Verifying interconnection between media devices and meters using touch sensing integrated circuits

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11829272-B2
Application number	US-202218145685-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2022
Priority date	Dec 7, 2016
Publication date	Nov 28, 2023
Grant date	Nov 28, 2023

Abstract

A disclosed example meter to monitor a media device includes a touch sense circuit including a circuit input and a circuit output, the circuit input to electrically couple with a first power line of the meter and a capacitor, the circuit output to provide a first value based on the capacitor when the first power line of the meter is not electrically coupled with a second power line of the media device, the circuit output to provide a second value different from the first value when the first power line of the meter is electrically coupled with the second power line of the media device. The disclosed example meter also includes at least one processor to detect the first power line of the meter is not electrically coupled with the second power line of the media device when the circuit output of the touch sense circuit provides the first value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A meter to monitor a media device, the meter comprising:
an integrated circuit to sense touch, the integrated circuit including a circuit input and a circuit output, the circuit input to electrically couple with an input power line of the meter and a reference capacitor, the input power line of the meter to electrically couple with an output power line of the media device, the circuit output to provide a first value based on the reference capacitor when the input power line of the meter is not electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device, the circuit output to provide a second value different from the first value when the input power line of the meter is electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device; and
means for detecting whether the meter is connected to the media device, the means for detecting to:
detect whether the input power line of the meter is powered;
control a switch to uncouple the circuit input from the input power line of the meter when the input power line of the meter is powered; and
when the input power line of the meter is not powered, determine whether the input power line of the meter is electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device based on whether the circuit output provides the second value.

2. The meter of claim 1 , wherein when the input power line of the meter is not powered, the means for detecting is to:
determine the input power line of the meter is electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device when the circuit output provides the second value; and
determine the input power line of the meter is not electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device when the circuit output does not provide the second value.

3. The meter of claim 2 , wherein the circuit output includes a register, the second value corresponds to a register value associated with an error indication, and the first value corresponds to a register value not associated with the error indication.

4. The meter of claim 2 , wherein when the input power line of the meter is not powered, the means for detecting is to determine the media device is powered off when the circuit output provides the second value.

5. The meter of claim 4 , wherein when the input power line of the meter is not powered, the means for detecting is to determine the media device is disconnected from the meter when the circuit output does not provide the second value.

6. The meter of claim 4 , wherein when the input power line of the meter is powered, the processor is to determine the media device is powered on.

7. The meter of claim 1 , wherein the means for detecting is to control the switch to couple the circuit input with the input power line of the meter when the input power line of the meter is not powered.

8. The meter of claim 5 , wherein the switch is a first switch, and the means for detecting is to control a second switch to:
couple a battery to the input power line of the meter when the input power line of the meter is powered; and
uncouple the battery from the input power line of the meter when the input power line of the meter is not powered, the battery to power the meter when the input power line of the meter is not powered.

9. At least one non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause at least processor to at least:
access a circuit output of a touch sense circuit, the touch sense circuit including a circuit input to electrically couple with an input power line of a meter and a capacitor, the input power line of the meter to electrically couple with an output power line of a media device, the circuit output to provide a first value based on the capacitor when the input power line of the meter is not electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device, the circuit output to provide a second value different from the first value when the input power line of the meter is electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device;
detect whether the input power line of the meter is powered;
control a switch to uncouple the circuit input from the input power line of the meter when the input power line of the meter is powered; and
when the input power line of the meter is not powered, determine whether the input power line of the meter is electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device based on whether the circuit output provides the second value.

10. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein when the input power line of the meter is not powered, the instructions are to cause the at least processor to:
determine the input power line of the meter is electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device when the circuit output provides the second value; and
determine the input power line of the meter is not electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device when the circuit output does not provide the second value.

11. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the circuit output includes a register, the second value corresponds to a register value associated with an error indication, and the first value corresponds to a register value not associated with the error indication.

12. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein when the input power line of the meter is not powered, the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to determine the media device is powered off when the circuit output provides the second value.

13. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein when the input power line of the meter is not powered, the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to determine the media device is disconnected from the meter when the circuit output does not provide the second value.

14. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the switch is a first switch, and the instructions are to cause the at least one processor to:
control the first switch to couple the circuit input with the input power line of the meter when the input power line of the meter is not powered; and
control a second switch to:
couple a battery to the input power line of the meter when the input power line of the meter is powered; and
uncouple the battery from the input power line of the meter when the input power line of the meter is not powered, the battery to power the meter when the input power line of the meter is not powered.

15. A method comprising:
accessing a circuit output of a touch sense circuit, the touch sense circuit including a circuit input to electrically couple with an input power line of a meter and a capacitor, the input power line of the meter to electrically couple with an output power line of a media device, the circuit output to provide a first value based on the capacitor when the input power line of the meter is not electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device, the circuit output to provide a second value different from the first value when the input power line of the meter is electrically coupled with the output power line of the media device;
detecting whether the input power line of the meter is powered;
controlling a switch to uncouple the circuit input from the input power line of the meter when the input power line of the meter is powered; and
when the input power line of the meter is not powered, determining whether the input power line of the meter i

Assignees

• Nielsen Co Us Llc

Inventors

• Barbis Andrej

Classifications

• G06F11/3051 Primary

  Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the configuration of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring the presence of processing resources, peripherals, I/O links, software programs (verification or detection of system hardware configuration G06F11/2247) · CPC title

• G06F11/0736

  in functional embedded systems, i.e. in a data processing system designed as a combination of hardware and software dedicated to performing a certain function (testing or monitoring of automated control systems G05B23/02) · CPC title

• G06F11/0751

  Error or fault detection not based on redundancy (power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06) · CPC title

• G06F11/0772

  Means for error signaling, e.g. using interrupts, exception flags, dedicated error registers · CPC title

• H04H60/32 Primary

  Arrangements for monitoring conditions of receiving stations, e.g. malfunction or breakdown of receiving stations · CPC title