Detecting watermark modifications

• US 10,366,466 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2018
• Issued: 07/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Srinivasan, Venugopal
• Primary Examiner(s): Bernardi, Brenda C
• Application Number:
  US16/158,007
• Publication Number:
  US 20190043152A1
• Time in Patent Office: 292 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0028 Adaptive watermarking, e.g. Human Visual System [HVS]-based watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0071 using multiple or alternating watermarks
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0202 whereby the quality of watermarked images is measured; Measuring quality or performance of watermarking methods; Balancing between quality and robustness
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/018 Audio watermarking, i.e. embedding inaudible data in the audio signal

Abstract

Example systems disclosed herein to detect watermark modifications include a watermark encoder to encode a second watermark in a sampled media signal obtained from a received broadcast signal, the sampled media signal already encoded with a first watermark that was included in the received broadcast signal. Disclosed example systems also include a watermark decoder to detect the first watermark and the second watermark in the sampled media signal, and a watermark modification evaluator to compare a first metric determined for the first watermark and a second metric determined for the second watermark to determine whether the first watermark was modified prior to being included in the received broadcast signal. Disclosed example systems further include a ratings server to revise ratings data corresponding to the received broadcast signal when the first watermark is determined to have been modified prior to being included in the received broadcast signal.

Claims

1. A system to detect watermark modifications, the system comprising:

a watermark encoder to encode a second watermark in a sampled media signal obtained from a received broadcast signal, the sampled media signal already encoded with a first watermark that was included in the received broadcast signal;

a watermark decoder to detect the first watermark and the second watermark in the sampled media signal;

a watermark modification evaluator to compare a first metric determined for the first watermark and a second metric determined for the second watermark to determine whether the first watermark was modified prior to being included in the received broadcast signal; and

a ratings server to revise ratings data corresponding to the received broadcast signal when the first watermark is determined to have been modified prior to being included in the received broadcast signal.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the ratings server is to discard the ratings data when the first watermark is determined to have been modified prior to being included in the received broadcast.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the received broadcast signal is a received radio station signal, and the sampled media signal is a sampled audio signal obtained from the received radio station signal.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first metric is a first signal strength metric determined for the first watermark and the second metric is a second signal strength metric determined for the second watermark.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the watermark modification evaluator is to:

determine the first watermark was modified prior to being included in the received broadcast when the first signal strength metric exceeds the second signal strength metric by at least a threshold amount; and

determine the first watermark was not modified prior to being included in the received broadcast when the first signal strength metric does not exceed the second signal strength metric by at least a threshold amount.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the watermark encoder is to encode the second watermark to overlap in time with the first watermark in the sampled media signal.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the watermark encoder is to employ frequency multiplexing to encode the second watermark to overlap in time with the first watermark in the sampled media signal.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to at least:

encode a second watermark in a sampled media signal obtained from a received broadcast signal, the sampled media signal already encoded with a first watermark that was included in the received broadcast signal;

detect the first watermark and the second watermark in the sampled media signal;

compare a first metric determined for the first watermark and a second metric determined for the second watermark to determine whether the first watermark was modified prior to being included in the received broadcast signal; and

revise ratings data corresponding to the received broadcast signal when the first watermark is determined to have been modified prior to being included in the received broadcast signal.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to discard the ratings data when the first watermark is determined to have been modified prior to being included in the received broadcast.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the received broadcast signal is a received radio station signal, and the sampled media signal is a sampled audio signal obtained from the received radio station signal.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the first metric is a first signal strength metric determined for the first watermark and the second metric is a second signal strength metric determined for the second watermark.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to:

determine the first watermark was modified prior to being included in the received broadcast when the first signal strength metric exceeds the second signal strength metric by at least a threshold amount; and

determine the first watermark was not modified prior to being included in the received broadcast when the first signal strength metric does not exceed the second signal strength metric by at least a threshold amount.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to encode the second watermark to overlap in time with the first watermark in the sampled media signal.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor employ frequency multiplexing to encode the second watermark to overlap in time with the first watermark in the sampled media signal.

15. A watermark modification detector comprising:

means for encoding a second watermark in a sampled media signal obtained from a broadcast media signal received by a media device, the sampled media signal including a first watermark that was included in the broadcast media signal;

means for detecting the first watermark and the second watermark in the sampled media signal; and

means for comparing a first strength metric determined for the first watermark and a second strength metric determined for the second watermark to determine whether the first watermark was modified prior to being encoded in the broadcast media signal that was received by the media device.

16. The watermark modification detector of claim 15, wherein the first watermark is encoded in a first watermarking layer of the sampled media signal, and the watermark encoder is to encode the second watermark in a second watermarking layer of the sampled media signal.

17. The watermark modification detector of claim 15, wherein the means for detecting is to:

sum energies of respective ones of a first set of code tones of the sampled media signal corresponding to symbols of the first watermark to determine the first strength metric; and

sum energies of respective ones of a second set of code tones of the sampled media signal corresponding to symbols of the second watermark to determine the second strength metric.

18. The watermark modification detector of claim 17, wherein the means for detecting is to:

normalize the respective energy of one of the first set of code tones based on a first average energy determined for a first code band of the sampled media signal including the one of the first set of code tones; and

normalize the respective energy of one of the second set of code tones based on a second average energy determined for a second code band of the sampled media signal including the one of the second set of code tones.

19. The watermark modification detector of claim 15, wherein the means for comparing is to determine whether the second strength metric for the second watermark exceeds the first strength metric for the first watermark by at least a threshold value.

20. The watermark modification detector of claim 19, wherein the means for comparing is to:

determine the first watermark was modified prior to being encoded in the broadcast media signal when the second strength metric exceeds the first strength metric by at least the threshold value;

determine the first watermark was not modified prior to being encoded in the broadcast media signal when the second strength metric does not exceed the first strength metric by at least the threshold value; and

report, via a network, information indicating whether the first watermark was modified prior to being encoded in the broadcast media signal.