Multimedia Coding Research Articles

An adaptive approach for multi-media steganography using improved chaotic map and discrete cosine transform

An adaptive approach for multi-media steganography using improved chaotic map and discrete cosine transform

Novel multi-media steganography model using meta-heuristic and deep learning assisted adaptive lifting wavelet transform

The major goal of this proposal is to implement a new steganography model with multi-media data. Initially, in video steganography and frames are extracted and then, the keyframes with texture and motion features of gathered video are selected through Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNN). Then, the optimal region selection for embedding is carried out using the Improved Artificial Gorilla Troops Optimizer (IAGTO). Secondly, image steganography is performed by collecting the images, where the color channel selection is done through DCNN. Thirdly, audio steganography is performed by gathering the input audios from the standard datasets. Further, the optimal time instant selection is performed by the same IAGTO algorithm, which will be fed to the next phase. Finally, the audio embedding is done by ALWT, and then, the stego audios are extracted by taking inverse ALWT. From the experimental analysis, successful embedding over multi-media data is achieved..

A Novel Localization Method of Wireless Covert Communication Entity for Post-Steganalysis

Recently, some criminals have begun to use multimedia steganography to conduct covert communication, such as transmitting stolen trade secrets. After using steganalysis to find covert communication entities, obtaining their locations can effectively help criminal forensics. This paper proposes a novel localization method of wireless covert communication entity for post-steganalysis. The method is based on hybrid particle swarm optimization and gray wolf optimization to improve localization precision (ILP-PSOGWO). In this method, firstly, the relationship model between received signal strength (RSS) and distance is constructed for the indoor environment where the target node exists. Secondly, dichotomy is used to narrow the region where the target node is located. Then, the weighted distance strategy is used to select the reference point locations with strong and stable RSS. Finally, the intersection region of the reference points is taken as the region where the target node is located, and the hybrid PSOGWO is used to locate and optimize the target node location. Experimental results demonstrate that ILP-PSOGWO can maintain high stability, and 90% of the localization errors are lower than 0.9012 m. In addition, compared with the existing methods of PSO, GWO and extended weighted centroid localization (EWCL), the average localization error of ILP-PSOGWO is also reduced by 28.2–49.0%.

Enhanced Binary MQ Arithmetic Coder with Look-Up Table

Binary MQ arithmetic coding is widely used as a basic entropy coder in multimedia coding system. MQ coder esteems high in compression efficiency to be used in JBIG2 and JPEG2000. The importance of arithmetic coding is increasing after it is adopted as a unique entropy coder in HEVC standard. In the binary MQ coder, arithmetic approximation without multiplication is used in the process of recursive subdivision of range interval. Because of the MPS/LPS exchange activity that happens in the MQ coder, the output byte tends to increase. This paper proposes an enhanced binary MQ arithmetic coder to make use of look-up table (LUT) for (A × Qe) using quantization skill to improve the coding efficiency. Multi-level quantization using 2-level, 4-level and 8-level look-up tables is proposed in this paper. Experimental results applying to binary documents show about 3% improvement for basic context-free binary arithmetic coding. In the case of JBIG2 bi-level image compression standard, compression efficiency improved about 0.9%. In addition, in the case of lossless JPEG2000 compression, compressed byte decreases 1.5% using 8-level LUT. For the lossy JPEG2000 coding, this figure is a little lower, about 0.3% improvement of PSNR at the same rate.

Steganography and Steganalysis (in digital forensics): a Cybersecurity guide

Steganography and steganalysis is a relatively new-fangled scientific discipline in security systems and digital forensics, respectively, but one that has matured greatly over the past two decades. In any specialism of human endeavour, it is imperative to periodically pause and review the state of the discipline for what has been achieved till date. This article scrutinizes where the discipline of steganography and steganalysis at this point in time in context to the common user and new researchers in terms of current trends. Also, what has been accomplished in order to critically examine what has been done well and what ought to be done better. The state-of-the-art techniques for steganography and steganalysis (image and video) have been deliberated for the last 5 years literature. Further, the paper also takes stock the dataset and tools available for multimedia steganography and steganalysis with the examples where steganography has been used in real-life. It is a corpus of the author’s opinion and the viewpoints of different other researchers and practitioners, working in this discipline. Additionally, experiments were done using image steganography techniques to analyse the recent trends. This survey is intended to provide a complete guide for common people and new researchers and scholars approaching this field, sight on the existing and the future of steganography and steganalysis.

A secure multimedia steganography scheme using hybrid transform and support vector machine for cloud-based storage

Cloud computing is widely accepted by both individuals and enterprises alike for the storage of multimedia contents. It is due to the introduction of a new architecture where the cost of computation, storage, and services needed for maintenance for storage of multimedia are less. Cloud computing addresses the scarcity of resources for clients by offering options to pay for services only as they are used. But once the organization’s multimedia contents are uploaded into cloud space, the user loses control over their contents which may no longer be safe. The cloud user has to take some measure to avoid privacy issues. Steganography is preferred over encryption for providing multimedia security as content concealed in a cover image is not revealed. The multimedia content is transformed using Discrete Rajan Transform (DRT) and embedded into a chosen cover image which is created by Integer Wavelet using Diamond Encoding Scheme. Generated stego images are stored in the cloud. When the multimedia content is required, stego images are downloaded from the cloud and are subjected to inverse transform of IWT. SVM provides Good learning ability to our extraction process which makes our algorithm more robust to various attacks, viz., salt and pepper noise, Gaussian noise, cropping, compression, etc. Experimental values for Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) for two secret images are 53 and 50 respectively which is better over the available schemes in the literature. Similarly for robustness and security evaluation, our scheme provides a better result.

A proposal of Multimedia Steganography Algorithm based on Improved Least Significant Bit (LSB) Method

Because of the rapid development and use of the Internet as a communication media emerged to need a high level of security during data transmission and one of these ways is "Steganography". This paper reviews the Least Signification Bit steganography used for embedding text file with related image in gray-scale image. As well as we discuss the bit plane which is divided into eight different images when combination them we get the actual image. The findings of the research was the stego-image is indistinguishable to the naked eye from the original cover image when the value of bit less than four Thus we get to the goal is to cover up the existence of a connection or hidden data. The Peak to Signal Noise Ratio(PSNR) and Mean Square Error (MSE) value is calculated so that the quality of the cover image before and after the data hiding is evaluated.

Creating a strategic national knowledge architecture: A comparative analysis of knowledge source innovation in the ICS subfields of multimedia and IT security

This paper introduces a part of the research and emphasizes the segment of comparative and multicriteria statistical trend analyses within the second of 12 standardized IT fields. The paper focuses on the subfields with the highest intensity of knowledge innovation: multimedia coding, audio, images (sub-committee ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29), and IT security techniques (/SC 27). According to the International Classification of Standards (ICS), multimedia and security are classified into the second IT field (ICS2 = 35.040). The paper aims to provide and improve resources for product quality on the basis of the growth of knowledge source innovation. Simultaneously with the analysis of local resources, the trend of global source innovation is analyzed from the population of statistical samples of the standardized knowledge source units within the observed IT subfield. The research results provide confirmation of the hypotheses in PDCA phases and decision-making towards security and improvement of resources and products.

A Comparative Evaluation of Common Multimedia Steganography Approaches

Information hiding techniques have recently turned out to be critical in many applications. Text message, a digital sound recording, movie, as well as images tend to be progressively equipped using distinct nevertheless imperceptible grades, which might include a hidden copyright notice as well as assistance to prevent unauthorized replicating immediately. Many analysts will work in data disappearing techniques employing unique suggestions and regions to cover their secret files. In this paper we present a theoretical performance analysis for some basic method of text based Steganography techniques, audio files, portable executable files, and digital images, then we compare between them according to their performance using some evaluation parameters to accomplish the goal of reduces the chances of error and enhances security measures.

Broadcasting Free-Viewpoint Television Over Long-Term Evolution Networks

Recent advances in mobile device technology, cellular networks, and multimedia coding have paved the way for a wide range of innovative multimedia services that can be delivered to mobile users. An interesting application is free-viewpoint television (FTV), which allows the viewer to interactively select the scene viewing angle. Conveying this service over cellular networks is very challenging due to the large bandwidth requirements and limitations in computational power, memory, and battery resources on mobile terminals. Moreover, providing FTV over mobile systems necessitates new means for quality evaluation, which consider cellular network parameters. To address these challenges, we propose a scalable FTV broadcast architecture for long-term evolution cellular networks. To alleviate complex processing on mobile receivers, depth maps are estimated in the cloud and transmitted along the multiview video. Moreover, a novel depth image-based rendering technique is developed to improve quality while minimizing processing load on the mobile terminal, giving typical peak signal-to-noise ratio gains of 2 dB. Experimental results reveal that, for a satisfactory rendering quality, bit-rate savings of more than 70% are achieved compared with simulcast transmission. Furthermore, subjective tests indicate that this solution improves the perceived quality considerably. Finally, we study the impact of handovers induced in mobile systems on the quality of experience.

An optimal complexity H.264/AVC encoding for video streaming over next generation of wireless multimedia sensor networks

The next generation of sensor node such as Lotus mote enables higher performance, low power consumption, higher storage/memory and higher speed processing capability than the older generation, such as TelosB or MicaZ motes, which facilitates multimedia data pre-processing and compression in wireless multimedia sensor network (WMSN). In WMSNs, multimedia compression is the main issue that performed on a multimedia sensor node because the complexity of multimedia coding can cause a major energy consumption problem. This paper proposes an optimal complexity H.264 encoding for video streaming over next generation of WMSN. It develops the mathematical model for achieving optimal complexity encoding and proposed the most reliable H.264 encoder configuration setting on H.264 coding. The proposed mechanism ensures an optimal encoding complexity, less power consumption and visual quality of the multimedia. The experimental results of this research give an evidence to verify that the proposed mechanism guarantees high QoS performance.

2진 MQ 산술부호기의 성능 개선

2진(binary) MQ 산술부호화는 최근 들어 멀티미디어 압축 표준시스템에 기본 엔트로피 방식으로 사용되고 있다. MQ 산술부호기는 JBIG2와 JPEG2000에 적용되면서 압축성능을 인정받기 시작했다. 최근에 차세대 동영상 부호화 표준인 HEVC (high efficiency video coding)에는 산술부호화가 단일 엔트로피부호화로 채택되면서 그 중요성이 커지고 있다. 기존의 2진 MQ 산술부호기는 RANGE(구간)을 분할하는 과정에서 곱셈을 없애면서 근사화 방법을 사용하고 있다. 이 경우 MPS/LPS의 구간이 뒤바뀌는 경우가 발생하며 출력비트가 늘어날 수 있다. 본 논문에서는 이러한 문제점을 완화하기 위하여 근사식을 사용하는 대신에 룩업테이블 형태로 AQe의 값을 양자화하여 계산에 적용하는 방법을 제안하고자 한다. 제안한 방법의 압축 성능을 실험을 통해 확인한 결과, 2진영상 압축표준 방식인 JBIG2의 경우 약 4%의 압축율의 개선을 보였다. 정지영상 압축표준인 JPEG2000의 경우 약 1%정도의 개선을 가져왔다. 룩업테이블을 사용하기 때문에 계산량이 기존방법에 비해 늘지 않는다. Binary MQ arithmetic coding is widely used recently as a basic entropy coder in multimedia coding system. MQ coder esteems high in compression efficiency to be used in JBIG2 and JPEG2000. The importance of arithmetic coding is increasing after it is adopted as an unique entropy coder in HEVC standard. In the binary MQ coder, arithmetic approximation without multiplication is used in the process of recursive subdivision of range interval. Because of the MPS/LPS exchange activity happened in MQ coder, output byte tends to increase. This paper proposes an enhanced binary MQ arithmetic coder to make use of a lookup table for AQe using quantization skill in order to reduce the deficiency. Experimental results show that about 4% improvement of compression in case of JBIG2 for bi-level image compression standard. And also, about 1% improvement of compression ratio is obtained in case of lossless JPEG2000 coding. For the lossy JPEG2000 coding, about 1% improvement of PSNR at the same compression ratio. Additionally, computational complexity is not increasing.

Innovations in emerging multimedia communication systems

Multimedia (image, video, audio, etc.) enriches human’s daily life, and various multimedia services attract more and more users, such as mobile social networks, mobile music, IPTV, User Generated Content (UGC) sharing, etc. With the rapid development of communication technology, it becomes a reality to hear or watch anything, anywhere. Innovative multimedia services are often constructed on novel communication or computing techniques. For example, scalable multimedia coding or transcoding are needed to adapt to heterogeneous networks, and intelligent multimedia analysis is often used to provide interactive or personalized recommendation. Additionally, some means are expected to protect security or privacy issues in cloud based services. This special issue aims to expose the readership to the latest research results on innovations in emerging multimedia communication systems, especially in telecommunication systems. It includes a number of related topics, demonstrate pioneer work in this field, investigate the novel solutions and discuss the future trends in this field. This issue is composed of 10 papers carefully selected. Each paper is reviewed by at least two experts, with at least two rounds.

A Novel Approach Covert Channel for Secret Communications

This paper presents a novel covert channel for secret communications. It implements a new application layer covert channel, by applying multimedia steganography techniques to hide secret messages. This new channel method (called Under Your Radar (UYR)) provides a stealthiness method for the communication channel and an efficient method for hiding messages, as proved by our investigations. Such a covert channel will be used for transferring secret messages in two phases. In phase one, the message characters will be embedded randomly into the pixels of video frames. The choice of pixels is dependent on finding an identical value of the character ASCII representation from one of the pixel channels. The positions of pixels will form the steganography key, which will be used later to extract the message. Also, the steganography key will be embedded in an image using the LSB steganography technique. In phase two, the secret message will be exchanged between the sender and the receiver by sharing the video along with the steganography key over a public service (e.g. a social network), which serves as the new covert communication channel. The experiments outcomes have showed an improvement on the success of the proposed covert channel in exchanging secret messages without rising suspicion by observers or detection tools.

Research on Network Control Based on QoS of the Network

With the technology improvement of computer communication and multimedia coding, real time communication such as audio and video is introduced to networks and become a dominant way of communication.In the control of network, the optimization problem of the network controller based on network Quality of service (QoS) is a very important problem in the research of network control. Considering the influence of network quality—of service (QoS) on the control performance,a system model combining the network parameters and the control parameters is established for networked control systems (NCSs). Based on this, the condition dependent on the network parameters and control parameters is presented for the existence of guaranteed cost controllers.LMI).Within the scope of QoS perturbation,the designed controller can not only make the system as hypnotically stable but also guarantee that the system performance index is not greater than the upper bound.

A Trusted QoS Architecture for Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks

Developing trusted QoS architecture is important for wireless multimedia sensor networks considering various applications with different QoS requirements. First, the diverse multimedia traffic were analyzed and classified based on application requirements, service model, and multimedia coding method in wireless multimedia sensor networks. And the QoS requirements related to the multimedia traffic were also discussed. Then, a trust management framework was designed for cluster-based wireless multimedia sensor networks. The proposed framework can be used to next-hop selection in secure routing protocol. Finally, trusted QoS architecture was proposed. In the architecture, QoS manager observes and maintains information about QoS factors, and also responsible for QoS scheduling based on different QoS requirements. Trust Manager observes and maintains information about trust factors in WMSNs, and also responsible for trust computing based on different methods of trust factors aggregation.

Full-Reference Quality Estimation for Images With Different Spatial Resolutions

Multimedia communication is becoming pervasive because of the progress in wireless communications and multimedia coding. Estimating the quality of the visual content accurately is crucial in providing satisfactory service. State of the art visual quality assessment approaches are effective when the input image and reference image have the same resolution. However, finding the quality of an image that has spatial resolution different than that of the reference image is still a challenging problem. To solve this problem, we develop a quality estimator (QE), which computes the quality of the input image without resampling the reference or the input images. In this paper, we begin by identifying the potential weaknesses of previous approaches used to estimate the quality of experience. Next, we design a QE to estimate the quality of a distorted image with a lower resolution compared with the reference image. We also propose a subjective test environment to explore the success of the proposed algorithm in comparison with other QEs. When the input and test images have different resolutions, the subjective tests demonstrate that in most cases the proposed method works better than other approaches. In addition, the proposed algorithm also performs well when the reference image and the test image have the same resolution.

Innovative multimedia communication and services

Multimedia (image, video, audio, etc.) enriches human’s daily life, and various multimedia services attract more and more users, such as multimedia message services, color rings, mobile TV, IPTV, User Generated Content (UGC), p2p sharing, etc. With the rapid development of communication technology, it becomes a reality to hear or watch anything, anywhere. For example, the convergence between Internet, digital TV and telecommunication (e.g., telephone, telegram, or mobile communication) pushes the development of TV services, such as interactive TV, IPTV, mobile TV, etc. The cloud computing techniques make it more and more attractive for remote users to work on one task together, e.g., collaborative drawing or writing. These innovative services are often constructed on novel communication or computing techniques. For example, scalable multimedia coding or transcoding are needed to adapt to heterogeneous networks, and intelligent multimedia analysis is often used to provide interactive or personalized recommendation. Additionally, some means are expected to protect security or privacy issues in communication or services. This special issue aims to expose the readership to the latest research results on innovative multimedia communication and services, especially in telecommunication systems. It includes a number of related topics, demonstrate pioneer

Real-time multimedia coding and transmission

This paper sums up relevant topics covered by the special issue titled ‘Real-Time Multimedia Coding and Transmission’, including efficient content representation, multimedia transmission, hardware and software acceleration, and transcoding techniques.

A Survey on Multimedia-Based Cross-Layer Optimization in Visual Sensor Networks

Visual sensor networks (VSNs) comprised of battery-operated electronic devices endowed with low-resolution cameras have expanded the applicability of a series of monitoring applications. Those types of sensors are interconnected by ad hoc error-prone wireless links, imposing stringent restrictions on available bandwidth, end-to-end delay and packet error rates. In such context, multimedia coding is required for data compression and error-resilience, also ensuring energy preservation over the path(s) toward the sink and improving the end-to-end perceptual quality of the received media. Cross-layer optimization may enhance the expected efficiency of VSNs applications, disrupting the conventional information flow of the protocol layers. When the inner characteristics of the multimedia coding techniques are exploited by cross-layer protocols and architectures, higher efficiency may be obtained in visual sensor networks. This paper surveys recent research on multimedia-based cross-layer optimization, presenting the proposed strategies and mechanisms for transmission rate adjustment, congestion control, multipath selection, energy preservation and error recovery. We note that many multimedia-based cross-layer optimization solutions have been proposed in recent years, each one bringing a wealth of contributions to visual sensor networks.