ELECTRONIC COUPON DISTRIBUTION AND REDEMPTION VIA ACOUSTIC COMMUNICATION

1 . A computer-implemented method for redeeming an electronic coupon, comprising:

receiving on a transmit device the electronic coupon that includes an embedded identifier that indexes coupon data;

playing the identifier of the electronic coupon over air from a speaker of the transmit device in proximity to a receive device;

decoding the identifier in response to the receive device receiving the audio signal over the air; and

using the identifier to access the coupon data including purchase discount information.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising: generating by an electronic coupon cloud the electronic coupon for distribution to the transmit device.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the identifier comprises an acoustic modulated communication identifier (AMP ID).

4 . The method of claim 3 further comprising:

creating the AMP ID and associating the AMP ID with data representing coupon data, including the purchase discount.

5 . The method of claim 4 wherein the AMP ID comprises a number or alphanumeric string that is unique for each electronic coupon.

6 . The method of claim 4 wherein the coupon data comprises at least a portion of:

an identity an issuer of the electronic coupon; a discount amount; an expiration date;

and an identity of users to which the electronic coupon is distributed.

7 . The method of claim 4 further comprising using the AMP ID to modulate one or more selected frequencies for one or more acoustic carrier signals, creating a modulated AMP ID.

8 . The method of claim 7 further comprising at least one of embedding and mixing the modulated AMP ID into a multimedia file that contains at least a portion of content comprising the coupon data to create the electronic coupon.

9 . The method of claim 1 further comprising triggering direct distribution of the electronic coupon to the transmit device by at least one of proximity identification, user request, and analytics.

10 . The method of claim 1 further comprising indirectly distributing the electronic coupon to the transmit device by a server sending a message to the transmit device having a link directed to a webpage for the electronic coupon, wherein the identifier is played on the transmit device from a remote source.

11 . The method of claim 1 wherein using the identifier to access the coupon data including purchase discount information further comprises the receive device locally accessing the discount amount and automatically subtracting the discount amount from a purchase price of a transaction.

12 . The method of claim 1 wherein using the identifier to access the coupon data including purchase discount information further comprises the receive device sending the identifier to a server to access data stored remotely.

13 . The method of claim 1 further comprising enabling a user of the transmit device to share the electronic coupon with another user.

14 . A system, comprising:

a transmit device having a processor, memory and a speaker, the processor configured to:

receive on a transmit device an electronic coupon that includes an embedded identifier that indexes coupon data, and

play the identifier of the electronic coupon over air from a speaker of the transmit device in proximity to the receive device; and

a receive device having a microphone that is configured to;

receive the audio signal over the air and decode the identifier, and use the identifier to access the coupon data including purchase discount information.

15 . The system of claim 14 further comprising an electronic coupon cloud in communication with the transmit device that generates the electronic coupon for distribution to the transmit device.

16 . The system of claim 14 wherein the identifier comprises an acoustic modulated communication identifier (AMP ID).

17 . The system of claim 16 further comprising:

creating the AMP ID and associating the AMP ID with data representing coupon data, including the purchase discount.

18 . The system of claim 17 wherein the AMP ID comprises a number or alphanumeric string that is unique for each electronic coupon.

19 . The system of claim 17 wherein the coupon data comprises at least a portion of:

an identity an issuer of the electronic coupon; a discount amount; an expiration date;

and an identity of users to which the electronic coupon is distributed.

20 . The system of claim 17 wherein the AMP ID is used to modulate one or more selected frequencies for one or more acoustic carrier signals, creating a modulated AMP ID.

21 . The system of claim 20 wherein the modulated AMP ID is at least one of embedded and mixed into a multimedia file that contains at least a portion of content comprising the coupon data to create the electronic coupon.

22 . The system of claim 14 wherein direct distribution of the electronic coupon is triggered to the transmit device by at least one of proximity identification, user request, and analytics.

23 . The system of claim 14 wherein the electronic coupon is indirectly distributed to the transmit device by a server sending a message to the transmit device having a link directed to a webpage for the electronic coupon, wherein the identifier is played on the transmit device from a remote source.

24 . The system of claim 14 wherein the received device uses the identifier to access the coupon data including purchase discount information further comprises the receive device locally accessing the discount amount and automatically subtracting the discount amount from a purchase price of a transaction.

25 . The system of claim 14 wherein the received device uses the identifier to access the coupon data including purchase discount information further comprises the receive device sending the identifier to a server to access data stored remotely.

26 . The system of claim 14 wherein a user of the transmit device is enabled to share the electronic coupon with another user.

27 . A computer-implemented method for redeeming an electronic coupon, comprising:

receiving on a transmit device the electronic coupon that includes an embedded modulated identifier that indexes coupon data;

decoding the modulated identifier in the electronic coupon to recover the identifier;

transcoding the recovered identifier for a selected medium;

re-transmitting the transcoded identifier in proximity to a receive device; and

using by the receive device the transcoded identifier to access the coupon data including purchase discount information.

28 . The method of claim 27 wherein the selected medium comprises one of Near Field Communication (NFC), Ultra Wide-band (UWB), Radio Frequency Identification (RFD), Infrared, WiFi, BlueTooth, proprietary wireless, Bar code/Display technology, USB, Firewire, wired, and HTTP.

29 . A method for generating, distributing and sharing an electronic coupon, wherein a server in an electronic coupon cloud is in communication with transmit devices of various users, comprising:

generating by the electronic coupon cloud an electronic coupon with a unique identifier;

logging information for the electronic coupon in an account for user A and sending the electronic coupon to user A's transmit device;

sending the electronic coupon from user A's transmit device to user B's transmit device, thereby sharing the electronic coupon;

extracting by user B's transmit device the identifier from the electronic coupon and sending the identifier to the electronic coupon cloud;

generating by electronic coupon cloud a copy of the electron coupon and embedding a new identifier; and

logging information for the copy of electronic coupon including the new identifier in an account for user B.

30 . The method of claim 29 further comprising rewarding users based on a number of coupon shares and redemptions by:

crediting by the electronic coupon cloud user A's account for sharing the electronic coupon and logging user B's identifier;

in response to user B redeeming the copy of the electronic coupon, crediting by the electronic coupon cloud user A's account with a redemption;

in response to user B sharing the copy of the electronic coupon with user C, crediting by the electronic coupon cloud user A's account and user B's account with a share; and

in response to user B redeeming the copy of the electronic coupon, crediting by the electronic coupon cloud user A's account and user B's account with a redemption.