Mobile communication terminal configured to display multi-symbol decodable indicia

• US 8,608,053 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2012
• Issued: 12/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Meier, Timothy, Williams, Timothy, Deloge, Stephen Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Hess, Daniel
• Assistant Examiner(s): Malone, Steven J
• Application Number:
  US13/459,833
• Publication Number:
  US 20130284801A1
• Time in Patent Office: 596 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3274 using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being displayed on the M-device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality

Abstract

A mobile communication terminal can comprise a housing, a microprocessor disposed within the housing, a display incorporated into the housing, and a communication interface communicatively coupled to the microprocessor. The mobile communication terminal can be configured, responsive to receiving a byte sequence representing a character string containing one or more alphanumeric or non-alphanumeric characters, to encode the byte sequence into one or more bar code symbols having a minimum dimension of a smallest element equaling or exceeding a readability threshold value. The mobile communication terminal can be further configured to display the bar code symbols.

Claims

1. A mobile communication terminal comprising:

a housing;

a microprocessor disposed within said housing;

a display incorporated into said housing;

a communication interface communicatively coupled to said microprocessor, said communication interface at least partially disposed within said housing;

wherein said mobile communication terminal is configured, responsive to receiving a byte sequence representing a character string containing one or more alphanumeric or non-alphanumeric characters, to encode said byte sequence into one or more bar code symbols having a bar code X-dimension equaling or exceeding a bar code X-dimension threshold value;

wherein said mobile communication terminal is configured to display said one or more bar code symbols; and

wherein said mobile communication terminal is further configured to accept a user input selecting said bar code X-dimension threshold value.

2. The mobile communication terminal of claim 1, wherein said one or more bar code symbols is provided by a multi-symbol sequence;

and

wherein at least one bar code symbol includes an indicator of an ordinal number of said bar code symbol in said multi-symbol sequence.

3. The mobile communication terminal of claim 1, wherein said one or more of bar code symbols is provided by a multi-symbol sequence;

and

wherein said mobile communication terminal is further configured to repeatedly display said multi-symbol sequence for one of;

a pre-defined period of time, a pre-defined number of cycles.

4. The mobile communication terminal of claim 1, further configured to determine said readability threshold value prior to encoding said byte sequence into said one or more bar code symbols.

5. The mobile communication terminal of claim 1, further configured to determine said readability threshold value based on at least one of:

a pixel resolution of said display, a battery charge level, a color scheme of said decodable indicia.

6. The mobile communication terminal of claim 1, further comprising an encoded information reading (EIR) device selected from the group consisting of:

a bar code reading device, an RFID reading device, and a card reading device;

wherein said EIR device is configured to perform at least one of;

outputting raw message data containing an encoded message and outputting decoded message data corresponding to an encoded message.

7. The mobile communication terminal of claim 1, wherein said mobile communication terminal is provided by one of:

an EIR terminal, a smart phone, a mobile phone, and a personal digital assistant (PDA).

8. The mobile communication terminal of claim 1, wherein said communication interface is provided by a wireless communication interface.

9. A mobile communication terminal comprising:

a housing;

a microprocessor disposed within said housing;

a display incorporated into said housing;

a display adapter communicatively coupled to said microprocessor, said display adapter configured to control said display;

a video memory communicatively coupled to said display adapter, said video memory configured to store data representing images displayed by said display; and

a communication interface communicatively coupled to said microprocessor, said communication interface at least partially disposed within said housing;

wherein said mobile communication terminal is configured, responsive to detecting a byte sequence representing an image of decodable indicia being transferred to said video memory, to determine a bar code X-dimension of said decodable indicia;

wherein said mobile communication terminal is further configured, responsive to ascertaining that said bar code X-dimension is less than a bar code X-dimension threshold value, to decode said decodable indicia into a character string containing one or more alphanumeric or non-alphanumeric characters and encode said character string into one or more bar code symbols having a bar code X-dimension equaling or exceeding said bar code X-dimension threshold value; and

wherein said mobile communication terminal is further configured to display said one or more bar code symbols on said display.

10. The mobile communication terminal of claim 9, wherein said video memory is configured to store a plurality of color values corresponding to a plurality of pixels displayed by said display.

11. The mobile communication terminal of claim 9, further configured to receive said byte sequence from an external computer.

12. The mobile communication terminal of claim 9, further configured to generate said byte sequence based on a message received from an external computer.