Sliding-window dynamic frameproof codes

A sliding-window dynamic frameproof code is a scheme for discouraging the piracy of digital broadcasts through the use of digital fingerprinting. In this paper, we formally define sliding-window dynamic frameproof codes and provide optimal constructions for a certain class of these schemes. We also discuss bounds on the number of users such schemes can support.      

Recursive constructions of secure codes and hash families using difference function families

To protect copyrighted digital data against piracy, codes with different secure properties such as frameproof codes, secure frameproof codes, codes with identifiable parent property (IPP codes), traceability codes (TA codes) are introduced. In this paper, we study these codes together with related combinatorial objects called separating and perfect hash families. We introduce for the first time the notion of difference function families and use these difference function families to give generalized recursive techniques that can be used for any kind of secure codes and hash families. We show that some previous recursive techniques are special cases of these new techniques.     

On a Class of Traceability Codes

Traceability codes are designed to be used in schemes that protect copyrighted digital data against piracy. The main aim of this paper is to give an answer to a Staddon–Stinson–Wei's problem of the existence of traceability codes with q< w ² and b>q. We provide a large class of these codes constructed by using a new general construction method for q-ary codes.     

A tight bound for frameproof codes viewed in terms of separating hash families

Frameproof codes have been introduced for use in digital fingerprinting that prevent a coalition of \(w\) or fewer legitimate users from constructing a fingerprint of another user not in the coalition. It turns out that \(w\) -frameproof codes are equivalent to separating hash families of type \(\{1,w\}\) . In this paper we prove a tight bound for frameproof codes in terms of separating hash families.     

Constructions of almost secure frameproof codes with applications to fingerprinting schemes

This paper presents explicit constructions of fingerprinting codes. The proposed constructions use a class of codes called almost secure frameproof codes. An almost secure frameproof code is a relaxed version of a secure frameproof code, which in turn is the same as a separating code. This relaxed version is the object of our interest because it gives rise to fingerprinting codes of higher rate than fingerprinting codes derived from separating codes. The construction of almost secure frameproof codes discussed here is based on weakly biased arrays, a class of combinatorial objects tightly related to weakly dependent random variables.     

Quasi-Hadamard Full Propelinear Codes

In this paper, we give a characterization of quasi-Hadamard groups in terms of propelinear codes. We define a new class of codes that we call quasi-Hadamard full propelinear codes. Some structural properties of these codes are studied and examples are provided.     

Bit-Parallel Arithmetic Implementations over Finite Fields GF(2 m ) with Reconfigurable Hardware

Galois (or finite) fields are used in a wide number of technical applications, playing an important role in several areas such as cryptographic schemes and algebraic codes, used in modern digital communication systems. Finite field arithmetic must be fast, due to the increasing performance needed by communication systems, so it might be necessary for the implementation of the modules performing arithmetic over Galois fields on semiconductor integrated circuits. Galois field multiplication is the most costly arithmetic operation and different approaches can be used. In this paper, the fundamentals of Galois fields are reviewed and multiplication of finite-field elements using three different representation bases are considered. These three multipliers have been implemented using a bit-parallel architecture over reconfigurable hardware and experimental results are presented to compare the performance of these multipliers.     

Direct constructions of additive codes

A code is q^m‐ary q‐linear if its alphabet forms an m‐dimensional vector space over ??_q and the code is linear over ??_q. These additive codes form a natural generalization of linear codes. Our main results are direct constructions of certain families of additive codes. These comprise the additive generalization of the Kasami codes, an additive generalization of the Bose‐Bush construction of orthogonal arrays of strength 2 as well as a class of additive codes which are being used for deep space communication. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 10: 207–216, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jcd.20000     

Highly Nonlinear Resilient Functions Through Disjoint Codes in Projective Spaces

Functions which map n-bits to m-bits are important cryptographic sub-primitives in the design of additive stream ciphers. We construct highly nonlinear t-resilient such functions ((n, m, t) functions) by using a class of binary disjoint codes, a construction which was introduced in IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, Vol. IT-49 (2) (2003). Our main contribution concerns the generation of suitable sets of such disjoint codes. We propose a deterministic method for finding disjoint codes of length ν m by considering the points of PG ). We then obtain some lower bounds on the number of disjoint codes, by fixing some parameters. Through these sets, we deduce in certain cases the existence of resilient functions with very high nonlinearity values. We show how, thanks to our method, the degree and the differential properties of (n, m, t) functions can be improved.Communicated by: J.D. Key     

A new concatenated type construction for LCD codes and isometry codes

We give a new concatenated type construction for linear codes with complementary dual (LCD) over small finite fields. In this construction,we need a special class of inner codes that we call isometry codes. Our construction generalizes a recent construction of Carlet et al. (2014–2016) and of Güneri et al. (2016). In particular, it allows us to construct LCD codes with improved parameters directly.     

A bound on the size of separating hash families

The paper provides an upper bound on the size of a (generalized) separating hash family, a notion introduced by Stinson, Wei and Chen. The upper bound generalizes and unifies several previously known bounds which apply in special cases, namely bounds on perfect hash families, frameproof codes, secure frameproof codes and separating hash families of small type.     

Explicit constructions of separating hash families from algebraic curves over finite fields

Let X be a set of order n and Y be a set of order m. An (n,m,{w ₁, w ₂})-separating hash family is a set of N functions from X to Y such that for any with , |X ₁| = w ₁ and |X ₂| = w ₂, there exists an element such that . In this paper, we provide explicit constructions of separating hash families using algebraic curves over finite fields. In particular, applying the Garcia–Stichtenoth curves, we obtain an infinite class of explicitly constructed (n,m,{w ₁,w ₂})–separating hash families with for fixed m, w ₁, and w ₂. Similar results for strong separating hash families are also obtained. As consequences of our main results, we present explicit constructions of infinite classes of frameproof codes, secure frameproof codes and identifiable parent property codes with length where n is the size of the codes. In fact, all the above explicit constructions of hash families and codes provide the best asymptotic behavior achieving the bound , which substantially improve the results in [ 8, 15, 17] give an answer to the fifth open problem presented in [11].     

Algebraic signatures of convex and non-convex codes

A convex code is a binary code generated by the pattern of intersections of a collection of open convex sets in some Euclidean space. Convex codes are relevant to neuroscience as they arise from the activity of neurons that have convex receptive fields. In this paper, we develop algebraic methods to determine if a code is convex. Specifically, we use the neural ideal of a code, which is a generalization of the Stanley–Reisner ideal. Using the neural ideal together with its standard generating set, the canonical form, we provide algebraic signatures of certain families of codes that are non-convex. We connect these signatures to the precise conditions on the arrangement of sets that prevent the codes from being convex. Finally, we also provide algebraic signatures for some families of codes that are convex, including the class of intersection-complete codes. These results allow us to detect convexity and non-convexity in a variety of situations, and point to some interesting open questions.     

New Constructions for IPP Codes

Identifiable parent property (IPP) codes are introduced to provide protection against illegal producing of copyrighted digital material. In this paper we consider explicit construction methods for IPP codes by means of recursion techniques. The first method directly constructs IPP codes, whereas the second constructs perfect hash families that are then used to derive IPP codes. In fact, the first construction provides an infinite class of IPP codes having the best known asymptotic behavior. We also prove that this class has a traitor tracing algorithm with a runtime of O(M) in general, where M is the number of codewords.     

New constructions for perfect hash families and related structures using combinatorial designs and codes

In this paper, we consider explicit constructions of perfect hash families using combinatorial methods. We provide several direct constructions from combinatorial structures related to orthogonal arrays. We also simplify and generalize a recursive construction due to Atici, Magliversas, Stinson and Wei [3]. Using similar methods, we also obtain efficient constructions for separating hash families which result in improved existence results for structures such as separating systems, key distribution patterns, group testing algorithms, cover‐free families and secure frameproof codes. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 8:189–200, 2000     

Improved bounds for separating hash families

An ${(N;n,m,\{w_1,\ldots, w_t\})}$ -separating hash family is a set ${\mathcal{H}}$ of N functions ${h: \; X \longrightarrow Y}$ with ${|X|=n, |Y|=m, t \geq 2}$ having the following property. For any pairwise disjoint subsets ${C_1, \ldots, C_t \subseteq X}$ with ${|C_i|=w_i, i=1, \ldots, t}$ , there exists at least one function ${h \in \mathcal{H}}$ such that ${h(C_1), h(C_2), \ldots, h(C_t)}$ are pairwise disjoint. Separating hash families generalize many known combinatorial structures such as perfect hash families, frameproof codes, secure frameproof codes, identifiable parent property codes. In this paper we present new upper bounds on n which improve many previously known bounds. Further we include constructions showing that some of these bounds are tight.     

XOR-based Visual Cryptography Schemes

A recent publication introduced a Visual Crypto (VC) system, based on the polarisation of light. This VC system has goodresolution, contrast and colour properties.Mathematically, the VC system is described by the XOR operation (modulo two addition). In this paper we investigate Threshold Visual Secret Sharing schemes associated to XOR-based VC systems. Firstly, we show that n out of n schemes with optimal resolution and contrast exist, and that (2,n) schemes are equivalent to binary codes. It turns out that these schemes have much better resolution than their OR-based counterparts. Secondly, we provide two explicit constructions for general k out of n schemes. Finally, we derive bounds on the contrast and resolution of XOR-based schemes. It follows from these bounds that for k<n, the contrast is strictly smaller than one. Moreover, the bounds imply that XOR-based k out of n schemes for even k are fundamentally different from those for odd k.AMS Classification: 94A60     

The impact of digital channel distribution on the experience goods industry

We explore the impact of a digital channel for experience goods on the profitability and behavior of players in the supply chain and on piracy. We consider a firm which can sell an experience good in physical form, in digitized form, or both. We analyze different pricing schemes – price for whole album on the retail channel and linear and nonlinear pricing for songs on the digital channel. Consumers are divided into a retail-captive segment whose consumers are limited to the retail channel and a hybrid segment whose consumers have access to both retail and digital channels.     

Higher Power Residue Codes

For certain primeslandp, and characters χ:F*_p→F*_l², we construct codesWof lengthp+ 1 overF_l²which are linear overF_l, but not overF_l², and which are invariant under a monomial action of the group SL(2,p). We consider the cases of cubic and quartic characters in detail and use theWto construct linear codes overF_lin these cases.