Surface having coded data layers

• US 7,802,731 B2
• Filed: 04/14/2009
• Issued: 09/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Original Assignee: Silverbrook Research Pty Limited
• Inventors: Silverbrook, Kia, Lapstun, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee; Seung H
• Application Number:
  US12/423,000
• Publication Number:
  US 20090194600A1
• Time in Patent Office: 532 Days
• Field of Search: 235/487, 235/494, 235/462.01, 713/769
• US Class Current: 235/494
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06037 multi-dimensional coding

Abstract

A surface is provided having disposed therein or thereon a plurality of coded data layers. The coded data layers include a raw data layer having at least one raw data portion, a fault-tolerant data layer having at least one fault-tolerant data portion, and an alignment data layer having alignment data indicative of at least two registration positions. The registration positions are indicative of a relative position of the raw and fault-tolerant data portions with respect to the surface.

Claims

1. A surface having disposed therein or thereon a plurality of coded data layers, the coded data layers comprising:

a raw data layer comprising at least one raw data portion;

a fault-tolerant data layer comprising at least one fault-tolerant data portion; and

an alignment data layer comprising alignment data indicative of at least two registration positions, the registration positions being indicative of a relative position of the raw and fault-tolerant data portions with respect to the surface.

2. A surface according to claim 1, wherein the alignment data includes:

a first registration structure indicative of a plurality of reference points indicative of a position of the coded data in the alignment direction; and

,

a second registration structure indicative of a plurality of reference points indicative of a position of the coded data in a direction perpendicular to the alignment direction.

3. A surface according to claim 2, wherein the first registration structure includes:

a number of markers indicative of a gross position of the coded data in the alignment direction; and

,

a clock track indicative of a fine position of the coded data in the alignment direction.

4. A surface according to claim 2, wherein the second registration structure includes:

at least two clock tracks indicative of a position of the coded data in the direction perpendicular to the alignment direction; and

,

two alignment lines for each clock track, the two alignment lines being indicative of the position of the respective clock track in the alignment direction.

5. A surface format according to claim 1, wherein the format includes at least one data block, the data block including:

an arrangement of marks defining a plurality of possible values; and

,

alignment data indicative of the position of the marks.

6. A surface according to claim 5, wherein each data block is at least one of:

provided with its own pilot track;

provided with its own registration feature;

provided with its own clocking feature;

provided with two clocking features on opposite sides of a data-encoding area;

encoding a fragment of a bitstream;

encoding a fragment of a bitstream in a data-encoding area; and

,

formed from a rectangular data-encoding area.

7. A surface according to claim 5, wherein data is encoded using parameter data, each data block encoding at least some of the parameter data, and the parameter data being at least one of:

indicative of a size of the encoded data;

indicative of an interleave factor;

encoded fault-tolerantly using at least one of;

a checksum associated with parameters;

a CRC checksum associated with parameters;

redundancy data associated with parameters;

Reed-Solomon redundancy data associated with parameters; and

,

replication of parameters and a checksum.

8. A surface according to claim 1, wherein the data is encoded using multiple interleaved codewords to fault-tolerantly encode data.

9. A surface according to claim 1, wherein the alignment data includes a pilot feature, the pilot feature being at least one of:

encoded fault-tolerantly;

formed from a set of parallel lines;

formed from a set of parallel lines that encode a binary pilot sequence;

a pilot sequence which encodes at least one of;

1110101100100011; and

,

110010001111010.