Data Hiding Technique using Catalan-Lucas Number Sequence

In this paper, a novel data hiding technique is proposed which is an improvement over an existing data hiding techniques. Generally, a pixel intensity value of an image is represented by 8-bit binary sequence. In the proposed technique, a pixel is represented by using 16-bit Catalan Lucas sequence. By using bit plane slicing, 16 virtual planes are generated for each R, G and B component respectively. This paper introduces a new approach for hiding data within few bit planes among 48. Data means a secret message is also decomposed into 16 bits to get 16 bit planes. First 6 bit planes of the secret message are embedded into the middle planes of R using XOR operation and the result is stored in LSB planes of R. Next 6 bit planes of the secret message embed similarly within G plane. The last 4 planes are embedded into the middle planes of B using XOR operation and the result is stored in LSB planes of B. Three keys are generated in the embedding phase. Extraction is carried out by using keys in a reverse way by XO Ring the respective bit planes. This method greatly increases the security as a secret key is known to the authentic user only. The hiding capacity is 16 bits/pixel with the acceptable PSNR value. Keywords: Catalan, Lucas, Steganography, Stego Image, Zeckendorf’s Theorem