New pending patent applications are published by the PTO on Thursdays. Today's Spotlight Applications concern aspects of digital watermarking. Assigned to Hon Hai Precision Industry, the first application discloses a watermark loading device and processes. Apparently assigned to Sony, the second application discloses techniques for robust watermarking in multimedia content.
20150293743,"Watermark loading device and method," assigned to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. (TW).
Abstract
A watermark loading device loads watermark to an original audio. The watermark loading device preprocesses the original audio to calculate a volume and a pitch of the original audio and saves the volume and the pitch as audio information of the original audio. The watermark loading device configures relevant parameters of watermark loading including a watermark loading intensity, a volume threshold and a pitch threshold used for choosing a target fragment of the original audio that is to be loaded watermark. The watermark loading device compares the audio information with the volume threshold and the pitch threshold to determine the target fragment and loads watermark for the target fragment according to the watermark loading intensity to get a watermarked audio.20150287156, "Methods and apparatuses for robust watermarking in multimedia content," apparently assigned to Sony.
Abstract
Methods and apparatuses for embedding watermark information into multimedia contents like audio, imagery or video, and for detection of such watermarks from embedded multimedia content. A two step embedding approach is proposed wherein the watermark bits are first used to construct a modulation signal. Said modulation signal is used to modify certain selected characteristics of the media content. A detector is then used to first extract the modulation signal from embedded media content, and then to extract watermark information from the modulation signal extracted. This current invention enhances watermark robustness against classes of attacks that prior arts are vulnerable to resist. Current invention is novel and useful in any multimedia application fields, including but not limited to the identification, distribution tracking and copyright protection of audio, imagery and video contents.
