Watermarking media assets at the network edge

摘要

Watermarking techniques are described which can be performed at network edge locations such as a Content Delivery Network (CDN) point-of-presence (POP). An edge server can identify users by request and apply a watermark based on the user to media content stored locally. Performance is improved by moving the watermarking from a central location closer to the user in terms of network proximity. An edge server can receive instructions on what type of watermark to assign and how to assign it. The edge server can use requester's identity to create and apply watermarks at the time of transferring media content to the requester. Individualized watermarking is applied to the bits transmitted to the device, the watermark indicating the specific user downloading the stream, time of transmission, etc. Watermarking can be applied throughout all of the frames of the media content rather than merely attaching it at a specific place.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving, by a network edge server, a request from a user for media content; determining information associated the request; generating, at the network edge server, a watermark for the media content, the watermark determined based at least in part on the information associated with the request, the watermark being specific to the media content that is associated with the request; determining, by the network edge server, a format for transcoding the media content based at least on the generated watermark; inserting, by the network edge server, the watermark into the media content while transcoding is being performed; and transmitting the media content including the watermark from the network edge server to be presented to the user.