US 12,445,681 B2
Methods and apparatus to optimize reference signature matching using watermark matching
James Petro, Dunedin, FL (US); Dan Nelson, Tampa, FL (US); Deborah Cross, Troy, AL (US); and Raghuram Ranganathan, Tampa, FL (US)
Assigned to The Nielsen Company (US), LLC, New York, NY (US)
Filed by The Nielsen Company (US), LLC, New York, NY (US)
Filed on Jul. 5, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/765,194.
Application 18/765,194 is a continuation of application No. 17/902,659, filed on Sep. 2, 2022, granted, now 12,041,301.
Application 17/902,659 is a continuation of application No. 17/114,117, filed on Dec. 7, 2020, granted, now 11,438,649, issued on Sep. 6, 2022.
Application 17/114,117 is a continuation of application No. 16/232,512, filed on Dec. 26, 2018, granted, now 10,863,236, issued on Dec. 8, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2024/0364964 A1, Oct. 31, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04N 21/442 (2011.01); H04N 21/466 (2011.01); H04N 21/8358 (2011.01)
CPC H04N 21/44204 (2013.01) [H04N 21/4667 (2013.01); H04N 21/8358 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An audience measurement computing system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the audience measurement computing system to perform operations comprising:
obtaining, via a network interface, monitoring data characterizing a time period of a media event, wherein the monitoring data includes a first time segment and a second time segment;
mapping a set of detected watermarks associated with the first time segment onto a corresponding set of reference watermarks stored in a reference watermark database, wherein the set of reference watermarks identify one or more reference media events associated with the first time segment;
comparing detected timestamps associated with the set of detected watermarks and reference timestamps associated with the one or more media events identified by the corresponding set of reference watermarks;
making a determination, based on the comparison of the detected timestamps with the reference timestamps, that a plurality of time offsets for ones of the set of detected watermarks correspond to a single time offset; and
crediting media exposure during the first time segment based on the determination that the plurality of time offsets correspond to a single time offset.