Method for watermarking content

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9749136-B2
Application number	US-201213404440-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2012
Priority date	Feb 24, 2012
Publication date	Aug 29, 2017
Grant date	Aug 29, 2017

Abstract

The disclosure relates to processing content with watermarks to generate watermarked versions. In some aspects, each version may be different. Groups of fragments may be combined to generate a unique stream by pulling fragments from two or more of the groups of fragments. Further, fragmenting may be performed before watermarking, and fragments may be pulled and watermarked upon request.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method implemented by one or more computing devices, the method comprising:
fragmenting, by one of the one or more computing devices, content to generate a plurality of fragments;
receiving a first request for the content;
selecting a first watermark based on an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the first request;
applying at least a portion of the first watermark to at least a portion of a first fragment from among the plurality of fragments to generate a watermarked first fragment;
applying at least a portion of a second watermark to at least a portion of a second fragment from among the plurality of fragments to generate a watermarked second fragment, the second fragment being different from the first fragment and the second watermark being different from the first watermark; and
providing a copy of the content comprising the watermarked first fragment and the watermarked second fragment.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the first request for the content comprises:
receiving, from a remote client device, a first request for the first fragment.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
receiving, from the remote client device, a second request for the second fragment; and
selecting the second watermark based on the second request.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
receiving, from another remote client device, a second request for the first fragment; and
selecting a third watermark based on at least one of an IP address associated with the second request, a session identifier associated with the second request, or a timestamp associated with the second request.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
applying at least a portion of a third watermark to at least a portion of the first fragment, the third watermark being different from the first watermark and the second watermark.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
applying at least a portion of the first watermark to at least a portion of a third fragment,
wherein the portion of the first watermark in the third fragment is different from the portion of the first watermark in the first fragment.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
outputting a manifest file, including a fragment pattern indicating time periods that define the first fragment and the second fragment.

8. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the providing the copy of the content comprises:
using load balancing to select a content database from among a plurality of content databases in response to the first request;
forwarding the first request to the selected content database; and
transmitting the watermarked first fragment to a remote client device.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the using load balancing comprises:
evaluating congestion of channels connected to the plurality of content databases; and
selecting one of the plurality of content databases associated with a channel having a least amount of congestion.

10. A method implemented by one or more computing devices, the method comprising:
fragmenting, by one of the one or more computing devices, content to generate a plurality of fragments;
receiving a first request for the content;
selecting a first watermark based on a session identifier associated with the first request;
applying at least a portion of the first watermark to at least a portion of a first fragment from among the plurality of fragments to generate a watermarked first fragment;
applying at least a portion of a second watermark to at least a portion of a second fragment from among the plurality of fragments to generate a watermarked second fragment, the second fragment being different from the first fragment and the second watermark being different from the first watermark; and
providing a copy of the content comprising the watermarked first fragment and the watermarked second fragment.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the receiving the first request for the content comprises:
receiving, from a remote client device, a request for the first fragment.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving, from the remote client device, a second request for the second fragment; and
selecting the second watermark based on the second request.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving, from another remote client device, a second request for the first fragment; and
selecting a third watermark based on at least one of an IP address associated with the second request, a session identifier associated with the second request, or a timestamp associated with the second request.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
outputting a manifest file, including a fragment pattern indicating time periods that define the first fragment and the second fragment.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the providing the copy of the content comprises:
using load balancing to select a content database from among a plurality of content databases in response to the first request;
forwarding the first request to the selected content database; and
transmitting the watermarked first fragment to a remote client device.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the using load balancing comprises:
evaluating congestion of channels connected to the plurality of content databases; and
selecting one of the plurality of content databases associated with a channel having a least amount of congestion.

17. The method of claim 10 , further comprising storing an index file comprising information that a user device was sent the first fragment with the first watermark and the second fragment with the second watermark.

18. A method implemented by one or more computing devices, the method comprising:
fragmenting, by one of the one or more computing devices, content to generate a plurality of fragments;
receiving a first request for the content;
selecting a first watermark based on a time stamp associated with the first request;
applying at least a portion of the first watermark to at least a portion of a first fragment from among the plurality of fragments to generate a watermarked first fragment;
applying at least a portion of a second watermark to at least a portion of a second fragment from among the plurality of fragments to generate a watermarked second fragment, the second fragment being different from the first fragment and the second watermark being different from the first watermark; and
providing a copy of the content comprising the watermarked first fragment and the watermarked second fragment.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the receiving the first request for the content comprises:
receiving, from a remote client device, a request for the first fragment.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
receiving, from the remote client device, a second request for the second fragment; and
selecting the second watermark based on the second request.

21. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
receiving, from another remote client device, a second request for the first fragment; and
selecting a third watermark based on at least one of an IP address associated with the second request, a session identifier associated with the second request, or a timestamp associated with the second request.

22. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
outputting a manifest file, including a fragment pattern indicating time periods that define the first fragment and the second frag

Assignees

• Leddy John
• Fahrny James W
• Broome Allen
• Chen Michael A
• Comcast Cable Comm Llc

Inventors

• Leddy John
• Fahrny James W
• Broome Allen
• Chen Michael A

Classifications

• H04N21/845

  Structuring of content, e.g. decomposing content into time segments · CPC title

• H04N2201/3239

  using a plurality of different authentication information · CPC title

• H04L2209/608

  Watermarking · CPC title

• H04N21/8358

  involving watermark {(protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467)} · CPC title

• H04L9/32 Primary

  including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system {or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials} · CPC title