US Patent 8990142 Distributed audience measurement systems and methods

Systems and methods are disclosed for customizing, distributing and processing audio fingerprint data. One or more items of audio content are processed to generate pre-recorded audio fingerprints. After identifying one or more specific devices in accordance to panelist and/or household data from a central site, an activation message is communicated to the identified devices, together with the pre-recorded audio fingerprint in accordance with a predetermined schedule. After receiving the activation message, the portable device records the audio content, forms an audio fingerprint, and performs local matching to determine if a match exists. The matching result is then communicated back to the central site for further processing and analysis.