Digital watermark detecting device and method thereof

• US 6,983,059 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2001
• Issued: 01/03/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Muratani, Hirofumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Couso, Jose L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lu, Tom Y.
• Application Number:
  US10/007,769
• Publication Number:
  US 20020116618A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,488 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/278, 382/232, 382/250
• US Class Current: 382/100
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00002 Diagnosis, testing or measuring; Detecting, analysing or monitoring not otherwise provided for error detection, error correction or monitoring in digital computers or digital computer components G06F11/00
• 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

Abstract

A digital watermark detecting device comprises a sequence generator which generates a predetermined sequence of numbers corresponding to a watermark which is to be detected, a shift circuit which shifts the digital content in unit of a predetermined part of data in predetermined directions, and obtain a predetermined number of shifted contents, a correlation calculator which divides the digital content and the shifted contents into blocks, arranges predetermined data obtained from the blocks of the contents to form sequences of numbers for each of the digital content and the shifted contents, and calculates correlations between the predetermined sequence of numbers and the sequences of numbers, and a determination unit which determines whether the predetermined sequence of numbers exists in the digital content based on the correlations.

Claims

1. A digital watermark detecting device comprising:

a sequence generator configured to generate a predetermined sequence of numbers corresponding to a watermark which is to be detected;

a shift circuit configured to shift a detection objective content to obtain shifted content;

a first correlation calculator configured to divide the detection objective content and the shifted content into blocks, and calculate a first correlation value of blocks of the shifted content with the predetermined sequence of numbers and a second correlation value of blocks of the detection objective content with the predetermined sequence of numbers;

a second correlation calculator configured to calculate an estimated correlation value of blocks of an estimated original content in which no watermark is embedded with the predetermined sequence of numbers based on the first correlation value; and

a determination unit configured to determine whether the predetermined sequence of numbers is embedded in the detection objective content based on the estimated correlation value and the second correlation value.

2. The digital watermark detecting device according to claim 1, wherein

the detection objective content comprises image data,

each of the blocks comprises at least one pixel, and

the shift circuit comprises a unit configured to shift the image data in one of a horizontal direction and vertical direction by a predetermined number of blocks.

3. The digital watermark detecting device according to claim 1, wherein

the detection objective content comprises image data,

each of the blocks comprises plural pixels, and

a block value of each of the blocks comprises one of an average value and a total value of pixel values of the plural pixels included in the block.

4. The digital watermark detecting device according to claim 1, wherein

the detection objective content comprises image data,

each of the blocks comprises one pixel, and

a block value of each of the blocks comprises a pixel value of the pixel included in the block.

5. The digital watermark detecting device according to claim 1, wherein

the predetermined sequence of numbers comprises a sequence of block values of the blocks arranged in accordance with a sequential order of the blocks.

6. The digital watermark detecting device according to claim 1, wherein

when the determination unit determines that the predetermined sequence of numbers is not embedded in the detection objective content, the sequence generator generates another sequence of numbers corresponding to another watermark and the determination unit determines whether the another sequence of numbers is embedded in the detection objective content.

7. The digital watermark detecting device according to claim 1, wherein

when the determination unit determines that the predetermined sequence of numbers is embedded in the detection objective content, the determination unit outputs the watermark corresponding to the predetermined sequence of numbers.

8. The digital watermark detecting device according to claim 1, wherein

the predetermined sequence of numbers comprises one of a sequence of pseudo-random numbers, and a sequence obtained by multiplying each of the pseudo-random numbers by a transformation coefficient of frequency transformation.

9. The digital watermark detecting device according to claim 1, wherein

the predetermined sequence of numbers corresponding to different watermarks are not correlated to each other.

10. A digital watermark detecting method comprising:

generating a predetermined sequence of numbers corresponding to a watermark which is to be detected;

shifting a detection objective content to obtain shifted content;

dividing the detection objective content and the shifted content into blocks;

calculating a first correlation value of blocks of the shifted content with the predetermined sequence of numbers and a second correlation value of blocks of the detection objective content with the predetermined sequence of numbers;

calculating an estimated correlation value of blocks of an estimated original content in which no watermark is embedded with the predetermined sequence of numbers based on the first correlation value; and

determining whether the predetermined sequence of numbers is embedded in the detection objective content based on the estimated correlation value and the second correlation value.

11. The digital watermark detecting method according to claim 10, wherein

the detection objective content comprises image data,

each of the blocks comprises at least one pixel, and

the shifting comprises shifting the image data in one of a horizontal direction and vertical direction by a predetermined number of blocks.

12. The digital watermark detecting method according to claim 10, wherein

the detection objective content comprises image data,

each of the blocks comprises plural pixels, and

a block value of each of the blocks comprises one of an average value and a total value of pixel values of the plural pixels included in the block.

13. The digital watermark detecting method according to claim 10, wherein

the detection objective content comprises image data,

each of the blocks comprises one pixel, and

a block value of each of the blocks comprises a pixel value of the pixel included in the block.

14. The digital watermark detecting method according to claim 10, wherein

the predetermined sequence of numbers comprises a sequence of block values of the blocks arranged in accordance with a sequential order of the blocks.

15. The digital watermark detecting method according to claim 10, wherein

when the determining determines that the predetermined sequence of numbers is not embedded in the detection objective content, the generating generates another sequence of numbers corresponding to another watermark and the determining determines whether the another sequence of numbers is embedded in the detection objective content.

16. The digital watermark detecting method according to claim 10, wherein

when the determining determines that the predetermined sequence of numbers is embedded in the detection objective content, the watermark corresponding to the predetermined sequence of numbers is output.

17. The digital watermark detecting method according to claim 10, wherein

the predetermined sequence of numbers comprises one of a sequence of pseudo-random numbers, and a sequence obtained by multiplying each of the pseudo-random numbers by a transformation coefficient of frequency transformation.

18. The digital watermark detecting method according to claim 10, wherein

the predetermined sequence of numbers corresponding to different watermarks are not correlated to each other.

19. An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein, the computer readable program code means comprising:

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to generate a predetermined sequence of numbers corresponding to a watermark which is to be detected;

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to shift a detection objective content to obtain shifted content;

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to divide the detection objective content and the shifted content into blocks;

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to calculate a first correlation value of blocks of the shifted content with the predetermined sequence of numbers and a second correlation value of blocks of the detection objective content with the predetermined sequence of numbers;

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to calculate an estimated correlation value of blocks of an estimated original content in which no watermark is embedded with the predetermined sequence of numbers based on the first correlation value; and

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to determine whether the predetermined sequence of numbers is embedded in the detection objective content based on the estimated correlation value and the second correlation value.