Physical multimedia documents, and methods and apparatus for publishing and reading them

• US 20040230887A1
• Filed: 10/31/2003
• Published: 11/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Adams, Guy de Warrenne Bruce, Lawrence, Richard Anthony, Sellen, Abigail Jane, Waters, John Deryk
• Granted Patent: US 7,290,715 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/500.1
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 15/00 Printed matter of special format or style not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer

Abstract

A published document comprises a printed document and at least one memory attached to the printed document, wherein said at least one memory comprises an electrical circuit without an integral power source but may be powered wirelessly so that it may transmit information wirelessly, wherein at least a portion of the information stored in the published document for display to the user is provided in said at least one memory. A method of viewing information in such a published document comprises viewing information printed in the printed document, powering the memory circuit with a reader device to transmit information stored in the memory circuit to the reader device wirelessly, and displaying the information stored in the memory circuit by means of the reader device for viewing by the user. An appropriate reader device and method for publishing the document are described.

Claims

1. A published document comprising a printed document and at least one memory attached to the printed document, wherein said at least one memory comprises an electrical circuit without an integral power source but may be powered wirelessly so that it may transmit information wirelessly, wherein at least a portion of the information stored in the published document for display to the user is provided in said at least one memory.

2. A published document as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one memory comprises two or more memories each physically discrete from each other.

3. A published document as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portion of the information stored in the at least one memory for display to the user comprises information for combination with user provided information to provide further information for display to the user.

4. A published document as claimed in claim 3, wherein said information for combination with user provided information comprises code for execution by a processor of a reading device.

5. A published document as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portion of the information stored in the at least one memory for display to the user comprises information in an image format.

6. A published document as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portion of the information stored in the at least one memory for display to the user comprises information in a video format.

7. A published document as claimed in claim 1, wherein the portion of the information stored in the at least one memory for display to the user comprises information in a text format.

8. A published document as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one memory is inductively powered and transmits information at radio frequency.

9. A reader device for reading information from an unpowered memory circuit attached to a printed document, the reader device comprising:

a. a circuit for providing power to the memory circuit so that data can be transmitted from a memory of the memory circuit;

b. a decoder to read information transmitted by a transmitter of the memory circuit; and

c. a display circuit for providing information received by the decoding circuit for display.

10. A reader device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the circuit for providing power is adapted to power the memory circuit inductively, and wherein the decoder is adapted to receive information transmitted at radio frequency.

11. A reader device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the reader device further comprises a display.

12. A reader device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the reader device is a personal digital assistant or a handheld computer.

13. A reader device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the reader device is removably attachable to the printed document.

14. A system for viewing published information, the system comprising a published document comprising a printed document and at least one memory attached to the printed document, wherein said at least one memory comprises an electrical circuit without an integral power source but may be powered wirelessly so that it may transmit information wirelessly, wherein at least a portion of the information stored in the published document for display to the user is provided in said at least one memory, the system further comprising a reader device for reading information from the at least one memory, the reader device comprising:

a circuit for providing power to the at least one memory so that data can be transmitted from the at least one memory;

a decoder to read information transmitted by a transmitter of the at least one memory; and

a display circuit for providing information received by the decoding circuit for display.

15. A method of viewing information in a published document comprising a printed document and one or more memory circuits attached to the printed document, the method comprising:

a. viewing information printed in the printed document;

b. powering the memory circuit with a reader device to transmit information stored in the memory circuit to the reader device wirelessly; and

c. displaying the information stored in the memory circuit by means of the reader device for viewing by the user.

16. A method of publishing a document, comprising:

a. determining first information for viewing by a user to be printed in a printed document and second information for viewing by a user to be written to one or more memory circuits attached to the printed document;

b. printing the first information on a print medium to form the printed document; and

c. writing the second information into the one or more memory circuits attached to the printed document, wherein the one or more memory circuits are adapted to be powered and read wirelessly by a reader device so that the second information can be viewed by a user.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein step (c) comprises fixing the one or more memory circuits to the printed document before or after writing the second information thereto.

18. A method as claimed in claim 17, wherein step (c) further comprises fixing the one or more memory circuits to the printed document in positions associated with the printing of the first information in the printed document.

19. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the one or more memory circuits are contained within the print medium before it is printed upon to form the printed document.

20. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein second information is stored in one or more memory circuits in physical proximity to associated first information in the printed document.

21. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the printed document contains a physical indication for the user of a memory circuit containing second information.

22. A method as claimed in claim 21, wherein said physical indication is a printed indication.

23. A published document comprising a printed document and at least one memory attached to the printed document, wherein said at least one memory comprises an electrical circuit without an integral power source but may be powered inductively so that it may transmit information wirelessly at radio frequency, wherein at least a portion of the information stored in the published document for display to the user is provided in said at least one memory.

24. A published document comprising a printed document and at least one memory attached to the printed document, wherein said at least one memory comprises an electrical circuit without an integral power source but may be powered wirelessly so that it may transmit information wirelessly, wherein at least a portion of the information stored in the published document for display to the user is provided in said at least one memory, and wherein the portion of the information stored in the at least one memory for display to the user comprises information for combination with user provided information to provide further information for display to the user.