EP0144085A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Television and market research data collection system and method
Assignee: Control Data Corp
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Filing: 1984-11-30
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2004-11-30
Abstract
Abstract A remote data collection unit (21) is provided at each of a plurality of panelist locations. The remote unit is adapted to be coupled to one or more television receivers (22) or cable television converters (19). The data collection unit monitors and stores information as to what TV mode is in use, identification of the TV viewing audience and events such as channel changes and the like. The data collection unit (21) further includes means (34, 35) for optically scanning bar codes and the like and storing that information, which can be representative of product purchase information or panelist responses to market research surveys. Substitute programming information may be supplied to selected panelist locations, as by transmission over on otherwise unused channel in a cable system (18) along with control information. Information stored in data collection unit (21) is periodically collected, either by interrogation of the data collection unit (21) by a central computer (24), or by manual transfer of information to a portable data collector (101).
Inventors
- 👤 William John Mckenna
- 👤 Kenneth Wilburg Silvers
- 👤 Rand Bayman Nickerson
- 👤 Russell James Welsh
- 👤 Harold Raymond Walker
- 👤 Joseph Anthony Cullity
- 👤 Bohdan Stryzak
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 15:24
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N7/00; H04N7/16; H04N7/173; H04N7/17309; H04N7/17327; G; G06; G06Q; G06Q30/00; G06Q30/02; G06Q50/00; G06Q50/10; H04H; H04H60/00; H04H60/29; H04H60/32; H04H60/35; H04H60/38; H04H60/41; H04H60/43; H04H60/45; H04M; H04M11/00; H04M11/002; H04N21/00; H04N21/20; H04N21/25; H04N21/258; H04N21/25866; H04N21/25891; H04N21/40; H04N21/43; H04N21/442; H04N21/44213; H04N21/44222; H04N21/80; H04N21/81; H04N21/812; H04N2007/1739
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 40
Claim 1
Independent Claim
203 words
In a system for collecting data with respect to cooperating television viewers or panelists, including a central location and a plurality of remote units at a plurality of panelist locations, a remote unit for connection to a television broadcast receiver comprising: receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal; a viewer control means including a channel selector coupled to said means for receiving a television broadcast signal; a data collection unit for coupling said receiving means to the television broadcast receiver, said data collection unit including a microprocessor and memory means for storing programming information for said microprocessor and for storing data; said viewer control means being monitored by said microprocessor which stores data representing the state of said viewer control means in said memory means; an optical reader associated with said data collection unit and for use by a panelist to scan data, said data being stored in said memory means under control of said microprocessor; means for coupling said data collection unit to the switched telephone network; and means for periodically establishing telephone communication between said data collection unit and the central location, whereby data stored in said memory means is transferred under control of said microprocessor to the central location.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
203 words
In a system for collecting data with respect to cooperating television viewers or panelists, including a central location and a plurality of remote units at a plurality of panelist locations, a remote unit for connection to a television broadcast receiver comprising: receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal; a viewer control means including a channel selector coupled to said means for receiving a television broadcast signal; a data collection unit for coupling said receiving means to the television broadcast receiver, said data collection unit including a microprocessor and memory means for storing programming information for said microprocessor and for storing data; said viewer control means being monitored by said microprocessor which stores data representing the state of said viewer control means in said memory means; an optical reader associated with said data collection unit and for use by a panelist to scan data, said data being stored in said memory means under control of said microprocessor; means for coupling said data collection unit to the switched telephone network; and means for periodically establishing telephone communication between said data collection unit and the central location, whereby data stored in said memory means is transferred under control of said microprocessor to the central location.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
28 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 1 wherein said receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal comprises a cable converter for connection to a cable system.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
17 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 2 wherein said optical reader is a bar code reader.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
70 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 2 wherein said viewer control means includes a plurality of mode select switches for selecting one of a plurality of modes for use of the television receiver, and wherein said microprocessor is responsive to selection of a particular mode to tune the cable converter to an appropriate channel for the selected mode and to store in memory an indication of the mode selection.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
112 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 2 wherein said data collection unit is responsive under control of said microprocessor to enter a channel lock condition upon selection of a first predetermined channel by said channel selector, whereby the cable converter under microprocessor control stays tuned to whatever channel is currently selected despite further changes in said channel selector, and wherein selection of a second predetermined channel by said channel selector exits the channel lock condition, the events of entering and exiting the channel lock condition being stored in said memory as events, and any channel numbers selected while in the channel lock condition also being stored in said memory as events.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
63 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 2 wherein said memory is adapted to receive from the central location during telephone communications therewith and to store data in the form of alphanumeric characters, and wherein said data collection unit includes means under control of said microprocessor for generating on the television receiver a display of the data in the form of alphanumeric characters.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
41 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 6 wherein said viewer control means includes a means for inputting to said data collection unit responses of a panelist to said display of alphanumeric characters, which responses are stored in said memory means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
98 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 2 wherein said data collection unit includes a receive only interface for receiving channel substitution data via a communication channel over a cable system, wherein each respective remote unit has identification data stored in said memory and wherein each respective remote unit is responsive to the presence of its identification data in the channel substitution data under control of said microprocessor to store same in said memory, and wherein said microprocessor controls the cable converter to effect channel substitution at selected predetermined times in accordance with the stored channel substitution data.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
78 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 6 wherein said data collection unit includes a mode selector for selecting a television receiver display function wherein said alphanumeric data is displayed on the television receiver, and wherein said microprocessor is responsive to selection of the display function to tune the cable converter to an appropriate channel for the display function and to generate a display on the television receiver in accordance with the alphanumeric data stored in said memory.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
89 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 9 wherein upon selection of the display function said data collection unit is responsive under control of said microprocessor to enter a channel lock condition whereby the cable converter under microprocessor control stays tuned to the appropriate channel for the display function despite further changes in said channel selector by a panelist, and wherein selections of channel numbers by a panelist in response to the display are stored in said memory means as an indication of panelist response to said alphanumeric data.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
17 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 10 wherein said alphanumeric data comprises market research survey data.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
47 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 11 wherein said data collection unit includes a visible indicator under control of said microprocessor for providing a visible indication of the presence in said memory of market research survey data to alert a panelist to the presence of same.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
33 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 3 wherein said bar code reader is adapted to read universal product codes, for storing in said memory data as to product purchases by a panelist.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
30 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 1 wherein said means for coupling said data collection unit to the switched telephone network comprises a modem and a telephone block interface.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
44 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 14 wherein said telephone block interface includes means for intercepting all incoming telephone calls under control of said microprocessor during a predetermined time window, and for otherwise not affecting incoming telephone calls outside of said time window.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
73 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 15 wherein said telephone block interface is enabled during said time window to prevent ringing of a panelist's telephone receivers by an incoming call, to interrogate under microprocessor control an incoming telephone call to determine if it is from the central location, and to respond to the central location if it is and to disconnect the incoming call if it is not from the central location.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
49 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 16 wherein telephone calls received during said time window which are not from the central location and which are thus disconnected, under microprocessor control inhibit said time window for a predetermined time to allow incoming calls to reach a panelist's telephone receiver.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
67 words
A remote unit in accordance with Claim 17 wherein said remote unit comprises a plurality of data collection units, each respectively associated with a plurality of television receivers at a panelist location, and wherein each of said data collection units is coupled to a telephone system at the panelist location, whereby communication between the plurality of data collection units is via telephone wiring at the panelist location.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
205 words
A system for collecting data with respect to cooperating television viewers or panelists comprising a central computer facility and a plurality of remote units at a respective plurality of panelist locations, each of said remote units including: receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal; a viewer control means including at least a channel selector coupled to said means for receiving a television broadcast signal; a data collection unit for coupling said receiving means to a television broadcast receiver, said data collection unit including a microprocessor and memory means for storing programming information for said microprocessor and for storing data; said viewer control means being monitored by said microprocessor which stores data in said memory means representing changes in said viewer control means; an optical reader associated with said data collection unit and for use by a panelist to scan data, said data being stored in said memory means under control of said microprocessor; means for coupling said data collection unit to the switched telephone network; and means for periodically establishing telephone communication between each of the respective data collection units and said central computer facility, whereby data stored in said memory means is transferred under control of said microprocessor to said central computer facility.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
205 words
A system for collecting data with respect to cooperating television viewers or panelists comprising a central computer facility and a plurality of remote units at a respective plurality of panelist locations, each of said remote units including: receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal; a viewer control means including at least a channel selector coupled to said means for receiving a television broadcast signal; a data collection unit for coupling said receiving means to a television broadcast receiver, said data collection unit including a microprocessor and memory means for storing programming information for said microprocessor and for storing data; said viewer control means being monitored by said microprocessor which stores data in said memory means representing changes in said viewer control means; an optical reader associated with said data collection unit and for use by a panelist to scan data, said data being stored in said memory means under control of said microprocessor; means for coupling said data collection unit to the switched telephone network; and means for periodically establishing telephone communication between each of the respective data collection units and said central computer facility, whereby data stored in said memory means is transferred under control of said microprocessor to said central computer facility.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
36 words
A system in accordance with Claim 19 wherein said receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal comprises a cable converter for connection to a cable system and said optical reader comprises a bar code reader.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
98 words
A system in accordance with Claim 20 wherein each of said data collection units includes a receive only interface for reviewing channel substitution via a communication channel over a cable system, wherein each respective remote unit has identification data stored in said memory and wherein each respective remote unit is responsive to the presence of its identification data in the channel substitution data under control of said microprocessor to store same in said memory, and wherein said microprocessor controls the cable converter to effect channel substitution at selected predetermined times in accordance with the stored channel substitution data.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
73 words
A system in accordance with Claim 21 wherein said memory of each of said data collection units is adapted to receive from the central location during telephone communications therewith and to store data in the form of alphanumeric characters, and wherein each of said data collection units includes means under control of said microprocessor for generating on the receptive associated television receiver a display of the data in the form of alphanumeric characters.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
47 words
A system in accordance with claim 22 wherein said viewer control means of each of said data collection units includes a means for inputting to said data collection unit responses of a panelist to said display of alphanumeric characters, which responses are stored in said memory means.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
127 words
A method of collecting data from a plurality of cooperating panelists at a plurality of remote locations comprising the steps of: providing at each remote location receiving means for receiving a television broadcasting signal for use with an associated television broadcast receiver; providing at each remote location a viewer control means coupled to the receiving means including at least a channel selector; providing at each remote location an optical reader for use by a panelist to scan data; monitoring the viewer control means and storing data indicative of changes therein; and periodically establishing telephone communications between a central location and each of the remote locations for transferring stored data with respect to the viewer control means and data optically scanned by a panelist to the central location.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
127 words
A method of collecting data from a plurality of cooperating panelists at a plurality of remote locations comprising the steps of: providing at each remote location receiving means for receiving a television broadcasting signal for use with an associated television broadcast receiver; providing at each remote location a viewer control means coupled to the receiving means including at least a channel selector; providing at each remote location an optical reader for use by a panelist to scan data; monitoring the viewer control means and storing data indicative of changes therein; and periodically establishing telephone communications between a central location and each of the remote locations for transferring stored data with respect to the viewer control means and data optically scanned by a panelist to the central location.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method in accordance with claim 24 including the step of storing data optically scanned in by a panelist with the optical reader.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method in accordance with Claim 25 wherein the optical reader which is provided is a bar code reader for scanning products purchased by a panelist.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
74 words
A method in accordance with Claim 24 including the step of transmitting to each remote location during telephone communication with the central location market survey information and storing the information at the remote location and providing means under control of a panelist for calling up an displaying the information; and providing means for panelists input of responses to the information; and storing the panelist responses to the information for communication to the central location.
Claim 31
Independent Claim
230 words
A system for collecting data with respect to cooperating television viewers or panelists, including a centrally located computer and a plurality of remote units at a corresponding plurality of panelist locations, each of said remote units being for connection to a television broadcast receiver and comprising receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal; a viewer control means including a channel selector coupled to said means for receiving a television broadcast signal; a data collection unit for coupling said receiving means to the television broadcast receiver, said data collection unit including a microprocessor and memory means for storing programming information for said microprocessor and for storing data; said viewer control means being monitored by said microprocessor which stores data representing the state of said viewer control means in said memory means; an optical reader associated with said data collection unit and for use by a panelist to scan data, said data being stored in said memory means under control of said microprocessor; a portable data collection unit including data storage means for periodic connection to said data collection unit to effect a transfer of data stored in said data collection unit memory means to the data storage means of said portable data collection unit, said portable data collection unit being connectable to said centrally located computer for transferring the contents of the portable data collection unit data storage means thereto.
Claim 32
Independent Claim
230 words
A system for collecting data with respect to cooperating television viewers or panelists, including a centrally located computer and a plurality of remote units at a corresponding plurality of panelist locations, each of said remote units being for connection to a television broadcast receiver and comprising receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal; a viewer control means including a channel selector coupled to said means for receiving a television broadcast signal; a data collection unit for coupling said receiving means to the television broadcast receiver, said data collection unit including a microprocessor and memory means for storing programming information for said microprocessor and for storing data; said viewer control means being monitored by said microprocessor which stores data representing the state of said viewer control means in said memory means; an optical reader associated with said data collection unit and for use by a panelist to scan data, said data being stored in said memory means under control of said microprocessor; a portable data collection unit including data storage means for periodic connection to said data collection unit to effect a transfer of data stored in said data collection unit memory means to the data storage means of said portable data collection unit, said portable data collection unit being connectable to said centrally located computer for transferring the contents of the portable data collection unit data storage means thereto.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
32 words
A system in accordance with claim 28 wherein said portable data collection unit includes microprocessor means for controlling transfer of data from said data collection unit to said portable data collection unit.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
26 words
A system in accordance -with claim 28 wherein said receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal comprises a cable for connection to a cable system.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
129 words
A system in accordance with claim 28 wherein said receiving means for receiving a television broadcast signal comprises a cable converter for connections to a cable system and wherein said data collection unit is responsive under control of said microprocessor to enter a channel lock condition upon selection of a first predetermined channel by said channel selector, whereby the cable converter under microprocessor control stays tuned to whatever channel is currently selected despite further changes in said channel selector, and wherein selection of a second predetermined channel by said channel selector exits the channel lock condition, the events of entering and exiting the channel-lock condition being stored in said memory as events, any channel numbers selected while in the channel-lock condition also being stored in said memory as events.
Claim 36
Independent Claim
148 words
A method of collecting data from a plurality of cooperating panelists at a plurality of remote locations comprising the steps of: providing at each remote location receiving means for receiving a television broadcasting signal for use with an associated television broadcast receiver; providing at each remote location a viewer control means coupled to the receiving means including at least a channel selector; providing at each remote location an optical reader for use by a panelist to scan data; monitoring the viewer control means and storing data indicative of changes therein; providing a portable data collection unit having memory storage means; periodically coupling the portable data collection unit to apparatus at each of the remote locations for storing data associated with changes in the viewer control means and data scanned by the optical reader; and transferring data from the portable data collection unit to a central computer for analysis.
Claim 37
Independent Claim
148 words
A method of collecting data from a plurality of cooperating panelists at a plurality of remote locations comprising the steps of: providing at each remote location receiving means for receiving a television broadcasting signal for use with an associated television broadcast receiver; providing at each remote location a viewer control means coupled to the receiving means including at least a channel selector; providing at each remote location an optical reader for use by a panelist to scan data; monitoring the viewer control means and storing data indicative of changes therein; providing a portable data collection unit having memory storage means; periodically coupling the portable data collection unit to apparatus at each of the remote locations for storing data associated with changes in the viewer control means and data scanned by the optical reader; and transferring data from the portable data collection unit to a central computer for analysis.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
51 words
A method in accordance with claims 24 or 32 including the step of periodically providing prompts on the television broadcast receiving as to the composition of the audience viewing the television broadcast receiver with changes in the viewer control means in response thereto being indicative of the composition of the audiences.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method in accordance with claim 33 wherein changes in the channel selector during the channel-lock condition are used to indicate composition of the viewing audience.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
55 words
A method in accordance with claim 34 including the step of periodically providing overlayed visible prompts on the the television broadcast receiver as to the composition of the viewing audience and automatically switching into channel-lock condition of the channel selector, whereby subsequent changes in the channel selection are indicative of composition of the viewing audience.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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