Noise influenced watermarking methods and apparatus

1. A method comprising:

determining one or more noise characteristics of a device, wherein the one or more noise characteristics comprise fixed pattern noise characteristics, wherein the fixed pattern noise characteristics result from a predetermined pattern corresponding to an orientation component, and wherein the orientation component comprises a set of impulse functions in a transform domain each with a pseudorandom phase;

influencing a steganographic embedding process associated with the device by guiding or masking embedding locations based at least upon the fixed pattern noise characteristics; and

steganographically embedding, using a processor, plural-bit auxiliary data in host content handled or processed by the device according to the influenced steganographic embedding process.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more noise characteristics are associated with image formation.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining employs a human visual system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein influencing a steganographic embedding process comprises identifying locations to embed the plural-bit auxiliary data.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein influencing a steganographic embedding process comprises changing a signal strength of the plural-bit auxiliary data.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein influencing a steganographic embedding process comprises decreasing the perceptibility of the plural-bit auxiliary data.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fixed pattern noise characteristics comprise the orientation component.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

determining one or more noise characteristics of a device, wherein the one or more noise characteristics comprise fixed pattern noise characteristics, wherein the fixed pattern noise characteristics result from a predetermined pattern corresponding to an orientation component, and wherein the orientation component comprises a set of impulse functions in a transform domain each with a pseudorandom phase;

influencing a steganographic embedding process associated with the device by guiding or masking embedding locations based at least upon the fixed pattern noise characteristics; and

steganographically embedding plural-bit auxiliary data in host content handled or processed by the device according to the influenced steganographic embedding process.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein influencing a steganographic embedding process comprises identifying locations to embed the plural-bit auxiliary data.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein influencing a steganographic embedding process comprises changing a signal strength of the plural-bit auxiliary data.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the fixed pattern noise characteristics comprise the orientation component.

12. An apparatus comprising:

electronic memory configured to store noise characteristics associated with a device, wherein the noise characteristics comprise fixed pattern noise characteristics, wherein the fixed pattern noise characteristics result from a predetermined pattern corresponding to an orientation component, and wherein the orientation component comprises a set of impulse functions in a transform domain each with a pseudorandom phase; and

a processor configured to:

influence a steganographic embedding process associated with the device by guiding or masking embedding locations based at least on the fixed pattern noise characteristics stored in the electronic memory; and

steganographically embed plural-bit auxiliary data in host content handled or processed by the device according to the influenced steganographic embedding process.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the noise characteristics are associated with image formation.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the noise characteristics are determined with a human visual system.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein influencing a steganographic embedding process comprises identifying locations to embed the plural-bit auxiliary data.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein influencing a steganographic embedding process comprises changing a signal strength of the plural-bit auxiliary data.

17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the fixed pattern noise characteristics comprise the orientation component.

18. An apparatus comprising:

means for storing noise characteristics associated with a device, wherein the noise characteristics comprise fixed pattern noise characteristics, wherein the fixed pattern noise characteristics result from a predetermined pattern corresponding to an orientation component, and wherein the orientation component comprises a set of impulse functions in a transform domain each with a pseudorandom phase;

means for influencing a steganographic embedding process associated with the device by guiding or masking embedding locations based at least on the fixed pattern noise characteristics; and

means for steganographically embedding plural-bit auxiliary data in host content handled or processed by the device according to the influenced steganographic embedding process.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the noise characteristics are associated with image formation.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising means for determining noise characteristics which utilizes a human visual system.