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

• US 6,233,347 B1
• Filed: 12/07/1998
• Issued: 05/15/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Original Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Inventors: Chen, Brian, Wornell, Gregory W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Johns, Andrew W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NAKHJAVAN, SHERVIN K
• Application Number:
  US09/206,806
• Time in Patent Office: 890 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/232, 382/248, 382/251, 382/276, 380/200, 380/205, 380/209, 380/210, 380/252, 380/253, 380/255, 380/257, 380/41, 380/758, 380/287, 283/72, 283/73, 283/113, 283/114, 713/150, 713/151, 713/168, 713/187, 713/189
• 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) pre-process one or more primary signals to generate a transformed host-signal and/or a transformed watermark-signal; (2) embed one or more watermarked signals and/or transformed watermark signals into a host signal and/or the transformed 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. An embedding value may be the closest of all embedding values generated by an embedding generator to a host-signal value that is to be quantized. Embedding values may be based on a trellis-coded pre-determined relationship between embedding values, or on predetermined relationships based on lattice quantization. The method may also include a fourth step of extracting the first watermark-signal value from a composite-signal value to form a reconstructed watermark-signal value. The present invention may also implement adaptive embedding and, in some implementations, super-rate quantization. For example, the invention may be a system that includes 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. Also included in this implementation is an adaptive embedding value generator that generates, by each adaptive embedding generator, a plurality of adaptive embedding values.

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;

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; and

an information extractor that extracts the first watermark-signal value from the first embedding value, said information extractor comprising;

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

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the distance is determined by a Euclidean measure.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the distance is determined by a weighted Euclidean measure.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the distance is determined by a non-Euclidean measure.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein:

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

6. The system of claim 4, wherein:

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

7. 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.

8. The system of claim 7, 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.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein:

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

10. The system of claim 7, wherein:

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

11. The system of claim 7, wherein:

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

12. The system of claim 7, 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.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein:

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

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.