The Nielsen Comapny (us), LLC

Arbitron Inc.

The Arbitron Company

Other

Wendell D Lynch

Alan R Neuhauser

Vladimir Kuznetsov

Anand Jain

John Steven Stavropoulos

Jack C Crystal

David Gish

James M Jensen

Sadhana Gupta

Christen Voss Nielsen

Jeremey M Davis

Ronald D Smith

Robert B Graybill

Wayne Sabin

Sayed Hassan

Taymoor Arshi

Michael M Perelshteyn

Alexander Pavlovich Topchy

Khaldun Karazoun

William K Krug

Ronald S Kolessar

Gerald B Cohen

William John McKenna

Juan C Urbi

Victor A Aijala

Jason Bolles

John G Kelly

Eugene L Flanagan

Ronald A Smith

Michael Tenbrock

Ayman A Mostafa

Mark Richardson

Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture are disclosed to perform time alignment for watermarks. An example apparatus adjusts a power value of an element of a template based on respective average magnitudes and respective tonality ratios corresponding to a plurality of frequency representations of a media signal, the media signal to be encoded with at least one watermark, the element corresponding to one of the plurality of frequency representations. Additionally, the example apparatus computes an alignment of the template to the media signal based on respective power values of elements of the template, the template corresponding to a type of the at least one watermark. The example apparatus also encodes the media signal with the at least one watermark according to the alignment.

Methods, systems, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to perform time alignment for watermarks

An example apparatus includes at least one processor circuitry to execute or instantiate instructions to identify a media file is scheduled to be accessed by a media device within a first time period after a publishing of the media file was published by a media provider; select a first symbol to be inserted at a first symbol position and a second symbol to be inserted at a second symbol position to identify an access of the media file is to be accessed by the media device within the first time period, the first symbol position in a first bit sequence, the second symbol position in a second bit sequence; encode the first bit sequence in the media file on a first encoding layer of a multilayered watermark, and encode the second bit sequence in the media file on a second encoding layer of the multilayered watermark.

Systems, apparatus, and methods to improve watermark detection in acoustic environments

Example apparatus disclosed herein include a watermark detector to detect watermarks in a media signal. Disclosed example apparatus also include a controller to operate the watermark detector to (1) detect a first watermark in the media signal, and (2) cycle between sleep intervals and active intervals based on a repetition rate of the watermarks in the media signal to perform a detection operation for a second watermark at a second location in the media signal relative to a first location of the first watermark in the media signal. In some examples, the controller is to search a buffer of prior detected watermark symbols to detect a third watermark at a third location prior to the second location in the media signal in response to the second watermark not being detected at the second location in the media signal.

Power efficient detection of watermarks in media signals

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for supplementing partially readable and/or inaccurate codes. An example apparatus includes a watermark analyzer to select a first watermark and a second watermark decoded from media; a comparator to compare a first decoded timestamp of the first watermark to a second decoded timestamp of the second watermark; and a timestamp adjuster to adjust the second decoded timestamp based on the first decoded timestamp of the second watermark when at least a threshold number of symbols of the second decoded timestamp match corresponding symbols of the first decoded timestamp.

Methods and apparatus for supplementing partially readable and/or inaccurate codes in media

Systems and methods for payload encoding and decoding are disclosed. Example instructions cause one or more processors to at least determine encoding data corresponding to a message to be encoded into audio data by an encoding device; generate a license file including the encoding data; and cause transmission of the license file to a decoding device to enable the decoding device to decode the message from the audio data based on the license file.

Systems and methods for payload encoding and decoding

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to extend a timestamp range supported by a watermark without breaking backwards compatibility are disclosed. An example watermark encoder includes a counter to increment symbols of a watermark timestamp and a controller to control the counter to increment the symbols of the watermark timestamp based on a key, the controller to cause the counter to restrict ones of the symbol values to increment over one of a first range of symbol values or a second range of symbol values based on a value of the key, the second range of symbol values different from the first range of symbol values.

Methods and apparatus to extend a timestamp range supported by a watermark without breaking backwards compatibility

Apparatuses are disclosed for identifying portable devices carried by the same person. An example apparatus includes at least one memory, instructions on the apparatus, and a processor to execute the instructions to access media exposure data from at least one of a plurality of portable computing devices, access motion strings from each of the plurality of portable computing devices, each of said strings comprising a successive binary representation of motion over a first period of time, compare the motion strings in a processor to determine if at least two motion strings match within a predetermined threshold, and identify the devices that produced matching motion strings.

Multiple meter detection and processing using motion data

Example systems, methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture for wirelessly modifying detection characteristics of portable devices are disclosed herein. Example portable devices include example radio circuitry and example processor circuitry. In disclosed examples, the example processor circuitry is to cause the radio circuitry to scan for radio frequency beacons. The example processor circuitry is also to trigger activation of audio monitoring via a microphone of the portable device in response to establishment of a first connection with a first radio frequency beacon, the audio monitoring to at least one of detect an audio code or generate an audio signature. The example processor circuitry is further to cause the audio monitoring to stop in response to establishment of a second connection with a second radio frequency beacon different from the first radio frequency beacon.

Systems and methods for wirelessly modifying detection characteristics of portable devices

Apparatus, systems, articles of manufacture, and methods for viewer authentication are disclosed. An example system comprises memory, first instructions, and processor circuitry to execute the first instructions to send one or more second instructions to the device, the second instructions to cause the device to trigger collection of audio metering data from a sensed audio signal based on a programming schedule that is to identify when the program is to be broadcast, the program associated with a first time duration, the audio metering data associated with a second time duration, accept voting data from the user for a ballot presented in the program, and transmit the audio metering data and the voting data, determine a level of exposure of the user to the program based on the first time duration and the second time duration, and adjust the voting data based on the level of exposure.

Viewer authentication

Systems and methods are disclosed for customizing, distributing and processing audio signature data. Examples disclosed herein include waking a portable device from an inactive state in response to an activation signal. Disclosed examples also include generating a first signature based on audio from a microphone of the portable device during a period of time specified by the activation signal. Disclosed examples further include comparing the first signature with a second signature obtained from the activation signal to determine a match score, and communicating a match result based on the match score to a server via a network.

Distributed audience measurement systems and methods

Apparatus, systems, articles of manufacture, and methods are disclosed for multiple scrambled layers for audio watermarking. An example system includes a processor to execute instructions to: divide the watermark into a plurality of watermark symbols; map the watermark symbols to a plurality of frequency bins according to a first distribution scheme to create a first watermark layer having a first combination of the frequency bins and a second watermark layer having a second combination of the frequency bins, subsets of adjacent ones of the plurality of frequency bins grouped into a corresponding plurality of frequency clumps; determine a sequence for shifting watermark symbols between the frequency clumps to cause different combinations of watermark symbols that include one watermark symbol from each watermark layer to share up to a first number of frequency bins, the first number of frequency bins to be less than a number of watermark symbols in respective ones of the different combinations; and generate a second distribution scheme to map the watermark symbols in accordance with the sequence.

Multiple scrambled layers for audio watermarking

Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture to improve watermark detection in acoustic environments are disclosed. An example apparatus includes at least one memory, instructions in the apparatus, and processor circuitry to execute and/or instantiate the instructions to encode a first symbol in a media file at a first symbol position on a first encoding layer of a multilayered watermark, and encode a second symbol in the media file at a second symbol position on a second encoding layer of the multilayered watermark, the first encoding layer and the second encoding layer including a plurality of symbol positions, one or more of the plurality of the symbol positions on at least one of the first encoding layer or the second encoding layer to be empty.

Growing community of inventors

Silver Spring, MD, United States of America

Wendell D Lynch