HK1229033B - Encoded cells and cell arrays - Google Patents

Description

Encoded cells and cell arrays

Background Art

A barcode is generally an optical representation of binary data encoded by means of position or scale properties. Such a barcode can be scanned by means of an optical scanner which, together with interpretive software, allows the encoded binary data to be recovered.

One-dimensional ("1-D") or linear barcodes are constructed from bars (i.e., black lines) and spaces (i.e., empty spaces) of varying widths and are encoded using width only. Such 1-D barcodes are scanned from side to side, and the information is relevant only in one dimension. A single-width bar represents a binary 1. A single-width space represents a 0.

Two-dimensional ("2-D") or matrix barcodes are composed of an arrangement of dark and light squares and use both width and height encoding. In a 2-D matrix code, the matrix code is composed of modules. The dark modules are binary 1s, and the light modules are binary 0s. 2-D barcodes are scanned from side to side and from top to bottom, and the information is correlated in two dimensions. An example of such a 2-D barcode is the well-known and widely used QR code.

Summary of the Invention

Applicants have recognized that encoded cells can be provided that represent more than a single bit of information, thereby enabling the provision of encoded cells (e.g., cell arrays) that represent a greater amount of information than prior art barcodes. Furthermore, applicants have recognized that cells can be included within a cell array that identify the encoding scheme used to encode other cells in the cell array. Such identification can reduce the amount of time required to decode the cell array. Furthermore, applicants have also recognized that cells within a cell array can include redundant aspects that are used to confirm the accuracy of decoding the cell array. Furthermore, applicants have also recognized that encoded cells can be defined with different noise level tolerances to accommodate different devices for outputting cells or cell arrays and to accommodate different devices for capturing cells or cell arrays.

Exemplary embodiments are described herein. In one aspect, the exemplary embodiments are in the form of a method comprising: receiving, by a computing device, a binary identifier comprising a plurality of bits; determining, by the computing device, one or more encoding cells that encode the binary identifier according to an encoding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits and each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; generating, by the computing device, a cell array comprising the one or more encoding cells; and outputting, by the computing device, data for generating a graphical representation of the cell array.

In another aspect, an exemplary embodiment is presented in the form of a machine, comprising: a computing device; and a computer-readable medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions, when executed by the computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions comprising: receiving, by the computing device, a binary identifier comprising a plurality of bits; determining, by the computing device, one or more encoding units that encode the binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding unit indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits and each encoding unit comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; generating, by the computing device, a cell array comprising the one or more encoding units; and outputting, by the computing device, data for producing a graphical representation of the cell array.

In another aspect, an exemplary embodiment is presented in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions causing a set of functions to be performed when executed by a computing device, the set of functions comprising: receiving, by the computing device, a binary identifier comprising a plurality of bits; determining, by the computing device, one or more encoding units that encode the binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding unit indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits and each encoding unit comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; generating, by the computing device, a cell array comprising the one or more encoding units; and outputting, by the computing device, data for producing a graphical representation of the cell array.

On the other hand, an exemplary embodiment is presented in the form of a method, comprising: receiving, by a computing device, a captured cell array, the captured cell array comprising one or more coding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each coding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each coding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; decoding, by the computing device, each coding cell in the captured cell array according to a decoding scheme corresponding to the coding scheme to recover the bits indicated by the coding cell; recovering, by the computing device, the binary identifier by combining the recovered bits; and outputting, by the computing device, the recovered binary identifier.

In another aspect, an exemplary embodiment is presented in the form of a machine, comprising: a computing device; and a computer-readable medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions, when executed by the computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions comprising: receiving, by the computing device, a captured cell array, the captured cell array comprising one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; decoding, by the computing device, each encoding cell in the captured cell array according to a decoding scheme corresponding to the coding scheme to recover the bits indicated by the encoding cell; recovering, by the computing device, the binary identifier by combining the recovered bits; and outputting, by the computing device, the recovered binary identifier.

In another aspect, an exemplary embodiment is presented in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions causing a set of functions to be performed when executed by a computing device, the set of functions comprising: receiving, by the computing device, a captured cell array comprising one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; decoding, by the computing device, each encoding cell in the captured cell array according to a decoding scheme corresponding to the coding scheme to recover the bits indicated by the encoding cell; recovering, by the computing device, the binary identifier by combining the recovered bits; and outputting, by the computing device, the recovered binary identifier.

In another aspect, an exemplary embodiment is presented in the form of a method comprising: receiving, by a computing device, data specifying a cell array, wherein the cell array includes one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; and displaying, by a display connected to the computing device, a graphical representation of the cell array, wherein the displayed cell array includes the one or more encoding cells that encode the binary identifier according to the coding scheme, wherein each displayed encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter.

On the other hand, an illustrative example is presented in the form of a machine, comprising: a display; a computing device; and a computer-readable medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions, when executed by the computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions comprising: receiving, by the computing device, data specifying a cell array, wherein the cell array comprises one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; and displaying, by a display connected to the computing device, a graphical representation of the cell array, wherein the displayed cell array comprises one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to the coding scheme, wherein each displayed encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter.

In another aspect, an exemplary embodiment is in the form of a computer-readable medium having program instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions comprising: receiving, by the computing device, data specifying a cell array, wherein the cell array comprises one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; and displaying, by a display connected to the computing device, a graphical representation of the cell array, wherein the displayed cell array comprises one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to the coding scheme, wherein each displayed encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter.

In another aspect, an exemplary embodiment is presented in the form of an article comprising: a surface; and a cell array at the surface capable of being read by a computing device, wherein the cell array comprises one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier representing information related to the article according to a coding scheme, wherein the binary identifier comprises a plurality of bits, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter.

In the disclosed embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable medium or a program executable on a computer-readable medium may be included, wherein the computer-readable medium may store instructions on a physical medium such as a DVD, a solid-state drive, or a hard drive. Alternatively, in any of these embodiments, a transient computer-readable medium may be used instead of a non-transitory computer-readable medium. For example, the program may be provided in the form of instructions provided via a connection such as a network connection linked to a network such as the Internet.

These and other aspects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art by understanding the following detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.The embodiments described herein are intended to be exemplary only and do not necessarily limit the scope of the invention as recited in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a coding unit, according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a plurality of states or line patterns of the coding unit of FIG. 1 , according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates additional states or line patterns of the coding unit of FIG. 1 , according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates additional states or line patterns of the coding unit of FIG. 1 , according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates another state or line pattern of the coding unit of FIG. 1 , according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates alignment nodes used in a cell array according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates another alignment node used in a cell array according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates additional states or line patterns of the coding unit of FIG. 1 , according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of a coding unit with alternative alignment marks according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a cell array according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic representation of coding units with alternative perimeters, according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic representation of additional coding units, according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an example system according to one or more example embodiments.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an example machine according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram depicting a set of functions that can be implemented in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating another set of functions that can be implemented in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating another set of functions that can be implemented in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 18 illustrates additional states or line patterns of the coding units of FIG. 1 , according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 19 illustrates a schematic representation of additional coding units, according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 20 illustrates features of a cell array according to one or more exemplary embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

I. Introduction

This specification describes exemplary embodiments, at least some of which relate to encoded cells and cell arrays. Generally, an encoding cell may include a perimeter, alignment marks within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter. A cell array may include two or more cells. A cell array may be referred to as a "coding cell array." A cell array may include cells that encode bits of a binary identifier and other cells.

Throughout this specification, the articles "a" or "an" are used to introduce elements of exemplary embodiments. Unless expressly provided, or unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, any reference to "a" or "an" means "at least one," and any reference to "the" means "at least one." The use of the conjunction "or" within a list of at least two items is intended to indicate any one of the listed items or any combination of the listed items. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the use of ordinal numbers such as "first," "second," "third," etc. is intended to distinguish corresponding elements, not to indicate a particular order of those elements. Throughout this specification, the terms "many" and "plurality" mean "two or more" or "more than one."

Schematic diagram shown in the figures, description and flow chart are provided as examples only, are not intended to limit. Illustrated in the figures or a plurality of elements described herein are functional elements that can be implemented as discrete or distributed components or combined with other components, and can be implemented in any suitable combination and in any suitable position. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other arrangements and elements (such as, machines, interfaces, functions, orders or grouped functions or operations) can also be used alternatively. Each element shown in the figures or described in this specification, or the component of element, individually or in combination with one or more other elements or their components, can be referred to as system or machine. In addition, the various functions or operations described as being performed by one or more elements can be performed by a processor using a computer-readable program instruction or implemented by any combination of hardware, firmware or software.

II. Coding Unit

FIG1 illustrates an example cell 10. Cell 10 includes a perimeter 12, alignment marks 14 within perimeter 12, and a line pattern 16 within perimeter 12. Aspects of cell 10 (such as line pattern 16) can represent data, such as a single predetermined bit of binary data (or, more simply, a bit), a predetermined sequence of two or more bits of binary data (or, more simply, bits), or other data as described herein. In such cases, cell 10 may be referred to as an encoded cell 10. "Within the perimeter" means inside the perimeter (e.g., inside the area defined by perimeter 12). The area defined by perimeter 12 may be referred to as cell body 11. As shown in FIG1 , perimeter 12 and cell body 11 are hexagonal, but are not limited thereto. Geometrically, cell 10 may have one or more lines of symmetry. Cell 10 may include a center, such as a location within the perimeter where two or more of the cell's lines of symmetry intersect.

Line pattern 16 can be referred to as an empty-cell line pattern, which is a cell line pattern that lacks any lines within perimeter 12. Examples of line patterns having at least one line within perimeter 12 are shown in Figures 2 to 5, 12, 13, and 18. Each line pattern of a coding cell can correspond to a distinct cell state. For example, an empty-cell line pattern, such as line pattern 16, can correspond to the first state (e.g., state #1) of coding cell 10.

Perimeter 12 defines a continuous boundary of cell 10. Perimeter 12 may be black or another color, such as the colors identified in Table 6 below. Perimeter 12 may be a polygon, such as, but not limited to, a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a dodecagon. However, the perimeter of a cell is not limited thereto, as at least a portion of the perimeter may be curved. By way of example, the perimeter may include a circular perimeter, an oval perimeter, or an elliptical perimeter.

Alignment mark 14 may include or be represented as a circle (e.g., a dot), but is not limited thereto. Perimeter 12 and alignment mark 14 may each include a corresponding center. Alignment mark 14 may be centrally located (i.e., the center of alignment mark 14 may be located at the center of cell 10). Alternatively, the center of alignment mark 14 may be offset from the center of cell 10.

The cell array may include many encoding cells. The cell array may encode a binary identifier. The line pattern in each encoding cell may correspond to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns. Each predefined line pattern, and each cell that includes the line pattern within its perimeter 12, may correspond to a cell state. A line pattern or cell state may correspond to a predetermined sequence of two or more bits. Other line patterns or cell states may correspond to other data, such as a decoding instruction. A cell with such a line pattern may be referred to as a "decoding cell."

The plurality of predefined line patterns may include an empty cell line pattern 16. Each of the one or more predefined line patterns may include one or more asymmetric radial vectors, such as the asymmetric radial vector line pattern shown in FIG2 . Each of the one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns may include one or more radial quantities, such as the radial quantity line pattern shown in FIG3 . Each of the one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns may include a symmetrical cross, such as the symmetrical cross line pattern shown in FIG4 . Each of the one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns may include a symmetrical star, such as the symmetrical star line pattern shown in FIG5 . Each of the one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns may include a curved pattern as shown in FIG18 .

The decoding unit can indicate the encoding scheme used to encode the binary identifier. For example, the decoding unit can indicate an encoding scheme that uses eight cell states to represent a predetermined sequence of three bits. As another example, the decoding unit can indicate an encoding scheme that uses colored cells to represent a predetermined sequence of two or more bits.

The decoding unit can indicate various decoding instructions. As an example, the decoding instruction can include a start-of-row instruction, which indicates that the unit is the first unit in a cell array row (i.e., a row of the cell array). The computing device can determine that the encoding unit adjacent to the decoding unit in the row is the first unit of the cell array that can be decoded to recover the binary identifier. As another example, the decoding instruction can include an end-of-row instruction, which indicates that the unit is the last unit in the cell array row. The computing device can determine that the encoding unit adjacent to the decoding unit including the end-of-row instruction is the last unit in the row to be decoded to recover the binary identifier. As another example, the decoding instruction can include an end-of-array instruction, which the computing device can use to determine that there are no additional cells to be scanned or decoded in the cell array.

Next, FIG2 shows eight examples of encoding units 10, including a perimeter 12, an alignment mark 14 within the perimeter 12, and a line pattern 17 within the perimeter 12. The perimeter and alignment mark in these encoding units can be the same. Each line pattern 17 shown in FIG2 is positioned at a different degree from a given reference angle.

Each encoding cell 10 shown in FIG2 includes a unique line pattern 17 extending from the alignment mark to the perimeter. The line pattern 17 is an example of an asymmetric radial line, which can be referred to as an "asymmetric radial vector" or "asymmetric line pattern." Additionally, the asymmetric radial lines within a cell can be configured in one of the following example arrangements: (i) the asymmetric radial line extends away from the alignment mark to a point where it does not reach the perimeter, (ii) the asymmetric radial line extends away from the perimeter to a point where it does not reach the alignment mark, and (iii) the asymmetric radial line extends between the perimeter and the alignment mark without contacting either the perimeter or the alignment mark.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the asymmetric line pattern (e.g., asymmetric radial lines) of the cell can be aligned in any of eight possible directions at 45° angular increments from a given reference direction, i.e., at angular positions of 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, and 315° from the reference direction, as shown in FIG2 . The asymmetric line pattern 17, as a property of the cell 10, defines eight additional states (e.g., states #2 through #9) of the cell 10. By themselves, these eight additional states can represent three bits of embedded binary data, as shown in Table 1.

state Angular position Binary data #2 0° 000 #3 45° 001 #4 90° 010 #5 135° 011 #6 180° 100 #7 225° 101 #8 270° 110 #9 315° 111

Table 1

The cell 10 may include another type of line pattern in the form of a diametrical (i.e., symmetrically opposed) vector 18 passing through the alignment mark 14, as shown in FIG3 . The diametrical vector may be referred to as a "diametrical line pattern." According to one or more exemplary embodiments, the diametrical vector 18 can be aligned in any of four possible directions at angular increments of 45° from a given reference direction, i.e., at angular positions of 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135° from the reference direction, as shown in FIG3 . The addition of the diametrical vector 18 as a further attribute of the cell 10 defines four additional states of the cell 10 (e.g., states #10 through #13), which, by themselves, can represent two bits of embedded information, as shown in Table 2.

state Angular position Binary data #10 0° 00 #11 45° 01 #12 90° 10 #13 135° 11

Table 2

According to other exemplary embodiments, the angular increments for the radial quantities from a given reference direction may be different from 45°, thereby providing a different number of cell states corresponding to a set of radial quantities. The radial quantities 68 passing through the alignment mark are also shown in FIG. 11 .

Cell 10 can include another type of line pattern in the form of a symmetrical cross 20 centered about alignment mark 14, as shown in FIG4 . The symmetrical cross can be referred to as a "symmetrical cross line pattern." According to an exemplary embodiment, symmetrical cross 20 can be aligned in either of two possible directions at angular positions of 0° and 45° from a given reference direction, at angular increments of 45° from the reference direction. Adding symmetrical cross 20 as another attribute of cell 10 defines two additional states of cell 10 (e.g., states #14 and #15) that, by themselves, can represent a single bit of embedded information, as shown in Table 3.

state Angular position Binary data #14 0° 0 #15 45° 1

Table 3

According to other exemplary embodiments, the angular increment from a given reference direction for the symmetric crossovers may be different from 45°, thereby providing a different number of cell states using a set of symmetric crossovers. A symmetric crossover 59 passing through an alignment mark is also shown in FIG.

The cell 10 may include another type of line pattern in the form of a symmetrical star 22 centered about the alignment mark 14, as shown in Figure 5. A symmetrical star 55 passing through the alignment mark is also shown in Figure 11. Using the symmetrical star 22 as another attribute of the cell 10 defines an additional state (e.g., state #16) that, along with the empty cell line 16, can represent a single bit of embedded information, as shown in Table 4.

state Line Pattern Binary data #14 Empty cells 0 #15 Star 1

Table 4

The different types of line patterns shown in Figures 1 to 5 do not have to be used in isolation from each other or from other line patterns. For example, it will be appreciated that the empty cell line pattern 16 and the corresponding cell state #1, the eight additional line patterns defined by the asymmetric line pattern 17 of Figure 2 and the corresponding cell states #2 to #9, the four additional line patterns defined by the radial line pattern 18 of Figure 3 and the corresponding cell states #10 to #13, the two additional line patterns defined by the symmetrical cross-line pattern 20 of Figure 4 and the corresponding cell states #14 and #15, and the one line pattern defined by the symmetrical star 22 of Figure 5 and the corresponding cell state #16, in combination, result in 16 unique line patterns and corresponding cell states. These 16 unique line patterns can be used to encode a total of four bits of binary data, two octal digits, or one hexadecimal digit, as shown in Table 5.

Table 5

The line pattern of each example shown in Figures 2 to 5 includes at least one line within the perimeter 12. The line is a continuous mark. The line patterns shown in Figures 2 to 5 are straight lines, but the exemplary embodiments are not limited to this. Figure 18 shows twelve examples of line patterns using curved lines. Specifically, Figure 18 shows twelve cells 10, each of which includes a perimeter 12, an alignment mark 14 within the perimeter 12, and one of the line patterns 91, 93, 95, and 97 within the perimeter 12. Each line pattern shown in Figure 18 can correspond to a unique cell state.

Each line pattern 91 extends between two unique locations (separated N ₁ degrees) on the perimeter 12 and is tangent to the alignment mark 14. The line patterns 91 may be referred to as "single curved tangential line patterns."

Each line pattern 93 includes two curved lines extending between two distinct locations on perimeter 12 (separated by N ₂ degrees) and tangential to alignment mark 14. Line pattern 93 may be referred to as a "dual curved tangential line pattern." Those skilled in the art will appreciate that three or more curved lines tangential to alignment mark 14 and extending between two distinct locations on perimeter 12 may be included within a cell to provide additional cell states. Generally, a line pattern having more than two curved lines tangential to alignment mark 14 and extending between two distinct locations on perimeter 12 may be referred to as a "multiple curved tangential line pattern."

Each line pattern 95 includes a single curved line extending between two unique locations on the perimeter 12 (separated by N ₃ degrees) and passing through the alignment mark 14. Similarly, each line pattern 97 includes a single curved line extending between two unique locations on the perimeter 12 (separated by N ₄ degrees) and passing through the alignment mark 14. Line patterns 95 and 97 may be referred to as "single curved pass-through line patterns." Those skilled in the art will appreciate that two or more curved lines passing through the alignment mark 14 and extending between two unique locations on the perimeter 12 may be included within a cell to provide additional cell states. Generally, a line pattern having more than two curved lines passing through the alignment mark 14 and extending between two unique locations on the perimeter 12 may be referred to as a "multiple curved pass-through line pattern." One or more of N ₁ , N ₂ , N ₃ , and N ₄ may be 90°, 120°, 180°, or another number of degrees.

For purposes of this specification, a line, whether straight or curved, is a continuous mark. A broken line is a discontinuous line and is often referred to as a "dashed line." Any line pattern described herein or shown in the figures can be used with a broken line instead of a line (i.e., a continuous mark).

The perimeter of a cell, such as perimeter 12, can be configured to have a predetermined width, referred to herein as a “perimeter width.” The lines of the line pattern can be configured to have a predetermined width, referred to herein as a “line width.”

According to any of the embodiments described herein, the perimeter width of one or more cells in a cell array can be equal to the line width of those same one or more cells. As an example, the perimeter width and line width of a given cell can each be equal to 1 unit, 1.5 units, 2 units, 2.4 units, 3 units, or some other number of units. The units can be, for example, millimeters, centimeters, inches, or some other unit suitable for measuring the width of an object.

According to any of the embodiments described herein, the perimeter width of one or more cells within the cell array can be equal to the line width multiplied by a first width multiplier (i.e., a positive decimal number greater than 1.0 or less than 1.0). Thus, the line width of those one or more cells within the cell array can be equal to the perimeter width multiplied by a second width multiplier, which is equal to 1 divided by the first width multiplier. According to these exemplary embodiments, the perimeter width of a given cell can be equal to 1 unit, 1.5 units, 2 units, 2.4 units, 3 units, or some other number of units, and the line width of a given cell can be equal to 1 unit, 1.5 units, 2 units, 2.4 units, 3 units, or some other number of units multiplied by the second width multiplier.

III. Color Coding

A coding unit such as unit 10 may also include a color attribute. For example, for a white background, the unit colors may include black and the primary detectable colors of the visible spectrum, i.e., red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, magenta, and orange, i.e., a total of eight colors. These eight color attributes can define an additional eight states of the coding unit. These additional eight states can, by themselves, encode three bits of binary data, as shown in FIG6 . The colors in Table 6 can be replaced by another color. For example, magenta can be replaced by purple or another color.

color# color Binary data 1 black 000 2 red 001 3 yellow 010 4 green 011 5 blue-green 100 6 blue 101 7 Magenta 110 8 orange color 111

Table 6

The color attribute of a coding cell such as cell 10 can be used to amplify the data capacity of the cell. In one example, the color of the coding cell can be used to represent the precursor data of the binary data represented by the line pattern of the cell. Specifically, the color of the coding cell 10 can be used to represent the most significant bit of the concatenation of the binary data represented by the line pattern. As an example, in the above example where the coding cell 10 can be presented in any of 8 different colors, a blue coding cell with cell state #5 representing binary data 011 (as illustrated by the data in Table 1) will produce a concatenated bit pattern of binary data 101011.

In an alternative arrangement, the binary data represented by the line pattern can be used to represent the most significant bit of the concatenation with the binary data represented by the cell color. In the case of a blue coded cell representing binary data 101 (which has cell state #5 representing binary data 011), the concatenated bit pattern of this alternative arrangement would be binary data 011101.

The color attribute can also be used with multiple cell states in addition to the eight cell states identified in Table 2. For example, each of the 16 possible states of the encoding cell 10 shown in Figures 1 to 5 can be displayed or printed in any of the eight colors identified in Table 6. The 16 cell states of the encoding cell 10 (i.e., states #1 to #16) and the cell colors of the encoding cell 10 (colors #1 to #8) can be used to encode 7 bits of binary data, which is equivalent to an octal (base 8) number ranging from octal data 000 to octal data 177 (inclusive). This encoding scheme can be used, for example, to represent characters using a typical ASCII table with 128 characters. Table 7 shows an example in which the color of each encoding cell can represent the three most significant bits of binary data and cell states #1 to #16 can represent the least significant bit of binary data. Other examples of using cell states and cell colors to represent binary data or a series of octal numbers are also possible.

Table 7

IV. Fault Tolerance

In order for the encoding cell 10 shown in Figures 1 to 5 to be successfully used in a cell array, it is important to successfully and reliably scan (i.e., "read") and decode the encoding cell. If the encoding cell 10 is noisy, the likelihood of erroneous scanning and decoding increases. For example, a noisy cell may appear if printed by a poor quality printer or displayed on a low-resolution display device.

The various states of the coding cell 10 shown in Figures 1-5 exhibit varying degrees of error tolerance (or "noise resilience," i.e., the ability to be reliably scanned and decoded in the presence of noise). The most error-tolerant set of coding cell states may be the set of eight cell states #2 through #9 shown in Figure 2. For convenience, this level of noise resilience will be referred to as Level 1 noise resilience. The line pattern 17 in each of these Level 1 states is inherently asymmetric, and as a result, noisy cells in each of these states can be read or decoded with the lowest probability of error.

The next most noise-tolerant set of coding cell states may be a set of four cell states #10 to #13 shown in FIG3 , wherein the radial pattern 18 in each of these states is symmetrical. This level of noise tolerance will be referred to as Level II noise tolerance. Therefore, it is possible that a noise Level I cell state is incorrectly scanned and decoded as a Level II cell state.

The one with the least fault tolerance is still the set of two coding unit states #14 and #15 shown in Figure 4 (called level III noise tolerance), and the one with the worst fault tolerance among all (16 unit states in Figures 1 to 5) is the set including unit state #16 in Figure 5 and the empty unit (state #1) in Figure 1 (called level IV noise tolerance).

As a result, a "high-definition" coding cell with little or no noise can use all 16 possible cell states (i.e., states #1 through #16, which are the Level I, Level II, Level III, and Level IV groups of coding cell states). As previously mentioned, regardless of cell color, a coding cell 10 capable of using 16 states can encode 4 bits of binary data, as shown in Table 5. On the other hand, if the coding cell is noisy, it can only use the 8 line patterns of cell states #2 through #9 with Level I noise tolerance. By doing so, regardless of cell color, each coding cell 10 will be able to encode three bits of binary data, as shown in Table 1. Therefore, there is a trade-off between the capacity of the coding cell and the noise of the coding cell.

V. Alternative Cell Line Patterns

1 and 3 to 5 illustrate examples of coding units 10 having symmetrical line patterns. FIG2 illustrates the use of a single asymmetrical line pattern 17 in each example of coding unit 10. However, coding unit 10 is not limited to the example of asymmetrical line patterns shown in FIG2. For example, coding unit 10 may include a line pattern having two or more lines arranged asymmetrically.

Figure 8 shows a cell array 80 comprising twelve instances of cells 10 including an asymmetric line pattern 82. In Figure 8, each cell 10 includes an asymmetric line pattern 82 having a pair of lines separated by 90 degrees when the minimum number of degrees separating a pair of lines is considered. The lines of the asymmetric line pattern 82 of the cell array 80 can be aligned in any of twelve possible pairs of directions at 30° angular increments from a given reference direction, i.e., at angular positions of 0° and 90°, 30° and 120°, 60° and 150°, 90° and 180°, 120° and 210°, 150° and 240°, 180° and 270°, 210° and 300°, 240° and 330°, 270° and 0°, 300° and 30°, and 330° and 60° from the reference direction, as shown in FIG8 (starting at the top leftmost cell and moving from left to right in each row). Coding cells 10 having an asymmetric line pattern such as the asymmetric line pattern 82 can be Class II noise tolerant.

The coding unit 10 shown in Figure 8 can be defined as an additional state of the coding unit 10. In Figure 8, starting from the top row, moving from left to right in each row, the coding unit can be defined as having cell states #17 to #28. Various attributes can be associated with cell states #17 to #28. For example, Table 8 shows that cell states #17 to #24 can be associated with 3 bits of binary data, and cell states #25 to #28 can be associated with a decoding instruction used by a computing device (e.g., a scanner or decoder) to scan a cell array. In an alternative arrangement, one or more of cell states #17 to #28 can be associated with a decoding instruction indicating the start of a cell array row or the start of an indication cell array. Such a decoding unit can be used with a cell array using different cell colors, or with a coding unit using a single cell color.

state# Binary data Decoding instructions #17 000 N.A. #18 001 N.A. #19 010 N.A. #20 011 N.A. #twenty one 100 N.A. #twenty two 101 N.A. #twenty three 110 N.A. #twenty four 111 N.A. #25 N.A. End of line #26 N.A. End of array #27 N.A. Pitch #1 #28 N.A. Pitch #2

Table 8

Eight cell states within cell states #17 to #28 (e.g., cell states #17 to #24) can be combined with cell states #2 to #9 to encode four bits of binary data, as shown in Table 9. These cell states shown in Table 9 are Level II noise tolerant. It will be appreciated that various different groups of sixteen coding cells can be defined to encode four bits of binary data.

state Binary data #2 0000 #3 0001 #4 0010 #5 0011 #6 0100 #7 0101 #8 0110 #9 0111 #17 1000 #18 1001 #19 1010 #20 1011 #twenty one 1100 #twenty two 1101 #twenty three 1110 #twenty four 1111

Table 9

VI. Alternative Alignment Marks

Next, FIG9 shows an alternative version of the encoding cell 15 having an empty cell line pattern. As shown in FIG9, the encoding cell 15 includes a perimeter 19, an alignment mark 17 within the perimeter 19, and a line pattern 13 within the perimeter 19. The alignment mark 17 is an offset alignment mark, which can be offset from the center of the encoding cell 15 or within the encoding cell that does not include a defined center. The alignment mark 17 can be represented as a quadrilateral (e.g., a rectangle), as shown in FIG2, but is not limited thereto.

The alignment marks 14 and 17 shown in Figures 1 and 9 are shown as filled alignment marks, respectively, but the alignment marks of the coding units may alternatively be unfilled alignment marks or partially filled marks. In addition, the alignment marks may be represented in shapes other than circles or quadrilaterals, such as triangles, pentagons, hexagons, octagons, or some other shape.

VII. Cell Array

The cell array can be arranged in a variety of configurations. On the one hand, the cell array can be arranged in such a configuration: wherein all cells (and cell perimeters) are the same shape. The cell array 30 shown in Figure 10 is an example of a cell array in which all cells have the same shape. Alternatively, the cell array can be arranged in such a configuration: the cell array includes at least two cells (and perimeters) of different shapes. Figure 20 shows a cell array 101 or a portion of a cell array including a triangular shaped cell 105 and a square shaped cell 107. The triangular shaped cell 105 can be configured as a cell 77 similar to the triangular shaped cell 77 discussed with respect to Figure 12, and the square shaped cell 107 can be configured as a cell similar to the rectangular shaped cell discussed with respect to Figure 11. Other examples of cell arrays including at least two cells of different shapes are also possible.

In another aspect, a cell array can include non-celluar spaces between cells that abut one another. FIG20 illustrates non-cell spaces 103 between cells of a cell array 101. If a cell array having non-cell spaces between adjacent cells within the cell array is acceptable or preferred, the cell array can include cells having curved perimeters, such as, but not limited to, circular perimeters, oval perimeters, or elliptical perimeters.

On the other hand, a cell array can include multiple cells that are closely packed together without any non-cell space and without any gaps. Figure 19 shows a cell array 113 that includes multiple cross-shaped cells 115 that are closely packed together without any non-cell space and without any gaps.

In yet another aspect, a cell array can include a group of tightly packed cells arranged in a specific pattern depicting a desired shape, logo, configuration, etc. FIG10 illustrates a cell array 30. The cell array 30 includes a plurality of cells 10 grouped together in a tightly packed arrangement, similar to a honeycomb arrangement. The cell array 30 includes a plurality of hexagonal shaped cells arranged in the shape of the letter "Z." Non-hexagonal shaped coding cells can also be tightly packed or grouped together in other ways to form a cell array arranged in the shape of the letter "Z" or other ways.

Cell array 30 includes an alignment node 31 and 191 instances of cell 10. For clarity of FIG10 , only one instance of cell 10 is labeled, and each instance of cell 10 is illustrated with a null cell line pattern 16. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that each cell 10 within cell array 30 may include any of the described line patterns, or another line pattern. Alignment node 31 includes two adjacent null cells 32. In an alternative arrangement, cell array 30 may be configured with an alignment node 38 as shown in FIG7 .

The cell array 30 includes a first portion 35, a second portion 37, and a gap 39 separating the first portion 35 and the second portion 37. The alignment nodes 31 and the coding cells 10 of the first portion 35 can be a first color, such as cyan. The coding cells 10 of the second portion 37 can be a second color, such as navy blue. The cell array can include more or fewer gaps separating distinct portions of the cell array. Each individual portion of the cell array can include an alignment node for that portion of the cell array. Alternatively, an individual portion, such as the second portion 37, can include no alignment node.

A machine such as the machine 212 shown in FIG. 13 can be configured to generate a gap 39 of known dimensions (e.g., a known width, such as the width of a cell 10 within a cell array 30) that enables a machine (e.g., a machine configured to decode cells and cell arrays) to detect adjacent nodes of two portions of a cell array. For example, a distance between unique portions of two cells (e.g., alignment marks 14) can be defined for a cell array. This distance can be referred to as a "pitch." A cell array can be defined such that adjacent coding cells that abut each other have a standard pitch and adjacent cells separated by a gap have a maximum pitch. For example, the maximum pitch can be equal to the pitch multiplied by a pitch variable, such as 2. A machine (e.g., a machine configured to scan or decode a cell or cell array) can be configured to detect the end of a cell array row or the end of a coding cell array if the machine cannot detect any coding cells within a distance equal to the maximum pitch relative to a previously scanned coding cell.

Inputs including one or more encoding scheme selections may be provided to a machine to generate a cell array, such as cell array 30. By way of example, the encoding scheme selections may include, but are not limited to, color selections for one or more encoding cells, sizes for one or more encoding cells, one or more dimensions of the cell array (e.g., height, length, or width), a shape of the cell array, a spacing selection, and data to be encoded within the encoding cells.

A machine that generates a cell array, such as the machine 212 shown in FIG. 13 , can be configured to generate cell layout data, such as the example cell layout data shown in Table 10. The example cell layout data can indicate, for each cell in the cell array, one or more of the following: cell number, cell position, cell type, cell state, and cell color. In Table 10, the indicator “***” indicates that the cell layout data for the cell array 30 is not included in Table 10. The cell position can be specified, for example, by a row indicator and a position indicator. As an example, the leftmost position in a row can be position 1, 1L, or 1R. Position 1L indicates the position to the left of the first position in the previous row. Position 1R indicates the position to the right of the first position in the previous row. Table 10 indicates example cell types, cell states, and cell colors for cells that may be included in the cell array 30. The cell type of cell number 9 is indicated as a gap including gap 39 of the cell array 30. Table 10 shows that the cell array 30 includes 198 cells. Those cells include 2 null cells 32, 191 cells 10, and 5 gap cells (i.e., 1 gap cell in each of the first 5 rows).

unit# Unit location Unit Type Unit Status Cell color 1 Row 1, position 1 Alignment #1 N.A. #5 2 Row 1, position 2 Alignment #2 N.A. #5 3 Row 1, position 3 coding #2 #5 4 Row 1, position 4 coding #4 #5 *** *** *** *** *** 9 Line 1, position 9 gap N.A. N.A. *** *** *** *** *** 12 Row 1, position 12 decoding End of line #6 13 Row 2, position 1L coding #6 #6 14 Row 2, position 2 coding #8 #6 *** *** *** *** *** 197 Line 22, position 13 layout N.A. #6 198 Line 22, position 14 decoding End of array #6

Table 10

VIII. Alignment Node

The alignment node 31 of the cell array 30 can indicate the first portion of the cell array 30 to be scanned and the first portion of the cell array 30 to be decoded. With the cell array 30 arranged as shown in FIG10 , the alignment node 31 is located at the upper left side of the cell array 30. However, the cell array 30 can be rotated by an amount greater than 0°, and a machine such as the machine 230 can still use the alignment node 31 to determine a starting point for scanning and decoding the cell array 30.

Next, Fig. 6 shows the alignment node 34 that can be used in conjunction with the cell array that is made up of the cell that does not have color attribute.Alignment node 34 can be a starting node or an ending node.Alignment node 34 can comprise two identical, adjacent alignment cells 36a and 36b.The cell body of alignment cells 36a and 36b can be the inverse (inverse) of the cell body of the cell 10 with empty cell line pattern 16 as shown in Figure 1.In other words, the alignment mark 14a, 14b at the center of alignment cells 36a and 36b is white instead of black, and the other parts of the cell body in the perimeter of alignment cells 36a and 36b are all black, instead of white.At least one of the cell body in alignment cells 36a and 36b can be a color other than black or white.For convenience, alignment cells such as alignment cells 36a and 36b can be called empty cells (nullcell). When the alignment node 34 is scanned by a machine such as machine 230, the machine is able to use the alignment mark 14a to locate the center of the first alignment unit 36a and use the distance between the alignment marks 14a and 14b of adjacent alignment units to determine the pitch between adjacent encoding units of a cell array such as cell array 30, or determine the maximum pitch by multiplying the detected pitch by a pitch variable.

Next, FIG7 shows an alignment node 38 of a cell array including color attributes. The alignment node 38 includes an ordered string of adjacent empty cells (one empty cell for each permissible color of the coding cell 10), with two adjacent instances of the first empty cell. Thus, as shown in FIG7 , in the case where the permissible colors of the coding cell 10 are as described above, the alignment node 38 includes a string of nine adjacent empty cells in the following order: two black empty cells 40a and 40b, followed by one empty cell of each of the following colors: red 42, yellow 44, green 44, cyan 46, blue 50, magenta 52, and orange 54. As described above, when scanning the alignment node 38, the scanner can use the distance between the alignment marks of the black empty cells 40a and 40b to determine the pitch between adjacent cells of the cell array. In addition, the scanner can use the predetermined order of colored empty cells 42 to 54 to perform color alignment of the machine itself.

The machine 230 (e.g., a scanning machine (i.e., a scanner)) can analyze the scanned alignment node to determine whether the cell array to which the alignment node is applied is a monochrome coding cell, or whether the cell array is composed of coding cells 10 with color attributes. For example, if the first two scanned coding cells are empty cells and the third cell is not an empty cell, the alignment node is indicated by reference numeral 34 in FIG. 6, and the cell array to which the alignment node 34 belongs will be treated as a monochrome coding cell, regardless of the one or more colors displayed therein. On the other hand, if the first two scanned coding cells are empty cells and the third is also an empty cell, the alignment node can be indicated by reference numeral 38 in FIG. 7, and the cell array 30 can be composed of cells 10 with color attributes.

IX. Coding unit capacity

As previously described, a set of coding cells 10 with Class I noise robustness using only cell states #2 to #9 as shown in FIG. 2 in a monochrome manner can encode 3 bits of binary data, as shown in Table 1.

Using only the cell states #1 to #16 shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 in monochrome can increase the capacity of the coding cell to 4-bit digital data, as shown in Table 5.

The addition of color attributes, as described for 8 unique colors, can increase the coding unit capacity by 3 bits, increasing to 6 bits at level 1 noise tolerance, and to 7 bits per unit using lower noise tolerance levels, as shown in Table 7.

X. Example Machine and System Architecture

Next, FIG13 is a block diagram illustrating an example system 200 according to an exemplary embodiment. Generally, system 200 includes an encoding stage 202, an output stage 204, a display stage 206, and a scanning or decoding stage 208. System 200 may include a machine, such as machine 212 or 230, a machine including printer 216, or a machine including display 226. Each element shown in FIG13 is not limited to operating within the stage 202, 204, 206, or 208 in which it is included. In encoding stage 202, input 210 is provided to machine 212.

Input 210 may include data to be encoded by machine 212. As an example, input 210 may include a binary identifier, such as the binary data "0100 0010 to 0010 0001" shown in FIG13. The example binary identifier shown in FIG13 represents the ASCII value of the text "Buy ACME!" Receiving the binary identifier may include receiving data that can be converted into binary data by machine 212. For example, machine 212 may receive the hexadecimal equivalent of the binary data shown in FIG13 (i.e., the hexadecimal data 42, 75, 79, 20, 41, 43, 4D, 45, and 21) and convert the hexadecimal value into an equivalent binary value. As another example, machine 212 may receive text, such as "Buy ACME!", convert the text into ASCII values, and then convert the ASCII values into an equivalent binary value.

Input 210 may include one or more encoding scheme selections. The encoding scheme selections may, for example, include cell shape selections, cell color selections, cell array color selections, or layout selections for generating cell arrays. Other examples of encoding scheme selections are also possible.

The machine 212 can encode a portion of the input data 210 (e.g., a binary identifier portion of the input data 210) into a cell array. Encoding the portion of the input data 210 can include converting the portion of the input data 210 based on an ASCII table. Converting the portion of the input data 210 can include converting text such as "Buy ACME!" into a binary value equivalent to the ASCII value representing the text "Buy ACME!" The machine 212 can encode the resulting binary value by converting the portion of the input data 210 into a cell array based on an encoding scheme selection.

The machine 212 can output (e.g., provide or send) the cell array to an element of the output stage 204. Outputting the cell array can include outputting the encoding cells of the cell array one at a time, or outputting the encoding cells of the cell array two or more at a time. Outputting the cell array or the encoding cells can include outputting data indicating the cell array or the encoding cells, respectively. The output stage 204 can include elements such as a network 214 and a printer 216. Outputting data indicating the cell array can include sending the encoding scheme 268 or the encoding scheme data. Outputting data indicating the cell array can include sending data representations of the cells of the cell array. The machine 212 can provide the cell array (or data indicating the cell array) to the network 214 and the printer 216 via the wireless communication link 218 or the wired communication link 220.

The wireless communication link 218 can be configured according to any of a variety of wireless communication protocols, such as the IEEE 802.11 protocol (e.g., a protocol commonly known as Wi-Fi). The wired communication link 220 can be configured according to any of a variety of wired communication protocols, such as a protocol commonly known as Ethernet. The communication link (not shown) can include a wireless communication link and a wired communication link.

The network 214 may include a local area network or a wide area network, such as the Internet. The network 214 may include a wireless communication link 218 and a wired communication link 220. The printer 216 may include, but is not limited to, a laser printer, a dot matrix printer, or an inkjet printer. The printer 216 may be configured to print an instance of a coding unit or unit array on a surface of an article.

The display stage 206 may include an electronic segment 222 and a tangible segment 224. The electronic segment 222 may include a display 226. The network 214 may transmit the encoding unit or unit array (or data indicating the encoding unit or unit array) to the display 226 via a communication link such as the wireless communication link 218 or the wired communication link 220. The display 226 may include any of a variety of electronic displays, such as, but not limited to, a light emitting diode (LED) display, a plasma display, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, or a liquid crystal display (LCD). The display 226 may include a display within a self-service kiosk, such as one found in a shopping mall, an airport, or a museum. The display 226 may be referred to as a "display device," which may be embedded within a machine, such as the machine 248 shown in FIG. 14 .

Displaying the encoding cell or cell array within the display segment 206 may include providing a tangible instance of the encoding cell or cell array. The tangible instance of the encoding cell or cell array may be generated by printing the encoding cell or cell array by the printer 216 or by another means such as, but not limited to, painting, engraving, etching, dyeing, or silk printing. The tangible instance of the encoding cell or cell array may be generated on a surface of an article, including any of a variety of media, such as, but not limited to, paper, plastic, cloth, metal, ceramic material, or cardboard.

The scanning or decoding stage 208 may include a machine 230 configured to scan the encoding cells or cell arrays disposed within the display stage 206. The machine 230 is capable of decoding the cells or cell arrays to recover the input data encoded into the encoding cells or cell arrays, respectively. For example, the machine 230 is capable of recovering the input text "Buy ACME!" and providing the recovered data to the display 232 for display. Additional details regarding the aspects shown in FIG. 13 are described elsewhere in this specification.

Next, FIG14 is a block diagram of an example machine 248. One or more of machines 212 and 230 may be arranged similarly to machine 248 or portions thereof. As shown in FIG14 , machine 248 may include a processor 250, a data transceiver 252, a user interface 254, a computer-readable medium 256, and a capture device 266, all of which may be coupled together via a system bus, network, or other connection mechanism 258. Machine 248 may include, but is not limited to, a smartphone or tablet device.

A processor such as processor 250 may include one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., an Intel single-core microprocessor or an Intel multi-core microprocessor) or one or more special-purpose processors (e.g., a digital signal processor). The processor may be configured to execute computer-readable program instructions (CPIs) stored in a data storage device (e.g., a memory). The processor may be referred to as a computing device or a computer-readable processor.

The data transceiver 252 may include one or more transmitters (e.g., a wireless communication link transmitter or a wired communication link transmitter). The wireless communication link transmitter may be configured to transmit data to a wireless communication link or to transmit data via a wireless communication link. The wired communication link transmitter may be configured to transmit data to a wired communication link or to transmit data via a wired communication link. The data transceiver 252 may include one or more receivers (e.g., a wireless communication link receiver or a wired communication link receiver). The wireless communication link receiver may be configured to receive data transmitted on a wireless communication link or to transmit data via a wireless communication link. The wired communication link receiver may be configured to receive data transmitted on a wired communication link or to transmit data via a wired communication link. The data transceiver 252 may include one or more antennas, such as one or more antennas connected to the wireless communication link transmitter or the wireless communication link receiver. The data transceiver 252 may include a network interface card configured to interface with a wired communication link, such as the wired communication link 220.

The data transceiver 252 may be configured to receive input, such as input data 210. The data transceiver 252 may be configured to send the encoded cell or cell array (or data indicative of the encoded cell or cell array) to an element in the output stage 204, such as a network 214 or a printer 216.

User interface 254 may include one or more input components for inputting data, such as input data 210, into machine 248. As another example, user interface 254 may be configured to receive an input request that causes the computing device to scan or decode a cell array. The input request may be a scan request, a decode request, or another request. The one or more input components may include, but are not limited to, a computer keyboard, a touch screen display, a computer mouse or other pointing device, or an audio microphone.

The user interface 254 may include one or more output components for presenting data such as a cell array to a user. The one or more output components may include, but are not limited to, a display (such as an LED, LCD, CRT display, or plasma display) or an audio speaker. One or more components such as a touch screen display can act as both an input component and an output component.

The capture device 266 includes one or more components configured to capture a cell array, such as the cell array 30. As an example, the component configured to capture the cell array includes a digital camera configured to capture an image of the cell array or scan an image of the cell array. The capture device 266 can store a representation of the cell array (i.e., the captured cell array) using dots per inch (DPI). The specified DPI can indicate the noise level of the coding unit that can be accurately decoded by the machine 248. When capturing the cell array, the capture device 266 can capture a single cell of the cell array. The capture device 266 can include a camera within a smartphone or tablet device, but is not limited thereto.

The computer-readable medium 256 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium readable by a processor, such as the processor 250. The computer-readable medium may include volatile and/or non-volatile storage components, such as optical, magnetic, organic, or other memory or disk storage, which may be integrated with the processor in whole or in part. The computer-readable medium 256 may also or alternatively be provided separately as a non-transitory machine-readable medium.

Additionally or alternatively, the computer-readable medium 256 may include transitory computer-readable media. Transitory computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, communication media such as digital or analog communication media (e.g., fiber optic cables, waveguides, wired communication links, or wireless communication links).

Computer-readable media 256 can store data used by various machines 248 to implement any of the functions described herein, such as those performed or executable by machines 212, 230, or 248. By way of example, computer-readable media 256 can store computer-readable program instructions (CRPI) 260, input data 262, a cell array 264, an encoding scheme 268, a set of line patterns 270, and a color array 272. CRPI 260 can be written in any of a variety of computer programming languages, such as, but not limited to, C and C++. Input data 262 can include input data 210, including input data to be encoded into encoding cells or cell arrays. Input data 262 can include one or more encoding scheme selections.

Cell array 264 may include one or more cell arrays as described herein. According to an exemplary embodiment in which machine 248 is used to encode a binary identifier, such as machine 212, cell array 264 may include one or more cell arrays encoded by processor 250. According to an exemplary embodiment in which machine 248 is used to encode a cell array, cell array 264 may include one or more cell arrays captured by capture device 266. Cell array 264 may include one or more cell arrays encoded by processor 250 and one or more cells captured by capture device 266.

The encoding scheme 268 may include one or more encoding schemes that the processor 250 can use to encode a binary identifier or decode a captured cell array. The encoding scheme 268 may include an encoding scheme that includes encoding scheme data (ESD) that defines the cell array. The ESD may include data defining cell shapes that can be used to encode cells in the cell array. The ESD may include data defining a pitch dimension. The ESD may include data defining a reference angular position. The ESD may include data defining which line patterns are available for encoding cells in the cell array. The ESD may include data defining how many line patterns are available for encoding cells in the cell array. The ESD may include data representing cell colors. The ESD may include data defining a predetermined bit sequence corresponding to each available line pattern. The ESD may include data defining which cell colors are available for encoding cells in the cell array. The ESD may include data defining how many cell colors are available for encoding cells in the cell array. The ESD may include data defining a predetermined bit sequence for each available cell color. The ESD may include data defining the bit order of any cell that encodes more than one predetermined bit sequence. The ESD may include data defining one or more decoding cells that can be placed in the cell array. The ESD may include data defining whether gap cells are available for placement into the cell array. The ESD may include data representing the cells corresponding to each state number. The ESD may include data representing the cell that represents the line pattern that distinguishes a cell from other cells. The ESD may define alignment marks that are available for placement into the cell. The ESD may define alignment mark positions within the cell. Other examples of the ESD that may be included in the coding scheme 268 are also possible.

Line pattern 270 may include one or more sets of line patterns. Each set of line patterns may correspond to one or more coding schemes. Computing device 250 may use a set of line patterns to compare with the line patterns of the unit to be decoded. The data representation used by coding scheme 258 may be within line pattern 270.

Color array 272 may include one or more color arrays. Each color array 272 may correspond to one or more encoding schemes. Computing device 250 can use the color arrays to compare with the unit colors of the units to be decoded. The data used by encoding scheme 258 is represented within color array 272.

The computer-readable medium 256 may include a computer-readable medium having program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computing device such as the processor 250, cause a set of functions to be performed. As an example, the set of functions may include the set of functions 150 described with respect to FIG15, the set of functions 160 described with respect to FIG16, or the set of functions 170 described with respect to FIG17. As another example, the set of functions may describe any combination of the functions described in the additional exemplary embodiments numbered 1 to 36, 110 to 143, and 213 to 246.

The machine 248 or its components (e.g., processor 250 and computer-readable media) that constitute the machine can be configured to cause a set of functions to be performed. The computer-readable medium 256 can store program instructions, such as CRPI 260, which, when executed by the processor 250, cause a set of functions to be performed. As an example, the functions may include the set of functions 150 described with respect to FIG. 15 , the set of functions 160 described with respect to FIG. 16 , or the set of functions 170 described with respect to FIG. 17 . As another example, the set of functions may describe any combination of the functions described in the additional exemplary embodiments numbered 1 to 36, 110 to 143, and 213 to 246.

XI. Example Operation

Next, Figure 15 depicts a flow chart illustrating a set of functions (e.g., operations) 150 (or more simply, "group 150") that can be implemented according to one or more exemplary embodiments described herein. The functions of group 150 are shown in boxes marked with even integers between 152 and 158 (inclusive). Any other functions described herein can be performed before, simultaneously with, or after executing any one or more functions of group 150. These other functions can be performed in combination with or separately from any one or more functions of group 150. The reference numerals in the accompanying drawings are included in the following description of Figure 15 for the purpose of illustrating, rather than limiting, the description to any particular embodiment. Group 150 may include one or more additional functions. Examples of these additional functions are provided after the description of box 158. Other examples of these additional functions are also possible. CRPI 260 may include program instructions for performing any additional function described with respect to at least one of groups 150, 1560, and 170.

Block 152 includes receiving, via computing device 250, a binary identifier comprising a plurality of bits. Receiving the binary identifier may include receiving data indicating each of the plurality of bits in a predetermined sequence (e.g., input 210). Computing device 250 may also receive a non-binary input and convert the non-binary input into a binary identifier. Receiving the binary identifier may include receiving the non-binary identifier and converting the non-binary identifier into an equivalent binary identifier. For example, a non-binary identifier such as hexadecimal data 45 is equivalent to a binary identifier comprising binary data 0100 0101. The binary or non-binary identifier may, for example, include data representing a set of ASCII characters indicating a text string such as "Buy ACME!"

Next, block 154 includes determining, by the computing device 250, one or more encoding units for encoding the binary identifier according to the encoding scheme 268, wherein each encoding unit indicates a predetermined sequence of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding unit includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter. The perimeter can be configured as any perimeter described herein, but is not limited thereto. The alignment mark within the perimeter can be configured similar to any alignment mark described herein, but is not limited thereto. The line pattern within the perimeter can be configured as any line pattern described herein, but is not limited thereto.

Determining one or more coding units according to the coding scheme 268 may include determining a cell color for each of the one or more coding units, such as a cell color from a plurality of cells (e.g., a color identified in Table 6 or a different plurality of colors). As shown in Table 6, each cell color can represent a unique sequence of binary data, such as two or more bits of data. According to exemplary embodiments of the coding scheme 268 based on cell colors and line patterns, the two or more data bits represented by the cell color can be a precursor to any data bit represented by the line pattern. Alternatively, the two or more data bits represented by the line pattern can be a precursor to any data bit represented by the cell color. According to other embodiments, determining the cell color may include determining a cell color associated with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits that matches the predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the cell's line pattern, so as to encode a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the coding unit, which can be compared during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding.

As another example, encoding scheme 268 may include an encoding scheme based on the data shown in Table 5, and the binary identifier may include the binary data of input 210 shown in FIG13 (i.e., 0100, 0010, 0111, 0101, 0111, 1001, 0010, 0000, 0100, 0001, 0100, 0011, 0100, 1101, 0100, 0010, and 0001). Encoding the binary identifier using the encoding scheme of Table 5 may include computing device 250 identifying each group of four data bits and determining a cell state number corresponding to the four data bits. According to this example, computing device 250 is able to determine the following cell state numbers: 5, 3, 8, 6, 8, 10, 3, 1, 5, 2, 5, 4, 5, 14, 5, 6, 3, and 2. Computing device 250 may select data (e.g., a line pattern or color) representing a cell corresponding to each of the determined state numbers for generating the cell array. For other encoding schemes 268, computing device 250 can determine cell state numbers corresponding to different numbers of data bits (eg, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 16 bits).

Next, box 156 includes: generating, by the computing device 250, a cell array 30 including one or more encoding cells. Generating the cell array 30 may include the computing device 250 generating cell layout data indicating the position of each cell in the cell array relative to at least one other cell in the cell array. The computing device 250 can therefore determine the position of each cell (e.g., an encoding cell, an alignment cell, a gap, a decoding cell, or a layout cell) within the cell array. The computing device 250 can determine the cells to be included in the cell array other than the encoding cells based at least in part on the selected encoding scheme 268. The generated cell layout data may also identify one or more pitch dimensions to specify the pitch between two or more alignment marks in adjacent cells. The cell layout data may be stored as a cell array 264 within the computer-readable medium 256.

Next, block 158 includes outputting, via computing device 250, data for generating a graphical representation of the cell array. Outputting data as mentioned in block 158 may include sending data from computing device 250 to network 214 for transmission to another machine. For example, the other machine may include printer 216, which prints an instance of the graphical representation of the cell array on a surface of an article. For another example, the other machine may include an imprinter (e.g., a laser imprinter) which is capable of imprinting an instance of the graphical representation of the cell array on a surface of the article. For yet another example, the other machine may include a machine including display 226, which is capable of displaying the data as a graphical representation of the cell array.

Because the computing device (e.g., processor 250) can be embodied within a machine such as machine 248, receiving the binary identifier in block 152, determining one or more cell arrays in block 154, generating the cell arrays in block 156, and outputting data in block 156 can be performed by a machine (i.e., a machine embodying the computing device).

Another function that can be performed as part of group 150 includes determining, by computing device 250, one or more alignment cells, wherein the generated cell array includes the one or more alignment cells. The determined one or more alignment cells may include any one or more of: (i) at least one alignment cell indicating a starting point within the cell array, (ii) two or more adjacent cells (e.g., cells 36a and 36b) that collectively identify a starting node (e.g., starting node 34) within the cell array, (iii) at least one alignment cell indicating an ending point within the cell array, (iv) at least one alignment cell indicating an ending point of a row within the cell array, (v) a plurality of colored alignment cells, and (vi) at least one alignment cell that is the inverse of a blank cell line pattern, such as the blank cell line pattern of encoding cell 10 shown in FIG. The colored alignment cells may be colored to match corresponding colors of a plurality of colors, such as the plurality of colors identified in Table 6 or another plurality of colors.

Another function that can be performed as part of group 150 includes determining, by computing device 250, a layout selection for generating cell array 30, and determining, by computing device 250, a layout based on the determined layout selection. Generating cell array 30 may include positioning one or more coding cells within the layout based on the determined layout selection. Generating cell array 30 may include positioning one or more layout cells. The one or more layout cells may form part of the layout, but may not encode any portion of the binary identifier.

Another function that can be performed as part of group 150 includes determining, by computing device 250, a selected noise tolerance level. The noise tolerance level can be selected from the noise tolerance levels described herein (i.e., noise tolerance levels I, II, III, and IV) or from another set of noise tolerance levels that can be defined. One or more coding units in the cell array can have a noise tolerance level that is more noise tolerant or that matches the selected noise tolerance level.

Next, FIG. 16 depicts a flow chart illustrating a set of functions (e.g., operations) 160 (or, more simply, “group 160”) that can be implemented in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments described herein. The functions of group 160 are shown within boxes labeled with even integers between 162 and 168, inclusive. Any other functions described herein can be performed before, simultaneously with, or after any one or more of the functions of group 160 are performed. Those other functions can be performed in conjunction with or separately from any one or more of the functions of group 160. The reference numerals in the figures are included in the following description of FIG. 16 for the purpose of illustration and not to limit the description to any particular embodiment. Group 160 may include one or more additional functions. Examples of the additional functions are provided following the description of box 168. Other examples of the additional functions are also possible.

Block 162 includes receiving, via computing device 250, a captured cell array comprising one or more encoding cells encoding a binary identifier according to encoding scheme 268, wherein each encoding cell 10 indicates a predetermined sequence of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter. The perimeter can be configured as any perimeter described herein, but is not limited thereto. The alignment mark within the perimeter can be configured similar to any alignment mark described herein, but is not limited thereto. The line pattern within the perimeter can be configured as any line pattern described herein, but is not limited thereto.

The computing device 250 can receive a captured cell array from various components, such as the data transceiver 252, the computer-readable medium 256, the capture device 266, or another component configured to provide the captured cell array to the computing device. Receiving the captured cell array can include receiving a captured image of the cell array or receiving a scanned image of the cell array. The captured cell array can include at least one decoding unit containing decoding instructions (e.g., decoding instructions indicating an encoding scheme 268 for encoding a binary identifier).

Next, block 164 includes decoding, by the computing device 250, each coding cell 10 in the captured cell array 30 according to a decoding scheme corresponding to the encoding scheme to recover the bit indicated by the coding cell. Decoding each coding cell in the captured cell array may include, but is not limited to, performing any one or more of the following functions: (i) detecting, by the computing device, each coding cell in the captured cell array, and (ii) decoding, by the computing device, a cell color for each of one or more coding cells in the cell array. The decoded color may be one of the colors identified in Table 6. Each of the plurality of colors can represent a unique sequence of two or more bits.

Decoding the coding unit may also include the computing device 250 identifying a line pattern within the coding unit 10. The computing device 250 is capable of identifying the alignment node 31 of the cell array 30, regardless of where the alignment node 31 is located within the captured cell array. For example, the alignment node 31 within the captured cell array 30 may be located in the upper left portion of the cell array 30 as shown in FIG10. As another example, the alignment node 31 within the captured cell array may be located in the upper right portion of the cell array 30, with one empty cell 32 located above another empty cell 32. This can be visualized by rotating FIG10 90 degrees clockwise. As yet another example, the alignment node 31 within the captured cell array may be located in the lower right portion of the cell array 30. This can be visualized by rotating FIG10 180 degrees clockwise.

The computing device 250 can determine the pitch between the alignment marks in the first two cells of the alignment node. The computing device 250 can use the determined pitch to locate the alignment marks within the cell to be decoded (e.g., a cell adjacent to the alignment cell or a cell adjacent to a previously decoded cell). The computing device 250 can use the determined pitch to determine the perimeter of the cell to be decoded. The computing device 250 can compare the line pattern within the determined perimeter of the cell to be decoded with the set of line patterns 270. The computing device 250 can determine a line pattern within the set of line patterns 270 that matches the line pattern of the cell to be decoded, thereby determining the state number or bit sequence encoded by the decoded cell.

Next, block 166 includes recovering, by computing device 250, the binary identifier by combining the recovered bits. Combining the recovered bits may include combining the bits recovered for each cell into a predetermined bit sequence, and then combining the predetermined bit sequence for each cell according to the order in which the cells appear within the cell array. If the cells encode both color and line patterns, the predetermined sequence may include two or more bits comprising two or more bits based on the line pattern within the cell perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color. In one aspect, the two or more bits represented by the cell color may be a precursor to the two or more bits based on the line pattern. In another aspect, the two or more bits based on the line pattern may be a precursor to the two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Next, block 168 includes outputting, via the computing device 250, the recovered binary identifier. Outputting the recovered binary identifier may include displaying the recovered binary identifier on a display of a machine including the computing device and the display. Outputting the recovered binary identifier may include sending the recovered binary identifier from the computing device to a display device, such as a display device of the user interface 254.

Another function that can be performed as part of group 160 includes identifying, by a computing device, one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array. Identifying each alignment cell may include identifying an empty cell, such as empty cell 36a or 36b. Identifying the empty cell may include identifying, by the computing device, a perimeter and alignment marks within the perimeter within the captured image. The one or more alignment cells identified may include any one or more of the following: (i) at least one alignment cell indicating a starting point within the cell array, (ii) an alignment node including two or more adjacent alignment cells that collectively identify a starting point within the cell array, (iii) at least one alignment cell indicating an ending point within the cell array, (iv) at least one alignment cell indicating an ending point of a row within the cell array, (v) a plurality of colored alignment cells, each colored alignment cell including an alignment cell colored to match a corresponding color of a plurality of colors, and (vi) at least one alignment cell that is the inverse of a line pattern of empty cells.

Another function that can be performed as part of group 160 includes determining, by a computing device, a measure of a distance from a portion of a perimeter of an empty cell (such as an outer edge of the perimeter) to a portion of an alignment mark, such as a center of the alignment mark. The computing device 250 can use the measure to determine a pitch between adjacent cells within the cell array. As an example, the computing device 250 can multiply the measure by two to determine the pitch. Identifying one or more alignment cells can include the computing device 250 determining whether any other alignment cells are adjacent to the identified alignment cell by searching for another alignment mark that is within a distance equal to the determined pitch relative to the position of the identified alignment cell. Upon locating the other alignment cell, the computing device 250 can determine whether the cell including the located alignment cell is an empty cell.

Another function that can be performed as part of group 160 includes determining, by the computing device, a distance between alignment marks within two adjacent alignment cells, and determining, by the computing device, the presence of a coding cell within the captured cell array by detecting an alignment mark of the coding cell within the captured cell array and an alignment mark of another captured cell array that is separated by a distance equal to the distance between the alignment marks within the two adjacent cells.

Another function that can be performed as part of group 160 includes converting, by a computing device, the recovered binary identifier into an alphanumeric representation of the recovered binary identifier. In this case, outputting the recovered binary identifier may include sending the alphanumeric representation to a printer or display device. The alphanumeric representation of input 210 may be "Buy ACME!" as shown in FIG13 .

Next, Figure 17 depicts a flow chart illustrating a set of functions (e.g., operations) 170 (or more simply, "group 170") that can be implemented according to one or more exemplary embodiments described herein. The functions of group 170 are shown in boxes marked with even integers between 172 and 174 (inclusive). Any other functions described herein can be performed before, simultaneously with, or after any one or more functions of group 170. These other functions can be performed in combination with or separately from any one or more functions of group 170. The reference numerals in the figures are included in the following description of Figure 17 for the purpose of example and not to limit the description to any particular embodiment. Group 170 may include one or more additional functions. Examples of these additional functions are provided after the description of box 174. Other examples of the additional functions are also possible.

Block 172 includes receiving, by a computing device, data specifying a cell array, wherein the cell array includes one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter.

The received data may indicate the cell color of each of the one or more coding cells. Each cell color may represent a unique sequence of two or more bits. The received data may indicate the cell color of any other cell within the specified cell array. The perimeter may be configured as any perimeter described herein, but is not limited thereto. The alignment marks within the perimeter may be configured similarly to any alignment marks described herein, but is not limited thereto. The line pattern within the perimeter may be configured as any line pattern described herein, but is not limited thereto.

Next, block 174 includes displaying, via a display coupled to the computing device, a graphical representation of the cell array, wherein the displayed cell array includes one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to the encoding scheme, wherein each displayed encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter.

The display can be connected to the computing device 250 through at least one of a wireless communication link, a wired communication link, and a wired and wireless communication link.

The predetermined sequence of two or more bits may include two or more bits based on a line pattern within a perimeter and two or more bits based on a cell color. The two or more bits represented by the cell color may be a precursor to the two or more bits based on the line pattern. The two or more bits represented by the line pattern may be a precursor to the two or more bits based on the cell color. For each of the one or more coding units, a unique sequence of two or more bits represented by the cell color indicated for the unit can be matched with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the line pattern of the unit, so as to encode a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the coding unit, and the redundant sequence of two or more bits can be compared during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding.

The cell array may include one or more alignment cells. The received data may indicate one or more alignment cells within the cell array. The one or more alignment cells may include any of the following: (i) a plurality of colored alignment cells, (ii) at least one alignment cell indicating a starting point within the cell array, (iii) an alignment node including two or more adjacent alignment cells that collectively identify a starting point within the cell array, (iv) at least one alignment cell indicating an ending point within the cell array, (v) at least one alignment cell indicating an ending point of a row within the cell array, and (vi) at least one alignment cell that is the inverse of a line pattern of empty cells.

The plurality of colors may include a predetermined number of colors. Two or more adjacent cells may include a predetermined number of cells equal to the predetermined number of colors. Each of the two or more adjacent cells may correspond to a unique color from the predetermined number of colors.

Another function that can be performed as part of group 170 includes receiving, by computing device 250, a non-binary identifier that is equivalent to a binary identifier, and converting, by computing device 250, the non-binary identifier to a binary identifier. Thus, receiving the binary identifier may include receiving, by computing device 250, a binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier.

15-17 refer to computing device 250 and machine 248. Separate instances of computing device 250 and machine 248 can be used to implement one or more functionalities of groups 150, 160, and 170, but this is not required, as a single instance of computing device 250 or machine 248 can implement one or more functionalities of groups 150, 160, and 170.

XII. Alternative Coding Units

Next, Figure 11 shows an example cell array 60 including an alignment node 61 and a coding cell 62. The alignment node 61 and the coding cell 62 are rectangular and can be square. The alignment node 61 can include adjacent empty cells 57, as shown in Figure 11. The coding cell 62 includes a rectangular perimeter (e.g., a square perimeter) 63, an alignment mark 65 within the perimeter 63, and a line pattern 66 within the perimeter 63. The perimeter 63 can define a rectangular cell body 64. The perimeter 63 can be black or another color, such as the colors identified in Table 6. The alignment mark 65 is centered within the cell 62, but alternatively, can be offset from the center of the cell 62. The alignment mark 65 is represented as a circle (e.g., a dot) in Figure 11, but is not limited thereto. As shown in Figure 11, the cell array can include tightly packed rectangular shaped cells. A cell array using rectangular shaped cells can be created in any of a variety of shapes, such as the letter Z or another shape.

FIG11 shows a coding cell 62 having 22 different line patterns (or states). Each cell has a defined noise tolerance level, as shown in Table 11. Each of the 22 line patterns can be associated with up to 4 bits of binary data or decoded instructions as shown in Table 11. Cell states #17 to #19 can identify the tolerance level of one or more cells within the cell array, such as one or more cells after a cell with cell state #17, #18, or #19. Another tolerance level, such as tolerance level 1, is implied for multiple coding cells within the cell array for one or more cells, such as one or more cells at the beginning of a row or one or more cells after the occurrence of two cells that identify a tolerance level other than the implied tolerance level. Cell state #22 can correspond to an empty cell line pattern 67.

Unit Status Binary data Decoding instructions Noise tolerance #1 0000 N.A. Level I #2 0001 N.A. Level I #3 0010 N.A. Level I #4 0011 N.A. Level I #5 0100 N.A. Level I #6 0101 N.A. Level I #7 0110 N.A. Level I #8 0111 N.A. Level I #9 1000 N.A. Level II #10 1001 N.A. Level II #11 1010 N.A. Level II #12 1011 N.A. Level II #13 1100 N.A. Level II #14 1101 N.A. Level II #15 1110 N.A. Level II #16 1111 N.A. Level II #17 N.A. Tolerance Level 2 Level III #18 N.A. Tolerance Level 3 Level III #19 N.A. Tolerance Level 4 Level II #20 N.A. Start of line Level II #twenty one N.A. End of line Level IV #twenty two N.A. End of array Level IV

Table 11

Next, Figure 12 shows an example cell array 70, including 14 instances of alignment nodes 78 and triangular-shaped (or more simply, "triangle") coding cells 77 (only one is marked for clarity). The alignment nodes 78 can include two triangular empty cells 71. Each cell 77 includes a triangular perimeter 72, an alignment mark 73 within the perimeter 72, and a line pattern 74 within the perimeter 72. The perimeter 72 can define a triangular cell body 79. The perimeter 72 can be black or another color, such as the colors identified in Table 6. The alignment mark 73 can be centered within the cell 72, but alternatively, can be offset from the center of the cell 72. The alignment mark 73 is represented as a circle (e.g., a dot) in Figure 12, but is not limited to this. As shown in Figure 12, the cell array can include tightly packed triangular-shaped cells. A cell array using triangular-shaped cells can be created in any of a variety of shapes. Figure 12 shows a coding cell 72 with 14 different line patterns including an empty cell line pattern 75. These 14 different line patterns can, for example, encode 3 bits and be associated with 6 decoding instructions. Alternatively, for a triangular shaped cell, two or more additional and different line patterns can be defined so that 4 bits of binary data can be encoded by 16 different line patterns within the triangular shaped cell.

Next, Figure 19 shows an example cell array 113, which includes 14 instances of alignment nodes 115 and cross-shaped coding cells 119 (only one is marked for clarity of the figure). The alignment node 115 can include two cross-shaped empty cells 117. The coding cell 119 includes a cross-shaped perimeter 123, an alignment mark 125 within the perimeter 123, and a line pattern 121 within the perimeter 123. The perimeter 123 can define a cross-shaped cell body 127. The perimeter 123 can be black or another color, such as the colors identified in Table 6. The alignment mark 125 can be centered within the cell 123, but alternatively, can be offset from the center of the cell 123. The alignment mark 125 is represented as a circle (e.g., a dot) in Figure 19, but is not limited to this. As shown in Figure 19, the cell array can include closely packed cross-shaped cells 119. Cell arrays using cross-shaped cells can be created in any of a variety of shapes. 19 shows an encoding cell 119 having fourteen different line patterns, including a null cell line pattern 129. These fourteen different line patterns can, for example, encode three bits and be associated with six decoding instructions. Alternatively, two or more additional and different line patterns can be defined for a cross-shaped cell, enabling four bits of binary data to be encoded by sixteen different line patterns within the cross-shaped cell.

XIII. Products

Example embodiments may also include or relate to articles. According to example embodiments, an article may include a surface and a cell array at the surface. The cell array can be read by computing device 250. The surface may include a metal surface, a plastic surface, a glass surface, or a wooden surface. The surface may be made of metal, plastic, glass, wood, or some other material on which a cell array can be positioned.

The cell array at the surface can be constructed as a cell array similar to any cell array described herein and including any cell array features described herein. As an example, the cell array may include one or more coding cells that encode a binary identifier representing information related to the product according to a coding scheme. The binary identifier may include multiple bits. Each coding cell may indicate a predetermined sequence of two or more bits. The predetermined sequence of two or more bits may include two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color. Any of these predetermined sequences of two or more bits may be a precursor to other predetermined sequences of two or more bits. The predetermined sequence of two or more bits for one or more coding cells can be based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction.

Each coding unit may include a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter. The article may include a magazine or newspaper. The information about the article may include at least one of an advertisement, a uniform resource locator (URL), and a telephone number.

The cell array at the surface may include a cell array on the surface. The cell array on the surface may include a cell array printed on the surface. The cell array on the surface may include a cell array attached to the surface using an adhesive.

The cell array at the surface may include a cell array within the surface. The cell array within the surface may include a cell array imprinted within the surface. The cell array within the surface may include a cell array etched within the surface.

The perimeter can be configured as any perimeter described herein, but is not limited thereto. The alignment marks within the perimeter can be configured similarly to any alignment marks described herein, but is not limited thereto. The line pattern within the perimeter can be configured as any line pattern described herein, but is not limited thereto.

The cell array at the surface may include an alignment unit. The alignment unit may be configured as any alignment unit described herein, but is not limited thereto. The cell array at the surface may include a decoding unit. The decoding unit may be configured as any decoding unit described herein, but is not limited thereto. The cell array at the surface may include one or more layout units that constitute part of the cell array but do not encode any part of the binary identifier.

Each of the one or more coding units may be a colored cell color. The cell color may be one of a plurality of colors, such as the plurality of colors shown in Table 6. The cell color may be associated with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits that matches a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by a line pattern of the cell, thereby encoding redundant sequences of two or more bits in the coding unit that can be compared during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding.

XIV. Additional Aspects of Exemplary Embodiments

Obviously, several modifications and permutations of the embodiments are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure: some of these are described below.

According to one or more of the disclosed embodiments, the encoding cells may be dodecagonal (i.e., 12-sided) rather than the hexagonal or other shapes described. In this arrangement, the asymmetric line pattern can be aligned in any of sixteen possible directions at angular increments of 22.5° from a reference direction. This arrangement increases the amount of data that can be encoded by the encoding cells relative to line patterns of encoding cells spaced at 45° intervals. A cell array comprising dodecagonal encoding cells may include other dodecagonal cells configured as alignment cells, decoding cells, or cells for another feature described herein.

According to one or more of the disclosed embodiments, instead of using the color attribute of the coding cell 10 as a precursor to the binary data represented by the cell's state, the color attribute can be used as a successor to the binary data represented by the cell's line pattern. Specifically, the color of the coding cell 10 can be used to represent the least significant bit of the concatenation with the binary data represented by the line pattern (or cell state). As illustrated, in the above example, the coding cell 10 can be represented by any of eight different colors, and a blue coding cell with level 1 error tolerance representing the binary data 011 will produce a concatenated bit pattern of 011101.

According to one or more of the disclosed embodiments, instead of having a color attribute with 8 allowable colors, the number of allowable colors can be doubled to 16, thereby increasing the data capacity of the coding unit by one bit. In this example, the alignment unit of the coding unit can include an ordered string of 17 adjacent empty cells, one for each of the 16 allowable colors of the coding unit, with two adjacent instances of the leading empty cell.

XV. Additional Exemplary Embodiments

Example 1 - A method comprising: receiving, by a computing device, a binary identifier comprising a plurality of bits; determining, by the computing device, one or more encoding cells that encode the binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; generating, by the computing device, a cell array comprising the one or more encoding cells; and outputting, by the computing device, data for generating a graphical representation of the cell array.

Example 2 - A method as described in Example 1, wherein determining the one or more coding units according to the coding scheme includes: for each of the one or more coding units, determining a unit color, and wherein the unit color is one of a plurality of colors.

Example 3 - The method of Example 2, wherein each unit color of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits.

Example 4 - The method of Example 3, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits includes two or more bits based on the line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 5 - The method of Example 4, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are based on a precursor of two or more bits of the line pattern.

Example 6 - The method of Example 4, wherein the two or more bits based on the line pattern are precursors to the two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 7 - A method as described in any of Examples 2 and 3, wherein determining the cell color includes: determining the cell color associated with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits that matches a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the line pattern of the cell, so as to facilitate encoding a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the coding unit, and the redundant sequence of two or more bits can be compared during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding.

Example 8 - The method of Example 1 further comprising: determining, by the computing device, one or more alignment units, wherein the generated cell array includes the one or more alignment units.

Example 9 - The method of any one of Examples 2 to 7, further comprising: determining, by the computing device, one or more alignment units, wherein the generated cell array includes the one or more alignment units.

Example 10 - The method of Example 9, wherein the one or more alignment units include a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit including an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color of the plurality of colors.

Example 11 - The method of any of Examples 8 to 10, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell indicating a starting point within the cell array.

Example 12 - The method of any of Examples 8 to 10, wherein the one or more alignment cells include an alignment node comprising two or more adjacent alignment cells that collectively identify a starting point within the cell array.

Example 13 - The method of any of Examples 8 to 12, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell indicating an end point within the cell array.

Example 14 - The method of any of Examples 8 to 13, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point of a row within the cell array.

Example 15 - The method of any of Examples 8 to 14, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that is an inverse of a null cell line pattern.

Example 16 - The method of any of Examples 1 to 15, wherein the generated cell array includes at least one decoding cell indicating an encoding scheme used to encode the binary identifier.

Example 17 - A method as described in any of Examples 1 to 16, wherein the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence of two or more bits.

Example 18 - The method of Example 17, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes a null cell line pattern.

Example 19 - The method of any of Examples 17 and 18, wherein each predefined line pattern of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more asymmetric radial vectors.

Example 20. The method of any of Examples 17 to 19, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more radial quantities.

Example 21 - The method of any of Examples 17 to 20, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical crossover.

Example 22 - The method of any of Examples 17 to 21, wherein each predefined line pattern of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star shape.

Example 23 - The method of any of Examples 17 to 22, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curved pattern.

Example 24 - The method of any one of Examples 1 to 23, wherein the perimeter is a polygon.

Example 25 - The method of Example 24, wherein the polygon is a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a dodecagon.

Example 26 - The method of Example 25, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is located at the polygon center.

Example 27 - The method of Example 25, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is offset from the polygon center.

Example 28 - The method of any of Examples 1 to 23, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve.

Example 29 - The method of any of Examples 1 to 28, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern.

Example 30 - The method of any of Examples 1 to 29, wherein outputting data used to generate a graphical representation of the cell array comprises sending the data from the computing device to a printer.

Example 31 - The method of any of Examples 1 to 30, wherein outputting data used to generate a graphical representation of the cell array comprises sending the data from the computing device to a display device.

Example 32 - The method as described in any one of Examples 1 to 31 further includes: determining, by the computing device, a layout selection for generating the cell array, and determining, by the computing device, a layout based on the determined layout selection, wherein generating the cell array includes positioning the one or more coding units in the layout based on the determined layout selection.

Example 33 - The method of Example 32, wherein generating the cell array comprises positioning one or more layout cells, and wherein the one or more layout cells form part of the layout but do not encode any portion of the binary identifier.

Example 34 - The method as described in any one of Examples 1 to 33 also includes: determining, by the computing device, a selected noise tolerance level, wherein the one or more coding units have a noise tolerance level that matches the selected noise tolerance level or a noise tolerance level that is more noise tolerant.

Example 35 - A method as described in any of Examples 1 to 34, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits used for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction.

Example 36 - The method as described in any one of Examples 1 to 35 further includes: receiving a non-binary identifier equivalent to the binary identifier through the computing device, and converting the non-binary identifier into the binary identifier through the computing device, wherein receiving the binary identifier includes receiving the binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier through the computing device.

Example 37 - A machine comprising: a computing device; and a computer-readable medium storing program instructions, the program instructions, when executed by the computing device, causing a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions comprising: receiving, by the computing device, a binary identifier comprising a plurality of bits; determining, by the computing device, one or more encoding units that encode the binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding unit indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding unit comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; generating, by the computing device, a cell array comprising the one or more encoding units; and outputting, by the computing device, data for producing a graphical representation of the cell array.

Example 38 - The machine of Example 37, wherein determining the one or more coding units according to the coding scheme comprises: for each of the one or more coding units, determining a unit color, and wherein the unit color is one of a plurality of colors.

Example 39 - The machine of Example 38, wherein each unit color of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits.

Example 40 - The machine of Example 39, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits includes two or more bits based on the line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 41 - The machine of Example 40, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are based on a precursor of two or more bits of the line pattern.

Example 42 - The machine of Example 40, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are precursors to two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 43 - A machine as described in any of Examples 38 and 39, wherein determining the cell color includes: determining the cell color associated with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits that matches a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the line pattern of the cell, so as to facilitate encoding a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the coding unit, and the redundant sequence of two or more bits can be compared during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding.

Example 44 - The machine of Example 37, wherein the set of functions further comprises: determining, by the computing device, one or more alignment cells, wherein the generated cell array includes the one or more alignment cells.

Example 45 - The machine of any of Examples 38 to 43, wherein the set of functions further comprises: determining, by the computing device, one or more alignment cells, wherein the generated cell array includes the one or more alignment cells.

Example 46 - The machine of Example 45, wherein the one or more alignment units include a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit including an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color of the plurality of colors.

Example 47 - A machine as described in any of Examples 44 to 46, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit that indicates a starting point within the array of units.

Example 48 - The machine of any of Examples 44 to 46, wherein the one or more alignment units include an alignment node comprising two or more adjacent alignment units that collectively identify a starting point within the array of units.

Example 49 - A machine as described in any of Examples 44 to 48, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit that indicates an end point within the array of units.

Example 50 - The machine of any of Examples 44 to 49, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit that indicates an end point of a row within the array of units.

Example 51 - A machine as described in any of Examples 44 to 50, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit that is the inverse of the empty unit line pattern.

Example 52 - The machine of any of Examples 37 to 51, wherein the generated cell array comprises at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme used to encode the binary identifier.

Example 53 - A machine as described in any of Examples 37 to 52, wherein the line pattern in each encoding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence of two or more bits.

Example 54 - The machine of Example 53, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes a void cell line pattern.

Example 55 - The machine of any of Examples 53 and 54, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more asymmetric radial vectors.

Example 56 - The machine of any of Examples 53 to 55, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more radial quantities.

Example 57 - The machine of any of Examples 53 to 56, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical crossover.

Example 58 - The machine of any of Examples 53 to 57, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star shape.

Example 59 - The machine of any of Examples 53 to 58, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curvilinear pattern.

Example 60 - The machine of any of Examples 37 to 59, wherein the perimeter is a polygon.

Example 61 - The machine of Example 60, wherein the polygon is a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a dodecagon.

Example 62 - The machine of Example 61, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is located at the polygon center.

Example 63 - The machine of Example 61, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is offset from the polygon center.

Example 64 - A machine as described in any of Examples 37 to 59, wherein the perimeter includes a curve.

Example 65 - A machine as described in any of Examples 37 to 64, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern.

Example 66 - The machine of any of Examples 37 to 65, wherein outputting data for generating a graphical representation of the cell array comprises sending the data from the computing device to a printer.

Example 67 - The machine of any of Examples 37 to 66, wherein outputting data for generating a graphical representation of the cell array comprises sending the data from the computing device to a display device.

Example 68 - A machine as described in any of Examples 37 to 67, wherein the set of functions further includes: determining, by the computing device, a layout selection for generating the cell array, and determining, by the computing device, a layout based on the determined layout selection, wherein generating the cell array includes positioning the one or more coding cells in the layout based on the determined layout selection.

Example 69 The machine of Example 68, wherein generating the cell array comprises positioning one or more layout cells, and wherein the one or more layout cells form part of the layout but do not encode any portion of the binary identifier.

Example 70 - A machine as described in any of Examples 37 to 69, wherein the set of functions further includes: determining, by the computing device, a selected noise tolerance level, wherein the one or more coding units have a noise tolerance level that matches the selected noise tolerance level or a noise tolerance level that is more noise tolerant.

Example 71 - A machine as described in any of Examples 37 to 70, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction.

Example 72 - A machine as described in any of Examples 37 to 71, wherein the set of functions also includes: receiving, by the computing device, a non-binary identifier equivalent to the binary identifier, and converting, by the computing device, the non-binary identifier into the binary identifier, wherein receiving the binary identifier includes receiving the binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier by the computing device.

Example 73 - A computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions comprising: receiving, by the computing device, a binary identifier comprising a plurality of bits; determining, by the computing device, one or more encoding units that encode the binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding unit indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding unit comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; generating, by the computing device, a cell array comprising the one or more encoding units; and outputting, by the computing device, data for producing a graphical representation of the cell array.

Example 74 - Computer-readable medium as described in Example 73, wherein determining the one or more coding units according to the coding scheme includes: for each of the one or more coding units, determining a unit color, and wherein the unit color is one of a plurality of colors.

Example 75 - The computer-readable medium of Example 74, wherein each unit color of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits.

Example 76 - The computer-readable medium of Example 75, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits includes two or more bits based on the line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 77 - The computer-readable medium of Example 76, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are based on a precursor of two or more bits of the line pattern.

Example 78 - The computer-readable medium of Example 76, wherein the two or more bits based on the line pattern are precursors to the two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 79 - Computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 74 and 75, wherein determining the cell color includes: determining the cell color associated with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits that matches a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the line pattern of the cell, so as to facilitate encoding a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the coding unit, and the redundant sequence of two or more bits can be compared during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding.

Example 80 - The computer-readable medium of Example 73, wherein the set of functions further comprises: determining, by the computing device, one or more alignment cells, wherein the generated cell array includes the one or more alignment cells.

Example 81 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 74 to 79, wherein the set of functions further includes: determining, by the computing device, one or more alignment units, wherein the generated cell array includes the one or more alignment units.

Example 82 - The computer-readable medium of Example 81, wherein the one or more alignment units include a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit including an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color of the plurality of colors.

Example 83 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 80 to 82, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates a starting point within the cell array.

Example 84 - The computer-readable medium of any one of Examples 80 to 82, wherein the one or more alignment cells include an alignment node comprising two or more adjacent alignment cells that collectively identify a starting point within the cell array.

Example 85 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 80 to 84, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point within the cell array.

Example 86 - The computer-readable medium of any one of Examples 80 to 85, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point of a row within the cell array.

Example 87 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 80 to 86, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that is an inverse of a line pattern of empty cells.

Example 88 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 73 to 87, wherein the generated cell array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme used to encode the binary identifier.

Example 89 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 73 to 88, wherein the line pattern in each encoding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence of two or more bits.

Example 90 The computer-readable medium of Example 89, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes a null cell line pattern.

Example 91 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 89 and 90, wherein each predefined line pattern of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more asymmetric radial vectors.

Example 92 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 89 to 91, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more radial quantities.

Example 93 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 89 to 92, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical crossover.

Example 94 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 89 to 93, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star shape.

Example 95 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 89 to 94, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curved pattern.

Example 96 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 73 to 95, wherein the perimeter is a polygon.

Example 97 - The computer-readable medium of Example 96, wherein the polygon is a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a dodecagon.

Example 98 - The computer-readable medium of Example 97, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is located at the polygon center.

Example 99 - The computer-readable medium of Example 97, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is offset from the polygon center.

Example 100 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 73 to 95, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve.

Example 101 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 73 to 100, wherein a width of the perimeter is equal to a width of a line within the line pattern.

Example 102 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 73 to 101, wherein outputting data used to generate a graphical representation of the cell array comprises sending the data from the computing device to a printer.

Example 103 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 73 to 102, wherein outputting data used to generate a graphical representation of the cell array comprises sending the data from the computing device to a display device.

Example 104 - Computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 73 to 103, wherein the set of functions further includes: determining, by the computing device, a layout selection for generating the cell array, and determining, by the computing device, a layout based on the determined layout selection, wherein generating the cell array includes positioning the one or more coding units in the layout based on the determined layout selection.

Example 105 - The computer-readable medium of Example 104, wherein generating the cell array comprises positioning one or more layout cells, and wherein the one or more layout cells form part of the layout but do not encode any portion of the binary identifier.

Example 106 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 73 to 105, wherein the set of functions further includes: determining, by the computing device, a selected noise tolerance level, wherein the one or more coding units have a noise tolerance level that matches the selected noise tolerance level or a noise tolerance level that is more noise tolerant.

Example 107 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 73 to 106, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits used for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction.

Example 108 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 73 to 107, wherein the set of functions further includes: receiving, by the computing device, a non-binary identifier equivalent to the binary identifier, and converting, by the computing device, the non-binary identifier into the binary identifier, wherein receiving the binary identifier includes receiving the binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier by the computing device.

Example 109 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 73 to 108, wherein the computer-readable medium comprises non-transitory computer-readable medium.

Example 110 - A method comprising: receiving, by a computing device, a captured cell array, the captured cell array comprising one or more coding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each coding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each coding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; decoding, by the computing device, each coding cell in the captured cell array according to a decoding scheme corresponding to the coding scheme to recover the bits indicated by the coding cell; recovering, by the computing device, the binary identifier by combining the recovered bits; and outputting, by the computing device, the recovered binary identifier.

Example 111 - The method of Example 110, wherein decoding each coding unit in the captured cell array comprises: detecting, by the computing device, each coding unit in the captured cell array.

Example 112 - The method of any of Examples 110 and 111, wherein receiving the captured cell array comprises receiving a captured image of the cell array.

Example 113 - The method of any of Examples 110 and 111, wherein receiving the captured cell array comprises receiving a scanned image of the cell array.

Example 114 - A method as described in any of Examples 110 to 113, wherein decoding each coding unit according to the decoding scheme includes: for each of the one or more coding units, decoding the unit color, and wherein the unit color is one of a plurality of colors.

Example 115 - The method of Example 114, wherein each unit color of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits.

Example 116 - The method of Example 115, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits includes two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 117 - The method of Example 116, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are based on a precursor of two or more bits of the line pattern.

Example 118 - The method of Example 116, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are precursors to two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 119 - The method of Example 110, further comprising: identifying, by the computing device, one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array.

Example 120 - The method of any one of Examples 111 to 118, further comprising: identifying, by the computing device, one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array.

Example 121 - The method of Example 120, wherein the one or more alignment units include a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit including an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color of the plurality of colors.

Example 122 - A method as described in any of Examples 119 to 121, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates a starting point within the cell array.

Example 123 - A method as described in any of Examples 119 to 121, wherein the one or more alignment cells include an alignment node, which includes two or more adjacent alignment cells that collectively identify a starting point within the cell array.

Example 124 - The method as described in Example 123 also includes: determining, by the computing device, a distance between alignment marks within two adjacent alignment units, and determining, by the computing device, the presence of a coding unit within the captured cell array by detecting an alignment mark of the coding unit within the captured cell array and an alignment mark of another unit of the captured cell array separated by a distance equal to the distance between the alignment marks within the two adjacent alignment units.

Example 125 - The method of any of Examples 119 to 124, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point within the cell array.

Example 126 - The method of any one of Examples 119 to 125, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point of a row within the cell array.

Example 127 - The method of any of Examples 119 to 126, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that is an inverse of a void cell line pattern.

Example 128 - The method of any one of Examples 110 to 127, wherein the captured cell array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme used to encode the binary identifier.

Example 129 - A method as described in any of Examples 110 to 128, wherein the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence of two or more bits.

Example 130 —The method of Example 129, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes a null cell line pattern.

Example 131 - The method of any of Examples 129 and 130, wherein each predefined line pattern of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more asymmetric radial vectors.

Example 132 - The method of any of Examples 129 to 131, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more radial quantities.

Example 133 - The method of any of Examples 129 to 132, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical crossover.

Example 134 - The method of any of Examples 129 to 133, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star shape.

Example 135 - A method as described in any of Examples 129 to 134, wherein each line pattern of one or more of the plurality of line patterns includes a curved pattern.

Example 136 —The method of any of Examples 110 to 135, wherein the perimeter is a polygon.

Example 137 —The method of Example 136, wherein the polygon is a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a dodecagon.

Example 138 - The method of Example 137, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is located at the polygon center.

Example 139 - The method of Example 137, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is offset from the polygon center.

Example 140 - The method of any of Examples 110 to 135, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve.

Example 141 - The method of any of Examples 110 to 140, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern.

Example 142 - The method of any of Examples 110 to 141, wherein outputting the recovered binary identifier comprises sending the recovered binary identifier from the computing device to a display device.

Example 143 - The method described in any of Examples 110 to 142 further includes: converting the recovered binary identifier into an alphanumeric representation of the recovered binary identifier by the computing device, wherein outputting the recovered binary identifier includes sending the alphanumeric representation to a printer or display device.

Example 144 - A machine comprising: a computing device; and a computer-readable medium storing program instructions, the program instructions causing a set of functions to be performed when executed by the computing device, the set of functions comprising: receiving, by the computing device, a captured cell array, the captured cell array comprising one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; decoding, by the computing device, each encoding cell in the captured cell array according to a decoding scheme corresponding to the coding scheme to recover the bits indicated by the encoding cell; recovering, by the computing device, the binary identifier by combining the recovered bits; and outputting, by the computing device, the recovered binary identifier.

Example 145 The machine of Example 144, wherein decoding each coding unit in the captured cell array comprises: detecting, by the computing device, each coding unit in the captured cell array.

Example 146 - The machine of any of Examples 144 and 145, wherein receiving the captured cell array comprises receiving a captured image of the cell array.

Example 147 - The machine of any of Examples 144 and 145, wherein receiving the captured cell array comprises receiving a scanned image of the cell array.

Example 148 - A machine as described in any of Examples 144 to 147, wherein decoding each coding unit according to the decoding scheme includes: for each of the one or more coding units, decoding a unit color, and wherein the unit color is one of a plurality of colors.

Example 149 - The machine of Example 148, wherein each unit color of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits.

Example 150 The machine of Example 149, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits includes two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 151 - The machine of Example 150, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are based on a precursor of two or more bits of the line pattern.

Example 152 - The machine of Example 150, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are precursors to two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 153 - The machine of Example 144, the set of functions further comprising: identifying, by the computing device, one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array.

Example 154 - The machine of any of Examples 145 to 152, the set of functions further comprising: identifying, by the computing device, one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array.

155. The machine of example 154, wherein the one or more alignment units include a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit including an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color in the plurality of colors.

Example 156 - A machine as described in any of Examples 153 to 155, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit that indicates a starting point within the array of units.

Example 157 - A machine as described in any of Examples 153 to 155, wherein the one or more alignment units include an alignment node, which includes two or more adjacent alignment units that collectively identify a starting point within the unit array.

Example 158 - The machine of Example 157, wherein the set of functions further comprises: determining, by the computing device, a distance between alignment marks within two adjacent alignment cells, and determining, by the computing device, the presence of a coding cell in the captured cell array by detecting an alignment mark of a coding cell within the captured cell array and an alignment mark of another cell of the captured cell array separated by a distance equal to the distance between the alignment marks within the two adjacent alignment cells.

Example 159 - A machine as described in any of Examples 153 to 158, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit that indicates an end point within the array of units.

Example 160 - A machine as described in any of Examples 153 to 159, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point of a row within the cell array.

Example 161 - A machine as described in any of Examples 153 to 160, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that is an inverse of the empty cell line pattern.

Example 162 - The machine of any of Examples 144 to 161, wherein the captured cell array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme used to encode the binary identifier.

Example 163 - A machine as described in any of Examples 144 to 162, wherein the line pattern in each encoding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence of two or more bits.

Example 164 - The machine of Example 163, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes a void cell line pattern.

Example 165 - The machine of any of Examples 163 and 164, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more asymmetric radial vectors.

Example 166 - A machine as described in any of Examples 163 to 165, wherein each predefined line pattern of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more radial quantities.

Example 167 - The machine of any of Examples 163 to 166, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical crossover.

Example 168 - The machine of any of Examples 163 to 167, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star shape.

Example 169 - A machine as described in any of Examples 163 to 168, wherein each line pattern of one or more of the plurality of line patterns includes a curved pattern.

Example 170 - The machine of any of Examples 144 and 169, wherein the perimeter is a polygon.

Example 171 - The machine of Example 170, wherein the polygon is a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a dodecagon.

Example 172 - The machine of Example 171, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is located at the polygon center.

Example 173 - The machine of Example 171, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is offset from the polygon center.

Example 174 -A machine as described in any of Examples 144 to 169, wherein the perimeter includes a curve.

Example 175 - A machine as described in any of Examples 144 to 174, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern.

Example 176 - The machine of any of Examples 144 to 175, wherein outputting the recovered binary identifier comprises sending the recovered binary identifier from the computing device to a display device.

Example 177 - A machine as described in any of Examples 144 to 176, wherein the set of functions further includes: converting, by the computing device, the recovered binary identifier into an alphanumeric representation of the recovered binary identifier, wherein outputting the recovered binary identifier includes sending the alphanumeric representation to a printer or display device.

Example 178 - A computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions comprising: receiving, by the computing device, a captured cell array comprising one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; decoding, by the computing device, each encoding cell in the captured cell array according to a decoding scheme corresponding to the coding scheme to recover the bits indicated by the encoding cell; recovering, by the computing device, the binary identifier by combining the recovered bits; and outputting, by the computing device, the recovered binary identifier.

Example 179 - The computer-readable medium of Example 178, wherein decoding each coding unit in the captured cell array comprises: detecting, by the computing device, each coding unit in the captured cell array.

Example 180 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 178 and 179, wherein receiving the captured cell array comprises receiving a captured image of the cell array.

Example 181 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 178 and 179, wherein receiving the captured cell array comprises receiving a scanned image of the cell array.

Example 182 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 178 to 181, wherein decoding each coding unit according to the decoding scheme includes: for each of the one or more coding units, decoding a unit color, and wherein the unit color is one of a plurality of colors.

Example 183 - The computer-readable medium of Example 182, wherein each unit color of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits.

Example 184 - The computer-readable medium of Example 183, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits includes two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color.

185. The computer-readable medium of example 184, wherein two or more bits represented by the cell color are based on a precursor of two or more bits of the line pattern.

Example 186 - The computer-readable medium of Example 184, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are precursors to two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 187 - The computer-readable medium of Example 178, the set of functions further comprising: identifying, by the computing device, one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array.

Example 188 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 179 to 186, the set of functions further comprising: identifying, by the computing device, one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array.

Example 189 - The computer-readable medium of Example 188, wherein the one or more alignment units include a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit including an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color of the plurality of colors.

Example 190 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 187 to 189, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates a starting point within the cell array.

Example 191 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 187 to 189, wherein the one or more alignment cells include an alignment node, which includes two or more adjacent alignment cells that collectively identify a starting point within the cell array.

Example 192 - A computer-readable medium as described in Example 191, wherein the set of functions also includes: determining, by the computing device, a distance between alignment marks within two adjacent alignment cells, and determining, by the computing device, the presence of a coding cell in the captured cell array by detecting an alignment mark of a coding cell within the captured cell array and an alignment mark of another cell of the captured cell array separated by a distance equal to the distance between the alignment marks within the two adjacent alignment cells.

Example 193 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 187 to 192, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point within the cell array.

Example 194 - The computer-readable medium of any one of Examples 187 to 193, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point of a row within the cell array.

Example 195 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 187 to 194, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that is an inverse of a void cell line pattern.

Example 196 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 178 to 195, wherein the captured cell array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme used to encode the binary identifier.

Example 197 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 178 to 196, wherein the line pattern in each encoding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence of two or more bits.

Example 198 - The computer-readable medium of Example 197, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes a null cell line pattern.

Example 199 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 197 and 198, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more asymmetric radial vectors.

Example 200 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 197 to 199, wherein each predefined line pattern of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more pairs of radial quantities.

Example 201 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 197 to 200, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical crossover.

Example 202 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 197 to 201, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star shape.

Example 203 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 197 to 202, wherein each line pattern of one or more of the plurality of line patterns includes a curved pattern.

Example 204 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 178 and 203, wherein the perimeter is a polygon.

Example 205 - The computer-readable medium of Example 204, wherein the polygon is a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a dodecagon.

Example 206 - The computer-readable medium of Example 205, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is located at the polygon center.

Example 207 - The computer-readable medium of Example 205, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is offset from the polygon center.

Example 208 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 178 to 203, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve.

Example 209 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 178 to 208, wherein a width of the perimeter is equal to a width of a line within the line pattern.

Example 210 - The computer-readable medium of any one of Examples 178 to 209, wherein outputting the recovered binary identifier comprises sending the recovered binary identifier from the computing device to a display device.

Example 211 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 178 to 210, wherein the set of functions also includes: converting, by the computing device, the recovered binary identifier into an alphanumeric representation of the recovered binary identifier, wherein outputting the recovered binary identifier includes sending the alphanumeric representation to a printer or display device.

Example 212 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 178 to 211, wherein the computer-readable medium comprises non-transitory computer-readable medium.

Example 213 - A method comprising: receiving, via a computing device, data specifying a cell array, wherein the cell array includes one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; and displaying, via a display connected to the computing device, a graphical representation of the cell array, wherein the displayed cell array includes the one or more encoding cells that encode the binary identifier according to the coding scheme, wherein each displayed encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter.

Example 214 The method of Example 213, wherein the data indicates a unit color for each of the one or more coding units, and wherein the unit color is one of a plurality of colors.

Example 215 - The method of Example 214, wherein each unit color of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits.

Example 216 - The method of Example 215, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits includes two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 217 - The method of Example 216, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are based on a precursor of two or more bits of the line pattern.

Example 218 - The method of Example 216, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are precursors to two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 219 - A method as described in any of Examples 214 and 215, wherein, for each of the one or more coding units, a unique sequence of two or more bits represented by the unit color indicated for the unit is matched with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the line pattern of the unit, so as to facilitate encoding a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the coding unit, and the redundant sequence of two or more bits can be compared during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding.

Example 220 —The method of Example 213, wherein the cell array comprises one or more alignment cells.

Example 221 - A method as described in any of Examples 214 to 219, wherein the cell array includes one or more alignment cells.

Example 222 - A method as described in Example 221, wherein the plurality of colors includes a predetermined number of colors, wherein the two or more adjacent cells include a predetermined number of cells equal to the predetermined number of colors, and wherein each of the two or more adjacent cells corresponds to a unique color from the predetermined number of colors.

Example 223 - A method as described in any of Examples 220 and 222, wherein the one or more alignment units include a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit including an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color in the plurality of colors.

Example 224 - A method as described in any of Examples 220 to 222, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates a starting point within the cell array.

Example 225 - A method as described in any of Examples 220 to 224, wherein the one or more alignment cells include an alignment node, which includes two or more adjacent alignment cells that collectively identify a starting point within the cell array.

Example 226 - The method of any of Examples 220 to 225, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point within the cell array.

Example 227 - The method of any of Examples 220 to 226, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point of a row within the cell array.

Example 228 - The method of any of Examples 220 to 227, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that is an inverse of a void cell line pattern.

Example 229 - The method of any one of Examples 213 to 228, wherein the cell array includes at least one decoding cell indicating an encoding scheme used to encode the binary identifier.

Example 230 - a method as described in any of Examples 213 to 229, wherein the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence of two or more bits.

Example 231 —The method of Example 230, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes a null cell line pattern.

Example 232 - The method of any of Examples 230 and 231, wherein each predefined line pattern of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more asymmetric radial vectors.

Example 233 - The method of any of Examples 230 to 232, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more radial quantities.

Example 234 - The method of any of Examples 230 to 233, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical crossover.

Example 235 - The method of any of Examples 230 to 234, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star shape.

Example 236 - A method as described in any of Examples 230 to 235, wherein each line pattern of one or more of the plurality of line patterns includes a curved pattern.

Example 237 - The method of any of Examples 213 to 236, wherein the perimeter is a polygon.

Example 238 —The method of Example 237, wherein the polygon is a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a dodecagon.

Example 239 - The method of Example 238, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is located at the polygon center.

Example 240 —The method of Example 238, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is offset from the polygon center.

Example 241 -A method as described in any of Examples 213 to 236, wherein the perimeter includes a curve.

Example 242 - The method of any of Examples 213 to 241, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern.

Example 243 - The method as described in any of Examples 213 to 242 further includes: determining, by the computing device, a layout selection for generating the cell array, and determining, by the computing device, a layout based on the determined layout selection, wherein generating the cell array includes positioning the one or more coding units in the layout based on the determined layout selection.

Example 244 - A method as described in any of Examples 213 to 243, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits used for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction.

Example 245 - The method as described in any of Examples 213 to 244 further includes: receiving a non-binary identifier equivalent to the binary identifier through the computing device, and converting the non-binary identifier into the binary identifier through the computing device, wherein receiving the binary identifier includes receiving the binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier through the computing device.

Example 246 —The method of any of Examples 213 to 245, wherein the display is connected to the computing device via at least one of a wireless communication link, a wired communication link, and a wired and wireless communication link.

Example 247 - A machine comprising: a display; a computing device; and a computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by the computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions comprising: receiving, by the computing device, data specifying a cell array, wherein the cell array comprises one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; and displaying, by a display connected to the computing device, a graphical representation of the cell array, wherein the displayed cell array comprises the one or more encoding cells that encode the binary identifier according to the coding scheme, wherein each displayed encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter.

Example 248 The machine of Example 247, wherein the data indicates a unit color of each of the one or more encoding units, and wherein the unit color is one of a plurality of colors.

Example 249 - The machine of Example 248, wherein each unit color of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits.

Example 250 - The machine of Example 249, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits includes two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 251 - The machine of Example 250, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are based on a precursor of two or more bits of the line pattern.

Example 252 - The machine of Example 250, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are precursors to two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 253 —The machine of Example 249, wherein, for each of the one or more coding units, a unique sequence of two or more bits represented by the cell color indicated for the unit matches a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the line pattern of the unit, so as to encode a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the coding unit, the redundant sequence of two or more bits being capable of being compared during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding.

Example 254 - The machine of Example 247, wherein the array of cells includes one or more alignment cells.

Example 255 - A machine as described in any of Examples 248 to 253, wherein the unit array includes one or more alignment units.

Example 256 - A machine as described in Example 255, wherein the plurality of colors includes a predetermined number of colors, wherein the two or more adjacent cells include a predetermined number of cells equal to the predetermined number of colors, and wherein each of the two or more adjacent cells corresponds to a unique color from the predetermined number of colors.

Example 257 - A machine as described in any of Examples 255 and 256, wherein the one or more alignment units include a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit including an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color in the plurality of colors.

Example 258 - A machine as described in any of Examples 254 to 257, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit that indicates a starting point within the array of units.

Example 259 - A machine as described in any of Examples 254 to 257, wherein the one or more alignment units include an alignment node, which includes two or more adjacent alignment units that collectively identify a starting point within the cell array.

Example 260 - The machine of any of Examples 254 to 259, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit that indicates an end point within the array of units.

Example 261 - A machine as described in any of Examples 254 to 260, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point of a row within the cell array.

Example 262 - A machine as described in any of Examples 254 to 261, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that is an inverse of the empty cell line pattern.

Example 263 - The machine of any of Examples 247 to 262, wherein the cell array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme used to encode the binary identifier.

Example 264 - A machine as described in any of Examples 247 to 263, wherein the line pattern in each encoding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence of two or more bits.

Example 265 - The machine of Example 264, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes a null cell line pattern.

Example 266 - The machine of any of Examples 264 and 265, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more asymmetric radial vectors.

Example 267 - The machine of any of Examples 264 to 266, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more radial quantities.

Example 268 - The machine of any of Examples 264 to 267, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical crossover.

Example 269 - The machine of any of Examples 264 to 268, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star shape.

Example 270 - The machine of any of Examples 264 to 269, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curvilinear pattern.

Example 271 -A machine as described in any of Examples 247 to 270, wherein the perimeter is a polygon.

Example 272 - The machine of Example 271, wherein the polygon is a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a dodecagon.

Example 273 - The machine of Example 272, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is located at the polygon center.

Example 274 - The machine of Example 272, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is offset from the polygon center.

Example 275 -A machine as described in any of Examples 247 to 270, wherein the perimeter includes a curve.

Example 276 - A machine as described in any of Examples 247 to 275, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern.

Example 277 - A machine as described in any of Examples 247 to 276, wherein the set of functions further includes: determining, by the computing device, a layout selection for generating the cell array, and determining, by the computing device, a layout based on the determined layout selection, wherein generating the cell array includes positioning the one or more coding units in the layout based on the determined layout selection.

Example 278 - A machine as described in any of Examples 247 to 277, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction.

Example 279 - A machine as described in any of Examples 247 to 278, wherein the set of functions also includes: receiving, by the computing device, a non-binary identifier equivalent to the binary identifier, and converting, by the computing device, the non-binary identifier to the binary identifier, wherein receiving the binary identifier includes receiving the binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier by the computing device.

Example 280 - A machine as described in any of Examples 247 to 279, wherein the display is connected to the computing device via at least one of a wireless communication link, a wired communication link, and a wired and wireless communication link.

Example 281 - A computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions comprising: receiving, by the computing device, data specifying a cell array, wherein the cell array comprises one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier according to a coding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter; and displaying, by a display connected to the computing device, a graphical representation of the cell array, wherein the displayed cell array comprises the one or more encoding cells that encode the binary identifier according to the coding scheme, wherein each displayed encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter.

Example 282 The computer-readable medium of Example 281, wherein the data indicates a unit color for each of the one or more coding units, and wherein the unit color is one of a plurality of colors.

Example 283 - The computer-readable medium of Example 282, wherein each unit color of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits.

Example 284 - The computer-readable medium of Example 283, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits includes two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 285 - The computer-readable medium of Example 284, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are based on a precursor of two or more bits of the line pattern.

Example 286 - The computer-readable medium of Example 284, wherein the two or more bits based on the line pattern are precursors to the two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 287 - Computer-readable medium as described in Example 283, wherein, for each of the one or more coding units, a unique sequence of two or more bits represented by the unit color indicated for the unit matches a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the line pattern of the unit, so as to facilitate encoding a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the coding unit, and the redundant sequence of two or more bits can be compared during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding.

Example 288 - The computer-readable medium of Example 281, wherein the cell array comprises one or more alignment cells.

Example 289 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 282 to 287, wherein the cell array includes one or more alignment cells.

Example 290 - Computer-readable medium as described in Example 289, wherein the plurality of colors includes a predetermined number of colors, wherein the two or more adjacent cells include a predetermined number of cells equal to the predetermined number of colors, and wherein each of the two or more adjacent cells corresponds to a unique color from the predetermined number of colors.

Example 291 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 289 and 290, wherein the one or more alignment units include a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit including an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color in the plurality of colors.

Example 292 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 288 to 291, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates a starting point within the cell array.

Example 293 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 288 to 291, wherein the one or more alignment cells include an alignment node, which includes two or more adjacent alignment cells that collectively identify a starting point within the cell array.

Example 294 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 288 to 293, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point within the cell array.

Example 295 - The computer-readable medium of any one of Examples 288 to 294, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point of a row within the cell array.

Example 296 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 288 to 295, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that is an inverse of a null cell line pattern.

Example 297 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 281 to 296, wherein the cell array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme used to encode the binary identifier.

Example 298 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 281 to 297, wherein the line pattern in each encoding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence of two or more bits.

Example 299 - The computer-readable medium of Example 298, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes a null cell line pattern.

Example 300 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 298 and 299, wherein each predefined line pattern of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more asymmetric radial vectors.

Example 301 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 298 to 300, wherein each predefined line pattern of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more pairs of radial quantities.

Example 302 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 298 to 301, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical crossover.

Example 303 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 298 to 302, wherein each predefined line pattern of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star shape.

Example 304 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 298 to 303, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curved pattern.

Example 305 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 271 to 304, wherein the perimeter is a polygon.

Example 306 - The computer-readable medium of Example 305, wherein the polygon is a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a dodecagon.

Example 307 - The computer-readable medium of Example 306, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is located at the polygon center.

Example 308 - The computer-readable medium of Example 306, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is offset from the polygon center.

Example 309 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 271 to 304, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve.

Example 310 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 271 to 309, wherein a width of the perimeter is equal to a width of a line within the line pattern.

Example 311 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 271 to 310, wherein the set of functions further includes: determining, by the computing device, a layout selection for generating the cell array, and determining, by the computing device, a layout based on the determined layout selection, wherein generating the cell array includes positioning the one or more coding units in the layout based on the determined layout selection.

Example 312 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 271 to 311, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits used for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction.

Example 313 - A computer-readable medium as described in any of Examples 271 to 312, wherein the set of functions further includes: receiving, by the computing device, a non-binary identifier equivalent to the binary identifier, and converting, by the computing device, the non-binary identifier into the binary identifier, wherein receiving the binary identifier includes receiving the binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier by the computing device.

Example 314 - The computer-readable medium of any of Examples 271 to 313, wherein the display is connected to the computing device via at least one of a wireless communication link, a wired communication link, and a wired and wireless communication link.

Example 315 - An article comprising: a surface; and a cell array capable of being read by a computing device at the surface, wherein the cell array comprises one or more encoding cells that encode a binary identifier representing information related to the article according to a coding scheme, wherein the binary identifier comprises a plurality of bits, wherein each encoding cell indicates a predetermined sequence of two or more bits, and wherein each encoding cell comprises a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter.

Example 316 The article of Example 315, wherein each of the one or more coding units is colored with a unit color, and wherein the unit color is one of a plurality of colors.

Example 317 - The article of Example 316, wherein each unit color of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits.

Example 318 - The article of Example 317, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits includes two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 319 - The article of Example 318, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are based on a precursor of two or more bits of the line pattern.

Example 320 - The article of Example 318, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are precursors to two or more bits represented by the cell color.

Example 321 - An article as described in any of Examples 316 and 317, wherein the cell color is associated with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits that matches a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the line pattern of the cell, so as to facilitate encoding a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the coding unit, and the redundant sequence of two or more bits can be compared during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding.

Example 322 - The article of Example 315, wherein the cell array includes one or more alignment cells.

Example 323 - An article as described in any of Examples 316 to 321, wherein the cell array includes one or more alignment cells.

Example 324 - The article of Example 323, wherein the one or more alignment units include a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit including an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color of the plurality of colors.

Example 325 An article as described in any of Examples 322 to 324, wherein the one or more alignment elements include at least one alignment element that indicates a starting point within the array of elements.

Example 326 - The article of any of Examples 322 to 324, wherein the one or more alignment cells include an alignment node comprising two or more adjacent alignment cells that collectively identify a starting point within the cell array.

Example 327 - The article of any of Examples 322 to 326, wherein the one or more alignment elements include at least one alignment element that indicates an end point within the array of elements.

Example 328 - The article of any of Examples 322 to 327, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that indicates an end point of a row within the cell array.

Example 329—The article of any of Examples 322 to 328, wherein the one or more alignment cells include at least one alignment cell that is the inverse of a void cell line pattern.

Example 330 - The article of any of Examples 322 to 329, wherein the cell array includes at least one decoding unit that indicates an encoding scheme used to encode the binary identifier.

Example 331 - An article as described in any of Examples 315 to 330, wherein the line pattern in each encoding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence of two or more bits.

Example 332—The article of Example 331, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes a void cell line pattern.

Example 333 - The article of any of Examples 331 and 332, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more asymmetric radial vectors.

Example 334 - The article of any of Examples 331 to 333, wherein each predefined line pattern of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns includes one or more radial quantities.

Example 335 - The article of any of Examples 331 to 334, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical crossover.

Example 336 - The article of any of Examples 331 to 335, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star shape.

Example 337—The article of any of Examples 331 to 336, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curvilinear pattern.

Example 338 - The article of any of Examples 315 to 337, wherein the perimeter is a polygon.

Example 339 - The article of Example 338, wherein the polygon is a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a dodecagon.

Example 340 - The article of Example 339, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is located at the polygon center.

Example 341 - The article of Example 339, wherein the alignment mark includes a center, wherein the polygon includes a center, and wherein the alignment mark center is offset from the polygon center.

Example 342—The article of any of Examples 315 to 337, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve.

Example 343 - The article of any of Examples 315 to 342, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern.

Example 344 —The article of any of Examples 315 to 343, wherein the cell array includes one or more layout cells that form part of the cell array but do not encode any portion of the binary identifier.

Example 345 - An article as described in any of Examples 315 to 344, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction.

Example 346 - An article as described in any of Examples 315 to 345, wherein the array of cells at the surface includes an array of cells on the surface.

Example 347 - The article of Example 346, wherein the array of cells on the surface comprises an array of cells printed on the surface.

Example 348 - The article of Example 346, wherein the array of cells on the surface comprises an array of cells attached to the surface using an adhesive.

Example 349 - An article as described in any of Examples 315 to 345, wherein the array of cells at the surface includes an array of cells within the surface.

Example 350 - The article of Example 349, wherein the array of cells in the surface comprises an array of cells imprinted in the surface.

Example 351 - The article of Example 349, wherein the array of cells within the surface comprises an array of cells etched within the surface.

Example 352 - The article of any of Examples 315 to 351, wherein the surface comprises a metal surface, a plastic surface, a glass surface, or a wooden surface.

Example 353 - An article as described in any of Examples 315 to 352, wherein the article comprises a magazine or newspaper.

354 —The article of any of examples 315 to 353, wherein the information related to the article comprises at least one of an advertisement, a uniform resource locator, and a telephone number.

XVI. Conclusion

The foregoing describes exemplary aspects and embodiments for the purpose of illustration and is not intended to be limiting. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications and changes may be made to the described aspects and embodiments without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention, which is defined by the claims.

Alternative embodiments are included within the scope of these exemplary embodiments. In these alternative embodiments, for example, functions described as steps, blocks, transmissions, communications, requests, responses, and/or messages may be performed out of the order illustrated or discussed, including substantially simultaneously or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved.

Finally, the specification contains words that use British English spellings such as colour, coloured, colours, analog, centre, millimetres and centimetres, rather than the corresponding American English spellings of colour, coloured, colours, analog, centre, millimeters and centimeters.

Claims (354)

1. A method for encoding, comprising: The computing device receives a binary identifier consisting of multiple bits. The computing device determines one or more encoding units that encode the binary identifier according to an encoding scheme, wherein each encoding unit indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence, and wherein each encoding unit includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter, and wherein the line pattern within the perimeter for each encoding unit in at least one encoding unit includes a line radially positioned with respect to the alignment mark of the at least one encoding unit for representing at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one encoding unit; The computing device generates a cell array including the one or more coding units; and The computing device outputs data used to generate a graphical representation of the cell array. The presence of coding units within the cell array is determined by detecting the alignment marks of the coding units within the cell array. 2. The method as described in claim 1, The determination of the one or more coding units according to the coding scheme includes: for each of the one or more coding units, determining the unit color, and The unit color is one of a variety of colors. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence consisting of two or more bits. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits comprises two or more bits based on the line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the two or more bits represented by the unit color are preceded by two or more bits of the line pattern. 6. The method of claim 4, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are leaders of two or more bits represented by the cell color. 7. The method of any one of claims 2 and 3, wherein determining the cell color comprises: determining a cell color associated with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits that matches a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the line pattern of the cell, so as to encode a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the encoding cell, the redundant sequence of two or more bits being comparable during decoding of the encoding cell to confirm correct decoding. 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: The computing device determines one or more alignment units, wherein the generated unit array includes the one or more alignment units. 9. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, further comprising: The computing device determines one or more alignment units, wherein the generated array of units includes the one or more alignment units. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit comprising an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color among the plurality of colors. 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating a starting point within the unit array. 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more alignment units include alignment nodes, the alignment nodes comprising two or more adjacent alignment units that jointly identify a starting point within the unit array. 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point within the unit array. 14. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point of a row within the unit array. 15. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise at least one alignment unit that is a reversal of an empty unit line pattern. 16. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the generated cell array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme for encoding the binary identifier. 17. The method as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, In this context, the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and Each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes empty unit line patterns. 19. The method of claim 17, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more asymmetric radial vectors. 20. The method of claim 17, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more pairs of radial amounts. 21. The method of claim 17, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises symmetrical intersections. 22. The method of claim 17, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star. 23. The method of claim 17, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curve pattern. 24. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the perimeter is a polygon. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the polygon is a triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, or dodecagon. 26. The method of claim 25, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The alignment mark center is located at the center of the polygon. 27. The method of claim 25, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The center of the alignment mark is offset from the center of the polygon. 28. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve. 29. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern. 30. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein outputting data for generating a graphical representation of the cell array comprises sending the data from the computing device to a printer. 31. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein outputting data for generating a graphical representation of the cell array comprises sending the data from the computing device to a display device. 32. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: The computing device is used to determine the layout selection for generating the cell array, and The layout is determined using the computing device based on the chosen layout selection. Generating the cell array includes positioning one or more coding cells in the layout according to the determined layout selection. 33. The method as described in claim 32, Generating the cell array includes locating one or more layout cells, and The one or more layout units form part of the layout, but do not encode any part of the binary identifier. 34. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: The computing device determines a selected noise tolerance level, wherein the one or more coding units have a noise tolerance level that matches the selected noise tolerance level or a noise tolerance level that is more noise-tolerant. 35. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction. 36. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: The computing device receives a non-binary identifier equivalent to the binary identifier, and The computing device converts the non-binary identifier into the binary identifier. Receiving the binary identifier includes receiving the binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier by the computing device. 37. A machine for encoding, comprising: Computing devices; and A computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by the computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions including: The computing device receives a binary identifier comprising multiple bits. The computing device determines one or more encoding units that encode the binary identifier according to an encoding scheme, wherein each encoding unit indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence, and wherein each encoding unit includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter, and wherein the line pattern within the perimeter for each encoding unit in at least one encoding unit includes a line radially positioned with respect to the alignment mark of the at least one encoding unit for representing at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one encoding unit; The computing device generates a cell array including the one or more coding units; and The computing device outputs data used to generate a graphical representation of the cell array. The presence of coding units within the cell array is determined by detecting the alignment marks of the coding units within the cell array. 38. The machine as claimed in claim 37, The determination of the one or more coding units according to the coding scheme includes: for each of the one or more coding units, determining the unit color, and The unit color is one of a variety of colors. 39. The machine of claim 38, wherein each of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits. 40. The machine of claim 39, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits comprises two or more bits based on the line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color. 41. The machine of claim 40, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are leaders of two or more bits based on the line pattern. 42. The machine of claim 40, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are leaders of two or more bits represented by the cell color. 43. The machine of any one of claims 38 and 39, wherein determining the cell color comprises: determining a cell color associated with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits that matches a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the line pattern of the cell, so as to encode a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the encoding cell, the redundant sequence of two or more bits being comparable during decoding of the encoding cell to confirm correct decoding. 44. The machine of claim 37, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device determines one or more alignment units, wherein the generated unit array includes the one or more alignment units. 45. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 42, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device determines one or more alignment units, wherein the generated unit array includes the one or more alignment units. 46. The machine of claim 45, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit comprising an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color among the plurality of colors. 47. The machine of claim 44, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit that indicates a starting point within the unit array. 48. The machine of claim 44, wherein the one or more alignment units include alignment nodes, the alignment nodes comprising two or more adjacent alignment units that commonly identify a starting point within the unit array. 49. The machine of claim 44, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point within the unit array. 50. The machine of claim 44, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point of a row within the unit array. 51. The machine of claim 44, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise at least one alignment unit that is a reversal of an empty unit line pattern. 52. The machine of any one of claims 37 to 42, wherein the generated cell array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme for encoding the binary identifier. 53. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 37 to 42, In this context, the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and Each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits. 54. The machine of claim 53, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes empty unit line patterns. 55. The machine of claim 53, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more asymmetric radial vectors. 56. The machine of claim 53, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more pairs of radial amounts. 57. The machine of claim 53, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises symmetrical intersections. 58. The machine of claim 53, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star. 59. The machine of claim 53, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curve pattern. 60. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 37 to 42, wherein the perimeter is a polygon. 61. The machine of claim 60, wherein the polygon is a triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, or dodecagon. 62. The machine as claimed in claim 61, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The alignment mark center is located at the center of the polygon. 63. The machine as claimed in claim 61, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The center of the alignment mark is offset from the center of the polygon. 64. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 37 to 42, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve. 65. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 37 to 42, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern. 66. The machine of any one of claims 37 to 42, wherein outputting data for generating a graphical representation of the cell array comprises sending the data from the computing device to a printer. 67. The machine of any one of claims 37 to 42, wherein outputting data for generating a graphical representation of the cell array comprises sending the data from the computing device to a display device. 68. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 37 to 42, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device is used to determine the layout selection for generating the cell array, and The layout is determined using the computing device based on the chosen layout selection. Generating the cell array includes positioning one or more coding cells in the layout according to the determined layout selection. 69. The machine as claimed in claim 68, Generating the cell array includes locating one or more layout cells, and The one or more layout units form part of the layout, but do not encode any part of the binary identifier. 70. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 37 to 42, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device determines a selected noise tolerance level, wherein the one or more coding units have a noise tolerance level that matches the selected noise tolerance level or a noise tolerance level that is more noise-tolerant. 71. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 37 to 42, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction. 72. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 37 to 42, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device receives a non-binary identifier equivalent to the binary identifier, and The computing device converts the non-binary identifier into the binary identifier. Receiving the binary identifier includes receiving the binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier by the computing device. 73. A computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions including: The computing device receives a binary identifier comprising multiple bits. The computing device determines one or more encoding units that encode the binary identifier according to an encoding scheme, wherein each encoding unit indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence, and wherein each encoding unit includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter, and wherein the line pattern within the perimeter for each encoding unit in at least one encoding unit includes a line radially positioned with respect to the alignment mark of the at least one encoding unit for representing at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one encoding unit; The computing device generates a cell array including the one or more coding units; and The computing device outputs data used to generate a graphical representation of the cell array. The presence of coding units within the cell array is determined by detecting the alignment marks of the coding units within the cell array. 74. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 73, The determination of the one or more coding units according to the coding scheme includes: for each of the one or more coding units, determining the unit color, and The unit color is one of a variety of colors. 75. The computer-readable medium of claim 74, wherein each of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits. 76. The computer-readable medium of claim 75, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits comprises two or more bits based on the line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color. 77. The computer-readable medium of claim 76, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are leaders of two or more bits based on the line pattern. 78. The computer-readable medium of claim 76, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are leaders of two or more bits represented by the cell color. 79. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 74 and 75, wherein determining the cell color comprises: determining a cell color associated with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits that matches a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the line pattern of the cell, so as to encode a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the encoding cell, the redundant sequence of two or more bits being comparable during decoding of the encoding cell to confirm correct decoding. 80. The computer-readable medium of claim 73, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device determines one or more alignment units, wherein the generated unit array includes the one or more alignment units. 81. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 74 to 78, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device determines one or more alignment units, wherein the generated unit array includes the one or more alignment units. 82. The computer-readable medium of claim 81, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit comprising an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color among the plurality of colors. 83. The computer-readable medium of claim 80, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating a starting point within the unit array. 84. The computer-readable medium of claim 80, wherein the one or more alignment units include alignment nodes, the alignment nodes comprising two or more adjacent alignment units that commonly identify a starting point within the unit array. 85. The computer-readable medium of claim 80, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating an end point within the unit array. 86. The computer-readable medium of claim 80, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point of a row within the unit array. 87. The computer-readable medium of claim 80, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise at least one alignment unit as a reversal of a null cell line pattern. 88. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 73 to 78, wherein the generated cell array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme for encoding the binary identifier. 89. The computer-readable medium as claimed in any one of claims 73 to 78, In this context, the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and Each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits. 90. The computer-readable medium of claim 89, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes empty unit line patterns. 91. The computer-readable medium of claim 89, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more asymmetric radial vectors. 92. The computer-readable medium of claim 89, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more pairs of radial quantities. 93. The computer-readable medium of claim 89, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises symmetrical intersections. 94. The computer-readable medium of claim 89, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star. 95. The computer-readable medium of claim 89, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curve pattern. 96. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 73 to 78, wherein the perimeter is a polygon. 97. The computer-readable medium of claim 96, wherein the polygon is a triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, or dodecagon. 98. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 97, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The alignment mark center is located at the center of the polygon. 99. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 97, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The center of the alignment mark is offset from the center of the polygon. 100. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 73 to 78, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve. 101. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 73 to 78, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern. 102. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 73 to 78, wherein outputting data for generating a graphical representation of the cell array comprises sending the data from the computing device to a printer. 103. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 73 to 78, wherein outputting data for generating a graphical representation of the cell array comprises sending the data from the computing device to a display device. 104. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 73 to 78, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device is used to determine the layout selection for generating the cell array, and The layout is determined using the computing device based on the chosen layout selection. Generating the cell array includes positioning one or more coding cells in the layout according to the determined layout selection. 105. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 104, Generating the cell array includes locating one or more layout cells, and The one or more layout units form part of the layout, but do not encode any part of the binary identifier. 106. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 73 to 78, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device determines a selected noise tolerance level, wherein the one or more coding units have a noise tolerance level that matches the selected noise tolerance level or a noise tolerance level that is more noise-tolerant. 107. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 73 to 78, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction. 108. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 73 to 78, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device receives a non-binary identifier equivalent to the binary identifier, and The computing device converts the non-binary identifier into the binary identifier. Receiving the binary identifier includes receiving the binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier by the computing device. 109. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 73 to 78, wherein the computer-readable medium includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium. 110. A method for decoding, comprising: A computing device receives a captured array of cells, the captured array of cells comprising one or more encoding cells, and encoding a binary identifier according to an encoding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence, wherein each encoding cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter, and wherein the line pattern within the perimeter for each of at least one encoding cell includes a line radially positioned with respect to the alignment mark of the at least one encoding cell for representing at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one encoding cell; The computing device decodes each encoding unit in the captured unit array according to a decoding scheme corresponding to the encoding scheme in order to recover the bit indicated by the encoding unit; The binary identifier is recovered by combining the recovered bits using the computing device; and The recovered binary identifier is output through the computing device. The presence of the encoding unit within the captured unit array is determined by detecting the alignment mark of the encoding unit within the captured unit array. 111. The method of claim 110, wherein decoding each coding unit in the captured unit array comprises: detecting each coding unit in the captured unit array by means of the computing device. 112. The method of any one of claims 110 and 111, wherein receiving the captured cell array includes receiving a captured image of the cell array. 113. The method of any one of claims 110 and 111, wherein receiving the captured cell array includes receiving a scanned image of the cell array. 114. The method as described in any one of claims 110 and 111, The decoding of each encoding unit according to the decoding scheme includes: for each of the one or more encoding units, decoding the unit color, and... The unit color is one of a variety of colors. 115. The method of claim 114, wherein each of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence consisting of two or more bits. 116. The method of claim 115, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits comprises two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color. 117. The method of claim 116, wherein the two or more bits represented by the unit color are leaders based on two or more bits of the line pattern. 118. The method of claim 116, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are leaders of two or more bits represented by the cell color. 119. The method of claim 110, further comprising: The computing device identifies one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array. 120. The method of claim 111, further comprising: The computing device identifies one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array. 121. The method of claim 120, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit comprising an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color among a plurality of colors. 122. The method of any one of claims 119 to 121, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating a starting point within the unit array. 123. The method of any one of claims 119 to 121, wherein the one or more alignment units include alignment nodes, the alignment nodes comprising two or more adjacent alignment units that jointly identify a starting point within the unit array. 124. The method of claim 123, further comprising: The computing device determines the distance between alignment marks within two adjacent alignment units, and The presence of a coding unit in the captured cell array is determined by the computing device by detecting the alignment marks of the coding units within the captured cell array and the alignment marks of another unit of the captured cell array separated by a distance equal to the distance between the alignment marks in two adjacent alignment units. 125. The method of any one of claims 119 to 121, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point within the unit array. 126. The method of any one of claims 119 to 121, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point of a row within the unit array. 127. The method of any one of claims 119 to 121, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise at least one alignment unit as a reversal of an empty unit line pattern. 128. The method of any one of claims 110 and 111, wherein the captured unit array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme for encoding the binary identifier. 129. The method of any one of claims 110 and 111, wherein the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits. 130. The method of claim 129, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes empty unit line patterns. 131. The method of claim 129, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more asymmetric radial vectors. 132. The method of claim 129, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more pairs of radial quantities. 133. The method of claim 129, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises symmetrical intersections. 134. The method of claim 129, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star. 135. The method of claim 129, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curve pattern. 136. The method of any one of claims 110 and 111, wherein the perimeter is a polygon. 137. The method of claim 136, wherein the polygon is a triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, or dodecagon. 138. The method of claim 137, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The alignment mark center is located at the center of the polygon. 139. The method of claim 137, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The center of the alignment mark is offset from the center of the polygon. 140. The method of any one of claims 110 and 111, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve. 141. The method of any one of claims 110 and 111, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern. 142. The method of any one of claims 110 and 111, wherein outputting the recovered binary identifier comprises sending the recovered binary identifier from the computing device to the display device. 143. The method of any one of claims 110 and 111, further comprising: The recovered binary identifier is converted into an alphanumeric representation of the recovered binary identifier using the computing device. Outputting the recovered binary identifier includes sending the alphanumeric representation to a printer or display device. 144. A machine for decoding, comprising: Computing devices; and A computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by the computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions including: The computing device receives a captured array of cells, the captured array of cells comprising one or more encoding cells, and encodes a binary identifier according to an encoding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence, wherein each encoding cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter, and wherein the line pattern within the perimeter for each encoding cell in at least one encoding cell includes a line radially positioned with respect to the alignment mark of the at least one encoding cell for indicating at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one encoding cell; The computing device decodes each coded unit in the captured unit array according to a decoding scheme corresponding to the encoding scheme, in order to recover the bit indicated by the coded unit; The binary identifier is recovered by combining the recovered bits using the computing device; and The recovered binary identifier is output through the computing device. The presence of the encoding unit within the captured unit array is determined by detecting the alignment mark of the encoding unit within the captured unit array. 145. The machine of claim 144, wherein decoding each encoded unit in the captured unit array comprises: detecting each encoded unit in the captured unit array by means of the computing device. 146. The machine of any one of claims 144 and 145, wherein receiving the captured cell array includes receiving the captured image of the cell array. 147. The machine of any one of claims 144 and 145, wherein receiving the captured cell array includes receiving a scanned image of the cell array. 148. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 144 and 145, The decoding of each encoding unit according to the decoding scheme includes: for each of the one or more encoding units, decoding the unit color, and... The unit color is one of a variety of colors. 149. The machine of claim 148, wherein each of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits. 150. The machine of claim 149, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits comprises two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color. 151. The machine of claim 150, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are leaders of two or more bits based on the line pattern. 152. The machine of claim 150, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are leaders of two or more bits represented by the cell color. 153. The machine of claim 144, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device identifies one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array. 154. The machine of claim 145, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device identifies one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array. 155. The machine of claim 154, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit comprising an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color among a plurality of colors. 156. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 153 to 155, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating a starting point within the unit array. 157. The machine of any one of claims 153 to 155, wherein the one or more alignment units include alignment nodes, the alignment nodes comprising two or more adjacent alignment units that jointly identify a starting point within the unit array. 158. The machine of claim 157, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device determines the distance between alignment marks within two adjacent alignment units, and The presence of a coding unit in the captured cell array is determined by the computing device by detecting the alignment marks of the coding units within the captured cell array and the alignment marks of another unit of the captured cell array separated by a distance equal to the distance between the alignment marks in two adjacent alignment units. 159. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 153 to 155, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point within the unit array. 160. The machine of any one of claims 153 to 155, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point of a row within the unit array. 161. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 153 to 155, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise at least one alignment unit as a reversal of an empty unit line pattern. 162. The machine of any one of claims 144 and 145, wherein the capturing unit array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme for encoding the binary identifier. 163. The machine of any one of claims 144 and 145, wherein the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits. 164. The machine of claim 163, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes empty unit line patterns. 165. The machine of claim 163, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more asymmetric radial vectors. 166. The machine of claim 163, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more pairs of radial amounts. 167. The machine of claim 163, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises symmetrical intersections. 168. The machine of claim 163, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star. 169. The machine of claim 163, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curve pattern. 170. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 144 and 145, wherein the perimeter is a polygon. 171. The machine of claim 170, wherein the polygon is a triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, or dodecagon. 172. The machine as claimed in claim 171, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The alignment mark center is located at the center of the polygon. 173. The machine as claimed in claim 171, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The center of the alignment mark is offset from the center of the polygon. 174. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 144 and 145, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve. 175. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 144 and 145, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern. 176. The machine of any one of claims 144 and 145, wherein outputting the recovered binary identifier comprises sending the recovered binary identifier from the computing device to the display device. 177. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 144 and 145, wherein the set of functions further includes: The recovered binary identifier is converted into an alphanumeric representation of the recovered binary identifier using the computing device. Outputting the recovered binary identifier includes sending the alphanumeric representation to a printer or display device. 178. A computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions including: The computing device receives a captured array of cells, the captured array of cells comprising one or more encoding cells, and encodes a binary identifier according to an encoding scheme, wherein each encoding cell indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence, wherein each encoding cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter, and wherein the line pattern within the perimeter for each encoding cell in at least one encoding cell includes a line radially positioned with respect to the alignment mark of the at least one encoding cell for indicating at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one encoding cell; The computing device decodes each encoding unit in the captured unit array according to a decoding scheme corresponding to the encoding scheme in order to recover the bit indicated by the encoding unit; The binary identifier is recovered by combining the recovered bits using the computing device; and The recovered binary identifier is output through the computing device. The presence of the encoding unit within the captured unit array is determined by detecting the alignment mark of the encoding unit within the captured unit array. 179. The computer-readable medium of claim 178, wherein decoding each encoded unit in the captured unit array comprises: detecting each encoded unit in the captured unit array by means of the computing device. 180. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 178 and 179, wherein receiving the captured cell array includes receiving a captured image of the cell array. 181. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 178 and 179, wherein receiving the captured cell array includes receiving a scanned image of the cell array. 182. The computer-readable medium as claimed in any one of claims 178 and 179, The decoding of each encoding unit according to the decoding scheme includes: for each of the one or more encoding units, decoding the unit color, and... The unit color is one of a variety of colors. 183. The computer-readable medium of claim 182, wherein each of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits. 184. The computer-readable medium of claim 183, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits comprises two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color. 185. The computer-readable medium of claim 184, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are leaders based on two or more bits of the line pattern. 186. The computer-readable medium of claim 184, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are leaders of two or more bits represented by the cell color. 187. The computer-readable medium of claim 178, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device identifies one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array. 188. The computer-readable medium of claim 179, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device identifies one or more alignment cells within the captured cell array. 189. The computer-readable medium of claim 188, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit comprising an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color among a plurality of colors. 190. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 187 to 189, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating a starting point within the unit array. 191. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 187 to 189, wherein the one or more alignment units include alignment nodes, the alignment nodes comprising two or more adjacent alignment units that jointly identify a starting point within the unit array. 192. The computer-readable medium of claim 191, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device determines the distance between alignment marks within two adjacent alignment units, and The presence of a coding unit in the captured cell array is determined by the computing device by detecting the alignment marks of the coding units within the captured cell array and the alignment marks of another unit of the captured cell array separated by a distance equal to the distance between the alignment marks in two adjacent alignment units. 193. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 187 to 189, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating an end point within the unit array. 194. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 187 to 189, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point of a row within the unit array. 195. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 187 to 189, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise at least one alignment unit as a reversal of a null cell line pattern. 196. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 178 and 179, wherein the captured unit array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme for encoding the binary identifier. 197. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 178 and 179, wherein the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, wherein each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits. 198. The computer-readable medium of claim 197, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes empty unit line patterns. 199. The computer-readable medium of claim 197, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more asymmetric radial vectors. 200. The computer-readable medium of claim 197, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more pairs of radial quantities. 201. The computer-readable medium of claim 197, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises symmetrical intersections. 202. The computer-readable medium of claim 197, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star. 203. The computer-readable medium of claim 197, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curve pattern. 204. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 178 and 179, wherein the perimeter is a polygon. 205. The computer-readable medium of claim 204, wherein the polygon is a triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, or dodecagon. 206. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 205, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The alignment mark center is located at the center of the polygon. 207. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 205, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The center of the alignment mark is offset from the center of the polygon. 208. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 178 and 179, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve. 209. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 178 and 179, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern. 210. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 178 and 179, wherein outputting the recovered binary identifier comprises sending the recovered binary identifier from the computing device to a display device. 211. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 178 and 179, wherein the set of functions further includes: The recovered binary identifier is converted into an alphanumeric representation of the recovered binary identifier using the computing device. Outputting the recovered binary identifier includes sending the alphanumeric representation to a printer or display device. 212. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 178 and 179, wherein the computer-readable medium comprises a non-transitory computer-readable medium. 213. A method for displaying encoding units, comprising: Data defining a cell array is received via a computing device, wherein the cell array includes one or more coded units encoding binary identifiers according to an encoding scheme, wherein each coded unit indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence, and wherein each coded unit includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter, and wherein the line pattern within the perimeter for each of at least one coded unit includes lines radially positioned with respect to the alignment mark of the at least one coded unit for representing at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one coded unit; and A graphical representation of the cell array is displayed via a display connected to the computing device, wherein the displayed cell array includes one or more coded cells encoding the binary identifier according to the encoding scheme, wherein each displayed coded cell indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence, wherein each displayed coded cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter, and wherein the line pattern within the perimeter of at least one of the displayed coded cells includes lines radially positioned with respect to the alignment mark of the at least one displayed coded cell for indicating at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one displayed coded cell. The presence of coding units within the cell array is determined by detecting the alignment marks of the coding units within the cell array. 214. The method of claim 213, Wherein, the data indicates the unit color of each of the one or more coding units, and The unit color is one of a variety of colors. 215. The method of claim 214, wherein each of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence consisting of two or more bits. 216. The method of claim 215, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits comprises two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color. 217. The method of claim 216, wherein the two or more bits represented by the unit color are leaders based on two or more bits of the line pattern. 218. The method of claim 216, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are leaders of two or more bits represented by the cell color. 219. The method of any one of claims 214 and 215, wherein, for each of the one or more coding units, a unique sequence of two or more bits represented by the color of the unit indicated for the unit is matched with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits represented by the line pattern of the unit, so as to encode a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the coding unit, the redundant sequence of two or more bits being comparable during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding. 220. The method of claim 213, wherein the cell array comprises one or more alignment cells. 221. The method of any one of claims 214 to 218, wherein the cell array comprises one or more alignment cells. 222. The method of claim 221, The multiple colors include a predetermined number of colors. Wherein, two or more adjacent units include a predetermined number of units of the same color as the predetermined number, and Each of the two or more adjacent units corresponds to a unique color among the predetermined number of colors. 223. The method of claim 220, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit comprising an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color among a plurality of colors. 224. The method of claim 220, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating a starting point within the unit array. 225. The method of claim 220, wherein the one or more alignment units include alignment nodes, the alignment nodes comprising two or more adjacent alignment units that jointly identify a starting point within the unit array. 226. The method of claim 220, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point within the unit array. 227. The method of claim 220, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point of a row within the unit array. 228. The method of claim 220, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise at least one alignment unit as a reversal of an empty unit line pattern. 229. The method of any one of claims 213 to 218, wherein the cell array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme for encoding the binary identifier. 230. The method as described in any one of claims 213 to 218, In this context, the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and Each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits. 231. The method of claim 230, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes empty unit line patterns. 232. The method of claim 230, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more asymmetric radial vectors. 233. The method of claim 230, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more pairs of radial amounts. 234. The method of claim 230, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises symmetrical intersections. 235. The method of claim 230, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star. 236. The method of claim 230, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curve pattern. 237. The method of any one of claims 213 to 218, wherein the perimeter is a polygon. 238. The method of claim 237, wherein the polygon is a triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, or dodecagon. 239. The method of claim 238, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The alignment mark center is located at the center of the polygon. 240. The method of claim 238, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The center of the alignment mark is offset from the center of the polygon. 241. The method of any one of claims 213 to 218, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve. 242. The method of any one of claims 213 to 218, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern. 243. The method of any one of claims 213 to 218, further comprising: The computing device is used to determine the layout selection for generating the cell array, and The layout is determined using the computing device based on the chosen layout selection. Generating the cell array includes positioning one or more coding cells in the layout according to the determined layout selection. 244. The method of any one of claims 213 to 218, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction. 245. The method of any one of claims 213 to 218, further comprising: The computing device receives a non-binary identifier equivalent to the binary identifier, and The computing device converts the non-binary identifier into the binary identifier. Receiving the binary identifier includes receiving the binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier by the computing device. 246. The method of any one of claims 213 to 218, wherein the display is connected to the computing device via at least one of a wireless communication link and a wired communication link. 247. A machine for displaying an encoding unit, comprising: monitor; Computing devices; and A computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by the computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions including: The computing device receives data defining a cell array, wherein the cell array includes one or more coded units encoding binary identifiers according to an encoding scheme, wherein each coded unit indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence, wherein each coded unit includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter, and wherein the line pattern within the perimeter for each of at least one coded unit includes lines radially positioned with respect to the alignment mark of the at least one coded unit for representing at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one coded unit; and A graphical representation of the cell array is displayed via a display connected to the computing device, wherein the displayed cell array includes one or more coded cells encoding the binary identifier according to the encoding scheme, wherein each displayed coded cell indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence, and wherein each displayed coded cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter, and wherein the line pattern within the perimeter of at least one of the displayed coded cells includes lines radially positioned with respect to the alignment mark of the at least one displayed coded cell for indicating at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one displayed coded cell. The presence of coding units within the cell array is determined by detecting the alignment marks of the coding units within the cell array. 248. The machine as claimed in claim 247, Wherein, the data indicates the cell color of each of the one or more coding units, and The unit color is one of a variety of colors. 249. The machine of claim 248, wherein each of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits. 250. The machine of claim 249, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits comprises two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color. 251. The machine of claim 250, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are leaders based on two or more bits of the line pattern. 252. The machine of claim 250, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are leaders of two or more bits represented by the cell color. 253. The machine of claim 249, wherein, for each of the one or more coding units, a unique sequence of two or more bits represented by the color of the unit indicated for the unit is matched with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits represented by the line pattern of the unit, so as to encode a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the coding unit, the redundant sequence of two or more bits being able to be compared during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding. 254. The machine of claim 247, wherein the cell array comprises one or more alignment cells. 255. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 248 to 253, wherein the cell array comprises one or more alignment cells. 256. The machine as claimed in claim 255, The multiple colors include a predetermined number of colors. Wherein, two or more adjacent units include a predetermined number of units of the same color as the predetermined number, and Each of the two or more adjacent units corresponds to a unique color among the predetermined number of colors. 257. The machine of claim 255, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit comprising an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color among the plurality of colors. 258. The machine of claim 254, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating a starting point within the unit array. 259. The machine of claim 254, wherein the one or more alignment units include alignment nodes, the alignment nodes comprising two or more adjacent alignment units that jointly identify a starting point within the unit array. 260. The machine of claim 254, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point within the unit array. 261. The machine of claim 254, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point of a row within the unit array. 262. The machine of claim 254, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise at least one alignment unit as a reversal of an empty unit line pattern. 263. The machine of any one of claims 247 to 254, wherein the cell array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme for encoding the binary identifier. 264. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 247 to 254, In this context, the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and Each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits. 265. The machine of claim 264, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes empty unit line patterns. 266. The machine of claim 264, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more asymmetric radial vectors. 267. The machine of claim 264, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more pairs of radial amounts. 268. The machine of claim 264, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises symmetrical intersections. 269. The machine of claim 264, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star. 270. The machine of claim 264, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curve pattern. 271. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 247 to 254, wherein the perimeter is a polygon. 272. The machine of claim 271, wherein the polygon is a triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, or dodecagon. 273. The machine as claimed in claim 272, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The alignment mark center is located at the center of the polygon. 274. The machine as claimed in claim 272, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The center of the alignment mark is offset from the center of the polygon. 275. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 247 to 254, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve. 276. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 247 to 254, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern. 277. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 247 to 254, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device is used to determine the layout selection for generating the cell array, and The layout is determined using the computing device based on the chosen layout selection. Generating the cell array includes positioning one or more coding cells in the layout according to the determined layout selection. 278. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 247 to 254, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction. 279. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 247 to 254, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device receives a non-binary identifier equivalent to the binary identifier, and The computing device converts the non-binary identifier into the binary identifier. Receiving the binary identifier includes receiving the binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier by the computing device. 280. The machine as claimed in any one of claims 247 to 254, wherein the display is connected to the computing device via at least one of a wireless communication link and a wired communication link. 281. A computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause a set of functions to be performed, the set of functions including: Data defining a cell array is received via a computing device, wherein the cell array includes one or more coded units encoding binary identifiers according to an encoding scheme, wherein each coded unit indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence, wherein each coded unit includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter, and wherein the line pattern within the perimeter for each of at least one coded unit includes lines radially positioned with respect to the alignment mark of the at least one coded unit for representing at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one coded unit; and A graphical representation of the cell array is displayed via a display connected to the computing device, wherein the displayed cell array includes one or more coded cells encoding the binary identifier according to the encoding scheme, wherein each displayed coded cell indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence, wherein each displayed coded cell includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter, and wherein the line pattern within the perimeter of at least one of the displayed coded cells includes lines radially positioned with respect to the alignment mark of the at least one displayed coded cell for indicating at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one displayed coded cell. The presence of coding units within the cell array is determined by detecting the alignment marks of the coding units within the cell array. 282. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 281, Wherein, the data indicates the cell color of each of the one or more coding units, and The unit color is one of a variety of colors. 283. The computer-readable medium of claim 282, wherein each of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence of two or more bits. 284. The computer-readable medium of claim 283, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits comprises two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the cell color. 285. The computer-readable medium of claim 284, wherein the two or more bits represented by the cell color are leaders based on two or more bits of the line pattern. 286. The computer-readable medium of claim 284, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are leaders of two or more bits represented by the cell color. 287. The computer-readable medium of claim 283, wherein, for each of the one or more coding units, a unique sequence of two or more bits represented by the color of the unit indicated for the unit is matched with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits represented by the line pattern of the unit, so as to encode a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the coding unit, the redundant sequence of two or more bits being comparable during decoding of the coding unit to confirm correct decoding. 288. The computer-readable medium of claim 281, wherein the cell array comprises one or more alignment cells. 289. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 282 to 287, wherein the cell array comprises one or more alignment cells. 290. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 289, The multiple colors include a predetermined number of colors. Wherein, two or more adjacent units include a predetermined number of units of the same color as the predetermined number, and Each of the two or more adjacent units corresponds to a unique color among the predetermined number of colors. 291. The computer-readable medium of claim 289, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit comprising an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color among the plurality of colors. 292. The computer-readable medium of claim 288, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating a starting point within the unit array. 293. The computer-readable medium of claim 288, wherein the one or more alignment units include alignment nodes, the alignment nodes comprising two or more adjacent alignment units that jointly identify a starting point within the unit array. 294. The computer-readable medium of claim 288, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating an end point within the unit array. 295. The computer-readable medium of claim 288, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point of a row within the unit array. 296. The computer-readable medium of claim 288, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise at least one alignment unit as a reversal of a null cell line pattern. 297. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 281 to 288, wherein the cell array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme for encoding the binary identifier. 298. The computer-readable medium as claimed in any one of claims 281 to 288, In this context, the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and Each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits. 299. The computer-readable medium of claim 298, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes empty unit line patterns. 300. The computer-readable medium of claim 298, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more asymmetric radial vectors. 301. The computer-readable medium of claim 298, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more pairs of radial quantities. 302. The computer-readable medium of claim 298, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises symmetrical intersections. 303. The computer-readable medium of claim 298, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star. 304. The computer-readable medium of claim 298, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curve pattern. 305. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 281 to 288, wherein the perimeter is a polygon. 306. The computer-readable medium of claim 305, wherein the polygon is a triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, or dodecagon. 307. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 306, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The alignment mark center is located at the center of the polygon. 308. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 306, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The center of the alignment mark is offset from the center of the polygon. 309. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 281 to 288, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve. 310. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 281 to 288, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern. 311. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 281 to 288, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device is used to determine the layout selection for generating the cell array, and The layout is determined using the computing device based on the chosen layout selection. Generating the cell array includes positioning one or more coding cells in the layout according to the determined layout selection. 312. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 281 to 288, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction. 313. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 281 to 288, wherein the set of functions further includes: The computing device receives a non-binary identifier equivalent to the binary identifier, and The computing device converts the non-binary identifier into the binary identifier. Receiving the binary identifier includes receiving the binary identifier converted from the non-binary identifier by the computing device. 314. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 281 to 288, wherein the display is connected to the computing device via at least one of a wireless communication link and a wired communication link. 315. An article containing encoded information, comprising: Surface; and The cell array on the surface that can be read by a computing device The unit array includes one or more encoding units that encode binary identifiers representing information related to the article according to an encoding scheme. The binary identifier comprises multiple bits. Each coded unit indicates two or more bits of the binary identifier in a predetermined sequence. Each encoding unit includes a perimeter, an alignment mark within the perimeter, and a line pattern within the perimeter. The line pattern within the perimeter of each of the at least one coding units includes lines radially positioned with respect to the alignment marks of the at least one coding unit, for representing at least two bits in the predetermined sequence of the at least one coding unit. The presence of coding units within the cell array is determined by detecting the alignment marks of the coding units within the cell array. 316. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 315, Each of the one or more coding units is colored with a unit color, and The unit color is one of a variety of colors. 317. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 316, wherein each of the plurality of colors represents a unique sequence consisting of two or more bits. 318. The article of manufacture of claim 317, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits comprises two or more bits based on a line pattern within the perimeter and two or more bits represented by the unit color. 319. The article of claim 318, wherein the two or more bits represented by the unit color are leaders based on two or more bits of the line pattern. 320. The article of claim 318, wherein two or more bits based on the line pattern are leaders of two or more bits represented by the unit color. 321. The article of manufacture according to any one of claims 316 and 317, wherein the unit color is associated with a predetermined sequence of two or more bits that matches a predetermined sequence of two or more bits indicated by the line pattern of the unit, so as to encode a redundant sequence of two or more bits in the encoding unit, the redundant sequence of two or more bits being able to be compared during decoding of the encoding unit to confirm correct decoding. 322. The article of manufacture of claim 315, wherein the cell array comprises one or more alignment cells. 323. The article of manufacture according to any one of claims 316 to 320, wherein the unit array comprises one or more alignment units. 324. The article of manufacture of claim 323, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise a plurality of colored alignment units, each colored alignment unit comprising an alignment unit colored to match a corresponding color among the plurality of colors. 325. The article of manufacture of claim 322, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating a starting point within the unit array. 326. The article of manufacture of claim 322, wherein the one or more alignment units include alignment nodes, the alignment nodes comprising two or more adjacent alignment units that commonly identify a starting point within the unit array. 327. The article of manufacture of claim 322, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point within the unit array. 328. The article of manufacture of claim 322, wherein the one or more alignment units include at least one alignment unit indicating the end point of a row within the unit array. 329. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 322, wherein the one or more alignment units comprise at least one alignment unit that is a reversal of the empty unit line pattern. 330. The article of manufacture of claim 322, wherein the unit array includes at least one decoding unit indicating an encoding scheme for encoding the binary identifier. 331. The article of manufacture as claimed in any one of claims 315 to 320, In this context, the line pattern in each coding unit corresponds to one of a plurality of predefined line patterns, and Each predefined line pattern corresponds to a predetermined sequence consisting of two or more bits. 332. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 331, wherein the plurality of predefined line patterns includes empty unit line patterns. 333. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 331, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more asymmetric radial vectors. 334. The article of manufacture of claim 331, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises one or more pairs of radial amounts. 335. The article of manufacture of claim 331, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises symmetrical intersections. 336. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 331, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of predefined line patterns comprises a symmetrical star. 337. The article of manufacture of claim 331, wherein each of one or more of the plurality of line patterns comprises a curved pattern. 338. The article of manufacture as claimed in any one of claims 315 to 320, wherein the perimeter is a polygon. 339. The article of claim 338, wherein the polygon is a triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, or dodecagon. 340. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 339, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The alignment mark center is located at the center of the polygon. 341. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 339, The alignment mark includes a center. The polygon includes a center, and The center of the alignment mark is offset from the center of the polygon. 342. The article of manufacture according to any one of claims 315 to 320, wherein the perimeter comprises a curve. 343. The article of manufacture according to any one of claims 315 to 320, wherein the width of the perimeter is equal to the width of the lines within the line pattern. 344. The article of manufacture as claimed in any one of claims 315 to 320, The cell array includes one or more layout cells that form part of the cell array but do not encode any part of the binary identifier. 345. The article of manufacture according to any one of claims 315 to 320, wherein the predetermined sequence of two or more bits for one or more of the encoding units is based on the angular position of the line pattern from a predetermined reference direction. 346. The article of manufacture according to any one of claims 315 to 320, wherein the cell array at the surface comprises a cell array on the surface. 347. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 346, wherein the cell array on the surface comprises a cell array printed on the surface. 348. The article of claim 346, wherein the cell array on the surface comprises a cell array attached to the surface using an adhesive. 349. The article of manufacture according to any one of claims 315 to 320, wherein the cell array at the surface comprises a cell array within the surface. 350. The article of claim 349, wherein the cell array in the surface comprises a cell array etched in the surface. 351. The article of claim 349, wherein the cell array in the surface comprises a cell array etched in the surface. 352. The article of any one of claims 315 to 320, wherein the surface comprises a metal surface, a plastic surface, a glass surface, or a wood surface. 353. The article of any one of claims 315 to 320, wherein the article comprises a magazine or newspaper. 354. The article of manufacture as claimed in any one of claims 315 to 320, wherein the information relating to the article of manufacture includes at least one of advertising, Uniform Resource Locator (URL), and telephone number.