Audio Fingerprinting for Ancillary Data Synchronization Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for synchronizing ancillary data with content are deficient, often requiring explicit data connections and relying on metadata that may not be present throughout the signal chain, leading to unidirectional communication and limitations in data synchronization.
Innovation Solution
A dynamic combination of audio metadata fingerprinting and explicit metadata is used to trigger actions in the content pipeline, enabling dual-path ancillary data synchronization, bypassing data roadblocks, and providing a return path for feedback and updates, while ensuring quality preservation and audience measurement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If explicit data connection and metadata are used for synchronization, then data accuracy is improved, but system complexity and connectivity requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces audio fingerprinting as an intermediary mechanism that bridges the gap between content and ancillary data synchronization. Instead of relying solely on complex explicit data connections and metadata, the system extracts acoustic fingerprints from audio content and uses them as mediators to trigger ancillary data delivery, simplifying the synchronization process while maintaining accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/system-dependent metadata and explicit connection approach with an acoustic-based fingerprinting system. By substituting the reliance on structured data fields with pattern recognition in audio signals, the system reduces complexity while improving robustness across different playback conditions
2Ease of manufacture
If metadata is used for synchronization, then implementation simplicity is improved, but reliability worsens due to metadata absence in signal chain
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service synchronization by extracting fingerprints directly from the audio content itself. The audio signal serves its dual purpose of being both the content to be delivered and the key (fingerprint) for triggering ancillary data, eliminating dependency on external metadata that may be lost in the signal chain
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary extraction and storage of audio fingerprints during content production, before distribution. This preliminary action ensures that the fingerprint data is preserved and available at the consumer端, enabling reliable synchronization even when metadata is absent or corrupted during transmission
3Device complexity
If unidirectional synchronization is used, then system complexity is reduced, but adaptability worsens due to lack of feedback path
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the consumer端 device sends fingerprint matching results and synchronization status back to the server. This feedback loop enables the system to adapt to different playback conditions, verify successful synchronization, and update ancillary data based on actual content delivery, transforming the system from unidirectional to bidirectional while maintaining manageable complexity
Data Source
AI summary
Synchronizing ancillary data to content including audio includes obtaining a representation of the content's audio and ancillary data pegged to instants in the representation of the content's audio, and aligning the representation of the content's audio to the content's audio to synchronize the ancillary data pegged to the instants in the representation of the content's audio to the content.