System, method, and product for information embedding using an ensemble of non-intersecting embedding generators

• US 20010033674A1
• Filed: 01/11/2001
• Published: 10/25/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brian Chen, Gregory W. Wornell
• Original Assignee: Brian Chen, Gregory W. Wornell
• Inventors: Chen, Brian, Wornell, Gregory W.
• Granted Patent: US 6,396,937 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/100
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/31 using in-band signals, e.g. subsonic or cue signal

Abstract

A system, method, and product are provided to (1) embed a watermark signal into a host signal, thereby generating a composite signal, (2) optionally enable the composite signal to be transmitted over a communication channel, and (3) optionally extract the watermark signal from the transmitted composite signal. In one embodiment, the invention is a method for watermarking a host signal with a watermark signal. The watermark signal is made up of watermark-signal components, each having one of two or more watermark-signal values. The host signal is made up of host-signal components, each having one of two or more host-signal values. The method includes: (1) generating two or more embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components; (2) having each embedding generator generate two or more embedding values, the total of which is referred to as an original embedding-value set such that at least one embedding value generated by one embedding generator is different than any embedding value generated by another embedding generator; and (3) setting a host-signal value of one or more selected host-signal components to an embedding value of a particular embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value, such that the particular embedding generator corresponds to the watermark-signal value of the co-processed group of watermark-signal components, and such that the embedding value of the particular embedding generator is selected based on its proximity to the host-signal value.

Claims

1. A system that watermarks a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the system comprising:

a pre-processor that operates on one or more primary-signal components of at least one primary signal to generate one or more transformed host-signal components and one or more transformed watermark-signal components;

an ensemble designator that designates a plurality of embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more transformed watermark-signal components;

an embedding value generator that generates, by each embedding generator, a plurality of embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator; and

a point coder that sets at least one host-signal value of one or more selected transformed host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed transformed watermark-signal components, and wherein the first embedding value is selected based at least in part on its proximity to the at least one host-signal value, and wherein at least one embedding interval of one embedding generator is not the same as any embedding interval of at least one other embedding generator.

2. The system of

claim 1

, wherein:

the pre-processor comprises

a first format transformer that transforms at least a first of the primary-signal components to a first format, thereby generating at least a first transformed host-signal component, and

a second format transformer that transforms at least a second of the primary-signal components to a second format, thereby generating at least a first transformed watermark-signal component.

3. The system of

claim 2

, wherein:

the at least one primary signal is an audio signal, and

the first and second formats are audio formats.

4. The system of

claim 3

, wherein:

at least one of the first and second formats is a digital audio format.

5. The system of

claim 4

, wherein:

one of the first and second formats is an analog audio format.

6. The system of

claim 2

, wherein:

the at least one primary signal is a television video signal, and

the first and second formats are television video formats.

7. The system of

claim 6

, wherein:

at least one of the first and second formats is a digital television video format.

8. The system of

claim 7

, wherein:

one of the first and second formats is an analog television video format.

9. The system of

claim 2

, wherein:

one of the at least one primary signals is a supplemental paging signal;

the second of the primary-signal components is a component of the supplemental paging signal, and

the second form at is a paging format.

10. The system of

claim 9

, wherein:

the second format is a digital paging format.

11. The system of

claim 9

, wherein:

the second format is an analog paging format.

12. The system of

claim 1

, wherein:

the pre-processor comprises

a first format transformer that transforms at least a first of the primary-signal components to a first format, thereby generating at least one first-format transformed signal component,

a second format transformer that transforms at least a second of the primary-signal components to a second format, thereby generating at least a first transformed watermark-signal component, and

a third format transformer, coupled to the first format transformer, that transforms the at least one first-format transformed signal component, thereby generating at least a first transformed host-signal component.

13. The system of

claim 12

, wherein:

the third format transformer is a frequency modulator.

14. The system of

claim 12

, wherein:

the third format transformer is an amplitude modulator.

15. The system of

claim 12

, wherein:

the third format transformer is a digital modulator.

16. The system of

claim 12

, wherein:

the at least one primary signal is an audio signal,

the first and second formats are audio formats, and

the third format transformer is a frequency modulator.

17. The system of

claim 16

, wherein:

at least one of the first and second formats is a digital audio format.

18. The system of

claim 17

, wherein:

one of the first and second formats is an analog audio format.

34. The system of

claim 1

, wherein:

the first embedding value is selected based on its proximity to the at least one host-signal value.

35. The system of

claim 1

, wherein:

the pre-processor comprises a transformer that transforms at least a first of the primary-signal components, thereby generating at least a first transformed host-signal component.

36. The system of

claim 35

, wherein:

the transformer comprises a Fourier transformer.

37. The system of

claim 35

, wherein:

the transformer comprises a Fourier-Mellin transformer.

38. The system of

claim 35

, wherein:

the transformer comprises a Radon transformer.

39. The system of

claim 35

, further comprising:

a pre-transmission processor that applies domain inversion to a composite-signal component having the composite-signal value.

40. The system of

claim 36

, further comprising:

a pre-transmission processor that applies Fourier inversion to a composite-signal component having the composite-signal value.

41. The system of

claim 36

, further comprising:

a pre-transmission processor that applies Fourier-Mellin inversion to a composite-signal component having the composite-signal value.

42. The system of

claim 36

, further comprising:

a pre-transmission processor that applies Radon inversion to a composite-signal component having the composite-signal value.

43. The system of

claim 35

, wherein:

the transformer comprises an encrypter.

44. The system of

claim 2

, wherein:

the first format transformer comprises an encrypter.

45. The system of

claim 2

, wherein:

the second format transformer comprises an encrypter.

46. The system of

claim 2

, wherein:

the second format transformer comprises an error-correction encoder.

47. The system of

claim 2

, wherein:

the second format transformer comprises an error-detection encoder.

48. The system of

claim 1

, further comprising:

an information extractor that extracts the first watermark-signal value from the first embedding value.

49. The system of

claim 48

, wherein the information extractor comprises:

a synchronizer that acquires a composite signal including the composite-signal value;

an ensemble replicator that replicates the first embedding-value set to form a second embedding-value set, each embedding value of the second embedding-value set having the same correspondence to a single watermark-signal value as has the one embedding value of the first embedding-value set from which it is replicated;

a point decoder that selects a second embedding value of the second embedding-value set based on its proximity to the composite-signal value, and that sets the first watermark-signal value to a one of the plurality of watermark-signal values to which the second embedding value corresponds.

50. The system of

claim 49

, wherein:

the synchronizer comprises an edge aligner that detects an edge of the composite signal for orienting the composite signal.

51. The system of

claim 50

, wherein:

the synchronizer comprises means for registering the composite signal.

52. The system of

claim 51

, wherein:

the means for registering the composite signal comprises resampling means employing interpolation kernels.

53. The system of

claim 51

, wherein:

the pre-processor comprises a transformer that transforms at least a first of the primary-signal components, thereby generating at least a first transformed host-signal component, and

the transformer comprises any one or more transform selected from the group consisting of a Fourier transform, a Fourier-Mellin transform, and a Radon transform.

54. The system of

claim 50

, wherein:

the composite signal comprises a synchronization code, and

the synchronizer comprises means for detecting the synchronization code.

55. The system of

claim 50

, wherein:

the synchronization code comprises a predetermined training sequence.

66. The system of

claim 1

, wherein:

the embedding value generator generates the first plurality of embedding values based on a first pre-determined relationship between each of the two or more embedding values generated by the third embedding generator.

67. The system of

claim 66

, wherein:

the first predetermined relationship is predetermined based on trellis-coded quantization.

68. The system of

claim 66

, wherein:

the first predetermined relationship is predetermined based on lattice quantization.

69. The system of

claim 1

, wherein:

the embedding value generator generates the first plurality of embedding values based on a second pre-determined relationship between a second embedding value generated by the third embedding generator and a third embedding value generated by a fourth embedding generator of the plurality of embedding generators.

70. The system of

claim 69

, wherein:

the second predetermined relationship is a dithered relationship and is predetermined based on lattice quantization.

71. The system of

claim 49

, wherein:

the second embedding value is an embedding value that is the closest of all embedding values of the second embedding-value set in distance to the composite-signal value.

72. The method of

claim 71

, wherein:

the distance is determined by a Euclidean measure.

73. The method of

claim 71

, wherein:

the distance is determined by a weighted Euclidean measure.

74. The method of

claim 71

, wherein:

the distance is determined by a non-Euclidean measure.

75. The system of

claim 74

, wherein:

the non-Euclidean measure is a minimum-probability-of-error measure.

76. The system of

claim 74

, wherein:

the non-Euclidean measure is a maximum a posteriori measure.

92. The system of

claim 2

, wherein:

the second format transformer comprises an interleaver.

19. A system that watermarks a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the system comprising:

a pre-processor that operates on one or more primary-signal components of at least one primary signal and one or more supplemental-signal components of a supplemental signal to generate one or more transformed host-signal components;

an ensemble designator that designates a plurality of embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components;

an embedding value generator that generates, by each embedding generator, a plurality of embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator; and

a point coder that sets at least one host-signal value of one or more selected transformed host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed watermark-signal components, and wherein the first embedding value is selected based at least in part on its proximity to the at least one host-signal value, and wherein at least one embedding interval of one embedding generator is not the same as any embedding interval of at least one other embedding generator.

20. The system of

claim 19

, wherein:

the pre-processor comprises a conventional embedder that embeds at least one supplemental-signal component into at least one primary-signal component to generate at least one transformed host-signal component.

21. The system of

claim 20

, wherein:

the at least one primary signal is an audio signal.

22. The system of

claim 20

, wherein:

the at least one primary signal is a television video signal.

23. The system of

claim 20

, wherein:

the supplemental signal is a paging signal.

24. The system of

claim 19

, wherein:

the pre-processor comprises

a conventional embedder that embeds at least one supplemental-signal component into at least one primary-signal component to generate at least one transformed host-signal component, and further wherein

the group of co-processed water-mark-signal components is the same as a group of supplemental-signal components.

25. The system of

claim 24

, wherein:

the at least one primary signal is an audio signal.

26. The system of

claim 24

, wherein:

the at least one primary signal is a television video signal.

27. The system of

claim 24

, wherein:

the supplemental signal is a paging signal.

28. The system of

claim 19

, wherein:

the pre-processor comprises

a conventional embedder that embeds at least one supplemental-signal component into at least one primary-signal component to generate at least one intermediate conventional composite-signal component, and

a format transformer, coupled to the conventional embedder, that transforms the at least one intermediate conventional composite-signal component, thereby generating at least one transformed host-signal component.

29. The system of

claim 28

, wherein:

the format transformer is a frequency modulator.

30. The system of

claim 28

, wherein:

the format transformer is an amplitude modulator.

31. The system of

claim 28

, wherein:

the format transformer is a digital modulator.

32. The system of

claim 28

, wherein:

the at least one primary signal is an audio signal, and

the format transformer is a frequency modulator.

33. The system of

claim 28

, wherein:

the group of co-processed watermark-signal components is the same as a group of supplemental-signal components.

56. A system that watermarks a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the system comprising:

an ensemble designator that designates a plurality of embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components;

an embedding value generator that generates, by each embedding generator, a plurality of embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator;

a point coder that sets at least one host-signal value of one or more selected host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value of a composite-signal component of a composite signal, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed watermark-signal components, and wherein the first embedding value is selected based at least in part on its proximity to the at least one host-signal value, and wherein at least one embedding interval of one embedding generator is not the same as any embedding interval of at least one other embedding generator; and

a conventional embedder that embeds at least one of the group of co-processed watermark-signal components into the composite-signal component.

57. A system that watermarks a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the system comprising:

a block selector that selects one or more host-signal components for embedding;

an ensemble designator that designates a plurality of embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components;

an embedding value generator that generates, by each embedding generator, a plurality of embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator; and

a point coder that sets at least one host-signal value of the one or more selected host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed watermark-signal components, and wherein the first embedding value is selected based at least in part on its proximity to the at least one host-signal value, and wherein at least one embedding interval of one embedding generator is not the same as any embedding interval of at least one other embedding generator.

58. The system of

claim 57

, wherein:

the block selector selects the one or more host-signal components for embedding based upon their having relatively more important information than host-signal components not so selected.

59. The system of

claim 57

, wherein:

the block selector selects the one or more host-signal components for embedding based upon their having relatively more information than host-signal components not so selected.

60. The system of

claim 57

, wherein:

the block selector selects the one or more host-signal components for embedding based upon their having relatively less important information than host-signal components not so selected.

61. The system of

claim 57

, wherein:

the block selector selects the one or more host-signal components for embedding based upon their having relatively less information than host-signal components not so selected.

62. The system of

claim 57

, wherein:

the block selector selects the one or more host-signal components for embedding based upon a masking characteristic of the host signal.

63. The system of

claim 62

, wherein:

the masking characteristic is temporal.

64. The system of

claim 62

, wherein:

the masking characteristic is frequency spectral.

65. The system of

claim 57

, wherein:

the block selector selects the or more host-signal components for embedding based upon their location in an FM side band.

77. A system that watermarks a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the system comprising:

an ensemble designator that designates a plurality of adaptive embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components;

an adaptive embedding value generator that generates, by each adaptive embedding generator, a plurality of adaptive embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set comprising a plurality of embedding super-groups, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator; and

a point coder that sets at least one host-signal value of one or more selected host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value, wherein the first embedding value is selected based at least in part on its being the furthest in a first embedding super-group from the host-signal value, wherein the first super-group comprises a plurality of embedding values of the third embedding generator that are each closer to the host-signal value than any other embedding value of the third embedding generator, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed watermark-signal components.

78. The system of

claim 77

, wherein:

at least one embedding interval of one embedding generator is not the same as any embedding interval of at least one other embedding generator.

79. The system of

claim 77

, wherein:

the first super-group comprises a pre-selected number of embedding values.

80. The system of

claim 77

, wherein:

the first super-group comprises a pre-selected number of embedding values, each having a pre-selected value.

81. The system of

claim 77

, wherein:

the host-signal value is predicted based on at least one previously processed host-signal value.

82. The system of

claim 77

, wherein:

the number of embedding values in the first super-group is adaptively determined based on statistical analysis of a likely value of the host-signal value in view of at least one other host-signal value of the host signal.

83. The system of

claim 81

, wherein:

the other host-signal value is determined before the first embedding value is selected.

84. A system that watermarks a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the system comprising:

a block selector that selects one or more host-signal components for embedding;

an ensemble designator that designates a plurality of embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components;

an embedding value generator that generates, by each embedding generator, a plurality of embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator; and

a point coder that, in a first iteration, sets at least one host-signal value of the one or more selected host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value of at least one composite-signal component, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed watermark-signal components, and wherein the first embedding value is selected based at least in part on its proximity to the at least one host-signal value, and wherein at least one embedding interval of one embedding generator is not the same as any embedding interval of at least one other embedding generator;

wherein the point coder is coupled to the ensemble designator to provide that, in a second iteration, the one or more host-signal components selected for embedding by the block selector comprise the at least one composite-signal component.

85. A method for watermarking a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the method comprising:

(1) designating a plurality of embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components;

(2) generating, by each embedding generator, a plurality of embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator;

(3) setting at least one host-signal value of one or more selected host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value of at least one composite-signal component, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed watermark-signal components, and wherein the first embedding value is an embedding value that is the closest of all embedding values of the third embedding generator in distance to the at least one host-signal value;

(4) repeating steps 1, 2, and 3 for a plurality of iterations, wherein, for each iteration after a first iteration, at least one host-signal component comprises a composite-signal component of the previous iteration.

86. A computer system that watermarks a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark-signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the computer system comprising:

at least one embedding computer having an information embedder that embeds a watermark signal into a host signal, thereby creating a composite signal, the information embedder comprising;

a pre-processor that operates on one or more primary-signal components of at least one primary signal to generate one or more transformed host-signal components and one or more transformed watermark-signal components;

an ensemble designator that designates a plurality of embedding generators, each corresponding to a single transformed watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components;

an embedding value generator that generates, by each embedding generator, a plurality of embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator; and

a point coder that sets at least one host-signal value of one or more selected transformed host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed transformed watermark-signal components, and wherein the first embedding value is an embedding value that is the closest of all embedding values of the third embedding generator in distance to the at least one host-signal value; and

at least one extracting computer having an information extractor that extracts the first watermark-signal value from the first embedding value.

87. A computer system that watermarks a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the computer system comprising:

at least one embedding computer having an information embedder that embeds a watermark signal into a host signal, thereby creating a composite signal, the information embedder comprising;

a pre-processor that operates on one or more primary-signal components of at least one primary signal and one or more supplemental-signal components of a supplemental signal to generate one or more transformed host-signal components;

an ensemble designator that designates a plurality of embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components;

an embedding value generator that generates, by each embedding generator, a plurality of embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator; and

a point coder that sets at least one host-signal value of one or more selected transformed host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed watermark-signal components, and wherein the first embedding value is an embedding value that is the closest of all embedding values of the third embedding generator in distance to the at least one host-signal value; and

at least one extracting computer having an information extractor that extracts the first watermark-signal value from the first embedding value.

88. Storage media that contains software that, when executed on an appropriate computing system, performs a method for watermarking a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the method comprising:

(1) pre-processing one or more primary-signal components of at least one primary signal to generate one or more transformed host-signal components and one or more transformed watermark-signal components;

(2) designating a plurality of embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components;

(3) generating, by each embedding generator, a plurality of embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator;

(4) setting at least one host-signal value of one or more selected transformed host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed transformed watermark-signal components, and wherein the first embedding value is an embedding value that is the closest of all embedding values of the third embedding generator in distance to the at least one host-signal value.

89. Storage media that contains software that, when executed on an appropriate computing system, performs a method for watermarking a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the method comprising:

(1) pre-processing one or more primary-signal components of at least one primary signal and one or more supplemental-signal components of a supplemental signal to generate one or more transformed host-signal components;

(2) designating a plurality of embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components;

(3) generating, by each embedding generator, a plurality of embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator;

(4) setting at least one host-signal value of one or more selected transformed host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed watermark-signal components, and wherein the first embedding value is an embedding value that is the closest of all embedding values of the third embedding generator in distance to the at least one host-signal value.

90. A method for watermarking a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the method comprising:

(1) pre-processing one or more primary-signal components of at least one primary signal to generate one or more transformed host-signal components and one or more transformed watermark-signal components;

(2) designating a plurality of embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components;

(3) generating, by each embedding generator, a plurality of embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator;

(4) setting at least one host-signal value of one or more selected transformed host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed transformed watermark-signal components, and wherein the first embedding value is an embedding value that is the closest of all embedding values of the third embedding generator in distance to the at least one host-signal value.

91. A method for watermarking a host signal with a watermark signal, the watermark signal comprising watermark-signal components, each having one of a plurality of watermark-signal values, and the host signal comprising host-signal components, each having one of a plurality of host-signal values, the method comprising:

(1) pre-processing one or more primary-signal components of at least one primary signal and one or more supplemental-signal components of a supplemental signal to generate one or more transformed host-signal components;

(2) designating a plurality of embedding generators, each corresponding to a single watermark-signal value of a co-processed group of one or more watermark-signal components;

(3) generating, by each embedding generator, a plurality of embedding values, the total of each plurality of embedding values comprising a first embedding-value set, wherein at least one embedding value generated by a first embedding generator is not the same as any embedding value generated by a second embedding generator;

(4) setting at least one host-signal value of one or more selected transformed host-signal components to a first embedding value of a third embedding generator, thereby forming a composite-signal value, wherein the third embedding generator corresponds to a first watermark-signal value of the group of co-processed watermark-signal components, and wherein the first embedding value is an embedding value that is the closest of all embedding values of the third embedding generator in distance to the at least one host-signal value.