Colored Two-Dimensional Bar Code

This work was originally done in the Fall of 1997

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November 10, 1999. Finally some recognition. An edited version of this work was presented at a conference sponsored by the International Society for Computers and their Applications. It was the 12th International Conference on Computer Applications in Industry and Engineering and the paper appears in the conference proceedings.

Overview

The Colored Two-dimensional Bar Code (C2DB) is a variation of the popular two-dimensional bar codes. It is a two-dimensional array of colored dots that can contain a high data density in a small physical space. The addition of color to a two-dimensional bar code effectively adds a third dimension. It can store more than 24,000 characters is a space that is only 130 mm x 40 mm. C2DB has an error-tolerant design that can withstand a considerable amount of damage and distortion. Many of the parameters surrounding the implementation of the C2DB are still as yet undefined. The purpose of this work is to investigate some of these parameters involved in C2DB and to find optimal values for them.

This is in three parts as originally presented (there is some overlap in content since each part was intended to stand alone). Each part has multiple files; a Word 95 version of the paper, a Lotus Freelance version of the presentation and various other related files.

The first part focused on the specification of a program that could be used to evaluate the C2DB symbol and its various parameters. The second part was oriented more toward the detailed design of the program specification proposed in the first part. It also includes discussion of an initial implementation which consisted of a good amount of the total functionality. The last part continues the implementation by incorporating important design features and later attempts analysis of symbol parameters using the resulting program.