Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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METERING VIEWING OF VIDEO DISPLAYED IN WINDOWS
Technical Field of t-he Invention
The present invention relates to the metering
of video, enhanced video containing data elements, and/or
broadcast applications displayed in viewing windows of a
receiver such as an enhanced television, a television
provided with a set top box, a computer, and/or the like.
Bac ground of the Invention
Video and/or audio played by conventional
televisions and/or radios has been metered for many
years. One known approach to such metering is to add an
ancillary identification code to television and/or radio
programs, and to detect and decode an ancillary
identification code when the encoded program is viewed or
heard in a statistically selected monitoring site. An
example of a system which implements this type of
metering may be found in the following patents: U.S.
Patent No. 5,481,294 to Thomas et al., who describe,
inter alia, ancillary identification codes added to the
vertical blanking interval of an NTSC television
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broadcast; U.S. Patent No. 5,629,739 to Dougherty, who
is particularly concerned with the addition of an
ancillary identification code to a low energy portion of
the audio spectrum of an NTSC signal; and, U.S. Patent
No. 5,404,377 to Moses, who teaches an audio encoding
arrangement using signal masking in order to decrease the
perceptibility of the ancillary identification code.
Another approach to metering video and/or audio
played by conventional televisions and/or radios is to
IO extract a characteristic signature (or a characteristic
signature set) from the program selected for viewing
and/or listening, and to compare the characteristic
signature (or characteristic signature set) with
reference signatures (or reference signature sets)
collected from known broadcasting sources. This approach
is taught by Lert and Lu in U.S. Patent No. 4,677,466.
Yet another approach to metering video and/or
audio played by conventional televisions and/or radios is
to compare the program (or some component or artifact
thereof) during playing with all the programs available
to a sampled household at the time of playing. A review
of apparatus and methods useful for this measurement
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approach is found in the teachings of Thomas et al. in
U.S. Patent No. 5,629,739 and of Lu et al. in U.S. Patent
No. 5,594,934.
In addition, Wheeler, et al., in U.S.
Application Serial No. 08/786,270, filed on January, 22,
1997, teach a video signal source detection arrangement
which determines the source of a video and/or audio
signal being displayed by a television receiver. This
detection arrangement implements a variety of tuning
measurement approaches. For example, it can be used to
read an ancillary identification code transmitted with
television programming, to obtain characteristic
signatures from television programming, or to perform
real time correlation by matching a signal with a
contemporary reference signal obtained by a television
tuner controlled by measurement equipment.
Also, Chan, in U.S. Application Serial No.
08/654,309, filed on May 28, 1996, teaches a sensor
arrangement for non-intrusively obtaining a
representation of video and synchronization signals from
a television receiver.
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The above patents are directed primarily to the
metering of conventional receivers where program signals
(e. g., television and/or radio signals) are transmitted
to receivers over the air, by way of cables, or through
S satellite distribution. The receivers employ tuners
which tune to selected channels from among the various
channels offered to the receivers. In the future,
however, program signals will be received by receivers
which are capable of performing functions in addition to
tuning and displaying television and/or radio programs.
Such additional functions may include, for example, the
reception of IP or HTML, electronic programming guides,
electronic commerce, integrated telephony, and/or the
like. Such additional functions may also include the
offering of Internet access, integrated gaming consoles,
and/or the like. Receivers offering these additional
functions might be computers, receivers enhanced with
internal hardware and/or software, receivers provided
with set top boxes which support the additional
functions, or the like.
Therefore, broadcasts in the future will likely
include a data stream in addition to a video stream
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and/or an audio stream. The data stream can include
closed captioning, program/source ancillary
identification codes, electronic programming guides,
stock/news/sports tickers, ad banners, chat sessions,
S story line information, other audio/video streams, and/or
other data. The data stream, the video stream, and the
audio stream can be transmitted terrestrially, or by
cable, or by satellite, or by phone lines.
The sources of broadcasts containing data
streams in addition to video streams and/or audio streams
could be television stations, radio stations, and
Internet servers. For a television or radio broadcast,
data can be transmitted by a television or radio station
at a known frequency, or as packets within the signal, to
which a tuner can tune.
For an Internet broadcast, however, there are
at least two possible models. In one model, a page is
requested by way of a URL, and the addressed Internet
server sends that one requested page and/or stream to the
requester. In the other model, an Internet server
broadcasts its data by way of multicast IP. A user would
connect, or tune, to a multicast IP address in order to
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receive the broadcast. Many radio stations currently
broadcast their programming worldwide on the Internet
using a multicast IP address.
A receiver, such as a computer, an enhanced
television, an enhanced radio, or a set top box, receives
one multi-stream signal from a television station, a
radio station, or an Internet server, and demultiplexes
the received multi-stream signal into its data stream and
its video and/or audio streams. A multi-stream signal
from an Internet server can be broken down into separate
streams because each object on a page has a tag which can
be used to identify the nature of the object. However,
it should be noted that, in the context of the Internet,
video, audio, and data should be streamed rather than
transmitted according to the usual Internet model of
store and play. Store and play for broadcast is not
possible unless the data is being stored (or recorded)
for later playing.
Each stream is passed to a corresponding
subsystem of the receiver. For example, the audio stream
is passed to a speaker, the video stream is passed to a
display screen, and the data stream is passed to
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appropriate data processing equipment. This data
processing equipment can include a data demultiplexer for
demultiplexing the data stream into a programming guide,
an ancillary identification code, closed captioning, live
tickers, and the like, that is further processed by
appropriate other components of the data processing
equipment.
A meter for metering television and/or radio
programs in the context of computers, set top boxes,
enhanced televisions, and enhanced audio equipment will
be needed in the future.
summary of the Invention
According to one aspect of the present
invention, a method of the present invention credits
viewing with respect to a viewing window being displayed
on a screen. The method comprises the following steps:
a) applying a predetermined crediting rule to the viewing
window; and, b) crediting viewing with respect to the
viewing window only if the viewing window meets the
predetermined crediting rule.
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According to another aspect of the present
invention, a method of metering video displayed in a
window on a screen of a viewing device comprises the
following steps: a) determining whether the viewing
device has a COM interface or an API interface; b) if
the viewing device has a COM interface, determining
channel data from a channel related object of the COM
interface; and, c) if the viewing device has an API
interface, calling the API interface so as to determine
channel data associated with a video application.
According to still another aspect of the
present invention, a software meter is arranged to meter
video displayed in a window on a screen of a viewing
device, and the software meter is executed by a
processor. The software meter comprises first and second
program code. The first program code is executable in
order to determine tuning data from a video application
related to the displayed video. The second program code
is executable in order to determine an ancillary
identification code relating to displayed video.
According to yet another aspect of the present
invention, a metering system meters viewing of video
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displayed in a window on a screen of a viewing device and
comprises a software meter and a creditor. The software
meter is arranged to determine identifying data related
to the video displayed in the window. The creditor is
arranged to apply a crediting rule in determining whether
to credit the identifying data.
brief Descri~t~on of the Drawing
These and other features and advantages of the
present invention will become more apparent from a
detailed consideration of the invention when taken in
conjunction with the drawings in which:
Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary distribution
system in which programs and data are distributed to
panelist sites which are metered in accordance with the
present invention;
Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a
representative set of receiving equipment that may be
used at the panelist sites of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram depicting
a measurement system that can be used to collect viewing
and other data in connection with the present invention;
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Figures 4 and 5 are flow charts of a program
that can be executed by the software meter of Figure 3 in
accordance with the present invention;
Figure 6 is a flow chart of a program that can
be executed by the crediting rules block of Figure 3 in
accordance with the present invention;
Figure 7 is a flow chart of a program that can
be executed by the transmit data block of Figure 3 in
accordance with the present invention; and,
Figures 8 and 9 are flow charts of a program
that can be executed by the central facility of Figure 1
in accordance with the present invention.
Detai 1 ed Desc'T"~ x~t~ on of the Invention
A distribution system 10 is shown in Figure 1
as an exemplary environment for the present invention.
The distribution system 10 includes a plurality of
panelist sites 12 statistically selected, such as by a
central facility 14, in order to participate in a viewing
or listening survey. Accordingly, these statistically
selected panelist sites 12 may be collectively referred
to as a panel. Personnel at the central facility 14, or
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elsewhere, may implement random digit dialing, for
example, in order to find the panelist sites 12 for
participation in the viewing or listening survey as
members of the panel. The central facility 14, in some
instances, may be referred to as a data collection site.
As described below, the panelist sites 12
include viewing or listening equipment which may be
metered in order to determine which programs are being
viewed or heard. In all cases, viewing is considered to
be viewing of all elements that appear on the screen or
played by the speaker. This viewing includes, but is not
limited to, the traditional audio/video signal, still
images (bitmaps, jpegs, gif's, animated gif's, etc.),
text, additional audio/video streams, rotation
advertising banners, data entry controls (edit boxes,
buttons, etc.), broadcast applications, and hyperlinks
associated with any of these elements. In order to
simplify the discussion below, viewing data and listening
data may alternatively be referred to as media data, it
being understood that the present invention may be used
to meter video viewing and/or audio listening. Media
data collected at each of the panelist sites 12 may be
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transmitted to the central facility 14 where the data can
be assembled into reports for dissemination to interested
parties, as is discussed more fully below.
Video, audio, and data may be provided to the
panelists by Web sites 16, by a cable source 18, from
broadcasters over the air through antennas 20, by a video
server 22, by an audio server 24, by broadcasters 26, or
the like. As shown in Figure 1, one or more of the
panelists 12 may reach the video, audio, and data through
an Internet Service Provider 28. The panelist sites 12,
the central facility 14, the Web sites 16, the cable
source 18, the video server 22, the audio server 24, the
broadcasters 26, and the Internet Service Provider 28 may
be interconnected by a network 30 which, for example, may
be a public telephone system, an internal network, a
cable system, a combination of a public telephone system,
an internal network, a cable system, or the Like.
A representative panelist site 100 is shown in
Figure 2 and can include any combination of the equipment
shown therein depending upon the number and kind of
receivers owned by the panel members thereat. For
example, the panelist site 100 may include televisions
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102 and 104 which may be televisions enhanced with
hardware and/or software permitting them to process a
data stream in addition to a video stream and an audio
stream. The panelist site 100 also may include a
television 106 equipped with a set top box 108 that
permits the television 106 to be used with a data stream
in addition to a video stream and an audio stream. In
addition, the panelist site 100 may include computers
110, 112, and 114.
In current metering equipment installed by the
assignee of the present invention and used to meter
conventional receivers, site units and a home unit are
typically provided in a dwelling occupied by a panel
member. The number of site units that is provided in a
dwelling depends on the number of meterable receivers
used by the occupants of that dwelling. Accordingly, a
site unit is provided for each metered receiver, and all
of the site units in the dwelling are coupled to the home
unit. The site units meter their corresponding receivers
and pass the metered data to the home unit. The home
unit assembles and stores the metered data from each of
the site units and then forwards that assembled and
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stored data to the central facility 14. For example, the
home unit may be arranged with dial out capability to
dial out to the central facility at a predetermined time
or interval during the day. Alternatively, the home unit
may respond to polling messages from the central facility
in order to provide the metered data accumulated from the
site units to the central facility in response to the
polling messages.
Accordingly, a site unit 116 is provided for
the television 102, a site unit 118 is provided for the
television 104, a site unit 120 is provided for the set
top box 108, a site unit 122 is provided for the computer
110, and a site unit 124 is provided for the computer
112. Additionally, a modem 126 is provided for the
IS computer 114. The site units 116, 118, 120, 122, and 124
are suitably coupled to a home unit 130 which in turn is
coupled to the network 30. The modem 126 is directly
coupled to the network 30. With this arrangement, the
home unit 130, in addition to assembling, storing, and
forwarding metered data to the central facility 14, also
passes the video, audio, and data streams from the
network 30 through the site units 116, 118, 120, 122, and
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124 to the televisions 102 and 104, to the set top box
108, and to the computers 110 and 112.
In accordance with the present invention, the
site units 116, 118, 120, 122, and 124 may each implement
a measurement system 150 described below in order to
meter tuning and other activities with respect to their
corresponding receiving equipment. Also, because the
computer 114 is capable of implementing the measurement
system 150, the computer 114 does not require a site unit
. and may communicate directly with the central facility 14
through the network 30. Indeed, depending upon the
capabilities of the televisions 102 and 104, the set top
box 108, and the computers 110 and 112, the site units
116, 118, 120, 122, and 124 may be eliminated and the
televisions 102 and 104, the set top box 108, and the
computers 110 and 112 may each implement the measurement
system 150. In this case, the home unit 130 may also be
eliminated. However, it should be noted that, if the
home unit 130 is eliminated, the number of units
interacting directly with the central facility 14
increases dramatically. Alternatively, the site units
116, 118, 120, 122, and 124 may be retained even though
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the televisions 102 and 104, the set top box 108, and the
computers 110 and 112 each implement the measurement
system 150. In this case, the site units 116, 118, 120,
122, and 124 may simply perform the function of
collecting metered data for forwarding to the home unit
130 or to the central facility 14 directly.
As shown in Figure 2, it is assumed that the
computer 110 has a universal serial bus (USB) to which
the site unit 122 is connected, and that the computer 112
has a serial port to which the site unit 124 is
connected. However, it should be noted that connection
types other than, or in addition to, a universal serial
bus and a serial port may be used with the present
invention.
As shown in Figure 3, the measurement system
150 includes a software meter 200 that periodically
interrogates a television tuner application 202 (such as
WebTV for the Windows viewer application of Windows 98TM)
in order to determine channel and other information with
respect to a program, or other data content k~eing
displayed on a display screen within a viewing window or
windows. Operation of the software meter 200 may be
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initiated in response to a timer tick as shown, upon
suitable notification supplied to the software meter 202,
or the like. A television tuner application 202, for
example, runs under a Windows-based operating system on
each of the televisions 102 and 104, the set top box 108,
and the computers 110, 112, and 114. The software meter
200 receives channel information from the television
tuner application 202. The software meter 200 also
receives other information either from the television
tuner application 202 or from operating system messages.
This other information can include size, occlusion, and
position information for all video and data objects
relative to the viewing window. Alternatively, or
additionally, the software meter 200 can receive
ancillary identification codes from a device driver 204
in those instances where an ancillary identification code
is transmitted along with programs and data to the
panelist sites 12.
The channel and other information are passed to
a crediting rules block 206 which applies a set of
crediting rules to the channel and other information in
order to determine whether the channel and other
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information should be credited. A transmit block 208
forwards the credited channel and other information
directly to the central facility 14 over the network 30.
Alternatively, the transmit block 208 may be arranged to
S forward the credited channel and other information to the
home unit 130 for later transmission to the central
facility 14.
In addition, the transmit block 208 receives
user ID information from a user ID block 210. A
conventional Nielsen Media Research (NMR) PeopleMeter can
be used for the user ID block 210 and can be attached to
a corresponding site unit or computer. The user logs in
by pressing a personal identifying button or pad on the
NMR PeopleMeter. Alternatively, the software meter 200
itself could be arranged to prompt the user to enter the
user's identification when the user is using a computer
or a television enhanced with a manual input capability.
In this connection, when the user ID block 210 detects
inactivity (such as no keyboard activity or mouse click)
for a specified period of time, the user ID block 210 may
be arranged to prompt the user in order to determine if
the user is still using the receiver. Similarly, the
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user ID block 210 may be arranged to prompt a viewer to
enter the viewers identification upon channel changes.
Other alternatives for the user ID block 210, such as a
passive identification device, or a voice or image
recognition device, are possible.
A flow chart representing a program that may be
executed by the software meter 200 is shown in Figures 4
and 5. As shown in Figure 4, a first portion 200A of the
software meter 200 is executed in order to derive
particular data relating tc.~ channel, size of the viewing
window, position of the viewing window, occlusion of the
viewing window, and the like for forwarding to the
crediting rules block 206.
Accordingly, in response to a timer tick 300, a
channel change event, and/or similar action, the first
portion 200A at a block 301 determines whether the
television tuner application 202 has a COM interface.
For example, the Windows 9HT"' Web TV for Windows viewer
application is comprised of COM objects. Each COM object
has a public interface which may be queried for state
information. One of these interfaces is
"GetCurrentChannel." This interface provides current
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tuned channel information of a corresponding television
receiver. Accordingly, the software meter 200 at a block
302 periodically invokes the appropriate COM object in
order to determine if the corresponding tuner has changed
channels. If the channel has changed, the new channel is
noted at the block 302 and processing continues.
(Although not shown in Figure 4, if the channel has not
changed, the first portion 200A may be arranged to return
to the block 301 after an appropriate wait period.)
If the channel has changed, the first portion
200A at a block 302 may also be arranged to obtain other
appropriate information. For example, the first portion
200A may be arranged at the block 302 to construct an SQL
query in order to request program and channel names for
the new channel from an accompanying Microsoft Access
database. The first portion 200A is likewise arranged at
the block 302 to construct other queries in order to
obtain other information such as size of the viewing
window, position of the viewing window, occlusion of the
viewing window, and the like. Thereafter, the first
Fortion 200A at a block 304 determines whether an
electronic programming guide is available with respect to
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the receiver being metered. If an electronic programming
guide is available, the station and/or program names are
retrieved from the electronic programming guide at a
block 306 based upon the detected channel.
If the television tuner application 202 does
not have a COM interface as determined at the block 301,
the first portion 200A at a block 308 determines whether
the television tuner application 202 has a known
application programming interface (API?, which is a
callable function. If the television tuner application
202 has a known API, calling it directly will return the
current channel. Also, the first portion 200A may be
arranged at the block 302 to request the other
information discussed above, and the functions of the
blocks 304 and 306 are invoked.
Some applications, such as Intel's Intercast
application, have neither a COM interface nor a known
API. Therefore, another process must be invoked. For
example, Microsoft supplies the ToolHelp library which
allows an application to look at processes, windows,
threads, and memory buffers that are running or allocated
at any given time. Accordingly, the first portion 200A
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at a block 310 may be arranged to monitor system messages
sent from the operating system in order to look for
particular processes, modules, threads, tasks, windows,
or components. In this manner, channel information,
position of the viewing window, size of the viewing
window, occlusion of the viewing window, and the like,
may be determined.
Thus, the software meter 200 at the block 310
locates the windows which are being displayed on the
corresponding display screen. Then, a callback function
is provided at a block 312 to the Windows operating
system in order to receive each of the main window
handles of all of the processes currently running. Thus,
the callback function provided at the block 312 obtains
the text of each window handle, by calling the window
control "GetWindowText." The first portion 200A of the
software meter 200 at a block 314 looks for a television
application from among the window handles obtained at the
block 312. If there is no window handle indicating a
television application, it is assumed that no television
program is currently being tuned and program flow,
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therefore, returns to the block 301 after an appropriate
wait period.
However, if the target television application
is found at the block 314, the first portion 200A at a
block 316 then locates the child windows associated with
the television application found at the block 314. The
child windows are subjected to essentially the same
processing. Thus, the first portion 200A at a block 318
provides a callback function in order to investigate the
handles of each of the child windows of the specified
process. Accordingly, the window control callback
function provided at the block 318 obtains the text of
each child window handle. The first portion 200A at a
block 320 determines whether one of the window handles
IS indicates that the corresponding window contains channel
information. If one of the child windows contains
channel information, that channel information is read at
a block 322. The processing at the blocks 312-322 can
also be used to obtain other information such as position
of the viewing window, size of the viewing window,
occlusion of the viewing window, and the like.
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The channel information read at the block 322
is provided to the block 304. Accordingly, if an
electronic programming guide is available, the channel
information read at the block 322 is used to look up
program and station names from the electronic programming
guide.
If no electronic programming guide is available
as determined at the block 304, or if an electronic
programming guide is available and program and station
information can be derived therefrom, the channel,
program, station, and/or other information are formatted
at a block 324 and the formatted information is provided
to the crediting rules block 206.
A second portion 200B of the software meter 200
is shown in Figure 5. This second portion 200B may be
entered from the block 324. If this second portion 200B
is entered from the block 324, and if a television tuner
card device driver is not provided with the receiver
associated with the software meter 200 as determined at a
block 400, program flow returns to the block 301 after an
appropriate wait period. However, assuming that a
television tuner card device driver is provided with the
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receiver associated with the software meter 200, each
frame of video data is accepted by the driver. The VBI
(vertical blanking interval) of each frame is digitized
at the block 400, and the digitized VBI is sent to a WDM
stream driver 402. The second portion 200B at a block
404 investigates the VBI stream in order to determine
whether the VBI stream contains an ancillary
identification code. Ancillary identification codes are
frequently provided by broadcasters in the vertical
blanking intervals of programs. If no ancillary
identification code is found, the second portion 200B
returns to the block 301 after an appropriate wait
period. On the other hand, if an ancillary
identification code is found, then the ancillary
identification code is extracted at a block 406 and is
decoded at a block 408. Thereafter, the ancillary
identification code is formatted and sent to the
crediting rules block 206 along with the channel,
program, station, and/or other information formatted at
the block 324.
The crediting rules block 206 is shown in
Figure 6. The size of a viewing window containing a
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television program is obtained at a block 500. A first
rule (or criteria) that is applied by the crediting rules
block 206 at a block 502 relates to minimization of the
viewing window containing a television program.
According to this rule, if this viewing window has been
minimized, then viewing is not credited and, instead, the
channel is set to NO CHANNEL at a block 504. On the
other hand, if the viewing window has not been minimized,
a second rule is applied at a block 506. This second
rule relates to size of the viewing window containing a
television program. According to this rule, if the size
of the viewing window fails to meet a minimum window size
requirement as determined at the block 506, the channel
is set to NO CHANNEL at the block 504.
If the size of this viewing window meets the
minimum window size requirement, a third rule relating to
window occlusion is applied. In order to apply this
third rule, the amount of window occlusion (i.e., the
amount by which another window overlaps and occludes a
viewing window containing a television program) is
computed at a block 508. A block 510 implements the
third rule by comparing the amount of window occlusion
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computed at the block 508 to a predetermined maximum
amount of window occlusion. If the amount of window
occlusion computed at the block 508 is greater that the
predetermined maximum amount of window occlusion, the
channel is set to NO CHANNEL at the block 504.
However, if the amount of window occlusion
computed at the block 508 is not greater that the
predetermined maximum amount of window occlusion, a
fourth rule relating to the percent of the display screen
filled by a viewing window containing a television
program is applied. In order to apply this fourth rule,
the size of the display screen is obtained at a block
512, and a percent of this display screen size occupied
by the viewing window containing the television program
is computed at a block 514. A block 516 implements the
fourth rule by comparing the percent computed at the
block 514 to a predetermined minimum percent. If the
percent of the display screen occupied by the viewing
window containing a television program is not greater
than the predetermined minimum percent, the channel is
set to NO CHANNEL at the block 504. On the other hand,
if the window containing a television program has not
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been minimized as determined by the block 502, if the
size of this viewing window meets a minimum window size
requirement as determined at the block 506, if the amount
of window occlusion computed at the block 508 is not
greater than the predetermined maximum amount of window
occlusion as determined at the block 510, and if the
percent of the display screen occupied by the viewing
window containing the television program is greater than
the predetermined minimum percent as determined at the
block 516, the channel is not set to NO CHANNEL and,
instead, the channel (and other information) associated
with the program displayed in the program viewing window
is reported at a block 518 to the transmit block 208.
The transmit block 208 is shown in Figure 7.
The path over which the channel and other information is
reported to the central facility 14 depends upon the type
of port which is available. Accordingly, the type of
transport device is determined at a block 600. Thus, the
transmit block 208 determines what method of data
transmission to use. If the transport is by way of
TCP/IP as determined at a block 602, the transmit block
208 obtains from memory the IP address of the server at
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the central facility 14 as well as the socket on which
this server is listening. The data is then encrypted and
transmitted to the server at the central facility 14 at a
block 604. Accordingly, this method collects and
transmits data in "near" real time.
If the transport is to the home unit 130 over a
serial port, the serial port is opened at a block 606 and
the appropriate data is written to the serial port at a
block 608 for supply to the home unit 130. If the
transport is to the home unit 130 over a USB port, the
USB port is opened at a block 610 and the appropriate
data is written to the USB port at a block 612 for supply
to the home unit 130. If the transport is to the home
unit 130 over a parallel port, the parallel port is
opened at a block 614 and the appropriate data is written
to the parallel port at a block 616 for supply to the
home unit 130. If the transport is to the home unit 130
over a 1394 port, the 1394 port is opened at a block 618
and the appropriate data is written to the 1394 port at a
block 620 for supply to the home unit 130. The transmit
block 208 can also send data to the home unit 130 by way
of power lines or an RF modem.
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Perhaps the most efficient way currently to
transmit data to the collection facility 14 is by way of
the Internet. Personal computers running any version of
WindowsTM have a component referred to as Winsock which
can send and receive data over the Internet. If the user
is on-line, the data collected by the software meter 200
can be sent in real time. For devices that are not
permanently connected, a store and forward method buffers
the data and sends it when a connection is made, or to
the home unit 130 which forwards data to the central
facility 14 at a later time. In the case of a set top
box that does not have a back channel, or a computer that
does not have a modem, the data may be sent out over a
serial port, a USB port, a parallel port, a 1394 port, or
the like, using the DSS command set and/or NUB protocol
to a corresponding site unit or directly to the home
unit.
The data transmitted by the transmit block 208
may comprise any of the following: household
identifiers; device identifiers; viewer IDs; date/time
stamps; and, specific viewed data such as an URL, a
program ID, a source ID, a station name, a program name,
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program ID codes, signatures taken from the viewed
program, game information, PC/STB configuration
information, advertisement banners, viewing area
information, and the like.
The server at the central facility 14 performs
at least a data collection function and a data
dissemination function as shown in Figures 8 and 9,
respectively. As shown in Figure 8, the data collection
function receives data at a TCP/IP listener block 700 in
the case of data transmitted by way of the Internet.
This received data is validated/authenticated, decrypted,
and formatted at a block 702. The data is then loaded by
a data loader 704 into a database 706. For serial data,
the serial data comes in through a modem at a block 708
and is formatted at a block 710. This data is loaded by
the database loader 704 into the database 706.
When a customer requests a report from the
central facility 14, the request may come in over the
Internet as an HTTP request made by typing a URL into a
browser. When the request is received by the central
facility 14, the customer is validated at a block 720 by
checking the customers log-on ID and password. If the
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log-on ID and password provided by the customer do not
agree, the customer does not receive the requested
report. On the other hand, if the customer has entered a
proper combination of a log-on ID and a password so that
the customer is provided access to the database 706, a
short form is presented to the customer at a block 724 in
order to gather the information necessary to the inquiry
posed by the customer. This inquiry is formatted at a
block 726 and is used at a block 728 to query the
database 706 and to extract the requested information
therefrom. This information is properly formatted into a
report at a block 730 and the report is returned to the
customer at a block 732. For example, the report may be
returned as HTML formatted data.
Certain modifications of the present invention
have been discussed above. Other modifications will
occur to those practicing in the art of the present
invention. For example, as described above, the software
meter 200 may respond to a timer tick in order to
interrogate the television tuner application 202.
Instead, the software meter 200 may be arranged to
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monitor operating system messages in order to detect
channel and other relevant information.
Also, the metering described above is performed
by the software meter 200. Instead, the metering may be
performed by hardware or by a combination of hardware and
software. Similarly, the crediting described above is
performed by software implemented by the crediting rules
block 206. Instead, the crediting may be performed by
hardware or by a combination of hardware and software.
The transmit block 208 may be likewise arranged.
Additionally, if a receiver is provided with
plural tuners, programs in plural windows may be
displayed for viewing and/or listening. In this case,
the present invention may be arranged to meter each such
viewing window.
Moreover, as described above, certain crediting
rules are applied by the crediting rules block 206. In
addition, if there are two or more viewing windows, the
crediting rules block 206 may be arranged to credit
viewing only with respect to the viewing window
associated with the audio supplied to the speakers of the
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receiver, with the size of the viewing window, with the
position/z order of he viewing window, or the like.
Furthermore, the software represented by the
flow charts disclosed herein and described above may be
written in Java so that the software is essentially
hardware independent.
Accordingly, the description of the present
invention is to be construed as illustrative only and is
for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the
best mode of carrying out the invention. The details may
be varied substantially without departing from the spirit
of the invention, and the exclusive use of all
modifications which are within the scope of the appended
claims is reserved.
