Embedding data in images

#A. Technical Field

#The present invention pertains generally to image processing, and relates more particularly to embedding and/or extracting data in images.

#B. Background of the Invention

#Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in the accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in the context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments.

#FIG. 1A depicts a block diagram of a system for embedding a watermark message into an image according to various embodiments of the invention.

#FIG. 1B depicts a block diagram of a system for extracting a watermark message from an image according to various embodiments of the invention.

#Systems and methods are described for embedding and/or extracting data in images. In embodiments, an image may be segmented, and characters or other image groups may be identified. In embodiments, characters or other image groups may be determined to be embedding sites, which are ordered. In embodiments, the characters or other image groups may need to satisfy one or more constraint to qualify as an embedding site. Data may be bit encoded into a bit vector, which may be further encoded using an error-correcting code. Multiple instances of the bit vector may be written to a bitstream. Each bit of the bitstream may be embedded into a corresponding ordered embedding site by encoding the bit value as different intensity values assigned to the pixels within one portion of the embedding site relative to the pixels in another portion of the embedding site. In embodiments, data may be extracted from an image by identifying and ordering candidate embedding sites, extracting a bitstream by determining the bit values of the bits embedded into the embedding sites, segmenting the bitstream by parsing it into instances of a data vector, and decoding the data vector.

#In the following description, for purpose of explanation, specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without these details. One skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments of the present invention, some of which are described below, may be incorporated into a number of different systems and devices including camera, scanners, printers, computers, facsimile machine, multifunction devices, mobile devices, including those devices with a display or camera capabilities, multimedia devices, and the like. The embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, or combinations thereof.

#Components, or modules, shown in block diagrams are illustrative of exemplary embodiments of the invention and are meant to avoid obscuring the invention. It shall also be understood that throughout this discussion that components may be described as separate functional units, which may comprise sub-units, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the various components, or portions thereof, may be divided into separate components or may be integrated together, including integrating within a single system or component.