Client-side watermarking using hybrid I-frames

• US 7,738,676 B1
• Filed: 11/02/2006
• Issued: 06/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qurio Holdings Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Qurio Holdings Incorporated
• Inventors: Evans, Gregory Morgan, Roberts, Thomas A., Adams, Cheryl
• Primary Examiner(s): Tabatabai; Abolfazl
• Application Number:
  US11/555,707
• Time in Patent Office: 1,321 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/166, 382/201, 382/232, 382/235, 382/244, 382/245, 380/28, 380/30, 380/51, 380/54, 380/210, 380/252, 380/287, 370/252, 370522-527, 283/72, 283 74- 81, 283/113, 713/150, 713/163, 713/176, 713/179, 715/764, 715/765
• US Class Current: 382/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0035 Output size adaptive watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/005 Robust watermarking, e.g. average attack or collusion attack resistant
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0085 Time domain based watermarking, e.g. watermarks spread over several images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0053 Embedding of the watermark in the coding stream, possibly without decoding; Embedding of the watermark in the compressed domain
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/467 characterised by the embedded information being invisible, e.g. watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/48 using compressed domain processing techniques other than decoding, e.g. modification of transform coefficients, variable length coding [VLC] data or run-length data motion estimation in a transform domain H04N19/547; processing of decoded motion vectors H04N19/513
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding

Abstract

A system and method for client-side watermarking of digital content using hybrid Intra-Frames (I-Frames) are provided. In general, a content source provides a compressed video stream and a hybrid I-Frame stream to a client device via a network. The hybrid I-Frame stream includes a number of low-loss I-Frames corresponding to select ones of the I-Frames in the compressed video stream to be used for client-side watermarking. The client device watermarks the I-Frames in the hybrid I-Frame stream, optionally compresses the watermarked I-Frames, and replaces the select ones of the I-Frames in the compressed video stream with the watermarked and optionally compressed I-Frames to provide a watermarked version of the compressed video stream.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a compressed video stream to a client, the compressed video stream comprising a plurality of Intra-Frames (I-Frames); and

providing a plurality of hybrid I-Frames, including a hybrid I-Frame, to the client, wherein the plurality of hybrid I-Frames, including the hybrid I-Frame, are low-loss versions of corresponding select ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream to be used for client-side watermarking.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the client operates to watermark the hybrid I-Frame and replace the select one of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream with the watermarked hybrid I-Frame to provide a watermarked version of the compressed video stream at the client.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the client operates to watermark the plurality of hybrid I-Frames and replace the select ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream with the watermarked plurality of hybrid I-Frames to provide a watermarked version of the compressed video stream.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

compressing source video content according to a standard encoding algorithm to provide the compressed video stream;

identifying the select ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream to be used for client-side watermarking;

identifying segments of the source video content corresponding to the select ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream to be used for client-side watermarking; and

generating the plurality of hybrid I-Frames from the segments of the source video content corresponding to the ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream to be used for client-side watermarking.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein generating the plurality of hybrid I-Frames comprises compressing the segments of the source video content according to a substantially lossless compression algorithm.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein generating the plurality of hybrid I-Frames comprises compressing the segments of the source video content according to a compression algorithm such that the plurality of hybrid I-Frames are compressed by a factor that is relatively low-loss with respect to a compression factor for the compressed video stream.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the compressed video stream further comprises encrypting the compressed video stream, and providing the hybrid I-Frame comprises embedding a decryption key for decrypting the encrypted, compressed video stream into the hybrid I-Frame.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the hybrid I-Frame is essentially lossless.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the hybrid I-Frame is relatively low-loss with respect to the compressed video stream.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein providing the hybrid I-Frame comprises compressing a segment of source video content corresponding to the select one of the plurality of I-Frames to be used for client-side watermarking by a factor equal to or less than 10 to provide the hybrid I-Frame.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein providing the compressed video stream comprises compressing the source video content by a factor equal to or greater than 32 to provide the compressed video stream.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising multicasting the compressed video stream and the hybrid I-Frame to a plurality of clients including the client via a network, thereby providing the compressed video stream and the hybrid I-Frame to the client.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the compressed video stream to the client comprises unicasting the compressed video content to the client, and providing the hybrid I-Frame to the client comprises unicasting the hybrid I-Frame to the client.

14. A system comprising:

a) a communication interface communicatively coupling the system to a client via a network; and

b) a control system associated with the communication interface and adapted to;

i) provide a compressed video stream to the client, the compressed video stream comprising a plurality of Intra-Frames (I-Frames); and

ii) provide a plurality of hybrid I-Frames, including a hybrid I-Frame, to the client, wherein the plurality of hybrid I-Frames, including the hybrid I-Frame, are low-loss versions of corresponding select ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream to be used for client-side watermarking.

15. A method comprising:

receiving a compressed video stream from a content source, the compressed video stream comprising a plurality of Intra-Frames (I-Frames);

receiving a plurality of hybrid I-Frames, including a hybrid I-Frame, from the content source, wherein the plurality of hybrid I-Frames, including the hybrid I-Frame, are low-loss versions of corresponding select ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream;

watermarking the hybrid I-Frame; and

replacing the select one of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream with the watermarked hybrid I-Frame to provide a watermarked version of the compressed video stream.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

watermarking the plurality of hybrid I-Frames; and

replacing the select ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream with the watermarked plurality of hybrid I-Frames to provide the watermarked version of the compressed video stream.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising compressing the watermarked plurality of hybrid I-Frames to a level appropriate for insertion into the compressed video stream such that replacing the select ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream comprises replacing the select ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream with the watermarked, compressed plurality of hybrid I-Frames to provide the watermarked version of the compressed video stream.

18. A system comprising:

a) a communication interface communicatively coupling the system to a content source; and

b) a control system associated with the communication interface and adapted to;

i) receive a compressed video stream from the content source, the compressed video stream comprising a plurality of Intra-Frames (I-Frames);

ii) receive a plurality of hybrid I-Frames, including a hybrid I-Frame, from the content source, wherein the plurality of hybrid I-Frames, including the hybrid I-Frame, are low-loss versions of corresponding select ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream;

iii) watermark the hybrid I-Frame; and

iv) replace the select one of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream with the watermarked hybrid I-Frame to provide a watermarked version of the compressed video stream.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the control system is further adapted to:

watermark the plurality of hybrid I-Frames; and

replace the select ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream with the watermarked plurality of hybrid I-Frames to provide the watermarked version of the compressed video stream.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the control system is further adapted to compress the watermarked plurality of hybrid I-Frames to a level appropriate for insertion into the compressed video stream and replace the select ones of the plurality of I-Frames in the compressed video stream with the watermarked, compressed plurality of hybrid I-Frame to provide the watermarked version of the compressed video stream.