Embedding Auxiliary Data in H.264/AVC Compression Domain

In this paper, some auxiliary data about the video are embedded into the H.264/AVC compressed bits. To extract the auxiliary data, we just need a simple syntax parsing of the compressed bit stream to identify the locations of the embedded bits. Embedding data bits in the H.264/AVC compressed domain, the main concerns are to maintain the same bit rate before and after the embedding and to ensure no error propagation due to the embedding. Our solution for the above two issues is to embed the data bit into the sign of Trailing Ones. Since it is a coded-bit of one-bit fixed length, there will be no change in data rate after the embedding. Also, by checking the context of intra prediction modes for the neighboring 4 × 4 blocks, we can selectively embed the data into a specific set of sign of Trailing Ones, which guarantee no error propagation. The simplicity of the proposed data embedding and extraction enables real-time applications.