Use of in-band metadata as basis to access reference fingerprints to facilitate content-related action

1. A method comprising:

receiving by a media client a media stream, and receiving by the media client, as in-band metadata with the media stream, an identifier of the media stream;

processing by the media client the media stream for presentation; and

while processing by the media client the media stream for presentation, transmitting by the media client to a server, in out-of-band signaling, the identifier of the media stream received by the media client as in-band metadata with the media stream, to enable the server to obtain, based on a lookup keyed to the identifier, reference fingerprints representing the media stream without a need for the server to search for reference fingerprints that match query fingerprints representing the media stream being processed by the media client, wherein obtaining the reference fingerprints based on the lookup keyed to the identifier comprises referring to predefined reference data that associates various identifiers with respective reference fingerprints, to determine, based on the reference data, the reference fingerprints with which the identifier is associated.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving by the media client from the server a directive for the media client to perform a content-related action at a particular time in the media stream, wherein the particular time is established based on the obtained reference fingerprints.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the content-related action comprises dynamic ad insertion.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving by the media client the identifier as in-band metadata with the media stream comprises receiving by the media client the identifier steganographically encoded as a watermark in the media stream.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving by the media client the identifier as in-band metadata with the media stream comprises receiving by the media client the identifier carried in a transport stream that carries the media stream to the media client.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the out-of-band signaling comprises signaling over a broadband network connection.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media client comprises a content presentation device, and wherein the processing of the media stream for presentation comprises the media client presenting content of the media stream on a user interface.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing of the media stream for presentation comprises outputting the media stream for presentation by an associated device.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein enabling the server to obtain the reference fingerprints representing the media stream enables establishment of synchronous lock that maps reference time to client time, wherein establishing of the synchronous lock enables translating a reference time of a content-related action to a client time of the content-related action.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein enabling the server to obtain the reference fingerprints representing the media stream enables the server to perform fingerprint comparison between a replaceable content segment and the obtained reference fingerprints, to detect presence of the replaceable content segment in the media stream.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media stream comprises a television channel.

12. A media client comprising:

a content communication interface;

a network communication interface;

a processing unit;

non-transitory data storage; and

program instructions stored in the non-transitory data storage and executable by the processing unit to carry out operations including:

receiving, through the content communication interface, a media stream,

receiving, through the content communication interface, as in-band metadata with the media stream, an identifier of the media stream,

processing the media stream for presentation,

while processing the media stream for presentation, transmitting to a server, in out-of-band signaling through the network communication interface, the identifier of the media stream received as in-band metadata with the media stream, to enable the server to obtain, based on a lookup keyed to the identifier, reference fingerprints representing the media stream without a need for the server to search for reference fingerprints that match query fingerprints representing the media stream being processed for presentation, wherein obtaining the reference fingerprints based on the lookup keyed to the identifier comprises referring to predefined reference data that associates various identifiers with respective reference fingerprints, to determine, based on the reference data, the reference fingerprints with which the identifier is associated, and

receiving from the server, through the network communication interface, a directive for the media client to perform a content-related action at a particular time in the media stream, wherein the particular time is established based on the obtained reference fingerprints.

13. The media client of claim 12 , wherein the content-related action comprises dynamic ad insertion.

14. The media client of claim 12 , wherein receiving the identifier as in-band metadata with the media stream comprises receiving the identifier steganographically encoded as a watermark in the media stream.

15. The media client of claim 12 , wherein receiving by the media client the identifier as in-band metadata with the media stream comprises receiving by the media client the identifier carried in a transport stream that carries the media stream to the media client.

16. The media client of claim 12 , wherein enabling the server to obtain the reference fingerprints representing the media stream enables establishment of synchronous lock that maps reference time to client time, wherein establishing of the synchronous lock enables translating a reference time of the content-related action to a client time of the content related action.

17. The media client of claim 12 , wherein enabling the server to obtain the reference fingerprints representing the media stream enables the server to perform fingerprint comparison between a replaceable content segment and the obtained reference fingerprints, to detect presence of the replaceable content segment in the media stream.

18. A method comprising:

while a media client is processing a media stream for presentation, receiving by a server from the media client an out-of-band signal providing the server with an identifier of the media stream that the media client extracted from in-band metadata received by the media client with the media stream;

using by the server the received identifier of the media stream as a basis to obtain, based on a lookup keyed to the identifier, reference fingerprints representing the media stream, without a need for the server to search for reference fingerprints that match query fingerprints representing the media stream being processed by the media client, wherein using the received identifier as a basis to obtain the reference fingerprints based on the lookup keyed to the identifier comprises referring to predefined reference data that associates various identifiers with respective reference fingerprints, to determine, based on the reference data, the reference fingerprints with which the identifier is associated;

using by the server the obtained reference fingerprints as a basis to determine a point in the media stream when the media client should perform a content-related action; and

directing by the server the media client to perform at the determined point the content-related action.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the content-related action comprises dynamic ad insertion.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the identifier of the media stream that the media client extracted from in-band metadata received by the media client with the media stream comprises an identifier that the media client extracted from a watermark in the media stream.

21. Non-transitory data storage embodying program instructions executable by one or more processors to carry out operations including:

while a media client is processing a media stream for presentation, receiving from the media client an out-of-band signal providing an identifier of the media stream that the media client extracted from in-band metadata received by the media client with the media stream;

using the received identifier of the media stream as a basis to obtain, based on a lookup keyed to the identifier, reference fingerprints representing the media stream, without a need to search for reference fingerprints that match query fingerprints representing the media stream being processed by the media client, wherein using the received identifier as a basis to obtain the reference fingerprints based on the lookup keyed to the identifier comprises referring to predefined reference data that associates various identifiers with respective reference fingerprints, to determine, based on the reference data, the reference fingerprints with which the identifier is associated;

using the obtained reference fingerprints as a basis to determine a point in the media stream when the media client should perform a content-related action; and

directing the media client to perform, at the determined point, the content-related action.