IMAGE CAPTURE DEVICE WITH INTEGRATED BARCODE SCANNING

• US 20090212113A1
• Filed: 02/22/2008
• Published: 08/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Horton, Stephen, Li, Hsiang-Tsun, Li, Jingqiang, Hwang, Hau, Cheung, Joseph, Chiu, Chinchuan Andrew, Jiang, Xiaoyun
• Granted Patent: US 8,596,541 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/462.410
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/14 using light without selection of wavelength, e.g. sensing reflected white light G06K7/10831 - G06K7/1097 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1417 2D bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1443 locating of the code in an image
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1447 extracting optical codes from image or text carrying said optical code
• CPC Class Codes: 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

Abstract

This disclosure describes barcode scanning techniques for an image capture device. The image capture device may automatically detect a barcode within an image while the image capture device is operating in a non-barcode image capture mode, such a default image capture mode. In one aspect, the detection of the barcode within the image may be based on a combination of identified edges and low intensity regions within the image. The image capture device may configure, based on the detection of the barcode, one or more image capture properties associated with the image capture device to improve a quality at which the images are captured. The image capture device captures the image in accordance with the configured image capture properties. The techniques may effectively provide a universal and integrated front-end for producing improved quality images of barcodes without requiring significant interaction with a user via a complicated user interface.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting at least one barcode within a scene of interest with an image capture device operating in a non-barcode image capture mode;

configuring, based on the detection of the at least one barcode, one or more image capture properties of the image capture device to improve an image quality of a region of the scene of interest that includes the detected barcode; and

capturing an image of the scene of interest with the image capture device in accordance with the one or more configured image capture properties.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring one or more image capture properties of the image capture device comprises configuring at least one of an exposure time, a focal point and a sensor gain of the image capture device based on the detection of the at least one barcode.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring one or more image capture properties of the image capture device comprises configuring at least one of an exposure time, a focal point and a sensor gain of the image capture device based on one or more characteristics of the region of the scene of interest that includes the barcode.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the barcode within the scene of interest further comprises:

identifying transitions in intensity that exceed an intensity transition threshold as edges within a digital image of a scene of interest;

identifying regions of the digital image with luminance intensity below an intensity threshold as low intensity regions; and

detecting the barcode within the digital image comprises detecting the barcode at a location within the digital image that includes the identified edges and the identified low intensity regions spatially co-instantaneously.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein detecting the barcode at the location within the digital image that includes the identified edges and the identified low intensity regions spatially co-instantaneously comprises:

identifying a location within the image that includes the identified edges and the identified low intensity regions spatially co-instantaneously;

determining that the identified location is a candidate location for being a barcode when the location satisfies one or more barcode criteria; and

determining that the identified location is a barcode when the scene of interest at the identified location includes a unique barcode feature.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining that the identified location is a candidate location for being a barcode comprises determining that the identified location is a candidate location for being a barcode based on at least one of a shape of the identified location, a size of the identified location and a fill factor of the identified location.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein determining that the identified location is a barcode when the scene of interest at the identified location includes a unique barcode feature comprises determining that the identified location is a barcode upon detecting a barcode finder pattern within the scene of interest at the identified location.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

detecting the at least one barcode comprises detecting a plurality of barcodes within the scene of interest; and

configuring the one or more image capture properties comprises configuring the one or more image capture properties of the image capture device to improve an image quality of each region of the image that includes one of the detected barcodes.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

decoding the at least one barcode to extract information encoded by the barcode; and

invoking an application that uses the information extracted from the barcode.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising processing the captured image to improve an image quality of a region of the captured image that includes the at least one barcode.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prompting a user for input regarding whether the user intends to scan the at least one barcode;

configuring the one or more image capture properties of the image capture device when the user indicates the intent to scan the at least one barcode.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-barcode image capture mode comprises one of a default image capture mode, a high motion image capture mode, a low motion image capture mode, a dark scene image capture mode and a bright scene image capture mode.

13. An image capture device comprising:

an image sensor; and

an image processor coupled to the image sensor, the image processor including;

a barcode detection module that detects at least one barcode within a scene of interest while the image capture device operates in a non-barcode image capture mode; and

a sensor configuration module that configures, based on the detection of the at least one barcode, one or more image capture properties of the image sensor to improve an image quality of a region of the scene of interest that includes the detected barcode;

wherein

the image processor causes the image sensor to capture an image of the scene of interest in accordance with the one or more configured image capture properties.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the sensor configuration module configures at least one of an exposure time, a focal point and a sensor gain of the image capture device based on the detection of the at least one barcode.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the sensor configuration module configures at least one of an exposure time, a focal point and a sensor gain of the image capture device based on one or more characteristics of the region of the scene of interest that includes the barcode.

16. The device of claim 13, wherein the barcode detection module identifies transitions in intensity that exceed an intensity transition threshold as edges within a digital image of a scene of interest, identifies regions of the digital image with luminance intensity below an intensity threshold as low intensity regions, and detects the barcode within the digital image comprises detecting the barcode at a location within the digital image that includes the identified edges and the identified low intensity regions spatially co-instantaneously.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the barcode detection module identifies a location within the image that includes the identified edges and the identified low intensity regions spatially co-instantaneously, determines that the identified location is a candidate location for being a barcode when the location satisfies one or more barcode criteria and determines that the identified location is a barcode when the scene of interest at the identified location includes a unique barcode feature.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the barcode detection module determines that the identified location is a candidate location for being a barcode based on at least one of a shape of the identified location, a size of the identified location and a fill factor of the identified location.

19. The device of claim 17, wherein the barcode detection module determines that the identified location is a barcode upon detecting a barcode finder pattern within the scene of interest at the identified location.

20. The device of claim 13, wherein:

the barcode detection module detects a plurality of barcodes within the scene of interest; and

the sensor configuration module configures the one or more image capture properties of the image capture device to improve an image quality of each region of the image that includes one of the detected barcodes.

21. The device of claim 13, further comprising a barcode decoder module that decodes the at least one barcode to extract information encoded by the barcode and invokes an application that uses the information extracted from the barcode.

22. The device of claim 13, further comprising a barcode processing module that processes the captured image to improve an image quality of a region of the captured image that includes the at least one barcode.

23. The device of claim 13, further comprising a viewfinder, wherein the image processor prompts a user via the viewfinder for input regarding whether the user intends to scan the at least one barcode and the sensor configuration module configures the one or more image capture properties of the image capture device when the user indicates the intent to scan the at least one barcode.

24. The device of claim 13, wherein the non-barcode image capture mode comprises one of a default image capture mode, a high motion image capture mode, a low motion image capture mode, a dark scene image capture mode and a bright scene image capture mode.

25. A computer-program product comprising a computer readable medium having instructions thereon, the instructions comprising:

code for detecting at least one barcode within a scene of interest with an image capture device operating in a non-barcode image capture mode;

code for configuring, based on the detection of the at least one barcode, one or more image capture properties of the image capture device to improve an image quality of a region of the scene of interest that includes the detected barcode; and

code for capturing an image of the scene of interest with the image capture device in accordance with the one or more configured image capture properties.

26. The computer-program product of claim 25, wherein code for configuring one or more image capture properties of the image capture device comprises code for configuring at least one of an exposure time, a focal point and a sensor gain of the image capture device based on the detection of the at least one barcode.

27. The computer-program product of claim 26, wherein code for configuring one or more image capture properties of the image capture device comprises code for configuring at least one of an exposure time, a focal point and a sensor gain of the image capture device based on one or more characteristics of the region of the scene of interest that includes the barcode.

28. The computer-program product of claim 25, wherein code for detecting the barcode within the scene of interest further comprises:

code for identifying transitions in intensity that exceed an intensity transition threshold as edges within a digital image of a scene of interest;

code for identifying regions of the digital image with luminance intensity below an intensity threshold as low intensity regions; and

code for detecting the barcode within the digital image comprises detecting the barcode at a location within the digital image that includes the identified edges and the identified low intensity regions spatially co-instantaneously.

29. The computer-program product of claim 28, wherein code for detecting the barcode at the location within the digital image that includes the identified edges and the identified low intensity regions spatially co-instantaneously comprises:

code for identifying a location within the image that includes the identified edges and the identified low intensity regions spatially co-instantaneously;

code for determining that the identified location is a candidate location for being a barcode when the location satisfies one or more barcode criteria; and

code for determining that the identified location is a barcode when the scene of interest at the identified location includes a unique barcode feature.

30. The computer-program product of claim 29, wherein code for determining that the identified location is a candidate location for being a barcode comprises code for determining that the identified location is a candidate location for being a barcode based on at least one of a shape of the identified location, a size of the identified location and a fill factor of the identified location.

31. The computer-program product of claim 29, wherein code for determining that the identified location is a barcode when the scene of interest at the identified location includes a unique barcode feature comprises code for determining that the identified location is a barcode upon detecting a barcode finder pattern within the scene of interest at the identified location.

32. The computer-program product of claim 25, wherein:

code for detecting the at least one barcode comprises code for detecting a plurality of barcodes within the scene of interest; and

code for configuring the one or more image capture properties comprises code for configuring the one or more image capture properties of the image capture device to improve an image quality of each region of the image that includes one of the detected barcodes.

33. The computer-program product of claim 25, further comprising:

code for decoding the at least one barcode to extract information encoded by the barcode; and

code for invoking an application that uses the information extracted from the barcode.

34. The computer-program product of claim 25, further comprising code for processing the captured image to improve an image quality of a region of the captured image that includes the at least one barcode.

35. The computer-program product of claim 25, further comprising:

code for prompting a user for input regarding whether the user intends to scan the at least one barcode;

code for configuring the one or more image capture properties of the image capture device when the user indicates the intent to scan the at least one barcode.

36. The computer-program product of claim 25, wherein the non-barcode image capture mode comprises one of a default image capture mode, a high motion image capture mode, a low motion image capture mode, a dark scene image capture mode and a bright scene image capture mode.

37. An image capture device comprising:

means for detecting at least one barcode within a scene of interest with an image capture device operating in a non-barcode image capture mode;

means for configuring, based on the detection of the at least one barcode, one or more image capture properties of the image capture device to improve an image quality of a region of the scene of interest that includes the detected barcode; and

means for capturing an image of the scene of interest with the image capture device in accordance with the one or more configured image capture properties.

38. The device of claim 37, wherein the configuring means configures at least one of an exposure time, a focal point and a sensor gain of the image capture device based on the detection of the at least one barcode.

39. The device of claim 38, wherein the configuring means configures at least one of an exposure time, a focal point and a sensor gain of the image capture device based on one or more characteristics of the region of the scene of interest that includes the barcode.

40. The device of claim 37, wherein the detecting means identifies transitions in intensity that exceed an intensity transition threshold as edges within a digital image of a scene of interest, identifies regions of the digital image with luminance intensity below an intensity threshold as low intensity regions and detects the barcode within the digital image comprises detecting the barcode at a location within the digital image that includes the identified edges and the identified low intensity regions spatially co-instantaneously.

41. The device of claim 40, wherein the detecting means identifies a location within the image that includes the identified edges and the identified low intensity regions spatially co-instantaneously, determines that the identified location is a candidate location for being a barcode when the location satisfies one or more barcode criteria and determines that the identified location is a barcode when the scene of interest at the identified location includes a unique barcode feature.

42. The device of claim 41, wherein the detecting means determines that the identified location is a candidate location for being a barcode based on at least one of a shape of the identified location, a size of the identified location and a fill factor of the identified location.

43. The device of claim 41, wherein the detecting means determines that the identified location is a barcode upon detecting a barcode finder pattern within the scene of interest at the identified location.

44. The device of claim 37, wherein:

the detecting means detects a plurality of barcodes within the scene of interest; and

the configuring means configures the one or more image capture properties of the image capture device to improve an image quality of each region of the image that includes one of the detected barcodes.

45. The device of claim 37, further comprising means for decoding the at least one barcode to extract information encoded by the barcode, wherein the decoding means invokes an application that uses the information extracted from the barcode.

46. The device of claim 37, further comprising means for processing the captured image to improve an image quality of a region of the captured image that includes the at least one barcode.

47. The device of claim 37, further comprising:

means for prompting a user for input regarding whether the user intends to scan the at least one barcode; and

wherein

the configuring means configures the one or more image capture properties of the image capture device when the user indicates the intent to scan the at least one barcode.

48. The device of claim 37, wherein the non-barcode image capture mode comprises one of a default image capture mode, a high motion image capture mode, a low motion image capture mode, a dark scene image capture mode and a bright scene image capture mode.