Methods and apparatus for encoding information in a signal by spectral notch modulation

A spectral notch modulation technique for encoding information in a signal involves transforming the signal into the frequency domain via a fast Fourier transform (FFT) of length N (26), such that the signal is represented by N frequency bins, selectively nulling M of the N frequency bins (28), where nulled combinations of M frequency bins respectively correspond to encoded information bits, transforming the selectively nulled signal to the time domain via an inverse FFT (30), and transmitting the selectively nulled signal. At the receiving end, the signal is demodulated to recover the encoded information by transforming the signal into the frequency domain via a fast Fourier transform (FFT) of length N (50), identifying the set of M nulled frequency bins among the N frequency bins (52), and converting the set of M nulled frequency bins to corresponding information bits.