Patents by Inventor Alexander Topchy

Alexander Topchy has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11962855
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture are disclosed to determine whether audience measurement meters are co-located. An example apparatus is to, based on a difference between a first sampling time of a first entry of a first log and a second sampling time of a corresponding entry of a second log satisfying a first threshold, determine at least one matching instance of at least one first device identifier of the first entry and at least one second device identifier of the corresponding entry. Additionally, the example apparatus is to populate a variable with the at least one matching instance. The example apparatus is also to, based on a metric satisfying a second threshold, cause transmission of an alert indicating that a first meter and a second meter were co-located during generation of the first log and the second log, the metric based on the at least one matching instance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Inventors: Alexander Topchy, Ronny Lerch, John Stavropoulos, David Gish
  • Publication number: 20240121462
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture are disclosed. An example apparatus includes interface circuitry to: obtain primary data from a first meter and a second meter, the primary data including at least one of: (a) acceleration data and (b) short-range wireless communication data; and obtain secondary data from the first meter and the second meter, the secondary data including at least one of: (a) location data and (b) audio data; comparator circuitry to: determine one or more primary factors based on the primary data, the primary factors to include at least one of a correlation coefficient or a difference in connected device sequences; determine one or more secondary factors based on the secondary data; and model executor circuitry to determine, based on the one or more primary factors and the one or more secondary factors, whether the first meter and the second meter correspond to duplicate wear.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2022
    Publication date: April 11, 2024
    Inventors: Alexander Topchy, John Stavropoulos
  • Publication number: 20240107117
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus to determine media viewing information for hybrid content delivery are disclosed. An example apparatus includes at least one memory, machine readable instructions, and processor circuitry to at least one of instantiate or execute the machine readable instructions to monitor network traffic associated with at least one device during a media session, determine viewing information associated with the media session based on a consumption data message in the network traffic, the consumption data message transmitted by the at least one device, determine a program identifier of primary content received by the at least one device, the program identifier indicative of a program presented as the primary content by the at least one device, associate a panelist identifier with the viewing information and the program identifier of the primary content, and generate a media session report based on the panelist identifier, the viewing information, and the program identifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2022
    Publication date: March 28, 2024
    Inventors: Alexander Topchy, Vladimir Kuznetsov
  • Patent number: 11942099
    Abstract: Disclosed example people monitoring methods include detecting a first watermark in a first audio signal obtained from an acoustic sensor, the first watermark identifying media presented by a monitored media device, determining whether a second watermark, different from the first watermark, is embedded in the first audio signal obtained from the acoustic sensor, the second watermark identifying at least one of a mobile device or a user of the mobile device, classifying the second watermark as a media watermark or a people monitoring watermark based on a characteristic of the second watermark, and when the second watermark is determined to be embedded in the first audio signal, reporting at least one of the second watermark or information decoded from the second watermark to identify at least one of the mobile device or the user of the mobile device as being exposed to the media presented by the monitored media device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
    Inventors: Alexander Topchy, Padmanabhan Soundararajan, Venugopal Srinivasan
  • Publication number: 20240089562
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to extend a time range supported by a watermark are disclosed. Example watermark encoding apparatus disclosed herein determine which one of a plurality of timestamp cycles is to be represented by a timestamp of a watermark, the timestamp including a set of timestamp symbols, a first subset of data symbols and a second subset of data symbols. Disclosed example apparatus also modify the first subset of data symbols of the watermark based on a further timestamp symbol not included in the set of timestamp symbols of the timestamp, but not modify the second subset of data symbols based on the further timestamp symbol, the further timestamp symbol to identify the one of the plurality of timestamp cycles to be represented by the timestamp of the watermark. Disclosed example apparatus further embed the watermark in a piece of media.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2023
    Publication date: March 14, 2024
    Inventors: Alexander Topchy, Vladimir Kuznetsov
  • Patent number: 11928707
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for pre-scaling media content to facilitate audience measurement are disclosed. An example method includes encoding a media content sample in accordance with a first encoding configuration and playing the encoded sample. The example method also includes attempting to detect the codes in the sample, and computing a ratio between the codes encoded in the sample and the codes detected when the sample is played.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
    Inventors: Brian Fuhrer, Morris Lee, Alexander Topchy
  • Publication number: 20240031647
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture are disclosed to detect a presence status. An example apparatus includes media identification circuitry to generate first signatures representative of first audio data associated with a monitored media device, a comparator to obtain second signatures from a portable meter, the second signatures representative of second audio data sensed by the portable meter and compare the first signatures and the second signatures to determine a comparison result, presence detection circuitry to determine a presence status of a user based on the comparison result, the user associated with the portable meter, and network communication circuitry to transmit the presence status to a data processor to perform audience measurement based on the presence status.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2023
    Publication date: January 25, 2024
    Inventors: Meryem Berrada, Ronny Lerch, John Stavropoulos, Alexander Topchy, John Zoldos
  • Patent number: 11877039
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to extend a time range supported by a watermark are disclosed. Example watermark encoding apparatus disclosed herein determine which one of a plurality of timestamp cycles is to be represented by a timestamp of a watermark, the timestamp including a set of timestamp symbols, a first subset of data symbols and a second subset of data symbols. Disclosed example apparatus also modify the first subset of data symbols of the watermark based on a further timestamp symbol not included in the set of timestamp symbols of the timestamp, but not modify the second subset of data symbols based on the further timestamp symbol, the further timestamp symbol to identify the one of the plurality of timestamp cycles to be represented by the timestamp of the watermark. Disclosed example apparatus further embed the watermark in a piece of media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
    Inventors: Alexander Topchy, Vladimir Kuznetsov
  • Patent number: 11863294
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for determining increasing robustness of media signatures are disclosed. An example apparatus disclosed herein is to select to at least one of (A) boost a first characteristic of a media signal at a first time or (B) attenuate a second characteristic of the media signal at a second time based on an effect of the at least one of the boost of the first characteristic or the attenuation of the second characteristic on a difference between a third characteristic of the media signal at a third time and a fourth characteristic of the media signal at a fourth time. The disclosed example apparatus is also to perform the selected one of (A) the boost of the first characteristic of the media signal at the first time or (B) the attenuation of the second characteristic of the media signal at the second time to enhance the media signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
    Inventors: Alexander Topchy, Venugopal Srinivasan
  • Patent number: 11843825
    Abstract: An example apparatus includes at least one processor circuitry to execute or instantiate instructions to identify a media file is scheduled to be accessed by a media device within a first time period after a publishing of the media file was published by a media provider; select a first symbol to be inserted at a first symbol position and a second symbol to be inserted at a second symbol position to identify an access of the media file is to be accessed by the media device within the first time period, the first symbol position in a first bit sequence, the second symbol position in a second bit sequence; encode the first bit sequence in the media file on a first encoding layer of a multilayered watermark, and encode the second bit sequence in the media file on a second encoding layer of the multilayered watermark.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
    Inventors: Wendell D. Lynch, Christen V. Nielsen, Alexander Topchy, Khaldun Karazoun, Jeremey M. Davis
  • Publication number: 20230396838
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed for media crediting and, more particularly, methods and apparatus of media device detection for minimally invasive media meters. An example apparatus disclosed herein to detect media devices presenting media includes means for generating a cluster of media locations from a reference population of media locations based on media identifying information received from a presentation of media at an unidentified media device at a first media location, means for determining media devices available at the media locations in the cluster of media locations, means for identifying the unidentified media device based on (1) the media devices available at the media locations in the cluster of media locations and (2) an identity of a media device determined to be available in a majority of media locations in the cluster of media locations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 7, 2023
    Publication date: December 7, 2023
    Inventors: Alexander Topchy, Venugopal Srinivasan
  • Patent number: 11818442
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to extend a time range supported by a watermark are disclosed. Example watermark encoding apparatus disclosed herein determine which one of a plurality of timestamp cycles is to be represented by a timestamp of a watermark. Disclosed example apparatus also swap at least two symbols of the watermark when the timestamp is to represent a second one of the timestamp cycles, but do not swap the at least two symbols of the watermark when the timestamp is to represent a first one of the timestamp cycles. Disclosed example apparatus further embed the watermark in a first piece of media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
    Inventors: Vladimir Kuznetsov, Alexander Topchy
  • Patent number: 11812104
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture are disclosed to detect a presence status. An example apparatus includes media identification circuitry to generate first signatures representative of first audio data associated with a monitored media device, a comparator to obtain second signatures from a portable meter, the second signatures representative of second audio data sensed by the portable meter and compare the first signatures and the second signatures to determine a comparison result, presence detection circuitry to determine a presence status of a user based on the comparison result, the user associated with the portable meter, and network communication circuitry to transmit the presence status to a data processor to perform audience measurement based on the presence status.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
    Inventors: Meryem Berrada, Ronny Lerch, John Stavropoulos, Alexander Topchy, John Zoldos
  • Patent number: 11809489
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus to audio watermarking and watermark detection and extracted are described herein. An example method includes receiving a media content signal, sampling the media content signal to generate samples, storing the samples in a buffer, determining a first sequence of samples in the buffer, determining a second sequence of samples in the buffer, wherein the second sequence of samples is of substantially equal length as the first sequence of samples, calculating an average of the first sequence of samples and the second sequence of samples to generate an average sequence of samples, extracting an identifier from the average sequence of samples, and storing the identifier in a tangible memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
    Inventors: Venugopal Srinivasan, Alexander Topchy
  • Patent number: 11798577
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture to fingerprint an audio signal. An example apparatus disclosed herein includes an audio segmenter to divide an audio signal into a plurality of audio segments, a bin normalizer to normalize the second audio segment to thereby create a first normalized audio segment, a subfingerprint generator to generate a first subfingerprint from the first normalized audio segment, the first subfingerprint including a first portion corresponding to a location of an energy extremum in the normalized second audio segment, a portion strength evaluator to determine a likelihood of the first portion to change, and a portion replacer to, in response to determining the likelihood does not satisfy a threshold, replace the first portion with a second portion to thereby generate a second subfingerprint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Gracenote, Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander Topchy, Christen V. Nielsen, Jeremey M. Davis
  • Publication number: 20230328125
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture for identifying streaming sessions are disclosed. An example apparatus includes an audience measurer to determine an identifier for a commercial presented at a media presentation device, and to determine a time at which the commercial was presented. The example apparatus also includes a log analyzer to compare the identifier and the time to a streaming session log from a streaming service provider (SSP) to identify a streaming session in which the commercial associated with the identifier was presented at the time. The example apparatus also includes a panelist matcher to associate, based on the comparison, a panelist identifier with a streaming session identifier corresponding to the streaming session.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 12, 2023
    Publication date: October 12, 2023
    Inventors: Alexander Topchy, Jeremey M. Davis, Khaldun Karazoun
  • Publication number: 20230319350
    Abstract: Example apparatus disclosed herein are to determine a location of a portable device based on location data collected by the portable device, determine whether a person is within a threshold distance of the portable device based on proximity data collected by the portable device, and, when the person is determined to be within the threshold distance of the portable device: (i) infer at least one of a presence or an absence of the person in a media exposure environment based on the location of the portable device, (ii) determine a confidence level that the person corresponds to a member of the panelist household, and (iii) determine an accuracy of presence information collected by a people meter based on the confidence level and the inference of the at least one of the presence or the absence of the person, the people meter different than the portable device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2023
    Publication date: October 5, 2023
    Inventors: Padmanabhan Soundararajan, Venugopal Srinivasan, Alexander Topchy
  • Publication number: 20230300390
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed for affiliate interrupt detection. An example method disclosed herein includes determining whether a first time period of a first audio signal corresponds to a first affiliate interrupt period based on whether (1) a first type of watermark is detected in the first time period of the first audio signal, and (2) a second type of watermark is detected in the first audio signal outside the first time period but not in the first time period of the first audio signal, and determining whether the first time period of the first audio signal corresponds to the first affiliate interrupt period when watermarks are not detected in the first time period of the first audio signal based on comparison of first signatures with second signatures representing a corresponding first time period of a reference audio signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2023
    Publication date: September 21, 2023
    Inventors: Jeremey M. Davis, David H. Wright, Alexander Topchy, Cherisse Ponraj, Chris Curtis, Jonathan Chazen, Markus Kurt Cremer, Sharmishtha Gupta, Jeffrey Scott
  • Patent number: 11755642
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture (e.g., physical storage media) to detect media watermarks in magnetic field data are disclosed herein. Example media monitors disclosed herein include a magnetic field estimator to determine first magnetic field data, the magnetic field estimator in communication with a magnetometer. Disclosed example media monitors also include a correlator to correlate the first magnitude field data with a reference sequence to determine second magnetic field data. Disclosed example media monitors further include a watermark decoder to process the second magnetic field data to detect an audio watermark encoded in an audio signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
    Inventors: Alexander Topchy, Venugopal Srinivasan
  • Patent number: 11716507
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed for media crediting and, more particularly, methods and apparatus of media device detection for minimally invasive media meters. An example apparatus disclosed herein to detect media devices presenting media includes means for generating a cluster of media locations from a reference population of media locations based on media identifying information received from a presentation of media at an unidentified media device at a first media location, means for determining media devices available at the media locations in the cluster of media locations, means for identifying the unidentified media device based on (1) the media devices available at the media locations in the cluster of media locations and (2) an identity of a media device determined to be available in a majority of media locations in the cluster of media locations, and means for generating a report on the identity of the unidentified media device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
    Inventors: Alexander Topchy, Venugopal Srinivasan