U.S. patent application number 17/320089 was filed with the patent office on 2021-11-18 for system and method for retargeting in a vehicular advertising system.
The applicant listed for this patent is Wrapify, Inc.. Invention is credited to James Sevan HELLER.
Application Number | 20210357981 17/320089 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005765522 |
Filed Date | 2021-11-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210357981 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
HELLER; James Sevan |
November 18, 2021 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RETARGETING IN A VEHICULAR ADVERTISING
SYSTEM
Abstract
A method for retargeting in a system including a plurality of
vehicles having exteriors configured to convey messaging to
occupants of other vehicles. Communication signals including
information relating to time-stamped locations of the vehicles are
received. Time-stamped location data including a first plurality of
the time-stamped locations is provided to a mobile location data
aggregator. A first set of anonymized identifiers associated with
mobile device users known to be within exposure zones associated
with the time-stamped locations is received from the mobile data
aggregator. The first set of anonymized identifiers is provided to
an audience data service provider, which returns other anonymized
identifiers associated with the first set of anonymized
identifiers. An augmented exposed audience is formed by adding the
other anonymized identifiers to the first set of anonymized
identifiers. Advertisements are caused to be provided to devices
corresponding to at least a subset of the augmented exposed
audience.
Inventors: |
HELLER; James Sevan; (Solana
Beach, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Wrapify, Inc. |
Solana Beach |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005765522 |
Appl. No.: |
17/320089 |
Filed: |
May 13, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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63024361 |
May 13, 2020 |
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63024350 |
May 13, 2020 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0205 20130101;
G06Q 30/0246 20130101; H04L 67/18 20130101; G06Q 30/0275 20130101;
G06F 9/54 20130101; H04L 67/12 20130101; G06Q 30/0266 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20060101
G06Q030/02; G06F 9/54 20060101 G06F009/54; H04L 29/08 20060101
H04L029/08 |
Claims
1. A method for retargeting in a system including a plurality of
vehicles having exteriors configured to convey messaging to
occupants of other vehicles, the method comprising: receiving, at a
vehicle tracking gateway, communication signals including
information relating to time-stamped locations of the plurality of
vehicles wherein the communication signals are provided by at least
one of mobile devices disposed within the plurality of vehicles and
communication devices integrated with the plurality of vehicles;
providing, to an application programming interface (API) of a
mobile location data aggregator, first time-stamped location data
including a first plurality of the time-stamped locations;
receiving, from the mobile location data aggregator, a first set of
anonymized identifiers associated with mobile device users known to
be within a first plurality of exposure zones associated with the
first plurality of time-stamped locations wherein each of the first
plurality of exposure zones encompasses one of the first plurality
of time-stamped locations and is of a first area associated with a
first radius; providing, to an audience data service provider, the
first set of anonymized identifiers wherein the audience data
service provider operates to map the first set of anonymized
identifiers to households in order to determine other anonymized
identifiers associated with the first set of anonymized
identifiers; forming an augmented exposed audience by adding the
other anonymized identifiers to the first set of anonymized
identifiers; and causing advertisements to be provided to devices
corresponding to at least a subset of the augmented exposed
audience.
2. The method of claim 1, further including: creating a first set
of interpolated locations between at least a subset of the first
plurality of time-stamped locations; providing, to the API of the
mobile location data aggregator, the first set of interpolated
locations; receiving, from the mobile location data aggregator, a
second set of anonymized identifiers associated with mobile device
users known to be within a second plurality of exposure zones
associated with the first set of interpolated locations wherein
each of second plurality of exposure zones encompasses one location
of the first set of interpolated locations and is of the first
area; providing, to the audience data service provider, the second
set of anonymized identifiers wherein the audience data service
provider further operates to map the second set of anonymized
identifiers to households in order to determine additional
anonymized identifiers associated with the second set of anonymized
identifiers; wherein the forming the augmented exposed audience
further includes adding the additional anonymized identifiers to
the other anonymized identifiers and to the first set of anonymized
identifiers.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first radius is selected based
at least in part upon a first font size associated with at least a
part of the messaging on the exteriors of a first set of the
plurality of vehicles.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first plurality of
time-stamped locations are included within the communication
signals associated with a first set of the plurality of vehicles
and wherein at least a part of the messaging on the exteriors of
the first set of the plurality of vehicles is of a first font size,
the first radius being selected based at least in part upon the
first font size.
5. The method of claim 4, further including: providing, to the API
of the mobile location data aggregator, second time-stamped
location data including a second plurality of the time-stamped
locations; receiving, from the mobile location data aggregator, a
second set of anonymized identifiers associated with a second
exposed audience comprised of mobile device users known to be
within a second plurality of exposure zones associated with the
second plurality of time-stamped locations wherein the second
plurality of time-stamped locations are included within the
communication signals associated with a second set of the plurality
of vehicles and wherein at least a part of the messaging on the
exteriors of the second set of the plurality of vehicles is of a
second font size different from the first font size, the second
radius being selected based at least in part upon the second font
size wherein the second radius is different from the first radius;
mapping the second set of anonymized identifiers to households in
order to determine additional anonymized identifiers associated
with the second set of anonymized identifiers; forming an
additional augmented exposed audience by adding the additional
anonymized identifiers to the second set of anonymized identifiers;
and purchasing additional advertisements to be provided to devices
corresponding to at least a subset of the additional augmented
exposed audience.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the causing further includes
providing, to one or more ad exchanges, bids for the
advertisements.
7. A retargeting platform for use in a system including a plurality
of vehicles having exteriors configured to convey messaging to
occupants of other vehicles, the retargeting platform comprising:
one or more processors; a communication interface; and a memory
including instructions which, when executed by the one or more
processors, cause the one or more processors to: receive
communication signals including information relating to
time-stamped locations of the plurality of vehicles wherein the
communication signals are provided by at least one of mobile
devices disposed within the plurality of vehicles and communication
devices integrated with the plurality of vehicles; provide, to an
application programming interface (API) of a mobile location data
aggregator, first time-stamped location data including a first
plurality of the time-stamped locations; receive, from the mobile
location data aggregator, a first set of anonymized identifiers
associated with mobile device users known to be within a first
plurality of exposure zones associated with the first plurality of
time-stamped locations wherein each of the first plurality of
exposure zones encompasses one of the first plurality of
time-stamped locations and is of a first area associated with a
first radius; provide, to an audience data service provider, the
first set of anonymized identifiers wherein the audience data
service provider operates to map the first set of anonymized
identifiers to households in order to determine other anonymized
identifiers associated with the first set of anonymized
identifiers; form an augmented exposed audience by adding the other
anonymized identifiers to the first set of anonymized identifiers;
and cause advertisements to be provided to devices corresponding to
at least a subset of the augmented exposed audience.
8. The retargeting platform of claim 7 wherein the instructions
further include instructions which, when executed by the one or
more processors, cause the one or more processors to: create a
first set of interpolated locations between at least a subset of
the first plurality of time-stamped locations; provide, to the API
of the mobile location data aggregator, the first set of
interpolated locations; receive, from the mobile location data
aggregator, a second set of anonymized identifiers associated with
mobile device users known to be within a second plurality of
exposure zones associated with the first set of interpolated
locations wherein each of second plurality of exposure zones
encompasses one location of the first set of interpolated locations
and is of the first area; provide, to the audience data service
provider, the second set of anonymized identifiers wherein the
audience data service provider further operates to map the second
set of anonymized identifiers to households in order to determine
additional anonymized identifiers associated with the second set of
anonymized identifiers; wherein the instructions to form the
augmented exposed audience further include instructions to add the
additional anonymized identifiers to the other anonymized
identifiers and to the first set of anonymized identifiers.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S.
Provisional Patent Application No. 63/024,361, entitled SYSTEM AND
METHOD FOR RETARGETING IN A VEHICULAR ADVERTISING SYSTEM, filed on
May 13, 2020, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.
63/024,350, entitled ATTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MOVING
OUT-OF-HOME ADVERTISING, filed on May 13, 2020, the disclosures of
which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for
all purposes.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Businesses often attempt to increase consumer awareness by
placing messaging identifying or promoting products or services on
mass transit vehicles (e.g., buses). Such messaging may also be
conveyed by configuring the exteriors of a business' fleet or other
vehicles with text and/or graphics identifying the business and/or
its products or services. However, a business entity has no way of
quantifying the visual impressions of such messaging by potential
consumers; that is, the business has no way of determining how many
consumers actually view these messages.
[0003] Systems have been proposed for configuring vehicles with a
messaging device (e.g., a display) capable of being updated with
messages intended for viewing by occupants of other vehicles. In
such systems the message may be changed more frequently when the
system detects that the vehicle with the messaging device is being
slowed by traffic. However, such systems are unable to estimate how
many other vehicles are capable of viewing the messages.
[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 10,373,205, assigned to the assignee of the
present application, relates a system and method for estimating
visual impressions of vehicles configured with external graphic
messaging. Consider that a vehicle moving along a path from one
location to another, or positioned in a certain location, will be
visible to occupants of other vehicles which have travelled the
same path or are otherwise within the same vicinity. These vehicle
occupants will be in a position to receive visual impression of the
vehicle's aesthetic appearance (e.g., make, model, color, year, or
vehicle messaging/advertising). The '205 patent discloses a system
and method of attributing how many unique visual impressions a
moving or non-moving vehicle receives for the purposes of, for
example, advertising, marketing, or research.
SUMMARY
[0005] The disclosure is directed to a retargeting method for use
in a system including a plurality of vehicles having exteriors
configured to convey messaging to occupants of other vehicles. The
method includes receiving communication signals including
information relating to time-stamped locations of the plurality of
vehicles. The communication signals may be provided by mobile
devices of users disposed within the vehicles or by communication
devices integrated within the plurality of vehicles. The method
further includes providing, to a mobile location data aggregator,
first time-stamped location data including a first plurality of the
time-stamped locations. A first set of anonymized identifiers
associated with mobile device users known to be within a first
plurality of exposure zones associated with the first plurality of
time-stamped locations is then received from the mobile location
data aggregator. Each of the first plurality of exposure zones
encompasses one of the first plurality of time-stamped locations
and is of a first area associated with a first radius. The method
further includes providing, to an audience data service provider,
the first set of anonymized identifiers. The audience data service
provider operates to map the first set of anonymized identifiers to
households in order to determine other anonymized identifiers
associated with the first set of anonymized identifiers. An
augmented exposed audience may then be formed by adding the other
anonymized identifiers to the first set of anonymized identifiers.
Advertisements may then be caused to be provided to devices
corresponding to at least a subset of the augmented exposed
audience.
[0006] The method may additionally include creating a first set of
interpolated locations between at least a subset of the first
plurality of time-stamped locations. The first set of interpolated
locations may then be provided to the mobile location data
aggregator. A second set of anonymized identifiers associated with
mobile device users known to be within a second plurality of
exposure zones associated with the first set of interpolated
locations may then be received from the mobile location data
aggregator. Each exposure zone encompasses one location of the
first set of interpolated locations and is of the first area. The
method may further include providing, to the audience data service
provider, the second set of anonymized identifiers. The audience
data service provider further operates to map the second set of
anonymized identifiers to households in order to determine
additional anonymized identifiers associated with the second set of
anonymized identifiers. In this case forming the augmented exposed
audience further includes adding the additional anonymized
identifiers to the other anonymized identifiers and to the first
set of anonymized identifiers.
[0007] In another aspect the disclosure relates to retargeting
platform for use in a system including a plurality of vehicles
having exteriors configured to convey messaging to occupants of
other vehicles. The retargeting platform includes one or more
processors, a communication interface; and a memory including
instructions. When executed by the one or more processors, the
instructions cause the one or more processors to receive
communication signals including information relating to
time-stamped locations of the plurality of vehicles. The
communication signals may be provided by mobile devices of users
disposed within the plurality of vehicles or be communication
devices integrated with the plurality of vehicles. The one or more
processors may be caused to provide, to a mobile location data
aggregator, first time-stamped location data including a first
plurality of the time-stamped locations. A first set of anonymized
identifiers associated with mobile device users known to be within
a first plurality of exposure zones associated with the first
plurality of time-stamped locations may then be received by the
platform. Each of the first plurality of exposure zones may
encompass one of the first plurality of time-stamped locations and
is of a first area associated with a first radius. The one or more
processors may be further caused to provide, to an audience data
service provider, the first set of anonymized identifiers. The
audience data service provider may operate to map the first set of
anonymized identifiers to households in order to determine other
anonymized identifiers associated with the first set of anonymized
identifiers. The one or more processors of the platform may then
form an augmented exposed audience by adding the other anonymized
identifiers to the first set of anonymized identifiers and cause
advertisements to be provided to devices corresponding to at least
a subset of the augmented exposed audience.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The present disclosure is more fully appreciated in
connection with the following Detailed Description taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The skilled artisan
will understand that the drawings primarily are for illustrative
purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventive
subject matter described herein. The drawings are not necessarily
to scale; in some instances, various aspects of the inventive
subject matter disclosed herein may be shown exaggerated or
enlarged in the drawings to facilitate an understanding of
different features. In the drawings, like reference characters
generally refer to like features (e.g., functionally similar and/or
structurally similar elements).
[0009] FIG. 1 provides an overview of a system for estimating
visual impressions of vehicles configured with external graphic
messaging and an associated representation of quantifiable visual
impressions associated with a vehicle in the system.
[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates visual impressions corresponding to
visualization of a target vehicle with exterior graphic
messaging.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an exemplary workflow performed by
a mobile device application in conjunction with a system
platform.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary platform impressions
and scoring process capable of being implemented by the system of
FIG. 1.
[0013] FIG. 5 provides an illustration of determination of a number
of road segments traversed by a given vehicle.
[0014] FIG. 6 provides an overview of an attribution system for
measuring an extent to which an advertising campaign involving
vehicles configured with external graphic messaging influences
conversion events relating to a product, service or other activity
associated with the campaign.
[0015] FIG. 7 illustrates an urban environment in which the
attribution system of the present disclosure may be implemented to
gauge the effectiveness of external graphic messaging displayed by
vehicles.
[0016] FIG. 8 provides a street level view of an urban environment
in which the attribution system of the present disclosure may be
implemented to gauge the effectiveness of external graphic
messaging displayed by vehicles.
[0017] FIG. 9 is a focused, perspective view of a road segment
associated with a single exposure zone which may be used in
attribution determinations in accordance with the disclosure.
[0018] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process for building
an exposed audience for use in attribution determinations in
accordance with the disclosure.
[0019] FIG. 11 is a flowchart is provided of a process for
determining at least one attribution metric associated with
advertising or other messaging externally displayed by
vehicles.
[0020] FIG. 12 illustrates an advertising retargeting system in
accordance with the disclosure.
[0021] FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a process for advertising
retargeting in accordance with the disclosure.
[0022] Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding
components throughout the several views of the drawings. Skilled
artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are
illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily
been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the
elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other
elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of
the present disclosure. Also, common but well-understood elements
that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment
are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed
view of these various embodiments of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
System for Estimating Visual Impressions of Vehicles Bearing
External Messaging
[0023] FIG. 1 provides an overview of a system 10 for estimating
visual impressions of vehicles configured with external graphic
messaging and an associated representation of quantifiable visual
impressions associated with a vehicle in the system. As shown, the
system 10 includes an impressions computation platform 11 capable
of receiving information from a plurality of mobile device
applications 136 associated with a plurality of vehicles 13
(represented in FIG. 1 by a single mobile device application and a
single vehicle, respectively).
[0024] In one embodiment a removable canvas bearing graphic
messaging is applied to each of the vehicles 13. In this way a
given vehicle may be configured to convey different messaging over
different time periods (e.g., the messaging conveyed by the vehicle
may be changed every few months). In one embodiment the removable
canvas comprises one or more film-based panels or segments
configured to adhere to exterior surfaces of the vehicles 13. For
example, the removable canvas may be in the form of a vinyl wrap or
other media wrap/adhesive. Alternatively, one or more of the
vehicles 13 may be equipped with digital signage capable of
conveying the desired messaging.
[0025] The mobile device application 136 associated with each
vehicle 13 is generally executed by a mobile communication device
owned or controlled by an operator of the vehicle. In other
embodiments the mobile device applications 136 may be executed by
mobile communication devices integrated within the vehicles 13. As
shown, the system 10 further includes a database 14 containing a
segment mile table 108, a historical traffic volume table 109a
and/or a real-time traffic volume data 109b.
[0026] During operation of the system of FIG. 1, one or both of
historical and real time vehicle traffic volume for a geographic
location (latitude and longitude) are used in producing a value
representing the number of vehicles within a "road segment" within
a distance of point A to point B. Utilizing a mobile device
application 136 and tracking GPS latitude and longitude, time of
day, and speed, while in a vehicle as it travels from point A to
point B, the platform 11 may cross reference that travelled path
with the calculated number of vehicles in multiple road segments
making up the path of point A to point B based on the historical
and real time traffic volume. The result is a quantifiable amount
of visual impressions received from people in vehicles travelling
by the target vehicle within the travelled road segments.
[0027] A parked vehicle can also derive from the calculated road
segment. In particular, an estimate is made of the number of
vehicles that have travelled past the parked vehicle and a number
of visual impressions received by the parked vehicle is derived
from the estimate.
[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates visual impressions corresponding to
visualization of a target vehicle with exterior graphic messaging.
In FIG. 2 people 100 in other vehicles are visually able to see 101
vehicle A's exterior graphic messaging 102. The people are in other
vehicles 100 driving on the same road in either direction or
freeway/highway. As discussed above, the exterior graphic messaging
of Vehicle A 102 can be in the form of car vinyl wrap or other
media wrap/adhesive, or viewable digital signage.
[0029] Attention is now directed to FIG. 3, which is a flow chart
of an exemplary workflow performed by a mobile device application
in conjunction with a system platform. In the example of FIG. 3,
mobile device 103 sends, to a platform API gateway 105 using a
combination of GPS and cellular or Wi-Fi Internet connectivity 104,
GPS location latitude and longitude, speed, and time of day data
for vehicle A every 1/10 of a mile travelled in real time. If
Internet connectivity becomes unavailable, the GPS data is stored
on the mobile device application 136 until Internet connectivity is
re-established.
[0030] The API Gateway sends the data 106 to a database table 107
for storage and indexing of vehicle A location data. A segment mile
database table 108 exists via imported shape files converted into a
segment mile table. The segment mile database table 108 is cross
referenced 110 with the vehicle A GPS data 107 and with a traffic
volume table 109 in order to determine a number of cars and/or
people are on the road for each segment driven 111. This in turn
produces impressions per road segment 112, which is stored in a
database table for vehicle A 113. The stored impressions
information can be sent to any visualization system 114 and
visualized 115.
[0031] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary platform impressions
and scoring process. As shown, the exemplary process begins with
the mobile device in vehicle A 115 sending GPS latitude and
longitude, speed and time of day data every 1/10 of a mile 116 via
posting to an API 117, which in turn stores the data in a database
table 118. Another database table exists with segment mile data 122
derived from imported shape files (shp) correlating segment ID's
with a certain mile distance. In order to import the shape file
into the database, it is typically necessary to parse out the shape
file into a comma separated file (csv) so as to import the data
into the database. A separate database table holds traffic volume
information indexed by segment ID 123. By referencing the segment
mile table and the traffic volume data, a segmented traffic volume
124 can be derived. Combining 126 vehicle A GPS data 119 segmented
traffic volume 125 and applying an environmental filter 121, an
output is generated that is obtainable via an API 128 and thus
retrievable 129 as a presentable set of impression data for vehicle
A 130.
[0032] FIG. 5 provides an illustration of determination of a number
of road segments traversed by and associated with a given vehicle
A. In the example of FIG. 5, the road segments 131 132 and 133 each
represent a road segment of 15 minutes. Each road segment 131 132
and 133 is defined in a segment mile database table 122, which is
indexed by road segment ID 122. As vehicle A travels through each
road segment which, again, is a representation of 15 minutes of
distance, a percentage 134 of segment completion by vehicle A is
tracked. Each road segment may be associated with a number of
vehicles 135 corresponding to, for example, the number of vehicles
within the road segment at a given time. This number of vehicles
may be determined in accordance with historical traffic data 123,
real-time traffic data, or some combination thereof. In the
specific case of FIG. 5, 3 road segments 131 132 and 133 have been
traversed by vehicle A, where segments 131 and 132 have been 100%
travelled and segment 133 has been 50% travelled. Segment 131 has 2
vehicles, segment 132 has 1 vehicle and segment 133 has 2 vehicles.
Based on this segment traffic, vehicle A has received impressions
from 4 vehicles. This assumes an exemplary approach in which
estimates of the total number of vehicles capable of viewing
vehicle A with each segment are added. Each such estimate may be
obtained, for example, by using the percentage of each segment
travelled by vehicle A in conjunction with historical data
concerning the number of vehicles present within the relevant
portions of the segment at the relevant times (i.e., the times at
which vehicle A was positioned within various parts of the
segment). Of course, other approaches to estimating visual
impressions within road segments may be used. For example, in some
implementation it may be sufficient to determine that a vehicle has
simply been present within a road segment in order for the vehicle
to be accorded visual impressions corresponding to some or all of
the vehicles within the road segment.
[0033] The environmental filter 120 may take into consideration the
distance a vehicle can see vehicle A (e.g., 250 feet) and adjust
the impression value accordingly. For example, in the case of an
estimated visibility of 250 feet, those potential impressions
associated with vehicles in the segment more than 250 feet away
from vehicle A are not counted in determining the number of
impressions for the segment. This filtered number of impressions
for the segment is then processed based on a score for vehicle A's
miles that takes into account current speed as a ratio to free flow
speed (traffic flow conditions) as well as time of day 104.
[0034] In some embodiments the environmental filter 120 may apply a
formula based on the traffic score to account for the reduced
exchange of unique vehicles which may occur during heavy to
moderate traffic congestion, or during night time driving
(decreased visibility distance) even when traffic is free flowing.
In these embodiments a categorization scoring range of 1-12 may be
used, with 1 being a low score (e.g., light traffic (low speed) or
poor visibility) to 12 being a high score (e.g., higher traffic
(high speed) and good visibility). The result of the adjustments
121 is an estimate of the number of unique vehicles capable of
seeing the target vehicle within the travelled distance.
[0035] Attribution System for Moving Out-of-Home Advertising
[0036] When an occupant of a vehicle or other observer views an
advertisement on the exterior of another moving vehicle, the
occupant or observer may visit a business associated with the
advertisement or otherwise perform an activity (e.g., visiting a
website). Such visitation of the business or performing of an
activity in response to viewing an advertisement is generally known
as a conversion. A conversion may correspond to purchase of a
product, but may also involve other interactions with a business.
The extent to which such conversions are attributable to
advertisements on moving vehicles would be of interest to
advertisers. However, existing systems are not configured to
measure such attribution.
[0037] As is discussed below, the present attribution system is
designed to build an exposed audience of users known to have been
proximate tracked paths of vehicles displaying external graphic
messaging within a geo-fenced area. A control audience of users is
developed by determining users known to have been within the
geo-fenced area but not within a defined range of such tracked
paths. A first set of conversion events performed by the exposed
audience with respect to a business or other entity associated with
the displayed messaging (e.g., advertising) is determined.
Similarly, a second set of conversion events performed by the
control audience is also determined. At least one attribution
metric based upon the first set of conversion events and the second
set of conversion events may then be calculated.
[0038] FIG. 6 illustrates an attribution system 600 for measuring
an extent to which an advertising campaign involving vehicles
configured with external graphic messaging influences conversion
events relating to a product, service or other activity associated
with the campaign. As shown, the system 600 includes an attribution
computation platform 610 capable of receiving information from a
plurality of mobile device applications 616 associated with a
plurality of vehicles 618 configured with external graphic
messaging (represented in FIG. 6 by a single mobile device
application and a single vehicle, respectively). The mobile device
applications 616 may each may be executed by, for example, a mobile
device 617 in the possession of a driver of the respective vehicle
618. As is discussed below, the attribution computation platform
610 is in communication with a mobile location data aggregator 620,
an audience data service provider 622 and a conversion data service
provider 624.
[0039] In one embodiment a removable canvas bearing graphic
messaging is applied to each of the vehicles 618. In this way a
given vehicle may be configured to convey different messaging to
occupants of other vehicles 612 or other persons 614 over different
time periods (e.g., the messaging conveyed by the vehicle may be
changed every few months). In one embodiment the removable canvas
comprises one or more film-based panels or segments configured to
adhere to exterior surfaces of the vehicles 618. For example, the
removable canvas may be in the form of a vinyl wrap or other media
wrap/adhesive. Alternatively, one or more of the vehicles 618 may
be equipped with digital signage capable of conveying the desired
messaging. In other embodiments "topper" signage may be attached to
the roof or other external surface of the vehicles 618.
[0040] The mobile device application 616 associated with each
vehicle 618 is generally executed by a mobile communication device
owned or controlled by an operator of the vehicle 618. In other
embodiments the mobile device applications 616 may be executed by
mobile communication devices integrated within the vehicles 618.
The vehicles 612 each include one or more occupants, some of which
may also possess mobile communication devices for which location
information as a function of time may be available. Similarly, at
least some of the persons 614 may also carry mobile communication
devices for which time-stamped location information can be
obtained.
[0041] In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the platform 610 and/or the
mobile location data aggregator 620, audience data service provider
622 and conversion data service provider 624 may be implemented
using "cloud" computing capabilities 630. As is known, cloud
computing may be characterized as a model for facilitating
on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing
resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and
services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal
management effort or service provider interaction. Cloud systems
tend to automatically control resource use by utilizing some form
of metering capability with respect to, for example, storage,
processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts. Various cloud
service models are possible, including cloud software as a service
(SaaS), cloud platform as a service (PaaS), and cloud
infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
[0042] In other embodiments the platform 610 and/or the mobile
location data aggregator 620, audience data service provider 622,
and conversion data service provider 624 may be implemented by
using on-premise servers and other infrastructure rather than by
using cloud-based services. Alternatively, hybrid implementations
of the attribution computation platform 610 including a combination
of on-premise and cloud-based infrastructure are also within the
scope of the present disclosure.
[0043] During operation of the system 600 of FIG. 6, mobile device
application 616 tracks GPS latitude and longitude and time of day
while the vehicle 618 is traveling or at rest. During this time the
external graphic messaging carried by the vehicle 618 may receive
visual impressions from the occupants of the other vehicles 612 or
the other persons 614 within an exposure radius of the vehicle.
Mobile device 617 sends, to a vehicle tracking gateway and database
640 using a combination of GPS and cellular or Wi-Fi internet
connectivity 644, GPS location latitude and longitude data and time
of day data for its associated vehicle 618. In one embodiment this
data is provided for every 1/10 of a mile travelled in real time.
Measurements of vehicle speed may optionally also be provided. If
Internet connectivity becomes unavailable, the GPS data is stored
on the mobile device application 616 until Internet connectivity is
re-established.
[0044] Attention is now directed to FIG. 7, an illustration is
provided of an urban environment 700 in which the attribution
system of the present disclosure may be implemented to gauge the
effectiveness of external graphic messaging (e.g., advertisements)
displayed by vehicles 618. As shown, a circular exposure zone 710
having an exposure radius (e.g., 50 feet) surrounds each vehicle.
As is discussed below, vehicles 612a and persons 614a that come
within an exposure zone 710 associated with a particular external
graphic message form an exposed audience 650 and vehicles 612b and
persons 614b within a geofenced area that do not come within an
exposure zone 710 for that particular external graphic message form
a control, or "not exposed", audience 652. For clarity of
presentation it is assumed that the same external graphic messaging
is displayed by the vehicles 618 in FIG. 7, it being understood
that in general different vehicles 618 will be associated with
different campaigns and display different external graphic
messaging corresponding to each of the campaigns. It will be
appreciated that, in general, when the vehicles 618 are outfitted
to display external graphic messaging for different campaigns, the
exposed audience 650 and the control audience 652 will be different
for each such campaign. The size of the exposure radius is
configurable and may vary depending upon, for example, the size of
the font used on the external graphic messaging carried by a
vehicle 618 (e.g., larger font sizes would be associated with
correspondingly larger exposure radii).
[0045] In one embodiment each member of the exposed audience 650
and each member of the control audience 652 is identified by
information such as a mobile advertising ID ("mobile ad ID"). An
exemplary manner in which the platform 610 builds the exposed
audience 650 and the control audience 652 in cooperation with the
mobile location data aggregator 620 and the audience data service
provider 622 is described hereinafter
[0046] FIG. 8 provides a street level view of an urban environment
800 in which the attribution system of the present disclosure may
be implemented to gauge the effectiveness of external graphic
messaging displayed by vehicles 618. As is indicated by FIG. 8,
information 810 including latitude, longitude and a timestamp is
captured by the mobile device application associated with each
vehicle 618 at regular intervals of distance travelled (e.g., every
1/10.sup.th of a mile).
[0047] FIG. 9 is a focused, perspective view of a road segment
associated with a single exposure zone which may be used in
attribution determinations in accordance with the disclosure. As
shown, a vehicle 918 is configured to display exterior graphic
messaging 904 visible to at least one person 914 within a exposure
zone 920 associated with the vehicle 918. The person 914 is in
possession of a mobile communication device 930 for which location
information may be available and utilized in the manner described
hereinafter. An additional vehicle 940 is also present within the
exposure zone 920 and may include an occupant having a mobile
communication device for which location information may also be
obtained and used as described herein.
[0048] Attention is now directed to FIG. 10, which is a flowchart
illustrating a process 1000 for building an exposed audience for
use in attribution determinations in accordance with the
disclosure. The process 1000 includes receiving time-stamped
latitude/longitude positions from vehicles displaying external
graphic messaging within a geo-fenced area (stage 1004). A first
set of anonymized identifiers associated with mobile device users
(either pedestrians or occupants of other vehicles) known to be
within a predefined radius of any of the time-stamped
latitude/longitude positions is determined (stage 1008). An
interpolated set of latitude/longitude positions is created between
the time-stamped latitude/longitude positions (stage 1012). A
second set of anonymized identifiers is determined where the second
set of anonymized identifiers are associated with mobile device
users known to be within a predefined radius of any of the
interpolated latitude/longitude positions (stage 1016). The process
1000 further includes building an exposed audience by aggregating
the first set of anonymized identifiers and the second set of
anonymized identifiers (stage 1020).
[0049] With regard to stages 1008 and 1016, in one embodiment the
first set of anonymized identifiers and the second set of
anonymized identifiers correspond to mobile advertisement IDs
(mobile ad IDs). Currently, there exist two main types of mobile ad
IDs. Apple devices utilize a mobile ad ID known as Identifier for
Advertising (IDFA) and devices based upon Google's Android
operating system use a mobile ad ID known as the Google Advertising
ID (AAID). The mobile location data aggregator 620, which may be a
third party service, maintains a database of mobile ad IDs as a
function of location and time. Accordingly, by providing the
time-stamped location data received by the vehicle tracking gateway
640 to an API of the mobile location data aggregator 620, mobile ad
IDs of mobile devices present within the exposure zones associated
with the vehicles 618 are returned to the attribution computation
platform 610.
[0050] With regard to stage 1012, when a given vehicle 618 is
traveling at a reasonable speed (e.g., is not in heavy traffic) and
the vehicle provides time-stamped location data for approximately
every 1/10t.sup.h of a mile of one or more road segments traversed
by the vehicle 618, this information should generally be sufficient
to obtain mobile ad IDs for essentially all mobile devices capable
of viewing the vehicle 618 during its traversal of the road
segments. However, in cases in which a vehicle is traveling very
slowly (e.g., is in heavy traffic), it may be necessary to generate
a set of interpolated time-stamped location data and also provide
this to the API of the mobile location data aggregator 620 in order
to obtain mobile ad IDs for essentially all mobile devices
positioned to view the vehicle 618 while it is traveling. This is
because when the vehicle 618 is traveling slowly a relatively large
amount of time may elapse between consecutive time-stamped
locations if such locations are spaced by approximately 1/10.sup.th
of a mile. As a result, mobile devices within other vehicles may
come within the exposure radius of the vehicle 618 during the time
it is traversing between successive time-stamped reporting
locations separated by 1/10.sup.th of a mile but may not be within
the exposure radius at the times when the vehicle 618 records its
location (i.e., generates time-stamped location data for provision
to the vehicle tracking gateway 640 either in real time or in a
batch process). Under these conditions the data aggregator 620 may
not return the mobile ad IDs corresponding to the mobile devices
within these other vehicles; that is, the exposed audience
associated with a particular vehicle 619 could be undercounted. In
order to remedy this situation the platform 610 could, when the
time-stamped location data received from a vehicle 618 indicates
that the vehicle 618 is traveling slowly, create an interpolated
set of time-stamped location data in which one or more interpolated
time-stamped locations are created between each time-stamped
location reported by the vehicle 618. As a simple example, if one
interpolated time-stamped location were to be created roughly
halfway between each reported time-stamped location, then the
combined reported and interpolated time-stamped location data
provided to the mobile location data aggregator 620 would be
comprised of time-stamped locations separated by approximately
1/20.sup.th of a mile (assuming the reported time-stamped locations
were separated by approximately 1/10.sup.th of a mile).
[0051] Turning now to FIG. 11, a flowchart is provided of a process
1100 for determining at least one attribution metric associated
with advertising or other messaging externally displayed by
vehicles 618. As is discussed in further detail below, the process
1100 includes receiving, from a plurality of vehicles 618,
communication signals including information relating to a set of
time-stamped latitude/longitude positions of the plurality of
vehicles within a geo-fenced area (stage 1102). The process 1100
further includes building an exposed audience by aggregating (i) a
first set of anonymized identifiers associated with users known to
have been proximate the set of time-stamped latitude/longitude
positions received from the vehicles 618 and (ii) a second set of
anonymized identifiers associated with users known to have been
proximate interpolated time-stamped latitude/longitude positions
derived from the time-stamped latitude/longitude data points (stage
1104). The geo-fenced area may comprise, for example, a portion of
a city or county, or a geographic region bounded by roadways and/or
natural features.
[0052] In one embodiment the first set of anonymized identifiers
and the second set of anonymized identifiers correspond to an
aggregated set of mobile ad IDs provided by the mobile location
data aggregator 620. This aggregated set of mobile ad IDs may then
be provided by the platform 610 to the audience data service
provider 622. In one embodiment the audience data service provider
622 maps each mobile ad ID within the aggregated set of mobile ad
IDs to a particular household in order to determine other mobile ad
IDs associated with the aggregated set of mobile ad IDs. Any such
other mobile ad IDs identified through this process are then added
to the aggregated set of mobile ad IDs in the exposed audience 650
in order to form an augmented exposed audience (stage 1106). This
may be done to ensure that the conversion events 660 associated
with a particular advertisement displayed by one or more vehicles
618 appropriately reflect the influence of the displayed
advertisement on subsequent consumer behavior. For example,
consider the case in which a commuter having a mobile device
associated with a particular mobile ad ID views a displayed
advertisement on a vehicle 618 during the commuter's evening
commute. Upon arriving at home, the commuter may make a purchase of
a product or take some other action related to the advertisement
using a device having a different mobile ad ID, or may cause a
family member to do so using another device. In either case, unless
the mobile ad IDs associated with the other devices in the
commuter's household are included within the set of mobile ad IDs
used to measure attribution, the conversion events 660 will not
reflect the influence of the advertisement on the product purchase
or other actions taken at the commuter's household.
[0053] The process 1100 further includes building a control
audience by determining a control set of anonymized identifiers
known to have been within the geo-fenced area but not within
defined areas proximate any of the set of time-stamped
latitude/longitude positions or the interpolated time-stamped
latitude/longitude positions (stage 1108). In one embodiment the
platform 610 facilitates building the control audience by providing
the set reported and interpolated latitude/longitude positions to
the audience data service provider 622. In turn, the service
provider 622 typically acquires (from one or more third party
services) the mobile ad IDs which were within a defined geo-fenced
area but not within the exposure radius of the vehicle 618 of
interest during the time duration spanned by the time-stamped
latitude/longitude data.
[0054] The process 1100 also includes determining conversion events
660 including a first set of conversion events 660a performed by
the augmented exposed audience with respect to an advertisement
externally displayed by a vehicle 618 and a second set of
conversion events 660b performed by the control audience (stage
1112). These conversion events may relate to, for example, a
purchase of a product or service associated with the advertisement,
a physical visit to a merchant associated with the product or
service, or navigation to a website corresponding to the product or
service. Information relating to the conversion events 660 may be
provided to the platform 610 by, for example, monitoring activity
on a website or a mobile application ("app") operated by a customer
of an entity operating the attribution system 600 (e.g., a company
that has contracted to advertise a product using the vehicles 618).
For example, data relating to the conversion events 660 could
include a list of mobile ad IDs associated with electronic devices
used to (i) navigate to a landing page of a website identified by a
URL included within the advertisement, or (ii) perform one or more
actions within a mobile app operated by a company responsible for
running the advertisement. In addition, data relating to the
conversion events 660 could include a record of customer "foot
traffic" at a particular physical location (e.g., particular retail
locations).
[0055] At least one attribution metric based upon the first set of
conversion events 660a and the second set of conversion events 660b
may then be determined (stage 1116). For example, an attribution
metric termed offline to online attribution may be determined. In
this case, the conversion events 660a performed by the exposed
audience and the conversion events 660b performed by the control
audience correspond to firing a pixel on (or otherwise interacting
with) a particular page of a website. For example, the page could
comprise a "shopping cart" or "checkout" page of a website operated
by the entity running the advertisement. The attribution metric in
this case may correspond to the percentage of the exposed audience
firing the website pixel relative to the percentage of the control
audience firing the pixel.
[0056] In the case of a mobile app, the conversion events 660a
performed by the exposed audience and the conversion events 660b
performed by the control audience correspond to interaction with
the mobile app. In one embodiment a measurement tool is used to
monitor such interaction. Such tools (e.g., Kochava or AppsFlyer)
enable monitoring of events occurring within the app on a
particular mobile device. This permits an advertiser utilizing the
system 600 to specify that particular events (e.g., "new user
created") be monitored for both the exposed and control audiences.
Thus, an attribution metric relating to the ratio of new users of
the app from the exposed audience relative to new users of the app
from the control audience may be determined using the conversion
events 660a and 660b relating to such creation of new users.
[0057] Attribution based upon retail foot traffic may involve, for
example, determining the percentage of the exposed audience that
visits a particular location relative to the percentage of a
control audience that visits the location within some time period
following display of an advertisement by vehicles 618. For example,
consider an advertisement displayed by vehicles 618 which promotes
a particular professional sports team. In this case the conversion
events 660a and 660b may relate to the physical presence of members
of the exposed audience and the control audience, respectively, at
a venue (e.g., a stadium or arena) associated with the sports team.
The physical presence of members of the exposed and control
audiences at the venue may be determined by, for example, using
data provided by the mobile location data aggregator 620.
[0058] In one embodiment each attribution metric determined by the
platform 610 may utilized a "look back" window of a defined period
of time (e.g., 30 days) to ensure that the conversion events 660a
and 660b represent the first time that a member of the exposed or
control audiences has interacted with the relevant website or
mobile app or visited the relevant physical location. This prevents
"double counting" of individuals previously utilizing the relevant
website or mobile app or which have previously visited the relevant
physical location.
[0059] Retargeting System for Moving Out-of-Home Advertising
[0060] FIG. 12 illustrates an advertising retargeting system 1200
in accordance with the disclosure. As shown, the system 1200
includes a retargeting platform 1210 capable of receiving
information from a plurality of mobile device applications 1216
associated with a plurality of vehicles 1218 configured with
external graphic messaging (represented in FIG. 12 by a single
mobile device application and a single vehicle, respectively). The
mobile device applications 1216 may each be executed by, for
example, a mobile device 1217 in the possession of a driver of the
respective vehicle 1218. As is discussed below, the retargeting
platform 1210 is in communication with a mobile location data
aggregator 1220, an audience data service provider 1222 and a
demand-side platform 1224. The vehicles 1218 may be wrapped with a
removable canvas bearing graphic messaging or otherwise configured
with advertising in the same manner as the vehicles 618.
[0061] The mobile device application 1216 associated with each
vehicle 1218 is generally executed by a mobile communication device
owned or controlled by an operator of the vehicle 1218. In other
embodiments the mobile device applications 1216 may be executed by
mobile communication devices integrated within the vehicles 1218.
The vehicles 1212 each include one or more occupants, some of which
may also possess mobile communication devices for which location
information as a function of time may be available. Similarly, at
least some of the persons 1214 may also carry mobile communication
devices for which time-stamped location information can be
obtained.
[0062] In the embodiment of FIG. 12, the platform 1210 and/or the
mobile location data aggregator 1220, audience data service
provider 1222 and demand-side platform 1224 may be implemented
using "cloud" computing capabilities 1230. As is known, cloud
computing may be characterized as a model for facilitating
on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing
resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and
services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal
management effort or service provider interaction. Cloud systems
tend to automatically control resource use by utilizing some form
of metering capability with respect to, for example, storage,
processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts. Various cloud
service models are possible, including cloud software as a service
(SaaS), cloud platform as a service (PaaS), and cloud
infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
[0063] In other embodiments the platform 1210 and/or the mobile
location data aggregator 1220, audience data service provider 1222,
and demand-side platform 1224 may be implemented by using
on-premise servers and other infrastructure rather than by using
cloud-based services. Alternatively, hybrid implementations of the
retargeting platform 1210 including a combination of on-premise and
cloud-based infrastructure are also within the scope of the present
disclosure.
[0064] During operation of the system 1200 of FIG. 12, mobile
device application 1216 tracks GPS latitude and longitude and time
of day while the vehicle 1218 is traveling or at rest. During this
time the external graphic messaging carried by the vehicle 1218 may
receive visual impressions from the occupants of the other vehicles
1212 or the other persons 1214 within an exposure radius of the
vehicle. Mobile device 1217 sends, to a vehicle tracking gateway
and database 1240 using a combination of GPS and cellular or Wi-Fi
internet connectivity 1244, GPS location latitude and longitude
data and time of day data for its associated vehicle 1218. In one
embodiment this data is provided for every 1/10 of a mile travelled
in real time. Measurements of vehicle speed may optionally also be
provided. If Internet connectivity becomes unavailable, the GPS
data is stored on the mobile device application 1216 until Internet
connectivity is re-established.
[0065] During operation of the system 1200, the retargeting
platform 1210 is configured to build an exposed audience 1250
comprised of a set of mobile ad IDs in substantially the same
manner as was described above with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11.
That is, the exposed audience 1250 with respect to a given vehicle
1218 may be generated based upon each reported time-stamped
location from the vehicle 1218 within a geo-fenced area of interest
and interpolated time-stamped location data derived from the
reported time-stamped locations. The mobile location data
aggregator 1220 may then provide a first set of mobile ad IDs and a
second set of mobile ad IDs in response to this reported
time-stamped location data and interpolated time-stamped location
data, respectively. An aggregated set of mobile ad IDs comprising
the first set of mobile ad IDs and the second set of mobile ad IDs
may then be provided by the platform 1210 to the audience data
service provider 1222. In one embodiment the audience data service
provider 1222 maps each mobile ad ID within the aggregated set of
mobile ad IDs to a particular household. Any other mobile ad IDs
associated with the households identified through this process are
then added to the aggregated set of mobile ad IDs stored as the
exposed audience 1250.
[0066] The compilation of the exposed audience 1250 enables the
retargeting platform to retarget users associated with the exposed
audience 1250 with advertising that may relate to the messaging or
advertising displayed by the vehicles 1218. Specifically, the
retargeting platform 1210 may provide the demand-side platform 1224
with some or all of the mobile ad IDs within the exposed audience
1250 along with information identifying one or more characteristics
of the retargeted advertising desired to be provided to the exposed
audience. Based upon this information, the demand-side platform
1224 may provide bids to one or more ad exchanges 1250 for
purchasing advertisements of the type desired by a customer of the
system 1200 (e.g., a brand owner or other business owner) to be
delivered to some or all of the exposed audience 1250.
[0067] Attention is now directed to FIG. 13, which is a flowchart
of a process 1300 for advertising retargeting in accordance with
the disclosure. The process 1300 includes receiving, from a
plurality of vehicles 1218 displaying external graphic messaging,
communication signals including information relating to a set of
time-stamped latitude/longitude positions of the plurality of
vehicles within a geo-fenced area (stage 1302). The process 1300
further includes building an exposed audience by aggregating (i) a
first set of anonymized identifiers (e.g., mobile ad IDs)
associated with users known to be proximate at least one of the set
of time-stamped latitude/longitude positions and (ii) a second set
of anonymized identifiers associated with users known to be
proximate interpolated time-stamped latitude/longitude positions
derived from the time-stamped latitude/longitude data points (stage
1304). The audience data service provider 1222 may map each mobile
ad ID within the aggregated set of mobile ad IDs to a particular
household in order to determine other mobile ad IDs associated with
the aggregated set of mobile ad IDs (stage 1306). Any such other
mobile ad IDs identified through this process are then added to the
aggregated set of mobile ad IDs in the exposed audience 650 in
order to form an augmented exposed audience (stage 1308). The
process includes purchasing advertisements to be provided to
devices corresponding to at least a subset of the augmented exposed
audience (stage 1312).
[0068] While various embodiments have been described above, it
should be understood that they have been presented by way of
example only, and not limitation. Where methods described above
indicate certain events occurring in certain order, the ordering of
certain events may be modified. Additionally, certain of the events
may be performed concurrently in a parallel process when possible,
as well as performed sequentially as described above. Although
various modules in the different devices are shown to be located in
the processors of the device, they can also be located/stored in
the memory of the device (e.g., software modules) and can be
accessed and executed by the processors. Accordingly, the
specification is intended to embrace all such modifications and
variations of the disclosed embodiments that fall within the spirit
and scope of the appended claims.
[0069] The various methods or processes outlined herein may be
coded as software that is executable on one or more processors that
employ any one of a variety of operating systems or platforms.
Additionally, such software may be written using any of a number of
suitable programming languages and/or programming or scripting
tools, and also may be compiled as executable machine language code
or intermediate code that is executed on a framework or virtual
machine.
[0070] In this respect, various inventive concepts may be embodied
as a computer readable storage medium (or multiple computer
readable storage media) (e.g., a computer memory, one or more
floppy discs, compact discs, optical discs, magnetic tapes, flash
memories, circuit configurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays
or other semiconductor devices, or other non-transitory medium or
tangible computer storage medium) encoded with one or more programs
that, when executed on one or more computers or other processors,
perform methods that implement the various embodiments of the
disclosure discussed above. The computer readable medium or media
can be transportable, such that the program or programs stored
thereon can be loaded into one or more different computers or other
processors to implement various aspects of the present disclosure
as discussed above.
[0071] The terms "program" or "software" or "code" are used herein
in a generic sense to refer to any type of computer code or set of
computer-executable instructions that can be employed to program a
computer or other processor to implement various aspects of
embodiments as discussed above. Additionally, it should be
appreciated that according to one aspect, one or more computer
programs that when executed perform methods of the present
disclosure need not reside on a single computer or processor, but
may be distributed in a modular fashion amongst a number of
different computers or processors to implement various aspects of
the present disclosure.
[0072] Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such
as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other
devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs,
objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular
tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the
functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed
as desired in various embodiments.
[0073] Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable
media in any suitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data
structures may be shown to have fields that are related through
location in the data structure. Such relationships may likewise be
achieved by assigning storage for the fields with locations in a
computer-readable medium that convey relationship between the
fields. However, any suitable mechanism may be used to establish a
relationship between information in fields of a data structure,
including through the use of pointers, tags or other mechanisms
that establish relationship between data elements.
[0074] Also, various inventive concepts may be embodied as one or
more methods, of which an example has been provided. The acts
performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way.
Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts are
performed in an order different than illustrated, which may include
performing some acts simultaneously, even though shown as
sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.
[0075] All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be
understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in
documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of
the defined terms.
[0076] The indefinite articles "a" and "an," as used herein in the
specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the
contrary, should be understood to mean "at least one."
[0077] The phrase "and/or," as used herein in the specification and
in the claims, should be understood to mean "either or both" of the
elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively
present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases.
Multiple elements listed with "and/or" should be construed in the
same fashion, i.e., "one or more" of the elements so conjoined.
Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements
specifically identified by the "and/or" clause, whether related or
unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a
non-limiting example, a reference to "A and/or B", when used in
conjunction with open-ended language such as "comprising" can
refer, in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements
other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally
including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to
both A and B (optionally including other elements); etc.
[0078] As used herein in the specification and in the claims, "or"
should be understood to have the same meaning as "and/or" as
defined above. For example, when separating items in a list, "or"
or "and/or" shall be interpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the
inclusion of at least one, but also including more than one, of a
number or list of elements, and, optionally, additional unlisted
items. Only terms clearly indicated to the contrary, such as "only
one of" or "exactly one of," or, when used in the claims,
"consisting of," will refer to the inclusion of exactly one element
of a number or list of elements. In general, the term "or" as used
herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusive
alternatives (i.e. "one or the other but not both") when preceded
by terms of exclusivity, such as "either," "one of," "only one of,"
or "exactly one of." "Consisting essentially of," when used in the
claims, shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of
patent law.
[0079] As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the
phrase "at least one," in reference to a list of one or more
elements, should be understood to mean at least one element
selected from any one or more of the elements in the list of
elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each and
every element specifically listed within the list of elements and
not excluding any combinations of elements in the list of elements.
This definition also allows that elements may optionally be present
other than the elements specifically identified within the list of
elements to which the phrase "at least one" refers, whether related
or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a
non-limiting example, "at least one of A and B" (or, equivalently,
"at least one of A or B," or, equivalently "at least one of A
and/or B") can refer, in one embodiment, to at least one,
optionally including more than one, A, with no B present (and
optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment,
to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A
present (and optionally including elements other than A); in yet
another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than
one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B
(and optionally including other elements); etc.
[0080] In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all
transitional phrases such as "comprising," "including," "carrying,"
"having," "containing," "involving," "holding," "composed of," and
the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean
including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases
"consisting of" and "consisting essentially of" shall be closed or
semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively, as set forth in the
United States Patent Office Manual of Patent Examining Procedures,
Section 2111.03.
* * * * *