Luminance change information communication method

• US 10,148,354 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2016
• Issued: 12/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Oshima, Mitsuaki, Nakanishi, Koji, Aoyama, Hideki, Fuchigami, Ikuo, Shin, Hidehiko, Mukai, Tsutomu, Matsushita, Yosuke, Iida, Shigehiro, Yamada, Kazunori
• Primary Examiner(s): Cors, Nathan M
• Application Number:
  US15/384,481
• Publication Number:
  US 20170099102A1
• Time in Patent Office: 714 Days
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 15/43 responsive to disruption of energy beams, e.g. light or sound
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 2015/435 by interruption of the beam
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/11 Arrangements specific to free-space transmission, i.e. transmission through air or vacuum
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/1149 Arrangements for indoor wireless networking of information
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/116 Visible light communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/541 Digital intensity or amplitude modulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces

Abstract

An information communication method of transmitting a signal using a change in luminance is provided. The information communication method includes: determining a pattern of the change in luminance, by modulating the signal to be transmitted; and transmitting the signal, by at least one light emitter changing in luminance according to the determined pattern of the change in luminance. The signal has a plurality of blocks. Each block of the plurality of blocks includes (i) address information to indicate a position of a data segment in the signal, and (ii) the data segment. In the transmitting, the signal is transmitted repeatedly at different times.

Claims

1. An information communication method of transmitting a signal using a change in luminance, the information communication method comprising:

determining a pattern of the change in luminance, by modulating the signal to be transmitted; and

transmitting the signal, by at least one light emitter changing in luminance according to the determined pattern of the change in luminance,

wherein, the signal has a plurality of blocks, each block of the plurality of blocks includes (i) address information that indicates a position of a data segment in the signal and (ii) the data segment, and

wherein, in the transmitting, the signal is transmitted repeatedly at different times,

wherein the address information is used to identify a same data segment in the signal transmitted at a first time and in the signal transmitted at a second time, which is different from the first time.

2. An information communication method of receiving the signal transmitted by the information communication method according to claim 1, the information communication method comprising:

repeatedly receiving an image by capturing the at least one light emitter with an image sensor; and

repeatedly receiving the signal by demodulating a stripe pattern included in the obtained image,

wherein, in the repeatedly receiving of the signal, when one block of the plurality of blocks included in the signal fails to be obtained at the first time, while other blocks of the plurality of blocks are obtained at the first time, and the one block is successfully received from the plurality of blocks included in the signal obtained at the second time, which is different from the first time, the complete signal is obtained by concatenating the data segments in blocks of the plurality of blocks obtained at the first time, with the data segment in the one block obtained at the second time.

3. The information communication method according to claim 2,

wherein, the signal has a check signal to identify all the plurality of the blocks, and

wherein, in the repeatedly receiving of the signal, whether or not all the plurality of blocks included in the signal is obtained is determined using the check signal.

4. A non-transitory recording medium storing a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform operations the information communication method according to claim 1.

5. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing a computer program, which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform operations of the information communication method according to claim 1.

6. The information communication method according to claim 1, wherein

the address information indicates which one of the plurality of blocks in the signal includes the address information, such that, when two repeatedly transmitted signals are received, the same data segment, of the two repeatedly transmitted signals, is identified based on the address information.

7. The information communication method according to claim 1, wherein

the address information is used for data segment concatenation in receiving of the signal,

when the address information is successfully received at the first time, the signal is reproduced by locating the data segment according to the address information received at the first time,

when the address information fails to be received at the first time and the address information is successfully received at the second time, the signal is reproduced by locating the data segment according to the address information received at the second time.