IP Library Granted Patent US 11,749,244
Granted Patent B2
US 11,749,244 · App. 17/157,780 · Granted Sep 5, 2023

Methods and apparatus to extract a pitch-independent timbre attribute from a media signal

Inventor: Zafar Rafii (Berkeley, CA)
Assignee: The Nielson Company (US), LLC
G10H3/125G10H1/06G10H2210/056G10H2250/221G10H2250/235
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,749,244
App. No.
17/157,780
Granted
Sep 5, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods and apparatus to extract a pitch-independent timbre attribute from a media signal are disclosed. An example apparatus includes an audio characteristic extractor to determine a logarithmic spectrum of an audio signal; transform the logarithmic spectrum of the audio signal into a frequency domain to generate a transform output; determine a magnitude of the transform output; and determine a timbre attribute of the audio signal based on an inverse transform of the magnitude.

Claims (38)

1. An apparatus comprising:

an audio characteristic extractor to:

determine a logarithmic spectrum of an audio signal;

transform the logarithmic spectrum of the audio signal into a frequency domain to generate a transform output;

determine a magnitude of the transform output; and

determine a timbre attribute of the audio signal based on an inverse transform of the magnitude.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the audio signal is part of a media signal.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the audio signal is an audio component of a video signal, further including an audio extractor to extract the audio signal from the video signal.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the audio characteristic extractor is to determine the logarithmic spectrum of the audio signal using a constant Q transform.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the audio characteristic extractor is to determine the transform of the logarithmic spectrum using a Fourier transform and determine the inverse transform using an inverse Fourier transform.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the audio characteristic extractor is to determine a timbre-independent pitch attribute of the audio signal based on an inverse transform of a complex argument of the transform of the logarithmic spectrum.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further including an interface to:

transmit the timbre attribute to a processing device; and

in response to transmitting the timbre attribute to the processing device, receive at least one of a classification of the audio signal or an identifier corresponding to a media signal corresponding to the audio signal from the processing device.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the interface is to transmit the at least one of the classification of the audio signal or the identifier corresponding to the media signal to a user interface.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further including a microphone to receive the audio signal via ambient audio.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the audio signal corresponds to a media signal to be output by a media output device.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , further including an interface to receive the audio signal from a microphone.

12. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a one or more processors to at least:

determine a logarithmic spectrum of an audio signal;

transform the logarithmic spectrum of the audio signal into a frequency domain to generate a transform output;

determine a magnitude of the transform output; and

determine a timbre attribute of the audio signal based on an inverse transform of the magnitude.

13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the audio signal is part of a media signal.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the audio signal is a an audio component of a video signal, wherein the instructions when executed cause the one or more processors to extract the audio signal from the video signal.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the instructions when executed cause the one or more processors to determine the logarithmic spectrum of the audio signal using a constant Q transform.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the instructions when executed cause the one or more processors to determine the transform of the logarithmic spectrum using a Fourier transform and determine the inverse transform using an inverse Fourier transform.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the instructions when executed cause the one or more processors to determine a timbre-independent pitch attribute of the audio signal based on an inverse transform of a complex argument of the transform of the logarithmic spectrum.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the instructions when executed cause the one or more processors to:

transmit the timbre attribute to a processing device; and

in response to transmitting the timbre attribute to the processing device, receive at least one of a classification of the audio signal or an identifier corresponding to a media signal corresponding to the audio signal from the processing device.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the instructions when executed cause the one or more processors to transmit the at least one of the classification of the audio signal or the identifier corresponding to the media signal to a user interface.

20. An apparatus comprising:

means for determining a timbre attribute of an audio signal, the means for determining to:

determine a logarithmic spectrum of the audio signal;

transform the logarithmic spectrum of the audio signal into a frequency domain to generate a transform output;

determine a magnitude of the transform output; and

determine the timbre attribute of the audio signal based on an inverse transform of the magnitude.

Assignments (4)
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 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 4, 2021
From: RAFII, ZAFAR
To: THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
Reel/Frame 055492/0043 →
Continuity (5)
Continuation 16821567 · Mar 17, 2020
Continuation 16659099 · Oct 21, 2019
Continuation 16239238 · Jan 3, 2019
Continuation 15920060 · Mar 13, 2018
Related Publication 20210151021A1 · May 20, 2021
Cited By (1)
US 12,586,554