Methods and arrangements for reconciling data from disparate data carriers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021303959-A1
Application number	US-202117237895-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 22, 2021
Priority date	Jun 18, 2018
Publication date	Sep 30, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

In an illustrative system, a point-of-sale scanner is equipped to respond to multiple different symbologies printed on a single product. The scanner captures many frames per second, as products are swiped through a viewing volume. Each frame is decoded, yielding one or more payloads. A reconciliation module compares each newly-decoded payload against a list of payloads previously output by the module, to determine if the current payload is semantically-equivalent to a previously-output payload. If so, the previously-output payload is output again, in lieu of the just-decoded payload. If no equivalent is found, the current payload is output and added to the list for comparison against future payloads. A great number of other features and arrangements are also detailed.

First claim

1 - 5 . (canceled)

6 . A system comprising:
first means for decoding first and second optical codes found on an item, the first optical code conveying a first payload and the second optical code conveying a second payload different than the first payload; and second means for determining that the first and second payloads are semantically-equivalent, despite the second payload being different than the first payload; wherein, based on said determining, the system can take different actions in response to said first and second payloads.

7 - 20 . (canceled)

21 . A method comprising the acts:
capturing imagery depicting a label, the label including first and second machine-readable indicia of first and second different types, the second indicia encoding a plural-symbol payload different than the first indicia; decoding both the first and second indicia from said imagery, yielding first and second different payloads; and providing the first payload, but not the second, to an associated point of sale terminal.

22 . The method of claim 21 that includes thermally-printing said label.

23 . A method comprising the acts:
receiving data including at least an item identifier and an item sell-by date; printing, on a thermal label, a DataBar symbology encoding a first payload that represents the received data; and printing, on said thermal label, a sparse dot symbology that holographically encodes a second payload that represents the received data; wherein the data printed on the label is functional descriptive material enabling a compliant point-of-sale terminal to discount an item price based on a difference between the sell-by date and a current date, despite damage to one of said symbologies that makes it unreadable; and wherein the first and second payloads are different.

24 . The method of claim 23 that further includes applying said printed thermal label to a packaged food item.

25 . A label produced by the method of claim 23 .

Assignees

• Digimarc Corp

Inventors

• Evans Eric D
• Haverkate Christopher M
• Tait Mark-Andrew Ray

Classifications

• G06K19/06037

  multi-dimensional coding · CPC title

• G06K7/1417

  2D bar codes · CPC title

• G06Q30/0238

  at point-of-sale [POS] · CPC title

• G06K19/06075

  the marking containing means for error correction · CPC title

• G06K19/06065 Primary

  the marking being at least partially represented by holographic means (holographic marking in general, see G06K19/16) · CPC title