Hexagonal, information encoding article, process and system

A process for encoding information in an optically-readable label comprising a multiplicity of information-encoded hexagons contiguously arranged in a honeycomb pattern, each hexagon having one of at least two optical properties, comprising the steps of:

• (a) assigning one of at least two optical properties to each hexagon to create a plurality of contiguous hexagons having different optical properties;
• (b) encoding the information by ordering the hexagons in a predetermined sequence;
• and
• (c) printing each hexagon in its assigned optical property.

A process of storing and retrieving data, comprising the steps of:

• (a) printing on a label a multiplicity of information-encoded hexagons contiguously arranged in a honeycomb pattern, each hexagon having one of at least two different optical properties;
• (b) illuminating said label;
• (c) optically sensing light reflected from said hexagons with an electro-optical sensor;
• (d) generating analog electrical signals corresponding to the intensities of light reflected from said optical properties as sensed by individual pixels of said sensor;
• (e) converting said analog electrical signals into sequenced digital signals;
• (f) storing said digital signals in a storage medium connected to a computer to form a replica of said digital signals in said storage medium;
• (g) decoding said replica of said digital signals to retrieve the characteristics of the intensities, locations and orientations of the individual optical properties of said hexagons;
• and
• (h) generating a digital bit stream output from the computer representing the decoded information represented by the hexagons.

A process of storing and retrieving data, comprising the steps of:

• (a) printing on a label a multiplicity of information-encoded hexagons contiguously arranged in a honeycomb pattern, and a plurality of centrally-located Concentric Rings, each hexagon having one of at least two different optical properties and said Concentric Rings having alternating optical properties corresponding to at least two of the optical properties of said hexagons;
• (b) illuminating said label;
• (c) optically sensing light reflected from said hexagons and said Concentric Rings with an electro-optical sensor;
• (d) generating analog electrical signals corresponding to the intensities of light reflected from said hexagons and said Concentric Rings as sensed by individual pixels of said sensor;
• (e) filtering said analog electrical signals through an analog bandpass filter to determine the presence of said Concentric Rings, thereby detecting the presence of said hexagons within the field of view of said sensor;
• (f) converting said analog electrical signals into a sequenced digital bit stream;
• (g) storing said digital signals in a storage medium to form a replica of said digital signals in said storage medium;
• (h) decoding said replica of said digital signals to retrieve the characteristics of the intensities, locations and orientations of the individual optical properties of said hexagons;
• and
• (i) generating a digital bit stream output from said computer representing the decoded hexagons.

A process of storing and retrieving data, comprising the steps of:

• (a) printing on a substrate a multiplicity of information-encoded hexagons contiguously arranged in a honeycomb pattern, and a plurality of centrally-located Concentric Rings, each hexagon having one of at least two different optical properties, and said Concentric Rings having alternating optical properties corresponding to at least two of the optical properties of said hexagons;
• (b) illuminating said substrate;
• (c) optically sensing light reflected from said hexagons and said Concentric Rings with an electro-optical sensor;
• (d) transmitting digital electrical signals corresponding to the intensity of light reflected from said hexagons and said Concentric Rings as recorded by individual pixels of said sensor;
• (e) filtering said digital electrical signals through a digital bandpass filter to determine the presence of said Concentric Rings, thereby detecting the presence of said hexagons within the field of view of said sensor;
• (f) storing said digital electrical signals in a storage medium connected to a computer to form a replica of said digital electrical signals in said storage mediu;;
• (g) decoding said replica of said digital electrical signals to retrieve the characteristics of the intensities, locations and orientations of the individual optical properties of said hexagons;
• and
• (h) transmitting a digital bit stream output from said computer representing the decoded hexagons.

A process for decoding a stream of digital signals representing an electro-optically sensed image corresponding to a multiplicity of contiguously-arranged polygons encoded in a predetermined pattern, each polygon having one of at least two optical properties, comprising the steps of:

• (a) performing a two-dimensional clock recovery on said image to determine the coordinates and intensities of said optical properties;
• (b) searching said intensities of the optical properties of step (a) to identify the optical properties of said contiguously-arranged polygons;
• and
• (c) decoding said polygons by performing the inverse of the encoding process for said polygons.

A combination optical mark sensing and decoding system, comprising:

• (a) an optically readable label for storing encoded data comprising a multiplicity of information-encoded hexagons contiguously arranged in a honeycomb pattern, each hexagon having one of at least two different optical properties;
• (b) means for illuminating a predetermined area;
• (c) means for optically imaging said predetermined illuminated area through which said label is arranged to pass and generating analog electrical signals corresponding to the intensities of light reflected from said hexagons and striking each pixel of said imaging means;
• (d) means for converting said analog electrical signals into a sequenced digital bit stream corresponding to the intensities of light recorded by said pixels of said imaging means;
• (e) means for storing said digital bit stream for subsequent decoding of said label;
• and
• (f) means for decoding said digital bit stream, said decoding means producing an electrical output representative of the encoded information.

An optical mark sensing and decoding system for an optically readable label for storing encoded data comprising a multiplicity of information-encoded hexagons contiguously arranged in a honeycomb pattern, each hexagon having one of at least two different optical properties, comprising:

• (a) means for illuminating a predetermined area;
• (b) means for optically imaging said pedetermined illuminated area through which said label is arranged to pass and generating analog electrical signals corresponding to the intensities of light reflected from said hexagons and striking each pixel of said imaging means;
• (c) means for converting said analog electrical signals into a sequenced digital bit stream corresponding to the intensities of light recorded by said pixels of said imaging means;
• (d) means for storing said digital bit stream for subsequent decoding of said label;
• and
• (e) means for decoding said digital bit stream, said decoding means producing an electrical output representative of the encoded information.

An optical mark sensing and decoding system for an optically readable label for storing encoded data comprising a multiplicity of information-encoded hexagons contiguously arranged in a honeycomb pattern and a plurality of centrallylocated Concentric Rings, each hexagon having one of at least two different optical properties and said Concentric Rings having alternating optical properties corresponding to at least two of the optical properties of said hexagons;

• comprising:
• (a) means for illuminating a predetermined area;
• (b) means for optically imaging said predetermined illuminated area through which said label is arranged to pass and generating analog electrical signals corresponding to the intensities of light reflected from said hexagons and striking each pixel of said imaging means;
• (c) means for converting said analog electrical signals into a sequenced digital bit stream corresponding to the intensities of light recorded by said pixels of said imaging means;
• (d) means for storing said digital bit stream for subsequent decoding of said label;
• and
• (e) means for decoding said digital bit stream, said decoding means producing an electrical output representative of the encoded information.

An apparatus for decoding a stream of digital signals representing an electro-optically sensed image corresponding to a multiplicity of contiguously-arranged polygons encoded in a predetermined pattern, each polygon having one of at least two optical properties, comprising:

• (a) means for performing a two-dimensional clock recovery on said image to determine the coordinates and intensities of said optical properties;
• (b) means for searching said intensities of the optical properties of step (a) to identify the optical properties of said polygons;
• and
• (c) means for decoding said polygons by performing the inverse of the encoding process for said polygons.

An apparatus for decoding a stream of digital signals representing an electro-optically sensed image of a multiplicity of contiguously-arranged polygons encoded in a predetermined pattern and each polygon having one at least two optical properties, comprising:

• (a) means for performing a non-linear mapping operation on said digital signals to identify transitions between adjacent polygons having different optical properties;
• (b) means for performing a Fourier transformation on the non-linear mapped digital signals to obtain a twodimensional map corresponding to the direction, spacing and intensity of optical property transitions of said polygons;
• (c) means for filtering said two-dimensional map to eliminate incorrect direction and spacing of optical property transitions of said polygons;
• (d) means for performing an inverse Fourier transformation on said filtered two-dimensional map to restore digital signals corresponding to a replicated image of said polygons;
• (e) means for searching the transformed digital signals to determine the optical property of the center of each polygon and its location within said multiplicity of polygons;
• and
• (f) means for decoding said polygons by performing the inverse of the encoding process for said polygons.