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High-efficiency quantum image steganography protocol based on double-layer matrix coding

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Abstract

In this paper, two efficient quantum image steganography protocols based on double-layer matrix coding are proposed. The first protocol is based on the high embedding efficiency of the classic Zhang Weiming, Zhang Xinpeng and Wang Shuozhong’s steganography framework and matrix coding, combined with quantum image carrier, so that the new protocol not only has very high embedding efficiency but also has high security. The second protocol further proposes a more efficient quantum image steganography protocol, which not only achieves a higher embedding efficiency than the first protocol but also doubles the capacity of the first protocol. To reflect the practicality of these two protocols, we also designed dedicated quantum circuits to embed and extract secret information. Based on the IBMQ quantum experiment platform, we successfully ran the core circuits of the protocol and gave the corresponding results. The simulation results based on MATLAB and the mathematical analysis also show that the two new protocols not only have good imperceptibility but also have high embedding efficiency.

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Data availability

The experimental data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61373131, 61601358, 61501247, 61672290, 61303039, 61232016), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK20171458), Sichuan Youth Science and Technique Foundation (No. 2017JQ0048), Open Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology (Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications) (SKLNST-2020-1-17), PAPD and CICAEET funds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Research Center of Digital Forensics, Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

    Hanrong Sun & Zhiguo Qu

  2. School of Computer Science, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

    Hanrong Sun, Zhiguo Qu & Le Sun

  3. Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

    Zhiguo Qu

  4. Information Security Center, State Key Laboratory of Networking and Switching Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China

    Zhiguo Qu & Xiubo Chen

  5. Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory of Public Big Data, GuiZhou University, Guiyang, Guizhou, China

    Xiubo Chen

  6. School of Information Science and Technology, North China University of Technology, Beijing, China

    Gang Xu

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  1. Hanrong Sun
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  2. Zhiguo Qu
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  3. Le Sun
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  4. Xiubo Chen
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  5. Gang Xu
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Correspondence to Zhiguo Qu.

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Sun, H., Qu, Z., Sun, L. et al. High-efficiency quantum image steganography protocol based on double-layer matrix coding. Quantum Inf Process 21, 165 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11128-022-03513-w

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