An adaptive digital image watermarking scheme with PSO, DWT and XFCM

Abstract

In this paper, a novel adaptive digital image watermarking model based on modified Fuzzy C-means clustering is proposed. For watermark embedding process, we used Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). A segmentation technique XieBeni integrated Fuzzy C-means clustering (XFCM) is used to identify the segments of original image to expose suitable locations for embedding watermark. We also pre-processed the host image using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to lend a hand to the clustering process. The goal is to focus on proper segmentation of the image so that the embedded watermark can withstand common image processing attacks and provide security to digital images. Several attacks were performed on the watermarked images and original watermark was extracted. Performance measures like PSNR, MSE, CC were computed to test the extracted watermarks with and without attacks. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme has performed well in terms of imperceptibility and robustness when compared to other watermarking models.