Method and system for distribution of advertisements to mobile devices prompted by aural sound stimulus

Abstract

A method of acoustic-based data distribution includes recognizing a high frequency analog acoustic signal by an acoustic receiver of a mobile computing device. The high frequency analog acoustic signal includes a stream of sound that is outside the audible spectrum of a human, and contains encoded data. An analog-to-digital converter of the mobile computing device converts the recognized high frequency analog acoustic signal to a digital acoustic signal, and then a processor of the mobile computing device analyzes the digital acoustic signal to obtain the encoded data from the digital acoustic signal. The processor decodes the encoded data obtained from the digital acoustic signal to obtain information, and then a display device of the mobile computing device displays the information on the mobile computing device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of acoustic-based data distribution, comprising:
 recognizing, by an acoustic receiver of a mobile computing device, a high frequency analog acoustic signal, wherein the high frequency analog acoustic signal includes a stream of sound that is outside the audible spectrum of a human, and the high frequency analog acoustic signal contains encoded data;   converting, by an analog-to-digital converter of the mobile computing device, the recognized high frequency analog acoustic signal to a digital acoustic signal;   analyzing, by a processor of the mobile computing device, the digital acoustic signal to obtain the encoded data from the digital acoustic signal;   decoding, by the processor of the mobile computing device, the encoded data obtained from the digital acoustic signal to obtain information; and   displaying, on a display device of the mobile computing device, the obtained information.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the high frequency analog acoustic signal is of a frequency greater than 21,000 Hz. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the encoded data has been encoded via an encoding scheme including at least amplitude-shift keying and frequency-shift keying. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 communicating, by the mobile computing device, with a database device that stores information on a plurality of products; and   retrieving, by the mobile computing device, product information from the database device based on the decoded data.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 based on the product information retrieved from the database device, connecting, by the mobile computing device, to a website of a specific merchant and initiating a financial transaction for the purchase of a product corresponding to the product information.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the acoustic receiver recognizes the high frequency analog acoustic signal when within an acoustic range of the acoustic emitting device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein upon the acoustic receiver recognizing the high frequency analog acoustic signal, the mobile device responds by at least one of (i) vibrating and (ii) emitting a sound. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the encoded data has been encoded via an encoding scheme including at least amplitude-shift keying and frequency-shift keying. 
     
     
         9 . An electronic financial transaction method, comprising:
 recognizing, by an acoustic receiver of a mobile device, a high frequency analog acoustic signal emitted by an acoustic emitting device, wherein the high frequency analog acoustic signal (i) includes a stream of sound that is outside the audible spectrum of a human, and (ii) contains a machine-readable code in which transaction details for a specific transaction are encoded;   converting, by an analog-to-digital converter of the mobile device, the recognized high frequency analog acoustic signal to a digital acoustic signal;   analyzing, by a processor of the mobile device, the digital acoustic signal to obtain the machine-readable code;   transmitting, by the mobile device, a request to a code provider requesting the transaction details for the specific transaction; and   receiving, by a receiving device of the mobile device, the transaction details from the code provider for display on the mobile device.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the machine-readable code is a pay code. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the machine-readable code is a bar code. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the bar code is a QR bar code. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein upon the acoustic receiver recognizing the high frequency analog acoustic signal, the mobile device responds by at least one of (i) vibrating and (ii) emitting a sound. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises:
 retrieving, from a database of the mobile computing device, at least one of product information, service information and merchant information on a basis of said encoded data; and   displaying, on the mobile computing device, said retrieved information.   
     
     
         15 . A system for distributing context based data, comprising:
 an acoustic emitting device configured to emit a high frequency analog acoustic signal, wherein the high frequency analog acoustic signal (i) includes a stream of sound that is outside the audible spectrum of a human, and (ii) contains encoded data; and   a mobile computing device including:
 an acoustic receiver configured to recognize the high frequency analog acoustic signal emitted from the acoustic emitting device, 
 an analog-to-digital converter configured to convert the recognized high frequency analog acoustic signal to a digital acoustic signal, and 
 a processing device configured to analyze the digital acoustic signal to obtain the encoded data, decode the encoded data, and display the decoded data. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the acoustic emitting device emits the high frequency analog acoustic signal at a frequency of at least 21,000 Hz. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the acoustic emitting device encodes the data via an encoding scheme including at least amplitude-shift keying and frequency-shift keying. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the mobile device vibrates in response to the acoustic receiver recognizing the high frequency analog acoustic signal emitted from the acoustic emitter. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein upon the acoustic receiver recognizing the high frequency analog acoustic signal, the mobile device responds by at least one of (i) vibrating and (ii) emitting a sound.