Control Data Corporation

William L Thomas

Michael W Fellinger

George P Hyatt

Jeffrey C Swinehart

John W Mathews, Jr

Steven J Sletten

John E Hershey

Robert F Kubichek

A method, apparatus and system are provided for recognizing broadcast segments, such as commercials, in real time by continuous pattern recognition without resorting to cues or codes in the broadcast signal. Each broadcast frame is parametized to yield a digital word and a signature is constructed for segments to be recognized by selecting, in accordance with a set of predefined rules, a number of words from among random locations throughout the segment and storing them along with offset information indicating their relative locations. As a broadcast signal is monitored, it is parametized in the same way and the library of signatures is compared against each digital word and words offset therefrom by the stored offset amounts. A data reduction technique minimizes the number of comparisons required while still maintaining a large database.

Method, apparatus and system for recognizing broadcast segments

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Arapahoe County, CO, United States of America

William L Thomas