JP7246134B2 - Information code generation system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information code generation system for generating information codes.

Currently, the applications of information codes are diversified, and information codes corresponding to the applications are generated by various methods. For example, in the information code disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, data to be decoded and data of an image to be displayed are acquired by a generation device, and data of the image to be displayed are arranged in an image display area provided in a code figure. is generated as Specifically, after a code figure provided with an image display area is displayed on the display unit of the generation device, when information specifying the layout of the image display area is input, the layout specified by the input is executed. An information code is generated such that an image display area is newly arranged according to the contents, and a specific pattern area and a decoding target area are provided in positions other than the image display area.

JP 2016-076210 A

When an information code is generated using a special encoding technology, it may not be desirable to disclose the encoding technology. In such a case, it is assumed that the information code is generated by a specific server. In this way, only a specific server generates an information code using a special encoding technology, and each terminal acquires the information code generated from that server, so that each terminal can receive a program using that encoding technology. This is because the encoding technology can be kept secret without the need for installation or the like. Also, if an information code generation program that uses a special encoding technology is installed on each terminal, updating the program will require updating work for each terminal. is.

By the way, as the frequency of use of information codes generated using special encoding technology increases, the number of terminals that use information codes generated by servers also increases. It is expected that the number of generated cases will also increase. Such an increase in the number of generated information codes causes not only an increase in the load on the server during information code generation processing but also an increase in load during transmission processing of the generated information code. As a result of this increase in the load on the server, if the load exceeds the assumed allowable amount, the server will not be able to generate the information code smoothly. The information code may not be properly sent from the server.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a configuration that can reduce the load on a server that is requested to generate an information code from each terminal. .

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 of the scope of claims includes:
A terminal that performs processing using a first information code and a second information code ( 51, 52) generated by arranging a plurality of light-colored cells and dark-colored cells two -dimensionally in a code area (41). (20) and an information code generation system (10) comprising a server (30) capable of communicating with the terminal,
The terminal is
Predetermined information including record data to be recorded in the first information code, record data to be recorded in the second information code, and types of the generated first information code and the second information code is transmitted to the server. Then, in response to this transmission, the first information code and the second information in which the record data is recorded from the server using encoding technology corresponding to the types of the first information code and the second information code a terminal-side communication unit (26) that receives code generation information for generating each code;
a generation unit (21) for generating the first information code and the second information code based on the code generation information received by the terminal-side communication unit;
a display unit configured to collectively display the first information code and the second information code generated by the generation unit in a predetermined positional relationship so as to be imageable;
with
The server is
a server-side communication unit (33) for receiving the predetermined information from the terminal and transmitting the code generation information to the terminal in response to the reception;
When the predetermined information is received from the terminal, encoding technology corresponding to the types of the first information code and the second information code included in the predetermined information is used to encode each of the information included in the predetermined information. The light-colored cell and the dark-colored cell , which are unit areas divided into cell sizes within the code area when the first information code and the second information code are generated so that the recording data is recorded. a setting unit (31) for setting, as the code generation information transmitted by the server-side communication unit , numerical values obtained so as to be "0" or "1" as the arrangement pattern of
characterized by comprising
It should be noted that the symbols in parentheses above indicate the corresponding relationship with specific means described in the embodiments to be described later.

In the first aspect of the invention, the terminal-side communication unit of the terminal determines the types of the record data to be recorded in the first information code, the record data to be recorded in the second information code, and the generated first information code and the second information code. When predetermined information including is transmitted to the server, in response to this transmission, the server uses the encoding technology corresponding to the type of the first information code and the second information code to record the record data . Code generation information for generating an information code and a second information code, respectively , is received, the first information code and the second information code are generated by the generator based on the received code generation information , and the first The information code and the second information code are collectively displayed on the display so that they can be imaged so as to have a predetermined positional relationship . Then, in the server, when the predetermined information is received from the terminal by the server-side communication unit, the predetermined information is encoded using encoding technology corresponding to the types of the first information code and the second information code included in the predetermined information. Light color cells and dark color cells , which are unit areas divided into cell sizes within the code area when the first information code and the second information code are generated so that each record data contained in the information of Numerical values obtained so as to be "0" or "1" as the system cell arrangement pattern are set by the setting unit as code generation information, and are transmitted to the terminal by the server side communication unit.

As a result, among the processing for generating the first information code and the second information code for recording the recording data, the processing for obtaining the array pattern of the light-colored cells and the dark-colored cells is performed by the server. By arranging the light-colored cells and the dark-colored cells based on the pattern, the terminal can perform processing for forming the first information code and the second information code . It is possible to reduce the load on the server when the information code is generated, as compared with the case where the information code and the second information code are formed. In particular, the code generation information transmitted from the server to the terminal is set to be "0" or "1" as the arrangement pattern of light-colored cells and dark-colored cells , which are unit areas divided into cell sizes. Since it is a numerical value and the amount of information can be reduced like binarized information, the amount of transmission is reduced compared to the case where the information code itself is transmitted from the server to the terminal. can be mitigated. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the load on the server that requests the generation of the first information code and the second information code from each terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly the structure of the information code generation system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a mobile terminal on which an information code is displayed; It is an explanatory view illustrating a process of generating an information code in a 1st embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining code generation information corresponding to the information code shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a mobile terminal on which an information code having a predetermined image arranged in an empty area is displayed on the screen; FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a mobile terminal on which two information codes are displayed on the screen in the second embodiment; FIG. 7A is an explanatory diagram for explaining a code image for screen display of the first information code in FIG. 6, and FIG. 7B is a code image for screen display of the second information code in FIG. It is an explanatory view explaining. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which the positional relationship and size of two information codes are changed with respect to FIG. 6;

[First embodiment]
A first embodiment of an information code generation system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
The information code generation system 10 according to this embodiment is a system that generates an information code to be used in each terminal using an arrangement pattern setting process performed in a server. More specifically, in the information code generation system 10, a part of the generation processing for generating the information code is performed by the server that receives the information code generation request from the terminal, and the rest of the generation processing is performed by the terminal. By doing so, it is configured as a system that reduces the load on the server when generating the information code.

This information code generation system 10, as shown in FIG. ing. The terminal 20 and the server 30 are communicably connected via a network N such as the Internet. Note that FIG. 1 shows one terminal 20 for convenience and omits illustration of the other terminals 20 .

First, the information code 40 used by the information code generation system 10 will be described. The information code 40 used in the present embodiment is displayed and used on the terminal 20 in which a predetermined application program for generating the information code 40 (hereinafter simply referred to as generation application) is installed. It is. This information code 40 is generated such that predetermined recording data is recorded by arranging a plurality of bright-colored cells and dark-colored cells in a code area 41, as illustrated in FIG. .

More specifically, the information code 40 has a predetermined shape inside a rectangular code area 41 (for example, square or rectangular) by using a special encoding technique that has not been disclosed to the public. A specific pattern area in which specific patterns (three position detection patterns, a timing pattern, an alignment pattern, etc.) are arranged, a data recording area in which recording data is recorded by a plurality of light-colored cells and dark-colored cells, and a plurality of light-colored cells. An error correction code recording area for recording an error correction code and an empty area 42 are provided by the system cells and the dark color system cells. The empty area 42 is larger than the size of a single cell and provided in the center of the code area 41 so as to be an area in which no data is recorded by cells and is not subject to error correction using an error correction code. ing.

Therefore, by using a reading device (hereinafter also referred to as a dedicated reading device) capable of decoding processing based on a special decoding technology corresponding to the special encoding technology, the recorded data recorded in the information code 40 can be read. be able to. On the other hand, the recorded data recorded in the information code 40 cannot be read by a general reader that cannot perform the decoding process based on the special decoding technique.

Next, the configuration of terminal 20 will be described.
The terminal 20 is configured as a mobile terminal that can use the information code 40 by installing the generated application in a smart phone or the like having a camera function. This terminal 20 includes a control section 21 that processes image data captured based on pixel signals from an imaging section 22 that functions as imaging means.

The control unit 21 is composed mainly of a microcomputer, has a CPU, a system bus, an input/output interface, etc., and functions together with the storage unit 23 as an information processing device. The storage unit 23 is composed of a known semiconductor memory such as a ROM, a RAM, and a non-volatile memory. stored in

In particular, in the present embodiment, the terminal identification information that differs for each generated application to be installed is stored in the storage unit 23 together with the generated application. That is, the storage unit 23 functions as storage means for storing the terminal identification information, and the terminal identification information is set for each terminal 20 and also serves as information for specifying the generated application to be installed.

The terminal 20 also includes an operation unit 24 , a display unit 25 and a communication unit 26 . The operation unit 24 is composed of various operation keys, a touch panel, and the like, and has a function of inputting information to the control unit 21 according to operations. The display unit 25 is composed of a liquid crystal or the like, and is controlled by the control unit 21 and has a function of displaying the information code 40 and the like on the screen. The communication unit 26 is controlled by the control unit 21 and has a function as a terminal-side communication unit serving as communication means for performing wireless communication with the server 30 or the like via the network N. FIG.

Next, the configuration of the server 30 will be described.
The server 30 is configured as a computer having a function of performing part of the processing for generating the information code 40 . Specifically, when the server 30 receives from the terminal 20 the recording data and the like to be recorded in the information code 40, the server 30 uses the special encoding technique to convert the information code 40 so that the recording data is recorded. A process (hereinafter also referred to as an array pattern setting process) is performed to obtain the array pattern of the bright-colored cells and the dark-colored cells in the code area 41 when generated. This array pattern setting process will be described later.

This server 30 mainly includes a storage unit 32, a communication unit 33, and a control unit 31 that controls them in an integrated manner. The control unit 31 is composed mainly of a microcomputer, has a CPU, a system bus, an input/output interface, etc., and functions together with the storage unit 32 as an information processing device. The storage unit 32 is composed of known semiconductor memories such as ROM, RAM, and nonvolatile memory. An application program for executing the arrangement pattern setting process, a predetermined database, and the like are stored in advance in the storage unit 32 so that they can be used by the control unit 31 . The communication unit 33 is controlled by the control unit 31 and has a function as a server-side communication unit serving as communication means for communicating with each terminal 20 and other external devices via the network N.

Next, in the information code generation system 10 configured as described above, the processing when the information code 40 generated using the server 30 is displayed on the screen of the terminal 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. explain.

When the control unit 21 executes the generated application by performing a predetermined operation by the user possessing the terminal 20 , the terminal 20 records data and the like to be recorded in the information code 40 according to the operation of the operation unit 24 . input. Then, when recorded data or the like is input by the user by operating the operation unit 24 or the like (S1 in FIG. 3), predetermined information including the input recorded data, free space information, terminal identification information, and the like is obtained. It is transmitted as a request to the server 30 via the communication unit 26 (S2). Here, the free space information is information related to the free space 42 such as the presence or absence of the free space 42. Depending on the special encoding technique to be used, for example, the shape of the free space 42 or the Information about size, position, etc. can also be included.

When the request is received from the terminal 20 (S3), the control unit 31 of the server 30 records the recording data included in the request using the special encoding technique, and stores the free space based on the free space information. Array pattern setting processing is performed to determine the array pattern of the light-colored cells and the dark-colored cells in the code area 41 when the information code 40 is generated so that 42 is provided.

Information about the array pattern set by this array pattern setting process is set as code generation information (S4) and transmitted to the terminal 20 via the communication unit 33 (S5). The code generation information includes, for unit areas obtained by dividing the code area 41 into cell sizes, for example, a unit area corresponding to a light-colored cell is "0", a unit area corresponding to a dark-colored cell is "1", and an empty area is A numerical value is set so that each unit area is ternarized such that a unit area corresponding to a part of is set to "2". Specifically, the code generation information corresponding to the information code 40 shown in FIG. 2 is ternarized and set as exemplified in FIG. Note that the control unit 31 that sets the code generation information can correspond to an example of a “setting unit”. In addition, in FIG. 4, for convenience, unit areas corresponding to dark-colored cells are hatched.

When the code generation information is received from the server 30 in response to the request transmission (S6), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 generates a code image for screen display of the information code 40 based on this code generation information (S7 ). For example, when ternary code generation information is received as illustrated in FIG. 4, based on the numerical value for each unit area, the code is provided in the center of the code area 41 as shown in FIG. A figure is generated in which light-colored cells and dark-colored cells are arranged in the code area 41 except for the empty area 42, and the generated figure becomes a code image of the information code 40 in which the recording data is recorded. . The information code 40 generated in this manner is stored in the storage unit 23 so as to be displayed on the display unit 25 at any timing. Note that the control unit 21 that generates the information code 40 based on the code generation information may correspond to an example of a "generating unit".

The user who possesses the terminal 20 displays the information code 40 generated as described above on the screen of the display unit 25 (S8), and causes the dedicated reading device to take an image, thereby recording the information code 40. The recorded data can be read by the dedicated reading device. As a result, the user can receive services using the recorded data.

As described above, in the information code generation system 10 according to the present embodiment, when a request (predetermined information) including recording data to be recorded in the information code 40 is transmitted from the terminal 20 to the server 30, this transmission In response to the code generation information for generating the information code 40 in which the recording data is recorded is received from the server 30, the information code 40 is generated based on the received code generation information. Then, when the server 30 receives the request from the terminal 20, the light-colored cells and the dark-colored cells in the code area 41 when the information code 40 is generated so that the recording data included in the request is recorded. A cell arrangement pattern is determined, and information about the arrangement pattern is set as code generation information and transmitted to the terminal 20 .

As a result, among the processes of generating the information code 40 in which the recording data is recorded, the server 30 performs the process of obtaining the arrangement pattern of the bright-colored cells and the dark-colored cells, and based on the obtained arrangement pattern, the bright-colored The processing for forming the information code 40 can be performed at the terminal 20 by arranging the system cells and the dark color system cells. Therefore, compared to the case where the information code 40 is generated by performing the information code 40 formation processing based on the arrangement pattern in the server 30, the load at the time of information code generation on the server 30 can be reduced. .

In particular, since the code generation information transmitted from the server 30 to the terminal 20 is information about the arrangement pattern of light-colored cells and dark-colored cells and the empty area 42, the unit area divided into cell sizes is used as a reference. The amount of information can be reduced like valued information. Therefore, the amount of transmission is reduced as compared with the case where the information code 40 itself is transmitted from the server 30 to the terminal 20, so the load during transmission processing can be reduced.

For example, even when the server 30 is used to generate a large amount of information codes in which different record data is recorded for each product in various production lines, each terminal provided in each production line The code generation information can be received from the server 30 immediately, and the information code can be sequentially generated by the processing of the control unit. Since the server 30 may sequentially generate and transmit the code generation information instead of the information code itself to the terminals of each production line, the load on the server 30 is reduced. Therefore, even if the information code 40 has an empty area 42 in the code area 41, it is possible to reduce the load on the server 30 that requests generation of the information code 40 from each terminal.

In particular, each terminal can generate an information code 40a by arranging a predetermined image D in an empty area 42, for example, as illustrated in FIG. When generating such an information code 40a, it is not necessary to transmit the predetermined image D to the server 30. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the amount of communication when transmitting and receiving the predetermined image D. Since the image is not transmitted from the terminal to the outside, the security of the predetermined image D can be enhanced.

When displaying the information codes 40 and 40a on the screen, each terminal is not limited to displaying light-colored cells as white cells and dark-colored cells as black cells. It may be displayed by setting it to a possible color.

It should be noted that the information code to be generated by the information code generation system 10 is not limited to the information code 40 illustrated in FIG. By using, for example, a specific pattern area, a data recording area, and an error correction code recording area may be configured to be represented by a plurality of bright-colored cells and dark-colored cells inside the code area.

In this configuration, the code generation information transmitted from the server 30 to the terminal 20 is information about the array pattern of bright-colored cells and dark-colored cells. Like information, the amount of information can be reduced. For this reason, compared with the case where the information code itself is transmitted from the server 30 to the terminal 20, the amount of transmission is reduced, so that the load during transmission processing can be further reduced.

[Second embodiment]
Next, an information code generation system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG.
The information code generation system 10 according to the second embodiment differs from the information code generation system according to the first embodiment in that a plurality of information codes to be displayed at the same time are generated. Therefore, substantially the same components as those of the information code generation system of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted.

In this embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 6, two information codes (hereinafter also referred to as first information code 51 and second information code 52) generated using the information code generation system 10 are placed at predetermined positions. The screens are simultaneously displayed on the display unit 25 in relation to each other. On the other hand, the terminal 20 transmits the record data to be recorded in the first information code 51 and the record data to be recorded in the second information code 52 to the server 30, and generates the first information code 51 and the second information from the received code generation information. The code 52 is generated and arranged so as to have a predetermined positional relationship. In other words, the server 30 obtains the arrangement pattern without considering the positional relationship, relative size, etc. of the first information code 51 and the second information code 52 .

Hereinafter, processing when the first information code 51 and the second information code 52 generated using the server 30 are displayed on the screen of the terminal 20 in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 3 and the like.
When the generated application is executed by the control unit 21 and recording data and the like to be recorded in the first information code 51 and the second information code 52 are input (S1 in FIG. 3), the input recording data and the terminal identification Predetermined information including information is transmitted as a request to the server 30 via the communication unit 26 (S2).

When the request is received from the terminal 20 (S3), the control unit 31 of the server 30 uses the special encoding technique to convert the first information code so that the record data included in the request is recorded. An arrangement pattern setting process is performed to obtain the arrangement patterns of the bright-colored cells and the dark-colored cells in the code area 41 when the code 51 and the second information code 52 are generated. Information about the two array patterns set by this array pattern setting process is set as code generation information (S4) and transmitted to the terminal 20 via the communication unit 33 (S5).

When the code generation information is received from the server 30 in response to the request transmission (S6), the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 generates, for example, the first code shown in FIG. A code image for screen display of the information code 51 and a code image for screen display of the second information code 52 as illustrated in FIG. 7B are individually generated (S7). The first information code 51 and the second information code 52 generated in this way are stored in the storage unit 23 so as to be displayed on the display unit 25 at arbitrary timing.

After that, when the first information code 51 and the second information code 52 are displayed on the screen according to the user's operation, the first information code 51 and the second information code 52 read from the storage unit 23 are set in advance. A screen is displayed on the display unit 25 according to a predetermined positional relationship, size, etc. (S8: see FIG. 6). By collectively imaging the first information code 51 and the second information code 52 displayed on the screen with the dedicated reading device, the first information code 51 and the second information code 52 are respectively recorded. The recorded data can be read by the dedicated reading device. As a result, the user can receive services using the recorded data.

As described above, in the information code generation system 10 according to the present embodiment, the request (predetermined information) transmitted from the terminal 20 to the server 30 includes record data to be recorded in each of the plurality of information codes. Then, when the server 30 receives the request from the terminal 20, the light-colored cells and the dark-colored cells in the code area when each information code is generated so that the recording data included in the request is recorded respectively. Arrangement patterns of cells are obtained, and information about these arrangement patterns is set as code generation information and transmitted to the terminal 20 .

As a result, even when a plurality of information codes such as the two first information codes 51 and second information codes 52 described above are generated at once, the load on the server 30 at the time of generation can be reduced. In particular, there is no need to transmit information about the positional relationship, size, etc. of each information code to the server 30, and the positional relationship, size, etc. of each information code to be generated can be freely adjusted at the terminal. For example, when the first information code 51 and the second information code 52 are displayed on the screen, the first information code 51 and the second information code 52 are displayed as illustrated in FIG. The positional relationship and size can be changed with respect to FIG. Thereby, the convenience for the user who owns the terminal 20 can be improved.

[Other embodiments]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and may be embodied as follows, for example.
(1) In the information code generation system 10 according to the present invention, the generated information codes 40, 40a, 51, 52 are not limited to being displayed on the screen of the terminal 20 and used. It may be used by being printed on a predetermined print medium using a printing device (not shown) that has received the

(2) The request (predetermined information) transmitted from the terminal 20 to the server 30 may include the type of information code to be generated. In this case, the server 30 can obtain the array pattern as described above using the encoding technique corresponding to the specified type.

(3) The terminal 20 is not limited to being configured as a mobile terminal such as a smart phone, and may be configured as a stationary terminal or the like arranged in a production line or the like that uses the generated information code, for example.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Information code generation system 20... Terminal 21... Control part (generation part)
26...Communication unit (terminal side communication unit)
30... Server 31... Control unit (setting unit)
33...Communication unit (server-side communication unit)
40, 40a... Information code 41... Code area 42... Empty area 51... First information code 52... Second information code

Claims (1)

A terminal that performs processing using a first information code and a second information code that are respectively generated by arranging a plurality of light-colored cells and dark-colored cells in a two-dimensional pattern within a code area, and a terminal capable of communicating with the terminal. An information code generation system comprising a server,
The terminal is
Predetermined information including record data to be recorded in the first information code, record data to be recorded in the second information code, and types of the generated first information code and the second information code is transmitted to the server. Then, in response to this transmission, the first information code and the second information in which the record data is recorded from the server using encoding technology corresponding to the types of the first information code and the second information code a terminal-side communication unit that receives code generation information for generating each code;
a generation unit that generates the first information code and the second information code based on the code generation information received by the terminal-side communication unit;
a display unit configured to collectively display the first information code and the second information code generated by the generation unit in a predetermined positional relationship so as to be imageable;
with
The server is
a server-side communication unit that receives the predetermined information from the terminal and transmits the code generation information to the terminal in response to the reception;
When the predetermined information is received from the terminal, encoding technology corresponding to the types of the first information code and the second information code included in the predetermined information is used to encode each of the information included in the predetermined information. The light-colored cell and the dark-colored cell , which are unit areas divided into cell sizes within the code area when the first information code and the second information code are generated so that the recording data is recorded. a setting unit for setting, as the code generation information transmitted by the server-side communication unit, numerical values obtained so as to be "0" or "1" as the arrangement pattern of
An information code generation system characterized by comprising:

Images