Client-side watermarking using hybrid I-frames

• US 8,630,450 B2
• Filed: 11/05/2012
• Issued: 01/14/2014
• 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:
  US13/668,934
• Publication Number:
  US 20130070958A1
• Time in Patent Office: 435 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/201, 382/232, 382/240, 382/245, 382/166, 380/51, 380/54, 380/210, 380/252, 380/287, 380/28, 380/30, 370522-529, 283/72, 283 74- 81, 283/85, 283/113, 713/176, 713/179, 358/3.28, 375/131, 375/240.15, 375/240.26
• 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 first video content in a compressed format having at least one lossy video frame;

receiving a second video content separate from the first video content, the second video content having at least one low loss video frame corresponding to the at least one lossy video frame;

watermarking the at least one low loss video frame received from the second video content to produce a watermarked low loss video frame; and

replacing the at least one lossy video frame from the first video content with the watermarked low loss video frame.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one lossy video frame has a first compression level and the method further comprises:

compressing the watermarked low loss video frame to the first compression level prior to replacing the at least one lossy video frame from the first video content with the watermarked low loss video frame.

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

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

5. The method as recited in claim 1, where each of the first video content and the second video content are received in separate unicast sessions.

6. 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 first video content in a compressed format having at least one lossy video frame;

receive a second video content separate from the first video content, the second video content having at least one low loss video frame corresponding to the one lossy video frame;

watermark the at least one low loss video frame received from the second video content to produce a watermarked low loss video frame; and

replace the at least one lossy video frame from the first video content with the watermarked low loss video frame.

7. The device as recited in claim 6, wherein the at least one lossy video frame has a first compression level and the re-encoder is further configured to:

compress the watermarked low loss video frame to the first compression level prior to replacing the at least one lossy video frame from the first video content with the watermarked low loss video frame.

8. The device as recited in claim 6, wherein the at least one lossy video frame is encoded with a lossless algorithm.

9. The device as recited in claim 6, wherein the at least one low loss video frame is encoded with a lossless algorithm.

10. The device as recited in claim 6, where each of the first video content and the second video content are received in separate unicast sessions.