Traveler security and luggage control system
First Claim
1. An encoding/decoding carrier passenger boarding control system for use in a system for secure transmission of data, the system comprising:
- encoding means includingmeans for generating passenger ID data and luggage ID data, the passenger ID data including a number derived from at least one of passenger name and passenger social security number and the luggage ID data including the passenger ID data and a luggage description,means for encrypting at least some of said passenger and luggage ID data using an encryption algorithm based upon an encryption key,means for representing said encrypted data in the form of a bar code structure, said bar code structure including codewords of bar-coded information and security level information indicating a level of error correction capability, each of said codewords representing at least one information-bearing character, andmeans for transferring an image of the bar code structure onto a passenger boarding pass and passenger luggage; and
decoding means includingmeans for scanning the bar code structure on the passenger boarding pass and the passenger luggage and converting the codewords into output signals representative of said information-bearing characters,means for determining the level of error correction capability of the bar-coded information from the security level information,means for determining the number of codewords that were unsuccessfully converted,means for correcting the unsuccessfully converted codewords if the number of unsuccessfully converted codewords is less than the level of error correction capability, andmeans for decrypting at least some of said information-bearing characters using a decryption algorithm based upon said encryption key.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A two-dimensional bar code is used to identify a traveler'"'"'s luggage, permitting the luggage to be tracked and, if desired, to be delivered to the traveler'"'"'s ultimate destination (e.g., a hotel). If the traveler is traveling on an airline, a corresponding two-dimensional bar code is applied to the traveler'"'"'s boarding pass. A two-dimensional bar code reader is used to read the boarding-pass bar code of each enplaning passenger; comparison of these bar codes with luggage bar-code data permits an alarm to be raised if each item of checked luggage is not matched by an enplaned passenger. The boarding-pass bar code may take the form of an integrated passenger identification code for use by, e.g., rental car companies, hotels, and the like.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An encoding/decoding carrier passenger boarding control system for use in a system for secure transmission of data, the system comprising:
encoding means including means for generating passenger ID data and luggage ID data, the passenger ID data including a number derived from at least one of passenger name and passenger social security number and the luggage ID data including the passenger ID data and a luggage description, means for encrypting at least some of said passenger and luggage ID data using an encryption algorithm based upon an encryption key, means for representing said encrypted data in the form of a bar code structure, said bar code structure including codewords of bar-coded information and security level information indicating a level of error correction capability, each of said codewords representing at least one information-bearing character, and means for transferring an image of the bar code structure onto a passenger boarding pass and passenger luggage; and
decoding means includingmeans for scanning the bar code structure on the passenger boarding pass and the passenger luggage and converting the codewords into output signals representative of said information-bearing characters, means for determining the level of error correction capability of the bar-coded information from the security level information, means for determining the number of codewords that were unsuccessfully converted, means for correcting the unsuccessfully converted codewords if the number of unsuccessfully converted codewords is less than the level of error correction capability, and means for decrypting at least some of said information-bearing characters using a decryption algorithm based upon said encryption key. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An encoding apparatus for use in a traveler data management system for secure transmission of passenger and luggage ID data, the apparatus comprising:
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means for generating the passenger and luggage ID data, the passenger ID data comprising a number derived from at least one of passenger name and passenger social security number, and the luggage ID data including the passenger ID data and a luggage description; means for encrypting at least some of said passenger and luggage ID data using an encryption algorithm based upon an encryption key; means for representing said encrypted data in the form of a bar code structure, said bar code structure including a plurality of codewords of bar-coded information and security level information indicating a level of error correction capability, each of said codewords representing at least one information-bearing character; means for transferring an image of the bar code structure onto a passenger boarding pass and passenger luggage; and means for reading the bar code structure to determine whether all passengers and their respective luggage have boarded or departed a transportation carrier. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of encoding and decoding carrier passenger and luggage ID data for secure transmission, comprising the steps of:
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generating said passenger and luggage ID data into an encoding station the passenger ID data including a number derived from at least one of passenger name and passenger social security number and the luggage ID data including the passenger ID data and a luggage description; encrypting at least some of said passenger and luggage ID data using an encryption algorithm based upon an encryption key; representing said encrypted data in the form of a bar code structure, said bar code structure including codewords of bar-coded information and security level information indicating a level of error correction capability, each of said codewords representing at least one information-bearing character; transferring an image of the bar code structure onto a passenger boarding pass and passenger luggage; scanning the bar code structure in a separate decoding station and converting the codewords into output signals representative of said information-bearing characters; determining the level of error correction capability of the bar-coded information from the security level information; determining the number of codewords that were unsuccessfully converted; correcting the unsuccessfully converted codewords if the number of unsuccessfully converted codewords is less than the level of error correction capability; and decrypting at least some of said information-bearing characters using a decryption algorithm based upon said encryption key. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification