Encoding and decoding data in two-dimensional symbology

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9646236-B1
Application number	US-201514967429-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Dec 14, 2015
Priority date	Dec 14, 2015
Publication date	May 9, 2017
Grant date	May 9, 2017

Abstract

Examples of techniques for encoding data in a 2D symbology are disclosed. In one example implementation according to aspects of the present disclosure, a computer-implemented comprises assigning a first color representative of a 0-bit and a second color representative of a 1-bit. The method further comprises designating a starting cell pair and an ending cell pair. The method also comprises generating, by a processing device, the 2D symbology. The 2D symbology comprises a series of cells in a cell space starting with the starting cell pair and ending with the ending cell pair. Each cell between the starting cell pair and the ending cell pair corresponds to a bit of a binary string and has a common cell length. The cells corresponding to a 0-bit are colored the first color and the cells corresponding to a 1-bit are colored the second color.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for encoding data in a two-dimensional (2D) symbology, the method comprising:
assigning a first color representative of a 0-bit and a second color representative of a 1-bit;
designating a starting cell pair and an ending cell pair;
generating, by a processing device, the 2D symbology, the 2D symbology comprising a series of cells in a cell space starting with the starting cell pair and ending with the ending cell pair, each cell between the starting cell pair and the ending cell pair corresponding to a bit of a binary string and having a common cell length, wherein the cells corresponding to a 0-bit are colored the first color and the cells corresponding to a 1-bit are colored the second color; and
printing the 2D symbology in the cell space, wherein the cell space is surrounded by a contiguous non-cell space extending a distance greater than the common cell length from the cell space and being of a color different than the first color and the second color.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the starting cell pair is a 2-bit starting cell pair, and wherein the ending cell pair is a 2-bit ending cell pair.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the starting cell pair is designated as a 0-bit and a 1-bit and wherein the ending cell pair is designated as a 1-bit and a 1-bit.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the starting cell pair is designated as a 0-bit and a 1-bit and wherein the ending cell pair is designated as a 0-bit and a 0-bit.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the starting cell pair is designated as a 1-bit and a 0-bit and wherein the ending cell pair is designated as a 1-bit and a 1-bit.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the starting cell pair is designated as a 1-bit and a 0-bit and wherein the ending cell pair is designated as a 0-bit and a 0-bit.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein printing the series of cells comprises printing the series of cells in a plurality of horizontal parallel rows, and wherein each of the plurality of horizontal parallel rows comprises at least one cell of the series of cells.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein a vertical space between each of the plurality of horizontal parallel rows is less than the common cell length.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least two of the cells in the series of cells are non-contiguous.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the series of cells are printed in a human-recognizable layout.

11. A system for encoding data in a two-dimensional (2D) symbology, the system comprising:
a processor in communication with one or more types of memory, the processor configured to:
assign a first color representative of a 0-bit and a second color representative of a 1-bit, designate a starting cell pair and an ending cell pair,
generate the 2D symbology, the 2D symbology comprising a series of cells in a cell space starting with the starting cell pair and ending with the ending cell pair, each cell between the starting cell pair and the ending cell pair corresponding to a bit of a binary string and having a common cell length, wherein the cells corresponding to a 0-bit are colored the first color and the cells corresponding to a 1-bit are colored the second color; and
print the 2D symbology in the cell space, wherein the cell space is surrounded by a contiguous non-cell space extending a distance greater than the common cell length from the cell space and being of a color different than the first color and the second color.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the starting cell pair is a 2-bit starting cell pair, and wherein the ending cell pair is a 2-bit ending cell pair.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein printing the series of cells comprises printing the series of cells in a plurality of horizontal parallel rows, and wherein each of the plurality of horizontal parallel rows comprises at least one cell of the series of cells.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the series of cells are printed in a human-recognizable layout.

15. A computer program product for encoding data in a two-dimensional (2D) symbology, the computer program product comprising:
a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method comprising:
assigning a first color representative of a 0-bit and a second color representative of a 1-bit,
designating a starting cell pair and an ending cell pair,
generating the 2D symbology, the 2D symbology comprising a series of cells in a cell space starting with the starting cell pair and ending with the ending cell pair, each cell between the starting cell pair and the ending cell pair corresponding to a bit of a binary string and having a common cell length, wherein the cells corresponding to a 0-bit are colored the first color and the cells corresponding to a 1-bit are colored the second color, and
printing the 2D symbology in the cell space, wherein the cell space is surrounded by a contiguous non-cell space extending a distance greater than the common cell length from the cell space and being of a color different than the first color and the second color.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the starting cell pair is a 2-bit starting cell pair, and wherein the ending cell pair is a 2-bit ending cell pair.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the series of cells are printed in a human-recognizable layout.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Guenter Erich
• Maresh Mark E
• Nolan Colm
• Vargas Juan F
• Whitney Michael J

Classifications

• G06K19/06103 Primary

  the marking being embedded in a human recognizable image, e.g. a company logo with an embedded two-dimensional code · CPC title

• G06K7/1447 Primary

  extracting optical codes from image or text carrying said optical code · CPC title

• G06K7/1417

  2D bar codes · CPC title

• G06K19/06037

  multi-dimensional coding · CPC title