Determining TV Program Information Based on Analysis of Audio Fingerprints

A computer server system for determining TV program information, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• memory;
• and
• a plurality of program modules, wherein the plurality of program modules are stored in the memory and to be executed by the one or more processors, and the plurality of program modules include instructions for:
• receiving information associated with TV programs from a plurality of set top boxes, wherein the TV programs have associated audio signals and video signals and the information includes audio fingerprints generated from the audio signals of a respective TV program captured at the plurality of set top boxes and channel metadata associated with at least a subset of the audio fingerprints and one or more video scene transitions extracted from the video signals of the TV program;
• partitioning the audio fingerprints into multiple groups such that audio fingerprints within a group correspond to a respective TV program being played at the respective set top boxes and the corresponding video scene transitions have a predefined sequence of video scene transitions;
• receiving a query for TV program information from a set top box, wherein the query includes an audio fingerprint and one or more video scene transitions generated at the set top box;
• comparing the audio fingerprint with the multiple groups of audio fingerprints to identify a group of audio fingerprints whose difference from the audio fingerprint is less than a predefined threshold, wherein the video scene transitions associated with the audio fingerprint match the predefined sequence of video scene transitions associated with the identified group of audio fingerprints;
• determining TV program information for the audio fingerprint in accordance with, at least in part, the channel metadata associated with the identified group of audio fingerprints;
• and
• returning the TV program information to the requesting set top box.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more program modules configured for execution by a computer server system that includes one or more processors and memory for determining TV program information, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

• receiving information associated with TV programs from a plurality of set top boxes, wherein the TV programs have associated audio signals and video signals and the information includes audio fingerprints generated from the audio signals of a respective TV program captured at the plurality of set top boxes and channel metadata associated with at least a subset of the audio fingerprints and one or more video scene transitions extracted from the video signals of the TV program;
• partitioning the audio fingerprints into multiple groups such that audio fingerprints within a group correspond to a respective TV program being played at the respective set top boxes and the corresponding video scene transitions have a predefined sequence of video scene transitions;
• receiving a query for TV program information from a set top box, wherein the query includes an audio fingerprint and one or more video scene transitions generated at the set top box;
• comparing the audio fingerprint with the multiple groups of audio fingerprints to identify a group of audio fingerprints whose difference from the audio fingerprint is less than a predefined threshold, wherein the video scene transitions associated with the audio fingerprint match the predefined sequence of video scene transitions associated with the identified group of audio fingerprints;
• determining TV program information for the audio fingerprint in accordance with, at least in part, the channel metadata associated with the identified group of audio fingerprints;
• and
• returning the TV program information to the requesting set top box.

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

• at a computer server system including one or more processors and memory:
• receiving information associated with TV programs from a plurality of set top boxes, wherein the TV programs have associated audio signals and video signals and the information includes audio fingerprints generated from the audio signals of a respective TV program captured at the plurality of set top boxes and channel metadata associated with at least a subset of the audio fingerprints and one or more video scene transitions extracted from the video signals of the TV program;
• partitioning the audio fingerprints into multiple groups such that audio fingerprints within a group correspond to a respective TV program being played at the respective set top boxes and the corresponding video scene transitions have a predefined sequence of video scene transitions;
• in response to a query from a client:
• identifying one or more groups of audio fingerprints associated with the query;
• preparing statistical TV viewership information in accordance with, at least in part, the identified groups of audio fingerprints and the corresponding video scene transitions and channel metadata associated with the identified groups of audio fingerprints;
• and
• returning the statistical TV viewership information to the requesting client.