WO2000035131A1

WO2000035131A1 - Metering viewing of video displayed in windows

Info

Publication number: WO2000035131A1
Application number: PCT/US1999/016321
Authority: WO
Inventors: William A. Feininger; Daozheng Lu
Original assignee: Nielsen Media Research, Inc.
Priority date: 1998-12-08
Filing date: 1999-07-19
Publication date: 2000-06-15
Also published as: CN1329783A; HK1043673A1; CA2351340A1; JP2002532952A; AR026847A1; EP1147631A1; AU5112899A

Abstract

A metering system useful in metering viewing of video displayed in a window on a screen of a viewing device includes a software meter and a creditor. The software meter determines identifying data related to the video displayed in the window, and the creditor applies a set of crediting rules in determining whether to credit the identifying data. The software meter determines whether the viewing device has a COM interface, an API interface, or has to be interrogated in another way, and determines channel data from a channel related object of the COM interface, from application related data associated with a video application through the API interface, or from other interrogation. The software meter also determines an ancillary identification code relating to the displayed video.

Description

METERING VIEWING OF VIDEO DISPLAYED IN WINDOWS

Technical Field of the 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.

Background 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 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

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 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. 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

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 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,

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 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 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. 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 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 Description 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; 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.

Detailed Description 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 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 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 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 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

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 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 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 98™)

in order to determine channel and other information with

respect to a program, or other data content being

displayed on a display screen within a viewing window or

windows. Operation of the software meter 200 may be 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 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

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 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 to 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 98™ 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 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

portion 200A at a block 304 determines whether an

electronic programming guide is available with respect to 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 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, 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

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. 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 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 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 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 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 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. 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

Windows™ 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, 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 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 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 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.

Claims

WE CLAIM :

1. A method of crediting viewing with respect

to a viewing window being displayed on a screen, wherein

the viewing window has a size, wherein the screen has a

size, and wherein 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 .

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

minimization, and wherein step b) comprises the step of

crediting viewing with respect to the viewing window only

if the viewing window is not minimized.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

minimum window size, and wherein step b) comprises the step of crediting viewing with respect to the viewing

window only if the size of the viewing window is greater

than the minimum window size .

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

an amount of occlusion of the viewing window, and wherein

step b) comprises the step of crediting viewing with

respect to the viewing window only if the amount of

occlusion of the viewing window is less than a maximum

occlusion.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

a percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing

window, and wherein step b) comprises the step of

crediting viewing with respect to the viewing window only

if the percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing

window is greater than a minimum percentage.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the viewing

window is a first viewing window, wherein a second viewing window is displayed on the screen, wherein audio

is being played with respect to one of the first and

second viewing windows, and wherein step b) comprises the

step of crediting viewing only with respect to the one of

the first and second viewing windows associated with the

audio.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the viewing

window is a first viewing window, wherein a second

viewing window is displayed on the screen, wherein one of

the first and second viewing windows is larger, and

wherein step b) comprises the step of crediting viewing

only with respect to the larger of the first and second

viewing windows .

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the viewing

window is a first viewing window, wherein a second

viewing window is displayed on the screen, wherein one of

the first and second viewing windows is a top-most

viewing window, and wherein step b) comprises the step of

crediting viewing only with respect to the top-most

viewing window.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

minimization and minimum window size, and wherein step b)

comprises the step of crediting viewing with respect to

the viewing window only if the viewing window is not

minimized and the size of the viewing window is greater

than the minimum window size.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

minimization and amount of occlusion of the viewing

window, and wherein step b) comprises the step of

crediting viewing with respect to the viewing window only

if the viewing window is not minimized and the amount of

occlusion of the viewing window is less than a maximum

occlusion.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

minimization and a percentage of the screen occupied by

the viewing window, and wherein step b) comprises the step of crediting viewing with respect to the viewing

window only if the viewing window is not minimized and

the percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing

window is greater than a minimum percentage.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

minimum window size and an amount of occlusion of the

viewing window, and wherein step b) comprises the step of

crediting viewing with respect to the viewing window only

if the size of the viewing window is greater than the

minimum window size and the amount of occlusion of the

viewing window is less than a maximum occlusion.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

minimum window size and a percentage of the screen

occupied by the viewing window, and wherein step b)

comprises the step of crediting viewing with respect to

the viewing window only if the size of the viewing window

is greater than the minimum window size and the percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing window

is greater than a minimum percentage .

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

an amount of occlusion of the viewing window and a

percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing window,

and wherein step b) comprises the step of crediting

viewing with respect to the viewing window only if the

amount of occlusion of the viewing window is less than a

maximum occlusion and the percentage of the screen

occupied by the viewing window is greater than a minimum

percentage .

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

minimization, minimum window size, and an amount of

occlusion of the viewing window, and wherein step b)

comprises the step of crediting viewing with respect to

the viewing window only if the viewing window is not

minimized and the size of the viewing window is greater than the minimum window size and the amount of occlusion

of the viewing window is less than a maximum occlusion.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

minimization, minimum window size, and a percentage of

the screen occupied by the viewing window, and wherein

step b) comprises the step of crediting viewing with

respect to the viewing window only if the viewing window

is not minimized and the size of the viewing window is

greater than the minimum window size and the percentage

of the screen occupied by the viewing window is greater

than a minimum percentage .

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

minimum window size, an amount of occlusion of the

viewing window, and a percentage of the screen occupied

by the viewing window, and wherein step b) comprises the

step of crediting viewing with respect to the viewing

window only if the size of the viewing window is greater

than the minimum window size and the amount of occlusion of the viewing window is less than a maximum occlusion

and the percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing

window is greater than a minimum percentage.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

minimization, an amount of occlusion of the viewing

window, and a percentage of the screen occupied by the

viewing window, and wherein step b) comprises the step of

crediting viewing with respect to the viewing window only

if the viewing window is not minimized and the amount of

occlusion of the viewing window is less than a maximum

occlusion and the percentage of the screen occupied by

the viewing window is greater than a minimum percentage.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the

predetermined crediting rule applied in step a) comprises

minimization, minimum window size, an amount of occlusion

of the viewing window, and a percentage of the screen

occupied by the viewing window, and wherein step b)

comprises the step of crediting viewing with respect to

the viewing window only if the viewing window is not minimized and the size of the viewing window is greater

than the minimum window size and the amount of occlusion

of the viewing window is less than a maximum occlusion

and the percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing

window is greater than a minimum percentage .

20. The method of claim 1 wherein steps a) and

b) are implemented by software written in Java.

21. A method of metering video displayed in a

window on a screen of a viewing device comprising 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.

22. The method of claim 21 comprising the

further following step:

d) determining a program and/or station from an

electronic programming guide based upon the channel data

determined in step b) or c) .

23. The method of claim 21 comprising the

further following step:

d) if the viewing device has neither a COM

interface nor an API interface, determining channel data

from window controls within a viewing application.

24. The method of claim 23 comprising the

further following step:

e) determining a program and/or station from an

electronic programming guide based upon the channel data

determined in step b) or c) .

25. The method of claim 23 comprising the

further following steps:

e) finding main windows; f) finding a video application main window from

the main windows found in step e) ;

g) finding child windows of the video

application main window found in step f) ;

h) finding a channel related child window from

the child windows found in step g) ; and,

i) determining channel data from the channel

related child window found in step h) .

26. The method of claim 25 wherein step f)

comprises the following step:

using a callback function to find the video

application main window from the main windows.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein step h)

comprises the following step:

using a callback function to find the channel

related child window.

28. The method of claim 25 comprising the

further following step: determining a program and/or station from an

electronic programming guide based upon the channel data

determined in step i) .

29. The method of claim 21 wherein the viewing

device is a computer.

30. The method of claim 21 wherein the viewing

device is a television.

31. The method of claim 21 wherein the viewing

device is a combination of a television and a set top

box.

32. The method of claim 21 wherein steps a),

b) , and c) are implemented by software written in Java.

33. A software meter arranged to meter video

displayed in a window on a screen of a viewing device,

the software meter being executed by a processor, the

software meter comprising: a) first program code executable to determine

tuning data from a video application related to the

displayed video; and,

b) second program code executable to determine

an ancillary identification code relating to displayed

video.

34. The software meter of claim 33 wherein the

second program code determines the ancillary

identification code from a device driver.

35. The software meter of claim 42 wherein the

device driver is a device driver for a video tuning card.

36. The software meter of claim 33 further

comprising third program code arranged to determine a

program and/or station from an electronic programming

guide based upon the tuning data .

37. The software meter of claim 33 wherein the

first program code is arranged to (i) determine whether

the viewing device has a COM interface or an API interface, (ii) determine channel data from a channel

related object of a COM interface if the viewing device

has the COM interface, and (iii) determine channel data

from application related data associated with a video

application if the viewing device has an API interface.

38. The software meter of claim 37 wherein the

first program code is arranged to determine channel data

from window text if the viewing device has neither a COM

interface nor an API interface.

39. The software meter of claim 38 further

comprising third program code arranged to determine a

program and/or station from an electronic programming

guide based upon the tuning data.

40. The software meter of claim 38 wherein the

first program code is arranged to (i) find main windows,

(ii) find a video application main window from the main

windows, (iii) find child windows of the video

application main window, (iv) find a channel related child window from the child windows, and (v) determine

channel data from the channel related child window.

41. The software meter of claim 40 wherein the

first program code is arranged to use a callback function

in order to find the video application main window from

the main windows .

42. The software meter of claim 40 wherein the

first program code is arranged to use a callback function

to find the channel related child window.

43. The software meter of claim 40 further

comprising third program code arranged to determine a

program and/or station from an electronic programming

guide based upon the tuning data.

44. The software meter of claim 33 wherein the

software meter is written in Java.

45. A metering system for metering viewing of

video displayed in a window on a screen of a viewing

device comprising:

a software meter arranged to determine

identifying data related to the video displayed in the

window; and,

a creditor arranged to apply a crediting rule

in determining whether to credit the identifying data.

46. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises minimization, and wherein

the creditor comprises program code to credit the

identifying data only if the viewing window is not

minimized.

47. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises minimum window size, and

wherein the creditor comprises program code to credit the

identifying data only if the size of the viewing window

is greater than the minimum window size.

48. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises an amount of occlusion of

the viewing window, and wherein the creditor comprises

program code to credit the identifying data only if the

amount of occlusion of the viewing window is less than a

maximum occlusion.

49. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises a percentage of the screen

occupied by the viewing window, and wherein the creditor

comprises program code to credit the identifying data

only if the percentage of the screen occupied by the

viewing window is greater than a minimum percentage.

50. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the viewing window is a first viewing window, wherein a

second viewing window is displayed on the screen, wherein

audio is being played with respect to one of the first

and second viewing windows, and wherein the creditor

comprises program code to credit the identifying data

only with respect to the one of the first and second

viewing windows associated with the audio.

51. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the viewing window is a first viewing window, wherein a

second viewing window is displayed on the screen, wherein

one of the first and second viewing windows is a larger

viewing window, and wherein the creditor comprises

program code to credit the identifying data only with

respect to the larger viewing window.

52. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the viewing window is a first viewing window, wherein a

second viewing window is displayed on the screen, wherein

one of the first and second viewing windows is a top-most

viewing window, and wherein the creditor comprises

program code to credit the identifying data only with

respect to the top-most viewing window.

53. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises minimization and minimum

window size, and wherein the creditor comprises program

code to credit the identifying data only if the viewing window is not minimized and the size of the viewing

window is greater than the minimum window size.

54. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises minimization and an amount

of occlusion of the viewing window, and wherein the

creditor comprises program code to credit the identifying

data only if the viewing window is not minimized and the

amount of occlusion of the viewing window is less than a

maximum occlusion.

55. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises minimization and a

percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing window,

and wherein the creditor comprises program code to credit

the identifying data only if the viewing window is not

minimized and the percentage of the screen occupied by

the viewing window is greater than a minimum percentage.

56. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises minimum window size and an

amount of occlusion of the viewing window, and wherein the creditor comprises program code to credit the

identifying data only if the size of the viewing window

is greater than the minimum window size and the amount of

occlusion of the viewing window is less than a maximum

occlusion.

57. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises minimum window size and a

percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing window,

and wherein the creditor comprises program code to credit

the identifying data only if the size of the viewing

window is greater than the minimum window size and the

percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing window

is greater than a minimum percentage.

58. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises an amount of occlusion of

the viewing window and a percentage of the screen

occupied by the viewing window, and wherein the creditor

comprises program code to credit the identifying data

only if the amount of occlusion of the viewing window is

less than a maximum occlusion and the percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing window is greater than a

minimum percentage .

59. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises minimization, minimum

window size, and an amount of occlusion of the viewing

window, and wherein the creditor comprises program code

to credit the identifying data only if the viewing window

is not minimized and the size of the viewing window is

greater than the minimum window size and the amount of

occlusion of the viewing window is less than a maximum

occlusion.

60. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises minimization, minimum

window size, and a percentage of the screen occupied by

the viewing window, and wherein the creditor comprises

program code to credit the identifying data only if the

viewing window is not minimized and the size of the

viewing window is greater than the minimum window size

and the percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing

window is greater than a minimum percentage .

61. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises minimum window size, an

amount of occlusion of the viewing window, and a

percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing window,

and wherein the creditor comprises program code to credit

the identifying data only if the size of the viewing

window is greater than the minimum window size and the

amount of occlusion of the viewing window is less than a

maximum occlusion and the percentage of the screen

occupied by the viewing window is greater than a minimum

percentage.

62. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the predetermined crediting rule applied in step a)

comprises minimization, an amount of occlusion of the

viewing window, and a percentage of the screen occupied

by the viewing window, and wherein step b) comprises the

step of crediting viewing with respect to the viewing

window only if the viewing window is not minimized and

the amount of occlusion of the viewing window is less

than a maximum occlusion and the percentage of the screen occupied by the viewing window is greater than a minimum

percentage .

63. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the crediting rules comprises minimization, minimum

window size, an amount of occlusion of the viewing

window, and a percentage of the screen occupied by the

viewing window, and wherein the creditor comprises

program code to credit the identifying data only if the

viewing window is not minimized and the size of the

viewing window is greater than the minimum window size

and the amount of occlusion of the viewing window is less

than a maximum occlusion and the percentage of the screen

occupied by the viewing window is greater than a minimum

percentage.

64. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the software meter has first program code to determine

whether the viewing device has a COM interface or an API

interface and second program code to determine channel

data from a channel related object of the COM interface or from application related data associated with a video

application through the API interface.

65. The metering system of claim 64 wherein

the software meter has third program code to determine a

program and/or station from an electronic programming

guide based upon the channel data.

66. The metering system of claim 64 wherein

the software meter has third program code to determine

channel data from window text if the viewing device has

neither a COM interface nor an API interface.

67. The metering system of claim 66 wherein

the software meter has fourth program code to determine a

program and/or station from an electronic programming

guide based upon the channel data.

68. The metering system of claim 66 wherein

the software meter has fourth program code to find main

windows, wherein the software meter has fifth program

code to find a video application main window from the main windows, wherein the software meter has sixth

program code to find child windows of the video

application main window, wherein the software meter has

seventh program code to find a channel related child

window from the child windows, and wherein the software

meter has eighth program code to determine channel data

from the channel related child window.

69. The metering system of claim 68 wherein

the fourth program code uses a callback function to find

the video application main window from the main windows.

70. The metering system of claim 68 wherein

the sixth program code uses a callback function to find

the channel related child window.

71. The metering system of claim 68 wherein

the software meter has ninth program code to determine a

program and/or station from an electronic programming

guide based upon the channel data.

72. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the software meter comprises :

a) first program code executable to determine

tuning data from a video application related to the

displayed video; and,

b) second program code executable to determine

an ancillary identification code relating to displayed

video .

73. The metering system of claim 72 wherein

the second program code determines the ancillary

identification code from a device driver.

74. The metering system of claim 73 wherein

the device driver is a device driver for a video tuning

card.

75. The metering system of claim 72 comprising

third program code arranged to determine a program and/or

station from an electronic programming guide based upon

the tuning data.

76. The metering system of claim 72 wherein

the first program code is arranged to (i) determine

whether the viewing device has a COM interface or an API

interface, (ii) determine channel data from a channel

related object of a COM interface if the viewing device

has the COM interface, and (iii) determine channel data

from application related data associated with a video

application if the viewing device has an API interface.

77. The metering system of claim 76 wherein

the first program code is arranged to determine channel

data from window text if the viewing device has neither a

COM interface nor an API interface.

78. The metering system of claim 77 comprising

third program code arranged to determine a program and/or

station from an electronic programming guide based upon

the tuning data.

79. The metering system of claim 77 wherein

the first program code is arranged to (i) find main

windows, (ii) find a video application main window from the main windows, (iii) find child windows of the video

application main window, (iv) find a channel related

child window from the child windows, and (v) determine

channel data from the channel related child window.

80. The metering system of claim 79 wherein

the first program code is arranged to use a callback

function in order to find the video application main

window from the main windows .

81. The metering system of claim 79 wherein

the first program code is arranged to use a callback

function to find the channel related child window.

82. The metering system of claim 79 comprising

third program code arranged to determine a program and/or

station from an electronic programming guide based upon

the tuning data.

83. The metering system of claim 45 wherein

the software meter is written in Java.