Coding/decoding method and system for scalable video bitstream

Abstract

Disclosed is a system and method for encryption of a scalable video coding (SVC) bitstream, which is the next-generation coding technology. The encryption method encrypts Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) data identified according to multidimensional scalability for space, time, and quality with respect to a bitstream created after an SVC encoding, thereby providing a multidimensional scalability function for space, time, and quality even after the encryption, so that the scalability is also maintained even in a bitstream extraction process after the encryption. According to such a scalable encryption method, a specific portion of an encrypted bitstream is removed in a bitstream extraction process, and user access to the bitstream is limited based on a combination of keys for accessing a specific scalability. Therefore, it is possible to protect scalable video content and to access the video content based on scalabilities.