RST invariant image watermarking algorithm with mathematical modeling and analysis of the watermarking processes

In this paper, a new rotation and scaling invariant image watermarking scheme is proposed based on rotation invariant feature and image normalization. A mathematical model is established to approximate the image based on the mixture generalized Gaussian distribution, which can facilitate the analysis of the watermarking processes. Using maximum a posteriori probability based image segmentation, the cover image is segmented into several homogeneous areas. Each region can be represented by a generalized Gaussian distribution, which is critical for the analysis of the watermarking processes mathematically. The rotation invariant features are extracted from the segmented areas and are selected as reference points. Sub-regions centered at the feature points are used for watermark embedding and extraction. Image normalization is applied to the sub-regions to achieve scaling invariance. Meanwhile, the watermark embedding and extraction schemes are analyzed mathematically based on the established mathematical model. The watermark embedding strength is adjusted adaptively using the noise visibility function and the probability of error is analyzed mathematically. The mathematical relationship between fidelity and robustness is established. The experimental results show the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed scheme.