Variable-dimensional vector modulation for perceptual-based DWT blind audio watermarking with adjustable payload capacity

A variable-dimensional vector modulation (VDVM) scheme is introduced to maximize the efficiency of the norm-space DWT-based blind audio watermarking technique. This flexible scheme allows the watermarking algorithm to reach a balance between robustness and capacity, while the imperceptivity is always ensured. The imperfection of applying quantization index modulation in the open-loop case has been rectified. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is proven using the perceptual evaluation of audio quality (PEAQ) and bit error rates of recovered watermarks under various signal processing attacks. Experimental results show that the proposed VDVM scheme is comparable to other recently developed methods in robustness and imperceptivity even at a capacity as high as 301.46 bps. Such a capacity can be further doubled by halving the dimension of the involved DWT vector, while the robustness is still maintained at a satisfactory level.