KR101860937B1 - Apparatus and method for measuring program rating - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an audience rating research apparatus and method, and more particularly, to an audience rating research apparatus connected between a communication apparatus and a set-top box to examine an audience rating, A line selector for selecting any one of the two lines by a control signal; A packet capturing unit for acquiring a data packet transmitted through the circuit selected by the circuit selection unit; A packet analyzer for generating audience rating related data from the data packet obtained by the packet capturer; And a transmitting unit for transmitting the audience rating related data generated by the packet analyzing unit to an audience rating investigation server. The packet analyzing unit analyzes the data packet acquired in the packet capturing unit to discriminate a line corresponding to uplink traffic, And a control signal instructing to select a line is transmitted to the line selection unit.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MEASURING PROGRAM RATING [0002]

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for examining an audience rating, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for analyzing an audience rating by analyzing data packets included in uplink traffic from a set-top box simply and efficiently.

As IPTV service is expanded, it is increasingly necessary to measure the audience rating using IPTV service more accurately. Broadcasters can determine what content the viewer wants, and advertisers can verify the validity and effectiveness of advertising costs. It is also used as an important data for determining the advertising price.

As a method of examining the audience rating, a matching method using a conventional audio signal is known. This is accomplished by sampling a sound source of broadcasted content to generate a reference DB, acquiring the sound sources of the broadcasts to be watched by the panel subscribers selected for audience rating survey, and comparing them. However, this method has a problem that the load on the server and the network is enormous because the entire channel must be compared for each panel. Also, there is a problem that this method can not be applied to the VOD service.

On the other hand, a method of detecting a data packet and examining an audience rating is also known. This method is a method for acquiring information on a broadcast channel viewed by a panel subscriber by acquiring and analyzing data packets viewed by the respective panel subscribers.

Meanwhile, the IPTV service is a medium that requires a large amount of communication. Data packets required for the IPTV service are transmitted bidirectionally between the server side and the subscriber side (set top box). Downstream traffic from the server is mostly (approximately 99% And uplink traffic to the server side (about 1%) occupies a very small proportion. Therefore, analyzing data packets in both directions of uplink and downlink traffic requires a high-capacity, high-performance device and generates a lot of heat.

Accordingly, it is necessary not to analyze all the uplink traffic and downlink traffic on the communication but to detect the uplink traffic transmitted from the set-top box to the server side and to analyze the data packet included in the uplink traffic.

To analyze unidirectional network traffic, one of the following two methods should be selected.

(1) How to receive packets using the "port mirroring" technology of the communication equipment to which the set-top box is connected

(2) UTP cable connecting set-top box One pair of core wires is connected to the device to receive and analyze electrical signals.

The above method (1) is easy to implement but it is impossible to apply it as a decisive disadvantage that additional equipment is installed and additional management cost and introduction cost are added. The method (2) The desired object can be achieved at a low cost.

However, since the communication device and the set-top box use the "Auto MDI-X" in the method (2), the direction of the detected traffic is changed or the erroneous situation is maintained There is a problem that a problem occurs.

The Auto MDI-X function has the advantage that it is convenient for the network operation because it is a function for automatically connecting the transmitter side and the receiver side between the network equipment regardless of the type and terminal of the UTP cable. However, There is a problem that the line is frequently changed when the uplink traffic is detected.

On the other hand, it is very important to mechanically judge whether or not to watch TV in the audience rating research device. Especially, in a set-top box-based TV viewing environment, there is a problem that the power of the set-top box is not connected to the actual TV viewing. That is, although the set-top box is powered on, it can be determined that the set-top box continuously watches the same channel when the TV is turned off. In addition, even when the power of the set-top box is turned off, the data is periodically exchanged with the server of the IPTV service provider through the communication device internally. Therefore, whether or not the TV is actually turned on can be the main information for evaluating the reliability of the audience rating.

A known technique for determining the power on / off of a TV is a technique for receiving a direct signal from a speaker or an audio output terminal of a TV to determine whether the TV is powered on or a technique for determining whether power is actually applied to the TV Is known. Also, in case of the latest set-top box, when the HDMI cable is used depending on whether or not the TV is powered on, the CEC circuit may determine whether the TV is powered on.

However, when such conventional techniques are applied to actual panel furniture, a more effective method is needed because the circuit configuration and circuit of the apparatus are complicated to provide a cause of malfunction and increase manufacturing and management costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for easily and efficiently detecting a line for transmitting upstream traffic from a line connected between a communication equipment and a set- And to provide an apparatus and a method for enabling a user to search for an image.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for estimating an audience rating that can prevent the possibility of determining that a TV is being watched even when the power of the TV is turned off or the power of the set-top box is turned off.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides an audience rating examination device for examining an audience rating by being coupled between a communication device and a set-top box connected to each other via two lines, A line selector for selecting any one of the two lines by a control signal from the packet analyzer in combination with the two lines; A packet capturing unit for acquiring a data packet transmitted through the circuit selected by the circuit selection unit; A packet analyzer for generating audience rating related data from the data packet obtained by the packet capturer; And a transmitting unit for transmitting the audience rating related data generated by the packet analyzing unit to an audience rating investigation server. The packet analyzing unit analyzes the data packet acquired in the packet capturing unit to discriminate a line corresponding to uplink traffic, And a control signal instructing to select a line is transmitted to the line selection unit.

Here, when the data packet corresponding to the downlink traffic is detected in the data packet acquired by the packet capturing unit, the packet analyzing unit may extract a line other than the line currently selected by the line selecting unit from a line corresponding to the uplink traffic And transmits a control signal instructing selection of the other line. When receiving the control signal, the line selection unit can select a line other than the currently selected line.

The packet analyzer may further include a line selector for selecting a line other than the line currently selected by the line selector as a line corresponding to the uplink traffic when a data packet not corresponding to uplink traffic is detected in the data packet acquired by the packet capture unit, And transmits a control signal instructing selection of the other line. When receiving the control signal, the line selection unit can select a line other than the currently selected line.

In addition, the packet analyzing unit may determine that the packet corresponds to downlink traffic when the IGMP query message is included in the data packet acquired by the packet capturing unit.

In addition, the packet analyzing unit may determine that the data packet obtained by the packet capturing unit corresponds to the uplink traffic when the IGMP leave message or the IGMP membership report message is included.

In addition, the packet analyzing unit may generate the audience rating related data by IGMP leave or membership report among the data packets obtained by the packet capturing unit.

In addition, the packet analyzing unit may generate audience rating related data based on URL information among data packets obtained by the packet capturing unit.

Further, the audience rating server may calculate the audience rating based on the audience rating-related data transmitted from the packet analysis unit of the audience rating system.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for examining an audience rating in an audience rating system as described above, wherein the circuit selector combines with the two lines connected between the communication device and the set- A first step of selecting any one of the two lines; A second step of the packet capture unit acquiring a data packet transmitted through the line selected by the line selection unit; A third step in which the packet analyzing unit generates audience rating related data from the data packet obtained in the packet capturing unit; And a fourth step of the transmitting unit transmitting the audience rating related data generated by the packet analyzing unit to the audience rating investigation server, wherein the packet analyzing unit analyzes the data packet acquired in the packet capturing unit, And transmits a control signal for instructing selection of the line to the line selection unit.

According to the present invention, an apparatus and a method for analyzing a data packet included in an uplink traffic and examining an audience rating by simply and efficiently detecting a line for transmitting uplink traffic from a line connected between a communication equipment and a set- Can be provided.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the load on the audience rating apparatus is reduced, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to use a high-level equipment, and the manufacturing and maintenance cost of the apparatus is reduced.

In addition, according to the present invention, only the packets included in the uplink traffic directly related to the audience rating related data are analyzed, so that it is possible to accurately check and compile the audience ratings.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for examining an audience rating that can prevent a possibility that a TV is being watched even when the power of the TV is turned off or the power of the set-top box is turned off .

1 is a diagram showing a connection relationship of an audience rating survey device 100 according to the present invention.
2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the audience rating survey device 100. As shown in Fig.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a data packet in case of real-time broadcasting.
4 shows an example of a data packet of the VOD service.
5 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of an audience rating survey method performed by the audience rating survey device 100 according to the present invention.
6 is a diagram showing a configuration of an audience rating system 500 according to another embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a diagram showing an example of the viewer information acquiring device 510. As shown in Fig.
8 shows a configuration of an audience rating system 800 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram showing a connection relationship of an audience rating survey device 100 according to the present invention.

1, the audience rating research apparatus 100 is connected between the communication apparatus 200 and the set-top box 300 and is coupled with the audience rating research server 400 through a network.

Here, the communication apparatus 200 refers to an apparatus that can provide an Internet service through the Internet network, such as a modem. The set-top box 300 is connected to the communication device 200 and the TV (not shown) and receives data for the IPTV service transmitted from the external IPTV service server through the Internet via the communication device 200, To provide IPTV services to subscribers. The communication device 200 and the set-top box 300 are connected to each other by a line such as a network cable (for example, UTP cable) or the like.

The communication device 200 and the set-top box 300 are well known in the art and are not intended to be a direct object of the present invention.

The audience rating research apparatus 100 is connected to a line which is a network cable connecting the communication device 200 and the set top box 300 and transmits the data included in the upward traffic transmitted from the set top box 300 to the communication device 200 Related information by analyzing the packet to acquire the audience rating-related information, and transmits the acquired audience rating-related information to the audience rating survey server 400 via the network.

2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the audience rating survey device 100. As shown in Fig.

2, the audience rating research apparatus 100 includes a circuit selection unit 110, a packet capturing unit 120, a packet analysis unit 130, and a transmission unit 140.

The line selection unit 110 performs a function of selecting one of the two lines by being coupled with two lines connected between the communication device 200 and the set-top box 300.

As described above, the communication device 200 and the set-top box 300 are connected to each other by a line such as a network cable, and these network cables (UTP cables) are generally connected to each other via two physical lines. That is, the communication device 200 and the set-top box 300 are connected to each other by two lines. These network cables are divided into a straight cable and a cross cable, and are connected to the receiving side (RX) and the transmitting side (TX) terminal (pin) of the network equipment to be connected, However, if there is a case in which the actual equipment is turned on / off and rebooted, the receiving side and the transmitting side terminal (pin) are changed. In order to prevent such a problem, the latest MDI-X function is applied to the network equipment. The Auto MDI-X function is a function for automatically transmitting / receiving data between devices irrespective of the type of network cable and terminals (pins). This function allows connection between the communication device 200 and the set- The transmission side Tx and the reception side Rx terminal (pin) are changed, and accordingly, the line corresponding to the up traffic and the down traffic frequently changes. Accordingly, the line selector 110 selects a line corresponding to the uplink traffic, that is, a line for transmitting data from the set-top box 300 to the communication device 200, in response to the line change due to the Auto MDI-X function And performs the function of selecting it dynamically.

The control signal from the packet analyzing unit 130 is used to select a line corresponding to the uplink traffic.

As will be described later, the packet capturing unit 120 obtains a data packet transmitted through the circuit selected by the circuit selecting unit 110. The packet analyzing unit 130 analyzes the acquired data packet and generates A line selection unit 110 for receiving a control signal for identifying a line corresponding to uplink traffic and selecting a line determined to correspond to uplink traffic by analyzing the data packet acquired by the packet capture unit 120, As shown in FIG.

In order to determine the line corresponding to the upstream traffic by analyzing the data packet acquired by the packet capture unit 120, it is determined whether the corresponding data packet corresponds to the downlink traffic. If the data packet corresponds to the downlink traffic, It can be determined that the line is a line corresponding to the upward traffic.

The downlink traffic corresponds to the traffic from the communication device 200 toward the set-top box 300. When a data packet corresponding to the downlink traffic is detected, the corresponding line corresponds to the downlink traffic, It can be determined that the line corresponds to the uplink traffic. The data packet corresponding to the downlink traffic can be discriminated by detecting whether or not a packet typically included in the downlink traffic is included. For example, in the case of an IPTV service, an Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) is used for multicast. In an IGMP message, an IGMP query is transmitted from a server (router) Is an inquiry signal for confirming whether or not the signal is transmitted. Accordingly, when the IGMP Query is detected, the corresponding line can be regarded as downlink traffic. In this case, a line other than the currently selected line can be regarded as an uplink traffic and thus a control signal for selecting another line To the line selection unit 110 so that the line selection unit 110 selects another line.

Another method of discriminating the line corresponding to the upstream traffic by analyzing the data packet acquired by the packet capturing unit 120 can be discriminated based on whether the corresponding data packet corresponds to the upstream traffic.

The data packet corresponding to the uplink traffic can be discriminated by detecting whether or not a packet typically included in the uplink traffic is included. For example, as described above, in the case of an IPTV service, an Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) is used for multicast. An IGMP leave message or an IGMP membership report is transmitted from a terminal to a server When the IGMP leave or membership report is detected, the corresponding line can be regarded as an uplink traffic. Accordingly, when the IGMP leave or membership report is not detected, the packet analyzing unit 130 regards the corresponding line as downlink traffic. In this case, it is considered that the line other than the currently selected line corresponds to the uplink traffic So that the line selection unit 110 selects a different line by transmitting a control signal to the line selection unit 110 to select another line.

The packet capture unit 120 performs a function of acquiring a data packet transmitted through a circuit selected by the circuit selection unit 110. As described above, the circuit selection unit 110 selects any one of the two lines connected between the communication device 200 and the set-top box 300, and the packet capture unit 120 selects the line through the selected line Captures a data packet to be transmitted and transmits the captured data packet to the packet analyzer 130.

The packet analyzing unit 130 performs a function of generating audience rating related data from the data packet acquired by the packet capturing unit 120. As described above, by analyzing the data packet acquired by the packet capturing unit 120 and determining a line corresponding to uplink traffic and transmitting a control signal for instructing the line selection unit 110 to select the line, .

Since the packet analyzer 130 determines the line corresponding to the uplink traffic as described above, the function of generating audience rating related data will be described.

The packet analyzing unit 130 extracts audience rating-related data from the data packet obtained by the packet capturing unit 120. The audience-related data includes two types of data, i.e., live broadcasting and VOD (Video on Demand) Can be divided.

Generally, in IPTV service, real-time broadcasting is performed using multicast IGMP. When a subscriber changes a channel while viewing a real-time broadcast, the current channel is terminated and a new channel is selected. This is done through IGMP leave messages and membership reports. The IGMP leave message is a message to be transmitted when leaving a group that currently transmits a real-time broadcast, and a membership report is a message to be transmitted when a user wants to join a group that transmits a new broadcast channel. Since the IGMP leave message and the membership report are transmitted when the subscriber changes the channel, the IGMP leave message and the membership report can be viewed as ratings related data, and the packet analyzing unit 130 extracts these messages and generates them as audience rating related data. The audience rating-related data preferably further includes identification information (ID) of a user (subscriber) in addition to such data.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a data packet in case of real-time broadcasting.

Referring to FIG. 3, it is shown that a configuration of a data packet of IGMP in the case of live broadcasting includes a leave or membership report message. The packet analyzing unit 130 generates the audience rating related data when such a message is included.

On the other hand, in the IPTV service, the VOD broadcasting is performed through the HTTP service. What is meaningful as the audience rating-related data is what contents the subscriber requests. This can be determined by the URL where the content is located.

4 shows an example of a data packet of the VOD service.

Referring to FIG. 4, when a user (subscriber) selects a specific content in the HTTP service, it can be seen that the URL of the content is included in the data packet.

As described above, in the case of the VOD service, the packet analyzing unit 130 analyzes the data packet and can generate the URL information about the content as the audience rating related data.

Meanwhile, the technique for generating the audience rating-related data performed by the packet analyzer 130 is not limited to the above-described method, and any method known in the prior art may analyze the data packet and generate data related to the audience rating from the data packet Of course, any technology can be used.

The transmitting unit 140 transmits the audience rating related data generated by the packet analyzing unit 130 to the audience rating survey server 400.

The audience rating survey server 400 calculates the audience rating based on the received audience rating related data. To this end, the audience rating server 400 compares the previously stored database with the received audience rating related data to determine the audience rating.

For example, in the case of live broadcasting, the IGMP membership report included in the audience rating data includes a source IP adddress for broadcasting the broadcast. The audience rating server 400 stores an IP address for each channel, report, it is possible to determine what kind of channel it is.

On the other hand, in the case of the VOD service, the content identification table corresponding to the URL storing the content for providing the VOD service can be stored in advance, and it is possible to determine what the content is based on the received URL information.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of an audience rating survey method performed by the audience rating survey device 100 according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the line selection unit 110 selects a line (S100). In the initial state, any one of the two circuits is selected.

Then, the packet capture unit 120 acquires a data packet from the selected line and transmits the data packet to the packet analysis unit 120 (S110).

The packet analyzing unit 130 analyzes the received data packet and determines whether the selected line is uplink traffic in the above-described manner (S120). If the uplink traffic is not the uplink traffic, a control signal instructing to change the line is transmitted to the line selector 130 so that step S100 and step S110 are performed again.

If the uplink traffic matches, the packet analyzer 130 analyzes the data packet to generate audience rating data (S140), and transmits the generated audience rating data to the audience rating survey server 400 (S150).

6 is a diagram showing a configuration of an audience rating system 500 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6 includes a viewer information obtaining apparatus 510, a managing unit 520, and a sending unit 530. [

The viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 is connected to the TV 600 and receives power from the TV 600. The viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 acquires viewer information by an input signal from the user.

The viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 receives power from the TV 600 and is connected to the TV 600 through a USB port provided in the TV 600 to receive power. The viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 receives viewer information from a user through a remote controller, for example, and obtains information on who the viewer is.

7 is a diagram showing an example of the viewer information acquiring device 510. As shown in Fig.

Referring to FIG. 7, it can be seen that the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 is arranged with numbers from the front 1 to the front 8. The number is viewer information indicating who the viewer is, and is an identifier set corresponding to the viewer-related information.

To this end, the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 sets the viewer-related information corresponding to each number (identifier) in advance by the remote controller 540. [ Here, the viewer-related information includes at least one of the viewer's sex and age information. For example, the number "1" may be set to male, 30 to 39, the number "2" to female, 30 to 39, "3" to female, 10 to 19, This is for acquiring viewer-related information by dividing the TV 600 into household members in the home in which the TV 600 is installed. Thus, meaningful audience rating information can be obtained according to sex or age.

To this end, the remote controller 540 is provided with buttons for setting the viewer information corresponding to the numbers as described above, and the user operates these buttons of the remote controller 540 to set viewer-related information corresponding to each number in advance .

Thereafter, when the user depresses the remote controller 540 to select a number corresponding to himself / herself when watching the actual TV 600, the number of the front side of the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 is turned on.

The viewer information for which viewer related information is set is stored in the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 or transmitted to the audience rating investigation server 700 through the transmission unit 530 in advance.

The management unit 520 is coupled to the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 through wireless communication to determine whether the power of the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 is on or off and receives viewer information from the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 Function.

The management unit 520 transmits and receives data in combination with the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 through wireless communication such as Bluetooth or the like. To this end, the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 and the management unit 520 include a wireless communication module. The management unit 520 periodically searches the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 to determine that the TV is turned on when the connection is established, and determines that the TV is off if the connection is not established.

The management unit 520 can determine whether the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 is turned on or off according to whether the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 is paired with the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 via Bluetooth. The viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 is powered off from the TV 600 so that the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 is also turned off when the power of the TV 600 is turned off. Can be accurately determined to be off.

The management unit 520 generates viewer information and power on / off information acquired from the viewer information acquisition apparatus 510 and delivers them to the transmission unit 530. [

The transmission unit 530 transmits the viewer information received from the management unit 520 and the power on / off information of the viewer information acquisition apparatus to the audience rating survey server 700.

The audience rating survey server 700 receives audience information and power on / off information and stores viewer information for each subscriber corresponding to the audience rating survey device 500 accordingly. In addition, since the power of the TV 600 is off when the power is turned off in the power on / off information, this point can be reflected in the audience rating survey.

6 to 7 can be used in combination with the audience rating survey device 100 of the embodiment described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 8 shows the structure of an audience rating system 800 according to another embodiment of the present invention. The audience rating system 500 of FIGS. 6 to 7 and the audience rating system 100 of FIGS. 1 to 5 It is a merged form.

Each of the audience rating apparatus 800 of FIG. 8 operates as described with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 7, and the transmitting unit 810 is connected to the audience rating irradiating apparatus 100 and the audience rating irradiating apparatus 500, Only in that the operation is performed in parallel. That is, the transmitting unit 810 transmits the audience rating related data generated by the packet analyzing unit 130, the viewer information received from the management unit 520, and the power on / off information of the viewer information obtaining apparatus 510 to the audience rating investigation server do.

According to the embodiment as shown in FIG. 8, audience rating data and viewer information can be separately obtained, and the case where the TV is powered off can be accurately reflected in the audience rating survey.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments.

For example, the packet analyzer 130 has been described as discriminating the uplink traffic, but it can be applied to the downlink traffic as it is. The downlink traffic is EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data that is used for the IPTV service. When the EPG data is transmitted through downlink traffic, the packet analyzer 130 can determine the EPG data.

In addition, although the packet analyzing unit 130 has been described as analyzing a packet using an IGMP message, it is needless to say that other methods for analyzing other packets may be used.

100, 500, 800 ... audience rating system
200 ... communication device
300 ... Set-top box
400, 700 ... viewership survey server

Claims (9)

An audience rating research device for examining an audience rating by combining between a communication device and a set-top box that are connected to each other by two lines that can be changed by the automatic media selection circuit (Auto MDI-X) ,
A line selector for selecting any one of the two lines by a control signal from the packet analyzer in combination with two lines connected to each other between the communication device and the settop box;
A packet capturing unit for acquiring a data packet transmitted through the circuit selected by the circuit selection unit;
A packet analyzer for generating audience rating related data from the data packet obtained by the packet capturer; And
And a transmitting unit for transmitting the audience rating-related data generated by the packet analyzing unit to a rating-
Lt; / RTI >
The packet analyzer may determine that a line other than the line currently selected by the line selector is a line corresponding to uplink traffic when a data packet corresponding to downlink traffic is detected in the data packet acquired by the packet capture unit, Transmits a control signal instructing selection of another line,
Wherein the line selection unit selects a line other than the currently selected line when the control signal is received.
delete delete The method according to claim 1,
The packet analyzing unit,
If the IGMP query message is included in the data packet acquired by the packet capture unit, it is determined to correspond to the downlink traffic.
The method according to claim 1,
The packet analyzing unit,
When the IGMP leave message or the IGMP membership report message is included in the data packet acquired by the packet capturing unit, it is determined to correspond to the uplink traffic.
The method according to claim 1,
The packet analyzing unit,
Wherein the audience rating related data is generated by IGMP leave or membership report among the data packets obtained by the packet capturing unit.
The method according to claim 1,
The packet analyzing unit,
And generates audience rating-related data based on the URL information among the data packets acquired by the packet capturing section.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the rating-
And calculates the audience rating based on the audience rating-related data transmitted from the packet analysis unit of the audience rating system.
delete

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