COORDINATED WATERMARKING

• US 20130152210A1
• Filed: 12/13/2011
• Published: 06/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IP Acquisitions, LLC
• Original Assignee: Verance Corporation
• Inventors: Petrovic, Rade, Zhao, Jian, Winograd, Joseph M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,547,753 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• 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 1/32149 Methods relating to embedding, encoding, decoding, detection or retrieval operations

Abstract

Methods, devices and computer program products enable embedding and extraction of multiple watermark messages in a coordinated fashion to improve watermark transparency, robustness against impairments, security, and computational complexity of embedding and extraction of watermarks. Coordinated watermark embedding and extraction operations take advantage of a pre-defined relationship between the symbols of two watermark messages. The improved aspects of the watermarking system provide significant value to content owners, content distributors, and consumers at a small incremental cost.

Claims

1. A method of embedding watermarks into a host content, comprising:

obtaining a payload of a first watermark message for embedding into the host content;

obtaining a payload of a second watermark message for embedding into the host content; and

embedding the first and the second watermark messages into the host content in a coordinated fashion such that the embedded first watermark message has a pre-defined relationship with the embedded second watermark message in a particular domain, wherein embedded symbols of the first watermark message are substantially non-overlapping with embedded symbols of the second watermark message in the particular domain.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular domain is at least one of a spatial, temporal and frequency domains.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the embedding of the first and the second watermark messages is conducted in a single watermark embedding session.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the embedding of the first watermark message is conducted in a different embedding session than the embedding of the second watermark message.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein different watermarking technologies are used for embedding each of the first and the second watermark messages.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the same watermarking technologies are used for embedding each of the first and the second watermark messages.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more symbols of the second watermark message are embedded into the host content in a multiplexed fashion with one or more symbols of the first watermark messages.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the multiplexed fashion comprises multiplexing in at least one of a frequency, time and spatial domains.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein embedding of one or more symbols of the first watermark message is skipped, and a space vacated by skipping the one or more symbols of the first watermark message is used for embedding at least one symbol of the second watermark message.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing a single watermark masking operation.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first watermark message is embedded into a first component of the host content and the second watermark message is embedded into a second component of the host content.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first component is an audio component and the second component is a video component.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first watermark message is a copy control information watermark and the second watermark message is an extended payload watermark.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein embedding the first and the second watermark messages comprises:

identifying all embedding opportunities within the host content based on a content perceptual criterion;

allocating a first subset of identified embedding opportunities for embedding of the first watermark message; and

allocating a second subset of identified embedding opportunities for embedding of the second watermark message.

15. A method, comprising:

extracting a first watermark message from a host content;

obtaining a predefined relationship between symbols of the extracted first watermark message and symbols of a second watermark message in a particular domain; and

extracting the second watermark message based on the predefined relationship, wherein embedded symbols of the first watermark message are substantially non-overlapping with embedded symbols of the second watermark message in the particular domain.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the particular domain is at least one of a spatial, temporal and frequency domains.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the predefined relationship is a multiplexing relationship between one or more symbols of the first watermark message and one or more symbols of the second watermark message.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the multiplexing comprises multiplexing in at least one of a frequency, time and spatial domains.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the first watermark message is extracted from a first component of the host content and the second watermark message is extracted from a second component of the host content.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first component is an audio component and the second component is a video component.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the second watermark message comprises a time-code and extracting the second watermark message comprises:

extracting the time-code from the second watermark message;

determining content timing information from the extracted time code; and

determining accuracy of the content timing information.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein the second watermark message comprises a time-code and extracting the second watermark message further comprises:

determining content timing information based on time-codes in a plurality of extracted second watermark messages;

determining an error value associated with the content timing information; and

setting a new reference timing information if the determined error value is at or below a target error value.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising using the time-code to detect content manipulations.

24. A device for embedding watermarks, comprising:

a watermark packet generator configured to obtain a payload of a first watermark message and a payload of a second watermark message for embedding into a host content; and

a watermark embedder configured to embed the first and the second watermark messages into the host content in a coordinated fashion such that the embedded first watermark message has a pre-defined relationship with the embedded second watermark message in a particular domain, wherein embedded symbols of the first watermark message are substantially non-overlapping with embedded symbols of the second watermark message in the particular domain.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein the particular domain is at least one of a spatial, temporal and frequency domains.

26. The device of claim 24, wherein the watermark embedder is configured to embed the first and the second watermark messages in a single watermark embedding session.

27. The device of claim 24, wherein the watermark embedder is configured to embed the first and the second watermark messages in different embedding sessions.

28. The device of claim 24, wherein different watermarking technologies are used for embedding each of the first and the second watermark messages.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the watermark embedder is configured to use the same watermarking technologies for embedding each of the first and the second watermark messages.

30. The device of claim 24, wherein the watermark embedder is configured to embed one or more symbols of the second watermark message into the host content in a multiplexed fashion with one or more symbols of the first watermark messages.

31. The device of claim 30, wherein the multiplexed fashion comprises multiplexing in at least one of a frequency, time and spatial domains.

32. The device of claim 24, wherein the watermark embedder is configured to skip the embedding of one or more symbols of the first watermark message, and use a space vacated by skipping the one or more symbols of the first watermark message for embedding at least one symbol of the second watermark message.

33. The device of claim 24, further configured to perform a single watermark masking operation.

34. The device of claim 24, wherein the watermark embedder is configured to embed the first watermark message into a first component of the host content and the second watermark message into a second component of the host content.

35. The device of claim 34, wherein the first component is an audio component and the second component is a video component.

36. The device of claim 24, wherein the first watermark message is a copy control information watermark and the second watermark message is an extended payload watermark.

37. The device of claim 24, wherein the watermark embedder is configured to:

identify all embedding opportunities within the host content based on a content perceptual criterion;

allocate a first subset of identified embedding opportunities for embedding of the first watermark message; and

allocate a second subset of identified embedding opportunities for embedding of the second watermark message.

38. A device, comprsing:

a processor; and

a memory, comprising processor executable code, the processor executable code when executed by the processor configures the device to;

obtain a payload of a first watermark message for embedding into the host content;

obtain a payload of a second watermark message for embedding into the host content; and

embed the first and the second watermark messages into the host content in a coordinated fashion such that the embedded first watermark message has a pre-defined relationship with the embedded second watermark message in a particular domain, wherein embedded symbols of the first watermark message are substantially non-overlapping with embedded symbols of the second watermark message in the particular domain.

39. A computer program product, embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising:

program code for obtaining a payload of a first watermark message for embedding into the host content;

program code for obtaining a payload of a second watermark message for embedding into the host content; and

program code for embedding the first and the second watermark messages into the host content in a coordinated fashion such that the embedded first watermark message has a pre-defined relationship with the embedded second watermark message in a particular domain, wherein embedded symbols of the first watermark message are substantially non-overlapping with embedded symbols of the second watermark message in the particular domain.

40. A device, comprising:

a watermark extractor configured to extract a first watermark message from a host content; and

a data processing component configured to obtain a predefined relationship between the symbols of the extracted first watermark message and symbols of a second watermark message in a particular domain, wherein the watermark extractor is further configured to extract the second watermark message based on the predefined relationship, and wherein embedded symbols of the first watermark message are substantially non-overlapping with embedded symbols of the second watermark message in the particular domain.

41. The device of claim 40, wherein the particular domain is at least one of a spatial, temporal and frequency domains.

42. The device of claim 40, wherein the predefined relationship is a multiplexing relationship between one or more symbols of the first watermark message and one or more symbols of the second watermark message.

43. The device of claim 42, wherein the multiplexing comprises multiplexing in at least one of a frequency, time and spatial domains.

44. The device of claim 40, wherein the watermark extractor is configured to extract the first watermark message from a first component of the host content and the second watermark message from a second component of the host content.

45. The device of claim 44, wherein the first component is an audio component and the second component is a video component.

46. The device of claim 40, wherein the second watermark message comprises a time-code and the watermark extractor is configured to extract the second watermark message, at least in-part, by:

extracting the time-code from the second watermark message;

determining content timing information from the extracted time code; and

determining accuracy of the content timing information.

47. The device of claim 40, wherein the second watermark message comprises a time-code and the watermark extractor is configured to extract the second watermark message, at least in-part, by:

determining content timing information based on time-codes in a plurality of extracted second watermark messages;

determining an error value associated with the content timing information; and

setting a new reference timing information if the determined error value is at or below a target error value.

48. The device of claim 47, the watermark extractor is further configured to use the time-code to detect content manipulations.

49. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium with a host content embodied thereupon, the host content comprising:

one or more watermarks that are imperceptibly embedded in the host content, wherein reception of the host content by a content handling device equipped with a watermark extractor triggers the watermark extractor to;

extract a first watermark message from the host content;

obtain a predefined relationship between symbols of the extracted first watermark message and symbols of a second watermark message in a particular domain; and

extract the second watermark message based on the predefined relationship, wherein embedded symbols of the first watermark message are substantially non-overlapping with embedded symbols of the second watermark message in the particular domain.

50. A device, comprsing:

a processor; and

a memory, comprising processor executable code, the processor executable code when executed by the processor configures the device to;

extract a first watermark message from a host content;

obtain a predefined relationship between symbols of the extracted first watermark message and symbols of a second watermark message in a particular domain; and

extract the second watermark message based on the predefined relationship, wherein embedded symbols of the first watermark message are substantially non-overlapping with embedded symbols of the second watermark message in the particular domain.

51. A computer program product, embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising:

program code for extracting a first watermark message from a host content;

program code for obtaining a predefined relationship between symbols of the extracted first watermark message and symbols of a second watermark message in a particular domain; and

program code for extracting the second watermark message based on the predefined relationship, wherein embedded symbols of the first watermark message are substantially non-overlapping with embedded symbols of the second watermark message in the particular domain.