System and method for controlling the distribution of data translation components to portable data collection devices

A system for reading a machine readable data storage medium comprising data encoded in a readable format and generating formatted data, the formatted data comprising the decoded data manipulated in accordance with data manipulation rules of a rule file;

• the system comprising:
• a protected rule file creation system for:
• generating the rule file;
• encrypting the rule file to generate a protected rule file which, when deciphered using a source key yields the rule file;
• and
• generating a license record, the license record comprising the source key and a source identifier;
• a trusted license file distribution system for encrypting the license record using a private key of a public/private key pair to generate a license file;
• and
• a data collection device for reading the machine readable data storage medium, the data collection device comprising:
• a non-volatile memory storing a reader ID and a public key of the public/private key pair;
• a processor operating an embedded decoder system comprising a decoder module and an interpreter module;
• the decoder module receiving digital data from a medium reading system, the digital data comprising a representation of the machine readable data storage medium, determining the data encoded in the machine readable data storage medium, and generating decoded data;
• and
• the interpreter module receiving the decoded data and manipulating the decoded data in accordance with the plurality of data manipulation commands defined in a rule file to generate formatted data, the interpreter module obtaining the rule file by:
• receiving the protected rule file;
• receiving the license file;
• deciphering the license record using the public encryption key;
• and
• if the identification of an authorized reader matches the reader ID, deciphering the protected rule file using the source license key to recover the rule file.

A method of operating a data collection device for reading a machine readable data storage medium comprising data encoded in a readable format, the method comprising:

• storing a reader ID and a public key in a non-volatile storage of the data collection device;
• detecting the machine readable data storage medium and determining the data encoded in the machine readable data storage medium to generate decoded data;
• and
• obtaining a rule file by:
• receiving a protected rule file, the protected rule file comprising an encrypted representation of the rule file;
• receiving a license file, the license file comprising an encrypted representation of a license record, the license record comprising identification of an authorized reader, a source identifier, and a source license key;
• deciphering the license record using the public encryption key and a predetermined encryption algorithm;
• and
• if the identification of an authorized reader matches the reader ID, deciphering the protected rule file using the source license key to recover the rule file;
• and
• manipulating the decoded data in accordance with a plurality of data manipulation commands defined in the rule file to generate formatted data.