the frequency

received is changed.

9. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 6, wherein the control stream

is accessed by the meter through an access control card

connector.

10. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 1, wherein

when the receiver is turned on, and when the channel

that the receiver is tuned to is changed, an elementary

stream is extracted from the multiplexed digital

transmission, the elementary stream is passed to a meter,

the meter extracts at least one identification code from

the elementary stream, and the meter records the

identification code along with the time; and

when reception by the receiver is ended, the meter

records the time.

11. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 10, wherein the control stream

is accessed by the meter through an auxiliary connector in

a digital decoder.

12. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 10, wherein the control stream

is accessed by the meter through an access control card

connector.

13. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 10, wherein a plurality of

multiplexed digital transmissions can be received at

different frequencies;

when the receiver is turned on, the meter records a

first frequency received, and the time reception of the

first frequency begins; and

when the frequency received is changed, the meter

records any subsequent frequency received, and the time

reception of the subsequent frequency begins.

14. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 13, wherein:

. the receiver has a first tuner; and

the meter has a second tuner which is automatically

tuned to the first frequency received when reception

begins, and to any subsequent frequency when the frequency

received is changed.

15. An audience rating system for digital television

and radio according to claim 14, wherein the first tuner

and the second tuner are both integrated receivers and

decoders, and the second tuner has a conditional access

module for specific broadcaster.

16. A system for recording reception of pay programs

on digital television and radio, comprising the steps of:

extracting at least one identification code for at

least one digital stream of a first channel, from a control

stream of a multiplexed digital transmission, when

reception of the first channel by a receiver begins;

recording at least one identification code extracted

and the time reception of the first channel begins;

extracting at least one identification code for at

least one digital stream of any subsequent channel, from

the control stream of the multiplexed digital transmission,

when reception of the subsequent channel by the receiver

begins ;

recording at least one identification code extracted

and the time reception of the subsequent channel begins;

and recording the time that reception by the receiver is

ended .

17. An apparatus for audience rating of digital

television and radio, comprising:

means for extracting at least one identification code

for at least one digital stream of a first channel, from a

control stream of a multiplexed digital transmission, when

reception of the first channel by a receiver begins;

means for recording at least one identification code

extracted and the time reception of the first channel

begins;

means for extracting at least one identification code

for at least one digital stream of any subsequent channel,

from the control stream of the multiplexed digital

transmission, when reception of the subsequent channel by

the receiver begins;

means for recording at least one identification code

extracted and the time reception of the subsequent channel

begins ; and

means for recording the time that reception by the

receiver is ended.

18. An apparatus for audience rating of digital

television and radio according to claim 17, wherein the

multiplexed digital transmission is received separately by

the receiver and by a meter;

when the receiver is turned on, and when the channel

that the receiver is tuned to is changed, the meter

compares digital streams of the channel that the receiver

is tuned to, to digital streams of each of the channels in

the multiplexed digital transmission, until it finds a

match and extracts at least one identification code for at

least one digital stream of the channel from the control

stream, and records the identification code along with the

time ; and

when reception by the receiver is ended, the meter

records the time.

19. An apparatus for audience rating system of

digital television and radio according to claim 18, wherein

a plurality of multiplexed digital transmissions can be

received at different frequencies;

when the receiver is turned on, the meter records a

first frequency received, and the time reception of the

first frequency begins; and

when the frequency received is changed, the meter

records any subsequent frequency received, and the time

reception of the subsequent frequency begins.

20. An apparatus for audience rating of digital

television and radio according to claim 17, wherein

when the receiver is turned on, and when the channel

that the receiver is tuned to is changed, an elementary

stream is extracted from the multiplexed digital

transmission, the elementary stream is passed to a meter,

the meter extracts at least one identification code from

the elementary stream, and the meter records the

identification code along with the time; and

when reception by the receiver is ended, the meter

records the time.