Wireless methods and devices employing steganography

• US 7,522,728 B1
• Filed: 01/06/2000
• Issued: 04/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Inventors: Rhoads, Geoffrey B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu; Kimyen
• Assistant Examiner(s): BLAIR, APRIL YING SHAN
• Application Number:
  US09/479,304
• Time in Patent Office: 3,393 Days
• Field of Search: 380/252, 380/253, 380/28, 380247-250, 380/255, 380/270, 379/100.13, 455/403, 455/231, 455/258, 455/270, 455/272, 455/278, 455/410, 455/411, 455/419, 455/420, 713/150, 713168-171, 713176-181
• US Class Current: 380/270
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/16 Program or content traceability, e.g. by watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/445 by mutual authentication, e.g. between devices or programs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2129 Authenticate client device independently of the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06037 multi-dimensional coding
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06046 Constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/14 the marking being sensed by radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 2019/06253 for a specific application
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1417 2D bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1447 extracting optical codes from image or text carrying said optical code
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/306 using TV related infrastructures external card used for payment with client device H04N21/4185
• 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: G06T 1/0021 Image watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0064 Geometric transfor invariant watermarking, e.g. affine transform invariant
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0081 whereby both original and watermarked images are required at decoder, e.g. destination-based, non-blind, non-oblivious
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/0034 using watermarks
• 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 7/086 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: G10L 19/018 : Audio watermarking, i.e. embedding inaudible data in the audio signal
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00891 : embedded in audio data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 : wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0662 : with particular pseudorandom sequence generator
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/66 : with means for preventing unauthorised or fraudulent calling verifying user identity or authority in secret or secure digital communications H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/38 : Graded-service arrangements, i.e. some subscribers prevented from establishing certain connections queuing arrangements H04Q3/64
• 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 1/00846 : based on detection of a dedicated indication, e.g. marks or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00875 : Inhibiting reproduction, e.g. by disabling reading or reproduction apparatus
• 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 1/3216 : using Fourier transforms
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32203 : Spatial or amplitude domain methods H04N1/32309 takes precedence
• 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 1/32352 : Controlling detectability or arrangements to facilitate detection or retrieval of the embedded information, e.g. using markers for decoding, detection or retrieval operations H04N1/32149 and subgroups take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0091 : Digital copier; digital 'photocopier' H04N2201/0093 and H04N2201/0094 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3205 : of identification information, e.g. name or ID code H04N2201/3209 takes precedence
• 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 2201/3274 : Storage or retrieval of prestored additional information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 : Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/126 : Anti-theft arrangements, e.g. protection against subscriber identity module [SIM] cloning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 : Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24876 : Intermediate layer contains particulate material [e.g., pigment, etc.]

Abstract

A wireless device includes a data capture system, a radiant-energy data transmission system, and a steganographic encoder that hides a plural-bit auxiliary code within data captured by the data capture system prior to its transmission by the data transmission system. An illustrative system, operable with audio input data, is a cell phone that steganographically encodes a user'"'"'s voice.

Claims

1. A method of operating a cell phone, comprising:

receiving auxiliary data wirelessly sent to the cell phone from a remote transmitter;

thereafter, receiving input information and expressing the input information in digital form;

steganographically encoding the input information to hide a plural-bit auxiliary code therein, the encoding depending, at least in part, on the received auxiliary data sent to the cell phone from the remote transmitter; and

transmitting the steganographically-encoded information from the cell phone by wireless in a digital format;

wherein;

the input information is digitally marked with the plural-bit auxiliary code prior to being transmitted, but such code is hidden due to its steganographic nature;

the plural-bit auxiliary code is retrievable only by entities that (1) receive the information sent by the cell phone;

(2) know that a code is present despite being hidden, and (3) have information about its manner of encoding; and

the method thereby provides a hidden channel through which a code dependent on auxiliary data earlier sent to a cell phone can be transmitted from the cell phone.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the input information is audio information.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the steganographic encoding includes additively combining samples of a digital overlay signal with corresponding samples of the input information, the overlay signal being dependent both on the plural-bit auxiliary code and on the input information.

4. The method of claim 1 that further includes wirelessly communicating an identifier from the cell phone, wherein said plural-bit auxiliary code is at least partially redundant with said identifier, so that at least part of said identifier is sent from the cell phone in two different manners.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said plural-bit auxiliary code comprises an identifier uniquely identifying the cell phone, rather than identifying the input information or a user of cell phone.

6. A cell phone including a data capture system and a radiant-energy transmission system, characterized in that the cell phone further includes a steganographic encoder that modifies data captured by the data capture system in accordance with an encoding signal, to hide a plural-bit auxiliary code within the data prior to transmission by the data transmission system, the steganographic encoder being adapted to generate an encoding signal that depends—

in part—

on dynamics of the data, wherein data captured by the data capture system is digitally marked with the encoding signal prior to being transmitted by the transmission system, and the steganographic encoder is adapted to generate an encoding signal that is responsive to a first-, second- or higher-order derivative of the data.

7. The cell phone of claim 6 in which the steganographic encoder is adapted to control an amplitude of the encoding signal, in part, in accordance with dynamics of the data.

8. The cell phone of claim 6 further comprising wireless receiver circuitry that provides information to a memory, wherein the steganographic encoder is adapted to generate an encoding signal that depends, in part, on the information in the memory.

9. The cell phone of claim 6 in which the data comprises a series of samples, and the steganographic encoder is adapted to generate an encoding signal that depends on the dynamics of several samples.