Robust audio watermarking using frequency-selective spread spectrum

A novel audio watermarking scheme based on frequency-selective spread spectrum (FSSS) technique is presented. Unlike most of the existing spread spectrum (SS) watermarking schemes that use the entire audible frequency range for watermark embedding, the proposed scheme randomly selects subband(s) signal(s) of the host audio signal for watermark embedding. The proposed FSSS scheme provides a natural mechanism to exploit the band-dependent frequency-masking characteristics of the human auditory system to ensure the fidelity of the host audio signal and the robustness of the embedded information. Key attributes of the proposed scheme include reduced host interference in watermark detection, better fidelity, secure embedding and improved multiple watermark embedding capability. To detect the embedded watermark, two blind watermark detection methods are examined, one based on normalised correlation and the other based on estimation correlation. Extensive simulation results are presented to analyse the performance of the proposed scheme for various signal manipulations and standard benchmark attacks. A comparison with the existing fullband SS-based schemes is also provided to show the improved performance of the proposed scheme.