Apparatus and Methods to Process Video or Audio

• US 20080253740A1
• Filed: 04/15/2008
• Published: 10/16/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/1994
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Inventors: Rhoads, Geoffrey B.
• Granted Patent: US 8,023,692 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/95
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/341 Active cards, i.e. cards including their own processing means, e.g. including an IC or chip
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40145 Biometric identity checks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/005 Robust watermarking, e.g. average attack or collusion attack resistant
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0064 Geometric transfor invariant watermarking, e.g. affine transform invariant
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0052 Embedding of the watermark in the frequency domain
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0065 Extraction of an embedded watermark; Reliable detection
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/253 visually
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/0032 using holograms
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/004 using digital security elements, e.g. information coded on a magnetic thread or strip
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/16 for devices exhibiting advertisements, announcements, pictures or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/086 by passive credit-cards adapted therefor, e.g. constructive particularities to avoid counterfeiting, e.g. by inclusion of a physical or chemical security-layer for security documents G07D7/00; for the reading of record-carriers in general G06K7/00; for the design of coded credit-cards G06K19/10
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1008 Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1016 Devices or methods for securing the PIN and other transaction-data, e.g. by encryption arrangements for secret communication, see H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/12 Card verification
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/018 Audio watermarking, i.e. embedding inaudible data in the audio signal
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00094 involving measures which result in a restriction to authorised record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00115 wherein the record carrier stores a unique medium identifier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00166 : involving measures which result in a restriction to authorised contents recorded on or reproduced from a record carrier, e.g. music or software
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00181 : using a content identifier, e.g. an international standard recording code [ISRC] or a digital object identifier [DOI]
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/0021 : involving encryption or decryption of contents recorded on or reproduced from a record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00884 : involving a watermark, i.e. a barely perceptible transformation of the original data which can nevertheless be recognised by an algorithm
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00891 : embedded in audio data
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10537 : Audio or video recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/665 : using psychoacoustic properties of the ear, e.g. masking effect
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 1/02 : by adding a second signal to make the desired signal unintelligible
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00005 : relating to image data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00037 : Detecting, i.e. determining the occurrence of a predetermined state H04N1/00031 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00079 : remotely
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32144 : embedded in the image data, i.e. enclosed or integrated in the image, e.g. watermark, super-imposed logo or stamp
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32154 : Transform domain methods H04N1/32309 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/3216 : using Fourier transforms
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32208 : involving changing the magnitude of selected pixels, e.g. overlay of information or super-imposition H04N1/32219, H04N1/32224 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32251 : in multilevel data, e.g. greyscale or continuous tone data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32288 : Multiple embedding, e.g. cocktail embedding, or redundant embedding, e.g. repeating the additional information at a plurality of locations in the image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91307 : by adding a copy protection signal to the video signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91321 : the copy protection signal being a copy protection control signal, e.g. a record inhibit signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91335 : the copy protection signal being a watermark
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91342 : the copy protection signal being an authentication signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3205 : of identification information, e.g. name or ID code H04N2201/3209 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3207 : of an address
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3226 : of identification information or the like, e.g. ID code, index, title, part of an image, reduced-size image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3233 : of authentication information, e.g. digital signature, watermark
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/327 : which are undetectable to the naked eye, e.g. embedded codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3271 : Printing or stamping
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/328 : Processing of the additional information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/913 : for scrambling ; for copy protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8205 : involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the colour video signal

Abstract

The presently claimed invention relates generally to video or audio data. One claim recites an apparatus. The apparatus includes an input to receive data associated with video or audio; a decoder to analyze the data associated with video or audio for a steganographic signal hidden therein, the steganographic signal hidden in data representing video picture elements or in data representing audio elements; an extractor to extract an identifier from the data associated with video or audio; a generator to provide a signal based at least in part on a result produced by said decoder and said extractor; and an output to output the signal. Of course, other combinations are provided and claimed as well.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining data associated with video or audio;

executing a first process to obtain a first identifier from the data;

executing a second process to obtain a second identifier from the data,

at least the first process or the second process analyzes data representing video picture elements or data representing audio elements to decode an identifier steganographically hidden therein,

at least the first identifier or the second identifier is carried or represented in the data in a manner that—

when compared to the other—

is more robust to at least one form of signal transformation;

using at least one of the first identifier or the second identifier, carrying out an action associated with the video or audio.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the action comprises generating a customer report regarding the video or audio.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the action comprises filtering or monitoring the video or audio.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first process or the second process that does not analyze data representing video picture elements or data representing audio elements to decode an identifier steganographically hidden therein searches data associated with out-of-band data.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the out-of-band data is carried in a header.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the identifier is steganographically hidden in data representing video picture elements or data representing audio elements with digital watermarking.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the signal transformation comprises at least one of compression or encoding.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the data representing video or audio comprises an encrypted form or a compressed form.

9. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions or circuitry to perform the method of claim 1.

10. An apparatus comprising:

an input to receive data associated with video or audio;

a decoder to analyze the data associated with video or audio for a steganographic signal hidden therein, the steganographic signal hidden in data representing video picture elements or in data representing audio elements;

an extractor to extract an identifier from the data associated with video or audio;

a generator to provide a signal based at least in part on a result produced by said decoder and said extractor; and

an output to output the signal.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the steganographic signal is carried or represented in the data in a manner that—

when compared to the identifier—

is more robust to at least one form of signal transformation.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the signal transformation comprises at least one of compression or encoding.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the data associated with video or audio comprises an encrypted form or a compressed form.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said extractor extracts an identifier from the data associated with out-of-band data.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the data associated with out-of-band data comprises a header.

16. A method comprising:

obtaining data representing video or audio;

processing at least a portion of the data that is associated with a plurality of video frames or that is associated with a plurality of audio segments, wherein greater or lesser confidence in deriving or matching multi-bit data from the data can be obtained by processing, respectively, more or less of the data that is associated with the plurality of video frames or that is associated with the plurality of audio segments.

17. A computer readable medium comprising instructions or circuitry to perform the method of claim 16.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

obtaining information conveyed with the data but out-of-band with respect to video picture elements of the video or audio elements of the audio; and

verifying the information based at least in part on the multi-bit data.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the multi-bit data is steganographically hidden in the data.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the multi-bit data is steganographically hidden in the data with digital watermarking.