Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080310673 | System reactions to the detection of embedded watermarks in a digital host content - Methods for adapting the operation of a system in response to the detection of embedded watermarks from a digital host content are provided. A digital host content is received and examined for the presence of watermarks. In response to the detection of embedded watermarks and in accordance with the value, type, density or spacing of the detected watermarks, one or more system reactions may take place. These reactions include conditionally allowing the system to resume its normal operation, prohibiting the system from resuming its normal operation, degrading the quality of the digital host content or changing the security status of the digital host content. In response to the extraction of weak watermarks that do not meet the desired system requirements, the extraction operation may be modified or extended to enable the detection of strong watermarks. | 12-18-2008 |
20100146286 | Pre-Processed Information Embedding System - Methods are provided for embedding auxiliary information in a host content signal which reduce the memory, bandwidth and computational complexity of the embedding and transmission systems. In one embodiment, a first reduced-scale signal is produced which corresponds to the host content embedded with a first logical value and producing a second reduced-scale signal corresponding to the host content embedded with a second logical value. A first set of segments from the first reduced-scale signal may be combined with a second set of segments from the second reduced-scale signal in a pre-defined manner to produce a composite embedded host content. Thus the storage and transmission requirements of the watermarking system are reduced to having to deal with only the original content plus two reduced-scale signals. | 06-10-2010 |
20100228857 | MEDIA MONITORING, MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION SYSTEM - Systems and methods are provided for monitoring transmissions of media content (such as audio and audiovisual content) in order to obtain independent and objective data regarding the use of specific media content recordings or works within the transmissions. Processing and reporting of such data is provided in various ways to serve a variety of business needs. Methods for employing content identification technology to efficiently and automatically obtain reliable, accurate, and precise monitoring data are also disclosed. Various information products and services based on such monitoring systems are proposed. | 09-09-2010 |
20100287579 | MEDIA MONITORING, MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION SYSTEM - Systems and methods are provided for monitoring transmissions of media content (such as audio and audiovisual content) in order to obtain independent and objective data regarding the use of specific media content recordings or works within the transmissions. Processing and reporting of such data is provided in various ways to serve a variety of business needs. Methods for employing content identification technology to efficiently and automatically obtain reliable, accurate, and precise monitoring data are also disclosed. Various information products and services based on such monitoring systems are proposed. | 11-11-2010 |
20110068898 | REMOTE CONTROL SIGNALING USING AUDIO WATERMARKS - A system for using a watermark embedded in an audio signal to remotely control a device. Various devices such as toys, computers, and appliances, equipped with an appropriate detector, detect the hidden signals, which can trigger an action, or change a state of the device. The watermarks can be used with a “time gate” device, where detection of the watermark opens a time interval within which a user is allowed to perform an action, such as pressing a button, typing in an answer, turning a key in a lock, etc. | 03-24-2011 |
20110286625 | SYSTEM REACTIONS TO THE DETECTION OF EMBEDDED WATERMARKS IN A DIGITAL HOST CONTENT - Methods, devices and computer program products for enabling secure and efficient extraction of embedded watermarks from digital host content are provided. Upon the reception of a multi-channel digital host content with embedded watermarks, a subset of the received channels are selected and combined together to from a composite content. The composite content is then examined to recover embedded watermarks. The particular subset of channels can be selected according to a probability value. Further, a set of new channels can be selected and combined after a particular time interval has elapsed. The number of selected channels can also be varied each time a new selection is made. | 11-24-2011 |
20110311056 | FORENSIC MARKING USING A COMMON CUSTOMIZATION FUNCTION - Methods, systems, and apparatus are disclosed which enable flexible insertion of forensic watermarks into a digital content signal using a common customization function. The common customization function flexibly employs a range of different marking techniques that are applicable to a wide range of forensic marking schemes. These customization functions are also applicable to pre-processing and post-processing operations that may be necessary for enhancing the security and transparency of the embedded marks, as well as improving the computational efficiency of the marking process. The common customization function supports a well-defined set of operations specific to the task of forensic mark customization that can be carried out with a modest and preferably bounded effort on a wide range of devices. This is accomplished through the use of a generic transformation technique for use as a “customization” step for producing versions of content forensically marked with any of a multiplicity of mark messages. | 12-22-2011 |
20120017091 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR THWARTING WATERMARK DETECTION CIRCUMVENTION - Methods and apparatus for thwarting circumvention of watermark detection are provided. When content is received at a device that is equipped with a watermark extractor, an attacker may disguise the form of the received content in an attempt to circumvent detection of watermarks that are embedded in the content. A signal processing operation is performed on the received content such that the signal processing operation does not significantly degrade the perceptual quality of the content if the content is indeed in the form that is purported to be. The signal processing operation, however, significantly degrades the perceptual quality of the content if the content is in a different form, thereby discouraging the attacker's attempts to thwart watermark detection. | 01-19-2012 |
20120026393 | MEDIA MONITORING, MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION SYSTEM - Systems and methods are provided for monitoring transmissions of media content (such as audio and audiovisual content) in order to obtain independent and objective data regarding the use of specific media content recordings or works within the transmissions. Processing and reporting of such data is provided in various ways to serve a variety of business needs. Methods for employing content identification technology to efficiently and automatically obtain reliable, accurate, and precise monitoring data are also disclosed. Various information products and services based on such monitoring systems are proposed. | 02-02-2012 |
20120072729 | WATERMARK EXTRACTION AND CONTENT SCREENING IN A NETWORKED ENVIRONMENT - Methods, devices, and computer program products facilitate the application of a content use policy based on watermarks that are embedded in a content. Watermark extraction and content screening operations, which can include the application of content usage enforcement actions, may be organized such that some or all of the operations can be conducted at different times by different devices. The watermark extraction results can be stored in a secure location and accessed by other devices at different times. These operations can be conducted by one or more trusted devices that reside in a home network. The home network can also include a gateway device that can coordinate the operations of the various network devices and/or delegate the various watermark extraction and content screening operations. | 03-22-2012 |
20120072730 | CONTEXT ACCESS MANAGEMENT USING WATERMARK EXTRACTION INFORMATION - Methods, devices, and computer program products facilitate the application of a content use policy based on watermarks that are embedded in a content. Watermark extraction and content screening operations, which can include the application of content usage enforcement actions, may be organized such that some or all of the operations can be conducted at different times by different devices. These operations can be conducted by one or more trusted devices that reside in a networked environment. Real-time access to a content can also be facilitated by utilizing existing watermark extraction records. To facilitate real-time access to the content, the extraction records may contain segmented authentication information that correspond to particular segments of the content that is being accessed. Additionally, or alternatively, new watermark extraction operations can be conducted in real-time to produce new watermark extraction records. | 03-22-2012 |
20120072731 | SECURE AND EFFICIENT CONTENT SCREENING IN A NETWORKED ENVIRONMENT - Methods, devices, and computer program products facilitate the application of a content use policy based on watermarks that are embedded in a content. Watermark extraction and content screening operations, which can include the application of content usage enforcement actions, may be organized such that some or all of the operations can be conducted at different times by different devices. These operations can be conducted by one or more trusted devices that reside in a networked environment. The authenticity of various devices can be verified through the exchange of certificates that can further enable such devices to ascertain capabilities of one another. Based on the ascertained capabilities, an operational configuration for conducting watermark extraction and content screening can be determined. | 03-22-2012 |
20120130719 | REMOTE CONTROL SIGNALING USING AUDIO WATERMARKS - A system for using a watermark embedded in an audio signal to remotely control a device. Various devices such as toys, computers, and appliances, equipped with an appropriate detector, detect the hidden signals, which can trigger an action, or change a state of the device. The watermarks can be used with a “time gate” device, where detection of the watermark opens a time interval within which a user is allowed to perform an action, such as pressing a button, typing in an answer, turning a key in a lock, etc. | 05-24-2012 |
20130007462 | CIRCUMVENTION OF WATERMARK ANALYSIS IN A HOST CONTENT - Methods and devices are provided to thwart analysis of a watermarking system by preventing analysis of watermarks in a host content. Upon receiving a content at a watermark embedding device, the content is analyzed to ascertain whether one or more test features are present in at least a first portion of the received content. When the analysis reveals that one or more test features are present, embedding of watermarks in at least the first portion of the received content is disabled. The test features of interest include a temporal, a spatial and/or a frequency characteristic such that, if a region of the content that includes test feature is embedded with a watermark, at least one characteristic of the embedded watermark is detectable upon analysis of that region. The test feature can, for example, approximate an impulse signal, a step function signal or a pure sinusoidal signal. | 01-03-2013 |
20130011006 | ASYMMETRIC WATERMARK EMBEDDING/EXTRACTION - Methods and devices are provided to embed imperceptible watermarks into a host content and to subsequently extract embedded watermarks in a manner so as to achieve desired levels of robustness, transparency and security. For a particular host content, a first number of embedding opportunities are used to insert watermarks, which is less than a number of all embedding opportunities within the host content. Watermarks are extracted from a first number of watermark extraction opportunities, which is less than a number of all watermark extraction opportunities associated with the host content. The relationship between the first number of embedding opportunities, the first number of watermark extraction opportunities and the number of all watermark extraction opportunities is such that a circumvention attempt that overwrites watermarks at all extraction opportunities degrades perceptual quality of the host content below a desired perceptual quality level. | 01-10-2013 |
20130142382 | PRE-PROCESSED INFORMATION EMBEDDING SYSTEM - Methods and devices are provided for embedding auxiliary information in a host content in a manner that reduces memory, bandwidth and computational complexity of the embedding and transmission systems. One methodology relates to receiving a set of watermark embedding parameters produced at a pre-processing node by pre-processing the host content. The watermark embedding parameters enable embedding each of a plurality of host content segments with any one of at least two different logical values. To embed the auxiliary information, the host content is modified on a segment-by-segment basis using the set of watermark embedding parameters and in accordance with a control signal that designates one of the at least two logical values for embedding into a selected segment of the host content. The generation of watermark embedding parameters at a pre-processing node reduces storage, transmission and computational complexity of embedding operations that can occur at locations other than the pre-processing node. | 06-06-2013 |
20130151855 | WATERMARK EMBEDDING WORKFLOW IMPROVEMENTS - Methods, devices and computer program products facilitate embedding and extraction of watermarks into and from a host content. Embedded watermarks include an automatically generated portion that is associated with metadata. The metadata, which includes one or more identifiers of the host content, is stored at a database and can be accessible to both the watermark embedder and a watermark extractor. The automatically generated portion of the payload can be a serial number is changed for each watermark embedding session. | 06-13-2013 |
20130151856 | CONDITIONAL ACCESS USING EMBEDDED WATERMARKS - Methods, devices and computer program products facilitate conditional access to a content embedded with watermarks. For such a content, when copy control rules associated with an embedded watermark message prohibits unconditional access to the content, it is determined whether or not an exception to the copy control rules exists, and if an exception to the copy control rules exists, the content is conditionally accessed. Additional watermark messages can be extracted while the content is being conditionally accessed, and based on the additionally extracted watermark messages, it is verified that conditional access to the content has been fulfilled. | 06-13-2013 |
20130152210 | COORDINATED WATERMARKING - Methods, devices and computer program products enable embedding and extraction of multiple watermark messages in a coordinated fashion to improve watermark transparency, robustness against impairments, security, and computational complexity of embedding and extraction of watermarks. Coordinated watermark embedding and extraction operations take advantage of a pre-defined relationship between the symbols of two watermark messages. The improved aspects of the watermarking system provide significant value to content owners, content distributors, and consumers at a small incremental cost. | 06-13-2013 |
20130339029 | REMOTE CONTROL SIGNALING USING AUDIO WATERMARKS - A system for using a watermark embedded in an audio signal to remotely control a device. Various devices such as toys, computers, and appliances, equipped with an appropriate detector, detect the hidden signals, which can trigger an action, or change a state of the device. The watermarks can be used with a “time gate” device, where detection of the watermark opens a time interval within which a user is allowed to perform an action, such as pressing a button, typing in an answer, turning a key in a lock, etc. | 12-19-2013 |
20140029786 | FORENSIC MARKING USING A COMMON CUSTOMIZATION FUNCTION - Methods, systems, and apparatus are disclosed which enable flexible insertion of forensic watermarks into a digital content signal using a common customization function. The common customization function flexibly employs a range of different marking techniques that are applicable to a wide range of forensic marking schemes. These customization functions are also applicable to pre-processing and post-processing operations that may be necessary for enhancing the security and transparency of the embedded marks, as well as improving the computational efficiency of the marking process. The common customization function supports a well-defined set of operations specific to the task of forensic mark customization that can be carried out with a modest and preferably bounded effort on a wide range of devices. This is accomplished through the use of a generic transformation technique for use as a “customization” step for producing versions of content forensically marked with any of a multiplicity of mark messages. | 01-30-2014 |
20140067950 | SOCIAL MEDIA VIEWING SYSTEM - Methods, systems and computer program products are described that facilitate enhanced interactions via social media that can be enabled, at least in-part, by using various content identification techniques. Enhanced viewing of a content can be accomplished by monitoring activities of a user related to the user's accessing of a particular content and analyzing information acquired from the monitoring in conjunction with stored data related to additional users. Next, a subset of the additional users that are associated with the user or with the particular content are identified, and enhanced viewing of the particular content is enabled amongst the user and the identified subset of the additional users. | 03-06-2014 |
20140071342 | SECOND SCREEN CONTENT - Methods, systems, devices and computer program products are provided to facilitate enhanced use and interaction with multimedia content using a variety of content identification techniques. After identifying a content that is being presented by a first device, the content identification information is used to retrieve and present a second content that would render at least a portion of the first content comprehensible to particular users or audience of the first content. The second content can be tailored to accommodate physical disabilities or special needs of a user or a group of users. | 03-13-2014 |
20140074855 | MULTIMEDIA CONTENT TAGS - Methods, devices and computer program products facilitate enhanced use and interaction with a multimedia content through the use of tags. While a content is being presented by a device, a content identifier and at least one time code associated with one or more content segments are obtained. One or both of the content identifier and the time code can be obtained from watermarks that are embedded in the content, or through computation of fingerprints that are subsequently matched against a database of stored fingerprints and metadata. The content identifier and the at least one time code are transmitted to a tag server. In response, tag information for the one or more content segments is received and one or more tags are presented to a user. The tags are persistently associated with temporal locations of the content segments. | 03-13-2014 |
20140279296 | REFERRED SALE SYSTEM - Methods, devices, systems and computer program products use watermarks to allow a user to explore to obtain desired content and related items. One device includes an extended payload (EP) watermark extractor coupled to an audio input and to an enhanced response coordinator (ERC). The device also includes a copy control information (CCI) watermark detector coupled to the audio input and coupled to a copy management compliance logic component. The ERC is further coupled to the EP extractor and to a communication component. The device also includes a referred sale logic component coupled to the ERC to receive referral information that is indicative of one or more alternative options. The device further includes a digital service provider (DSP) client component coupled to the referred sale logic and also coupled to the communication component that allows the DSP client to communicate with DSPs and to receive one of the alternative options. | 09-18-2014 |
20140279549 | REFERRED SALE SYSTEM - Methods, devices, systems and computer program products utilized watermarks that are embedded in a content to facilitate content access, and to enhance a user's experience by allowing the user to explore additional options for obtaining the desired content and related items of interest. In one method, an indication for an access to a content is received that includes one or more copy management watermarks and one or more enhanced payload watermarks. At least one copy management watermark and at least one enhanced payload watermark are extracted from the content. Upon a determination, based on the at least one copy management watermark, that access rights to the content is restricted, the enhanced payload watermark is used to present one or more alternative options. | 09-18-2014 |
20140325550 | REAL-TIME ANTI-PIRACY FOR BROADCAST STREAMS - Systems, devices, methods and computer program products respond to real-time piracy of broadcast streams. One method includes receiving requests from a requesting device for a plurality segments of a real-time content, where at least one of the requested content segments differs from another segment of the plurality of segments in at least one characteristic. In response to the request, a particular version of the requested segments is transmitted to the requesting device such that a unique sequence of the transmitted segments identifies the requesting device or a user or a transaction. A communication network is then monitored to obtain a disseminated version of the real-time content, and based on the at least one characteristic of the obtained real-time content, it is determined if the real-time content includes the unique sequence of segments, and if so, one or more actions are initiated to thwart further dissemination of the real-time content. | 10-30-2014 |
20150016228 | REMOTE CONTROL SIGNALING USING AUDIO WATERMARKS - A system for using a watermark embedded in an audio signal to remotely control a device. Various devices such as toys, computers, and appliances, equipped with an appropriate detector, detect the hidden signals, which can trigger an action, or change a state of the device. The watermarks can be used with a “time gate” device, where detection of the watermark opens a time interval within which a user is allowed to perform an action, such as pressing a button, typing in an answer, turning a key in a lock, etc. | 01-15-2015 |
20150030200 | WATERMARK EXTRACTOR ENHANCEMENTS BASED ON PAYLOAD RANKING - Methods, devices, systems and computer program products improve the detection of watermarks that are embedded in a host content by providing information indicative of a ranking of watermark payloads to watermark extractors. A watermark extractor device obtains information indicative of a ranking of a plurality of watermark payload values, where such information designates each watermark payload value within a first subset of the plurality of watermark payload values as having an associated rank value. Based at least in-part on the information indicative of the ranking, the watermark extractor device is configured to prioritize resource allocation for extraction of payload values that are designated as belonging to the first subset over payload values that are not designated as belonging to the first subset. The watermark extractor then extracts a payload value, designated as belonging to the first subset, from one or more watermarks embedded in the host content. | 01-29-2015 |
20150036873 | CIRCUMVENTION OF WATERMARK ANALYSIS IN A HOST CONTENT - Methods and devices are provided to thwart analysis of a watermarking system by preventing analysis of watermarks in a host content. Upon receiving a content at a watermark embedding device, the content is analyzed to ascertain whether one or more test features are present in at least a first portion of the received content. When the analysis reveals that one or more test features are present, embedding of watermarks in at least the first portion of the received content is disabled. The test features of interest include a temporal, a spatial and/or a frequency characteristic such that, if a region of the content that includes test feature is embedded with a watermark, at least one characteristic of the embedded watermark is detectable upon analysis of that region. The test feature can, for example, approximate an impulse signal, a step function signal or a pure sinusoidal signal. | 02-05-2015 |
20150121534 | CONTENT MANAGEMENT USING MULTIPLE ABSTRACTION LAYERS - Systems, devices, methods and computer program products improve various aspects of a content management system. In one scenario, one or more contents are accessed at a content handling device. The content handling device is configured to operate using multiple abstraction layers including an application layer, an operating system layer, a firmware layer and a hardware layer. Content management operations are conducted on the one or more contents using at least two abstraction layers. Such content management operations include conducting watermark extraction and content screening operations at a first layer for a first watermark message having a first value, conducting watermark extraction and content screening operations at a second layer for a second watermark message having a second value, and initiating one or more enforcement actions corresponding to the first value and the second value based at least in-part on respective results of the content screening. | 04-30-2015 |
20150261753 | METADATA ACQUISITION USING EMBEDDED CODES - Methods and devices are provided to obtain metadata associated with multimedia content. One method includes performing watermark detection on a content that is received at a receiver device to detect one or more watermarks. At least one of the detected watermark includes a payload with a server code and an interval code. The method includes forming a uniform resource locator (URL) based on the watermark payload. The URL includes a first section with server domain name the includes at least a portion of the server code. The URL also includes a second section that includes at least a portion of the interval code. Upon transmission of a request based on the URL using a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) for delivery to a metadata server, a response is received that includes metadata associated with the content. | 09-17-2015 |
20150264429 | INTERACTIVE CONTENT ACQUISITION USING EMBEDDED CODES - Methods and devices are provided to obtain associated information for a multimedia content. One such method includes receiving a content at a receiver device equipped with a watermark detector, performing watermark detection on the received content to extract a payload of an embedded watermark. The payload comprises a first field that includes a server identifier and a second field that includes an interval identifier associated with the server identifier. The first field provides a mapping to an Internet address accessible to retrieve metadata associated with content segments identified by the watermark payload. In this method, based on the detected watermark payload, a query is formed and transmitted to a server identified by the Internet address, and a response to the query is received from the server that includes metadata associated with the content. | 09-17-2015 |
20150269362 | SIGNAL CONTINUITY ASSESSMENT USING EMBEDDED WATERMARKS - Methods, apparatus, and systems for signal continuity assessment using embedded watermarks are provided. The embedded watermarks are recovered from the content and one or more attributes associated with the recovered watermarks are identified. A continuity of the content can then be assessed in accordance with the one or more attributes. The continuity assessment may be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to a determined heartbeat of the recovered watermarks, a density, separation, location, or extent, of the recovered watermarks, as well as information associated with the watermarks, such as a stego key, channel bits, packet numbers, a fingerprint, or the like. | 09-24-2015 |
20150286809 | FORENSIC MARKING USING A COMMON CUSTOMIZATION FUNCTION - Methods, systems, and apparatus are disclosed which enable flexible insertion of forensic watermarks into a digital content signal using a common customization function. The common customization function flexibly employs a range of different marking techniques that are applicable to a wide range of forensic marking schemes. These customization functions are also applicable to pre-processing and post-processing operations that may be necessary for enhancing the security and transparency of the embedded marks, as well as improving the computational efficiency of the marking process. The common customization function supports a well-defined set of operations specific to the task of forensic mark customization that can be carried out with a modest and preferably bounded effort on a wide range of devices. This is accomplished through the use of a generic transformation technique for use as a “customization” step for producing versions of content forensically marked with any of a multiplicity of mark messages. | 10-08-2015 |