WO2017012584A1

WO2017012584A1 - Method and system of light pulse communication

Info

Publication number: WO2017012584A1
Application number: PCT/CN2016/091003
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hsiongwei Hsu; Tiedang YANG
Original assignee: Shanghai Wearapay, Inc.
Priority date: 2015-07-23
Filing date: 2016-07-22
Publication date: 2017-01-26
Also published as: CN105447429A

Abstract

This invention discloses a method of light pulse communication, which comprises: encoding a barcode in a mobile terminal, sending the encoded data to a light pulse transmitter (LPT) from the mobile terminal; converting the received encoded data to a light pulse signal by the LPT; transmitting the light pulse signal to a barcode reader from the LPT; decoding the received light pulse signal to the barcode data by the barcode reader. This invention also discloses a system of light pulse communication corresponding to the above method.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM OF LIGHT PULSE COMMUNICATION

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is based on， and claims priority from， Chinese patent application number CN201510437518.6， filed 2015-07-23， the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of information communication， in particular to a method and system of light pulse communication.

BACKGROUND

Barcode is a graphic image for presenting a set of information which composes many black and white bars with various widths under certain encoding rules. The most common barcode is in a pattern of multiple parallel black and white colored bars. To read the information contained in the barcode， a barcode reader will be needed to first scan the barcode， and then， while scanning， to obtain a set of reflected light signal from the bars with different intensity because of the color of the bars， which is much higher for white color than black color. The reflected light signal is converted to a set of corresponding electric signal through photoelectric conversion， and then decoded to the corresponding numerical numbers， alphabets and symbols. Barcode technology is the most widely used automatic information collection technology with high input rate and accuracy but low cost.

The mechanism for a laser barcode reader to successfully read the information contains in the barcode is that when laser beam scan through the barcode will cause reflection on the surface where barcode is printed on， as explained before， the intensity of the reflection light will be very different from the black surface or the white surface， and can be easily detected by the light sensor embedded in the laser barcode reader and then be converted to an electric impulse accordingly. The color of the bar determines the strength of the electric impulse and width of the bar determines the time duration of the electric impluse， then by combining the strength and time duration， the information contains in the barcode can then be decoded successfully.

The barcode typically used today includes one-dimensional barcode and two-dimensional staked barcode. One-dimensional barcode presents information in one dimension and expands in the perpendicular dimension with the same information to facilitate varies scanning direction of the barcode reader.

The barcode is normally printed on paper or other materials. Cards printed with barcode can successfully present information for identification and payment， such as loyalty cards， library cards， medical cards， shopping cards and dining cards， etc. It is extremely low cost and high efficiency.

There are varies barcode coding scheme for different applications and it is quite common for a user to have many different barcode cards， which could become problematic for user to properly manager. And on the other side， since the surface of the barcode card can be easily smudged or scratched， it is sometimes become problem for the barcode reader to successfully read the barcode information.

Barcode cards can be properly pictured and stored in mobile terminals， however， to read the barcode information from the screen display of a mobile terminal required image recognition based barcode reader which is totally different from the traditional laser barcode reader， and normally， comparing with laser barcode reader， such image recognition based barcode reader can be expensive， but low throughput， accuracy and efficiency. Therefore， if a business wishes to support digital barcode displayed on the screen of a mobile terminal， it will be required to install an image recognition based barcode reader in addition to the laser barcode reader it might have already installed in the store. To read a barcode displayed on a mobile terminal， the cashier will have to switch from the laser barcode reader to the image recognition based barcode reader and a typical checkout process will go through scanning loyalty cards， merchandise and coupons， obviously during such process， multiple device switches will be needed if the barcodes are displayed on a mobile terminal and which can cause delay in the process. Despite of the downsides of the digitized barcode which could only be displayed on the mobile terminal and scanned by the image recognition based barcode reader， it does bring the great convenience for managing different barcode cards and storing coupons. So， the challenge is how to enable a mobile displayed barcode scannable by the laser barcode reader.

SUMMARY

This invention provides a method of light pulse communication and a corresponding system. Through a LPT， which can be a peripheral device of a mobile terminal or a wearable standalone device connectable with the mobile terminal wired or wirelessly， one may establish the light pulse communication between the mobile terminal or wearable device and the laser reader. The LPT will transmit a light pulse which mimicking the light reflection from a printed barcode to trick the laser barcode reader that it has just scanned a barcode.

Hence by using this invention， on one hand， all barcode cards and coupons can be digitized， stored and managed by the mobile terminal or the wearable device， while on the other hand， the stored barcode cards can be read by the traditional laser barcode reader which most stores are currently using to avoid installing additional image recognition based barcode reader. Furthermore， by utilizing this invention can significantly increase the usage of mobile coupons.

In order to achieve the above goal， this invention adopts the technical solutions as follows：

A method of light pulse communication， wherein comprising：

S1. encoding a barcode in a mobile terminal

S2. sending the encoded data to a light pulse transmitter (LPT) from the mobile terminal；

S3. converting the received encoded data to a light pulse signal by the LPT；

S4. transmitting the light pulse signal to a barcode reader from the LPT；

S5. decoding the received light pulse signal to the barcode data by the barcode reader.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein step S3 further comprising：

processing the encoded data to generate and send a modulated signal to a light pulse output module of the LPT by a processing module of the LPT；

then converting the received modulated signal to the light pulse signal by the light pulse output module.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the encoded data is contained in either one-dimensional barcode or two-dimensional stacked barcode.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the mobile terminal can be a smart phone.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the mobile terminal can be a wearable device， in which the LPT is embedded， and which can synchronize data with a smart phone.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the smart phone sends the encoded data to the LPT via wired or wireless communication interfaces.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the wired communication interfaces include audio and USB interface of the smart phone， and the wireless communication interfaced include infrared， Bluetooth， WiFi and cellular network interface of the smart phone.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the light source of the LPT is a light emitting diode.

In another aspect， the invention provides a system of light pulse communication， wherein comprising：

a light pulse transmitter (LPT) ， used for converting a encoded data to a light pulse signal， and then transmitting the light pulse signal to a barcode reader；

a barcode reader， used for decoding the light pulse signal to the barcode data.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the LPT comprising：

a processing module， used for receiving and modulating the encoded data；

a modulation module， used for receiving the encoded data from the processing module， then modulate and generate a modulated signal；

a light pulse output module， used for converting the modulated signal to light pulse signal， and transmitting it to the barcode reader；

a power module， used for supplying power for the processing module， the modulation module and the light pulse output module.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the system also includes a mobile terminal， which converts the barcode to an encoded data， and sends it to the processing module of the LPT.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the mobile terminal can be a smart phone， which supplies power for the power module of the LPT and transmits the encoded data to the processing module of LPT via an audio interface between the smart phone and LPT.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the encoded data is contained in either one-dimensional barcode or two-dimensional staked barcode.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the LPT also includes encoded data output module， which pre-stores the encoded data and sends it to the processing module.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the LPT has a power module which respectively supplies power for the processing module， the modulation module， the light pulse output module.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein a light source is embedded in the light pulse output module for emitting light pulse which can be identified by the barcode reader.

In one embodiment of the invention， wherein the light source can be a light emitting diode.

The methods and systems disclosed herein provide a number of advantages， for example：

1. Adopting the technical solutions of the invention， a mobile terminal can be used to digitize， store and manage all barcode cards and coupons.

2. Adopting the technical solutions of the invention， digital barcode cards or coupons stored in mobile terminals can be read by most commonly used laser barcode reader in all stores.

3. Adopting the technical solutions of the invention， merchants can issue loyalty cards or coupons electronically directly to users’mobile terminals which are readable by the existing laser barcode readers without installing additional image recognition based barcode reader.

4. Adopting the technical solutions of the invention， barcode format can be easily changed to ensure the compatibility with the barcode reader which could enable unified solution for issuing loyalty cards and coupons.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of methods， systems， and devices are illustrated by the accompany drawings which are only exemplary and not restricted by their forms presented herein.

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of the first embodiment of the light pulse communication system；

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the first embodiment mode of the light pulse communication system；

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the third embodiment mode of the light pulse communication system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed method and system embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein. However， it should be known that the descriptions are exemplary rather than exhaustive variations associated with methods， systems， and devices disclosed by the present invention. Other embodiments could exist without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Therefore， specific contents disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as to limit， but merely as to be a representative basis for the claims.

Terms：

In this invention， “output light pulse signal” refers to that a light source (such as light emitting diode mentioned in the following embodiments) periodically emits light pulse at a given time interval.

The first embodiment

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2， a system of light pulse communication comprises a smart phone 10， a barcode reader 80 and a light pulse transmitter (LPT) 20. The LPT 20 composes of an audio interface 30， a power module 40， a processing module 50， a modulation module 60， and a light pulse output module 70 embedded with a light emitting diode.

The left audio channel terminal of the audio interface 30 is connected to the power module 40， and the right audio channel terminal of the audio interface 30 is connected to the processing module 50. And the processing module 50 is connected to the modulation module 60 which is further connected to the light pulse output module 70. In addition， the power module 40 is further connected to the processing module 50， the modulation module 60 and the light pulse output module 70. And the power module 40 can harvest energy from the left audio channel from the smart phone 10 to supply power for the above mentioned modules.

The processing module 50 receives an audio signal stream containing the encoded data of the barcode from the right audio channel of the smart phone 10， and then sends to the modulation module 60. The audio signal stream is modulated by the modulation module 60 to generate a modulated signal which is further relayed to the light pulse output module 70. The light pulse output module 70 converts the modulated signal to a light pulse 21 and emits such light pulse to the barcode reader 80 through a light emitting diode. Finally， the barcode reader 80 decodes the light pulse signal to the corresponding barcode data which concludes the light pulse communication between the smart phone 10 and the barcode reader 80.

The second embodiment

In the second embodiment， the right channel pole of the audio interface 30 is electrically connected with the power module 40， and the left channel pole is electrically connected to the processing module 50. The difference between the first embodiment and the second embodiment of this invention is to switch the left and right audio channel which enables the right audio channel for power and the left audio channel for communication. Other technical features of this embodiment are the same as that of the first embodiment.

The third embodiment

FIG. 3 shows another system of light pulse communication adopted in the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3， the LPT 20 is embedded in a standalone wearable device (such as a smart bracelet 90 in FIG. 3) . Comparing with the first embodiment， the system of the third embodiment does not require the smart phone 10， however， the LPT 20 is required to embedded with a barcode data output module and a battery module. Wherein， the barcode data output module outputs the barcode data to the processing module 50， and the battery module replaces the power module and supplies power for the barcode data output module as well as other modules. Other subsequent structures and processes of this embodiment are similar to the corresponding contents of the first embodiment. The wearable device embedded with the LPT 20 can work independently without the smart phone and capable of implementing the method of light pulse communication according to the present invention. The barcode reader in FIG. 3 is shown for exemplary demonstration only.

The following are the description of the implementation of the method of light pulse communication by using the system (e.g. the system in the first embodiment) of the invention：

1. Manually input the barcode data or directly scan the barcode data by using an appropriate App installed in the smart phone， or in other ways；

2. The App will encode the barcode data to audio signal stream and output such audio signal stream through the audio interface of the smart phone；

3. The audio signal stream containing the barcode data will be sent to the processing module 50 of the LPT 20 via the left channel terminal of audio interface 30；

4. The audio signal stream will be received by the processing module 50 of the LPT 20；

5. The processing module 50 will relay the audio signal stream to the modulation module 60， in which the audio signal stream will be modulated to generate the electric pulse signal， and then such pulse signal will be forwarded to the light pulse output module 70；

6. The light pulse output module 70 will convert the electric pulse signal to the light pulse， and emit the light pulse to the barcode reader 80 via the light emitting diode；

7. The barcode reader 80 will decode the light pulse received to the barcode data and input the barcode data to the merchant’s POS system.

Different from the system of light pulse communication in the first embodiment， the system of light pulse communication in the third embodiment stores the encoded data of the barcode in the barcode output module of the LPT upon completion of the light pulse communication. There are two ways to store the encoded data in the barcode output module：

(1) The LPT has an audio interface， a USB interface or other communication interface， which can connect to the mobile terminals (such as mobile phones， tablet PCs， etc. ) and receive the encoded data of the barcode from the mobile terminal and then store the encoded data in the barcode data output module of the LPT for later use.

(2) The LPT has wireless communication interface， such as Bluetooth， WiFi， infrared devices or others. The encoded data of the barcode is sent from the mobile terminal wirelessly to the LPT and then store the encoded data in the barcode data output module of the LPT for later use.

The barcode mentioned above can be found in different application， such as：

1) Barcode cards

1.1) Loyalty card

The barcode is normally printed on the card together with the corresponding card numbers， user name and other information. The purpose of the loyalty card is to trace the shopping behavior of the user and award the user for the purchase they made in the store. The system of light pulse communication in this invention can encode such barcode and convert to light pulse which is readable for POS terminals in the store.

1.2) Identification card

The barcode is normally printed on the card together with the corresponding card numbers， user name and other information. The purpose of the identification card is to identify a card holder. The system of light pulse communication in this invention can encode such barcode and convert to light pulse which is readable for POS terminals in the store.

1.3) Gift card and recharge card

The barcode is normally printed on the card together with the corresponding card numbers， user name and other information. The purpose of the gift card and recharge card are to make direct payment instead of bank cards or cash. The system of light pulse communication in this invention can encode such barcode and convert to light pulse which is readable for POS terminals in the store.

2) Coupons

The barcode is normally printed on newspaper or store flyers and purpose of the coupon is to provide specific discount for user when they purchase the merchandise. The system of light pulse communication in this invention can encode such barcode and convert to light pulse which is readable for POS terminals in the store.

Although the methods， systems， and devices have been described and illustrated using certain embodiments， however， the disclosure is not limited by the precise details set forth above. Many variations and modifications will be evident to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Such variations and modifications are also subjects for intellectual property protection.

Claims

A method of light pulse communication， wherein comprising：

S1. encoding a barcode in a mobile terminal

S2. sending the encoded data to a light pulse transmitter (LPT) from the mobile terminal；

S3. converting the received encoded data to a light pulse signal by the LPT；

S4. transmitting the light pulse signal to a barcode reader from the LPT；

S5. decoding the received light pulse signal to the barcode data by the barcode reader.
The method of claim 1， wherein step S3 further comprising：

processing the encoded data to generate and send a modulated signal to a light pulse output module of the LPT by a processing module of the LPT；

then converting the received modulated signal to the light pulse signal by the light pulse output module.
The method of claim 1 or 2， wherein the encoded data is contained in either one-dimensional barcode or two-dimensional stacked barcode.
The method of claim 1 or 2， wherein the mobile terminal can be a smart phone.
The method of claim 1 or 2， wherein the mobile terminal can be a wearable device， in which the LPT is embedded， and which can synchronize data with a smart phone.
The method of claim 4， wherein the smart phone sends the encoded data to the LPT via wired or wireless communication interfaces.
The method of claim 6， wherein the wired communication interfaces include audio and USB interface of the smart phone， and the wireless communication interfaced include infrared， Bluetooth， WiFi and cellular network interface of the smart phone.
The method of claim 1 or 2， wherein the light source of the LPT is a light emitting diode.
A system of light pulse communication， wherein comprising：

a light pulse transmitter (LPT) ， used for converting a encoded data to a light pulse signal， and then transmitting the light pulse signal to a barcode reader；

a barcode reader， used for decoding the light pulse signal to the barcode data.
The system of claim 9， wherein the LPT comprising：

a processing module， used for receiving and modulating the encoded data；

a modulation module， used for receiving the encoded data from the processing module， then modulate and generate a modulated signal；

a light pulse output module， used for converting the modulated signal to light pulse signal， and transmitting it to the barcode reader；

a power module， used for supplying power for the processing module， the modulation module and the light pulse output module.
The system of claim 9 or 10， wherein the system also includes a mobile terminal， which converts the barcode to an encoded data， and sends it to the processing module of the LPT.
The system of claim 11， wherein the mobile terminal can be a smart phone， which supplies power for the power module of the LPT and transmits the encoded data to the processing module of LPT via an audio interface between the smart phone and LPT.
The system of claim 11， wherein the mobile terminal can be a wearable device， in which the LPT is embedded， and which can synchronize data with a smart phone.
The system of claim 9 or 10， wherein the encoded data is contained in either one-dimensional barcode or two-dimensional staked barcode.
The system of claim 13， wherein the LPT also includes encoded data output module， which pre-stores the encoded data and sends it to the processing module.
The system of claim 15， wherein the LPT has a power module which respectively supplies power for the processing module， the modulation module， the light pulse output module.
The system of claim 10， wherein a light source is embedded in the light pulse output module for emitting light pulse which can be identified by the barcode reader.
The system of claim 17， wherein the light source can be a light emitting diode.