CODE DETECTION AND DECODING SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method of decoding a QR code having two initially detected finder patterns, the computer including at least a processor for executing the method and an associated memory in which an image including the finder patterns is stored, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) forming a pattern matching template based on characteristics of the detected finder patterns;
(b) determining at least one candidate region about the detected finder patterns, the candidate region being based at least on the relative positions of the detected finder patterns in the QR code;
(c) locating a previously undetected third finder pattern of the QR code in the at least one candidate region by correlating content of the candidate region with the pattern matching template; and
(d) decoding the QR code with each of the two initially detected finder patterns and the third finder pattern.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method (2304) of decoding a QR code having two initially detected finder patterns (2901, 2902; 2911, 2912) is provided. The method forms (2402) a pattern matching template (2700, 2800) based on characteristics of the detected finder patterns and determines (2403) at least one candidate region (2904, 2905; 2913, 2914) about the detected finder patterns. The candidate region is typically based at least on the relative positions of the detected finder patterns. The method detects (2404) a previously undetected third finder pattern of the QR code in the at least one candidate region by correlating content of the candidate region with the pattern matching template. With the identified third finder pattern and each of the two initially detected finder patterns, decoding (2305) the QR code can then be performed. Also disclosed is a method of detecting a two-dimensional code comprising known target features and coded data in an image. The target features comprise a continuous black region, enclosed entirely by a continuous white region, enclosed entirely by a continuous black region. The method performs line-by-line connected component analysis (403) of the image to determine candidate features of interest. The line-by-line connected component analysis aggregates metrics corresponding to candidate features of interest. The method evaluates (404) the aggregated metrics to determine how similar each candidate feature of interest is to the target feature and forms (405) a candidate region of interest from multiple candidate features of interest. Typically the target features include the copyright symbol © and the registered trade mark symbol ®.
51 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method of decoding a QR code having two initially detected finder patterns, the computer including at least a processor for executing the method and an associated memory in which an image including the finder patterns is stored, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) forming a pattern matching template based on characteristics of the detected finder patterns; (b) determining at least one candidate region about the detected finder patterns, the candidate region being based at least on the relative positions of the detected finder patterns in the QR code; (c) locating a previously undetected third finder pattern of the QR code in the at least one candidate region by correlating content of the candidate region with the pattern matching template; and (d) decoding the QR code with each of the two initially detected finder patterns and the third finder pattern. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A computer readable storage medium having a computer program recorded thereon, the program being executable by computer apparatus to decode a QR code having two initially detected finder patterns, said program comprising:
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code for forming a pattern matching template based on characteristics of the detected finder patterns; code for determining at least one candidate region about the detected finder patterns, the candidate region being based at least on the relative positions of the detected finder patterns in the QR code; code for locating a previously undetected third finder pattern of the QR code in the at least one candidate region by correlating content of the candidate region with the pattern matching template; and code for decoding the QR code with each of the two initially detected finder patterns and the third finder pattern. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. Computer apparatus adapted for decoding a QR code having two initially detected finder patterns, said apparatus comprising:
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means for forming a pattern matching template based on characteristics of the detected finder patterns; means for determining at least one candidate region about the detected finder patterns, the candidate region being based at least on the relative positions of the detected finder patterns in the QR code; means for locating a previously undetected third finder pattern of the QR code in the at least one candidate region by correlating content of the candidate region with the pattern matching template; and means for decoding the QR code with each of the two initially detected finder patterns and the third finder pattern.
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14. A computer implemented method of detecting a two-dimensional code comprising known target features and coded data in an image, the method being executed by a processor with an associated memory in which the image is stored, wherein the target features comprise a continuous black region, enclosed entirely by a continuous white region, enclosed entirely by a continuous black region, said method comprising the steps of
line-by-line connected component analysis of the image to determine candidate features of interest, wherein said line-by-line connected component analysis comprises aggregation of metrics corresponding to candidate features of interest; -
evaluating the aggregated metrics to determine how similar each candidate feature of interest is to the target feature; and forming a candidate region of interest from multiple candidate features of interest. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A computer implementable method of detecting a copyright symbol in an image, said method comprising the steps of:
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adaptive binarization of the image; line-by-line connected component analysis of the binarized image to identify candidate features of interest, where said line-by-line connected component analysis comprises aggregation of metrics corresponding to candidate features of interest; calculating a similarity score that indicates how similar each candidate feature of interest is to a copyright symbol; and thresholding the similarity score to provide a detection result.
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18. A computer implementable method of detecting a registered trademark symbol in an image, said method comprising the steps of:
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adaptive binarization of the image; line-by-line connected component analysis of the binarized image to identify candidate features of interest, where said line-by-line connected component analysis comprises aggregation of metrics corresponding to candidate features of interest; calculating a similarity score that indicates how similar each candidate feature of interest is to a registered trademark symbol; and thresholding the similarity score to provide a detection result.
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19. A computer readable storage medium having a computer program recorded thereon, the program being executable by computer apparatus to detect a two-dimensional code comprising known target features and coded data in an image, wherein the target features comprise a continuous black region, enclosed entirely by a continuous white region, enclosed entirely by a continuous black region, said program comprising:
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code for line-by-line connected component analysis of the image to determine candidate features of interest, wherein said line-by-line connected component analysis comprises aggregation of metrics corresponding to candidate features of interest; code for evaluating the aggregated metrics to determine how similar each candidate feature of interest is to the target feature; and code for forming a candidate region of interest from multiple candidate features of interest.
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20. Computer apparatus for detecting a two-dimensional code comprising known target features and coded data in an image, wherein the target features comprise a continuous black region, enclosed entirely by a continuous white region, enclosed entirely by a continuous black region, said apparatus comprising:
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means for line-by-line connected component analysis of the image to determine candidate features of interest, wherein said line-by-line connected component analysis comprises aggregation of metrics corresponding to candidate features of interest; means for evaluating the aggregated metrics to determine how similar each candidate feature of interest is to the target feature; and means for forming a candidate region of interest from multiple candidate features of interest.
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21. A photocopier comprising:
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a processor coupled to a memory; a scanner coupled to the processor and by which a scanned image of a document is stored in the memory; a program recorded in the memory and executable by the processor to detect a two-dimensional code comprising known target features and coded data in the scanned image, wherein the target features comprise a continuous black region, enclosed entirely by a continuous white region, enclosed entirely by a continuous black region, said program comprising; code for line-by-line connected component analysis of the image to determine candidate features of interest, wherein said line-by-line connected component analysis comprises aggregation of metrics corresponding to candidate features of interest; code for evaluating the aggregated metrics to determine how similar each candidate feature of interest is to the target feature; and code for forming a candidate region of interest from multiple candidate features of interest; and code for comparing the candidate region against at least one predetermined target feature to one of enable or disable a photocopying function of the document using the scanned image.
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Specification