IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,429,803
Granted Patent B2
US 11,429,803 · App. 17/040,633 · Granted Aug 30, 2022

Identifier allocation for optical element sets in machine-read articles

Inventors: James W. Howard (North Oaks, MN); James B. Snyder (Minneapolis, MN)
Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
G06K7/1417G06K7/10722G06V20/582
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,429,803
App. No.
17/040,633
Granted
Aug 30, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

In some examples, a method includes selecting, by a coding computing device, a particular identifier from a set of identifiers generated by an identifier allocation authority, wherein the set of identifiers are included within a global set of identifiers maintained by the identifier allocation authority; coding, by the coding computing device, the particular identifier from the set of identifiers into an optical element set that represents an optical code comprising a plurality of finder optical elements arranged in a pattern to localize the optical code within an image, a plurality of context optical elements representing context information, and a plurality of content optical elements representing content information; and generating a visual output of the optical code that is decodable to the particular identifier which, in combination with at least one other parameter associated with the optical element set, comprises a globally unique identifier in a set of globally unique identifiers.

Claims (48)

1. A method comprising:

selecting, by a coding computing device, a particular identifier from a set of identifiers generated by an identifier allocation authority, wherein the set of identifiers are included within a global set of identifiers maintained by the identifier allocation authority;

coding, by the coding computing device, the particular identifier from the set of identifiers into an optical element set that includes a parent optical element set and a child optical element set, wherein optical elements of the child optical element set are visually smaller than optical elements of the parent optical element set, a first coded value represented by the child optical element set is not decodable from a distance greater than a threshold distance, and a second coded value is decodable from the distance greater than the threshold distance; and

generating a visual output of the optical element set that is decodable to the particular identifier which, in combination with at least one other parameter associated with the optical element set, comprises a globally unique identifier in a set of globally unique identifiers;

wherein the globally unique identifier is decodable from the optical element set by a computing device implemented in a vehicle that validates the globally unique identifier in a distributed ledger.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, from a remote computing device, a request for data that corresponds to the particular identifier; and

sending, to the remote computing device, data that corresponds to the particular identifier.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

generating a code record that comprises a code identifier;

signing the code record with a signature of a processor operator associated with the remote computing device; and

publishing the code record to a distributed ledger, such that the code record is written to the distributed ledger.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the particular identifier is a code identifier.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the code record comprises a processor identifier associated with a processor operator that initiated the request from the remote computing device.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the code record comprises one or more values that correspond to an infrastructure article that includes the optical element set.

7. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

in response to receiving a message from a computing device associated with an installer of an infrastructure article, generating a placed sign record comprising the globally unique identifier;

signing the placed sign record with a signature of the installer of the infrastructure article; and

publishing the placed sign record to the distributed ledger, such that the processor record is written to the distributed ledger.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the globally unique identifier includes a plurality of fields, and wherein at least one of the plurality of fields comprises data that characterizes the infrastructure article.

9. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

generating a processor record comprising a processor identifier associated with the remote computing device;

signing the processor record with a signature of a processor operator associated with the remote computing device; and

publishing the processor record to a distributed ledger, such that the processor record is written to the distributed ledger.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the processor record comprises a processor identifier associated with a processor operator that initiated the request from the remote computing device.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the processor record comprises one or more values that correspond to the processor operator that initiated the request from the remote computing device.

12. A method comprising:

selecting, by a coding computing device, a particular identifier from a set of identifiers generated by an identifier allocation authority, wherein the set of identifiers are included within a global set of identifiers maintained by the identifier allocation authority;

coding, by the coding computing device, the particular identifier from the set of identifiers into an optical element set that represents an optical code comprising a plurality of finder optical elements arranged in a pattern to localize the optical code within an image, a plurality of context optical elements representing context information, and a plurality of content optical elements representing content information; and

generating a visual output of the optical code that is decodable to the particular identifier which, in combination with at least one other parameter associated with the optical element set, comprises a globally unique identifier in a set of globally unique identifiers;

wherein the globally unique identifier is decodable from the optical element set by a computing device implemented in a vehicle that validates the globally unique identifier in a distributed ledger.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

receiving, from a remote computing device, a request for data that corresponds to the particular identifier; and

sending, to the remote computing device, data that corresponds to the particular identifier.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

generating a code record that comprises a code identifier;

signing the code record with a signature of a processor operator associated with the remote computing device; and

publishing the code record to a distributed ledger, such that the code record is written to the distributed ledger.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the particular identifier is the code identifier.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

in response to receiving a message from a computing device associated with an installer of an infrastructure article, generating a placed sign record comprising the globally unique identifier;

signing the placed sign record with a signature of the installer of the infrastructure article; and

publishing the placed sign record to the distributed ledger, such that the processor record is written to the distributed ledger.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the globally unique identifier includes a plurality of fields, and wherein at least one of the plurality of fields comprises data that characterizes the infrastructure article.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

generating a processor record comprising a processor identifier associated with the remote computing device;

signing the processor record with a signature of a processor operator associated with the remote computing device; and

publishing the processor record to a distributed ledger, such that the processor record is written to the distributed ledger.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 23, 2020
From: HOWARD, JAMES W.; SNYDER, JAMES B.
To: 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY
Reel/Frame 053856/0415 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62648781 · Mar 27, 2018
Related Publication 20210027033A1 · Jan 28, 2021