Arbitron Inc.

The Nielsen Comapny (us), LLC

The Arbitron Company

Other

Arbioran

James M Jensen

Wendell D Lynch

Jack C Crystal

Alan R Neuhauser

Jack K Zhang

Eugene L Flanagan

Daniel W Pugh

Robert B Graybill

Douglas J Visnius

Sayed Hassan

Wayne Sabin

Ronald S Kolessar

Michael M Perelshteyn

Gerald B Cohen

Victor A Aijala

Juan C Urbi

William K Krug

David Patrick Forr

Thomas W White

Roberta M McConochie

Courtney Lewis Wood

Ayman A Mostafa

Amy E Pearl

Susan V Osborn

Jon R Brooks

Carole M Schmidt

Ann B Seiler

Carol P Stowell

Wylie Wong

Joan Fitzgerald

Eugene L Flanagan Iii

Jon Randall Brooks

Joan G Fitzgerald

Roberta M Mcconochie

Methods and apparatus for research data gathering with a portable monitor and a stationary device are described. An example method includes gathering, via a stationary monitoring system, first data concerning exposure to media output by a media receiver, wherein gathering the first data comprises collecting a first code encoded in the media, gathering second data concerning exposure to the media output by the media receiver with a portable monitor carried on the person of a user, wherein the second data comprises a second code encoded in the media, gathering, via the portable monitor, location data encoded in the media by the stationary monitoring system, the location data providing information on a physical location of the portable monitor, and producing the audience measurement data concerning exposure to the media output by the receiver from the first data, the second data, and the location data.

Research data gathering with a portable monitor and a stationary device

Methods and systems for measuring and gathering data relating to publication usage by participants in publication readership studies. Some methods and systems employ portable monitors carried by participants of the studies along with publications fitted with various devices, such as piezoelectric transducers, RFID tags and others devices and circuits.

Gathering data concerning publication usage

Systems and methods are provided for gathering audience measurement data relating to exposure of an audience member to audio data. Audio data is received in a user system and is then encoded with audience measurement data. The encoded audio data is reproduced by the user system, picked up by a monitor and decoded to recover the audience measurement data.

Systems and methods for gathering audience measurement data

Methods and systems are disclosed to map locations of wireless transmitters for use in gathering market research data. A disclosed example method involves displaying a representation of a commercial establishment on a portable device, obtaining transmitter data via the portable device from a wireless transmitter located within the commercial establishment, and in response to the portable device receiving a user selection of a first location on the representation of the commercial establishment, associating the first location with the transmitter data and location information generated by the portable device representative of a physical location in the commercial establishment.

Methods and systems for mapping locations of wireless transmitters for use in gathering market research data

Methods of gathering data concerning a location of an audience member proximate to a content presentation are provided. A stationary device is proximate to the content presentation. A portable monitor is carried by or with the person of an audience member. Location data is obtained by communicating data from the portable monitor to the stationary device, or from the stationary device to the portable monitor, or by comparing data gathered by both the stationary device and the portable monitor.

Methods and apparatus for encoding and decoding information in broadcast or recorded segment signals are described. In certain embodiments, an audience monitoring system encodes identification information in the audio signal portion of a broadcast or recorded segment using spread spectrum encoding. A personal monitoring device receives an acoustically reproduced version of the broadcast or recorded signal via a microphone, decodes the identification information from the audio signal portion despite significant ambient noise, and stores this information, automatically providing a diary for the audience member which is later uploaded to a centralized facility. A separate monitoring device decodes additional information from the broadcast signal, which is matched with the audience diary information at the central facility. This monitor may simultaneously send data to the centralized facility using a dial-up telephone line, and receive data from the centralized facility through a signal encoded using a spread spectrum technique and modulated with a broadcast signal from a third-party.

Method and apparatus for encoding/decoding broadcast or recorded segments and monitoring audience exposure thereto

Methods and systems are provided for mapping locations of wireless transmitters for use in gathering market research data. A layout map includes location data representing a plurality of locations within a market research area. Transmitter data representing respective ones of the wireless transmitters is provided and the transmitter data is associated with the location data.

Systems, methods and devices for gathering data concerning exposure of predetermined survey participants to media displays are provided. A portable monitor is arranged to receive certain types of terrestrial-based signals, and in some specific cases, satellite-based signals, and to use such signals to generate location data indicative of a location of the portable monitor. The location data and stored media display data is analyzed to evaluate the survey participant's exposure to one or more media displays.

Universal display exposure monitor using personal locator service

An encoding system for encoding a first ancillary code in media data and monitoring for reception of a second ancillary code that has a higher priority than the first ancillary code, such that upon detection of the higher priority ancillary code the encoding system modifies a characteristic and/or characteristics of the first ancillary code.

Ensuring EAS performance in audio signal encoding

Systems and methods are provided for decoding a message symbol in an audio signal. This message symbol is represented by first and second code symbols displaced in time. Values representing the code signals are accumulated and the accumulated values are examined to detect the message symbol.

Encoding and decoding of information in audio signals

Apparatus and methods for including a code having at least one code frequency component in an audio signal are provided. The abilities of various frequency components in the audio signal to mask the code frequency component to human hearing are evaluated and based on these evaluations an amplitude is assigned to the code frequency component. Methods and apparatus for detecting a code in an encoded audio signal are also provided. A code frequency component in the encoded audio signal is detected based on an expected code amplitude or on a noise amplitude within a range of audio frequencies including the frequency of the code component.

Apparatus and methods for including codes in audio signals

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Columbia, MD, United States of America

James M Jensen