Watermark Extractor State Machine for Metadata Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multimedia content management systems face challenges in maintaining and delivering metadata associated with multimedia content, as it can be lost during format conversions, processing, and transmission, leading to issues with content identification and interactive services.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an enhanced watermark extractor that processes digital samples of multimedia content to extract watermark messages, enabling the retrieval of metadata by transitioning through different states based on watermark detection events, allowing for the recovery and utilization of metadata even during content processing and transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If metadata is interleaved, prepended or appended to multimedia content, then metadata can be delivered with content, but metadata occupies additional bandwidth and can be lost during format conversion, processing, and transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts metadata from traditional multiplexing positions (interleaved, prepended, or appended locations) and embeds it within the multimedia content itself using watermarking techniques. This separation of metadata from traditional transport mechanisms allows the content to be processed and transmitted without requiring metadata to occupy separate bandwidth, thereby reducing metadata loss during format conversions and processing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent embeds metadata within the multimedia content using watermarking, effectively nesting the metadata inside the content structure. This nested approach allows metadata to travel with the content through various processing stages without occupying additional external bandwidth, making it resilient to loss during transmission and format conversions that would otherwise affect separately multiplexed metadata.
2Manufacturing precision
If an intervening device such as a set-top box receives and provides uncompressed multimedia content, then content quality is maintained, but metadata and functionalities are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies watermarking to embed metadata within the multimedia content before it reaches intervening devices like set-top boxes. This preliminary embedding ensures that when the content is uncompressed and processed by these devices, the metadata remains embedded within the content structure itself, preventing metadata loss that would otherwise occur when metadata is delivered through separate channels that get discarded during processing.
3Adaptability or versatility
If watermark extractor transitions through multiple states based on detection events, then metadata retrieval is enabled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic state machine in the watermark extractor that transitions between states (unmarked content state, marked content state, and gap state) based on watermark detection events. This dynamic approach enables the extractor to adapt its behavior to different content conditions, improving metadata retrieval capability while managing complexity through structured state transitions rather than complex decision logic at each processing step.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, devices, systems and computer program products enable enhances delivery and use of metadata that is associated a primary multimedia content. Watermarks that are detected by a watermark extractor produce an indication as to a state of the watermark detector as being in one of a an unmarked content state, a marked content state or a gap state, and cause the watermark extractor to transition from one state to another state based on event that are recognized based a failure or a success in detecting watermarks, an indication of low content activity and a previous state of the watermark extractor. The events and states associated with the watermark extractor further allows retrieval of new metadata associated with the primary content, use of an existing metadata in a modified manner or a change in presentation of a secondary content that is associated with the primary content.