Frequency-selective partial encryption of compressed audio

The widespread adoption of compressed digital audio increasingly demands effective ways to conjugate ease of distribution with content protection. In this paper a low-complexity partial-encryption scheme for MPEG audio is presented. The aim is to provide listeners with sample-quality audio material that can be upgraded to full-quality by simply acquiring a key and decrypting a few selected bits (1-10% of the total bitstream) of the already available data. Sample-quality is obtained by limiting the frequency content of the signal, and it is achieved without altering the compatibility of the compressed audio bitstream. Audio material partially encrypted with the proposed scheme can thus be freely distributed for evaluation and then easily unlocked to achieve full quality without any further transmission of audio data.