WO2001006686A2

WO2001006686A2 - Method and device for identifying pieces of music

Info

Publication number: WO2001006686A2
Application number: PCT/EP2000/006860
Authority: WO
Inventors: Martin Dietz; Karlheinz Brandenburg; Heinz GERHÄUSER; Harald Popp; Stefan Geyersberger
Original assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
Priority date: 1999-07-19
Filing date: 2000-07-18
Publication date: 2001-01-25
Also published as: AU6695100A; WO2001006686A3

Abstract

A device for identifying pieces of music, comprising a receiver (12) which picks up a reception signal (10) consisting of an audio signal (14) and a data signal associated with said audio signal, whereby the data signal contains identification data (16) enabling pieces of music to be identified in the reception signal (10). A device (20) is provided for storage of data identifying a piece of music in response to a user input (18) during the reception of a piece of music, in addition to a device (12) for extracting the identification data.

Description

Device and method for identifying

Audio Tracks

description

The present invention relates to a device and a method for identifying audio pieces, and in particular to such devices and methods that enable an order or a purchase of audio pieces identified in this way.

A listener who is currently listening to a piece of music is generally not able to directly identify the piece of music. The only exception to this is a radio handset that listens to music via an RDS-compatible (RDS = Radio Data System) or a PAD-compatible (PAD = Program Associated Data) Rundfur. device hears. Some radio stations use both RDS and PAD to transmit a data signal assigned to the audio signal in addition to a transmitted audio signal, which enables a user to display the selected program on a display of the radio, or more recently also the title or the Artists of a piece of music just broadcast to find out. Such identification thus enables the user to purchase a music title that appeals to him from a music store or to order it from a provider, provided the user still thinks of this title the next time he has the opportunity to visit a music store or to order through a provider.

Regarding pieces of music that a listener hears on radio devices that do not have the abilities described above or listen to them from any source, for example on the street, from an open window, at the train station and the like, there is generally no adequate possibility of title and interpreter of the To get to know a piece of music. Consequently It is difficult, if not impossible, to purchase or order such a piece of music.

The methods described above thus make it difficult or impossible to acquire unknown pieces of music that a prospect hears, be it in a music store or by ordering via the Internet or conventional ordering services.

The object of the present invention is to provide devices and methods which give a user the opportunity to order or acquire unknown audio pieces, in particular music pieces, when listening to them.

This object is achieved by a device according to claim 1 and a method according to claim 10.

The present invention provides an apparatus for identifying audio pieces, in particular music pieces, which has a receiving device for receiving a received signal, the received signal having an audio signal and a data signal associated therewith, the data signal containing identification information which enables the identification of audio pieces in the received signal , A device for extracting the identification information is also provided. Finally, the device according to the invention has a device for storing the information identifying an audio piece in response to a user input during reception of the audio piece.

In the method according to the invention, a reception signal as described above is first received, whereupon the identification information is extracted from the reception signal. The information identifying an audio piece is stored in response to user input while receiving the audio piece. In the context of the present application, extraction is understood to mean the retrieval of the identification information from the received signal, wherein the identification information can remain in the signal from which it is retrieved, as is the case, for example, with the watermark technology which will be referred to later is. Alternatively, the identification information may be removed from the signal from which it is extracted after being extracted.

According to the present invention, information is stored in each case, such as is already partially transmitted via radio, for example, which defines, for example, title and artist or ordering information relating to an audio piece, in particular a piece of music. This information enables the immediate or later purchase or the immediate or later ordering of the identified audio track. For example, this information can then provide direct access to music distribution, for example via the Internet.

According to the invention, the data signal of the received signal is preferably introduced as a watermark in the audio signal. Such a watermark is an inaudible data signal that is placed below a masking threshold in an audio signal in such a way that it lies below the monitoring threshold. With regard to the watermark technology, reference is made to the international patent application WO 97/33391, the disclosure of which regarding the watermark technology is hereby incorporated by reference. In this watermarking technique, no additional channel is used to transmit a data signal associated with an audio signal, but rather the audio signal is modified in its essentially inaudible area in order to contain the data signal. The data signal thus remains independent of the type of transmission used, for example digital or analog, or the type of audio signal, for example Broadcast signal or acoustic signal, in the audio signal.

According to the invention, the received signal can be a radio signal which is received as a receiving device via a conventional radio receiver. Such a radio receiver usually also has a device for reproducing the audio signal of the radio signal, in which case a user can carry out user input, for example by pressing a button or acoustically, while the program contribution is being played back, so that the information identifying the program contribution is stored. The reproduced audio signal can then either still contain the identification information, for example if the data signal is encoded with a watermark, or can be an audio signal extracted from the broadcast signal by removing the identification information.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the device for identifying audio pieces is radio independent, i.e. any, acoustically, i.e. Pieces of music to be heard via sound waves can be identified as long as the acoustic signal as the received signal comprises both an audio signal and a data signal assigned to it. This is particularly the case if the acoustic signal originates, for example, from a radio device that reproduces an audio signal that is provided with a watermark. In this case, the receiving device of the identification device according to the invention consists of a microphone that receives the acoustic signal. The identification information can then in turn be extracted from this received acoustic signal and stored in a memory.

On the one hand, the present invention enables the use of radio for music distribution, but on the other hand it also enables users to identify pieces of music that they hear from any source, in order to be able to place an order or purchase the same. NEN.

Preferred exemplary embodiments of the present invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a schematic representation of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

1, a first preferred exemplary embodiment of the present invention is explained in more detail below, which relates to a device for identifying audio pieces received via radio. A broadcast signal 10 is received at a receiving device 12, from which an audio signal 14 and identification information 16 are obtained from the broadcast signal 10. The identification information 16 can be formed by a data signal contained in the radio signal 10, or alternatively can be formed only by a part of the data signal. In any case, the receiving device is adapted in order to be able to extract the identification information 16 from the broadcast signal. The identification information 16 can be, for example, the name of the artist and the title of a piece of music, but can alternatively or additionally contain further ordering information relating to the piece of music.

The audio signal 14 is fed to a playback device 17, on which the audio signal is played back. When using the watermark technology, the audio signal 14 can also contain the data signal that remains in the audio signal even after it has been extracted.

The extracted identification information 16 is opened a user input 18 is stored in a memory 20. Such user input 18 takes place, for example, when the user or listener hears an interesting piece of music on the radio that he would like to hear more often or would like to have permanently. He communicates this request to the device via the user input 18, which then causes the data signal 16 to be stored in the memory 20. User input 18 can take place, for example, via a button or switch provided for this purpose or alternatively acoustically via a microphone provided for this purpose. However, any user interface can be provided which enables the user to make an appropriate entry.

The above procedure can be repeated for a plurality of pieces of music which are of interest to the user, so that finally a number of pieces of music which the user would like to purchase are in the memory 20. The memory 20 can thus subsequently serve as the basis for purchasing or ordering these pieces of music. For this purpose, the memory 20 can preferably be designed as a removable storage medium, for example a removable hard disk, which can then be inserted into a computer in order to order the desired pieces of music via the Internet.

A second preferred exemplary embodiment of the device according to the invention is shown in FIG. 2, in which the receiving device 30 is formed by a microphone which receives an acoustic signal 32, which for example represents an acoustic piece of music. The data signal is then extracted from the electrical signal 34 generated by the microphone from the acoustic signal in a suitable decoder 36. Identification information 38 of the data signal is in turn stored in memory 20 in response to user input 18. The user input 18 can take place, for example, by pressing a button to activate a music recognition mode. The device described with reference to FIG. 2 can be, for example, a relatively simply constructed portable device which additionally contains a display device, for example a three- to four-line LCD. In such a case, in addition to activating the music recognition mode, the button via which a user input is made can also be used to scroll under already recognized and stored tracks. Such a device also preferably contains a digital signal processor (DSP) with an associated flash memory, which takes over the entire control of the device including the display, including extraction of the identification information 38. In preferred exemplary embodiments of the present invention, this extraction is a watermark decoding as described in WO 97/33391 mentioned above, the technology disclosed therein being readily transferable to decoding watermarks from acoustic signals.

If a user now hears a piece of music somewhere, for example on the television, on the radio, in the car or somewhere on the street, and wants to know the title, he presses the music recognition mode activation button, whereupon the data signal appears in the display and also in the memory is saved. Thus, the title can be acquired at the next opportunity by accessing the memory content. Alternatively, the stored data can also be printed out in order to carry out the purchase or order of the music pieces on the basis of the printout.

As an alternative to the simply constructed portable device described above, the above functionality can also be integrated into a device that is already known per se, namely a cell phone. Mobile phones are already very widespread and accepted, so it is not necessary to carry an additional device with you to identify audio pieces. The integration of the music recognition could be an "added value", whereby an immediate order could be carried out via online order. Based the music could then be delivered via e-mail or directly back to the cell phone. Alternatively, the mobile phone could also be equipped with a radio receiver.

In the context of the present application, the expression “identification information” which is contained in the data signal is information which enables audio pieces, in particular pieces of music, to be identified in an arbitrary manner. Such information can be label information, for example, which relates, for example, to serial numbers in a catalog. Alternatively or additionally, this information relates to the title and artist of a piece of music. Again, alternatively or additionally, this identification information can contain other ordering information regarding the distributor of the music pieces and the like. The identification information can include the entire data signal or only part of the same.

As stated above, the identification device according to the invention can be part of a radio receiver, or it can be constructed as a radio-independent, preferably portable device.

For online ordering of stored pieces of music, for example, an interface is possible directly in the stereo system, but this is currently difficult to implement due to an insufficient availability of such interfaces, so that solutions via current FM radio and computer interfaces are being considered.

It should be pointed out that the identification information which is stored according to the invention can be transmitted by digital accompanying information (PAD), RDS and the like, or by watermark, see for example WO 97/33391. According to the invention, however, uses data signals coded by means of watermark technology, since such data signals can be used regardless of the type of the received signal. Furthermore, the audio bit stream can be stored directly and used further, since in the watermark technology the audio bit stream contains the information identifying an audio piece, so that this information is stored by storing the audio bit stream itself.

The stored music recognition information can, for example, be transmitted to the responsible provider as a music order via GSM return channel or later via Internet PC access or by means of a transfer of the recognition data via removable media. The provider can then deliver the music title in perfect sound quality, coded and personalized, for example in push mode on the hard drive or other memory of the future home stereo system or in the customer's mailbox in order to enable a later download. If the received signal is a radio signal, the provider can preferably also be the radio transmitter transmitting the radio signal, so that the present invention advantageously enables the use of the medium of radio for the distribution of audio pieces.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, a storage device can be provided in which the last x minutes of a selected radio program are stored. For cost reasons, audio coding is preferably used, or the data format used there for digital broadcasting. It is thus possible, for example using MPEG audio layer 3 coding, to store a stereo playback of eight minutes in "CD quality" using a memory of 8 Mbytes, while there is a memory requirement of 80 Mbytes without audio coding would. With such a continuous storage of the selected radio program, a user can then by doing one corresponding input without interaction with an external device after playing a piece of music play it again based on the stored identification information. In addition to the playback of the stored music piece (s) directly by the radio receiver, the digital music data can also be transferred to another device with a larger archive memory, for example in the listener's personal computer or in the hard drive of a future stereo system or alternatively, in the case of small format Removable media, into a pocket player. However, the described direct use of the music signals received directly in the broadcasting system is disadvantageous in that the music signals have already passed through the entire broadcasting channel and thus have corresponding disturbances, for example an interlocution by the moderators via tone coding and tonal coloring of the pieces of music up to the usual ones Reception problems that occur in particular with a mobile reception.

According to the invention, therefore, preferably only the listener's music requests are stored by storing the identification information in a memory. As already stated above, in addition to the title and artist of a piece of music, this can also be order data of the provider, for example the order address on the Internet, the price depending on use and the like. The memory can be built into the receiver or be a removable medium, for example for transport from the car radio to the living room.

The desired pieces of music can then be ordered in different ways. The listener can read the stored text data from his recipient and order the pieces of music when sending them online. Alternatively, the listener can transfer the saved order data to their PC, which then "automatically" orders the desired pieces of music when sending them online. Such an online order can also be provided if there are suitable interfaces can be implemented directly by the receiving device.

The transmission of the ordered music to the user or listener can then take place in different ways. In addition to a normal parcel service, electronic music distribution via the Internet or in the same or another broadcasting system is possible using push services. Billing for the music pieces delivered can also be carried out variably, for example by invoice, credit card or electronic commerce.

The present invention thus enables great flexibility in order to enable a user to acquire audio pieces of interest, in particular music pieces. In addition, however, the present invention can also be used to order or purchase other audio pieces, for example radio plays and the like. In this regard, the present invention enables the fast, inexpensive acquisition of pieces of music that are heard by a user at any location, which — which is advantageous for the provider — significantly supports impulse purchases.

Claims

claims

1. Device for identifying audio pieces, with the following features:

a receiving device (12; 30) for receiving a received signal (10; 32) which has an audio signal (14) and a data signal associated with the audio signal, the data signal containing identification information (16; 38) which identifies audio pieces in the received signal (10; 32) enable;

means (12; 36) for extracting the identification information (16; 38); and

means (20) for storing the audio track identifying information (16; 38) in response to user input (18) while receiving the audio track.

2. Device according to claim 1, in which the data signal of the received signal (10; 32) is introduced as a watermark in the audio signal (14) thereof.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the means (20) for storing is a removable storage medium.

4. Device according to one of claims 1-3, wherein the audio pieces are pieces of music, the identification information (16; 38) comprising the title and the artist of the piece of music.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the identification information (16; 38) further includes ordering data regarding the piece of music.

6. The device according to any one of claims 1-5, further comprising means for storing data representing a predetermined period of time of the audio signal.

7. Device according to one of claims 1-6, wherein the receiving device (12) is a radio receiver, in which the received signal (10) is a radio signal, and in which the audio pieces are program contributions, the device further comprising a device (17) for reproducing the audio signal (14), and wherein the device (20) for storing the information identifying a program contribution (16) is designed to store it in response to user input (18) during a reproduction of the program contribution.

8. Device according to one of claims 1-6, wherein the receiving device (30) comprises a microphone for receiving acoustic signals (32) which define the received signal.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the microphone is the microphone of a mobile phone.

10. A method of identifying audio pieces, comprising the following steps:

Receiving a received signal (10; 32), which has an audio signal and a data signal associated with the audio signal, the data signal containing identification information (16; 38) that enables the identification of audio pieces in the received signal (10; 32).

Extracting the identification information (16; 38); and

Storing the information (16; 38) identifying an audio piece in response to user input (18) while receiving the audio piece.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the data signal of the received signal (10; 32) is introduced as a watermark in the audio signal thereof.

A method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the audio pieces are pieces of music, the identification information (16; 38) comprising the title and artist of the piece of music.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the identification information (16; 38) further includes ordering data relating to the piece of music.

The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of continuously storing data representing a predetermined length of time of the audio signal.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the received signal (10) is a radio signal and in which the audio pieces are program contributions, which further comprises the step of reproducing the audio signal, the information identifying a program contribution in response to a user input (18) is stored during a playback of the program contribution.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10-15, wherein the received signal is an acoustic signal.