Digital Fingerprint Code Using Variable Curve Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current identification codes, such as QR codes, are conspicuous and occupy space in documents, limiting the ability to add secret or invisible content and reducing available space for other information, especially in small-sized reproductions like medicine packages.
Innovation Solution
The development of a digital fingerprint code (DF code) that encodes secret or invisible content using a set of curves with varying thickness and length, allowing for easy decoding by digital imaging devices, enabling the embedding of additional data without increasing the visible size of the document.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If QR codes or conventional barcodes are used for identification, then the code can be easily scanned by digital imaging devices, but the code occupies visible space in the document and reduces space available for other content
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making different parts of the identification code have different visual characteristics. The code consists of curve segments with varying thicknesses where only specific segments (those with different thicknesses from neighbors) are visible to the human eye, while all segments carry encoding information. This allows the code to be scannable while minimizing visible space occupation, as the visible portions are only the thickness variations, not entire bars or modules.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses parameter changes by varying the thickness parameter of curve segments to encode information. Instead of using discrete bars with fixed widths, the code uses continuous curves where the thickness parameter changes at specific points to represent data. This allows for more efficient space utilization while maintaining scannability, as the thickness variations can be detected by digital imaging devices but are less conspicuous than traditional barcode patterns.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional barcodes are used, then the code structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the code is conspicuous and cannot embed secret or invisible content
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the identification code into multiple curve segments with varying thicknesses. Each segment can independently carry encoding information through its thickness parameter. This segmentation allows the code to maintain a simple continuous curve structure that is easy to manufacture, while simultaneously enabling multiple layers of information embedding - both visible thickness variations for scanning and potential invisible content within the curve path.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements nesting by embedding multiple levels of information within the same code structure. The outer layer consists of visible thickness variations that can be scanned by digital imaging devices, while the inner layer can contain invisible content embedded within the curve segments. This nested structure allows secret or invisible content to be hidden within the same space as the visible identification code, eliminating the need for separate code areas.
3Quantity of substance
If the identification code uses varying thickness and length parameters, then more data can be embedded in the code, but the code becomes more complex to decode
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies inversion by reversing the conventional approach: instead of making the entire code structure complex to encode more data, it uses a simple continuous curve where only the thickness parameter varies. The decoding process is simplified by focusing on detecting thickness changes at specific points along the curve, rather than analyzing complex patterns of bars, modules, or geometric shapes. This inversion of the encoding approach maintains decoding simplicity while increasing data capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses dimensionality change by adding the thickness dimension to the traditional one-dimensional barcode concept. Instead of varying only the width of discrete bars, the code uses a continuous curve where the thickness parameter provides an additional degree of freedom for encoding information. This allows more data to be embedded by utilizing thickness variations along the curve's length, while the decoding process remains relatively simple by measuring thickness at key points rather than analyzing complex multi-dimensional patterns.
Data Source
AI summary
A method to encode and decode a digital fingerprint code by an identification encoder and an identification decoder wherein the digital fingerprint code includes a plurality of N-bit data embedded on a set of curves by changed thicknesses in the curves.