Data Communication Using 2d Bar Codes

1. A method for operating a Two-Dimensional (2D) code receiver in a 2D code communication system, the method comprising: receiving, by the 2D code receiver, a sequence of 2D codes optically and wirelessly transmitted from a 2D code transmitter having data encoded therein, wherein the 2D codes of the sequence are received in the sequence generated by the 2D code transmitter; and decoding the received sequence of 2D codes into the data, wherein all 2D codes included in the sequence of 2D codes are serially transmitted by the 2D code transmitter according to a code transmission rate, the code transmission rate being a fixed value selected by the 2D code transmitter, wherein the receiving of the sequence of the 2D codes comprises synchronizing the 2D code receiver to the code transmission rate of the 2D code transmitter, and wherein the 2D code receiver is synchronized to the 2D code transmitter using at least one of an occurrence and a location of at least one of a functional field and a timing pattern in one or more 2D codes of the sequence of the 2D codes.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving of the sequence of the 2D codes comprises: receiving a 2D code from the 2D code transmitter; determining if the received 2D code is the last 2D code of the sequence of 2D codes; and if the received 2D code is determined not to be the last 2D code of the sequence of 2D codes, buffering the received 2D code and receiving a next 2D code from the 2D code transmitter.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the received sequence of 2D codes are decoded into the data if the received 2D code is determined to be the last 2D code of the sequence of 2D codes.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving of the sequence of the 2D codes comprises determining supportable resolution information based on a 2D code received from the 2D code transmitter, and wherein the method further comprises transmitting, by the 2D code receiver, the supportable resolution information to the 2D code transmitter.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining if any received 2D codes are unsuccessfully decoded; if any of the 2D codes are determined to be unsuccessfully decoded, transmitting a Negative ACknowledgement (NACK) to the 2D code transmitter that identifies one or more of the unsuccessfully decoded 2D codes; and if the NACK is transmitted, receiving one or more retransmitted 2D codes that correspond to the one or more 2D codes identified in the NACK.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining if any received 2D codes are one of successfully and unsuccessfully decoded; if any of the received 2D codes are determined to be successfully decoded, transmitting an ACknowledgement (ACK) to the 2D code transmitter that identifies one or more of the successfully decoded 2D codes; and if any of the received 2D codes are determined to be unsuccessfully decoded, receiving one or more retransmitted 2D codes that correspond to the one or more unsuccessfully decoded 2D codes.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the 2D codes comprises a plurality of 2D sub-codes, wherein the data encoded in each of the 2D codes is one of spread over the 2D sub-codes corresponding to each 2D code and repeated in each of the 2D sub-codes corresponding to each 2D code.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising: determining if any received 2D sub-codes are unsuccessfully decoded; if any of the 2D sub-codes are determined to be unsuccessfully decoded, transmitting a Negative ACknowledgement (NACK) to the 2D code transmitter that identifies one or more of the unsuccessfully decoded 2D sub-codes; and if the NACK is transmitted, receiving one or more retransmitted 2D sub-codes that correspond to the one or more 2D sub-codes identified in the NACK.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising: determining if any received 2D sub-codes are one of successfully and unsuccessfully decoded; if any of the received 2D sub-codes are determined to be successfully decoded, transmitting an ACknowledgement (ACK) to the 2D code transmitter that identifies one or more of the successfully decoded 2D sub-codes; and if any of the received 2D sub-codes are determined to be unsuccessfully decoded, receiving one or more retransmitted 2D sub-codes that correspond to the one or more unsuccessfully decoded 2D sub-codes.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving another sequence of 2D codes from another 2D code transmitter having other data encoded therein; and decoding the received other sequence of 2D codes into the other data, wherein the sequence of 2D codes and the other sequence of 2D codes are received and decoded at the same time.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the 2D codes comprises a plurality of colors.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the 2D codes comprises error correction bit blocks and data bit blocks that are one of randomly and orderly mapped within each 2D code.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the decoding of the received 2D codes into the data comprises: demapping 2D codes of the received sequence of 2D codes into respective coded symbols; channel decoding the coded symbols into respective data blocks; and reassembling the data blocks into the data.

14. A method for operating a Two-Dimensional (2D) code transmitter in a 2D code communication system, the method comprising: encoding data into a sequence of 2D codes; and optically and wirelessly transmitting, by the 2D code transmitter, the sequence of 2D codes to a 2D code receiver, wherein the 2D codes of the sequence are transmitted in the sequence generated by the 2D code transmitter, wherein all 2D codes included in the sequence of 2D codes are serially transmitted by the 2D code transmitter according to a code transmission rate, the code transmission rate being a fixed value selected by the 2D code transmitter, wherein the optically and wirelessly transmitting of the sequence of the 2D codes comprises synchronizing the 2D code receiver to the code transmission rate of the 2D code transmitter, and wherein the 2D code transmitter is synchronized to the 2D code receiver using at least one of an occurrence and a location of at least one of a functional field and a timing pattern in one or more 2D codes of the sequence of the 2D codes.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the encoding of the data into a sequence of 2D codes comprises: segmenting the data into data blocks; channel coding each segmented data block into a coded symbol; and mapping each coded symbol into a 2D code.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the transmitting of the sequence of 2D codes to the 2D code receiver comprises: receiving supportable resolution information from the 2D code receiver; and transmitting the sequence of 2D codes to the 2D code receiver based on the supportable resolution information received from the 2D code receiver.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein one or more of the 2D codes of the sequence comprises at least one of a functional field and a timing pattern.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising: receiving a Negative ACknowledgement (NACK) from the 2D code receiver that identifies one or more unsuccessfully decoded 2D codes; and retransmitting 2D codes to the 2D code receiver that are identified in the NACK.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising: determining if an ACknowledgement (ACK) is not received from the 2D code receiver that identifies one or more 2D codes transmitted to the 2D code receiver that are successfully decoded by the 2D code receiver; and if the ACK is determined not to have been received, retransmitting the one or more 2D codes to the 2D code receiver.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein each of the 2D codes comprises a plurality of 2D sub-codes, wherein the data encoded in each of the 2D codes is one of spread over the 2D sub-codes corresponding to each 2D code and repeated in each of the 2D sub-codes corresponding to each 2D code.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising: receiving a Negative ACknowledgement (NACK) from the 2D code receiver that identifies one or more unsuccessfully decoded 2D sub-codes; and retransmitting 2D sub-codes to the 2D code receiver that are identified in the NACK.

22. The method of claim 20 , further comprising: determining if an ACknowledgement (ACK) is not received from the 2D code receiver that identifies one or more 2D sub-codes transmitted to the 2D code receiver that are successfully decoded by the 2D code receiver; and if the ACK is determined not to have been received, retransmitting the one or more 2D sub-codes to the 2D code receiver.

23. The method of claim 14 , wherein the transmitting of the sequence of 2D codes to a 2D code receiver comprises transmitting the sequence of 2D codes to a plurality of 2D code receivers.

24. The method of claim 14 , wherein each of the 2D codes comprises a plurality of colors.

25. The method of claim 14 , wherein each of the 2D codes comprises error correction bit blocks and data bit blocks that are one of randomly and orderly mapped within each 2D code.

26. A Two-Dimensional (2D) code receiving apparatus for use in a 2D code communication system, the apparatus comprising: a 2D code receiver for receiving a sequence of 2D codes optically and wirelessly transmitted from a 2D code transmitter having data encoded therein, wherein the 2D codes of the sequence are received in the sequence generated by the 2D code transmitter; and a processor for decoding the received sequence of 2D codes into the data, wherein all 2D codes included in the sequence of 2D codes are serially transmitted by the 2D code transmitter according to a code transmission rate, the code transmission rate being a fixed value selected by the 2D code transmitter, wherein the processor synchronizes to the code transmission rate of the 2D code transmitter, and wherein the processor synchronizes to the code transmission rate of the 2D code transmitter based on at least one of an occurrence and a location of at least one of a functional field and a timing pattern in one or more 2D codes of the sequence of the 2D codes.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein, for each 2D code received, the processor determines if the received 2D code is the last 2D code of the sequence of 2D codes, and if the received 2D code is determined not to be the last 2D code of the sequence of 2D codes, the processor buffers the received 2D code and determines if the next received 2D code is the last 2D code of the sequence of 2D codes.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein, when the processor determines that the received 2D code is the last 2D code of the sequence of 2D codes, the processor decodes the received sequence of 2D codes into the data.

29. The apparatus of claim 26 , further comprising: a transmitter, wherein the processor determines supportable resolution information based on a 2D code received from the 2D code transmitter and generates a message comprising the supportable resolution information, and the transmitter transmits the supportable resolution information to the 2D transmitter.

30. The apparatus of claim 26 , further comprising: a transmitter, wherein the processor determines if any received 2D codes are unsuccessfully decoded, and if the processor determines that any of the received 2D codes are unsuccessfully decoded, the processor generates a Negative ACknowledgement (NACK) for transmission by the transmitter to the 2D code transmitter that identifies one or more of the unsuccessfully decoded 2D codes, and if the NACK is transmitted, the receiver receives one or more retransmitted 2D codes that correspond to the one or more 2D codes identified in the NACK.

31. The apparatus of claim 26 , further comprising: a transmitter, wherein the processor determines if any received 2D codes are one of successfully and unsuccessfully decoded, if the processor determines that any of the received 2D codes are successfully decoded, the processor generates an ACknowledgement (ACK) for transmission by the transmitter to the 2D code transmitter that identifies one or more of the successfully decoded 2D codes, and if any of the received 2D codes are determined to be unsuccessfully decoded, the receiver receives one or more retransmitted 2D codes from the 2D transmitter that correspond to the one or more unsuccessfully decoded 2D codes.

32. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein each of the 2D codes comprises a plurality of 2D sub-codes, wherein the data encoded in each of the 2D codes is one of spread over the 2D sub-codes corresponding to each 2D code and repeated in each of the 2D sub-codes corresponding to each 2D code.

33. The apparatus of claim 32 , further comprising: a transmitter, wherein the processor determines if any received 2D sub-codes are unsuccessfully decoded, and if the processor determines that any of the received 2D sub-codes are unsuccessfully decoded, the processor generates a Negative ACknowledgement (NACK) for transmission by the transmitter to the 2D code transmitter that identifies one or more of the unsuccessfully decoded 2D sub-codes, and if the NACK is transmitted, the receiver receives one or more retransmitted 2D sub-codes that correspond to the one or more 2D sub-codes identified in the NACK.

34. The apparatus of claim 32 , further comprising: a transmitter, wherein the processor determines if any received 2D sub-codes are one of successfully and unsuccessfully decoded, if the processor determines that any of the received 2D sub-codes are successfully decoded, the processor generates an ACknowledgement (ACK) for transmission by the transmitter to the 2D code transmitter that identifies one or more of the successfully decoded 2D sub-codes, and if any of the received 2D sub-codes are determined to be unsuccessfully decoded, the receiver receives one or more retransmitted 2D sub-codes from the 2D transmitter that correspond to the one or more unsuccessfully decoded 2D sub-codes.

35. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the 2D code receiver receives another sequence of 2D codes from another 2D code transmitter having other data encoded therein, and the processor decodes the received other sequence of 2D codes into the other data, further wherein the sequence of 2D codes and the other sequence of 2D codes are received and decoded at the same time.

36. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein each of the 2D codes comprises a plurality of colors.

37. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein each of the 2D codes comprises error correction bit blocks and data bit blocks that are one of randomly and orderly mapped within each 2D code.

38. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein when decoding the received 2D codes into the data, the processor demaps 2D codes of the received sequence of 2D codes into respective coded symbols, channel decodes the coded symbols into respective data blocks; and reassembles the data blocks into the data.

39. A Two-Dimensional (2D) code transmitting apparatus for use in a 2D code communication system, the apparatus comprising: a processor for encoding data into a sequence of 2D codes; and a 2D code transmitter for optically and wirelessly transmitting the sequence of 2D codes to a 2D code receiver, wherein the 2D codes of the sequence are transmitted in the sequence generated by the 2D code transmitter, wherein all 2D codes included in the sequence of 2D codes are serially transmitted by the 2D code transmitter according to a code transmission rate, the code transmission rate being a fixed value selected by the 2D code transmitter, wherein the processor synchronizes to the code transmission rate of the 2D code receiver, and wherein the processor synchronizes to the code transmission rate of the 2D code receiver based on at least one of an occurrence and a location of at least one of a functional field and a timing pattern in one or more 2D codes of the sequence of the 2D codes.

40. The apparatus of claim 39 , wherein when encoding the data into a sequence of 2D codes, the processor segments the data into data blocks, channel codes each segmented data block into a coded symbol, and maps each coded symbol into a 2D code.

41. The apparatus of claim 39 , further comprising: a receiver for receiving supportable resolution information from the 2D code receiver, wherein the 2D code transmitter transmits the sequence of 2D codes to a 2D code receiver based on the supportable resolution information received from the 2D code receiver.

42. The apparatus of claim 39 , wherein one or more of the 2D codes of the sequence comprises at least one of a functional field and a timing pattern.

43. The apparatus of claim 39 , further comprising: a receiver for receiving a Negative ACknowledgement (NACK) from the 2D code receiver that identifies one or more unsuccessfully decoded 2D codes, wherein the 2D code transmitter retransmits the one or more 2D codes to the 2D code receiver that are identified in the NACK.

44. The apparatus of claim 39 , further comprising: a receiver for receiving an ACknowledgement (ACK) from the 2D code receiver that identifies one or more 2D codes transmitted to the 2D code receiver that are successfully decoded by the 2D code receiver, wherein the processor determines if the ACK is not received from the 2D code receiver, if the processor determines that the ACK is not received, the transmitter retransmits the one or more 2D codes to the 2D code receiver.

45. The apparatus of claim 39 , wherein each of the 2D codes comprises a plurality of 2D sub-codes, wherein the data encoded in each of the 2D codes is spread over 2D sub-codes corresponding to each 2D sub-code and repeated in each 2D sub-code corresponding to each 2D sub-code.

46. The apparatus of claim 45 , further comprising: a receiver for receiving a Negative ACknowledgement (NACK) from the 2D code receiver that identifies one or more unsuccessfully decoded 2D sub-codes, wherein the 2D code transmitter retransmits the one or more 2D sub-codes to the 2D code receiver that are identified in the NACK.

47. The apparatus of claim 45 , further comprising: a receiver for receiving an ACknowledgement (ACK) from the 2D code receiver that identifies one or more 2D sub-codes transmitted to the 2D code receiver that are successfully decoded by the 2D sub-code receiver, wherein the processor determines if the ACK is not received from the 2D code receiver, if the processor determines that the ACK is not received, the transmitter retransmits the one or more 2D sub-codes to the 2D code receiver.

48. The apparatus of claim 39 , wherein the 2D code transmitter transmits the sequence of 2D codes to a plurality of 2D code receivers.

49. The apparatus of claim 39 , wherein each of the 2D codes comprises a plurality of colors.

50. The apparatus of claim 39 , wherein each of the 2D codes comprises error correction bit blocks and data bit blocks that are one of randomly and orderly mapped within each 2D code.