System and method for signaling security and database population

Abstract

The disclosed technology relates to methods, devices, systems and computer program products that facilitate access to meta-data associated with a content. In one example, a method is described that includes receiving a multimedia content at a receiver device, extracting a watermark message from a first segment of the multimedia content, using at least a portion of the first watermark message to obtain additional information regarding the first segment of the multimedia content that includes the first watermark message, and associating and storing one or more values of the first watermark message and the additional information. The method further includes repeating the above operations to extract additional watermark messages from additional segments of the content and to form a table or array of items that can be accessed by specifying the one or more values of the first watermark message or one or more values of the additional watermark messages.

1 . A method for facilitating access to metadata associated with a content, comprising:
 receiving a multimedia content at a first receiver device that includes a first watermark extractor that is implemented at least partially in hardware;   (a) extracting a first watermark message from a first segment of the multimedia content using the first watermark extractor;   (b) using at least a portion of the first watermark message to obtain additional information regarding the first segment of the multimedia content that includes the first watermark message;   (c) associating and storing one or more values of the first watermark message and the additional information;   (d) repeating operations (a) to (c) to extract additional watermark messages from additional segments of the multimedia content and to form a table or array of items that can be accessed by specifying the one or more values of the first watermark message or one or more values of the additional watermark messages.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, for each of the extracted watermark messages, the additional information includes one or more of the following:
 a service identifier associated with the corresponding segment of the multimedia content;   a program identifier associated with the corresponding segment of the multimedia content; or   a service presentation time that represents a time frame within which the corresponding segment of the multimedia content is presented.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein using at least a portion of the first or the additional watermark messages to obtain the additional information includes forming a query for each of the first and the additional watermark messages to obtain the additional information from a metadata sever, wherein each query includes a sever code and an interval code obtained from the corresponding watermark message. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein associating the one or more values of the first watermark message and the additional information includes one or both of:
 associating a watermark payload value with the additional information, or   associating a plurality of watermark symbol values with the additional information.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein specification of one or both of the watermark payload value or the plurality of watermark symbol values enables access to the corresponding additional information from the table or array of items. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving the multimedia content at a second receiver device that includes a second watermark extractor that is implemented at least partially in hardware;   extracting the first watermark message and one or more of the additional watermark messages from the multimedia content using the second watermark extractor; and   transmitting, for each of the extracted watermark messages, information including a payload value of the watermark message and a time value to a database, wherein the transmitted information in conjunction with the table or array of items enables a determination of a particular usage of the multimedia content.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving the multimedia content at a second receiver device that includes a second watermark extractor that is implemented at least partially in hardware;   extracting the first watermark message and one or more of the additional watermark messages from the multimedia content using the second watermark extractor; and   transmitting, for each of the extracted watermark messages, information including a plurality of symbols values of the watermark message and a time value at the second watermark extractor to a database, wherein the transmitted information in conjunction with the table or array of items enables a determination of a particular usage of the multimedia content.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the particular usage of the multimedia content includes one or more of the following:
 (A) consumption duration of the multimedia content,   (B) an identifier of the multimedia content,   (C) a type of multimedia content that was consumed, or   (D) a change in the multimedia content.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the extracted watermarks is extracted from an audio component of the multimedia content that is 1.5 seconds in duration. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the additional information is obtained by receiving a recovery data table from a recovery server located remotely from the first receiver device. 
     
     
         11 . A device comprising:
 a first processor; and   a first memory comprising processor executable code, the processor executable code when executed by the processor causes the device to:   receive a multimedia content;   (a) extract a first watermark message from a first segment of the multimedia content using a first watermark extractor;   (b) use at least a portion of the first watermark message to obtain additional information regarding the first segment of the multimedia content that includes the first watermark message;   (c) associate and store one or more values of the first watermark message and the additional information;   (d) repeat operations (a) to (c) to extract additional watermark messages from additional segments of the multimedia content and to form a table or array of items that can be accessed by specifying the one or more values of the first watermark message or one or more values of the additional watermark messages.   
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein, for each of the extracted watermark messages, the additional information includes one or more of the following:
 a service identifier associated with the corresponding segment of the multimedia content;   a program identifier associated with the corresponding segment of the multimedia content; or   a service presentation time that represents a time frame within which the corresponding segment of the multimedia content is presented.   
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the processor executable code when executed by the first processor causes the device to use at least a portion of the first or the additional watermark messages to obtain the additional information by forming a query for each of the first and the additional watermark messages to obtain the additional information from a metadata sever, wherein each query includes a sever code and an interval code obtained from the corresponding watermark message. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the processor executable code when executed by the first processor causes the device to associate the one or more values of the first watermark message and the additional information by one or both of:
 associating a watermark payload value with the additional information, or   associating a plurality of watermark symbol values with the additional information.   
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein specification of one or both of the watermark payload value or the plurality of watermark symbol values enables access to the corresponding additional information from the table or array of items. 
     
     
         16 . A system including the device of  claim 11 , the system further comprising:
 a second receiver device comprising a second processor and a second memory including processor-executable code, the processor executable code upon execution by the second processor causing the second device to:   receive the multimedia content at the second device;   extract the first watermark message and one or more of the additional watermark messages from the multimedia content using a second watermark extractor; and   transmit, for each of the extracted watermark messages, information including a payload value of the watermark message and a time value to a database, wherein the transmitted information in conjunction with the table or array of items enables a determination of a particular usage of the multimedia content.   
     
     
         17 . A system including the device of  claim 11 , the system further comprising:
 a second receiver device comprising a second processor and a second memory including processor-executable code, the processor executable code upon execution by the second processor causing the second device to:   receive the multimedia content at the second receiver;   extract the first watermark message and one or more of the additional watermark messages from the multimedia content using a second watermark extractor; and   transmit, for each of the extracted watermark messages, information including a plurality of symbols values of the watermark message and a time value to a database, wherein the transmitted information in conjunction with the table or array of items enables a determination of a particular usage of the multimedia content.   
     
     
         18 . The systems of  claim 17 , wherein the particular usage of the multimedia content includes one or more of the following:
 (A) consumption duration of the multimedia content,   (B) an identifier of the multimedia content,   (C) a type of multimedia content that was consumed, or   (D) a change in the multimedia content.   
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein each of the extracted watermarks is extracted from an audio component of the multimedia content that is 1.5 seconds in duration. 
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the additional information is obtained by receiving a recovery data table from a recovery server located remotely from the first receiver device. 
     
     
         21 . A computer program product, embodied on one or more computer readable media and comprising:
 program code for receiving a multimedia content at a first receiver device that includes a first watermark extractor that is implemented at least partially in hardware;   program code for (a) extracting a first watermark message from a first segment of the multimedia content using the first watermark extractor;   program code for (b) using at least a portion of the first watermark message to obtain additional information regarding the first segment of the multimedia content that includes the first watermark message;   program code for (c) associating and storing one or more values of the first watermark message and the additional information;   program code for (d) repeating operations (a) to (c) to extract additional watermark messages from additional segments of the multimedia content and to form a table or array of items that can be accessed by specifying the one or more values of the first watermark message or one or more values of the additional watermark messages.