# US 2019/0243999 A1 · Diagnostic data reporting from point-of-sale scanner

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- Number: US 2019/0243999 A1
- Document ID: US20190243999A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/272,485
- Filed: 2019-02-11
- Published: 2019-08-08
- Earliest claimed: 2017-12-01
- Assignees: Digimarc Corporation
- Applicants: Digimarc Corporation
- Inventors: Scott M. Long
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190243999A1

## CPC

- G06K 7/1417: {2D bar codes}
- G06K 7/1413: {1D bar codes}
- G06Q 20/208: {Input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing}
- G07G 1/0009: {Details of the software in the checkout register, electronic cash register [ECR] or point of sale terminal [POS]}
- G07G 1/0045: {with a code reader for reading of an identifying code of the article to be registered, e.g. barcode reader or radio-frequency identity [RFID] reader}
- G07G 1/01: Details for indicating
- G07G 3/00: Alarm indicators, e.g. bells
- G06K: GRAPHICAL DATA READING (image or video recognition or understanding G06V); PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G07G: REGISTERING THE RECEIPT OF CASH, VALUABLES, OR TOKENS

## Abstract

Debug information is output from a point-of-scale scanner by disguising it as one or more product identifiers (e.g., Global Trade Item Numbers, or GTINs). Generation of such “faux GTINs” to convey the debug information can be activated by presenting a special machine readable code to the scanner. Repetitive patterns in the debug information are desirably varied to avoid triggering duplicate detection logic in the scanner, which might otherwise suppress outputting of such repetitive information.

## Claims

### Claim at position 1

1-13. (canceled)

### Claim 14

A method comprising the following acts, performed in the order stated:
receiving first image data captured by a camera;
recognizing first information from the first image data;
sending the recognized first information to an output port;
receiving second image data captured by the camera;
recognizing second information from the second image data;
sending information from a memory to said output port instead of the recognized second information.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14 in which the recognized second information comprises a steganographic digital watermark conveying a triggering payload.

### Claim 16 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14 in which the information sent from the memory comprises one or more of:
data indicating a pixel size of images captured by the camera; and
data indicating whether the images captured by the camera are grayscale.

### Claim 17 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14 in which said acts of recognizing information comprise recognizing machine-readable indicia depicted in the image data, and in which the information sent from the memory comprises one or more of:
data indicating a type of machine-readable indicia expected; and
data indicating whether the method should advance to analyze a next frame of image data when one indicia is read from a current frame of image data.

### Claim 18 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14 in which said acts of recognizing information comprise recognizing machine-readable indicia depicted in the image data, and in which the information sent from the memory to said output port comprises one or more of:
data indicating a particular location within captured frames that should be analyzed for machine-readable indicia;
data indicating whether perspective correction should be applied to the captured image frames; and
parameters for any perspective correction that should be applied to the captured image frames.

### Claim 19 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14 in which said acts of recognizing information comprise recognizing machine-readable indicia depicted in the image data, and in which the information sent from the memory to said output port comprises data indicating pose information for a last-decoded indicia.

### Claim 20 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14 in which said acts of recognizing information comprise recognizing machine-readable indicia depicted in the image data, and in which the information sent from the memory to said output port comprises data indicating a version identifier for indicia decoding software.

### Claim 21 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14 in which said acts of recognizing information comprise recognizing machine-readable indicia depicted in the image data, and in which the information sent from the memory to said output port comprises data indicating a signal-to-noise ratio of a last-decoded indicia.

### Claim 22

An apparatus comprising:
a memory;
a camera;
an output port;
one or more processors configured to process image frames captured by the camera to generate identification data for physical items depicted in said captured frames, and send the identification data through said output port; and
means for sending configuration or diagnostic data from the memory to said output port through which the identification data is also sent.

### Claim 23 (depends on 22)

The apparatus of claim 22 in which said means is responsive to depiction of a trigger object in a captured image frame.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The apparatus of claim 23 in which the trigger object is an object bearing a machine-readable indicia that conveys a triggering payload.

### Claim 25 (depends on 22)

The apparatus of claim 22 in which said means includes means for transforming the configuration or diagnostic data to mimic said identification data.

### Claim 26 (depends on 22)

The apparatus of claim 22 in which said means includes means for transforming the configuration or diagnostic data to prevent duplicate detection logic in the apparatus from suppressing sending of said configuration or diagnostic data.

### Claim 27

A method employing a camera-equipped apparatus that is configured for (a) capturing image frames depicting physical items, (b) processing the captured image frames to generate identification data for the physical items; and (c) sending the identification data through an output port for delivery to an item tallying component, the method comprising the acts:
sensing a triggering item presented to the camera of the apparatus; and
in response, sending configuration or diagnostic data from a memory of the apparatus to said output port through which the identification data is also sent.

### Claim 28 (depends on 27)

The method of claim 27 in which the apparatus is configured to analyze captured image frames for machine-readable indicia conveying plural bit payloads, and the configuration or diagnostic data comprises one or more of:
data indicating a pixel size of captured image frames; and
data indicating whether captured image frames are grayscale.

### Claim 29 (depends on 27)

The method of claim 27 in which the apparatus is configured to analyze captured image frames for machine-readable indicia conveying plural bit payloads, and the configuration or diagnostic data comprises one or more of:
data indicating a type of machine-readable indicia expected; and
data indicating whether the method should advance to analyze a next frame when one indicia is read from a current frame.

### Claim 30 (depends on 27)

The method of claim 27 in which the apparatus is configured to analyze captured image frames for machine-readable indicia conveying plural bit payloads, and the configuration or diagnostic data comprises one or more of:
data indicating a particular location within captured frames that should be analyzed for machine-readable indicia;
data indicating whether perspective correction should be applied to the captured image frames; and
parameters for any perspective correction that should be applied to the captured image frames.

### Claim 31 (depends on 27)

The method of claim 27 in which the apparatus is configured to analyze captured image frames for machine-readable indicia conveying plural bit payloads, and the configuration or diagnostic data comprises data indicating pose information for a last-decoded indicia.

### Claim 32 (depends on 27)

The method of claim 27 in which the apparatus is configured to analyze captured image frames for machine-readable indicia conveying plural bit payloads, and the configuration or diagnostic data comprises data indicating a version identifier for indicia decoding software.

### Claim 33 (depends on 27)

The method of claim 27 in which the apparatus is configured to analyze captured image frames for machine-readable indicia conveying plural bit payloads, and the configuration or diagnostic data comprises data indicating a signal-to-noise ratio of a last-decoded indicia.