Client-side watermarking using hybrid I-frames

• US 8,320,610 B2
• Filed: 06/17/2011
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• 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:
  US13/162,673
• Publication Number:
  US 20110268197A1
• Time in Patent Office: 529 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/166, 382/201, 382/232, 382/240, 382/245, 380/28, 380/30, 380/51, 380/54, 380/210, 380/252, 380/287, 370522-529, 283/72, 283 74- 81, 283/85, 283/113, 713/176, 713/179, 358/3.28
• 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:

receiving a multi-layer video stream having a first layer and a second layer, the first layer including at least one compressed video frame and the second layer including at least one low loss video frame corresponding to the at least one compressed video frame;

watermarking the at least one low loss video frame;

compressing the watermarked video frame to create a low loss compressed watermarked video frame; and

replacing the at least one compressed video frame with the low loss compressed watermarked video frame in the video stream.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one low loss video frame is encoded with a lossless algorithm.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one compressed video frame is generated using a MPEG2 of MPEG4 standard.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the at least one low loss video frame is compressed with an algorithm having a compression factor that is low-loss in comparison to a compression factor of an algorithm used to generate the at least one compressed video frame.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the multi-layer video stream is a multicast stream.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one low loss video frame is a hybrid I-Frame.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the at least one compressed video frame is an I-Frame and the hybrid I-Frame corresponds to the I-Frame.

8. A device comprising:

a communication interface coupling the device to a network;

a storage device associated with the communication interface;

a control system associated with the storage device, the control system having a re-encoder configured to;

receive a multi-layer video stream having a first layer and a second layer, the first layer including at least one compressed video frame and the second layer including at least one low loss video frame corresponding to the at least one compressed video frame;

watermark the at least one low loss video frame;

compress the watermarked video frame to create a low loss compressed watermarked video frame; and

replace the at least one compressed video frame with the low loss compressed watermarked video frame in the video stream.

9. The device as recited in claim 8, wherein the at least one low loss video frame is encoded with a lossless algorithm.

10. The device as recited in claim 8, wherein the at least one compressed video frame is generated using a MPEG2 of MPEG4 standard.

11. The device as recited in claim 10, wherein the at least one low loss video frame is compressed with an algorithm having a compression factor that is low-loss in comparison to a compression factor of an algorithm used to generate the at least one compressed video frame.

12. The device as recited in claim 8, wherein the multi-layer video stream is a multicast stream.

13. The device as recited in claim 8, wherein the at least one low loss video frame is a hybrid I-Frame.

14. The device as recited in claim 13, wherein the at least one compressed video frame is an I-Frame and the hybrid I-Frame corresponds to the I-Frame.