Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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DELIVERY OF DATA INCLUDING PRELOADED ADVERTISING DATA
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vehicle
information systems, and particularly to vehicle information
systems collecting and presenting information.
Background of the Invention
Advertisement presentation requires, first
creation of advertisement information and subsequent
dissemination by broadcast signal to receiving devices. To
expose listeners to advertisements, the listeners must be
monitoring the broadcast
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signal, e.g., listening to the radio at the time of broadcast.
Advertisers expend substantial effort and expense in
maximizing the number of listeners by timing advertisement
broadcasts with expected times of target listening audiences.
In other words, an advertisement is broadcast at particular
times with the hope that the maximum number of listeners are
exposed to the advertisement. Accordingly, certain broadcast
times become most popular for advertisement broadcast and,
therefore, the most expensive signal transmission times.
One of the traditional and long standing devices for
delivering information to a vehicle is the car radio receiving
radio transmissions from local AM or FM radio stations. The
operator tunes the radio to a selected radio station and
monitors information provided by radio broadcast concurrent
with its transmission, i.e., listens to the radio announcer,
advertisements, and the like concurrent with transmission via
radio signal. To deliver a given advertisement to a radio,
therefore, the radio must be on and tuned to the appropriate
radio station concurrent with transmission of the
advertisement.
Wide dissemination of advertising information requires
multiple transmissions on multiple radio stations. The
advertiser thereby exposes more listeners to the advertising
information, and thereby achieves a desired goal of exposing
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listeners to product or service information and availability.
The advertiser must pay, however, for each advertising message
transmission on each radio station. Accordingly, substantial
expense is incurred in connection with broadcast of any given
advertisement.
It would be desirable to make the process of delivering
advertising information to listeners more efficient. In
particular, it would be desirable disseminate such advertising
information once and have the advertisement presented multiple
times. The subject matter of the present invention provides
such a method and apparatus for delivery of advertising
information.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention delivers data and information
including advertising information a receiving device. In
accordance with the present invention, data which can include
advertising information is transmitted to a receiving device
and then it is collected and stored within the receiving
device. The receiving device intermittently presents stored
information to a listener. The receiving device can provide
multiple presentations of advertising information which was
transmitted to the receiving device one time by radio signal.
Presentation of the advertising information at the receiving
device may be triggered by a variety of functions. Stored
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advertising information entries may be presented, for
example, by reference to a time schedule, to current
receiving device location, or to receiving device events
such as power-up. Because the advertising information is
broadcast only one time and presented multiple times, the
advertiser incurs less expense for each advertisement
presentation, there being multiple advertisement
presentations for one radio signal transmission.
The invention may be summarized according to one
aspect as a method for message presentation comprising the
steps: loading at a first time from a central location via a
radio channel a message into a remote presentation device;
loading at a second time from the central location via a
radio channel a present command into said remote
presentation device; and presenting said message at said
presentation device in response to said present command.
According to another aspect the invention provides
an advertising system comprising: a radio signal
transmission facility providing voice and data broadcast
signals; and a plurality of remote receiving devices
collecting said voice and data signal broadcasts, each of
said receiving devices storing selected portions of at least
one of aaid voice and data broadcasts as a stored
advertisement therein in association with an index value
whereby subsequent transmission within at least one of said
voice and data broadcasts references said index value and
causes said remote receiving device to present the
corresponding stored advertisement.
The subject matter of the present invention is
particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the
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concluding portion of this specification. However, both the
organization and method of operation of the invention,
together with further advantages and objects thereof, may be
best understood by reference to the following description
taken with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference
characters refer to like elements.
Brief Description of the Drawings
For a better understanding of the invention, and
to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference
will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying
drawings in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates a vehicle information system, a
given road network, and a vehicle travelling within the road
network
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and carrying a travel information device according to a
preferred form of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the travel information
device for the vehicle of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 illustrates the front panel controls and display
of the travel information device of FIG. 2 as viewed by the
operator of the vehicle of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 illustrates a record structure for advertisement
records maintained in the travel information device of Figs.
1-3.
FIG. 5 illustrates a command set used in creation and
management of advertisement records illustrated in FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating information device
programming in response to the command set of FIG. S.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating in more detail a
command execution block of FIG. 6. .
FIG. 8 illustrates a background process within the information
device providing advertisement presentation in response to
selected presentation conditions.
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Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment
The preferred form of the present invention provides a
mechanism efficiently delivering advertising information to
listeners. In the preferred form of the present invention, a
receiving device which includes a combination of a car radio
and a paging device collects and stores advertising
information for later presentation. Particular advertising
information in the form of voice presentation or text
presentation is sent to the receiving device by radio signal
transmission once, and then presented multiple times at the
receiving device. Once stored at a receiving device, a
variety of conditions trigger presentation of the
advertisement. In the preferred embodiment shown herein the
receiving device is a vehicle information device carried by a
vehicle which collecting data utilizing a paging system
protocol to provide advertisement presentations.
In FIG. 1, a vehicle 10 is shown within a road network
12. Network 12 includes main arterial roadways as
illustrated, but it could be significantly more complex. In
the preferred embodiment shown herein, vehicle 10 can travel
throughout road network 12 along any selected travel route.
Road network 12 includes geographic points of interest 14,
individually designated 14a-14d associated with longitude and
latitude positional criteria. While only several such
geographic points of interest 14 are indicated in FIG. 1, any
number of such geographic points of interest 14 may exist
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within road network 12. As described more fully hereafter,
advertising information downloaded to the information device
of vehicle 10 may be associated with certain geographic points
of interest 14, i.e., the location at which advertised goods
or services are available. As vehicle 10 passes by or near
such geographic points of interest 14, the receiving device of
vehicle 10 holding a related advertisement automatically
presents such advertisement whereby the operator of vehicle 10
is exposed to an advertisement for goods or services at a
nearby location.
Radio broadcast system 20 provides a combined radio
signal voice broadcast 22 and radio signal data broadcast 26.
While illustrated as a single radio broadcast system 20,
voice broadcast 22 and data broadcast 26 could originate from
separate radio signal broadcast facilities. Under the
preferred form of the present invention, however, voice
broadcast 22 and data broadcast 26 originate from a common FM
radio source. The present invention may be implemented
according to many paging system protocols, but as illustrated
herein operates under the time-division multiplexed protocol
of the paging system illustrated in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,713,808
and 4,897,835 and as commercially implemented by Seiko
Telecommunication Systems, Inc. under the trademarks RECEPTOR
and ACTTIV. Generally, the paging system uses FM radio
signal transmission facilities to broadcast, within a side-
band frequency, paging signal data packets according to a
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time-division multiplexed protocol. Thus, voice broadcast
22 comprises the normal FM radio signal broadcast and data
broadcast 26 represents the side-band paging system
broadcast. The paging system and associated receiving
devices provide an inexpensive, highly battery-efficient and
highly miniaturized paging device which, under the
illustrated embodiment of the present invention, consitutes
a data radio receiver 62 (FIG. 2) as a conduit for data
broadcast 26 delivery to device 40.
It will be understood, therefore, that radio
broadcast system 20 provides coordinated voice and data by
radio signal. Radio broadcast system 20 receives voice
advertisement and data message information 28, e.g., an
advertising subscription, and integrates the data message
portion thereof with other incoming paging system data
packets originating from a paging system clearinghouse 30.
The data message portion of information 28 could be routed
through clearinghouse 30, in which case radio station 20a
transmits data broadcast 26 as originating entirely from
clearinghouse 30. In any event, radio station 20a transmits
coordinated voice and data broadcasts 22 and 26.
Vehicle 10 includes a travel information device 40
receiving by way of antenna 42 the voice broadcast 22 and
data broadcast 26. Thus, device 40 receives conventional FM
voice broadcasts and paging data packets transmitted under
the
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paging system protocol. While illustrated herein as a vehicle
travel information device, device 40 can also be any
information device, e.g., a paging device, a personal radio,
or portable personal computer.
FIG. 1 also illustrates a global position system (GPS)
satellite 50 providing transmission 52. Details and use of
GPS transmission 52 to determine location of a GPS receiver
carried by vehicle 10 are well known. Use of GPS transmission
52 under the present invention is by incorporation of a GPS
receiving device into travel information device 40 and
collection of current vehicle 10 position therewith as
described more fully hereafter.
Thus, travel information device 40 receives several
channels of information. Voice broadcast 22 provided by radio
broadcast system 20 provides a stream of analog voice
information. Data broadcast 26 provides further advertising
information, e.g., digital, voice or text information, to be
captured by device 40. Third, the GPS transmission 52
provides current vehicle location.
As described more fully hereafter, device 40 captures and
stores selected portions of voice and data broadcast 22 and
26, i.e., advertisements. Once advertisements from voice and
data broadcasts 22 and 26 are stored within device 40,
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subsequent conditions or explicit commands trigger
presentation thereof to the operator of vehicle 10 whereby a
given advertisement may be presented multiple times to the
operator of vehicle 10, yet need only be broadcast to
receiving device 40 once. Conditions causing presentation of
stored advertising information include, but need not be
limited to, vehicle 10 being at or near a given geographic
point of interest 14, e.g., by reference to current vehicle
position, time of day, power-up of receiving device 40, or in
response to a paging signal command delivered to receiving
device 40 and causing presentation of a selected advertisement
stored within receiving device 40.
FIG. 2 illustrates in block diagram travel information
device 40. In FIG. 2, a microprocessor 60 orchestrates
generally operation of device 40. While referred to generally
herein as "microprocessor" 60, it will be understood that such
device includes additional supporting hardware features such
as analog-to-conversion and digital-to-conversion and other
such related input/output hardware required to support the
features described herein. Data radio receiver 62 coupies
antenna 42 to microprocessor 60. As c.ontemplated under the
preferred form of the present invention, data radio receiver
62 comprises essentially a paging system receiver operating
under the paging system. Thus, the paging system paging
device provided as receiver 62 serves as a data terminal
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collecting data broadcast 26 and providing to microprocessor
60 digital advertising, e.g., text or digitized voice data. A
voice radio receiver 64, also coupled to antenna 42, receives
the voice broadcast 22 and delivers a voice signal 66 to
microprocessor 60 and to an amplifier 68 driving speakers 70.
Application of voice signal 66 to microprocessor 60 includes
appropriate analog-to-digital conversion whereby
microprocessor 60 converts, when necessary, voice signal 66 to
a digitized recording thereof. Microprocessor 60 tunes voice
radio receiver 64 and data radio 62 by way of a tune control
signal 72. Thus, microprocessor 60 establishes coordinated
tuning for voice radio 64 and data radio 62 whereby
coordinated voice and data broadcast 22 and 26 are received by
radios 64 and 62, respectively.
A read/write memory resource 90 stores an indexed data
table 90a containing advertisement records 400 available for
presentation by device 40. Microprocessor 60 loads records
400 into memory resource 90 in association with an appropriate
index value and retrieves records 400 from the memory resource
by providing an index value thereto.
An advertisement presentation block 104 receives from
microprocessor 60 an index value and has direct access to the
memory resource 90 for presentation of advertisements stored
therein. Thus, microprocessor 60 queues advertisement
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presentation by providing a sequence of index values to the
advertisement presentation block 104. The advertisement
presentation block, in turn, accesses memory resource 90 by
reference to a queued index value and collects the requested
advertisement record 400 for presentation. As may be
appreciated, message presentation block 104 reacts to the
record 400 data type to determine how the advertisement data
is to be interpreted and presented, i.e., selects one or both
of display 100 and speakers 70 for presentation. Thus,
advertisement presentation block 104 may deliver text type
data taken from a record 400 to display 100 for presentation
thereon, or may employ digitized sound data to produce an
audio signal suitable for application to amplifier 68 and
presentation on speakers 70. Additionally, advertisement
presentation block 104 may be provided with, for example,
text-to-speech conversion capability for presentation of text
type data found in one of records 400 upon speakers 70. In
any case, advertisement presentation block 104 responds to the
content, i.e., data type, of each record 400 queued for
presentation and selects an appropriate mode of presentation
by way of display 100 or amplifier 68 and speakers 70.
A global position system receiver 80 receives the
transmission 52 from global position system satellite 50 and
delivers to microprocessor 60 a current vehicle location 82.
In this manner, microprocessor 60 requests from global
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position system radio receiver 80 a current vehicle location
and receives in return the current vehicle location 82.
Display 100 presents, for example, tuning and station
selection information relative to the voice radio receiver 60
to provide an FM radio capability wherein the operator of
vehicle 10 manipulates input controls 102, i.e., volume and
station tuning, to listen to a selected voice broadcast 22.
Display 100 further presents, advertising text as taken from
advertisement records 400 having a text type data field.
FIG. 3 illustrates display 100 and input controls 102.
Input controls 102 include a tune dial 102a, a volume dial
102b and an AM/FM switch 102c. As may be appreciated, device
40 operates, from a user perspective, in part as a
conventional car radio. Thus, the user manipulates input
controls 102a-102c to listen to a voice broadcast 22 on
speakers 70.
FIG. 4 illustrates generally the structure of records 400
maintained in device 40. In FIG. 4, each record 400 includes
a unique index 400a, a condition list 400b, and a data type
400c. As may be appreciated, the index 400a provides
addressing to specific records held by device 40. Because
broadcast system 20 is a one-way communication, assignment of
values to index 400a for each record 400 is external of device
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40, i.e., when advertising information is downloaded to device
40 it must be associated with a value for index 400a whereby
an external entity references the index 400a to, for example,
trigger presentation of such advertising information. Thus,
values for index 400a are designated and later used by the
source or entity placing information in device 40 by way of
broadcast system 20.
Condition list 400b for each record 400 provides a set of
conditions indicating presentation of the associated
advertising information. For example, condition list 400b
includes a schedule of presentation, a time of presentation, a
location such as longitude and latitude where associated
products or services are available, or a device 40 event such
as power-up. By scanning the condition lists 400b for a
collection of records 400 and comparing such conditions to
current detected conditions, device 40 determines when a given
advertisement stored in device 40 need be presented.
Data type field 400c indicates the type of data held in
each record 400. As may be appreciated, data field 400d may
include a variety of data types, e.g.., text, digitized voice
data, graphics data and special data formats such as mixed
data type. Thus, when a given advertisement record 400 is to
be presented, the data type field 400c dictates how the data
field 400d is interpreted and presented by device 40.
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As may be appreciated, in may instances the data field
400d must be of substantial size. Under the paging system, a
series of data packets may be linked together and delivered to
a receiving device 40. In essence, device 40 receives
indication that a linked list of data packets are required and
successively targets each next packet in the list, i.e.,
targets an appropriate time slot under the time-division
multiplex protocol, to collect the sequence of linked data
packets and thereby build a data field 400d of indefinite
length. Because advertising information need not be presented
immediately upon collection by device 40, such large volume
data transmissions, i.e., large volume data fields 400d such
as digitized sound data, may be downloaded into devices 40
during low system activity times, e.g., at night when system
demands are low.
FIG. 5 illustrates a command set employed in the
manipulation of devices 40. In particular, a set of commands
delivered by way of paging data packets drives each device 40
in the downloading of advertisement records 400 and management
thereof including the triggering of advertisement
presentation. In FIG. 5, command set 500 includes a STORE
command 500a. STORE command 500a is associated with an index
parameter and a data parameter. As may be appreciated, the
index parameter value is written into the index field 400a of
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the associated new record 400 and the data parameter is
written into the data field 400d of the new associated
database record. Furthermore, the data parameter of STORE
command 500a may be of significant length, i.e., may be
digitized sound, and therefore necessarily collected through a
sequence of linked paging system data packets. Accordingly,
the data parameter of STORE command 500a can be actual data or
an address pointer to the beginning of a linked list of paging
system data packets containing data representing advertising
information.
DELETE command 500b and its index parameter causes
deletion from the memory resource 90 of the record 400 stored
under the associated index.
PRESENT command 500c and its index parameter cause device
40 to present the associated advertisement information, i.e.,
queue for presentation the record 400 bearing the associated
index.
SET CONDITIONS command 500d updates the condition list
400b in a specific record 400. Thus., SET CONDITIONS command
500d and its index parameter identify a record 400 to be
modified, and a data parameter contains a new condition list
field 400b for the record 400 to be modified. As may be
appreciated, in the event of a lengthy new condition list
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field 400b, the data parameter of command 500d can be a
pointer to a sequence of linked paging system data packets.
In any event, SET CONDITIONS command 500d allows modification
of.a condition list field 400b without requiring downloading
of the entire record 400, i.e., without requiring
retransmission of the data field 400d of an existing record
400.
RECORD ON command 500e and RECORD OFF command 500f
provide a mechanism for recording directly, i.e., digitizing,
the voice broadcast 22 at the receiving device 40. Thus,
RECORD ON command 500e and its index parameter begin recording
of the voice broadcast 22 and storing the digitized sound data
in the data field 400d of a new record 400 having in its index
field 400a the value of the RECORD ON command 500e index
parameter. Recording of voice broadcast 22 continues until
device 40 receives the RECORD OFF command 500f. In this
manner, downloading a massive volume of digitized sound data
by way of data broadcast 26 is avoided because device 40
efficiently captures and digitizes the voice broadcast 22 and
establishes a record 400 therefor with an ability to present
such audio advertisement multiple times.
FIG. 6 illustrates by flow chart generally the process of
collecting advertising information at device 40, i.e.,
programming for data radio 62 and microprocessor 60. In FIG.
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6, advertising information capture, store, and management
procedures begin at block 600 where data radio 62 activates
and captures a paging data packet. In decision block 602,
data radio 62 compares the address of the captured paging data
packet with its address to determine a match. In no match
occurs, indicating the captured packet was not addressed to
this data radio 62, processing branches to other unrelated
programming. If a match does occur, indicating the captured
paging data packet is addressed to this data radio 62, then
processing advances to block 604 where data radio 62 transfers
the captured paging data packet to microprocessor 60 for
further processing.
Continuing to block 608, microprocessor 60 interrogates
the just received data packet to determine whether it is a
member of command set 500. If the data packet is not a member
of command set 500, then processing branches to decision block
610 where microprocessor 60 determines whether the data packet
is a member of a linked list of data packets. If the data
packet is not a member of a linked list, then processing
branches through block 612 where the next data packet is
targeted. As may be appreciated, processing in block 612
includes appropriate interaction between microprocessor 60 and
data radio 62 to cause, when necessary, data radio 62 to
target a specific time slot under the paging system protocol.
Following block 612, processing returns to block 600.
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Returning to block 610, If the captured data packet is a
member of a linked list of data packets, then processing
branches through block 614 where the data portion of the
captured data packet is appended to the appropriate field of
an existing data record 400. Processing then continues to
block 612. Returning to block 608, if the captured data
packet is a member of command set 500, then processing
branches through block 16 where microprocessor 60 executes the
command whereafter processing advances to block 612. In this
manner, device 40 responds to command set 500 and collects
lengthy condition list field 400b or data field 400d for
incorporation into data records 400.
FIG. 7 further details programming illustrated in the
EXECUTE command block 616 of FIG. 6. In FIG. 7, program
control is organized generally as a switch structure with each
case branching in response to a given member of command set
500. Processing begins in decision block 700 where the STORE
command 500a is detected. Upon detecting the STORE command
500a, microprocessor 60 creates in block 702 a new data record
400 with associated index, i.e., the.index value provided as
the index parameter to STORE command 500a. Continuing to
block 704, microprocessor 60 stores the data parameter of
command 500a in the data field 400d of the newly created
record 400. As may be appreciated, if the data parameter of
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STORE command 500a represents a linked list of data packets,
then microprocessor 60 prepares to later append such linked
data packets to the data field 400d as indicated at decision
block 610 of FIG. 6. Command execution terminates following
block 704.
Decision block 706 detects presentation of the DELETE
command 500b. Upon detecting the DELETE command 500b,
microprocessor 60 removes in block 708 the associated
advertisement record 400, i.e., that record 400 having an
index field 400a matching the index parameter of the detected
DELETE command 500b. Command execution terminates following
block 708.
Decision block 710 detects the PRESENT command 500. If
the PRESENT command 500 is detected, then processing branches
through block 712 where microprocessor 60 queues for
presentation the corresponding advertisement, i.e., provides
to the advertisement presentation block 104 the index value
provided by the index parameter of PRESENT command 500c.
Command processing terminates following block 712.
Decision block 714 detects the SET CONDITION command
500d, with processing then branching through block 716 where
microprocessor 60 replaces the condition list 400b of the
record 400 corresponding to the index parameter provided with
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SET CONDITION command 500d, i.e., writes the data parameter of
command 500d into the condition list 400b of the associated
record 400. As may be appreciated, if the data parameter of
command 500d is a pointer to a linked list of data packets,
then microprocessor 60 appropriately gathers such linked list
of data packets and successively writes each data packet into
the condition list field 400b of the associated record 400.
Decision block 718 detects presentation of the RECORD ON
command 500d. In response, processing in block 720 creates a
new record 400 with the associated index value, i.e., a value
corresponding to the index parameter of RECORD ON command
500d. Processing advances to block 722 where microprocessor
60 activates appropriate analog-to-digital recording of the
voice broadcast 22 and delivery of the resulting digital sound
data into the data field 400d of the newly created record 400.
Command processing terminates following block 722.
Decision block 724 detects the RECORD OFF command 500f,
causing branching through blocks 726 and 728 where
microprocessor 60 deactivates the analog-to-digital recording
process and terminates the data field 400d of the associated,
i.e., currently being recorded, record 400. Command
processing terminates following block 728.
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As may be appreciated, command set 500 may include
additional commands incorporated as additional case conditions
under the switch structure of FIG. 7.
FIG. 8 illustrates background advertisement presentation
processing executed by microprocessor 60 in response to
current conditions detected by device 40. In other words,
programming required to implement the goal of advertisement
presentation in response to the condition list field 400b of
each record 400. In FIG. 8, processing is organized generally
as a repeating control loop which, once entered, repeats as a
background process monitoring current device 40 conditions and
seeking data records 400 having within the condition lists
400b matching conditions. Upon finding a match between
current conditions and members of any condition list 400b,
microprocessor 60 queues the associated records 400 for
presentation, i.e., delivers the index values to presentation
block 104.
Thus, processing begins in block 800 where microprocessor
60 collects current conditions, i.e., current time, current
vehicle location, power-up, and the like. Continuing to block
802, microprocessor 60 scans records 400, i.e., scans
condition lists 400b in records 400, for qualifying
advertisements as indicated in decision block 804. Upon a
condition list 400b member matching a current condition,
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processing branches to block 806 where, for each condition
match, the associated index value is queued for presentation,
i.e., delivered to advertisement presentation block 104.
Thus, the process of detecting current conditions and queuing
qualifying records 400 continues as a background process
causing presentation of advertisement information in response
to an associated condition required for presentation.
In operation, any given receiving device 40, once loaded
with a set of records 400, travels throughout road network 12
and intermittently presents advertisements to the operator and
passengers of vehicle 10. For example, if receiving device 40
contains a record 400 having in its condition list 400b
longitude and latitude criteria corresponding to geographic
point of interest 14a and vehicle 10 passes by or near point
14a, device 14 presents the corresponding advertisement. The
operator and passengers of vehicle 10 are exposed to
advertising for goods or services found nearby. Advertisement
records 400 with a condition list 400b indicating periodic
presentation, e.g., every hour, are presented to the operator
and passengers of vehicle 10 at regular intervals thereby
reinforcing familiarity with the advertised goods or services.
Advertisement records 400 containing a device 40 power-up
condition are presented each time the operator turns on device
40. Advertisement records 400 may always be triggered into
presentation by delivering the PRESENT command 500c to a
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selected one or group of receiving devices 40. Accordingly, a
variety of conditions may be incorporated into condition lists
400b or programming to issue from broadcast system 20 the
present command 500c may be developed to accomplish specific
advertising goals.
The paging system supports group addressing whereby a
single paging data packet transmission may be addressed to
groups of receiving devices. Accordingly, advertising
presentation may be accomplished relative to listeners defined
as groups. For example, by developing a profile for the users
of each device 40, e.g., age, typical products purchased,
class of neighborhood, and the like, as is typically done in
advertising strategies, the advertiser defines groups of
listeners. By loading into receiving devices 40
advertisements tailored to group needs, the advertiser targets
specific audiences with specific advertising messages. For
example, one advertisement may be loaded into one group of
receiving devices 40 while a second advertisement is loaded
into a second group of receiving devices 40. Even though
different advertisements are loaded into different receiving
devices 40, all such advertisements may be associated with the
same index. Accordingly, issuance of the PRESENT command 500c
relative to such common index value causes distinct
advertisement presentation for different groups of listeners.
As may be appreciated, the radio signal transmission time
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associated with issuing the PRESENT command 500c is quite
small as compared to similar advertisement broadcast time
required to deliver by conventional means the same
advertisement presentation, i.e., broadcast time required to
present the advertisement to listeners currently tuned to the
broadcast facility.
Thus, an improved method and apparatus for message or
advertisement presentation has been shown and described.
Advertisement information is disseminated widely by radio
signal broadcast to a population of receiving devices. The
receiving devices store this advertising information and
present such information multiple times without requiring
repeated radio signal transmission. In this manner,
advertising presentation is made efficient with respect to
radio transmission resources, and therefore less costly in
regard to the costs associated with transmission of
advertisement by radio signal.
It will be appreciated, that the present invention is not
restricted to the particular embodiment or embodiments that
have been described and illustrated herein, and that
variations may be made therein without departing from the
scope of the invention as found in the appended claims and
equivalents thereof.
