Coded data generation or conversion – Digital code to digital code converters
Reexamination Certificate
2003-05-14
2004-06-15
Young, Brian (Department: 2819)
Coded data generation or conversion
Digital code to digital code converters
C341S137000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06750790
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of priority to Japanese application No. 2002-140623, filed May 15, 2002, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In general, the present invention relates to a system including a data-transmitting apparatus having a data-encoding apparatus adopting a data-encoding method for encoding data to be transmitted in a real space and including a data-receiving apparatus having a data-decoding apparatus adopting a data-decoding method for decoding the transmitted data obtained as a result of encoding, as well as relates to computer programs implementing the data-encoding method and the data-decoding method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system including a data-transmitting apparatus having a data-encoding apparatus adopting a data-encoding method for encoding data to be transmitted as an optical signal representing a light-blinking pattern obtained as a result of encoding and including a data-receiving apparatus having a data-decoding apparatus adopting a data-decoding method for decoding the transmitted optical signal, as well as relates to computer programs implementing the data-encoding method and the data-decoding method.
To put it in detail, the present invention relates to a system including a data-transmitting apparatus having a data-encoding apparatus adopting a data-encoding method for encoding data to be transmitted into a light-blinking pattern of light-emitting sources laid out to form a two-dimensional matrix and including a data-receiving apparatus having a data-decoding apparatus adopting a data-decoding method for decoding the transmitted light-blinking pattern into the original data, as well as relates to computer programs implementing the data-encoding method and the data-decoding method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system including a data-transmitting apparatus having a data-encoding apparatus adopting a data-encoding method for encoding data to be transmitted into a light-blinking pattern of light-emitting sources laid out to form a two-dimensional matrix and for transmitting the light-blinking pattern at a bit rate according to a distance from the data-transmitting apparatus to a data-receiving apparatus and including the data-receiving apparatus having a data-decoding apparatus adopting a data-decoding method for decoding the transmitted light-blinking pattern, as well as relates to computer programs implementing the data-encoding method and the data-decoding method.
In this present day of an advanced information-processing technology and an advanced information communication technology, information apparatus such as personal computers and portable information terminals universally exist in the real world such as offices and homes. In such an environment, the apparatus are connected to each other so that implementations of a ubiquitous computing system and an AR (Augmented Reality) system can be expected. The ubiquitous computing system is a system for obtaining desired information. On the other hand, the AR system is a system actively using circumstances in the real world. The circumstances in the real world include matters of the real world and the position of the user.
The concept of the ubiquitous computing is introduced to make the environment of a computer unchanged without regard to the place at which the user is present. Since the concept of the ubiquitous computing brings about a computing capability at any time and at any place, an ultimate ubiquitous computing system does not necessarily require an information terminal such as a computer, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) and a hand phone.
In operations carried out by the user to specify a computer or a peripheral apparatus as a data transmission destination within a network and to obtain a circumstance of the real world, however, the user must know the name of a partner even if the partner exists right in front of the user. An example of the peripheral apparatus is a transmission target such as a user terminal. Examples of the circumstance of the real world include the position of the user and information related to a real-world object. Instead of knowing the name of a partner, the user must know a resource identifier such as an ID unique to the partner apparatus and/or the network address of the partner apparatus, a host name or a URL/URI. That is to say, in the operations carried out by the user, collaboration with the computer exists only in an indirect form and there is a lack of an intuitive sense.
As a technology for transmitting the identification of the user and acquiring a real-world circumstance such as the position of the user without following such a complicated-procedure, there have been proposed techniques of utilizing real-world computing such as a technique of using visual codes including cyber codes and RF tags. By adopting any of these techniques, it is not necessary for the user to make an access to the network in a conscious manner. Instead, the user is capable of obtaining information related to an object from the object ID, which is automatically picked up.
For example, for an identification such as a visual code or an RF tag, the function of an application or the like, an apparatus ID, a network address, a host name, a URL or other object-related information is registered in advance. Then, in response to a cyber code recognized from a picture taken by a camera, the computer executes the registered application. For example, the computer activates a mail program. Then, the computer searches for a network address of the partner on the basis of the recognized ID to automatically establish a connection with the partner and to make an access to the resource indicated by the recognized URL.
If visual identification information such as a visual code is used, however, the size of the code changes in accordance with the distance. That is to say, the size of the code of an object located far away is small so that it is necessary to form a code having a large pattern for recognizing an object located far away. In other words, an information transmission method based on this technique has a lack of robustness in the case of a long distance. In order to recognize a building located far away, for example, it is necessary to paste a huge code on the building and such a huge code pasted on the building is not realistic.
In addition, in the case of an RF tag, the user must orient the RF tag in a direction toward a tag-reading apparatus or must take the RF tag into contact with the tag-reading apparatus. That is to say, only an object at a short distance can be recognized and an object at a long distance cannot.
In order to solve this problem, there has been proposed a data communication system for implementing data transmissions including long-distance transmissions of data at different resolutions as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-57836 describing a specification of an invention, the patent of which was granted to the applicant for a patent of the present invention. In this system, data is transmitted as an optical signal for conveying identification and other data in an optical format, and is detected by using an advanced two-dimensional image sensor.
A data-transmitting apparatus employed in the above system extracts portions each having a predetermined length from a bit stream of data being transmitted and transforms each of the extracted portions into a display pattern by using a predetermined transformation table. The display pattern appears on blinking light-emitting sources such as LEDs, which in turn generate an optical signal. Thus, prior to a transmission of data, the data-transmitting apparatus encodes the data to be transmitted not into a color spatial pattern such as a visual code, but into a time-series optical signal such as a blinking pattern, which does not change in accordance with the distance between the data-transmitting apparatus and a data-receiving apparatus.
The image sensor servi
Frommer William S.
Frommer & Lawrence & Haug LLP
Sony Corporation
Young Brian
LandOfFree
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