Methods and apparatus to optimize reference signature matching using watermark matching

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10863236-B2
Application number	US-201816232512-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 26, 2018
Priority date	Dec 26, 2018
Publication date	Dec 8, 2020
Grant date	Dec 8, 2020

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to optimize reference signature matching using watermark matching. An example disclosed herein includes selecting first unhashed reference signatures to evaluate for a second time segment of monitoring data based on watermark coverage of a first time segment of the monitoring data, the monitoring data obtained from a meter monitoring media presented by a media device and comparing the first unhashed reference signatures with first unhashed monitored signatures from the second time segment of the monitoring data. The example further includes, when a first media event associated with the monitoring data is not identifiable based on the comparing of the first of unhashed reference signatures with the first unhashed monitored signatures hashing the first unhashed monitored signatures to form a corresponding first hashed monitored signatures and comparing the first hashed monitored signatures with a library of reference hashed signatures to determine the first media event associated with the second time segment of the monitoring data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
an unhashed signature reference determiner to select, from a database, first unhashed reference signatures to evaluate for a second time segment of monitoring data based on watermark coverage of a first time segment of the monitoring data, the monitoring data obtained from a meter monitoring media presented by a media device;
an unhashed signature matcher to compare the first unhashed reference signatures with first unhashed monitored signatures from the second time segment of the monitoring data;
a signature hasher to hash the first unhashed monitored signatures to form corresponding first hashed monitored signatures when a first media event associated with the monitoring data is not identifiable based on the comparison of the first unhashed reference signatures with the first unhashed monitored signatures;
a hashed signature matcher to compare the first hashed monitored signatures with a library of reference hashed signatures to, when the first media event associated with the monitoring data is not identifiable based on the comparison of the first unhashed reference signatures with the first unhashed monitored signatures, identify the first media event associated with the second time segment of the monitoring data; and
a creditor interface to output media identification data based on the first media event.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the signature hasher is not to hash the first unhashed monitored signatures when the first media event associated with the monitoring data is identifiable based on the comparison of the first unhashed reference signatures with the first unhashed monitored signatures.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the creditor interface to credit a user associated with the monitoring data based on the first media event.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further including a watermark matcher to:
determine the watermark coverage of the first time segment based on a presence of a watermark in the monitoring data; and
compare the watermark with a reference watermark to determine a second media event associated with the first time segment of the monitoring data.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the unhashed signature reference determiner is to select the first unhashed reference signatures based on an offset between a first timestamp associated with the watermark and a second timestamp of the first unhashed reference signatures.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the unhashed signature reference determiner is to select the first unhashed reference signatures based on a media source associated with the reference watermark.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the unhashed signature reference determiner is to select second unhashed reference signatures to evaluate for a third time segment of monitoring data based on the comparison of the first unhashed reference signatures with first unhashed monitored signatures from the second time segment of the monitoring data; and
the unhashed signature matcher is to compare the second unhashed reference signatures with second unhashed monitored signatures from the second time segment of the monitoring data to identify a third media event associated with the third time segment.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the unhashed signature reference determiner is to select third unhashed reference signatures to evaluate for a fourth time segment of monitoring data based on the comparison of the first hashed monitored signatures with a library of reference hashed signatures; and
the unhashed signature matcher is to compare the third unhashed reference signatures with third unhashed monitored signatures from the fourth time segment of the monitoring data to identify a fourth media event associated with the fourth time segment.

9. A method, comprising:
selecting, from a database, first unhashed reference signatures to evaluate for a second time segment of monitoring data based on watermark coverage of a first time segment of the monitoring data, the monitoring data obtained from a meter monitoring media presented by a media device;
comparing the first unhashed reference signatures with first unhashed monitored signatures from the second time segment of the monitoring data;
when a first media event associated with the monitoring data is not identifiable based on the comparing of the first unhashed reference signatures with the first unhashed monitored signatures:
hashing the first unhashed monitored signatures to form corresponding first hashed monitored signatures;
comparing the first hashed monitored signatures with a library of reference hashed signatures to identify the first media event associated with the second time segment of the monitoring data; and
generating media identification data based on the first media event.

10. The method of claim 9 , further including, when the first media event associated with the monitoring data is identifiable based on the first unhashed reference signatures with the first unhashed monitored signatures, not hashing the first unhashed monitored signatures.

11. The method of claim 9 , further including:
determining the watermark coverage based of the first time segment based on a presence of a watermark in the monitoring data; and
comparing the watermark with a reference watermark to determine a second media event associated with the first time segment of the monitoring data.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the selection of the first unhashed reference signatures is further based on an offset between a first timestamp associated with the watermark and a second timestamp of the first unhashed reference signatures.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the selection of the first unhashed reference signatures is further based on a media source associated with the reference watermark.

14. The method of claim 9 , further including:
selecting second unhashed reference signatures to evaluate for a third time segment of monitoring data based on the comparison of the first unhashed reference signatures with first unhashed monitored signatures from the second time segment of the monitoring data; and
comparing the second unhashed reference signatures with second unhashed monitored signatures from the second time segment of the monitoring data to identify a third media event associated with the third time segment.

15. The method of claim 9 , further including:
selecting third unhashed reference signatures to evaluate for a fourth time segment of monitoring data based on the comparison of the first hashed monitored signatures with a library of reference hashed signatures; and
comparing the third unhashed reference signatures with third unhashed monitored signatures from the fourth time segment of the monitoring data to identify a fourth media event associated with the fourth time segment.

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least:
select, from a database, first unhashed reference signatures to evaluate for a second time segment of monitoring data based on watermark coverage of a first time segment of the monitoring data, the monitoring data obtained from a meter monitoring media presented by a media device;
compare the first unhashed reference signatures with first unhashed monitored signatures from the second time segment of the monitoring data; and
when a first media event associated with the monitoring data is not identifiable based on the comparison of the first unhashed reference signatures with the first unhashed monitored signatures:
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Assignees

• Nielsen Co Us Llc

Inventors

• Petro James
• Nelson Dan
• Cross Deborah
• Ranganathan Raghuram

Classifications

• H04N21/8456

  by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments · CPC title

• H04N21/44204 Primary

  Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched (monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31) · CPC title

• H04N21/4667

  Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections · CPC title

• H04N21/8358

  involving watermark {(protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467)} · CPC title

• H04N21/23418

  involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics (television picture signal circuitry for scene change detection H04N5/147; filtering for image enhancement G06T5/00; methods or arrangements for recognising scenes G06V20/00; arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59) · CPC title