HK1133099B - Method and system for utilizing gps information to secure digital media - Google Patents

Description

Method and system for safety protection of digital media using GPS information

Technical Field

The present invention relates to multimedia data processing, and more particularly, to a method and system for securing digital media using GPS information.

Background

Digital watermarking is a technique used to protect digital media from unauthorized use or illegal copying, such as copyright material. Watermarks for digital media include two broad categories: visible and invisible. A visible watermark is typically added to a digital image to indicate ownership and to prevent unauthorized use of the image. The watermark includes an authorship and/or copyright symbol and a date. Such watermarks are generally considered to be spatial watermarks because the date information is generally contained within the image space and the watermark signal is significantly different from the original image data. Spatial watermarks tend to be insufficiently robust against attacks due to today's filtering, removing and/or pruning capabilities of the data.

The invisible watermark typically does not change the image visually, and this change is typically accomplished by making a small change to several bits of data in the original data. Such watermarks that are imperceptible to the end user are often referred to as hidden images.

The watermarking process typically embeds the data in the frequency domain, making it more robust against attacks. This technique is somewhat similar to spread spectrum coding in communications, where the data to be embedded can be spread over multiple frequency bands by modulating a watermark with pseudo-noise before being superimposed on the original data. For invisible watermarks, smaller signal amplitude, larger raw data (e.g., image or video) bandwidth, and short watermark information all indicate that spread spectrum coding techniques are the most suitable choice.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Disclosure of Invention

A method and/or system for securing digital media using GPS information, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

A method of tagging data, comprising:

determining a device location for processing multimedia data;

generating a watermark containing information representative of a determined location of the device; and the number of the first and second groups,

and embedding the generated watermark information containing the determined position of the equipment into the multimedia data to be processed.

Preferably, the method further comprises: generating the watermark information containing information representative of the determined location of the device is done based on information from a Global Positioning System (GPS) in the device.

Preferably, the method further comprises: embedded in the watermark information are: information representative of a determined location of the device, one or more unique identification codes of the device, the source of the multimedia data, a date, and a time.

Preferably, the method further comprises: and carrying out security protection on the information representing the determined position of the equipment, the unique identification code of the equipment, the date and the time and the generated watermark containing the determined position of the equipment.

Preferably, the method further comprises: embedding said generated watermark containing information representative of said determined location of said device in compressed data.

Preferably, the method further comprises: sending information indicative of the determined location of the device to an entity external to the device.

Preferably, the method further comprises: embedding the generated watermark containing information representative of the determined location of the device into the data by a secure embedding processor and/or a secure code.

Preferably, the method further comprises: storing, processing and/or classifying the processed multimedia data embedded with the watermark comprising the determined location representative of the device.

A system for tagging data, comprising:

for determining a device location for processing multimedia data;

generating a watermark containing information representative of a determined location of the device; and the number of the first and second groups,

one or more circuits that embed the generated watermark information containing information representative of the determined location of the device into the multimedia data to be processed.

Preferably, the one or more circuits are capable of generating the watermark information containing information indicative of the determined location of the device based on information from a Global Positioning System (GPS) in the device.

Preferably, the information embedded into the watermark information by the one or more circuits comprises: information representative of a determined location of the device, one or more unique identification codes of the device, the source of the multimedia data, a date, and a time.

Preferably, the one or more circuits are operable to secure information indicative of a determined location of the device, a unique identification code of the device, the date, time, and generated watermark containing information indicative of a determined location of the device.

Preferably, said one or more circuits are operable to embed said generated watermark containing information representative of a determined location of said device in compressed data.

Preferably, the one or more circuits are operable to transmit information indicative of the determined location of the device to an entity external to the device.

Preferably, the one or more circuits are operable to embed the generated watermark containing information representative of the determined location of the device in the data by means of a secure embedding processor and/or a secure code.

Preferably, the one or more circuits are operable to store, process and/or classify the processed multimedia data embedded with a watermark containing information indicative of a determined location of the device.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a machine-readable storage, having stored thereon, a computer program comprising at least one piece of code for marking data, said at least one piece of code being executable by a machine and for performing by the machine the steps of:

determining a device location for processing multimedia data;

generating a watermark containing information representative of a determined location of the device; and the number of the first and second groups,

and embedding the generated watermark information containing the determined position of the equipment into the multimedia data to be processed.

Preferably, the at least one piece of code comprises code for generating the watermark information containing information representative of the determined location of the device based on information from a Global Positioning System (GPS) in the device.

Preferably, the at least one piece of code comprises code for embedding information representative of the determined location of the device, one or more unique identification codes of the device, the source of the multimedia data, the date and time into the watermark information.

Preferably, the at least one piece of code comprises code for securing information indicative of the determined location of the device, a unique identification code of the device, the date, time and generated watermark containing information indicative of the determined location of the device.

Preferably, said at least one piece of code comprises code for embedding said generated watermark containing information representative of a determined location of said device in compressed data.

Preferably, the at least one piece of code comprises code for transmitting information indicative of the determined location of the device to an entity external to the device.

Preferably, the at least one piece of code comprises code for embedding, by a secure embedding processor and/or a secure code, the generated watermark containing information representative of the determined location of the device in the data.

Preferably, the at least one piece of code comprises code for storing, processing and/or classifying the processed multimedia data embedded with the watermark containing information representative of the determined location of the device.

Various advantages, aspects and novel features of the invention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be more fully described with reference to the following description and drawings.

Drawings

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples, in which:

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of an audio and/or video system utilizing GPS location information in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a digital watermarking operation using GPS location information, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of embedding watermark information including location information;

FIG. 3A is a block diagram of a watermarking system that utilizes GPS information in a set-top box according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of a secure insertion operation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating steps for embedding a watermark in multimedia data using GPS location information, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Some embodiments of the invention relate to a method and system for security protection using GPS information digital media. Particular aspects of the present invention include apparatus for inserting a watermark into audio and/or video (a/V) signals and/or multimedia data, wherein the watermark includes location information for the apparatus for processing the a/V signals and/or multimedia data (the a/V signals and multimedia data herein are used interchangeably in the present invention to represent any suitable pattern of information only, e.g., information including image, audio, text and/or voice data). The device may be a set-top-box (STB), such as a satellite or cable STB, a digital television, a DVD player, a multimedia player, a computer, a digital video player, a mobile phone and/or any device comprising GPS receiving means and capable of processing multimedia data. The GPS receiver may be used to determine the location of the device and to provide date and/or time information. The apparatus may receive an a/V signal and/or multimedia data from an a/V source, e.g., a service provider, and insert watermark information containing location information into the a/V signal and/or multimedia data prior to storing, recording, and/or rendering (rendering) the multimedia data. The watermark may be inserted into the compressed a/V signal and/or the multimedia data. The watermark may also include additional information such as a chip identification code, date and/or time of processing the a/V signal and/or multimedia data. In addition, information based on the GPS data may be transmitted to an A/V source, such as a service provider or other external entity. In some embodiments of the invention, the watermark information is secure, e.g., encrypted, before it is inserted into the a/V signal and/or multimedia data. In addition, the watermark embedding and/or extraction process is also secure. Thus, an embedded processor, inaccessible memory (accessible memory) from a host CPU and/or trusted code may be utilized in the embedding and/or extracting of the watermark.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an audio and/or video system utilizing GPS location information in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, an audio/video (A/V) system 100 includes an A/V source 110, a watermark embedding device 112, wherein the watermark embedding device 112 further includes: a GPS receiver 114, an a/V broadcast/recording system 116, and satellites 120a, 120b, and 120 c.

The a/V source 110 is communicatively coupled to the watermark embedding device 112 and the a/V source 110 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry and/or code that may be operable to distribute the a/V signals to the watermark embedding device 112. A/V source 110 comprises a server within a service provider network, such as a cable and/or satellite network. In some embodiments of the present invention, A/V source 110 may distribute A/V signals over a network, such as the Internet or a private network.

The watermark embedding device 112 may be a set-top box (STB) communicatively coupled to the a/V source 110 and the a/V playback/recording system 116. The watermark embedding device 112 is not limited to STBs but may also be a digital television, DVD player, multimedia player and/or digital cinema player. The watermark embedding device 112 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry and/or code that may enable the device to determine its location and to insert a/V signals received from the a/V source 110 that contain information representative of the location of the device. Furthermore, the watermark embedding device 112 is capable of extracting the watermark from the A/V signal. The watermark embedding device 112 may also comprise a GPS receiver 114 comprising suitable logic, circuitry and/or code that may be enabled to receive GPS data from one or more GPS satellites and determine the location of the watermark embedding device 112 from the received GPS data. For example, the GPS receiver 114 may determine the specific location of the watermark embedding device 112 based on ephemeris, signal delay and satellite position.

The a/V playback/recording system 116 may comprise a television and/or video recorder that may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may be enabled to receive, play, and/or store one or more formats of media a/V signals that may comprise watermarks. The a/V playback/recording system 116 is communicatively coupled to the watermark embedding device 112.

Satellites 120a, 120b, and 120c may be GPS satellites that can provide location information to watermark embedding device 112 to enable the device to determine its location. Thus, each of the satellites 120a, 120b, and 120c will transmit a signal that will be received by the GPS receiver 114. The GPS receiver 114 determines the distance between the watermark embedding device 112 and one or more satellites by measuring the time of transmission and the time delay between the times of reception of each signal. In addition, the signals may also carry information such as precise time information and/or ephemeris that can indicate the location of the satellite 120a, 120b, and 120c, respectively, from which the signals were transmitted. If the watermark embedding device 112 receives signals from three or more satellites, it can determine its own position from ephemeris, delay measurements and satellite positions. In addition, service provider input and/or Long Term Orbit (LTO) information enables the watermark embedding device 112 to determine its location from signals from fewer than three satellites.

In operation, watermark data containing location information determined by the GPS receiver 114 and the A/V signals is received by the watermark embedding device 112. Thus, the watermark embedding device 112 will embed the watermark data including the location information into the A/V signal and store the result or play it back through the A/V playback/recording system 116. The embedded watermark will be able to protect multimedia data in the a/V signal from illegal copying or illegal use, e.g. multimedia data with copyrighted material. In some embodiments of the invention, the watermarked data is decompressed prior to playback. In addition, the position information is transmitted to the audio video source 110.

Fig. 1B is a diagram illustrating a digital watermarking operation using GPS location information according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the figure includes a wired input 128 and a watermark embedding device 120, wherein the watermark embedding device 120 further includes: a GPS receiver 114, a watermark embedding module 122, a memory 126, and a CPU 124. The wired input 128 may input signals including audio, video, data, and/or voice.

The watermark embedding device 120 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable receiving an a/V input signal and generating an output signal that may be stored or played. The watermark embedding device 120 may be a set-top box, a digital television, a DVD player, a multimedia player, a computer, a digital cinema player and/or any corresponding device capable of processing multimedia data that includes a GPS receiver similar to the watermark embedding device 112 described in fig. 1A. The memory 126 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable storage of data from the wired input 128 that may be processed by the watermark embedding module 122. The memory 126 also stores data necessary for the CPU 124 to control the watermark embedding device 120 to perform various operations. CPU 124 may also control aspects of watermark embedding module 122 to operate, requiring use of the embedded CPU only if more secure operations are required. Although a wired input 128 is shown, it is not limited thereto. In addition, similar other media inputs, such as satellite signals, may also be used as inputs to the watermark embedding device 120.

The GPS receiver 114 is the same or substantially the same as the GPS receiver described in FIG. 1A.

The watermark embedding module 122 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable receiving multimedia data from the wired input 128 and embedding or extracting a digital watermark in the multimedia data. The digital watermark includes: location information of the watermark embedding device 120, identification information of the watermark embedding device 120, and/or source information of the multimedia data, so that a theft source can be determined immediately upon subsequent discovery of theft of the multimedia data. In an embodiment of the present invention, the embedding of the watermark is performed in the form of compressed data. Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the watermark embedding module 122 may also be capable of extracting a watermark from the multimedia data.

In operation, multimedia data is transmitted to the watermark embedding device 120 via the wired input 128. The watermark embedding device 120 determines its own location via the GPS receiver 114. The watermark data depends on location information, device ID, date, time, and/or multimedia source information. The watermark embedding module 122 embeds the watermark data into the received multimedia data and stores the result in the memory 126. In addition, the watermarked multimedia data is sent to the display after decompression.

Watermark embedding is essentially understood to be a function comprising: raw media (content) dataEmbedding a secret keyA series of parameters for controlling the embedding process/algorithmAnd information data embedded in video and/or audio. Information dataMay be a bit sequence containing position information. Parameter(s)So-called watermark embedding parameters are included, such as parameters for controlling the degree of degradation of the image after watermarking. The output of the watermark embedding function comprises watermarked dataThe watermark embedding function is thus expressed as follows:

fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of embedding watermark information including location information. As shown, a processor module 210, watermark data 212 and keys 214, an encryption module 216, a data transformation module 218, a watermark embedding module 222, a data classification and selection module 220, and a data merging module 224 are shown.

The processor module 210 may control the operation of the watermark embedding device 120 described in fig. 1B. The processor module 210 may also control the watermark embedding and/or extraction process. In an embodiment of the invention, the watermark embedding operation is protected by security measures. Thus, the processor module 210 may comprise a secure processor for controlling the watermark embedding operation and/or an on-chip embedded CPU for watermark embedding with protection code.

The encryption module 216 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable encryption of the watermark data 212 using the key 214. The encryption module 216 may generate an output signal that is communicatively coupled to the data conversion module 218. In another embodiment of the present invention, the encryption module 216 is not used and the watermark data 212 is passed directly to the data conversion module 218.

The data conversion module 218 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable conversion of data into a suitable format for insertion into a video data stream to be compressed. The data conversion module 218 is communicatively coupled to a watermark embedding module 222.

The watermark embedding module 222 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable embedding watermark data in a video stream to be compressed. The watermark embedding module 222 may receive as input the converted watermark data from the data conversion module 218, while receiving an output signal from the data classification and selection module 220.

The data classification and selection module 220 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable classification of video data and selection of a portion of video data from a received video stream to determine what portion of the video data and/or frequency of embedding a watermark therein. Thus, embedding a watermark into a video stream does not produce visible watermark artifacts. In an embodiment of the present invention, the data classification and selection module 220 receives the encoded video as input.

The watermark embedding module 222 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable embedding a watermark in a video stream. The watermark embedding module 222 may receive as input the watermark data from the data conversion module 218 and the video data from the data classification and selection module 220.

When no watermarking is required, the video signal bypasses the watermark embedding module 222 and is directly transmitted to the data merging module 224.

The data combining module 224 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable combining a signal that bypasses the watermark embedding module 222 without being watermarked with a video signal that was watermarked in the watermark embedding module 222. The combined video stream is passed back to the video decoder if a decoding operation is required. This data transmission path is represented in fig. 2 by path 1.

In operation, the watermark data 212 may include location information and/or other identifying signals, and the watermark data 212 may be received by the processor module 210. Watermark 212 may be secured by encryption module 216 using key 214. The encrypted watermark data is passed to a data conversion module 218 where it is converted to a corresponding format that can be used for watermark embedding. The format-converted watermark data is transmitted to the watermark embedding module 222. The watermark embedding module 222 also receives video data via the data sorting and selection module 220 and embeds watermark data into the video data. In the case where a portion of the video data bypasses the watermark embedding module 222, the watermarked video data is passed to the data merging module 224 to facilitate merging of the video data bypassing the watermark embedding module 222. The watermarked video data is output for additional processing, storage and/or rendering (rendering) operations.

Fig. 3A is a block diagram of a watermarking system using GPS information of a set-top box according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the set-top-box chip 310, the intelligence 314, and the DRAM326 are shown. The set-top-box chip 310 includes a Conditional Access (CA) descrambler 312, a one-time programmable (OTP) memory 316, a combining function module 318, an embedded CPU320, a GPS receiver 322, a main CPU324, a video decoder 332, a watermark detector 334, and a secure time source 336. Also shown are input and output signals, a video input 340 and a video output 342.

The smart card 314 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable storage of data for descrambling a received video input 340. The data stored in the smart card 314 includes a Conditional Access (CA) descrambling key or service provider specific data.

The CA descrambler 312 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable conditional access descrambling of a received video signal, such as the video input 340 signal. The CA descrambler 312 enables secure reception of the incoming signal video-in 340, conditional access descrambling keys, and/or service provider information, such as service provider identification information and/or owner content of the video-in 340 signal. The CA descrambler 312 may securely receive input information from the service provider, the smart card 314, and/or the OTP 316. Thus, the received security information can be secured from unauthorized users and/or processors, such as the host CPU324, and the video signal can be only opened to authorized users by scrambling processing by the service provider, thereby preventing unauthorized access.

The OTP memory 316 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry and/or code that may enable storage of unique identification data, such as a chip ID, for the set-top-box chip 310, such that the embedded watermark contains data source information. In addition, the OTP memory 316 stores a key that the CA descrambler 312 utilizes.

The combining function block 318 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable combining or scrambling unique identifying data stored in the OTP 316 using a combining function. The resulting unique ID 344 is transmitted to the embedded CPU320, and the unique ID 344 is added to the GPS information in the watermark in the embedded CPU320 and inserted into the video data. In an embodiment of the present invention, GPS information is passed to the combining function module 318 and combined with the unique identification data therein prior to passing the result data of the combining function 318 to the embedded CPU 320.

The embedded CPU320 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable control of the watermark embedding operation. The embedded CPU320 is completely independent of the host CPU324 so that software code from a third party or hacker will not affect the watermark embedding operation. Thus, the embedded CPU320 utilizes only trusted code, which includes code stored within the set-top box chip 310 that is not controlled by the main CPU324 or related external source code. The trusted code is stored on-chip or in a secure memory, such as a hash memory or latch. The embedded CPU generates a watermark 346 and embeds the watermark in the video data received from the CA descrambler 312.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the embedded CPU320 would insert a descriptor 330 into the DRAM326, and the watermark detector 334 would use the descriptor 330 to identify the location of the watermark in the video data and confirm that the watermark was inserted correctly. The descriptor 330 is not accessible to the main CPU324, thereby increasing the security level of the set-top-box chip 310. Thus, the embedded CPU320 may insert the watermarked video into the compressed data 328 in the DRAM326 before or after it is stored.

The GPS receiver 322 is the same or substantially the same as the GPS receiver described in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The GPS receiver 322 is communicatively coupled to the embedded CPU 320. Further, the GPS receiver 322 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic, and/or code that may enable determining a particular location of the set-top-box chip 310 and securely communicating the location, date, and/or time information to the embedded CPU320 and/or the combining function 318 for use in watermarking data.

The secure time source 336 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable providing date and/or time information for use with watermark data. The date and/or time information is under security control to ensure that it is not tampered with or removed by an unauthorized user and/or processor, such as the main CPU 324. In an embodiment of the present invention, the source of date and/or time information is a GPS receiver 322.

The main CPU324 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable overall functional control of the set-top-box chip 310. The main CPU324 may access the DRAM326 but may not access the compressed data 328 or the descriptors 330 in the DRAM 326. For example, the main CPU324 may update and/or modify programmable parameters and/or values in a plurality of components, devices, and/or processing components within the set-top-box chip 310.

The DRAM326 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable storage of code for use by the CPU324 in controlling the set-top-box chip 310. The DRAM326 also includes compressed data 328 and descriptors 330. The compressed data 328 in the area of the DRAM326 contains compressed and watermarked video data, and the section descriptor 330 of the DRAM326 contains data that is used by the watermark detector 334 to determine the location of the watermark to confirm whether the watermark insertion is correct. The compressed data 328 and the descriptor 330 are not accessible by the main CPU324, but only by the embedded CPU320, thereby increasing system security to some extent.

The video decoder 332 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable decoding of video data for display on a monitor and/or television. The video decoder 332 may receive as input the compressed data 328 stored in the DRAM326 and generate an output signal, video out 342.

The watermark detector 334 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable the embedded CPU320 to detect the watermark 346 embedded in the video signal. By comparing the detected watermark to the stored descriptor 330, the watermark detector 334 may ensure the correctness of the watermarking operation within the set-top-box chip 310.

In operation, the CA scrambled video input 340 signal is passed to the CA descrambler 312. The descrambler 312 may descramble the video input signal 340 using a descrambling key and/or unique identification data from the smart card 314 and/or the OTP memory 316. The embedded CPU320 may receive the descrambled video input 340 signal and determine whether a watermark is to be inserted on the signal. The embedded CPU320 may generate a watermark based on a data unit containing, for example, one or more of set-top box location, date and/or time information, a video input signal 340 processed by the set-top box, a unique set-top box ID 344, a service provider, and content owner information. Thus, stolen video content can be identified and/or tracked to a particular set-top box, and the particular date and/or time of theft, rendering, and/or copying of the stolen video can be tracked. The embedded CPU320 may store the descriptor 330 in the DRAM326 so that the watermark detector 334 can perform watermark verification. The watermarked video signal is further processed and/or stored in the form of compressed data in DRAM326 or other storage medium.

The watermarked video signal may be received by a video decoder 332 and a watermark detector 334. The watermark detector 334 may use the descriptor 330 in the DRAM326 to verify the watermark detected in the watermarked video signal. The set-top-box chip 310 may be disabled when the watermark detector 334 finds that the watermark detected in the video signal does not match the descriptor 330 in the DRAM 326. The video decoder 332 decodes the watermarked video signal to generate an output signal, video output 342, for playback.

Fig. 3B is a schematic structural diagram of a secure insertion operation according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the main CPU 360, the secure processor 362, the embedded CPU 364, the memory area 366, the secure bus 368, and the video bus 370 are shown.

The main CPU 360, embedded CPU 364, and storage area 366 are similar or substantially the same as described in FIG. 3A. The main CPU 360 may be configured for watermark insertion by the embedded CPU 364 through the security processor 362 and perform the functions corresponding to the set-top-box chip 310 of fig. 3A.

The secure processor 362 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or code that may enable secure communication between the main CPU 360 and the secure bus 368. For example, the main CPU 360 may execute software code from various external code sources as well as unknown users, however, the security processor 362 only allows legitimate code to be transferred to the secure bus 368. In addition, the secure processor can also protect the secure watermark data, such as date, time, identification code of the set-top box chip 310 and/or location information, to ensure that the watermark data is not modified or deleted by an illegal user or an illegal processor, such as the main CPU 360.

The secure bus 368 also includes a communication bus for communicating secure commands between the secure processor 362 and the embedded CPU 364. The video bus 370 includes a communication bus for transferring video data to the storage area 366. In addition, the embedded CPU 364 may access the memory region 366 via the video bus 370.

In operation, a video signal may be received over the video bus 370. The secure embedded CPU 364 may insert a watermark into the data before it is stored in the storage area 366. The embedded CPU 364 receives control signals from the secure processor 362 over the secure bus 368. When the watermark needs to be encrypted, the watermark data may be encrypted by the security processor 362. In addition, the main CPU 360 may generate a main signal that may be communicated to the embedded CPU 364 via the secure processor 362 and the secure bus 368. The security processor 362 can ensure that the commands transmitted to the embedded CPU 364 are all specific, legitimate commands.

In embodiments of the present invention, software code running on the embedded CPU 364 needs to be flagged and verified before it can be downloaded from memory, e.g., flash memory. The signature verification corresponds to specific information of the set-top-box chip 310 to ensure that the software code running on the embedded CPU 364 is legitimate and authorized for the set-top-box chip 310.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating steps for embedding a watermark in multimedia data using GPS location information, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the watermarking operation flow begins at step 410. In step 412, a similar device, such as watermarking device 120 in FIG. 1B, will determine its location using GPS data. In step 414, the watermarking device 120 will generate a watermark containing information representative of the determined location, as well as additional information, such as a unique device ID, multimedia data source, date and/or time. In step 416, the device 120 will receive the multimedia data and embed the generated watermark into the received multimedia data. In step 418, the watermarking device 120 may store the watermarked multimedia data and/or further process and/or render the multimedia data (render). The flow ends at step 420.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a watermarking device 120 capable of processing multimedia data 128, as described in FIG. 1B, may determine its own location. The watermarking device 120 may determine its own location based on GPS information and send information indicative of its location to an external entity, such as a service provider. The watermarking device 120 may generate a watermark containing information representative of the determined location and embed the watermark in the multimedia data 128. Further, the generated watermark may include one or more of a unique identification code of the watermarking device 120, the multimedia data source 128, e.g., a service provider, a date and a time. The watermark may be secured by an encryption operation prior to embedding the multimedia data 128. The watermark embedding operation is implemented by a secure embedded processor and/or secure code.

One embodiment of the invention includes a machine-readable storage having stored thereon a computer program. The program comprises at least one piece of code for securing digital media using GPS information, said at least one piece of code being executable by a machine for enabling the machine to perform the method steps of the invention.

Accordingly, the present invention may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof. The present invention can be realized in a centralized fashion in at least one computer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware, software and firmware may be a general purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein.

One embodiment of the invention may be implemented as a board level product, as a single chip, as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or as separate components integrated on a single chip with different degrees of integration with other parts of the system. The degree of integration of the system will depend primarily on speed and cost considerations. Due to the mature processor technology today, it is possible to utilize an existing commercially available processor that can be implemented external to the ASIC implementation of the present invention. Alternatively, if the processor is present as an ASIC core or logic block, then an existing commercial processor may be implemented as part of an ASIC device, with its various functions implemented in firmware.

The present invention can also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods. The computer program in this document refers to: any expression, in any programming language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to other languages, codes or symbols; b) reproduced in a different format. However, other meanings of computer program that can be understood by those skilled in the art are also encompassed by the present invention.

While the invention has been described with reference to several particular embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. A method of tagging data, the method comprising:

determining a device location for processing multimedia data;

generating a watermark containing information representative of a determined location of the device; and the number of the first and second groups,

embedding the generated watermark information containing the determined position of the equipment into multimedia data to be processed;

the device comprises a main processor, a safety bus and an embedded processor; the main processor and the embedded processor are mutually independent; the main processor transmits a main signal to the embedded processor through a safety processor and the safety bus;

the method further comprises: embedding, by the embedded processor, the generated watermark information including information representative of the determined location of the device into the multimedia data.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating the watermark information containing information representative of the determined location of the device is done based on information from a global positioning system in the device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: embedded in the watermark information are: information representative of a determined location of the device, one or more unique identification codes of the device, the source of the multimedia data, a date, and a time.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: and carrying out security protection on the information representing the determined position of the equipment, the unique identification code of the equipment, the date, the time and the generated watermark containing the determined position of the equipment.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: embedding said generated watermark containing information representative of said determined location of said device in compressed data.

6. A system for tagging data, the system comprising:

for determining a device location for processing multimedia data;

generating a watermark containing information representative of a determined location of the device; and the number of the first and second groups,

one or more circuits for embedding the generated watermark information containing information representative of the determined location of the device into multimedia data to be processed;

the device comprises a main processor, a safety bus and an embedded processor; the main processor and the embedded processor are mutually independent; the main processor transmits a main signal to the embedded processor through a safety processor and the safety bus;

the one or more circuits are further configured to embed, by the embedded processor, the generated watermark information including information representative of the determined location of the device in the multimedia data.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein said one or more circuits enable generation of said information containing a watermark indicative of a determined location of said device based on information from a global positioning system in said device.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the information embedded into the watermark information by the one or more circuits comprises: information representative of a determined location of the device, one or more unique identification codes of the device, the source of the multimedia data, a date, and a time.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein said one or more circuits are operable to secure information indicative of a determined location of said device, a unique identification code of said device, said date, said time, and a generated watermark containing information indicative of a determined location of said device.

10. The system according to claim 6, wherein said one or more circuits enable embedding of said generated watermark containing information representative of a determined location of said device in compressed data.