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Genetic algorithm (GA) has been successfully applied to codebook design for vector quantization (VQ). However, most conventional GA-based codebook design methods need long runtime because candidate solutions must be fine tuned by LBG. In this paper, a partition-based GA is applied to codebook design, which is referred to as genetic vector quantization (GVQ). In addition, simulated annealing (SA) algorithm is also used in GVQ to get more promising results and the corresponding method is referred to as GSAVQ. Both GVQ and GSAVQ use the linear scaling technique during the calculation of objective functions and use special crossover and mutation operations in order to obtain better codebooks in much shorter CPU time. Experimental results show that both of them save more than 71–87% CPU time compared to LBG. For different codebook sizes, GVQ outperforms LBG by 1.1–2.1 dB in PSNR, and GSAVQ outperforms LBG by 1.2–2.2 dB in PSNR. In addition, GVQ and GSAVQ need a little longer CPU time than, the maximum decent (MD) algorithm, but they outperform MD by 0.2–0.5 dB in PSNR.

Reversible data hiding is a newly developed topic in watermarking researches. At the encoder, it relies on slightly modifying the characteristics of original images for embedding secret information. At the decoder, original image and secret information can be separated from marked image with slight amount of overhead. In this paper, we propose the scheme by predicting the difference between output and input images for making reversible data hiding possible. By carefully selecting prediction coefficients, which are optimized by genetic algorithm, the output image quality can be preserved, while the enhanced amount of embedding capacity can be observed. We apply the algorithm to medical images for protecting patients' cases from possible human errors incurred. With the training of genetic algorithm, simulation results with our algorithm have demonstrated the enhanced embedding capacity, while keeping the output image quality. Optimized prediction coefficients with genetic algorithm lead to better performances with our scheme.

In this paper, we present the loss less data hiding algorithm based on the concept of quad tree decomposition. With the slight changes of original images, by altering the shape of histogram, or by modifying the difference value between two consecutive pixels, loss less data hiding can be achieved at the encoder. Correspondingly, at the receiver, both the original image and the embedded data should be perfectly recovered. In this paper, we focus on utilizing inherent characteristics of original image based on quad tree decomposition, where smooth regions are partitioned with larger square blocks, and active regions are composed of smaller square blocks. With the different characteristics, different amounts can be embedded into blocks with different sizes in quad tree decomposition, in order to look for better quality of marked images both subjectively and objectively. Simulation results with proposed loss less data hiding algorithm based on quad tree decomposition have pointed out the better performances over relating schemes in literature.

This paper presents a new design of planar dipole array antenna (PDAA). Radiated patches are etched on the metallic layer of a double-sided printed circuit board (FR4) to form the PDAA. The two symmetric flags with trapezoid patch are designed on both side of the print circuit board to form the basic dipole element. IE3D software is used to design PDAA. Better parameters are selected to manufacture the proposed array antenna. The fabricated 4×8-element planar dipole array antenna can be operated at 5.2/5.8 GHz successfully. With suitable size parameters of the dipole element, PDAA is fabricated. From the measured results, the wide bandwidth about 1.97GHz is obtained. The peak gain of the fabricated PDAA with reflector is 15.55dBi at 5.2GHz and 17.53dBi at 5.8GHz. This high gain planar dipole array antenna can be used in WLAN frequency band.

In this paper, we propose a digital watermarking method for stereoscopic video frames. A stereoscopic video frame is stored as two images and combined by software while displayed. These two stored images are with high similarity. On the other hand, a pirate can only clip half of a frame to remove watermarks. In the circumstances, it should be taken into consideration to resist collusion attacks and clip attacks while developing a watermarking scheme for stereoscopic videos. Thus, the proposed watermarking method embed two watermarks into the two images of a stereoscopic video frame, respectively. To resist collusion attacks, the proposed scheme identify similar portions of the two images containing in a stereoscopic video frame. Then, identical modification will be applied on the same positions of the similar portions. As shown in experimental results, test images with watermarks embedded are still have high quality. Although two watermarks may overlap with each other after the proposed scheme, they still have high embedding effectiveness. Moreover, watermark embedding method adopted in the proposed watermarking scheme has been well-studied. It has been indicated that the embedded watermarks are still detectable after common image processing operations. Thus, the proposed scheme is suitable for copyright protection of stereoscopic videos.

Progressive transmission of multimedia is an important application in multimedia communications. We employ reversible data hiding for protecting the copyright of progressively transmitted images. We consider carefully altering the luminance differences between base and enhancement layers in progressive transmission, and obtain similar qualities of output images with enhanced amount of capacity. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority over existing schemes.

In this paper, we propose a digital watermarking method for stereoscopic video frames. A stereoscopic video frame is stored as two images and combined by software while displayed. These two stored images are with high similarity. In the circumstances, it should be taken into consideration to resist coalition attacks while developing a watermarking scheme for stereoscopic videos. As shown in experimental results, the watermark embedded with the proposed scheme is still detectable after common image processing operations such as JPEG compression, Gaussian filtering and sharpening. In the future, we will develop stereoscopic video watermarking methods based on the proposed method.

In recent years, Camera Smartphone has become a popular consumer electronics product. Young people like to use it to record their daily lives; moreover, they will share these photos and information to others. But the photos may be used without consent after they are uploaded to Internet. To avoid this problem, one can embed visible and invisible watermarks into images. However, an additional process for embedding watermarks should be performed before an image is uploaded. When the number of photos becomes large, the process for embedding watermarks will bother the user. Thus, in this chapter, we propose a copyright embedding system for Android platform. Using this system, pre-specified copyright information is automatically embedded into pictures with digital watermark technology when these pictures are taken. In addition, original images (i.e., images without watermarks) can be preserved selectively. Proposed system has following features: (1) computational complexity of watermark embedding process is possibly reduced for handheld mobile system; (2) the watermark can be extracted without the use of the original image; (3) the watermark embedded into an image would not be removed by commonly used image processing operations; (4) embedding copyright information, resizing the images, and uploading images to Internet are automatically performed without manual intervention. Therefore, this system is very suitable for the protection of the photographs taken by Android phones to prevent piratical behaviors.

Copyright protection is mostly required for lots of applications, and watermarking is a scheme for making this possible. In this chapter, we propose a genetic watermarking scheme based on the wavelet packet transform (WPT) for the applications of copyright protection and trusted communication. Wavelet packet transform can be regarded as a generalization of the discrete wavelet transformh (DWT). For the WPT, a best wavelet basis in the sense of evaluation metric can be found within a large library of permissible bases. In addition, genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to select an appropriate basis from permissible bases of wavelet packet transform to meet the requirements of our watermarking algorithm. After the training with GA, the secret information corresponding to copyright owners can be embedded into original images, and the watermarked image is obtained. During transmission of watermarked images, intentional signal processing is expected, and our watermarking algorithm is considered to keep the integrity for the trusted communication. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can increase the capability to resist intentional signal processing for the use of GA. Moreover, the watermarked image quality can be guaranteed based on the inherent characteristics of the watermarking algorithm. Better performances can also be observed over existing methods in literature, and our algorithm is suitable for the application of copyright protection and trusted communication.

This research book presents a sample of recent advances in information hiding techniques and their applications. It includes: Image data hiding scheme based on vector quantization and image graph coloring The copyright protection system for Android platform Reversible data hiding ICA-based image and video watermarking Content-based invariant image watermarking Single bitmap block truncation coding of color images using cat swarm optimization Genetic-based wavelet packet watermarking for copyright protection Lossless text steganography in compression coding Fast and low-distortion capacity acoustic synchronized acoustic-to-acoustic steganography scheme Video watermarking with shot detection.

In this paper, we proposed a co evolutionary genetic watermarking scheme based on wavelet packet transform. Wavelet packet transform can be viewed as a generalization of the discrete wavelet transform and a best wavelet basis in the sense of some cost metric can be found within a large library of permissible bases. Co evolutionary genetic algorithm is used to select an appropriate basis from permissible bases of wavelet packet transform and determine the sub bands for watermark embedding. Experimental results demonstrate that proposed method can increase the capability to resist specific image processing methods while keeping quality of the watermarked image acceptable. Moreover, the architecture of cooperative coevalutionary genetic algorithm is particularly suitable in distributed computing environment. This characteristic would make genetic watermarking schemes more applicable in real world applications.

Reversible data hiding has its attractions and possible drawbacks in researches, and it has the potential to extend to digital rights management (DRM) applications. For reversible data hiding, secret information can be hidden into original multimedia content, and the content with hidden data can be transmitted to the receiver. After reception, receiver employs corresponding algorithm to decode the content with secret information, and then both the original content and the secret information can perfectly be recovered. The major challenge is to maintain the reversibility of the algorithm, while keeping as more amount of embedding secret as possible with acceptable quality of output content. By taking the inherent characteristics of original content into consideration, in addition to the spatial relationships by use of pyramidal structure, the more amounts of secret can be hidden, with similar quality in output image. Simulation results have demonstrated the better performances with our algorithm over existing ones. And it has the potential to extend to practical applications with our reversible data hiding algorithm.

Compressive sampling is a newly developed topic in the field of data compression. For current researches, compressive sampling techniques focus on compression performances. There are very few papers aiming at the integration of watermarking into compressive sampling systems. In this paper, we propose an innovative scheme that considers the copyright protection of data with compressive sampling. By carefully utilizing the relationships between coefficients, very few amounts of transmitted coefficients are capable of reconstructing the image to some extent. Moreover, secret information embedded beforehand can be recovered with acceptable rate in correctly extracted bits even experiencing through the lossy channels for data delivery. Simulation results with our algorithm have demonstrated the effectiveness for integrating watermarking into compressive sampling systems.

In this paper, we proposed a coevolutionary multi-objective genetic watermarking scheme based on the wavelet packet transform. Wavelet packet transform can be viewed as a generalization of the discrete wavelet transform and a best wavelet basis in the sense of some cost metric can be found within a large library of permissible bases. Coevolutionary multi-objective genetic algorithm is used to select an appropriate basis from permissible bases of wavelet packet transform and determine the number of wavelet coefficients for watermark embedding. To balance performance of watermark robustness as well as image quality, watermark embedding process is treated as a multi-objective optimization problem. The proposed scheme will generate a set of non-dominated solutions, where each solution associates with a best wavelet basis and the number of wavelet coefficients used to embed a watermark. Experimental results demonstrate that proposed method can increase the capability to resist image processing methods while keeping quality of the watermarked image acceptable.

A novel portable and wireless biomedical monitoring system featuring on demand wireless data transmission of ECG signals and time-frequency HRV analysis for personal and home healthcare applications is presented in this work. In order to provide comfort and convenience to patients, the device's size, power consumption and portability are of first priority. The ECG processor based on previous hardware design [1] acquires three-channel ECG biomedical raw data through an analog front-end (AFE) circuit, and it measures the time between successive heart beats on lead II as RR intervals for HRV analysis. Functions such as QRS complex peak detection, RR intervals calculation, and time-frequency analysis of HRV have also been developed in hardware. A real-time HRV analysis processor is realized by employing a Lomb periodogram for time-frequency power spectral density (PSD) analysis of the heart rate. The proposed ECG monitoring system has been implemented in Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) and it features high integration density, portability, wireless transmission and low cost.

In this paper, we propose a new video scrambling and fingerprint embedding method for digital right protection. In this method, a video clip is embedded with v Gaussian watermarks and then scrambled and multi casted from a content server to U clients. A BIBD-based methodology is applied to determine the needed number (v) of sub keys for a total of U clients. In the mean time, the server also decomposes the descramble key into v (

Exchange of medical information between hospitals is an essential part for medical treatments. In addition, security issues relating to electronic exchanges of information should also be concerned to protect the patient's privacy and to help the treatments. In cooperation with the Health Level seven (HL7) standard, we employ reversible data hiding to further assist reducing the human errors during the exchange of information delivery. Reversible data hiding has attracted more and more attention in both researches and applications. We consider hiding part of the HL7 information into medical images at the encoder, and at the decoder, both the original image and HL7 information can be perfectly recovered. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority over existing schemes, and the effectiveness for practical applications.

Loss less data hiding, also known as reversible data hiding, is a newly developed research field and relating applications in digital rights management (DRM). Secret information can be hidden into original image at the encoder, and then image containing secret data is delivered to the decoder. For decoding, original image and secret information need to be perfectly recovered from the received image. By modifying selected pixel values in the histogram of original image, the larger amount of secret information can be embedded at the encoder. Later on, with the reasonable size of side information, both the original image and the secret information can both be recovered. We take the relationships between adjacent pixels into consideration, and propose a scheme that is able to hide more than one bit per pixel of data capacity, with the reasonable output image quality. Simulation results with our algorithm have demonstrated the better results over existing ones for real applications. With the comparisons of embedding capacity for encoding, and side information for decoding, our algorithm works well under the requirement of high data capacity for loss less data hiding.

Reversible data hiding can be classified into two major research branches, one is by use of the histogram of original image, named the H scheme, and the other is by manipulating pixel relations between adjacent pixels, called the difference expansion (DE) scheme. Both schemes have their own advantages and drawbacks, but the inherent characteristics of original image are seldom considered in existing works. We integrate the advantages of both schemes altogether, namely, low overhead for decoding with the H scheme, and high embedding capacity with the DE scheme, and take the characteristics of original image, that is, the smooth and active regions, into account to add the flexibility for reversible data hiding. Simulation results with our algorithm have demonstrated its applicability and the out performance over existing schemes.

Digital watermarking has been an effective means for copyright protection and digital rights management (DRM). One of the current trends for researches in this field would focus on reversible data hiding. Considering the ease of implementation and employing the inherent characteristics of original images, we propose our reversible data hiding algorithm with the rhombus relationships of original pixels with a much increased embedding capacity. Only the smooth regions after quad tree decomposition are selected for data embedding. Simulation results with our algorithm have demonstrated the superiority over existing ones in embedding capacity and side information needed for decoding.

This article is about implementation by simplifying Electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring system, and combining tri-axis accelerometers and 3-lead Electrocardiography (ECG) to develop a ubiquitous sleep monitoring and awaking system. Also, the system helps users sleep deeper and wake up comfortably by neurofeedback networks. The neurofeedback networks basically consist of EEG and ECG sensors and tri-axis accelerometers with a System-on-Chip (SoC) design for real-time bio-signal analysis: Time-frequency domain analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). This sleep monitoring awaking system is implemented by a LED array panel and speaker which emits blue lights with specific wavelength which can suppress secretion of melatonin and make sounds in different needs and conditions, which will guide the users to fall into normal circadian rhythm and improve sleep quality.

In this paper, a portable ECG processor designed for health monitoring applications is proposed. The ECG processor acquires three-channel ECG raw data through a front-end circuit, and measures the time between successive heart beats on lead II as RR intervals for heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Functions such as R-peak detection, RR interval calculation, sliding memory window scheme, and time-frequency analysis of HRV have also been developed. A real-time HRV analysis processor is realized by employing a Lomb periodogram for time-frequency power spectral density (PSD) analysis of the heart rate. The Lomb time-frequency distribution (TFD) is suited for deriving the PSD of unevenly spaced data sets. The system has been implemented in hardware and verified on FPGA.

For medical treatments, the integrity of the medical images, the authenticity of corresponding medical records, and the privacy of the patients are crucial requirements for the diagnosis of patient's disease. Therefore, how to retain the validity between images and medical records is an important topic for researches and real applications. In this paper, we apply the concept and implementation in digital rights management (DRM) systems, and propose a functional scheme for the above-mentioned goals. We employ the reversible data hiding scheme, a newly developed branch in DRM researches, for combating the goals. With the term of reversibility, it means that data, including patients' private information and the diagnosis data, can be hidden into the medical image by some means. Later on, the medical image containing data might be retrieved while necessary, and both the original image and the hidden data can be perfectly recovered. Data can be authenticated for enhanced privacy protection. Simulation results present the applicability of such an implementation.

Swarm intelligence (SI) is based on collective behavior of selforganized systems. Typical swarm intelligence schemes include Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Ant Colony System (ACS), Stochastic Diffusion Search (SDS), Bacteria Foraging (BF), the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC), and so on. Besides the applications to conventional optimization problems, SI can be used in controlling robots and unmanned vehicles, predicting social behaviors, enhancing the telecommunication and computer networks, etc. Indeed, the use of swarm optimization can be applied to a variety of fields in engineering and social sciences. In this paper, we review some popular algorithms in the field of swarm intelligence for problems of optimization. The overview and experiments of PSO, ACS, and ABC are given. Enhanced versions of these are also introduced. In addition, some comparisons are made between these algorithms.

We live in a digital era. Digital contents may be produced by digital equipments or by converting old analog recordings. With the rapid growth of digital contents, digital archiving technology is demanded. Different types of contents require different processing techniques. In this paper, we focus on digital audio contents. The related techniques, such as forensics, authentication, and error concealment, were studied. When converting audio tapes to digital files, sometimes a certain automatic error detection and concealment is needed. However, traditional audio tapes were recorded without any error recovery information. Based on the restriction, we proposed a scheme that incorporates the electrical network frequency (ENF) as a tool for detecting damaged audio segments. The goal is to help people identifying candidate concealment segments. When using in an archiving application, it reduces the manpower as well as increases the accuracy of the generated meta-data.

This paper presents a method to embed a watermark in a video for recording copyright information to prevent the video from being pirated. Firstly, a video is cut into small shots, and the shots are classified with clustering algorithm in accordance with their similarity. Then, the DWT (Discrete Wavelet Transform) is applied to transform a watermark into wavelet domain, and embed the wavelet coefficients in appropriate shots according to the level of its coefficients. Up to this step, the procedure of watermark embedding is completed. On the other hand, while extracting watermark, it is also necessary to cut a video into shots and extract the frame from each shot to extract the wavelet coefficient embedded. The last step for extracting watermark is collocating all parameters to extract the original watermark by using IDWT (Inverse DWT). With the method proposed, most potion of watermark could be extracted even when only partial video shots are available. It is able to obtain not only higher NC (Normalized Coefficient) value, but also better visual quality compared to directly embedding partial watermark data into shots without adopting DWT.

W atermarking is one useful solution for digital rights management (DRM) systems , and it is a popular research topic in the last decade . In this paper, besides the inherent behavior to conquer against intentional or unintentional attacks for watermarking, we not only watch the survivability of embedded watermark, but also focus on retaining the watermarked image quality with the aid of multiple description coding (MDC). MDC is a technique for error resilient coding, suitable for transmitting compressed data over multiple channels. In this paper, we propose a n ew algorithm on vector quantization (VQ) based image watermarking, which is suitable for error-resilient transmission. By incorporating watermarking with MDC , the scheme we proposed for embedding three watermarks can effectively overcome channel impairments while retaining the capability for ownership protection. With the promising simulation results presented, we can demonstrate the utility and practicability of our algorithm.

HDTV will be the trend of future video entertainments, and IPTV is the most potential because true 2-way interaction bringing more new audiovisual entertainment options can only be delivered through IP networks.This paper proposes a service execution environment, ISEE (IPTV Service Execution Environment), that is an open source framework. This environment supports various needs during developing and executing IPTV services, fully presents the interaction of IPTV with the "Service Component Platform" design concept, and has the features that can flexible use and provide new additional service quickly. in order to let service providers to quickly deliver interactive TV services that meet subscriber demands according to the market trends and thereby to build the brand loyalty and to enhance industry competitiveness. On the other hand, the design concept of "modularization platform" is applied to increase the flexibility and stability to expansion or update set-top-box (STB) or video server, and thereby to bring service providers more comprehensive options for platform maintenance.ISEE service includes the programs executed on the service and client sides, that communicate with HTTP protocols. Server programs are run in the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) and Servlet/JSP container environment, using Apache Struts as the web AP framework. Client programs are run in browsers supporting Javascript/CSS.This paper also proposes the development tool---ISSE SDK based on the above targets. The ISEE SDK is the development tool for the IPTV services in ISEE. It is a freeware comply with the open source standards using licensing terms in Apache License, V2.[30] Service developers can freely modify the ISEE SDK source codes and freely use the SDK and the application services developing with it. The SDK is easy to use and allows users to quickly develop IPTV services to support various STBs.

Reversible data hiding has attracted much attention in researches during the past few years. With its characteristics of reversibility, the algorithm is required to fulfill the goals that at the encoder, the secret information needs to be embedded into the original image by some means, and at the decoder, both the secret information and the original image are required to be correctly extracted and recovered, and they should be identical to their embedding counterparts. Under the requirement of reversibility, for evaluating the performance of the algorithm, the output image quality, called imperceptibility, and the number of bits for embedding, called capacity, are the two important factors to access the effectiveness of the algorithm. Here we take the concepts of quadtree decomposition into consideration to watch the characteristics of the original content. And we propose a reversible data hiding algorithm that has the ability to reside more capacity than conventional algorithm, with similar output image quality after embedding, and comparable side information produced.

In this paper, we propose a new design of compact planar antenna with a pi-shaped shorted structure. The antenna which operates at 2.45 GHz is designed and fabricated respectively. The influences of geometric parameters of this kind of planar antennas on the resonant frequency, bandwidth and gain are also discussed. We use IE3D software to design planar antennas and choose the better parameters to manufacture planar antenna. The novel design proposed antenna here with the size of 27mmX10mm has resonant frequency of 2.45 GHz, bandwidth of 135MHz, return loss of -39.68dB and gain of 0.766dBi. The fabricated antenna is suitable for radio frequency identification (RFID) applications at 2.45GHz.

Embedding watermarks into images can be referred to as a constrained optimization problem. Keeping image quality acceptable and maximizing watermark strength is more meaningful and applicable to a user than fixing strength parameter and minimizing distortion. In this paper, we propose an approach that hides watermarks in relationships between wavelet coefficients. This approach would maximize the strength of the watermark while keeping the perceptual distortion of watermarked images, measured with PSNR equal to an acceptable value specified by the user. Experimental results show that the watermark is still detectable after common image processing operations such as JPEG compression, Gaussian filtering and sharpening.

Data hiding has been an interesting research topic since the early 1990's. Among the hiding schemes, reversible data hiding has attracted more and more attention in both researches and applications. With reversible data hiding, at the data extraction stage, both the original content and the hidden message should be perfectly extracted, hence, how to design such schemes seem an interesting task. It can be classified into two branches, one is histogram-based scheme, and the other is performed by adjusting the difference between adjacent pixels. The major insufficiency for the two schemes above is the limited amount of capacity. We consider the advantages of both schemes and propose a method to hide much more data for reversible data hiding in comparison with conventional schemes. Simulation results demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method.

Digital watermarking is an effective means for copyright protection or covert communication in the research field of information security. By using watermarking, the watermark bits are hidden into the multimedia content with the designed algorithm. And the watermarked contents, or the watermarked image in this paper, look almost identical to its original counterpart, while it still retains the capability to counteract intentional signal processing by others and keeps the existence of the hidden watermark. We employ the concept of sub-sampling and make use of the frequency coefficient similarities between the sub-images for effectively embedding the watermark. In addition, there must be requirements to keep both the embedded watermark alive and the watermarked contents acceptable. Here we make use of an optimization technique, called bacterial foraging, for obtaining an optimized watermarking algorithm with a properly designed fitness function comprising the possible requirements including the watermarked image quality and the capability for the existence of extracted watermark. Simulation results demonstrate the advantages and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm with the combination of sub-sampling and bacterial foraging.

As the hardware technology advances, the conventional software development approaches would not effective to conduct an efficient algorithm for run-time environments. The problem comes from the over-simplified hardware abstraction model in software development. The mismatch between the hardware model and the real hardware design should be compensated in designing an efficient algorithm. In this study, we focus on the memory hierarchy and the algorithm design. Both the cache properties and the cache-aware development are investigated. We then propose a few simple guidelines for revising a developed algorithm to increase the utilization of the cache. We also apply the guidelines to a simple genetic algorithm program to verify their effectiveness. The simulation results show that the guidelines are potentially helpful for revising various algorithms.

In this paper, we propose a practical scheme for privacy protection and authentication of medical images with the aid of EXIF metadata and associated records of the patients. By using watermarking, the goals mentioned above can be reached. Application for robust watermarking is one of the major branches in digital rights management (DRM) systems. With robust watermarking, it generally alters selected coefficients in the transform domain to accomplish the embedding process. We consider not only the image contents itself, but we also employ the EXIF metadata, which contains the patients' records and serves as the role of watermark, to be integrated into our scheme. By doing so, the false negative probability for obtaining the record can be reduced. Moreover, taking the information that the medical doctor recorded in the EXIF metadata into account, conventional watermarking techniques can be applied to medical images, and watermarked images with good quality can be produced. Even when the marked image has been intentionally modified, the original EXIF with selected information can mostly be recovered from the decoding process. Simulation results present the effectiveness of such an implementation.

Digital watermarking has been a popular topic in both researches and applications in the last decade. Based on previous experiences in literature, designing one good watermarking algorithm is desired, and how to assess how good the algorithm is should be based on the preset requirements. Here we use one optimization technique named bacterial foraging and we employ the concept in fuzzy theory to design an effective fitness function with the predetermined requirements. Unlike conventional scheme to fix the components in fitness function, by using the fuzzy concept, better results can be obtained. Simulation results demonstrate the advantages of the proposed algorithm over existing ones in literature.

Valuable images are usually acquired with higher resolution and deeper color depth. Hence, in this paper, we proposed a scheme based on cropping and downsampling to prevent the embedded fingerprints from average attack. We first generate an resized original image for each user with cropping and downsampling. This resized original image belonging to a particular user is then embedded with the fingerprint related to this user. With this method, a coalition of users can still apply average attack on their own fingerprinted images, but the more number of images used, the lower the perceptual quality of the result image will become. The effectiveness of the proposed method is well illustrated by experimental results.

The goal of quick response (QR) codes aims at convenience-oriented applications for mobile phone users. People can use the mobile phone cameras to capture the code with random patterns, usually displayed at the corner of web page, and then the hyperlink corresponding to the QR code can be accessed. Since QR code looks like random noise, its existence can greatly reduce the value of the original image. With the aid of reversible data hiding technique, we propose a scheme such that when the image containing the QR code is browsed, the hyperlink corresponding to the QR code is accessed first. Then, the QR code can get vanished and the original image can be recovered to retain the information conveyed therein. Simulation results demonstrate the applicability of the proposed algorithm.

The unicast method is a more efficient scheme to transmit multimedia data to massive users to compare with the multicast method. However, the ease of delivery of multimedia data may cause the copyrights to be violated easily, and the fingerprinting scheme is one of effective means for conquering this problem. The fingerprinting process often generates the multimedia contents into many different versions, which have to be transmitted via the unicast method. In this chapter, we propose a new genetic fingerprinting scheme for copyright protection of multicast media. In this method, the encryption and decryption keys, which aim at scrambling and descrambling multimedia contents, are first produced with genetic algorithms. Next, multimedia data are then encrypted and multicast to all clients. At the same time, a secure channel is employed to unicast a designated decryption key to each client. When a user deploys the designated key to decrypt the received data, a corresponding fingerprint would be embedded into the contents. Once upon the reception of the fingerprinted content, the embedded fingerprint can be extracted shortly, and the copyright can be confirmed and assured. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can transmit multimedia data to clients effectively and cause only a slight degradation in perceptual quality.

Genetic Watermarking for Copyright Protection.- Dual-Plane Correlation-Based Video Watermarking for Immunity to Rotation, Scale, Translation, and Random Distortion.- Restoring Objects for Digital Inpainting.- A Secure Data Embedding Scheme Using Gray-Code Computation and SMVQ Encoding.- Robust Image Watermarking Based on Scale-Space Feature Points.- Intelligent Perceptual Shaping in Digital Watermarking.- Semi-fragile Image Authentication Method for Robust to JPEG, JPEG2000 Compressed and Scaled Images.- Genetic-Based Fingerprinting for Multicast Multimedia.- Lossless Data Hiding for Halftone Images.- Information Hiding by Digital Watermarking.

Applications for robust watermarking is one of the major branches in digital rights management (DRM) systems. Based on existing experiences to assess how good one robust watermarking is, it is generally agreed that three parameters or requirements, including the quality of watermarked contents, the survivability of extracted watermark after deliberate or unintentional attacks, and the number of bits embedded, need to be considered. However, performances relating to these three parameters conflict with each other, and the trade off must be searched for. In this chapter, we take these requirements into consideration, and we can find the optimized combination among the three parameters. With the aid of genetic algorithm, we design an applicable system that would obtain the good quality, acceptable survivability, and reasonable capacity after watermarking. Simulation results present the effectiveness in practical implementation and possible application of the proposed algorithm.

Wavelet packet transform can be viewed as a generalization of the discrete wavelet transform and a best wavelet basis in the sense of some cost metric can be found within a large library of permissible bases. In this paper, we proposed a genetic watermarking scheme based on the wavelet packet transform. Genetic algorithm is used to select an appropriate basis from permissible bases of wavelet packet transform to increase the robustness of the embedded watermarks.Experimental results show that the proposed method can increase the capability to resist some image processing methods if an appropriate fitness function of GA was adopted.

In this paper, we propose a practical scheme for copyright protection of images with the aid of EXIF metadata and error control codes. Application for robust watermarking is one of the major branches in digital rights management (DRM) systems and digital forensics. By use of robust watermarking, it generally alters selected coefficients in the transform domain to accomplish the embedding process. We consider not only the image contents itself, but we also employ the EXIF metadata, which serves as the role of watermark, to be integrated into our scheme. Moreover, for enhancing the copyright protection capability, channel coding is employed. Taking the manufacturer, camera model, date and time stamp, and some other information in the EXIF metadata into account, conventional watermarking techniques can be applied to ordinary pictures taken by ourselves, and watermarked images with good quality can be produced. Even when the marked image has been intentionally modified, the original EXIF with selected information can mostly be recovered from the channel decoding process. Simulation results present the effectiveness of such an implementation.

Comparing to the unicast or broadcast methods, it is more efficient to transmit video data via the multicast method to massive users. However, the ease of delivery of video data may cause a problem to copyright protection, and the fingerprinting scheme is one of effective means for conquering this problem. Fingerprint embedding process often generates the multimedia contents into many different versions, which have to be transmitted via the unicast method. In this paper, we propose a new fingerprinting scheme with the aid of genetic algorithms for copyright protection of multicast video. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can transmit multimedia data to clients effectively and cause only a slight degradation in perceptual quality.

In this paper, we propose an application of robust watermarking with the aid of EXIF metadata in digital images. Application for robust watermarking is one of the major branches in digital rights management (DRM) systems. Furthermore, implementation schemes for robust watermarking generally alter selected pixels in the spatial domain, or corresponding coefficients in the transform domain, to accomplish the embedding process. We consider not only the pixels or coefficients in the images, but we also employ the EXIF metadata, which serves as the role of watermark, to further protect the copyrights. Taking the manufacturer, camera model, date and time stamp, and some other information in the EXIF metadata as the watermark information, conventional watermarking techniques can be applied to ordinary pictures taken by ourselves, and watermarked images with good quality can be produced. Even when the marked image has been intentionally modified, the original EXIF with selected information can be recovered from the watermark extraction process. Simulation results present the effectiveness of such an implementation.

In this paper, we present the intelligent multimedia data hiding techniques and their possible applications. An introduction on intelligent multimedia data hiding is described which covers backgrounds, recent advances, methodologies, and implementations. The histogram-based reversible data hiding technique is then presented with simulation results and also illustrated by using actual implementations.

Application for robust watermarking is one of the major branches in digital rights management (DRM) systems and related researches. Based on existing metrics to evaluate the applicability of robust watermarking, it is generally agreed that three metrics, including the quality of watermarked contents, the survivability of extracted watermark after intentional or unintentional attacks, and the number of bits embedded, need to be considered. However, these three metrics conflict with each other. In this paper, in addition to quality and survivability discussed in literature, we take the number of embedded bits into account, thus adding the flexibility in implementation. With the aid of genetic algorithm, we designed an applicable implementation that will obtain the reasonable quality, acceptable survivability, and practical capacity after watermarking. Simulation results present the practical implementation and possible application of the proposed algorithm.

Research of robust watermarking algorithms is one of the major branches in digital rights management (DRM) systems. It is generally agreed that the quality of watermarked contents, the survivability of extracted watermark, and the number of bits embedded, need to be considered to evaluate how well the algorithm and hence the system is. However, these three metrics conflict with each other. Some previous works aimed at finding the tradeoff between quality and survivability by fixing embedded bits a constant. Besides quality and survivability, we take the number of embedded bits into account. With genetic algorithm, we designed an improved watermarking system that will obtain the reasonable quality, acceptable survivability, and practical capacity. Simulation results present the practical implementation of the proposed algorithm.

We propose a copyright annotation scheme with both the visible watermarking and reversible data hiding algorithms in this paper. It is commonly encountered that visible watermarks are embedded on purpose in one corner of an image or video clips to annotate the copyright owner of such a medium. It is usually asked by the buyer to remove the visible watermark to return to its original form who obtains such an image or video. In this paper, we propose a method to combine both the visible watermarking algorithm for copyright annotation, and reversible data hiding for recovering the original. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of our algorithm.