Patent Publication Number: US-8542868-B2

Title: Embedding interactive data into an audiovisual content by watermarking

Description:
The present invention relates to a method for referencing and interconnecting contents, applications and metadata to an audiovisual content. 
     More in particular, the present invention relates to a method which allows to exploit enriched audiovisual content and to expand a user&#39;s fruition experience. 
     The development of systems for enriching the fruition of audiovisual contents, in particular of television contents, with interactive contents dates back to the &#39;50s of last century. After the first fanciful attempts aiming at allowing the spectator to interact with the evolution of the events described by the broadcast program, e.g. by overlapping glossy paper on the screen in order to draw objects for cartoons&#39; characters, other systems have become widespread wherein the broadcast audio/video stream is flanked by data streams. Such systems are typically characterized by a cyclic transmission model to which the user accesses through suitable applications and/or apparatuses, e.g. like teletext, which has been broadcast since the early &#39;70s. 
     The introduction of digital encoding and transmission techniques has given a new boost to the field of interactive applications, which generally exploit the possibility of using the transmission channel for distributing a variable number of parallel data streams that may carry applications, metadata or accessory data in addition to the audio/video content. 
     Also, the quick evolution of consumer electronic devices, such as digital receiver terminals, and its convergence with internetworking technologies, the success of which is based on the adoption of open standards for supporting application interoperability, have allowed for the development of tools adapted to use at best the broadcasting channel as a means for distributing multimedia and application contents to a potentially unlimited number of users (e.g. in satellite broadcasting, the number of users that can be reached by the service only depends on the “footprint” covered by the signal), as well as to use the telecommunication channel for carrying out customized transactions. 
     For all platforms which adopt the MPEG2-TS standard as a basic content distribution tool, such as the ATSC, DVB and ISDB platforms, the possibility of implementing and distributing interactive television applications is generally ensured by two key elements:
         the television signal transmitted digitally carries a service aggregate, i.e. a serial stream created by multiplexing, in appropriate variable proportions determined as a function of the bitrate of the original stream, packets belonging to parallel streams that transport encoded audio/video signals compressed according to different techniques and/or data streams and/or applications;   the user terminal used for receiving and reproducing the broadcast programs is provided with suitable software components which allow the application to be accessed and downloaded from the broadcast stream and then executed. In some variants, the software components installed in the user terminal may already include applications (e.g. microbrowser, e-mail client, “Electronic Program Guide”—EPG) which are used for accessing or consulting broadcast data and optionally for carrying out transactions over the return channel.       

     The tools currently in use for developing interactive applications can be subdivided into two classes:
         “proprietary” tools, which utilize application distribution protocols and software components, the execution specifications of which have not been made public;   “open” tools, wherein the protocol and software component specifications for supporting the development, distribution and execution of interactive applications have been made public, typically under the control of a “super partes” standardization body.       

     In the former case, the service production, distribution and fruition chain is a closed one: broadcasters, service developers and end users refer to the single supplier, or group of suppliers, which controls the technologic tools and can produce every object, from production apparatuses to user terminals, that make up the service distribution chain. 
     In the latter case, the system based on public specifications allows for the presence on the market of a plurality of independent parties, who may produce apparatuses and tools certified for standard compliance and interoperability. 
     A typical example of an open system is the DVB-MHP platform, which specifies a set of software components that allow for the development of portable applications, i.e. executable on terminals of different brands and models, provided that they are compliant with the specifications. 
     Along with these tools, different systems have also been proposed and implemented for referencing contents and applications during the reproduction of audiovisual contents for the purpose of integrating and expanding the end user&#39;s content fruition experience. 
     In general, such systems are based on the possibility of injecting a certain quantity of accessory data into the audio and video streams during the encoding and compression stage, while trying not to alter significantly the quality of the content presented to the user. 
     A typical example of a first class of such systems is the DVB-MHP platform. 
     Said platform has been initially developed for the purpose of supporting the development of interactive applications within the scope of digital broadcasting over satellite, cable or terrestrial networks, to be subsequently expanded for the distribution of services over IP networks. See, for example, the architecture for “IP Television” as specified by the DVB-IPI standard. 
     In this case, the possibility of implementing and distributing interactive applications is limited to the fact that the audio/video content and application code distribution means consists of the MPEG 2 Transport Stream, and that the signalling content and, in some cases, also the application execution content require the management of “Service Information” (SI). This system remains therefore strictly limited to television-type fruition platforms, without any possibility of off-line fruition or fruition over telecommunication networks. 
     Besides, the fruition of interactive applications is limited to terminals which have been prearranged and certified for such use, thus very much limiting the user&#39;s access freedom. 
     Finally, in the specific case of DVB-MHP, no means are provided for referencing/interconnecting integrative contents with respect to the audio/video channel, nor any specific means have been defined for activating predefined application functions at predetermined time instants during the reproduction of the audio/video stream, with the additional consequence that no possibility is given to synchronize the behaviour of an interactive application closely with the audio/video content. 
     A typical example of a second class of such systems is described in international patent application no. WO 01/55889. 
     Said document illustrates the use of steganographic techniques, in particular digital watermarking, for inserting a certain quantity of application information into the audio/video stream. According to the system illustrated in said document, the user terminal can connect, via telecommunication access, to a back-end application which presents integrative contents, such as for such as, example, “T-commerce” applications. As the content is being reproduced, the user&#39;s device detects the presence of a watermark during the decoding step and connects to the back-end system by sending the watermark content. The back-end application identifies which content, among the manageable ones, meets the received request and sends it in response to the request of the user terminal that is reproducing the content. 
     The system described in document WO 01/55889 provides for prearranging a complete client-server system, wherein the service manager must deal with both the production/distribution of the audio/video content and the prearrangement/distribution of the integrative content. 
     No referencing can however be made to any contents external to the system, such as web sites managed by third parties. 
     In addition, the user terminal necessarily requires a connection to a return channel over which the request must be sent to the back-end application. 
     A further example of the second class of systems for referencing contents and applications during the reproduction of audiovisual contents for the purpose of integrating and expanding the end user&#39;s content fruition experience is described in international patent application no. WO 01/01331. 
     Said international patent application describes the use of digital watermarking techniques for referencing application and/or integrative contents starting from the reproduction of audiovisual/multimedia contents accessible through a connection over a return channel and/or through storage devices available in the reproduction apparatus, or even distributed in the fowl of a parallel stream multiplexed with the main audiovisual stream. 
     However, the system described in international patent application WO 01/01331 suffers from at least three drawbacks: 
     a) the size of the application payload of the digital watermark is not specified and, in particular, no solutions are provided for the case in which the payload size is such that, if placed at a single point within the audiovisual content, it can adversely affect the quality of said content, e.g. by significantly reducing the signal/noise ratio or by causing the presence of artifacts in the decoded image;
 
b) no method is specified for a “secure” identification of the digital watermark; it should be observed that in this case there is an anomalous utilization of digital watermarking techniques. In fact, unlike the current practice, the watermark does not have to meet particular robustness or secrecy requirements. On the contrary, in order to facilitate the decoding operations, it is necessary that it can be identified quickly and with certainty, without any risk of generating “false positives”;
 
c) no reference is made to a possible compliance/non-compliance with the encoding/decoding standards, e.g. MPEG2, of the multimedia contents currently in use in the world of digitally distributed multimedia services, such as television broadcasting, or for the production of contents for off-line fruition, such as DVDs.
 
     The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a method for referencing and interconnecting contents, applications and metadata to an audiovisual content that can be used independently of the type of platform on which it is being used. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for referencing and interconnecting contents, applications and metadata to an audiovisual content that generates no artifacts in the encoded audiovisual stream. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for referencing and interconnecting contents, applications and metadata to an audiovisual content that generates a digital watermark which can be easily identified within an audiovisual stream. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for referencing and interconnecting contents, applications and metadata to an audiovisual content that complies with the standards in which it is implemented. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for referencing and interconnecting contents, applications and metadata to an audiovisual content that allows for referencing contents which are external to the system. 
     These and other objects of the invention are achieved by the method as claimed in the appended claims, which are intended as an integral part of the present description. 
     In short, the method according to the invention allows to create a platform for producing interactive television applications, which platform can be used independently of the access means employed for enjoying the content, whether “live”, such as television broadcasting or multicast streaming, or “on-demand”, such as unicast streaming upon a user&#39;s request, or fruition from any storage format, such as a DVD, a file stored on a hard disk, a USB peripheral, and so on. 
    
    
     
       The above objects will become more apparent from the detailed description of the method according to the invention, with particular reference to the annexed figures, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  shows an encoder and a step of inserting a digital watermark into a non-encoded digitalized audio/video stream; 
         FIG. 2  shows a structure of a digital watermark inserted into the digitalized audio/video stream; 
         FIG. 3  shows a procedure for inserting a digital watermark into an “I” frame in the digitalized audio/video stream; 
         FIG. 4  shows a decoder and a step of extracting a digital watermark from an encoded audio/video stream as that of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the watermark decoding and reading process and of the subsequent association of an application action to be executed; 
         FIG. 6  shows a possible structure of a digital watermark that may be inserted into a digitalized audio/video stream; 
         FIG. 7  shows a possible implementation of an interactive application for the fruition of an audio/video content. 
     
    
    
     Within this context, the expression “main content” refers to an audio/video content which is encoded by using a device and a method according to the present invention. The fruition of the main content through the device and method according to the present invention allows the user to access all integrative contents, whether applications or hypermedia/hypertext. 
     In this frame, the expression “application data” refers to any type of digitally represented contents, whether in “raw” format or in a format encoded and/or compressed by means of appropriate techniques, which can be reproduced/exploited through suitable application components, whether hardware or software, that can be automatically associated with the content, e.g. through mechanisms such as “magic number”, i.e. a special constant, or “mime-type”, i.e. a two-part identifier, or through a search in a “look-up table”. As an alternative, the application data may be applications to be started automatically or upon the user&#39;s request. 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , the following will now describe a step of inserting a digital watermark into a generalized audio/video stream, wherein a generic encoder  1 , e.g. compliant with the MPEG2 standard specifications, is inputted three distinct data streams: a non-encoded audio/video stream  3 , a digital watermark  5  and encoding parameters  7 , and outputs an encoded audio/video stream  9  in which said digital watermark  5  has been inserted. 
     Digital watermark  5  is inserted at one or more time instants, or frames, of non-encoded audio/video stream  3 . 
     Digital watermark  5  is inserted simultaneously during the step of encoding, e.g. MPEG-2, non-encoded audio/video stream  3 , possibly by modifying at least one coefficient of the DCT (“Discrete Cosine Transform”) of the 8×8-pixel blocks into which every single frame of non-encoded audio/video stream  3  is subdivided. 
     Any modification of the coefficients is carried out exclusively on “I” frames (Intra-frames), not on “B” or “P” frames (predicted frames). 
     In order to insert a bit with a value of “1” or “0” of digital watermark  5 , the non-parity/parity of the selected DCT coefficients may be forced as clarified below. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , there is shown the structure of a digital watermark  5  consisting of a sequence, for example, of 360 information bits, i.e. 45 bytes, subdivided into three groups  6   a , 6   b , 6   c  of 120 bits each, i.e. 15 bytes. 
     Not all of the 360-bit sequence has information content. In fact, the first 24 bits, i.e. 3 bytes, of each digital watermark  5  make up a header  5   a  having a specific predefined format, which is necessary for determining whether a certain “I” frame contains a digital watermark  5  or not. The remaining 336 bits, i.e. 42 bytes, represent an actual payload  5   b  of digital watermark  5 , i.e. the information content used for indicating a signalling in encoded audio/video stream  9 . 
     Each group  6   a , 6   b , 6   c  is inserted into a respective “I” frame  11   a , 11   b , 11   c  of non-encoded audio/video stream  3 . Among the “I” frames  11   a , 11   b , 11   c , there are a plurality of “B” or “P” frames  13 . The frames  11   a ,  11   b  and  11   c  are thus three consecutive “I” frames. 
     In the present exemplifying description, three consecutive “I” frames are used for inserting the digital watermark. According to alternative embodiments, two or more consecutive “I” frames may be used, depending on the size of the application payload to be carried. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , there is shown the procedure for inserting a digital watermark  5  into an “I” frame  11  of the non-encoded audio/video stream  3 . 
     At step  14 , the “I” frame  11  is first subdivided into “slices”; it is then subdivided into 64×64-sized macroblocks (step  15 ) and finally further subdivided into 8×8-sized blocks  19  (step  17 ). 
     For the purpose of avoiding the insertion of artifacts perceivable by the human visual system (HVS) into encoded audio/video stream  9 , it is possible to modify at least one of the coefficients  21 , 23  of a block  19  located in two specific positions within block  19 , i.e. the positions of the spatial frequencies ( 2 , 2 ) and ( 3 , 3 ), identified within block  19  with positions  18  and  27 . The spatial frequencies ( 2 , 2 ) and ( 3 , 3 ) belong to the medium frequencies, to which the human eye is notoriously least sensitive. 
     Moreover, any modification of coefficients  21 , 23  is carried out only if coefficients  21 , 23  are other than zero, in order to avoid altering the “run-length” coding. 
     For example, considering a 720×576-pixel PAL-format video, there will be 6,480 8×8 blocks  19 , and consequently 12,960 DCT coefficients will be available at most for inserting a digital watermark  5 . 
     At the end of this procedure, digital watermark  5  will be incorporated into three consecutive “I” frames  11   a , 11   b , 11   c . The encoding procedure, e.g. according to the MPEG-2 standard, will then proceed in the usual manner, thus outputting encoded audio/video stream  9  comprising a digital watermark  5 . 
     The measure of using the two DCT coefficients  21 , 23  per block  19  located in specific positions ( 2 , 2 ) and ( 3 , 3 ) within the domain of the cosine transform DCT advantageously offers the possibility of keeping unchanged the perceptive quality of encoded audio/video stream  9  with a digital watermark  5  compared with encoded audio/video stream  9  without a watermark. 
     As aforementioned, the parity/non-parity of coefficients  21 , 23  may be forced in order to insert a “1” or “0” bit of digital watermark  5 . For example, if coefficient  21  has the value “31” and the information bit of digital watermark  5  to be inserted is a “1” bit, then the value “31” will remain unchanged because the last bit of the value “31” expressed in binary format is “1”, just like the value of the bit of digital watermark  5  to be inserted. Vice versa, if the bit to be inserted is a “0” bit, then the value “31” will be changed to “30” or “32” because the last bit of the values “30” and “32” expressed in binary format is a “0” bit, just like the bit of digital watermark  5  to be inserted. 
     The increase or decrease by a unit of spatial coefficient  21  in the position ( 2 , 2 ) and/or spatial coefficient  23  in the position ( 3 , 3 ) will generate no visible artifacts. 
     Thus, it is apparent from the above that two different situations may arise: 
     a) none of coefficients  21 , 23  is modified: this occurs when the last bit of coefficients  21 , 23  has the same value as that of an information bit required for creating digital watermark  5 ; 
     b) at least one of the two coefficients  21 , 23  is modified: this occurs when the last bit of coefficients  21 , 23  does not have the same value as that of an information bit required for creating digital watermark  5 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , there is shown a decoder  31  for extracting a digital watermark  5  inserted in an encoded audio/video stream  9 , which is inputted the encoded audio/video stream  9  in which a digital watermark  5  has been inserted, and which outputs non-encoded audio/video stream  3  and a digital watermark  5 . 
       FIG. 5  shows the procedure for extracting a digital watermark  5  from an encoded audio/video stream  9 . 
     During the decoding step, e.g. according to the MPEG-2 standard, decoder  31 , after having reconstructed the DCT transform from encoded audio/video stream  9 , checks the non-parity/parity of the coefficients in the positions ( 2 , 2 ) and ( 3 , 3 ) of each 8×8 block of three consecutive “I” frames  11   a , 11   b , 11   c , and extracts the bits previously inserted therein. 
     As said bits are being read, they are stored into a memory buffer. Once three consecutive “I” frames  11   a , 11   b , 11   c  have been decoded, said buffer is full and contains 360 bits (step  40 ). At this point, the system verifies if header  5   a  is a header specifically used for indicating a signalling (step  42 ). If so, then the other 336 bits, i.e. payload  5   b , represent a digital watermark  5  (step  44 ); otherwise, the buffer is emptied because it is not a digital watermark  5 , and the procedure stops. 
     If it is a digital watermark  5 , buffered payload  5   b  is compared with the codes included in a “look-up table” (step  46 ), which lists the actions to be carried out when a specific watermark  5  is found, such as launching applications  47 , e.g. Internet, Word or PDF type. In this manner it is possible to decouple the type of application action required from the program actually used for its execution: for example, the user terminal administrator may decide that files having the “.doc” extension are to be opened by using Word or OpenOffice (or any other equivalent application that might be considered appropriate), while contents having the “.html” extension may be handled with Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc. 
     If the comparison between payload  5   b  and one of the codes in the look-up table is verified, then the corresponding action will be activated (step  48 ). 
     Alternatively, digital watermark  5  may be suitably structured in a manner such that it represents per se an instruction for launching an application  47  directly. For example, digital watermark  5  may carry the encoding of a specific URL (“Uniform Resource Locator”) sequence and also request a specific application to be used for opening the content, e.g. Internet Explorer. 
       FIGS. 6 and 7  illustrate an exemplifying implementation of an interactive application for the television environment which utilizes the method of the present invention, as well as a possible structure for encoding the watermark to be inserted into a non-encoded audio/video stream  3 . In the illustrated example, the maximum length of the payload of digital watermark  5  is 42 bytes (336 bits). 
     The purpose of the interactive television application is to detect and decode the data contained in the digital watermark and to handle the graphic layout through which the data interconnected with the audiovisual content is presented to the user. Furthermore, it also allows the user to navigate through the presented data. 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , a screen  60  of a user terminal is subdivided into four windows  61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , one of which, i.e. window  61 , is used for displaying the video content, while the other windows  62 , 63 , 64  are used for presenting the application data. 
     The application contents may be made available in the broadcast stream or via IP network, and then recovered from the user terminal over a return channel. The digital watermark payload may specify either the URI (“Uniform Resource Identifier”) to be connected to for acquiring the application contents or else a reference to a specific file, whether transmitted in the broadcast stream or available in a “directory server” containing all references to integrative contents. In this latter case, the digital watermark payload will contain the reference to the file as well as a pointer that will allow to recover, within said file, the references to the application contents to be presented to the user at a certain time instant. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , watermark  5  comprises a series of fields  50  having the following meanings:
         V (8 bit): version; it indicates the tag version, e.g. 0;   W (4 bit): window; it indicates an area of a screen  60  of a user terminal that is playing the audiovisual content, into which a content launched by an application  47  will have to be inserted. The possible values are 0, 1, 2 and 3, which correspond to the four windows  61 , 62 , 63 , 64  of  FIG. 7  into which the screen  60  can be subdivided;   C (4 bit): command; it indicates how the subsequent bits shall be considered, in accordance with the following scheme:   a string “0000” indicates that the digital watermark payload is a reference to a URI from which application contents can be acquired, which URI is contained in the subsequent fields P 1  and P 2 ;   a string “0001” indicates that the payload consists of a reference to a file containing references to external contents.       

     In the case when the reference to the application contents is published in a single file, the value of the field P 1  (16 bits) indicates the row in the file from which the URI of the content to be presented can be retrieved, whereas the value of the field P 2  (264 bits) indicates the URI where the file can be retrieved. 
     It should be noted that, depending on the platform on which the service is provided, the graphic interface and software components may be created by using the most appropriate available tools, such as DVB-MHP and OCAP for DVB-type set top boxes, or by using the typical programming environments currently in use for user terminals based on PC architectures. 
     The features of the present invention, as well as its advantages, are apparent from the above description. 
     A first advantage is that, since the video content is encoded according to the MPEG2 or H.264 (ISO/IEC 14496-10) standards, the method according to the present invention does not jeopardize the standard compliance of the encoded content. 
     This means that an audiovisual content enriched by inserting a digital watermark can be distributed over the usual channels, such as broadcasting infrastructure, streaming over IP network, or storage in suitable media. As aforementioned, any users owning a decoding device as described with reference to  FIG. 4  can exploit both the main content and the application data. Those users who own reproduction devices which are compliant with the decoding standard employed without however being an embodiment of the present invention will be enabled for the normal playback of the main content. 
     A second advantage offered by the present invention is that there are no limitations of use of said content, since the standard compliance of the encoded content is not altered at all: for example, if the encoding techniques employed are compliant with the MPEG2 standard, the content may be multiplexed into a Transport Stream and then broadcast on any digital television platform, or into a Program Stream and then used for distribution on storage media such as a DVD-type disk. 
     The utilizations to which the contents may or may not be assigned as a function of the specific encoding technique employed do not however represent a limitation of the present invention. 
     A further advantage of the present invention is that the application data, whether programming components and/or multimedia contents and/or hypermedia/hypertext contents, may be distributed along with the main content, e.g. stored in the same medium in the case of DVD production, or distributed as a datacast service, e.g. by using application protocols for unidirectional multicast file, like FLUTE, with encapsulation according to the DVB-MPE technique, in the case of broadcasting of an MPEG 2 “transport stream”, or else accessible through a connection over a telecommunication channel, e.g. IP network. 
     An additional advantage is that the possibility of automatically identifying the type of integrative content through the aforementioned “magic number” or “mime-type” association mechanisms free the user from having to use a specific application and strictly proprietary systems: the contents are associated with application classes within which the association with a specific product can be chosen freely by the user. For example, contents identified as “text/html” may be handled, at the user&#39;s discretion, either with a simple text browser or by using products having enhanced graphic interfaces. 
     In this case as well, the fact that the user terminal may be more or less complex and may give the user more or less freedom in managing the resources does not represent a limitation of the present invention. 
     The method for referencing and interconnecting contents, applications and metadata to an audiovisual content described herein by way of example may be subject to many possible variations without departing from the novelty spirit of the inventive idea; it is also clear that in the practical implementation of the invention the illustrated details may have different shapes or be replaced with other technically equivalent elements. 
     For example, in order to optimize the content encoding and decoding performance of the device of the present invention, some parts of said device may be provided through hardware components, instead of software ones. Such variants are to be understood as falling within the application scope of the present invention. 
     It can therefore be easily understood that the present invention is not limited to the above-described method for referencing and interconnecting contents, applications and metadata to an audiovisual content, but may be subject to many modifications, improvements or replacements of equivalent parts and elements without departing from the novelty spirit of the inventive idea, as clearly specified in the following claims.