IP Library Granted Patent US 9,158,760
Granted Patent B2
US 9,158,760 · App. 13/725,021 · Granted Oct 13, 2015

Audio decoding with supplemental semantic audio recognition and report generation

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,158,760
App. No.
13/725,021
Granted
Oct 13, 2015
Kind
B2
Abstract

System, apparatus and method for determining semantic information from audio, where incoming audio is sampled and processed to extract audio features, including temporal, spectral, harmonic and rhythmic features. The extracted audio features are compared to stored audio templates that include ranges and/or values for certain features and are tagged for specific ranges and/or values. The semantic information may be associated with audio codes to determine changing characteristics of identified media during a time period.

Claims (34)

1. A processor-based method for producing supplemental information for media containing embedded audio codes, wherein the codes are read from an audio portion of the media, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving the audio codes at an input from a data network, said audio codes being received from a device during a first time period, said audio codes representing a first characteristic of the audio portion;

receiving semantic audio signature data at the input from the data network, said semantic audio signature data being received from the device for the first time period, wherein the semantic audio signature comprises at least one of temporal, spectral, harmonic and rhythmic features relating to a second characteristic of the media content; and

successively associating the semantic audio signature data to the audio codes in a processor for the first time period.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semantic audio signature data temporal features comprise at least one of amplitude, power and zero crossing of at least some of the media content audio.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semantic audio signature data spectral features comprise at least one of spectral centroid, spectral rolloff, spectral flux, spectral flatness measure, spectral crest factor, Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients, Daubechies wavelet coefficients, sopectral dissonance, spectral irregularity and spectral inharmonicity of at least some of the media content audio.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semantic audio signature data harmonic features comprise at least one of pitch, tonality, pitch class profile, harmonic changes, main pitch class, octave range of dominant pitch, main tonal interval relation and overall pitch strength of at least some of the media content audio.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semantic audio signature data rhythmic features comprise at least one of rhythmic structure, beat period, rhythmic fluctuation and average tempo for at least some of the media content audio.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the audio codes are formed by transforming at least some of the audio signals from a time domain to a frequency domain.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semantic audio signature data is formed by transforming at least some of the audio signals from a time domain to a frequency domain.

8. A system for producing supplemental information for media containing embedded audio codes, wherein the codes are read from an audio portion of the media, comprising:

an input configured to receive the audio codes from a data network, said audio codes being received from a device during a first time period, wherein the audio codes representing a first characteristic of the audio portion;

said input being further configured to receive semantic audio signature data from the data network, said semantic audio signature data being received from the device for the first time period, wherein the semantic audio signature comprises at least one of temporal, spectral, harmonic and rhythmic features relating to a second characteristic of the media content; and

a processor, operatively coupled to the input, said processor being configured to successively associate the semantic audio signature data to the audio codes in a processor for the first time period.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the semantic audio signature data temporal features comprise at least one of amplitude, power and zero crossing of at least some of the media content audio.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the semantic audio signature data spectral features comprise at least one of spectral centroid, spectral rolloff, spectral flux, spectral flatness measure, spectral crest factor, Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients, Daubechies wavelet coefficients, sopectral dissonance, spectral irregularity and spectral inharmonicity of at least some of the media content audio.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the semantic audio signature data harmonic features comprise at least one of pitch, tonality, pitch class profile, harmonic changes, main pitch class, octave range of dominant pitch, main tonal interval relation and overall pitch strength of at least some of the media content audio.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the semantic audio signature data rhythmic features comprise at least one of rhythmic structure, beat period, rhythmic fluctuation and average tempo for at least some of the media content audio.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the audio codes are formed by transforming at least some of the audio signals from a time domain to a frequency domain.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the semantic audio signature data is formed by transforming at least some of the audio signals from a time domain to a frequency domain.

15. A processor-based method for producing supplemental information for media containing embedded audio codes, wherein the codes are read from an audio portion of the media, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving the audio codes at an input from a data network, said audio codes being received from a device during a first time period, wherein the audio codes represent a first characteristic of audio portion;

receiving semantic audio signature data at the input from the data network, said semantic audio signature data being received from the device for the first time period, wherein the semantic audio signature comprises at least one of temporal, spectral, harmonic and rhythmic features relating to a second characteristic of the media content;

successively associating the semantic audio signature data to the audio codes in a processor for the first time period; and

processing the associated semantic audio signature data and audio codes data to determine changing second characteristics in relation to the first characteristic.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second characteristic comprises at least one of:

the temporal features comprising at least one of amplitude, power and zero crossing of at least some of the media content,

the spectral features comprising at least one of spectral centroid, spectral rolloff, spectral flux, spectral flatness measure, spectral crest factor, Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients, Daubechies wavelet coefficients, sopectral dissonance, spectral irregularity and spectral inharmonicity of at least some of the media content,

the harmonic features comprising at least one of pitch, tonality, pitch class profile, harmonic changes, main pitch class, octave range of dominant pitch, main tonal interval relation and overall pitch strength of at least some of the media content,

the rhythmic features comprising at least one of rhythmic structure, beat period, rhythmic fluctuation and average tempo for at least some of the audio signals.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first characteristic data comprises one of media content identification, media content distributor identification, and media content broadcaster identification.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second characteristic data comprises one of genre, instrumentation, style, acoustical dynamics and emotive descriptors.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the audio codes are formed by transforming at least some of the media content from a time domain to a frequency domain.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the semantic audio signature data is formed by transforming at least some of the media content from a time domain to a frequency domain.

Assignments (9)
RELEASE (REEL 054066 / FRAME 0064) Recorded May 11, 2023
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 063605/0001 →
RELEASE (REEL 053473 / FRAME 0001) Recorded May 11, 2023
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC
Reel/Frame 063603/0001 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 8, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: ARES CAPITAL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 063574/0632 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 28, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 063561/0381 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 31, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
Reel/Frame 063560/0547 →
RELEASE (REEL 037172 / FRAME 0415) Recorded Oct 13, 2022
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
Reel/Frame 061750/0221 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE PATENTS LISTED ON SCHEDULE 1 RECORDED ON 6-9-2020 PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 053473 FRAME 0001. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE SUPPLEMENTAL IP SECURITY AGREEMENT. Recorded Oct 7, 2020
From: A.C. NIELSEN (ARGENTINA) S.A.; A.C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; ACN HOLDINGS INC.; ACNIELSEN CORPORATION; ACNIELSEN ERATINGS.COM; AFFINNOVA, INC.; ART HOLDING, L.L.C.; ATHENIAN LEASING CORPORATION; CZT/ACN TRADEMARKS, L.L.C.; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC; NIELSEN AUDIO, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER INSIGHTS, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE, INC.; NIELSEN FINANCE CO.; NIELSEN FINANCE LLC; NIELSEN INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.; NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC; NMR INVESTING I, INC.; TCG DIVESTITURE INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; VIZU CORPORATION; VNU MARKETING INFORMATION, INC.; NMR LICENSING ASSOCIATES, L.P.; NIELSEN HOLDING AND FINANCE B.V.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY B.V.; VNU INTERNATIONAL B.V.
To: CITIBANK, N.A
Reel/Frame 054066/0064 →
SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 9, 2020
From: A. C. NIELSEN COMPANY, LLC; ACN HOLDINGS INC.; ACNIELSEN CORPORATION; ACNIELSEN ERATINGS.COM; AFFINNOVA, INC.; ART HOLDING, L.L.C.; ATHENIAN LEASING CORPORATION; CZT/ACN TRADEMARKS, L.L.C.; EXELATE, INC.; GRACENOTE, INC.; GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; NETRATINGS, LLC; NIELSEN AUDIO, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER INSIGHTS, INC.; NIELSEN CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE, INC.; NIELSEN FINANCE CO.; NIELSEN FINANCE LLC; NIELSEN INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.; NIELSEN MOBILE, LLC; NIELSEN UK FINANCE I, LLC; NMR INVESTING I, INC.; TCG DIVESTITURE INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC; VIZU CORPORATION; VNU MARKETING INFORMATION, INC.; NMR LICENSING ASSOCIATES, L.P.; NIELSEN HOLDING AND FINANCE B.V.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY B.V.; VNU INTERNATIONAL B.V.
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053473/0001 →
SUPPLEMENTAL IP SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 30, 2015
From: THE NIELSEN COMPANY ((US), LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT FOR THE FIRST LIEN SECURED PARTIES
Reel/Frame 037172/0415 →