Blue Spike, LLC v. Google Inc.

Filing 1

COMPLAINT against Google Inc. ( Filing fee $ 350 receipt number 0540-3741801.), filed by Blue Spike, LLC. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Exhibit A - Patent 8214175, # 3 Exhibit B - Patent 7949494, # 4 Exhibit C - Patent 7660700, # 5 Exhibit D - Patent 7346472)(Albritton, Eric)

Exhibit
 B

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
US007949494B2

United States Patent

(10)

Moskowitz et al.

(12)

(45)

(54)

Inventors: Scott A. Moskowitz, Sunny Isles Beach,
FL (US); Mike W. Berry, Seattle, WA
(US)

(73)

Assignee: Blue Spike, Inc., Sunny Isles Beach, FL
(US)

( *)

Notice:

4,979,210
4,980,782
5,050,213
5,073,925
5,077,665
5,113,437
5,136,581
5,136,646
5,136,647
5,142,576
5,161,210
5,210,820
5,243,423
5,243,515
5,287,407
5,319,735
5,341,429
5,341,477
5,363,448
5,365,586
5,369,707
5,379,345
5,394,324
5,398,285
5,406,627
5,408,505
5,410,598
5,412,718
5,418,713
5,428,606
5,450,490
5,469,536
5,471,533
5,478,990
5,479,210
5,487,168
5,493,677
5,497,419

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MONITORING
AND ANALYZING SIGNALS

(75)

Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35
U.S.c. 154(b) by 0 days.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

(21)

Appl. No.: 12/655,357

(22)

Filed:

Dec. 22, 2009
Prior Publication Data

(65)

US 201 0/0106736 Al

Apr. 29, 2010

Related U.S. Application Data
(63)

Continuation of application No. 12/005,229, filed on
Dec. 26, 2007, now Pat. No. 7,660,700, which is a
continuation of application No. 09/657,181, filed on
Sep. 7, 2000, now Pat. No. 7,346,472.

(51)

Int. Cl.
G06F 19/00
(2006.01)
U.S. Cl.
702/182; 707/EI7.001; 707/EI7.002;
707/EI7.005; 707/EI7.006; 709/209; 705/51;
380/28
702/182;
Field of Classification Search
707/EI7.001, EI7.002, EI7.005, EI7.006;
709/209; 705/51,57; 380/28,248; 370/480;
348/E7.063,460; 375/E7.075, E7.089; 382/248,
382/162,232, 100
See application file for complete search history.

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Nagata et aI.
Ginkel
Shear
Nagata et aI.
Silverman et al.
Best et aI.
Muehrcke
Haber et al.
Haber et al.
Nadan
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(Continued)
FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
EP

0372601

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(Continued)
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Schneier, Bruce, Applied Cryptography, 2nd Ed., John Wiley & Sons,
pp. 9-10, 1996.

(Continued)

References Cited

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Patent No.:
US 7,949,494 B2
Date of Patent:
*May 24, 2011

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,947,825
3,984,624
3,986,624
4,038,596
4,200,770
4,218,582
4,339,134
4,390,898
4,405,829
4,424,414
4,528,588
4,672,605
4,748,668
4,789,928
4,827,508
4,876,617
4,896,275
4,908,873
4,939,515
4,969,204
4,972,471
4,977,594

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Primary Examiner - Carol S Tsai
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm - Neifeld IP Law, PC

A method and system for monitoring and analyzing at least
one signal are disclosed. An abstract of at least one reference
signal is generated and stored in a reference database. An
abstract of a query signal to be analyzed is then generated so
that the abstract of the query signal can be compared to the
abstracts stored in the reference database for a match. The
method and system may optionally be used to record information about the query signals, the number of matches
recorded, and other useful information about the query signals. Moreover, the method by which abstracts are generated
can be programmable based upon selectable criteria. The
system can also be programmed with error control software
so as to avoid the re-occurrence ofa query signal that matches
more than one signal stored in the reference database.

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Shear

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ABSTRACT

29 Claims, No Drawings

US 7,949,494 B2
Page 2
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
5,506,795
5,513,126
5,513,261
5,530,739
5,530,751
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5,539,735
5,548,579
5,568,570
5,579,124
5,581,703
5,583,488
5,598,470
5,606,609
5,613,004
5,617,119
5,625,690
5,629,980
5,633,932
5,634,040
5,636,276
5,636,292
5,640,569
5,646,997
5,657,461
5,659,726
5,664,018
5,673,316
5,677,952
5,680,462
5,687,236
5,689,587
5,696,828
5,719,937
5,721,788
5,734,752
5,737,416
5,737,733
5,740,244
5,745,569
5,748,783
5,751,811
5,754,697
5,757,923
5,765,152
5,768,396
5,774,452
5,790,677
5,799,083
5,809,139
5,809,160
5,818,818
5,822,432
5,828,325
5,832,119
5,842,213
5,848,155
5,850,481
5,859,920
5,860,099
5,862,260
5,870,474
5,884,033
5,889,868
5,893,067
5,894,521
5,903,721
5,905,800
5,905,975
5,912,972
5,915,027
5,917,915
5,918,223
5,920,900
5,923,763
5,930,369
5,930,377
5,940,134

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Yamakawa
Harkins et al.
Maher
Okada
Morris
Braudaway et al.
Moskowitz
Lebrun et al.
Rabbani
Aijala et al.
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Sala et al.
Cooper et al.
Houser et al.
Cooperman et al.
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Brugger
Rhoads
Miller et al.
Barton
Harkins et al.
Sandford, II et al.
Leighton
Auerbach et al.
Blakley et al.
Miller et al.
Moskowitz et al.
Bender et al.
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Warren et al.
Powell et al.
Knox
Cooper et al.
Eller
Indeck et al.
Moskowitz et al.
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Koopman, Jr.
Erickson
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Wolose Wicz et al.
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Daly et al.
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Duvall et al.
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5,943,422
5,949,055
5,963,909
5,973,731
5,974,141
5,991,426
5,999,217
6,009,176
6,029,126
6,041,316
6,044,471
6,049,838
6,051,029
6,061,793
6,067,622
6,069,914
6,078,664
6,081,251
6,081,587
6,081,597
6,088,455
6,131,162
6,141,753
6,141,754
6,148,333
6,154,571
6,192,138
6,199,058
6,205,249
6,208,745
6,226,618
6,230,268
6,233,347
6,233,684
6,240,121
6,263,313
6,272,634
6,275,988
6,278,780
6,278,791
6,282,300
6,282,650
6,285,775
6,301,663
6,310,962
6,330,335
6,330,672
6,345,100
6,351,765
6,363,483
6,373,892
6,373,960
6,374,036
6,377,625
6,381,618
6,381,747
6,385,324
6,385,329
6,385,596
6,389,538
6,405,203
6,415,041
6,418,421
6,425,081
6,430,301
6,430,302
6,442,283
6,446,211
6,453,252
6,457,058
6,463,468
6,484,264
6,493,457
6,502,195
6,522,767
6,522,769
6,523,113
6,668,325
6,530,021

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Fleet et al. .................... 235/469
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Malvar
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Moore
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Sakai et al.
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Logan et al. .................. 380/200
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Zhao et al.
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US 7,949,494 B2
Page 3
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6,587,837
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6,606,393
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6,658,010
6,665,489
6,668,246
6,674,858
6,687,683
6,725,372
6,754,822
6,775,772
6,784,354
6,785,815
6,785,825
6,792,548
6,792,549
6,795,925
6,799,277
6,813,717
6,813,718
6,823,455
6,834,308
6,842,862
6,853,726
6,857,078
6,931,534
6,957,330
6,966,002
6,983,337
6,977,894
6,978,370
6,986,063
6,990,453
7,007,166
7,020,285
7,035,049
7,035,409
7,043,050
7,046,808
7,050,396
7,051,208
7,058,570
7,093,295
7,095,874
7,103,184
7,107,451
7,123,718
7,127,615
7,150,003
7,152,162
7,159,116
7,162,642
7,177,429
7,177,430
7,206,649
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7,233,669
7,240,210
7,266,697
7,286,451
7,287,275
7,289,643
7,343,492
7,346,472
7,362,775
7,363,278
7,409,073
7,4 57,962
7,460,994
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7,532,725
7,568,100

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Boncelet, Jr. et al.
Katto
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Moskowitz
Xie et al.
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112010
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Moskowitz
Moskowitz
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Moskowitz
Moskowitz
Moskowitz
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FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
EP
EP
EP
EP
EP
EP
EP
EP
EP
EP
EP
EP
NL
NL
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO
WO

0372601
0565947
0565947
0581317
0581317
0649261
0651554
0651554
0872073
1547337
1354276
1354276
100523
1005523
WO 95/14289
WO 9514289
W09701892
WO 96/29795
WO 9629795
WO 9642151
W09726733
WO 97/24833
WO 9724833
W09726732
WO 9744736
W09802864
W098/37513
W09837513
WO 9952271
WO 99/62044
WO 9962044
WO 9963443
WO 0057643
WOO 118628
W00143026
W00203385
W002003385

Al
Al
A2
A

Bl

Al

6/1990
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* cited by examiner

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METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MONITORING
AND ANALYZING SIGNALS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of pending U.S. application Ser. No. 12/005,229, which is a continuation of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 09/657,181, now U.S. Pat. No.
7,346,472. The previously identified patents and/or patent
applications are hereby incorporated by reference, in their
entireties, as if fully stated herein.
This application claims the benefit of pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 08/999,766, filed luI. 23, 1997, entitled
"Steganographic Method and Device" (issued as U.S. Pat.
No. 7,568,100); pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.
081772,222, filed Dec. 20, 1996, entitled "Z-Transform
Implementation of Digital Watermarks" (issued as U.S. Pat.
No. 6,078,664); pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.
09/456,319, filed Dec. 8, 1999, entitled "Z-Transform Implementation of Digital Watermarks" (issued as U.S. Pat. No.
6,853,726); pending U.S. patent application. Ser. No. 08/674,
726, filed luI. 2, 1996, entitled "Exchange Mechanisms for
Digital Information Packages with Bandwidth Securitization,
Multichannel Digital Watermarks, and Key Management"
(issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,362,775); pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/545,589, filed Apr. 7, 2000, entitled
"Method and System for Digital. Watermarking" (issued as
U.S. Pat. No.7,007,166); pending U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 091046,627, filed Mar. 24, 1998, entitled "Method for
Combining Transfer Function with Predetermined Key Creation" (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,162); pending U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 091053,628, filed Apr. 2, 1998,
entitled "Multiple Transform Utilization and Application for
Secure Digital Watermarking" (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,
249); pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/281,279,
filed Mar. 30, 1999, entitled "Optimization Methods for the
Insertion, Protection, and Detection ofDigital Watermarks in
Digital Data (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,522,767)"; U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09,594,719, filed lun. 16,2000, entitled
"Utilizing Data Reduction in Steganographic and Cryptographic Systems" (which is a continuation-in-part of PCT
application No. PCTIUSOOI06522, filed Mar. 14, 2000, which
PCT application claimed priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 601125,990, filed Mar. 24, 1999) (issued as U.S.
Pat. No. 7,123,718); pending U.S. Application No. 601169,
274, filed Dec. 7, 1999, entitled "Systems, Methods And
Devices For Trusted Transactions" (issued as U.S. Pat. No.
7,159,116); and PCT Application No. PCT/USOO/21189,
filedAug. 4, 2000 (which claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 601147,134, filed Aug. 4,1999, and to U.S.
patent application No. 60/213,489, filed. lun. 23, 2000, both
of which are entitled, "A Secure Personal Content Server")
(issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,475,246). The previously identified
patents and/or patent applications are hereby incorporated by
reference, in their entireties, as if fully stated herein.
In addition, this application hereby incorporates by reference, as iffully stated herein, the total disclosures ofU.S. Pat.
No. 5,613,004 "Steganographic Method and Device"; U.S.
Pat. No. 5,745,569 "Method for Stega-Cipher Protection of
Computer Code"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,868 "Optimization
Methods for the Insertion, Protection, and Detection of Digital Watermarks in Digitized Data."

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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the monitoring and analysis of
digital information. A method and device are described which
relate to signal recognition to enhance identification and
monitoring activities.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many methods and protocols are known for transmitting
data in digital form for multimedia applications (including
computer applications delivered over public networks such as
the internet or World Wide Web ("WWW"). These methods
may include protocols for the compression of data, such that
it may more readily and quickly be delivered over limited
bandwidth data lines. Among standard protocols for data
compression of digital files may be mentioned the MPEG
compression standards for audio and video digital compression, promulgated by the Moving Picture Experts Group.
Numerous standard reference works and patents discuss such
compression and transmission standards for digitized information.
Digital watermarks help to authenticate the content ofdigitized multimedia information, and can also discourage piracy.
Because piracy is clearly a disincentive to the digital distribution of copyrighted content, establishment of responsibility for copies and derivative copies of such works is invaluable. In considering the various forms ofmultimedia content,
whether "master," stereo, NTSC video, audio tape or compact
disc, tolerance of quality will vary with individuals and affect
the underlying commercial and aesthetic value ofthe content.
It is desirable to tie copyrights, ownership rights, purchaser
information or some combination of these and related data
into the content in such a mauner that the content must
undergo damage, and therefore reduction of its value, with
subsequent, unauthorized distribution, commercial or otherwise. Digital watermarks address many of these concerns. A
general discussion of digital watermarking as it has been
applied in the art may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,236
(whose specification is incorporated in whole herein by reference).
Further applications of basic digital watermarking functionality have also been developed. Examples of such applications are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,868 (whose specification is incorporated in whole herein by reference). Such
applications have been drawn, for instance, to implementations of digital watermarks that were deemed most suited to
particular transmissions, or particular distribution and storage mediums, given the nature of digitally sampled audio,
video, and other multimedia works. There have also been
developed techniques for adapting watermark application
parameters to the individual characteristics of a given digital
sample stream, and for implementation ofdigital watermarks
that are feature-based-i.e., a system in which watermark
information is not carried in individual samples, but is carried
in the relationships between multiple samples, such as in a
waveform shape. For instance, natural extensions may be
added to digital watermarks that may also separate frequencies (color or audio), chaunels in 3D while utilizing discreteness in feature-based encoding only known to those with
pseudo-random keys (i.e., cryptographic keys) or possibly
tools to access such information, which may one day exist on
a quantum level.
A matter of general weakness in digital watermark technology relates directly to the manner ofimplementation ofthe
watermark. Many approaches to digital watermarking leave
detection and decode control with the implementing party of
the digital watermark, not the creator of the work to be pro-

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tected. This weakness removes proper economic incentives
for improvement of the technology. One specific fonn of
exploitation mostly regards efforts to obscure subsequent
watermark detection. Others regard successful over encoding
using the same watermarking process at a subsequent time.
Yet another way to perform secure digital watennark implementation is through "key-based" approaches.

version. This relationship may either be mathematically discernible or a result ofmarket-dictated needs. The purpose is to
afford a more consistent means for classifying signals than
proprietary, related text-based approaches. A simple analogy
is the way in which a forensic investigator uses a sketch artist
to assist in detennining the identity of a human.
In one embodiment ofthe invention, the abstract ofa signal
may be generated by the following steps: I) analyze the
characteristics of each signal in a group of audible/perceptible variations for the same signal (e.g., analyze each of five
versions of the same song-which versions may have the
same lyrics and music but which are sung by different artists);
and 2) select those characteristics which achieve or remain
relatively constant (or in other words, which have minimum
variation) for each ofthe signals in the group. Optionally, the
null case may be defined using those characteristics which are
common to each member of the group of versions.
Lossless and lossy compression schemes are appropriate
candidates for data reduction technologies, as are those subset
of approaches that are based on perceptual models, such as
AAC, MP3, TwinVQ, JPEG, GIF, MPEG, etc. Where spectral
transfonns fail to assist in greater data reduction ofthe signal,
other signal characteristics can be identified as candidates for
further data reduction. Linear predictive coding (LPC),
z-transfonn analysis, root mean square (rms), signal to peak,
may be appropriate tools to measure signal characteristics,
but other approaches or combinations of signal characteristic
analysis are contemplated. While such signal characteristics
may assist in detennining particular applications of the
present invention, a generalized approach to signal recognition is necessary to optimize the deployment and use of the
present invention.
Increasingly, valuable information is being created and
stored in digital form. For example, music, photographs and
motion pictures can all be stored and transmitted as a series of
binary digits-I's and D's. Digital techniques pennit the
original infonnation to be duplicated repeatedly with perfect
or near perfect accuracy, and each copy is perceived by viewers or listeners as indistinguishable from the original signal.
Unfortunately, digital techniques also permit the infonnation
to be easily copied without the owner's pennission. While
digital representations of analog wavefonns may be analyzed
by perceptually-based or perceptually-limited analysis it is
usually costly and time-consuming to model the processes of
the highly effective ability of humans to identify and recognize a signal. In those applications where analog signals
require analysis, the cost of digitizing the analog signal is
minimal when compared to the benefits ofincreased accuracy
and speed of signal analysis and monitoring when the processes contemplated by this invention are utilized.
The present invention relates to identification of digitallysampled infonnation, such as images, audio and video. Traditional methods of identification and monitoring of those
signals do not rely on "perceptual quality," but rather upon a
separate and additional signal. Within this application, such
signals will be called "additive signals" as they provide information about the original images, audio or video, but such
information is in addition to the original signal. One traditiona
' text-based additive signal is title and author infonnation. The title and author, for example, is infonnation about a
book, but it is in addition to the text of the book. If a book is
being duplicated digitally, the title and author could provide
one means ofmonitoring the number oftimes the text is being
duplicated, for example, through an Internet download. The
present invention, however, is directed to the identification of
a digital signal-whether text, audio, or video-using only
the digital signal itself and then monitoring the number of

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
10

A method for monitoring and analyzing at least one signal
is disclosed, which method comprises the steps of: receiving
at least one reference signal to be monitored; creating an
abstract of the at least one reference signal; storing the
abstract of the at least one reference signal in a reference
database; receiving at least one query signal to be analyzed;
creating an abstract of the at least one query signal; and
comparing the abstract of the at least one query signal to the
abstract ofthe at least one reference signal to detennine if the
abstract ofthe at least one query signal matches the abstract of
the at least one reference signal.
A method for monitoring a plurality ofreference signals is
also disclosed, which method comprises the steps of: creating
an abstract for each one of a plurality of reference signals;
storing each ofthe abstracts in a reference database; receiving
at least one query signal to be analyzed; creating an abstract of
each at least one query signal; locating an abstract in the
reference database that matches the abstract of each at least
one query signal; and recording the identify of the reference
signal whose abstract matched the abstract ofeach at least one
query signal.
A computerized system for monitoring and analyzing at
least one signal is also disclosed, which system comprises: a
processor for creating an abstract of a signal using selectable
criteria; a first input for receiving at least one reference signal
to be monitored, the first input being coupled to the processor
such that the processor may generate an abstract for each
reference signal input to the processor; a reference database,
coupled to the processor, for storing abstracts of each at least
one reference signal; a second input for receiving at least one
query signal to be analyzed, the second input being coupled to
the processor such that the processor may generate an abstract
for each query signal; and a comparing device, coupled to the
reference database and to the second input, for comparing an
abstract ofthe at least one query signal to the abstracts stored
in the reference database to determine if the abstract of the at
least one query signal matches any of the stored abstracts.
Further, an electronic system for monitoring and analyzing
at least one signal is disclosed, which system comprises: a
first input for receiving at least one reference signal to be
monitored, a first processor for creating an abstract of each
reference signal input to the first processor through the first
input; a second input for receiving at least one query signal to
be analyzed, a second processor for creating an abstract of
each query signal; a reference database for storing abstracts of
each at least one reference signal; and a comparing device for
comparing an abstract of the at least one query signal to the
abstracts stored in the reference database to determine if the
abstract of the at least one query signal matches any of the
stored abstracts.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
While there are many approaches to data reduction that can
be utilized, a primary concern is the ability to reduce the
digital signal in such a manner as to retain a "perceptual
relationship" between the original signal and its data reduced

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times the signal is duplicated. Reliance on an additive signal
has many shortcomings. For example, first, someone must
incorporate the additive signal within the digital data being
transmitted, for example, by concatenation or through an
embedding process. Such an additive signal, however, can be
easily identified and removed by one who wants to utilize the
original signal without paying for its usage. If the original
signal itself is used to identify the content, an unauthorized
user could not avoid payment ofa royalty simply by removing
the additive signal-because there is no additive signal to
remove. Hence, the present invention avoids a major disadvantage of the prior art.
One such additive signal that may be utilized is a digital
watermark-which ideally cannot be removed without perceptually altering the original signal. A watermark may also
be used as a monitoring signal (for example, by encoding an
identifier that nniquely identifies the original digital signal
into which the identifier is being embedded). A digital watermark used for monitoring is also an additive signal, and such
a signal may make it difficult for the user who wants to
duplicate a signal without paying a royalty-mainly by
degrading the perceptual quality of the original signal if the
watermark (and hence the additive monitoring signal) is
removed. This is, however, is a different solution to the problem.
The present invention eliminates the need of any additive
monitoring signal because the present invention utilizes the
underlying content signal as the identifier itself. Nevertheless,
the watennark may increase the value of monitoring techniques by increasing the integrity of the embedded data and
by indicating tampering of either the original content signal
or the monitoring signal. Moreover, the design of a watermarking embedding algorithm is closely related to the perceptibility of noise in any given signal and can represent an
ideal subset of the original signal: the watermark bits are an
inverse of the signal to the extent that lossy compression
schemes, which can be used, for instance, to optimize a watermarking embedding scheme, can yield infonnation about the
extent to which a data signal can be compressed while holding
steadfast to the design requirement that the compressed signal
maintain its perceptual relationship with the original, uncompressed signal. By describing those bits that are candidates for
imperceptible embedding of watennark bits, further data
reduction may be applied on the candidate watermarks as an
example of retaining a logical and perceptible relationship
with the original uncompressed signal.
Of course, the present invention may be used in conjnnction with watennarking technology (including the use ofkeys
to accomplish secure digital watennarking), but watennarking is not necessary to practice the present invention. Keys for
watermarking may have many forms, including: descriptions
of the original carrier file fonnatting, mapping of embedded
data (actually imperceptible changes made to the carrier signal and referenced to the predetermined key or key pairs),
assisting in establishing the watermark message data integrity
(by incorporation of special one way functions in the watermark message data or key), etc. Discussions ofthese systems
in the patents and pending patent applications are incorporated by reference above. The "recognition" of a particular
signal or an instance of its transmission, and its monitoring
are operations that may be optimized through the use of
digital watermark analysis.
A practical difference between the two approaches ofusing
a separate, additive monitoring signal and using the original
signal itself as the monitoring signal is control. If a separate
signal is used for monitoring, then the originator of the text,
audio or video signal being transmitted and the entity doing

the monitoring have to agree as to the nature of the separate
signal to be used for monitoring-otherwise, the entity doing
the monitoring would not know where to look, for what to
look, or how to interpret the monitoring signal once it was
identified and detected. On the other hand, if the original
signal is used itself as a monitoring signal, then no such
agreement is necessary. Moreover, a more logical and selfsufficient relationship between the original and its data-reduced abstract enhances the transparency of any resulting
monitoring efforts. The entity doing the monitoring is not
looking for a separate, additive monitoring system, and further, need not have to interpret the content of the monitoring
signal.
Monitoring implementations can be handled by robust
watermark techniques (those techniques that are able to survive many signal manipulations but are not inherently
"secure" for verification of a carrier signal absent a logicallyrelated watermarking key) and forensic watennark techniques (which enable embedding of watermarks that are not
able to survive perceptible alteration ofthe carrier signal and
thus enable detection oftampering with the originally watermarked carrier signal). The techniques have obvious tradeoffs between speed, performance and security of the embedded watennark data.
In other disclosures, we suggest improvements and implementations that relate to digital watennarks in particular and
embedded signaling in general. A digital watermark may be
used to "tag" content in a manner that is not humanly-perceptible, in order to ensure that the human perception of the
signal quality is maintained. Watermarking, however, must
inherently alter at least one data bit of the original signal to
represent a minimal change from the original signal's "unwatennarked state." The changes may affect only a bit, at the
very least, or be dependent on infonnation hiding relating to
signal characteristics, such as phase infonnation, differences
between digitized samples, root mean square (RMS) calculations, z-transform analysis, or similar signal characteristic
category.
There are weaknesses in using digital watennark technology for monitoring purposes. One weakness relates directly
to the way in which watennarks are implemented. Often, the
persons responsible for encoding and decoding the digital
watermark are not the creator of the valuable work to be
protected. As such, the creator has no input on the placement
of the monitoring signal within the valuable work being protected. Hence, if a user wishing to avoid payment of the
royalty can find a way to decode or remove the watennark, or
at least the monitoring signal embedded in the watermark,
then the nnauthorized user may successfully duplicate the
signal with impunity. This could occur, for example, if either
of the persons responsible for encoding or decoding were to
have their security compromised such that the encoding or
decoding algorithms were discovered by the unauthorized
user.
With the present invention, no such disadvantages exist
because the creator need not rely on anyone to insert a monitoring signal-as no such signal is necessary. Instead, the
creator's work itselfis used as the monitoring signal. Accordingly, the value in the signal will have a strong relationship
with its recognizability.
By way of improving methods for efficient monitoring as
well as effective confinnation of the identity of a digitallysampled signal, the present invention describes useful methods for using digital signal processing for benchmarking a
novel basis for differencing signals with binary data comparisons. These techniques may be complemented with perceptual techniques, but are intended to leverage the generally

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decreasing cost of bandwidth and signal processing power in
an age of increasing availability and exchange of digitized
binary data.
So long as there exist computationally inexpensive ways of
identifying an entire signal with some fractional representation or relationship with the original signal, or its perceptually
observable representation, we envision methods for faster and
more accurate auditing of signals as they are played, distributed or otherwise shared amongst providers (transmitters)
and consumers (receivers). The ability to massively compress
a signal to its essence-which is not strictly equivalent to
"lossy" or"lossless" compression schemes or perceptual coding techniques, but designed to preserve some underlying
"aesthetic quality" of the signal-represents a useful means
for signal analysis in a wide variety of applications. The
signal analysis, however, must maintain the ability to distinguish the perceptual quality of the signals being compared.
For example, a method which analyzed a portion of a song by
compressing it to a single line of lyrics fails to maintain the
ability to distinguish the perceptual quality ofthe songs being
compared. Specifically, for example, if the song "New York
State of Mind" were compressed to the lyrics "I'm in a New
York State ofMind," such a compression fails to maintain the
ability to distinguish between the various recorded versions
of the song, say, for example between Billy Joel's recording
and Barbara Streisand's recording. Such a method is, therefore, incapable of providing accurate monitoring of the artist's recordings because it could not determine which of the
two artists is deserving ofa royalty-unless ofcourse, there is
a separate monitoring signal to provide the name of the artist
or other information sufficient to distinguish the two versions.
The present invention, however, aims to maintain some level
of perceptual quality of the signals being compared and
would deem such a compression to be excessive.
This analogy can be made clearer if it is understood that
there are a large number of approaches to compressing a
signal to, say, 1I1O,OOOth ofits original size, not for maintaining its signal quality to ensure computational ease for commercial quality distribution, but to assist in identification,
analysis or monitoring of the signal. Most compression is
either lossy or lossless and is designed with psychoacoustic or
psychovisual parameters. That is to say, the signal is compressed to retain what is "humanly-perceptible." As long as
the compression successfully mimics human perception, data
space may be saved when the compressed file is compared to
the uncompressed or original file. While psychoacoustic and
psychovisual compression has some relevance to the present
invention, additional data reduction or massive compression
is anticipated by the present invention. It is anticipated that
the original signal may be compressed to create a realistic or
self-similar representation of the original signal, so that the
compressed signal can be referenced at a subsequent time as
unique binary data that has computational relevance to the
original signal. Depending on the application, general data
reduction of the original signal can be as simple as massive
compression or may relate to the watermark encoding envelope parameter (those bits which a watermarking encoding
algorithm deem as candidate bits for mapping independent
data or those bits deemed imperceptible to human senses but
detectable to a watermark detection algorithm). In this manner, certain media which are commonly known by signal
characteristics, a painting, a song, a TV commercial, a dialect,
etc., may be analyzed more accurately, and perhaps, more
efficiently than a text-based descriptor of the signal. So long
as the sender and receiver agree that the data representation is
accurate, even insofar as the data-reduction technique has
logical relationships with the perceptibility of the original

signal, as they must with commonly agreed to text descriptors, no independent cataloging is necessary.
The present invention generally contemplates a signal recognition system that has at least five elements. The actual
number of elements may vary depending on the number of
domains in which a signal resides (for example, audio is at
least one domain while visual carriers are at least two dimensional). The present invention contemplates that the number
of elements will be sufficient to effectively and efficiently
meet the demands of various classes of signal recognition.
The design of the signal recognition that may be used with
data reduction is better understood in the context of the general requirements of a pattern or signal recognition system.
The first element is the reference database, which contains
information about a plurality of potential signals that will be
monitored. In one form, the reference database would contain
digital copies of original works of art as they are recorded by
the various artists, for example, contain digital copies of all
songs that will be played by a particular radio station. In
another form, the reference database would contain not perfect digital copies oforiginal works ofart, but digital copies of
abstracted works ofart, for example, contain digital copies of
all songs that have been preprocessed such that the copies
represent the perceptual characteristics of the original songs.
In another form, the reference database would contain digital
copies of processed data files, which files represent works of
art that have been preprocessed in such a fashion as to identifY
those perceptual differences that can differentiate one version
of a work of art from another version ofthe same work of art,
such as two or more versions of the same song, but by different artists. These examples have obvious application to visually communicated works such as images, trademarks or photographs, and video as well.
The second element is the object locator, which is able to
segment a portion of a signal being monitored for analysis
(i.e., the "monitored signal"). The segmented portion is also
referred to as an "object." As such, the signal being monitored
may be thought ofcomprising a set ofobjects. A song recording, for example, can be thought of as having a multitude of
objects. The objects need not be of uniform length, size, or
content, but merely be a sample ofthe signal being monitored.
Visually communicated informational signals have related
objects; color and size are examples.
The third element is the feature selector, which is able to
analyze a selected object and identifY perceptual features of
the object that can be used to uniquely describe the selected
object. Ideally, the feature selector can identifY all, or nearly
all, ofthe perceptual qualities ofthe object that differentiate it
from a similarly selected object of other signals. Simply, a
feature selector has a direct relationship with the perceptibility of features commonly observed. Counterfeiting is an
activity which specifically seeks out features to misrepresent
the authenticity of any given object. Highly granular, and
arguably successful, counterfeiting is typically sought for
objects that are easily recognizable and valuable, for
example, currency, stamps, and trademarked or copyrighted
works and objects that have value to a body politic.
The fourth element is the comparing device which is able to
compare the selected object using the features selected by the
feature selector to the plurality of signals in the reference
database to identifY which of the signals matches the monitored signal. Depending upon how the information of the
plurality of signals is stored in the reference database and
depending upon the available computational capacity (e.g.,
speed and efficiency), the exact nature ofthe comparison will
vary. For example, the comparing device may compare the
selected object directly to the signal information stored in the

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database. Alternatively, the comparing device may need to
process the signal information stored in the database using
input from the feature selector and then compare the selected
object to the processed signal information. Alternatively, the
comparing device may need to process the selected object
using input from the feature selector and then compare the
processed selected object to the signal information. Alternatively, the comparing device may need to process the signal
information stored in the database using input from the feature selector, process the selected object using input from the
feature selector, and then compare the processed selected
object to the processed signal information.
The fifth element is the recorder which records information
about the number of times a given signal is analyzed and
detected. The recorder may comprise a database which keeps
track of the number of times a song, image, or a movie has
been played, or may generate a serial output which can be
subsequently processed to determine the total number of
times various signals have been detected.
Other elements may be added to the system or incorporated
into the five elements identified above. For example, an error
handler may be incorporated into the comparing device. If the
comparing device identifies multiple signals which appear to
contain the object being sought for analysis or monitoring, the
error handler may offer further processing in order to identify
additional qualities or features in the selected object such that
only one ofthe set of captured signals is found to contain the
further analyzed selected object that actually conforms with
the object thought to have been transmitted or distributed.
Moreover, one or more of the five identified elements may
be implemented with software that runs on the same processor, or which uses multiple processors. In addition, the elements may incorporate dynamic approaches that utilize stochastic, heuristic, or experience-based adjustments to refine
the signal analysis being conducted within the system, including, for example, the signal analyses being performed within
the feature selector and the comparing device. This additional
analyses may be viewed as filters that are designed to meet the
expectations of accuracy or speed for any intended application.
Since maintenance oforiginal signal quality is not required
by the present invention, increased efficiencies in processing
and identification of signals can be achieved. The present
invention concerns itself with perceptible relationships only
to the extent that efficiencies can be achieved both in accuracy
and speed with enabling logical relationships between an
original signal and its abstract.
The challenge is to maximize the ability to sufficiently
compress a signal to both retain its relationship with the
original signal while reducing the data overhead to enable
more efficient analysis, archiving and monitoring of these
signals. In some cases, data reduction alone will not suffice:
the sender and receiver must agree to the accuracy of the
recognition. In other cases, agreement will actually depend
on a third party who authored or created the signal in question.
A digitized signal may have parameters to assist in establishing more accurate identification, for example, a "signal
abstract" which naturally, or by agreement with the creator,
the copyright owner or other interested parties, can be used to
describe the original signal. By utilizing less than the original
signal, a computationally inexpensive means ofidentification
can be used. As long as a realistic set of conditions can be
arrived at governing the relationship between a signal and its
data reduced abstract, increases in effective monitoring and
transparency of information data flow across communications channels is likely to result. This feature is significant in
that it represents an improvement over how a digitally-

sampled signal can be cataloged and identified, though the
use of a means that is specifically selected based upon the
strengths of a general computing device and the economic
needs ofa particular market for the digitized information data
being monitored. The additional benefit is a more open means
to uniformly catalog, analyze, and monitor signals. As well,
such benefits can exist for third parties, who have a significant
interest in the signal but are not the sender or receiver of said
information.
As a general improvement over the art, the present invention incorporates what could best be described as "computeracoustic" and "computer-visual" modeling, where the signal
abstracts are created using data reduction techniques to determine the smallest amount of data, at least a single bit, which
can represent and differentiate two digitized signal representations for a given predefined signal set. Each of such representations must have at least a one bit difference with all other
members of the database to differentiate each such representation from the others in the database. The predefined signal
set is the object being analyzed. The signal identifier/detector
should receive its parameters from a database engine. The
engine will identifY those characteristics (for example, the
differences) that can be used to distinguish one digital signal
from all other digital signals that are stored in its collection.
For those digital signals or objects which are seemingly identical, except[ing] that the signal may have different performance or utilization in the newly created 0 bj ect, benefits over
additive or text-based identifiers are achieved. Additionally,
decisions regarding the success or failure of an accurate
detection ofany given object may be flexibly implemented or
changed to reflect market-based demands of the engine.
Appropriate examples are songs or works or art which have
been sampled or reproduced by others who are not the original creator.
In some cases, the engine will also consider the NULL case
for a generalized item not in its database, or perhaps in situations where data objects may have collisions. For some
applications, the NULL case is not necessary, thus making the
whole system faster. For instance, databases which have
fewer repetitions of objects or those systems which are
intended to recognize signals with time constraints or capture
all data objects. Greater efficiency in processing a relational
database can be obtained because the rules for comparison are
selected for the maximum efficiency of the processing hardware and/or software, whether or not the processing is based
on psychoacoustic or psychovisual models. The benefits of
massive data reduction, flexibility in constructing appropriate
signal recognition protocols and incorporation of cryptographic techniques to further add accuracy and confidence in
the system are clearly improvements over the art. For
example, where the data reduced abstract needs to have further uniqueness, a hash or signature may be required. And for
objects which have further uniqueness requirements, two
identical instances of the object could be made unique with
cryptographic techniques.
Accuracy in processing and identification may be
increased by using one or more of the following fidelity
evaluation functions:
I) RMS (root mean square). For example, a RMS function
may be used to assist in determining the distance between
data based on mathematically determinable Euclidean distance between the beginning and end data points (bits) of a
particular signal carrier.
2) Frequency weighted RMS. For example, different
weights may be applied to different frequency components of
the carrier signal before using RMS. This selective weighting
can assist in further distinguishing the distance between

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beginning and end points ofthe signal carrier (at a given point
in time, described as bandwidth, or the number of total bits
that can be transmitted per second) and may be considered to
be the mathematical equivalent of passing a carrier signal
difference through a data filter and figuring the average power
in the output carrier.
3) Absolute error criteria, including particularly the NULL
set (described above) The NULL may be utilized in two
significant cases: First, in instances where the recognized,
signal appears to be an identified object which is inaccurately
attributed or identified to an object not handled by the database of objects; and second, where a collision of data occurs.
For instance, if an artist releases a second performance of a
previously recorded song, and the two performances are so
similar that their differences are almost imperceptible, then
the previously selected criteria may not be able to differentiate the two recordings. Hence, the database must be "recalibrated" to be able to differentiate these two versions. Similarly, if the system identifies not one, but two or more,
matches for a particular search, then the database may need
"recalibration" to further differentiate the two objects stored
in the database.
4) Cognitive Identification. For example, the present invention may use an experience-based analysis within a recognition engine. Once such analysis may involve mathematically
determining a spectral transform or its equivalent of the carrier signal. A spectral transform enables signal processing and
should maintain, for certain applications, some cognitive or
perceptual relationship with the original analog waveform.
As a novel feature to the present invention, additional classes
may be subject to humanly-perceptible observation. For
instance, an experience-based criteria which relates particularly to the envisioned or perceived accuracy of the data
information object as it is used or applied in a particular
market, product, or implementation. This may include a short
3 second segment of a commercially available and recognizable song which is used for commercials to enable recognition of the good or service being marketed. The complete
song is marketed as a separately valued object from the use of
a discrete segment of the song (that may be used for promotion or marketing-for the complete song or for an entirely
different good or service). To the extent that an owner of the
song in question is able to further enable value through the
licensing or agreement for use of a segment of the original
signal, cognitive identification is a form of filtering to enable
differentiations between different and intended uses of the
same or subset of the same signal (object). The implementation relating specifically, as disclosed herein, to the predetermined identification or recognition means and/or any specified relationship with subsequent use of the identification
means can be used to create a history as to how often a
particular signal is misidentified, which history can then be
used to optimize identification ofthat signal in the future. The
difference between use ofan excerpt ofthe song to promote a
separate and distinct good or service and use ofthe excerpt to
promote recognition of the song itself (for example, by the
artist to sell copies of the song) relates informationally to a
decision based on recognized and approved use of the song.
Both the song and applications ofthe song in its entirety or as
a subset are typically based on agreement by the creator and
the sender who seeks to utilize the work. Trust in the means
for identification, which can be weighted in the present invention (for example, by adjusting bit-addressable information),
is an important factor in adjusting the monitoring or recognition features of the object or carrier signal, and by using any
misidentification information, (including any experiencebased or heuristic information), additional features of the

monitored signal can be used to improve the performance of
the monitoring system envisioned herein. The issue ofcentral
concern with cognitive identification is a greater understanding of the parameters by which any given object is to be
analyzed. To the extent that a creator chooses varying and
separate application ofhis object, those applications having a
cognitive difference in a signal recognition sense (e.g., the
whole or an excerpt), the system contemplated herein
includes rules for governing the application of bit-addressable information to increase the accuracy of the database.
5) Finally, the predetermined parameters that are associated with a discrete case for any given object will have a
significant impact upon the ability to accurately process and
identify the signals. For example, ifa song is transmitted over
a FM carrier, then one skilled in the art will appreciate that the
FM signal has a predetermined bandwidth which is different
from the bandwidth of the original recording, and different
even from song when played on an AM carrier, and different
yet from a song played using an S-bit Internet broadcast.
Recognition of these differences, however, will permit the
selection of an identification means which can be optimized
for monitoring a FM broadcasted signal. In other words, the
discreteness intended by the sender is limited and directed by
the fidelity of the transmission means. Objects may be cataloged and assessing with the understanding that all monitoring will occur using a specific transmission fidelity. For
example, a database may be optimized with the understanding that only AM broadcast signals will be monitored. For
maximum efficiency, different data bases may be created for
different transmission chaunels, e.g., AM broadcasts, FM
broadcasts, Internet broadcasts, etc.
For more information on increasing efficiencies for information systems, see The Mathematical Theory ofCommunication (194S), by Shannon.
Because bandwidth (which in the digital domain is equated
to the total number of bits that can be transmitted in a fixed
period of time) is a limited resource which places limitations
upon transmission capacity and information coding schemes,
the importance of monitoring for information objects transmitted over any given chaunel must take into consideration
the nature and utilization of a given channel. The supply and
demand of bandwidth will have a dramatic impact on the
transmission, and ultimately, upon the decision to monitor
and recognize signals. A discussion of this is found in an
application by the inventor under U.S. patent application Ser.
No. OS/674,726 (which issued Apr. 22, 200S as U.S. Pat. No.
7,362,775) "Exchange Mechanisms for Digital Information
Packages with Bandwidth Securitization, Multichannel Digital Watermarks, and Key Management" (which application is
incorporated herein by reference as if fully setforth herein).
If a filter is to be used in connection with the recognition or
monitoring engine, it may be desirable for the filter to anticipate and take into consideration the following factors, which
affect the economics of the transmission as they relate to
triggers for payment and/or relate to events requiring audits of
the objects which are being transmitted: I) time of transmission (i.e., the point in time when the transmission occurred),
including whether the transmission is of a live performance);
2) location of transmission (e.g., what channel was used for
transmission, which usually determines the associated cost
for usage of the transmission channel); 3) the point of origination ofthe transmission (which may be the same for a signal
carrier over many distinct channels); and 4) pre-existence of
the information carrier signal (pre-recorded or newly created
information carrier signal, which may require differentiation
in certain markets or instances).

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In the case of predetennined carrier signals (those which
have been recorded and stored for subsequent use), "positional infonnation carrier signals" are contemplated by this
invention, namely, perceptual differences between the seemingly "same" infonnation carrier that can be recognized as
consumers of information seek different versions or quality
levels of the same carrier signal. Perceptual differences exist
between a song and its reproduction from a CD, an AM radio,
and an Internet broadcast. To the extent that the creator or
consumer of the signal can define a difference in any of the
four criteria above, means can be derived (and programmed
for selectability) to recognize and distinguish these differences. It is, however, quite possible that the ability to monitor
carrier signal transmission with these factors will increase the
variety and richness of available carrier signals to existing
communications channels. The differentiation between an
absolute case for transmission of an object, which is a time
dependent event, for instance a live or real time broadcast,
versus the relative case, which is prerecorded or stored for
transmission at a later point in time, creates recognizable
differences for signal monitoring.
The monitoring and analysis contemplated by this invention may have a variety of purposes, including, for example,
the following: to detennine the number of times a song is
broadcast on a particular radio broadcast or Internet site; to
control security though a voice-activated security system; and
to identify associations between a beginner's drawing and
those of great artists (for example to draw comparisons
between technique, compositions, or color schemes). None of
these examples could be achieved with any significant degree
of accuracy using a text-based analysis. Additionally, strictly
text-based systems fail to fully capture the inherent value of
the data recognition or monitoring information itself.

analyzed may become computationally small such that computational speed and efficiency are significantly improved.
With greater compression rates, it is anticipated that similarity may exist between the data compressed abstractions of
different analog signals (e.g., recordings by two different
artists ofthe same song). The present invention contemplates
the use of bit-addressable differences to distinguish between
such cases. In applications where the data to be analyzed has
higher value in some predetennined sense, cryptographic
protocols, such as a hash or digital signature, can be used to
distinguish such close cases.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention may uti1ize a centralized database where copies of new recordings
may be deposited to ensure that copyright owners, who authorize transmission or use of their recordings by others, can
independently verify that the object is correctly monitored.
The rules for the creator himselfto enter his work would differ
from a universally recognized number assigned by an independent authority (say, ISRC, ISBN for recordings and books
respectively). Those skilled in the art of algorithmic infonnation theory (AIT) can recognize that it is now possible to
describe optimized use of binary data for content and functionality. The differences between objects must relate to decisions made by the user of the data, introducing subjective or
cognitive decisions to the design of the contemplated invention as described above. To the extent that objects can have an
optimized data size when compared with other objects for any
given set of objects, the algorithms for data reduction would
have predetennined flexibility directly related to computational efficiency and the set of objects to be monitored. The
flexibility in having transparent detennination of unique signal abstracts, as opposed to independent third party assignment, is likely to increase confidence in the monitoring effort
by the owners ofthe original signals themselves. The prior art
allows for no such transparency to the copyright creators.

SAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

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Sample Embodiment 2

Sample Embodiment I
A database of audio signals (e.g., songs) is stored or maintained by a radio station or Internet streaming company, who
may select a subset of the songs are stored so that the subset
may be later broadcast to listeners. The subset, for example,
may comprise a sufficient number of songs to fill 24 hours of
music programming (between 300 or 500 songs). Traditionally, monitoring is accomplished by embedding some identifier into the signal, or affixing the identifier to the signal, for
later analysis and detennination ofroyalty payments. Most of
the traditional analysis is perfonned by actual persons who
use play lists and other statistical approximations of audio
play, including for example, data obtained through the
manual (i.e., by persons) monitoring of a statistically significant sample of stations and transmission times so that an
extrapolation may be made to a larger number of comparable
markets.
The present invention creates a second database from the
first database, wherein each of the stored audio signals in the
first database is data reduced in a manner that is not likely to
reflect the human perceptual quality of the signal, meaning
that a significantly data-reduced signal is not likely to be
played back and recognized as the original signal. As a result
of the data reduction, the size of the second database (as
measured in digital tenns) is much smaller than the size ofthe
first database, and is detennined by the rate of compression.
If, for example, if 24 hours worth of audio signals are compressed at a 10,000: I compression rate, the reduced data
could occupy a little more than I megabyte ofdata. With such
a large compression rate, the data to be compared and/or

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Another embodiment of the invention relates to visual
images, which of course, involve at least two dimensions.
Similar to the goals of a psychoacoustic model, a psychovisual model attempts to represent a visual image with less
data, and yet preserve those perceptual qualities that pennit a
human to recognize the original visual image. Using the very
same techniques described above in connection with an audio
signal, signal monitoring of visual images may be implemented.
One such application for monitoring and analyzing visual
images involves a desire to find works of other artists that
relate to a particular theme. For example, finding paintings of
sunsets or sunrises. A traditional approach might involve a
textual search involving a database wherein the works of
other artists have been described in writing. The present
invention, however, involves the scanning ofan image involving a sun, compressing the data to its essential characteristics
(i.e., those perceptual characteristics related to the sun) and
then finding matches in a database of other visual images
(stored as compressed or even uncompressed data). By studying the work of other artists using such techniques, a novice,
for example, could learn much by comparing the presentations of a common theme by different artists.
Another useful application involving this type of monitoring and analyzing is the identification of photographs of
potential suspects whose identity matches the sketch of a
police artist.
Note that combinations of the monitoring techniques discussed above can be used for audio-visual monitoring, such

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as video-transmission by a television station or cable station.
The techniques would have to compensate, for example, for a
cable station that is broadcasting a audio channel unaccompanied by video.
Other embodiments and uses ofthe invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration ofthe specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. The
specification and examples should be considered exemplary
only with the true scope and spirit of the invention indicated
by the following claims. As will be easily understood by those
of ordinary skill in the art, variations and modifications of
each ofthe disclosed embodiments can be easily made within
the scope ofthis invention as defined by the following claims.
What is claimed:
1. A system for identifYing at least one reference signal
comprising:
a first input that receives at least one reference signal to be
identified;
a first processor that creates an abstract of each reference
signal input to said first processor through said first input
wherein the abstract comprises signal characteristic
parameters configured to differentiate between versions
of said reference signal;
at least one reference database for storing at least one
abstract;
a receiver that receives at least one query signal;
a second processor that creates an abstract of said query
signal received by said receiver, based on the parameters; and
a comparing device that compares the created query signal
abstract to the reference signal abstracts in the at least
one database, each abstract in the at least one reference
database corresponding to a version of a reference signal, to determine whether the query signal abstract
matches any of the stored at least one abstract in the at
least one reference database.
2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a controller
that enables authorized transmission or use ofthe corresponding version of the reference signal based on whether a match
was determined by the comparing device.
3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the reference database is
created by at least one ofa music company, a movie studio, an
image archive, an owner ofa general computing device, a user
of the reference signal, an interne service provider, an information technology company, a body politic, a telecommunications company and combinations thereof.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the reference signals
comprise at least one of images, audio, video, and combinations thereof.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the stored abstracts are
derived from one of a cognitive feature or a perceptible characteristic of the associated reference signals.
6. The system of claim 1, furthering comprising a security
controller to apply a cryptographic protocol to at least one
created abstract, at least one database abstract or both at least
one created abstract and at least one database abstract.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the stored
abstracts comprise information configured to differentiate
variations of each referenced corresponding signal.
8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a storage
medium for storing information associated with the comparing device to store information to enable at least one of a
re-calibration of the database and a heuristic-based adjustment of the database.
9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a storage
medium for storing information associated with the comparing device to store information to enable a computational

efficiency adjustment ofthe database, an adjustment for database collisions and/or null cases, a change to the recognition
or use parameters governing the database and combinations
thereof.
10. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising applying one
of a relatedness index or measure of similarity to generate
uniquely identifiable information to determine authorization
by the comparing device.
11. A system for analyzing and identifYing at least one
reference signal, comprising: a first input for receiving at least
one reference signal to be identified, a first processor for
creating an abstract of each reference signal received based
on perceptual characteristics representative of parameters to
differentiate between versions of the reference signal; a reference database for storing abstracts of each reference signal
received in a database; a second input for receiving at least
one query signal to be identified, a second processor for
creating an abstract of the received query signal based on the
parameters; and a comparing device for comparing an
abstract of said received query signal to the abstracts stored in
the database to determine ifthe abstract ofsaid received query
signal is related to any of the stored abstracts.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein said database is independently accessible.
13. The system of claim 11, wherein said received query
signal is independently stored.
14. The system of claim 11, wherein the parameters used
by the comparing device to compare a received query signal
abstract with a stored reference signal abstract are adjustable.
15. The system of claim 11, wherein the stored abstracts
comprise a self-similar representation of at least one reference signal.
16. The system of claim 11, wherein at least two of the
stored abstracts comprise information corresponding to two
versions of at least one reference signal.
17. The system of claim 11, wherein at least one abstract
comprises data describing a portion of the characteristics of
its associated reference signal.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the characteristics of
the reference signal being described comprise at least one of
a perceptible characteristic, a cognitive characteristic, a subjective characteristic, a perceptual quality, a recognizable
characteristic or combinations thereof.
19. The system of claim 11, wherein a stored abstract
comprises data unique to a variation of its corresponding
reference signal.
20. The system of claim 11, wherein the system further
comprises a security controller for applying a cryptographic
protocol to the abstract of said reference signal, said query
signal, or both said reference signal and said query signal.
21. The system of claim 20, wherein the cryptographic
protocol is one of at least a hash or digital signature and
further comprising storing the hashed abstract and/or digitally signed abstract in the reference database.
22. The system of claim 11, further comprising a transmitter for distributing at least one signal based on the comparison
step.
23. The system ofclaim 22, further comprising a processor
for applying a watermarking technique to the at least one
signal to be distributed.
24. A system for identifying a plurality ofreference signals
comprising:
a first input that receives a plurality of reference signals to
be identified;
a first processor that creates an abstract for each of the
plurality ofreference signals input to said first processor
through said first input wherein the abstract comprises

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signal characteristic parameters configured to differentiate between versions of at least one reference signal; at
least one reference database for storing the plurality of
created abstracts; a receiver for receiving a query signal;
a second processor that creates an abstract of said query
signal received by said receiver, based on the parameters; and a comparing device that compares the created
query signal abstract to the abstracts stored in the at least
one database, to determine whether the query signal
abstract matches any ofthe stored abstracts in the at least
one reference database.
25. The system of claim 24, wherein the first and second
processors are the same processor.
26. The system of claim 24, wherein the first and second
processors are different processors.
27. A system for determining whether a query signal
matches a reference signal, comprising:
a first processor configured to create a first version abstract
of a first version of a reference signal input to said first
processor;
wherein said first version abstract comprises signal characteristic parameters configured to differentiate said first
version of said reference signal from a second version of
said reference signal;
a reference database storing said first version abstract;
a device configured to determine whether said first version
of said reference signal matches a query signal, by comparing a query signal abstract of said query signal to said
first version abstract stored in said reference database.
28. A system for determining whether a query signal
matches a reference signal, comprising:
a first processor configured to create a first version abstract
of a first version of a reference signal input to said first
processor, wherein said first processor is configured to
create said first version abstract from said first version of

said reference signal based upon perceptual characteristics of said first version ofsaid reference signal, such that
said first version abstract retains a perceptual relationship to said first version of said reference signal;
a reference database storing said first version abstract;
a second processor configured to create a query signal
abstract from a query signal, wherein said second processor is configured to generate said query signal
abstract from said query signal based upon perceptual
characteristics of said query signal, such that said query
signal abstract retains a perceptual relationship to said
query signal; and
a device configured to determine whether a query signal
matches said first version of said reference signal, by
comparing, a query signal abstract that was generated
based upon perceptual characteristics of said query signal, with said first version abstract stored in said reference database.
29. A system for determining whether a query signal
matches any of a plurality of reference signal, comprising:
a first processor configured to create a plurality of reference signal abstracts for each one of a plurality of reference signals, wherein each one of said plurality of reference signal abstracts comprises signal characteristic
parameters configured to differentiate between other
versions ofthat one of said plurality ofreference signals;
a reference database storing said plurality of reference
signal abstracts;
a device configured to determine if a query signal matches
anyone plurality of reference signals by comparing a
query signal abstract of said query signal with at least
one abstract of said plurality of reference signal
abstracts stored in said reference database.

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UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION
PATENT NO.
APPLICATION NO.
DATED
INVENTOR(S)

: 7,949,494 B2
: 12/655357
: May 24,2011
: Moskowitz

Page 1 of 1

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent is hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1 line 14 reading:
This application claims the benefit of pending U.S. patent
should read:
This application is related to pending U.S. patent
Column 15 line 44 reading:
ofthe reference signal, an interne service provider, an inforshould read:
ofthe reference signal, an internet service provider, an infor-

Signed and Sealed this
Thirtieth Day of August, 2011

~:Jait:r
David J. Kappas
Director ofthe United States Patent and Trademark Office