Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
7~
T~L~VISION A~D ~RRET ~S~RC~
~TP~ L~I~ ST~ ~ D ~ OD
Bac~GRonND o~ T~æ I~NTI~N
~he present invention relates to data
storage and transmission systems and more
particularly relates to monitoring ~ys~ems for
accumulating data at remote locations and
transmitting the data to a central location. ~ore
particularly, the present invention relates to a
10 data collection system and method for collecting at
remote panelist location~ data relative to
television viewing habits and preferences as well as
product purchases and preferences of a plurality of
panelists, and tran3mitting the collected data to a
15 central location. In accordance with one embodiment
of the present invention, a da~a collection system
is provided in which individual television receivers
may be controlled from a central location to display
8ubstitute programming.
The prior art is replete with variou3
~ys~ems and arrangements for monitorinq viewing
h~bits of television viewersO The earliest such
3ystems merely collected data on site for eventual
~anual collection as to the televi~ion channels
25 viewed and the times of viewing for various panels
o viewers in order to determine market ~hare and
ratings o~ various television programs. Later,
~y~ems came into being for use with cable
television systems with two way communication~ over
30 the cable ~ystem between the head end thereof and
~arious cable ~ubscribers. In such a system the
televi~ion ~ets are typi~ally interrogated
periodically from this central location over the
73~
cable, with the channel selection and time
information being ~ent back ~o the central location
and loqged for sta~istical compilation~ Such
3ystems have also been used in the past in 30~alled
5 pay television systems in which ~illiny information
is sent over the ~able system to a central location
from ~he various subscribers to the pay television
system. The prior art also includes such systems in
wh~ch a memory means is provided at the remote
10 location, i.e. at the television receiver, for
accumulatin~ data as to the channel being viewed and
time. The accumulated data is then periodically
transmitted over conventional ~elephone lines from
the remote locations to the central location, by
15 telephone calls initiated by either the remote
stations or the central location.
Systems for remotely accumulating data
regarding the habits of television viewers and their
qualitative reaction to material have today become
20 important from the standpoint of market research.
For example, the effectivene~s of television
commercials can be monitored by correlating viewing
of those commercials with subsequent purchase
decisions made by panelists whose viewing habits are
25 being monitored. One manner of achieving this which
has been utili2ed in the past is to have the
cooperatin~ panelists keep a diary as to purchase of
products~ The purchase information recorded in
these diaries is then correlated with the
30 commercials viewed by those cooperating panelists.
In an alternative arrangement disclosed in the prior
art, in areas where universal product code au~om~ed
check-outs are available, such as grocery ~tores and
the like, a panelist makes his or her purchases and
35 at the check-out counter presents a card coded with
'73~
a unique scanner panelist identification similar to
the univer~al product code symbol on the products
purchased. Th~ 3tore's compu~er can automatically
retain such purchase data ~or subsequent ~ran~fer to
5 a market rese~rch company computer data base for
correlation with the data regarding the various
panelists viewing of commercials. Such arrangements
of course require cooperation of stores within the
area of the panelist locations, and are therefore
10 more suited for limited geographic groupings of
panelists in a sing~e locale or city, and are not
readily applicable to a national assemblage of
panelists extending across an entire country.
In market research relating to commercials
1~ and their effectiveness, it also is sometimes
important to evaluate the effectiveness of
alternative forms of a commercial. One way of
achieving this in the context of a cable ~elevision
system is to split the subscribers or panelists into
20 two or more groups, and then show the alternative
forms of commercials to the respective groups o
paneli~ts. Correlation of product purchase
information regarding those panelists with the forms
of the commercials they viewed can then be u~ed ~o
25 assess the effectiveness of the various alternative
forms o~ the commercial. The prior art also
includes examples of systems wherein certain
portions of a viewing audience can be selected on a
dynamic basis and furnished with substitute
30 programming. Such a syctem is disclosed, for
example, in U.S. Patent No. 3,639,686 to Walker et
al. In accordance with that system, an auxiliary
television signal is broadcast which contain~ not
only substitute programming, i.e. video signal
information, but also control information such as
~2~737
pulse code information for remotely selecting
panelists which are to receive the substitute
programming. Digital addres~ information is
provided for each of the panelists, and the portion
5 of the panelists which are to receive the substitute
programming are selected by the pulse code
information. The Walker et al patent no~es that in
selecting the panelists which are to receive the
substitute programming, the number of categories
10 available is dependent on the number of digital
information bits that are ir.corporated in the
system~ A later United States Patent No. 4,331,974
to Cogswell et al also discloses an arrangement for
selectinq portions of a viewing audience on a
15 dynamic basis and furnishing those portions with
su~stitute progra~ming.
The present invention relates to an
improved system and me~hod which is of particular
utility in market research type applications, but
20 which is not limited thereto.
BJECTS AND SU~ARY OF T~E IN9ENTIQN
It is an object of the present invention to
provide a system and method for collecting at remote
panelists locations data relative to those
25 panelists, and transmitting the collected data to a
central location.
It is another object of the present
invention to provide such a data collection system
for collecting data relative to panelists television
viewing habits and preferences as well as market
research data regarding panelists product purchases
and preferences.
~Z4;~7;3~
It is another object of the present
invention to provide such a system and method in
which the remote locations are provided with ~emory
for storing collected da~a, with collected data
5 being periodically transmi~ted ~o a central locat;on
over non-dedicated telephone lines.
It is still another object of the present
invention, in accord nce with one embodiment, to
provide such a system and method in which substitute
10 programming can be provided to selected of the
panelists.
Briefly, in accordance with one embodiment
of the invention, a remote data collection unit i3
provided at each of a plurality of panelist
15 locations. The remote unit is adapted to be coupled
to one or more tPlevision receivers at each panelist
location, or to one or more cable televi~ion
converters in the context of a cable television
system. The data collection unit includes a memory
20 and means for monitoring and storing information
regarding which of a plurality of television modes
are in use, as well as viewer identi~ication data.
~eans are provided to monitor and store events
concerning television viewing, such as channel
25 changes or the like. Purther, the data collection
unit includes means for optically scanning bar codes
and the like and storing information regarding
s~me. Such bar codes and the like can be
represen~ative of product purchase information or
3~ panelist responses to market research surveys and
the like. In one embodiment, telephone communica-
tion is periodically established between a ~entral
location and each of the remote units, and the
contents of each data collection unit memory are
35 transmitted to the central location. Alternatively,
7~7
s
a portable memory device can be taken to the loca-
tion of eaeh data collPction unit to transfer the
memory content thereof to ~ tape or disc or o~her
~torage device. In accordance with one embodi~ent
5 of the invention, during telephone communication
between the central location and a remote unit,
questionnaires can be downloaded from the central
location to the memory of a remote data collection
unit. Such questionnaires can be displayed on a
10 television receiver coupled to the remote data
collection unit, with means provided for a viewer or
panelist registering answers to questions in the
questionnaire, and the memory of the remote data
collection unit storing the answers to the questions
15 for transmission to the central location at the next
telephone communication therewith.
In accordance with one aspect of the
invention, a viewer control is associated with each
remote data collection unit. The viewer control
20 includes a ~elevision channel selector, which can be
utilized not only in a normal mode for selecting
channels but also to place the unit in a channel
lock or a non-channel loc~ position~ When the data
collection unit is in the channel lock position, the
25 t~levision set associated therewith stays tuned to
whatever channel was previously selected, but
subsequent changes in the channel selec~or are
stored in the data collection unit memory. This
feature is useful for recording data relating to
viewer response, individual viewer identification,
re ponses to questionnaires and he like.
In accordance with one embodiment o~ the
invention, substitute programming information may be
supplied to each o~ the panelist locations, as by
35 transmission over an otherwise unused channel in a
73~
cable system, Control information is al~o
transmitted along with the substi~ute progra~Ming,
with the control information being utilized to
select on a dynamic basis portions of the panelists
5 for receipt of substitute programming. The ~roups
of panelists which are to receive the substitute
programming information can be selected on a
demographic bases or the like.
Other objects, advantages, and features of
10 the present invention will appear from the detailed
description of the pref2rred embodiments thereof,
taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings~
~RIEF D~SCRIPTION OF T~E DRAWI~GS
Fi~ure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an
overall system in accordance with the principles of
this invention.
Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating
signal flow in accordance with the present
invention.
Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating
modification of a cable converter in accordance with
the present invention.
Figure 4 illustrates the mode switches and
25 data wand of a data collection unit in accvrdance
with the present invention.
Figure 5 is a detailed block diagram of a
data collection unit in accordance with the pre~ent
invention.
~ igure 6 is a block diagram of the
telephone bloek interface and master/slave coupling
in accordance with one embodiment of the inventiDn.
Figure 7 is a logic flow diagram of the
S main loop of a data collection unit in accordance
with the present invention.
Figure 8 is another logic flow diagram for
converter control in accordance with one embodiment
of the present invention.
Figure g is a logic flow diagram of another
subroutine in accordance wi~h ~he present invention.
Figure 10 is a logic 10w diagram or the
data LED control subroutine of one embodiment of the
present invention.
Figure 11 is a logic flow diagram of a
subroutine also relating to converter control.
Figure 12 is a logic flow diagram related
to storing optically scanned data from a bar code
reader in accordance with one embodiment of the
20 present invention.
Figure 13 is a loqic flow diagram relating
to control of a time window fos telephone
communications in accordance with one embodiment of
the present invention.
~5 ~igure 14 is a logic flow diagram r~l~ting
to the survey function of one embodiment of the
present invention.
3~
Figure lS is a logic flow diagram for a
communication subroutine in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 16 is a block diagram relating to an
5 aspeet of the invention in which viewer identifi-
cation prompts are overlayed on the television
screen.
Figure 17 is a block diagram of an al~er-
nate embodiment of ~he present invention in which a
lO portable data collection device is used to retreive
data from data collection units instead of telephone
links.
DErAILED DESCRIPTION OF TEIE PRE:FE~RR13D lE:~)DIlqE~T5
The present invention relates to a data
15 gathering system which includes a plurality of
remote units which are controlled from a central
location. Each of the remote units is attached to a
television receiver which is generally but not
necessarily a~tached to a cable system. Each of the
20 remote units functions to determine which of several
TV mode~ is in use as well as to store TV channel
selector data and data from an optical input device.
All this data is ~tored for later transmission by
each of the remote units to a central data
2$ collecting point. In accordance with some
embodiment~ of the invention, a video message for a
~V viewer can be transmitted from the central
loeation and ~tored at the remote units, for later
display on the TV set associated with the remote
30 units. Further embodiments of the invention allow
73~
for subs~itution of al~ernat~ pr~gramming inf~r-
mation by the central ~ontrol point on selected of
the remote units.
Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a
S block diagram of the overall system. ~n accordance
with the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the system is
illustrated in the context of a cable ~V system; the
invention is not necessarily limited thereto,
however. In Fi~ure 1 signals on normal television
10 channels are received by head end antennas 11
associated with a CATV head end control ~ystem 12.
The signals from the normal television channels can
be mixed with video~ape or film sources from
auxiliary sources 13 and 1~. In accordance with the
15 invention, a control source 16 i~ al o provided for
transmitting digital data from and under the control
of a microcomputer 17. These will be discussed in
more detail later.
All of ~hese various signals are mixed in
20 the CATV head end 12 and transmitted over a cable
system, gsnerally indicated by reference numeral 1~.
Figure 1 illustrates one of the remote
units of this system of this invention, although it
should be understood that a plurality of such remote
25 units are provided, suitably situated in homes of
panelists or the like who have agreed to serve on
panels. As shown in Figure 1 r a cable converter 19
and a data collection unit 21 as provided in
accordance with the present invention are both
30 coupled to the cable system 1~. A normal television
receiver 22 is coupled to the cable converter 19.
There is also interconnection for passage of ~ontrol
signals both ways.between the data collection unit
21 and the cable converter 19. This is explained in
35 more detail later.
'7~
11
In accordance with the invention, the data
collection unit 21 contains a ~emory, and stores
data as to which of a plurality o~ TV modes are in
usel which TV channel is being viewed, as well as
5 input from a sui~able optical scanning device, which
will be discussed in more detail later. In
accordance with some embodimen~s of the present
invention, other data can be collected by ~he data
collection unit, such as viewer ~ualitative rating
10 Of proqrams and responses to survey questionnaires
and ~he like.
The data collection unit 21 is
interconnected to a telephone block 22, through
which incoming and outgoing telephone calls are
15 coupled to the panelist's home with suitable wiring
and the like interconnecting telephone receivers 23
in the panelist's home.
A central data collec~ion point is provided
for the system in accordance with this invention,
20 which need not be the same central location as the
CA~V head end 120 ~he central location is indicated
in Figure 1 by the central computer 24. The central
location can include an appropriate computer with
modems and the like for m~king connection over the
25 switched telephone network 25 to each of the remote
locations. This is illustrated in Figure 1 by the
connection between the ~witched telephone network 25
and the talephone block 22 for the particular remote
location shown in Figure 1. Periodically, the
30 central computer 24 "dials-up" each of the remote
locations, establishes appropriate telephone
communications with each of the data collection
units 21, and the data stored in each of the data
collection units 21 is transmitted via the ~witched
35 telephone network 25 to the central computer 2qo
7~3~7
While in telephone communication, in addition to
extractiny the stored data from the data collection
unit 21, the central computer 24 can also download
via the telephone lines data into each of the data
S collection units 21, as discussed in more detail
hereafterO Also as discussed in more detail
hereafter, in accordance with one aspect and
embodiment of the invention, appropriate
interconnections are provided in the telephone block
10 22 so that when a telephone call comes in from the
central computer 2~, the call is routed to the data
collection unit 21, and does not activate the
telephone receivers 23 in the panelist's home.
Referring now to Figure 2, ~here is shown
lS an additional block diagram illustrating signal
paths between the data collection unit 21, the cable
converter 19, and a television receiver 22.
Referring to Figure 2, the data collection unit 21
includes an electronics portion 26 and a switching
20 portion 27. The switching portion 27 consists of a
number of switches, five in the embodiment ~hown in
Figure 2, for selecting which of a variety of TV
modes are to be utilized. Thus, for example in the
embodiment shown in Figure 2 the inputs to the
switching portion 27 are the normal TV signal from a
cable or antenna, along with an interconnection to a
computer, i.e. home computer, a VCR, and a game.
Depression of one of the five pushbuttons in the
~itching portion by a viewer or panelist selec~s
one or the other of these TV modes. ~ TV mode
~ignal corresponding to and indicative of one of
these ~V modes is stored in the data collection uni~
electronics section 26. As was briefly discu~ed in
connection with the block diagram of Figure 1, in
35 accordance with one embodiment of the invention text
~2~73~
13
information, such as survey questionnaires and the
like, can be downloaded from a central location over
the telephone lines and s~ored in the data
collection unit electronics 26. Selection of a
5 "survey" function by the panelists, actua~es this TV
mode and video text information is coupled through
the corresponding switch in the switching portion 27
and coupled over RF signal line ~8 ~o the input of
the cable converter lg. The output of the cable
10 converter 19 is of course suitably connected to the
television receiver 22~
In accordance with the present invention,
control information is coupled both ways between the
cable converter 19 and the data collection unit
15 26. In fact r in accordance with the present
invention, and as described more fully hereinafter,
it is the data collection unit electronics 26 which
controls the television program material displayed
on the television receiver 22, rather than the cable
20 converter 19.
Referring to Figure 3, there is shown a
typical example of the way in which cable converters
are modified in accordance with the present
invention for application o the present invention
25 thereto. `Cable converters typically include a
microprocessor section illustrated in Figure 3 by
reference numeral 29 and a tuning section
illustrated in Figure 3 by reference numeral 31. For
example, in an exemplary arrangement, a ribbon cable is
30 normally supplied connecting the microprocessor board 29
to the tuning section 31. Typically, the micro-
processor section controls a digital display and
television receiver commands are received from a
front panel on the cable converter, or a remote
3t~
1~
control as well know in the art. The microprocessor
section sends commands to the tuning section via the
ribbon cable normally connecting ~he two. In
accordance wi~h the present invention, the ribbon
5 cable from the microprocessor board or section is
interrupted and is connected ~o the data collection
unit 21. ~he commands and the like from the
microprocessor section 29 are interpreted by the
data collection unit 21, which then in turn controls
10 selection of a channel by the ~uning section or
board 31. As discussed more ully hereafter, the
data collection unit 21 will normally cause ~he
tuning sec~ion 31 to ~elec~ and display whatever
channel was indicated in the command inormation
15 from the microprocessor ~ection 29. ~owever, when
the present invention is in a substitute programming
function, the data collection unit 21 will or can
substitute programming, i.e. select a ~hannel for
display other than the channel indicated by the
20 commands from the microprocessor board 29, for
display at the television receiver. Also, the
interconnection between the data collection unit 21
and the cable converter enables the data collection
unit 21 to store information as to the channel b~ing
~5 viewed and at what times, etc.
Turning now to Figure 4, there is shown a
representation of the physical appearance of the
data collection unit 21 in accordance with the
present invention. The unit is preferably
30 dimensioned such that a cable converter, such as the
Teknika 6401 converter will sit right on top o~ the
data collection unit. As illustrated in Figure 4,
five TV mode selector switches are provided in the
form of pushbutton switches. These correspond to
35 TV, game, computer, VCR, and ~urvey. As mentioned
37
previously, in accordance with one aspect of the
invention survey questionnaires and the like can be
downloaded from the central location over the
telephone lines to memory in ~he da~a collecti~n
5 unit. Selection of the survey pushbutton switch în
the data collection unit will then cause the survey
questionnaire to be displayed on the television
screen at the viewer's or panelist's convenience,
for recording of answers to ~he questionnaire by the
10 panelists. The manner in which these responses to
the questionnaires are registered and stored is
discussed hereinafter. ~owever, as illu~trated in
Figure 4, a light emittin~ diode 32 is provided on
the front panel of the data collection unit in
15 a5sociation with the survey pushbutton. When survey
questionnaires are contained in the memory of the
data collection unit and have not been responded to
by the panelists, ~he light emitting diode 32 is lit
in a manner discussed hereafter, so as to inform the
20 panelists that there is an unanswered
questionnaire. An additional data light emitting
diode 33 is provided on the front panel of the data
collection unit and provides further communication
with a panelist, as discussed in detail hereafter~
Also shown in Figure 4 is a receptacle 34
provided in the front panel of the data collection
unit~ The receptacle 34 is adapted to receive a
da~a wand 35, and an additional light emitting diode
36 is provided on the front panel of the data
30 collection uni~ for displaying indications relative
to the data wand. The data wand 35 is an optical
~canning device which contains its own internal
memory. The data wand 35 can be used for scannin~
bar codes, such as the UPC codes found on products,
35 and storing information relative to those bar-
o'~7
16
codes. The data stored within the data wand 35 can
be periodically transmit~ed to memory within ~he
data collection unit, by inserting the data ~and 35
into the receptacle 34.
A suitable example of an optical scanning
device 35 for r~cording bar codes is that manu-
factured by MSI Corporation and sold under the
trademark "DATA WAND." The MSI da~a wand is
available with an RS-232C-type standard interface,
10 ~hich is incorporated into the data collection unit
21 in accordance with the present invention. This
interface allows connection to the computer and
memory provided in the data collection unit, as
di~cussed more fully hereafter.
Referring now to Figure 5, there is shown a
functional block diagram of a data collection unit
in accordance with the present invention. The heart
of the data collection unit is a microprocessor 37
and suitable programming for the microprocessor is
20 contained in a ROM 38. Details of the programming
are discussed hereafter. ~ RAM 39 is al~o provided
for storing event information such as channel
selection, ~V mode selection, data read by the
optical scanner 35 and the like. A clock 40 is also
2S provided to run the microproces30r 37, with the
clock 40 also functioning ts main~ain a time of day
indication for recording times in connection with
events in the RAM 39. The RAM 39 typically is
p~ovided with 32k bytes storage. Also typically, 8k
30 bytes of ROM is provided.
The data collection unit contains a ~erial
line driver 41, which is appropriately selected to
be one of those available which has a program~able
baud rate. This serial line driver 41 is connected
35 via a multiplexer 42 to a variety of interfaces.
7~3~
17
First, a wand interace 43 is pr~vided for accepting
data from the optical scanner 35. ~s discuss2d
previously, the wand interface provided with the ~SI
data wand has a standard RS-232 ou~put at a 1200
5 baud rate. Another input to the multiplexer 42 is a
modem 44 contained within the data collection
unit. The modem 44 is a Bell 202 compatible, half
duplex modem with an auto answer capability. ~his
modem 44 is coupled to the telephone block interface
10 22, which is described in more detail hereafter.
~he data transfer rate via the modem ~ is also 1200
baud.
The data collection unit also contains a
receive only inter~ace, ~hown as simplex receiver 45
15 in Figure 5 which receives an input from the cable
system. This simplex channel uses an FM carrier on
the cable and originates as a broadcast from the
CATV head end. As more fully discussed hereafter in
connection with a discussion of the substitute
20 programmin~ aspect of this invention, certain
control information is transmitted to the remote
data collection units via this cable implex
channel. The transmission speed of this channel in
accordance with one embodiment is 9600 baud.
A master/slave communication block 46 is
shown in Figure 5 as coupled to the telephone block
interface 22. This master/slave communication block
i3 only applicable where a plurality of television
3ets are provided in one panelist's home~ The
3~ 3pecific functioning of the master/slave
relationship is described hereafter in connection
with Figure 6.
A parallel interface 47 is provided for
providing the interface between the data collection
35 unit and the cable converter. Thus the inputs and
73~7
18
outputs of this parallel interface are from the
microprocessor in the cable converter and to the
t~ning section of the cable converter (see Figure
3).
~ parallel interface 48 is al~o provided
for decoding the mode or function select ~witches
provided on the front panel of the data collection
unit (see ~igure 4) ~nd for controlling the three
light emitting diodes 32, 33 and 36 on the front
10 panel of the data collection unit.
A video interace 49 is provided for
providing video output information to the television
receiver through ~he cable converter ~o display
survey questionnaires and the like on the television
15 receiver when the survey mode i5 selected. As
mentioned previously, in accordance wi~h one aspect
of this invention survey questionnaires can be
downloaded over the telephone lines from the central
location to the remote units while they are in
20 telephone communication. The survey questionnaires
are stored in RAM 39 and li~ht emitting diode 32 is
lit on the front panel of the data collection unit
to inform the panelists tha~ there is an unanswered
questionnaire. When the panelist selects the survey
25 function, the video interface 49 produces a
composite video signal for display on the television
~eceiver to display the questions in the
questionnaire.
A battery 50 is also shown in the
30 ~unctional block diagram of Figure 5. ~lthough
normal power connection for powerin~ the data
collection units is via the normal household power
supply, a battery backup can be provided to ~n~ure
that the data collection unit remains powered up
during any temporary power outages at the panelist' 5
7.~
19
home, so as not to lose current time of day
information in ~he clock ~0 or any of the data
stored in the RAM 39.
All of the circuitry functionally
5 illustrated in the blsc~ d;agram of Figure 5, with
the exception of the master slave communications 4S
and the telephone block interface 22, can be any
appropriate inte~rated circuits or the like which
are available on the market for the functions
10 indicated.
An important aspect of the d~ta collection
unit in accordance with ~he present invention is its
interface to the cable converter. Specifically9 it
is the data collection unit itself which controls
15 the tuning of the cable converter. The viewer or
panelist appears to control the cable converter
normally, but the signals are actually intercepted
by the data collection unit and i~ is the data
collection unit that commands the tuning of the
20 converter, as has been described above in connection
with ~igures 2 and 3. During most television viewing
activity, the data collection unit will command the
tuner to ~elect the ~ame channel ~hat the viewer has
selected. ~owever, when in functions which are
25 de5cribed as "Channel-Lock" and during "Dynamic
Allocation", the data collection unit will select
channel~ other than ~he one being displayed.
Channel Lock is a data collection unit
~unction in which the cable converter remains locked
30 on one channel regardless of the activity occurring
with the converter control and the channel nù~ber
being digitally di~played on the cable converter.
Channel Lock is entered by selecting an unoccupied
converter channel, such as channel 35. When the
3sdata collection unit decodes channel 35, it will
3~
freeze the converter on the channel previously
selected and illuminate light emitting diode 33 on
the front panel of the data collection unit ~ee
Fi~ure 4). The viewer or panelist can now u~e the
5 converter control to display any channel nu~ber on
the converter without changin~ the channel being
viewed. The data collection unit will collect
events, as in the normal viewing mode, including
storing the subse~uent channels selected during the
10 Channel Lock condition as events. Each time the
data collection unit collects events the light
emitting diode 33 will be blinked off, correspondinq
to an indication that an event has been captured by
the data collection unit. This Channel Lock feature
15 is useful from a number of standpoints. For
example, when in a Channel Lock condition the viewer
could select various channels ~or entry as events
with the various channel numbers selected
corresponding to the viewers qualitative reaction to
20 programming. As another example, a particular
channel number could be entered while in the Channel
Lock condition which correspondR to ~he identifica-
tion of particular individuals who are viewing the
program within the hou~ehold. A particular
25 embodiment of identifying viewers is described
hereafter in connection with Figure 1~. Likewise,
selection of channel numbers while in a Channel ~ock
condition is useful in connection with responding to
survey questionnaires and the like, which is
30 described more fully later. A key feature of the
present invention is that entry of such qualitative
viewer reaction data and the like is achieved while
bein~ able to use the normal channel selector
associated with the cable converter, rather than any
35 kind of separate key pad or other data entry
21
device. The "Channel-Lock~' condition is exited by
selecting an unoccupied converter channel, ~uch as
36, ~t which time the light emitting diode ~3 is
extinguished and normal tuning of the converter is
5 resumed.
A~ has been previously described, the
select switches or mode switches provided on the
front panel of the data collection unit (see Figure
4) allows the viewer to select one of a number o
10 alternate signal sources. For example, these
possible alternative signal ~ources are TV (either
cable or air), VCR, yame, computer and survey. TAe
switches as shown in Figure 2 select one of the
signal sources and route it to the input of the
15 cable converter. The data collection unit monitors
the switch selection and controls the converter
tuning accordingly. If TV viewing is selected,
then normal converter operation is enabled. If one
of the other four sources are selected, the data
20 collection unit will record an event and tune the
converter to the appropriate channel to tune the
signals which are selec~ed. For example, the game
and VCR output may be on channel 3, while the
computer output is on channel 10. The~e are
25 specific parame~ers that can be adjusted with
respect to any particular in~tallation.
Dynamic allocation is a term used to
describe the concept of blind or invisible channel
~ubstitution. As described earlier, United States
30 Patent No. 3,639,686 to Walker et al relates to such
a dynamic allocation or ~ubstitute progra~ming kind
of system. In accordance with one embodiment o$ the
present invention, a ~ubstitute programming
arrangement in accordance with the principles of the
35 Walker et al patent is incorporated. Basically, the
3~
22
dynamic allocation process is one in which one or
more channels in selected households are subs~itu~ed
with another test channel by the data collection
unit.
The materials substituted usually are
commercials, for purposes of market research with
respect to the efficacy of commercials~ In
practice, a set of substitute commercial cut-ins are
~cheduled each day. For example, each cut-in can be
10 assigned a two digit number. For each cut-in, a
channel remap table is loaded into the data
collection unit. The remap tables are simple and
consist, for example, of one or more channel numbers
and the channel they are to be remapped to. At any
15 given time, the memory in the data collection unit
can hold a number of such remap tables. In
accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the
remap tables are downloaded over the cable channel
and received by the ~implex receiver 45 (Figure 5).
ach data collection unit has an
identification number. There can either be unique
identification numbers for each data collection unit
corresponding to each panelist location, or
panelists can be grouped in accordance with
~5 demographic considerations and assigned a common
iden~ification number. Identification numbers for
each data control unit can be downloaded to the unit
from the central location durin~ telephone
communications between same.
Since the messages transmitted on the
simplex channel over the cable are received by all
data collection units, they must be addressed to
particular data collection units or sroups of data
collection units and be appropriately formatted with
35 message delimiters and the data collection unit
'73~
23
identification numbers. As discusse~ above, ~he
dynamic allocation remap tables are downloaded over
the cable channel and received by the simplex
receiYer 45 at each of ~he data collection units~
5 These remap tables are stored in ~A~ 39. A remap
table is enabled, during the cut-in, by continually
transmitting the cut-in number down the cable to the
simplex communication channel. Whenever a data
collection unit receives a cut-in number, the
10 particular remap table is enabled for some
predetermined time, i.e. O~S seconds. When the
remap table is enabled for a particular data
collection unit, the data collection unit
automatically provides substitute programming as
lS indicated by the remap table to the television
receiver of the panelist. This alternate
programming is transmitted from the cable head and
do~n channels normally not used for entertainment.
This dynamic allocation feature acilitates
20 market research. By displaying alternate forms of a
co~mercial to different groups of panelists, and
correlating ~hat display both with the demographic
data concerning the panelists and the product
purchases by the panelists, the efflcacy of the
25 commercials can be evaluated.
In accordance with one embodiment of the
present inven~ion correlation of panelist viewing
activity as to commercials and the like with product
purchases made ~y the panelist has been greatly
30 ~acilitated. The earliest market research
techniques relied upon a panelist filling out a
purchase diary or the like with this information
then being manually collected by the market research
organization for sorrelation with viewing activity
35 of that particular panelist. Systems have been
~2~
24
proposed in which viewing activity o~ a panelist i5
correlated with product purchase in~ormation with
respect to that panelist by monitoring at stores
within a limited geographic area surrounding the
5 panelists the product purchase in~ormation with
respect to that panelist. Specifically, each
panelist has an identification card presented at a
grocery store at the like which uses check out
counters having the facility for optically reading
10 universal product codes on products. When the
panelist makes purchases, the identifica~ion o that
panelist i9 scanned into the computer at the store,
along with the product purchase information with
respect to that panelist. This information is
15 either coupled from the store's computers to the
~arket research organization, or collected at a
later time from the stores by the market research
organization.
For certain market re~earch activities, it
20 mi~ht be desirable to have a national group of
panelists, ~pread across the geographic extent of
~he United 5tates or whatever other country that is
the subject of the market research. For such an
arran~ement, it would not really be feasible for ~he
~5 market research organization to have arrangements
with ~nd be tied into the computers of stores spread
all across the country. Therefore, in accordance
with one aspect of the present invention, collection
of information regarding product purchases by a
30 panelist has been greatly facilitated.
As described in connection with Figure 4,
the data collection unit in accordance with this one
aspect iq equipped with an optical scanner, one
suitable example of which is a product known as the
35 ~SI data wand. This is a hand held device that
7~
contains an internal memory and can be used for
~canning bar codes, such as universal product codes,
contained on products purchased by a panelist.
Thus, in accordance with this one acpect of the
5 present invention, product purchase information wi~h
respect to a particular panells~ is easily collected
by the panelist simply scanning the data wand over
the universal product code~ on the products
purchased by the panelist. The M5I data wand has an
10 internal memory which can store approximately 4,000
digits. This memory is of a sufficient extent to
store the product code and a price for about 300
items, which should be adequate for recording the
daily purchases for a household. After scanning
15 products with the data wand, the data wand can be
inserted into the receptacle in the front panel of
the data collection unit and the memory contents of
the data wand transferred to memory within the data
collection unit. As explained previously, the MSI
20 data wand can be obtained with an RS-232 interface
for this purpoce~ which interface is incorporated
within the data collection unit. The procedure for
transferring the data wand information into the data
collection unit is as follows. The panelist turns
25 on the cable converter, enters the channel lock
condition, and then selects an unu~ed channel, such
as 34, which is pro~rammed to instruct the data
collection unit to monitor the interface with the
data wand. The panelist then scans the data wand
30 over a special code that is provided with the data
wand which instructs the data wand to transmi~ data.
The data wand is then inserted into the holder or
receptacle within the data collection unit. After
the data has been received and verified by the data
35 collection unit, the light emitting diode 36 (see
26
Figure 4) provided on the front panel of the data
collection unit will blink off and on for fiYe
seconds, so as to inform ~he panelist that the
operation has been successfully completed~ Then,
5 the panelist extracts the wand from the data
collection unit, clears the wand memory in
accordance with features provided in the data wand,
and reinserts the data wand into the data collection
unit for storage in the receptacle~
Subse~uently, when telephone communieation
is established between the central loca~ion and the
individual data oollection units at the various
panelists homes, the stored product purchase
information with respect to the various panelists is
15 trans~erred from memory of the data collection unit
to the central location. This greatly facilitates
collection of such product purchase data with
respect to individual panelists, and correspondingly
facilitates correlation thereof with viewing
20 activity of those panelists. Using such an
arrangement, a nationwide ~roup of panelists
scattered over a wide geoyraphic area is practical.
As has been previously mentioned, when a
particular data collection unit is in contact with
25 the central location, a survey ~uestionnaire or the
like may be downloaded over the telephone lines into
memory of the data collection unit. Whenever the
data collection unit contains an unanswered
questionnaire, the data collection unit will
30 illuminate the survey light emitting diode 32 on the
front panel of the data collection unit so a~ to
inform a panelist that the data collection unit
contains a survey which has not been answered.
Anytime that this light emitting diode 32 is
35 illuminated, the panelist may eleot to turn on the
~ ~ ~2~
television and depress ~he survey select mode select
switch on the front panel of the data collection
unit. The data collection unit will detect
depression of the survey select switch, illuminate
5 the data light emitting diode 33, tune the able
converter to the appropriate channel, and ou~put the
first guestion to the television through the video
interface 49 ~Figure 5). The converter is
automatically placed in a channel lock condition at
10 this time by the data collection unit. The viewer
can thus use the converter control or channel
selector to enter channel numbers to answer whatever
questions are presented in the questionnaire. For
example, a questionnaire might ask a guestion and
15 give five possible responses, with a number be~ide
each of the possible responses. The panelist enters
a channel number corresponding to the number
adjacent the answer the panelist is giving to the
question. When all the questions have been answered
20 by the panelist, the data light emitting diode 33 on
the front panel of the data collection unit will be
extinguished. When the panelist then depresses
another mode select switch, the survey light
emitting diode 32 will also be extinguished.
As has been described previvusly, the
trans~er of data from the remote data collection
units to the central location is achieved in one
embodiment by telephone communications over the
switched telephone network between the central
30location in each of the various remote units. Also,
situations arise in which there is more than one
television receiver within a single panelist'~ home,
and some means is necessary to collect viewer data
and the like with respect to each of the television
3ssets, and store and communicate that data to the
7~
2~
central location at an apprGpriate time. Referring
now to Figure 6, there ls shown one embodiment of
the invention which illustrates the manner o
effecting telephone communications from a remote
5 !ocation or panelist's home to ~he central loca~ion,
and also the situation in which there is more than
one television receiver in a single panelist~s home
which have to be monitored.
Referring now to Figure 6, there is
10 illustrated a telephone block generally indicated by
reference numeral 55. At each building or house
there is a poin~ at which telephone service enters
the building which iR referred to as the telephone
~block." ~his block includes terminals for the
15 telephone lines 56 and 57 and may also contain
several other devices to protect telephone line
service, such as lightening arresters and voltage
limiters (not shown). Typically, the telephone
block also contains a low voltage transformer
20 indicated by reference numeral 58 which is used to
supply lighting power to the telephone. In
accordance with standard color coding, the telephone
lines 56 and 57 are respectively green and red and
extend to a number of telephone jacks, two of which
25 59 and 60 are illustrated in Figure 6. Two signal
lines 61 and 62 from the low voltage transformer 58
also extend to the various telephone jacks and are
color coded yellow and black, respectiv21y.
In accordance with the presen~ invention, a
30 telephone block interface 22 is provided at the
point of the telephone block within a building.
~his telephone block 22 is interfaced to the
telephone lines 56 and 57 as well as the low voltage
pow~r lines 61 and 62. Low voltage from the
35 transformer 68 is used to supply power via a power
7~
29
supply 63 to a tone detector 64. This tone detector
b4 is a low ener~y d*tector used to detect the
presence of a control tone, for example a 150K~z
signal which can be imposed on the low voltage lines
5 ~1 and 62, in a manner discussed hereafter. Thus
the tone detector 64 is connected to the power lines
61 and 62 via coupling capac;tors 65 and 66. The
tone detector 64 is coupled to and controls a relay
67 which is actuated between the position shown in
10 Fiqure 6, wherein the telephone lines 56 and 57 are
not interrupted, to a position where the telephone
lines 56 and 57 are coupled through a load resistor
~8 and capacitors 69 and 70.
In Figure 6 there is shown a master data
15 collection unit 71 which is typically connected to a
television receiver 72. Provided as part of the
master data collection unit 71 is a modem 73, which
as discussed previously can be a standard kind of
modem, such as an auto-answer Bell 202 modem. This
}s a 1200 baud, half-duplex device. The modem 73 in
accordance with this invention i~ also connected to
a telephone jack, for connection to the telephone
lines 56 and 57.
A ~one generator-encoder 74 is coupled to
the master data collection unit 71 and through a
resistor 75 to one of the power lines 61 and ~2~
Similarly, a tone decoder 76 is also coupled through
a load resistor 77 to one of the signal lines 61 and
62 and through an amplifier 78 to the master data
collection unit 71.
In operation, the master data collection
unit 71 will enable the modem 73 for a limited
period of time or "window" each day. Typically, a
call-in window of a two hour duration will be opened
once per day at a time when the telephone system is
3~
normally not in use, i.e. 4-6 a.m. in the morning.
During this time window, the master ~a~a collection
unit ~1 will answer each incoming telephone call~
and quickly determine if the call originates from
5 the central loca~ion. The manner in which ~hi~ i~
done is as follows.
During the call in window, a ring signal
occurring at the telephone block 55 is a signal o
about 45 volts at 25Hz. This is impressed across
10 the telephone signal lines 56 and 57, and would
normally cause telephone ~ets c~nnected to the
telephone service to ring. ~owever, th~ master data
collection unit 71 samples the first half cycle of
any incoming signal durinq the call in window ~or
15 voltage and pulse duration. If the microprocessor
within the master data collection unit 71 determines
the signal is a ring signal, tbe tone generator
encoder 74 is caused by the data collection unit 71
to impress a 150K~z tone on the low voltage lines 61
20 and 62. In response to thi~ tone, the tone detector
64 actuates the relay 67. With the relay 67
actuated, the remainder of the ring signal is
absorbed by the load resistor 68. ~ince load
resistor 68 is sufficiently low in value to indicate
25 to the telephone system that a connect has been
made, th~re will be no further ring~.
The modem 73 i5 a stand~rd telephone modem
well known to those skilled in the art. This modem
is caused by the microprocessor within the master
30 data collection unit 71 to send a two to four second
tone, such as a 380~z side tone, back to the calling
source via the telephone lines 56 and 57 and the
coupling capacitors 69 and 70. If the calling
source is in fact the computer at the central
35 location, the computer at the central location will
3t~
31
respond with an answering tone, and two way
computer-~o-compu~er conversation will be
established. I~, on the other hand~ there i~ no
answering tone from the source of the telephone
5 call, indicative that the calling party is not the
central location computer, the data collection unit
71 removes the 150K~z carrier tone on the low
voltage leads 61 and 62, causing a disconnect.
If the call coming in during the call in
10 window is in fact not the central computer, but a
normal telephone caller, the telephone caller would
haar the side tone and the disconnect, and a dial
tone would be returned. If such a call comes in and
a disconnect occurs, the data collectior. unit 71 is
15 programmed to disable the tone generator encoder 74
for a predetermined period of time, such as twenty
minutes. Thus, any calls coming in during this next
predetermined time period of twenty minutes or the
like would cause normal telephone ringing. The
caller, having been disconnected, would then be able
to dial his call again, this time with successl
Inasmuch as the sequence of event~ occurs outside of
normal telephone usage hours, it is not believed
that such a sequence of events represent any serious
25 impairment to normal telephone usage.
I it is determined that the calling source
i~ the central computer, ~o that computer-to-
computer communication is established, upon
establishment of that communication the central
30 computer, under appropriate programming, calls on
the master data collection unit for the informa~ion
stored during the day. Upon receiving this
inormation, the central location may cause a new
program to be loaded into the data collection unit
35 71 memory, ~uch as a questionnaire or the like as
~_~J~ ~73~
32
discussed previously. If the master data collection
unit 71 is the only data collection unit to be
~ommunicated with by the cen~ral loca~ion, the
central computer upon completion of receiving the
5 stored in~ormation and loading any new program
information into the master da~a collection unit 71
simply disconnects, and all circuits return ~o
normal.
Referring to ~igure 6, one embodiment of
10 the invention is also illustrated in which there are
multiple television receivers within a single
panelist's home which must be monitored. As
illustrated in Figure 6, two additional television
receivers 81 and 83 might exist in a panelist's
15 home, and slave data collection units ~0 and 82 are
associated therewith as illustrated in Figure ~.
These slave data collection units 80 and 82 are
coupled to the low voltage lines 61 and 62. Thus,
the slave data collection units can be connected to
20 any of the various telephone jacks within the
paneli~t's house, and coupling to the master data
collection unit and the other circuitry is by means
of the existing telephone wiring wi~hin the
household. In accordance with one embodiment of the
25 invention, all signals received from the central
location via the modem 73 are sent first to the
master data ~ollection unit 71, then echoed via the
tone generator 74 to the signal lines 61 and 62 so
that the slave data collection units 80 and 82
30 receive the incoming data. Tone generator 74
generates a multiplicity of tones to keep the relay
67 closed, plus an additional variable frequency
tone representing the data being transmitted. These
tones range, for example, from a 150KHz to 350K~z
35 and are impressed as carrier currents on the signal
7~
33
lines ~1 and 62. Each of the slave data collection
units contains a microprocessor and would re~uire a
tone generator and tone decoder similar to the tone
generator 74 and tone decoder 76, but would not
5 require any separate modem. Each o~ the slave data
collection units receives the identical data to the
master data collection unit 71. By addressing the
data stream, the slave da~a collection units can be
caused to act independently. When a slave data
10 collection unit is called upon to respond, so as to
transmit data stored in ~he slave data collec~ion
units the carrier current signal impressed on the
low voltage lines 61 and 62 reverses direction, the
tone decoder 76 receives the signal from the slave
15 data collection unit, decodes it into standard data
which is then echoed by the master data collection
unit 71 through the modem 73 to the central
location.
In the manner described above, each of the
20 data collection units, which are coupled together
via the exi~ting telephone wiring in a panelist's
home, receives all of the incoming information from
the central location, and can be caused to respond
independently to transmit data stored in each of the
~5 data collection unit3 back to the telephone lines to
the central location. Of course, other variations
are possible, For example, at a preset programmed
time programmed into the microprocessor of the
master data collection unit 71, the master data
30 collection unit can poll each of the slave data
collection units by carrier current over the low
voltage telephone wiring 61 and 62 to collect the
available data at each of the slave da~a collection
units, addressing each of these slave data
35 collection units seriatum by cvde as necessary.
f~ 2
34
Thus t all of the data from all of the various data
collection units within a panelist's home w~uld be
stored in the master data collection unitO ~hen~
upon contact of the master data collection unit 71
with the central location, the central lvcation
would obtain the data by simply contacting the
master data collection unit. Similarly, the central
location would load the master data collection uni~
with any new programs, such as questionnaires and
10 the like, which are to be stored in memory at the
various data collection unit~. Then, when the
central location disconnected the telephone
connection with the master data collection unit 71,
the master data collection unit can then relay the
15 new programs to the slave data collection units,
addressing each by code as necessary.
Thus, in accordance with the above
described arrangement and as illustrated in Figure
6, a plurality of data collection units can be
20 provided within a ~ingle panelist's home as~ociated
with a respective different plurality of television
receivers, for monitoring each of the television
receivers in the same ~ashion as a single data
collection unit is provided to monitor one single
~5 television receiver. ~lthough the various ~lave
data collection units have been shown as coupled to
the master data collection unit through the existing
telephone wiring in a panelist's home, it should be
clear that existing power wiring within a panelist's
30 home can also be used for the same function. That
is, carrier signals can be i~pressed upon th~ power
wiring within a panelist's hsme for transferring
data to and from various slave data collection units
to the master data collection unit. Of course, as a
3s further alternative, dedisated wiring could be
installed in a panelist~s home for connecting the
various slave data eollection units to the master
data collection unit. J
~urning now to Figure 7, there is 3hown a
5 logic flow diagram for the software controlling the
main loop (ML) of the microprocessor within the data
control unit. The first decision block is as to
whether or not there is a cut-in message present, I~
will be recalled as discussed previously that remap
10 tables for achieving dynamic allocation or
substitute programming are s~ored in the memory of
the data collection units and are enabled by
transmission of a cut-in number down ~he cabIe. If
there is a cut-in message present, ~he cut-in
15 activation event i5 logged, and all 1ags in ~he
system are cleared. If there is no cut-in message
present, then the logic flow is to the next decision
block as to whether or not the channel lock is on.
If the channel lock is on, the next decision block
20 is to whether or not a data wand start condition
exists. If a data wand start condi~ion exists, the
logic flow iR jump subroutine (JSR) to data wand
read module. The no conditions to the decision
block for the channel lock on and data wand start
~5 lead to a decision block as to whether or not
connection to central site is established. If it
is, the next block is a jump subroutine (JSR) to
communication module. ~f connection to central cite
is not established, then the next decision block is
30 to whether or not the clock is advanced to the next
second. If it is not advanced to ~he next secondt
the logic flow is back to the upper portion o~ the
main loop (ML). If the clock i~ advanced to the
next second, the next decision block is to whether
35 or not the converter is on. If the converter is on,
~2~ 7
36
the logic flow progresses to a main loop 1 (ML1).
If the converter is not on, the next decision block
is to whether or not the converter was on. I it
was not, the logic ~low is back through the ~ain
5 loop ML. If ~he conver~er W2S on, ~hen the next
decision block is to log an off event, and turn off
the data light emitting diode (light emitting diode
33 in Figure 4). The timing of the lower portion of
the logic flow diagram indicated in Figure 7 i.e. as
10 to whether the converter i9 on, is executed once per
3econd in accordance with the progra~ming. Other
aspects of subroutines, such as the converter
control subroutine discussed heseafter, are
interrupt driven and operate asynchronously to the
15 bottom portion of the ML loop in Figure 7.
Components of the data collection unit system which
are interrupt driven pass flags and values to this
main loop ML for logqing and dispatchin~.
Turning now to Figure 8, there is shown the
20 logic flow diagram for the main loop 1 l~Ll). This
loop is entered when the logic flow in Figure 7 has
a yes decision as to whether or not the converter is
on. The first decision block in the loop MLl is to
whether or not the converter was off. I the
converter was off, an on event is logged, and the
blink flag is set (which as discussed later causes
the data light emitting diode to blink). If there
is a no decision to the logic block as to whether
the converter was off, the logic flow is to the
30 decision block as to whether or not there is a
change in the select switches. If there is, an
event is logged and the logic flow passes to a
decision block as to whether or not a non-TV
position is ~elected. I f the decision is yes, the
35 appropriate output channel is set on the converter
~2~ ~73~
37
for whatever position is 5elec~ed, iOe. c~mputer,
VCR, etc. The next decision block is ~o whether or
not the select switches are in the survey
position. If so, there is a jump subroutine ~JSR)
5 to the survey module. Next, there is a jump
subroutine to data LED control, and following that a
jump subroutine to test converter rhannel.
Following that, there is a jump subroutine to window
control. This window control refers to whether or
10 not ~he time window permitting call in rom the
central location to the remote unit is open or
closed. As previously discussed, advantageously a
two hour window may be employed at a time when it i5
not expected that the telephone in the panelist's
15 home will be in u~e, i.e. early in the morning
hours.
Referring now to Figure 9, there is shown
the main subroutine for clock housekeeping and
converter control. The subroutine illustrated in
20 logic flow diagram form in Figure 9 is interrupt
driven with the rate thereof set as a system
parameter. In accordance with one embodiment of the
invention, the interrupt rate is nominally set for
0.1 second. The flags and values set in the
25 subroutine illustrated in Figure 9 are monitored by
the main loop illustrated in Figure 7~ Referring
now specifically to the subroutine illustrated in
Figure 9, the first decision block is to whether or
not the converter is on. If the converter is on,
30 the select switches are read and the converter
channel is read. The next decision block i~ a~ to
whether or not the channel lock is on. If the
channel lock is not on, the next decision block is
whether or not the TV is selected. IE the TV is
35 selected, the next decision block is whether or not
73~
38
the channel has been changed. If the channel has
been changed, ~hen the subroutine commands the
converter to tune to the new channel.
The bottom portion of the logic flow
5 diagram o Figure 9 relates to clock housekeeping.
The first decision block is whether or not there is
an increment in the second of day. If there is, the
subroutine executes an incremen~ to the seconds of
day value. The next decision block is as to whether
10 or not there is a day overflow. If there is, the
subroutine resets the second of day and sets a
midnight 1ay, indicative that a day has passed.
~he block labeled RTl is an exit from this
subroutine. As indicated, the subrou~ine is
15 interrupt driven at a rate system parameter, which
in accordance with one embodiment is nominally set
for 0.1 second.
Turning now to Figure 10~ there is
illustrated a logic flow diagram for the data LED
20 control module, referring to the data light emitting
diode provided on the front panel of the data
collection unit. This is the data LED control block
illustrated in Figure 8. In the subroutine of
Figure 10, the first decision block is as to whether
25 or not the channel lock is on. If it is, the data
LED is turned on. The next decision block is as to
whether or not the blink flag is set. I~ i~ is, the
data LED is toggled on and off. The next decision
block i5 whether or not the current time is greater
30 than the blink time. If it is not, there is an exit
from ~he subroutine (RTS). If it is, the blink flag
is set if the channel lock is off and the ne~t blink
time is calculated. The subroutine then loop~ back
to reenter the decision block as to whether or not
35 the current time is greater than the blink time.
3~
39
Turning now to Figure 11, there is
illustrated in logic flow diagram form the
subroutine relating to the test conver~er channel
module referred to in ~iqure 8. In Pigure 11, the
5 first decision block is as to whether or not the
channel has changed. If it has, an event is
logged. Next decision block is as to whether or not
the channel lock is on. If it is, the data ~ED is
10 turned of (which will appear as a blink when the
LED is turned on later) and there is an exit from
the subroutine i.e. a return to start. If, on the
other hand the channel lock is not on, the next
decision block is as to whether or not this is a
15 channel ~ock entry, i.e. has a channel been selected
that corresponds to entering channel lock. If it
does, the channel lock is set on, the data LED is
~urned on, and the blink flay is turned off and
there is a return to start. If, on the other hand,
20 this is not a channel lock entry, the next decision
block is~as to whether or not the channel entered is
a channel lock exit. If it is, the channel lock is
cleared and the data LED is turned off. If it is
not a channel lock exit, there is a return to start
25 for the subroutine.
Turning now to Figure 12, there is shown a
logic flow diagram for the data wand read mod-~le.
The first step in the logic flow is to initialize
memory pointers, 30 that the data read in from the
data wand is placed in the proper portion o~ the
memory of the data collection unit. The next step
in the logic flow is to connect the universal
asynchronous receiver transmitter to the data w~nd
interface. Characters are then read out one by one
35 from the data ~and interface and stored in ~emory.
~, 2L~ ~7~3~
~o
Figure 13 illustrates the logic flow for
the window control module. ~s illustrated, the only
decisions are whether or not it is ~ime to spen the
window or closP the window so as to permit
5 establishing telephone communications between the
data collection unit and the central location.
Referring now to Figure 14, there is shown
a logic flow diagram for the survey module the first
step in the subroutine is to retrieve the respondent
10 i.d. In connection with the survey function, it is
useful to have different members of a panelist's
household separately answer the questions in a
survey. For this purpose, each of the members of
the household are assigned an i.d. number. When the
15 survey s~lect switch is selected to enter the survey
mode, the channel lock condition of the converter is
automatically entered and the converter is tuned to
the appropriate channel to di~play the survey
questions. The first ~uestion presented is to ask
20 the person answering the survey to enter his or her
i.d. number, which is simply a preassigned channel
number which the respondent enters. The next
decision block is with respect to whether or not
there is an exit code in the information coming from
25 the survey data storage in memory. If there is, the
subroutine i5 exited. The next decision block i
~here is no exit code is as ~o whether or not there
are questions to ask. If there are, various
pointers with respect to memory location and the
3Q like are initialized and the next question in the
survey data is displayed. The respondent re~ponds
to the question by entering a channel number that
corresponds to one of a plurality of possible
answers to the question. This response is retrieved
35 and stored in memory. The next decision block is to
73~
41
whether or not there are any questions remaining for
this i.d., i.e. whether or not this particular
member of the household has ~urther guestion3 which
need to be answered. If there are, the next
5 question is displayed, the response retrieved and
stored, and 50 on. If there are no questions
remaining for this particular respondent~ a
"questions finished" message is displayed. The next
decision block is to whether or not there are
10 questions remaining for any i.d., that is, whether
or not there are further survey questions for any
other members of the panelist's household. If there
are not any further questions remaining for any
i.d., the survey light emitting diode is
15 extinguished. As previously discussed, this survey
li~ht emitting diode on the ~ront face of the data
collection unit ls illuminated whenever there are
any unanswered survey questions in memory.
Turning now to Figure 15, there is
20 illustrated a logic flow diagram with respect to the
communication module. The f irst step in the
subroutine is a fetch command, which is simply a
receipt of a character stream. The character stream
i5 decoded, and the command di~patch step involves
2S referencing the place in the memory corresponding to
the decoded command, and execution of the relevant
~urther commands stored at that loc~tion in
memory. The final decision block in this subroutine
is as to whether or not there is a bye command. That
30 is, at the end of the character stre m an entry
signaling that it is the end of the character ~tream
is inserted, and this decision block decides whether
or not the communication is ended.
Polling the data collection units from a
35 central location using telephone lines and modems
~2
may not always be ~h~ best technique for retrieving
stored data from the memories of t~e data collection
units. For example, there are markets where the
incidence of private household telephones is
5 small. As another example, ~here may be so~e
applications in which assembled and analyzed market
research data as not needed until a fairly long time
interval after the raw data is collected. For these
kinds of applications, a different embodiment of the
10 present invention has been developed which uses a
portable data collector for collecting data from the
data collection unit.
~ his alternate embodiment is illustrated in
block diagram form in Figure 17. The system as
15 shown in Figure 17 is somewhat similar to the system
shown in Figure 1, and like system components in the
two drawings are identified by the same reference
numerals. The data collection unit 21' shown in
Figure 17 can be almost the same data collection
20 unit 21 as referred to previously, with the
difference that the modem is eliminated from the
data collection unit and an external electrical
connector (reference numeral 100 in Figure 17) is
instead provided. Also, in the system shown in
2S Figure 17 the telephone block and switched telephone
network are not utilized; that is, there are no
telephone connections. Instead of daily transfers of
data ~rom the RAM memory of the data collection
units to a central computer via telephone, data
30 simply accumulates in the RAM. Periodically, such
as once every week or every two weeks, a "meter
reader" visits each panelist household with a
protable~data collector 101. The portable data
collector is simply a digital data recorder
35 including a microprocessor with associated operating
7~7
43
ROM and R~M and storage medium, s~ch as magnetic
cassette ape or disc. The ROM holds all the
executable code required to enable the device to
communicate with the data collection units and the
RAM is used ~o buffer data extracted from the data
collection units. Such devi~es are commercially
available, and one suitable device is available from
Pegasus Data Systems of Middlesex, New Jersey and
identified as Buffered Digital Data Recorder Model
PDI-BF. That particular device utili~es a magnetic
10 cassette tape. In operation, the portable data
collector i3 simply cnnnected to the external
electrical connector 100 of the data collection unit
29'. The microprocessor in the portable data
collector is suitably programmed to input the
15 appropriate si~nals and commands to ~he data
collection unit for transfer of .he data stored
therein to the portable data collector. These are
simply the ~ame commands as would be given the data
collection unit by a central computer over telephone
20 lines in the earlier described embodiment and~ for
example, would include commands of retrieve data
collection unit status, retrieve event data, clear
data collection unit data area, reset data
collection unit clock (if required), and resume
25 normal data collec~ion unit activity.
The portable data collection unit is used
to play back the recorded data from the data
collection units to the central computer 24 as
illu~trated in Figure 17. The data collection unit
30 serial numbers, which are written onto the tape or
disc of the portable dat~ collector along with the
data, permit the central computer to identify which
particular panelist household corresponds to each
73~
~4
block of data recorded in the portable data
collection unit.
Instead of a digital data recorder ~
referred to above, the portable data recorder ~ay be
5 a suitable programmed minicomputer or the like, with
data extracted from ~he data collection unit writ~en
onto a floppy disc.
OnP of the advantageous features of the
remote data collection unit~ in accordance with the
10 present invention is the ability to collect data
defining the composition of the television viewing
audience in each panelist household. As explained
previously, one way of achieving this in the present
invention is to use the channel selector to cause
15 the cable converter or tuner to enter a channel-lock
condition. When in the channel-lock condition, the
data collection unit disables normal channel tuning
80 that the channel selector can be ~sed to enter
numbers which are stored in the data collection unit
20 memory. Each member of the panelist household is
a~signed a viewer identification number. These
viewer identification numbers are entered into the
data collection unit via the channel selec~or to
indicate which members of the panelist household are
~5 in the room. While viewers are'allowed to enter
viewer identiication numbers at any time, in an
effort to remind viewers to enter the viewer
identification numbers, the data collection unit
will periodically i~sue a prompt.
In one version of a data collection unit, a
viewer identification prompt is implemented u~ing
the light emitting diode 33 labeled "data.~' When
viewer identifications are required, the data
collection units flashes the light emitting diode on
35 and off at a rate of once per se~ond. When viewers
see the flashing li~ht emitting diode 33, they are
expected to enter channel-lock and en~er their
viewer iden~îfications via the ~hannel selector.
Entering channel-lock causes light emitting diode 33
5 to stop flashing and be illuminated continuou~ly.
Each time a viewer iden~ification number i~ entered,
the light emi~ting diode 33 will blink off for half
a second to indicate to the viewer that the
identification number has been accepted by the data
10 collection unit. When all the viewer identification
numbers have been entered, the channel-lock mode is
exited, and light emitt;ng diode 33 is extinguishedO
In accordance with another embodiment of
the present invention, viewer identification data is
15 obtained in a somewhat different manner. As has
been previously explained , in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention the data
collection unit includes hardware and programming
which permits presentation of text and graphics on
20 the television receiver to which it is connected.
This arràngement can be used to implement the Survey
function of the data collection unit. In accordance
with one arran~ement of the present invention, and
referring to Figur~ 16, a technique is implemented
25 to have the viewer identification prompt appear on
the television screen itself, no matter what channel
is selected.
In ~igure 16 a video generator 91 is
provided which communicates with and reads the
30 contents of a RAM 92 and produces a video output.
The RAM 92 can be part of the RAM 39 illustrated in
Figure 5 and the video generator 91 can be part ~f
the video interface 49 illustrated ;n Figure 5. In
both the Survey mode and the viewer identification
35 sequence, the contents of the video data stored in
3~
~6
RAM 9~ are read as lines o~ 8 bit ASCII characters.
The output of video generator 91 is passed through
an RF modulator 93 which is~ in effect, a ~all TV
transmitter tha~ sends a pic~ure displaying th2
characters stored in the R~M 92. The carrier
5 frequency for this signal is fixed to be identical
to that of the output of the cable converter, which
is usually channel 3.
In accordance with the embodiment of the
present invention which uses a cable converter, the
10 cable converter converts all incoming television
signals to a single output channel, for example,
channel 3. A small receiver 94 i5 used to
demodulate this RF signal and extract the vertical
sync pul~e. This pulse i5 fed into a synchroni~er
15 circuit 96, which starts the RF modulator 93 and
video genera~or 91. The RF signal from RF modulator
93 is presented to a ~witch 97. The ~witch 97 is a
suitable electronic switch for hiqh ~peed switching
of an RF signal. This switch selects the RF signal
20 from either the cable converter or the RF modulator
~3 and directs the selected signal to ~he television
receiver.
Switch 97 is controlled by a switch control
circuit 98. This switch control circuit 98 detects
25 the border that appears around the area on the
television screen where the text is written. The
~ignal level change that occurs at the left edge of
a ~creen of text is a trigger causing the switch
control circuit 98 to set the switch 97 to select
30 the output of RF modulator 93. The switch control
circuit can also detect the transfer of a byte of
data in which all the bits are set (i.e. he~adecimal
FF) from the RAM 92 to the video generator 91. The
detection of a data byte with all bits set causes
3~
~7
the switch control circuit 98 to reset switch 97 to
select the converter output.
The text can appear anywhere on the
television screen. Each line of text is di~played
5 until the end of the line or un~il a byte containing
hexadecimal FF is read from the RAM 92. If a text
line is not to be displayed, the byte corresponding
to the first character of that line is set to
hexadecimal FF. Full lines or portions of lines can
10 be switched. ~he overall effect is that of lines of
character~ being displayed over the picture from the
cable converter.
The microproce~sor controls this display
via the RAM 92 and an overlay enable line 99. The
15 microprocessor first loads R~M 9~ with the
characters to be displayed and bytes of hexadecimal
FF to define areas of the screen that are to remain
unaffected. When the microprocessor ~ets the
overlay enable line 99, the text is displayed over
20 the normal picture. The overlayed text is removed
when the microprocessor clears the overlay enable
line.
In accordance with a particular embodiment
of the present invention, the viewer identification,
prompting ~ignal takes the form of two flashing
symbols (such as **) in the upper left portion of
~he televi~ion screen. When the data collection
unit requests viewer identifications, the two
symbols (~*) appaar on thP screen and blink
30 continuously back and forth between two colors at a
rate of once per second. These symbols continue to
flash until a viewer causes the data collectiQn unit
to enter the channel-lock mode. When the data
collection unit enters channel-lock, the symbols
~7~3~
48
stop flashing and the overlay on the television
screen is the following:
** 2 ~ 6 ~ 10 12 14 16 18 71 72
PR:E:SENCE OF GUES~ ML FM
S Each of the numbers 2 to 18 corresponds to
a valid viewer identification for a membes of the
panelist household~ The purpose of the special
identification numbers 71 and 72 ;s explained
hereafter.
Each time a viewer identification number is
entered, the corresponding n~mber in the display
shown above is inverted in color to indicate to the
person entering the data that the data collection
unit has accepted that input. Should a number that
is already ;nverted on the display be entered, that
number on ~he display reverts to its normal color.
Thus, multiple entries of the same number will cause
the number on the display to toggle back and forth
between normal color and inverted color. This
20 allows the person entering the data to change a
particular viewer identification entry should that
be required.
The special viewer identification numbers
71 and 72 are used to indicate the presence of male
and ~emale guests, respectively. If a 71 is entered
as a viewer identification number, the following
three line display appears as an overlay on the
television scre2n:
- ML GU~ST COUNT BY AGE 2-6:
7~ 12-17: 18-24: 25-34:
35-49: 50-54: 554:
~4~3'~
~9
This is a request for the number of male
guests in each of the age eategcries ~hat are
present in ~e room. In accordance with a preferred
embodiment of ~he present inven~ion the channel
S selector includes a scan up and scan down co~rol
ordinarily used to scan television programming.
When in the viewer identification mode, this scan
control can be used to position or move a cursor on
the television screen to "jump" among the various
10 categories displayed in response to entry of the
special viewer identifications numbers Entry of a
number through the channel selector while the cursor
is positioned at one of the categories is an
indication of the number of guests in the specified
15 age categories presented in the room.
In a similar manner, entry of the viewer
identification number 72 produces an overlay on the
television screen with corresponding age categories
and directed to female guests present in the room.
20 When the composition of the complete viewing
audience has been specified, the per on entering
data can exit from the channel-lock condition and
the display overlay is removed from the screen.
Upon subsequent entries into the
25 channel-lock condition, the text overlays on the
television screen are presented with the audience
composition information displayed as it was defined
the previous time that viewer identification data
was entered. If the audience has not changed, this
can be si~nified by merely ~ntering and exiting
channel-lock. If the audience has changed, the
channel selector and scan control can be used to
change any entries that are no longer connected.
In accordance with a preferred embodimen~
3s of the invention, the viewer identification prompt
3~
i5 first issued when the television set is turned
on. The viewer identification prompt is also
presented whenever a 30 minute period passes with no
viewer identification data being entered. In this
5 manner, a complete account of audience composition
i5 recorded by the data collection unit on a current
basis for the programming being viewed on the
television set.
Although the present invention has been
10 described and illustrated with respect to preferred
and exemplary embodiments thereof, it should be
clear that various modifications are within the
skill of those in this art, without departing from
the true spirit and scope of the invention.
