Method and apparatus responsive to a code signal conveyed through a graphic image

• US 5,710,834 A
• Filed: 05/08/1995
• Issued: 01/20/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Inventors: Rhoads, Geoffrey B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Couso, Jose L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Do, Anh Hong
• Application Number:
  US08/436,099
• Time in Patent Office: 988 Days
• Field of Search: 382/232, 382/236, 382/244, 382/248, 382/253, 382/100, 360/32, 370/55, 370/60.1, 395/162, 395/164, 395/166, 345/106, 345/125, 345/190, 380/55, 380/18, 434/308, 434/309, 434/315, 434/316
• US Class Current: 382/232
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/14 using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light G06K7/10831 - G06K7/1097 take precedence
• 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: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/12 Card verification
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/018 Audio watermarking, i.e. embedding inaudible data in the audio signal

Abstract

An identification code signal is impressed on a carrier to be identified (such as an electronic data signal or a physical medium) in a manner that permits the identification signal later to be discerned and the carrier thereby identified. The method and apparatus are characterized by robustness despite degradation of the encoded carrier, and by permeation of the identification signal throughout the carrier.

Claims

1. In a method of processing image data, the method including providing image processing equipment including a computer, a storage medium, and an image processing program stored in said medium and executing on said computer, said program permitting editing of images, and providing to said equipment data corresponding to an input image, an improvement comprising:

discerning, from said input image data, an N-bit code signal steganographically encoded therein, where N is greater than or equal to two, said discerning including performing an algorithmic registration process to resolve an initially unknown variable needed to discern the code signal from the image, wherein the input image is an originally encoded image corrupted by a process selected from a group consisting of;

scaling or rotation of the originally encoded image, wherein the multi-bit code signal is discerned no withstanding said corruption; and

controlling operation of the equipment depending on the code signal discerned from the image.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the corruption process is scaling.

3. The method of claim 1 in which the corruption process is rotation.

4. The method of claim 1 which further includes determining, from said code signal, copyright information relating to said image.

5. A computer storage medium having stored thereon instructions for causing a computer to execute the improvement of claim 1.

6. In an image processing system that includes a computer, a storage medium, and an image processing program stored in said medium for execution on said computer, said program permitting editing of image data, the storage medium including input image data, an improvement comprising:

means for discerning, from said input image data, an N-bit code signal steganographically encoded therein, where N is greater than or equal to two, said discerning including performing an algorithmic registration process to resolve an initially unknown variable needed to discern the code signal from the image data, wherein the input image is an originally encoded image corrupted by a process selected from a group consisting of;

scaling or rotation of the originally encoded image, wherein the multi-bit code signal is discerned no withstanding said corruption; and

means for controlling operation of said system depending on the code signal discerned from said input image data, wherein the system'"'"'s operation is dependent on the code signal discerned from the input image data.