# US 2014/0157440 A1 · Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to encode auxiliary data into numeric data and methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to obtain encoded data from numeric data

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- Number: US 2014/0157440 A1
- Document ID: US20140157440A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/691,519
- Filed: 2012-11-30
- Published: 2014-06-05
- Earliest claimed: 2012-11-30
- Inventors: Nikolay Georgiev; Leonid Ayzenshtat
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140157440A1

## CPC

- G06F 21/16: Program or content traceability, e.g. by watermarking
- G06F 21/10: Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material (protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16) {; Digital rights management [DRM]}
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to encode auxiliary data into numeric data and methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to obtain encoded data from numeric data are disclosed. An example method to embed auxiliary information into numeric data includes assigning source data to one of a plurality of groups, the source data comprising a numeric value, identifying a symbol to be added to the source data based on an assigned group of the source data, and generating encoded data by selectively modifying the numeric value of the source data to be representative of the symbol.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method to encode auxiliary information into numeric data, comprising:
assigning source data to one of a plurality of groups, the source data comprising a numeric value;
identifying a symbol to be added to the source data based on an assigned group of the source data; and
generating encoded data by selectively modifying the numeric value of the source data to be representative of the symbol.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A method as defined in claim 1, wherein modifying the numeric value comprises modifying the least significant figure of the numeric value.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

A method as defined in claim 2, wherein selectively modifying the numeric value comprises increasing or decreasing the least significant figure by one to be representative of the symbol.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

A method as defined in claim 2, wherein selectively modifying the numeric value comprises causing the least significant figure to be odd or even to be representative of the symbol.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

A method as defined in claim 1, wherein selectively modifying the numeric value comprises not modifying the numeric value when the numeric value is representative of the symbol.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the source data comprises a unit of numeric data and a plurality of units are to be assigned to corresponding ones of the plurality of groups based on a hash function.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

A method as defined in claim 6, further comprising dividing auxiliary data by the plurality of groups, wherein the symbol is representative of a portion of the auxiliary data.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

A method as defined in claim 1, wherein selectively modifying the numeric value comprises modifying the numeric value to be a designated number based on a mapping of the symbol to the designated number.

### Claim at position 9

9-14. (canceled)

### Claim 15

An apparatus to encode auxiliary information into numeric data, comprising:
a data unit group assignor to assign source data to one of a plurality of groups, the source data comprising a numeric value;
a symbol group assignor to assign a symbol to be added to the source data to the one of the plurality of groups; and
a data unit encoder to generate encoded data by selectively modifying the numeric value of the source data to be representative of the symbol.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the data unit encoder is to modify the numeric value by modifying the least significant figure of the numeric value.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

An apparatus as defined in claim 16, wherein the data unit encoder is to selectively modify the numeric value by increasing or decreasing the least significant figure by one to be representative of the symbol.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

An apparatus as defined in claim 16, wherein the data unit encoder is to selectively modify the numeric value by modifying the least significant figure to be odd or even to be representative of the symbol.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the data unit encoder is to selectively modify the numeric value by not modifying the numeric value when the numeric value is representative of the symbol.

### Claim 20 (depends on 15)

An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the source data comprises a unit of numeric data, the data unit group assignor to assign a plurality of units to corresponding ones of the plurality of groups based on a hash function.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

An apparatus as defined in claim 20, wherein the symbol group assignor is to divide the auxiliary information by the plurality of groups, wherein the symbol is representative of a portion of the auxiliary information.

### Claim 22 (depends on 15)

An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the data unit encoder is to selectively modify the numeric value by modifying the numeric value to be a designated number based on a mapping of the symbol to the designated number.

### Claim at position 18

23-28. (canceled)

### Claim 29

A computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least:
assign source data to one of a plurality of groups, the source data comprising a numeric value;
identify a symbol to be added to the source data based on an assigned group of the source data; and
generate encoded data by selectively modifying the numeric value of the source data to be representative of the symbol.

### Claim 30 (depends on 29)

A computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 29, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to modify the numeric value by modifying the least significant figure of the numeric value.

### Claim 31 (depends on 30)

A computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 30, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to selectively modify the numeric value by increasing or decreasing the least significant figure by one to be representative of the symbol.

### Claim 32 (depends on 30)

A computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 30, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to selectively modify the numeric value by causing the least significant figure to be odd or even to be representative of the symbol.

### Claim 33 (depends on 29)

A computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 29, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to selectively modify the numeric value by not modifying the numeric value when the numeric value is representative of the symbol.

### Claim 34 (depends on 29)

A computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 29, wherein the source data comprises a unit of numeric data and a plurality of units are to be assigned to corresponding ones of the plurality of groups based on a hash function.

### Claim 35 (depends on 34)

A computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 34, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to divide auxiliary data by the plurality of groups, wherein the symbol is representative of a portion of the auxiliary data.

### Claim 36 (depends on 29)

A computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 29, wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to selectively modify the numeric value by modifying the numeric value to be a designated number based on a mapping of the symbol to the designated number.

### Claim at position 27

37-42. (canceled)