Coded image capture and decoding system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019065799-A1
Application number	US-201715686614-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 25, 2017
Priority date	Aug 25, 2017
Publication date	Feb 28, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

A decoding device includes decoding storage to store metadata of tiles of a captured image of an object, wherein each tile includes a 2D array of pixels, and the metadata is derived by a subsampling circuit from the captured image via transform and describes at least one characteristic of each tile. The decoding device also includes a processor to compare a metadata value of each tile to a first threshold to identify tiles that includes a portion of an indicia; upon identification of a cluster of adjacent tiles that each meet the first threshold and that are numerous enough to meet a second threshold, request a ROI that includes the cluster from a subsampling circuit; analyze the ROI to determine whether it contains the indicia; and decode and transmit data encoded within the indicia to a server.

First claim

1 . A decoding device comprising:
a decoding storage configured to store metadata of each tile of an image of a portion of an object captured by an image sensor of a camera, wherein:
the image is divided by a subsampling circuit associated with the camera into multiple tiles;
each tile comprises a two-dimensional (2D) array of pixels of a portion of the image;
the metadata of each tile is derived by the subsampling circuit from a performance of a transform with grayscale values of the 2D array of pixels; and
the metadata is descriptive of at least one characteristic of at least a portion of the 2D array of pixels; and
a processor coupled to the decoding storage, the processor configured to:
for each tile of the image, compare a metadata value of the corresponding metadata to a first threshold to identify at least one tile of the image that comprises a portion of an indicia that encodes data; and
in response to an identification of a cluster of adjacent tiles of the image in which the metadata value of each tile of the cluster meets the first threshold, and in which the cluster comprises a quantity of tiles that meets a second threshold:
transmit a request to the subsampling circuit to provide a region of interest (ROI) of the image that comprises the cluster;
analyze the ROI to determine whether the ROI contains the indicia; and
in response to a determination that the ROI contains the indicia:
interpret the indicia to decode the encoded data; and
transmit the decoded data to a server via a network.

2 . The decoding device of claim 1 , wherein:
the metadata value of the metadata of a tile of the image is selected from the set consisting of:
a lowest grayscale value among the 2D array of pixels;
a highest grayscale value among the 2D array of pixels;
a value indicative of a contrast between grayscale values of adjacent pixels within the 2D array of pixels; and
a quantity of parallel lines within the 2D array of pixels; and
the first threshold is selected from a set consisting of:
a minimum difference between the highest grayscale value and the lowest grayscale value;
a minimum value for the contrast; and
a minimum quantity of parallel lines.

3 . The decoding device of claim 1 , wherein each grayscale value consists of a value selected from the group consisting of:
a level of intensity of a monochromatic pixel; a level of intensity of a color pixel, wherein the grayscale value is accompanied by at least one chrominance value that specifies a color of the color pixel; and a level of intensity of a color component of a plurality of color components that cooperate to specify a color of a color pixel.

4 . The decoding device of claim 1 , wherein the transform comprises a Saporetti transform.

5 . The decoding device of claim 1 , wherein the identification of the cluster of adjacent tiles further comprises an identification of a 2D array of tiles that meets a third threshold of a minimum quantity of rows occupied by the cluster and a fourth threshold of a minimum quantity of columns occupied by the cluster.

6 . The decoding device of claim 1 , wherein the identification of the cluster of adjacent tiles further comprises an identification of a plurality of tiles in which each tile includes at least one line that shares a single orientation.

7 . The decoding device of claim 1 , wherein the request to provide a ROI of the image describes the ROI as a 2D array of tiles.

8 . The decoding device of claim 1 , wherein the indicia is selected from a group consisting of:
a one-dimensional (1D) optically readable code; and a 2D optically readable code.

9 . The decoding device of claim 1 , further comprising:
the subsampling circuit; and an image storage accessible to the subsampling circuit, the image storage configured to store a plurality of images that includes the image and that are captured by the image sensor of the camera at a selected frame rate, wherein: the subsampling circuit is configured to:
recurringly refresh the plurality of images to include a predetermined quantity of most recently captured images of the plurality of images;
divide each image of the plurality of images into multiple tiles;
perform the transform with each tile to derive metadata from each tile; and
provide the metadata derived from each tile to the processor;
the processor is configured to:
compare the metadata value of the metadata of each tile of each image of the plurality of images to the first threshold to identify at least one of the cluster within at least one image of the plurality of images;
for each identified cluster:
transmit a request to the subsampling circuit to provide the corresponding ROI;
analyze the ROI to determine whether the corresponding ROI contains the indicia; and
in response to a determination that the corresponding ROI contains the indicia, interpret the indicia to decode the encoded data; and

in response to a determination that at least one corresponding ROI contains the indicia, transmit the decoded data to the server via the network.

10 . The decoding device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of subsampling circuits that includes the subsampling circuit; and at least one image storage accessible to the plurality of subsampling circuits, the at least one image storage configured to store a plurality of images that includes the image and that are captured by image sensors of a plurality of cameras that includes the camera, wherein:
each subsampling circuit of the plurality of subsampling circuits is coupled to a corresponding image sensor of a corresponding camera of the plurality of cameras;
each subsampling circuit is configured to:
divide the corresponding image captured by the image sensor of the corresponding camera into multiple tiles;
derive metadata from each tile; and
provide the metadata derived from each tile to the processor; and

the processor is configured to:
for each image of the plurality of images, compare the metadata value of the metadata of each tile to the first threshold to identify at least one of the cluster within at least one image of the plurality of images;
for each identified cluster:
transmit a request to the corresponding subsampling circuit to provide the corresponding ROI;
analyze the ROI to determine whether the corresponding ROI contains the indicia; and
in response to a determination that the corresponding ROI contains the indicia, interpret the indicia to decode the encoded data; and

in response to a determination that at least one corresponding ROI contains the indicia, transmit the decoded data to the server via the network.

11 . The decoding device of claim 10 , further comprising a system-on-chip (SOC) integrated circuit, wherein:
the SOC comprises the processor and the plurality of subsampling circuits; and the decoding storage and the at least one image storage are coupled to the SOC.

12 . The decoding device of claim 10 , further comprising a network interface configured to couple the processor to the network, wherein each camera of the plurality of cameras is coupled to the network interface via the network.

13 . The decoding device of claim 10 , wherein:
each camera of the plurality of cameras comprises an image sensor configured to capture an image of the plurality of images within a field of view (FOV) of the camera; and the FOV of each camera of the plurality of cameras at least partially overlaps the FOV of at least one other camera of the plurality of cameras.

14 . The decoding device of claim 13 , wherein:
the plurality of cameras are positioned about a location t

Assignees

• Datalogic IP Tech Srl

Inventors

• Santi Stefano
• Vorabbi Lorenzo

Classifications

• G06K7/10722 Primary

  Photodetector array or CCD scanning · CPC title

• G06K7/1417 Primary

  2D bar codes · CPC title

• G06K19/06037

  multi-dimensional coding · CPC title

• G06K7/1413

  1D bar codes · CPC title

• G06K19/06028

  using bar codes · CPC title