WO2000072286A1 - Relay device - Google Patents

Relay device Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2000072286A1
WO2000072286A1 PCT/AU2000/000562 AU0000562W WO0072286A1 WO 2000072286 A1 WO2000072286 A1 WO 2000072286A1 AU 0000562 W AU0000562 W AU 0000562W WO 0072286 A1 WO0072286 A1 WO 0072286A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
page
netpage
pen
relay device
pĪ€nter
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/AU2000/000562
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Kia Silverbrook
Paul Lapstun
Tobin Allen King
Original Assignee
Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from AUPQ0559A external-priority patent/AUPQ055999A0/en
Priority claimed from AUPQ1313A external-priority patent/AUPQ131399A0/en
Priority claimed from AUPQ3632A external-priority patent/AUPQ363299A0/en
Priority to IL14664900A priority Critical patent/IL146649A/en
Priority to JP2000620603A priority patent/JP4724303B2/en
Priority to BR0010889-8A priority patent/BR0010889A/en
Priority to DE60045284T priority patent/DE60045284D1/en
Priority to MXPA01012064A priority patent/MXPA01012064A/en
Priority to EP00929074A priority patent/EP1222644B1/en
Priority to CA002371479A priority patent/CA2371479C/en
Application filed by Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd filed Critical Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd
Priority to AT00929074T priority patent/ATE489694T1/en
Priority to AU47297/00A priority patent/AU761770B2/en
Priority to DK00929074.3T priority patent/DK1222644T3/en
Publication of WO2000072286A1 publication Critical patent/WO2000072286A1/en
Priority to HK03100079.1A priority patent/HK1048009A1/en
Priority to AU2003246313A priority patent/AU2003246313B2/en
Priority to AU2003246317A priority patent/AU2003246317B2/en
Priority to AU2003246318A priority patent/AU2003246318B2/en
Priority to IL168248A priority patent/IL168248A/en

Links

Classifications

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    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10TTECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T156/00Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
    • Y10T156/17Surface bonding means and/or assemblymeans with work feeding or handling means
    • Y10T156/1702For plural parts or plural areas of single part
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Definitions

  • the present ⁇ n ⁇ ent ⁇ on relates to a rela> device for prov iding communication between a sensing device and a computer system
  • the invention has been developed primarily to allow communication between a sensing device sensing information from an interface surface and a remote computer system
  • the invention will largely be described herein with reference to this use. it w ill be appreciated that the invention is not limited to use in this field
  • PCT/AU00/00518 PCT/AU00/00519. PCI/AUOO/00520.
  • PCT/AU00/00524 PCT/ U00/00525.
  • PCT/AU00 ⁇ 0526 PCT/AU00/00527,
  • PCT/AU00/00528 PCT/AU00/00529. PCT/AU00/00530.
  • PCI /AUOO/00531 PCT/AU00/00532.
  • PCT/AU00/00534 PCT/AU00/00535, PCT/AU00/00536.
  • PCT/AU00/00537 PCT/AU00/00538.
  • PCT/AU00/00539, PCT/AU00/00540 PCT/AUOO/00541 , PCT/AU00/00542, PCT/AU00/00543.
  • PCT/AUOO/00547 PCT/AU00/00546, PCT/AU00/00554.
  • PCT/AUOO/00560 PCT/AU00/00561 , PCT/AU00/00563, PCT/AU00/00564, PCT/AU00/00565, PCT/AU00/00566. PCT/AU00/00567. PCT/AU00/00568, PCT/AU00/00569. PCT/AU00/00570, PCT/AU00/00571. PCT/AU00/00572. PCT/AU00/00573, PCT/AU00/00574. PCT/AU00/00575, PCT/AU00/00576. PCT/AU00/00577, PCT/AU00/00578, PCT/AU00/00579. PCT/AU00/00581 , PCT/AU00/00580. PCT/AUOO/00582, PCT/AUOO/00587, PCT/AU00/00588, PCT/AUOO/00589,
  • a user of a computer system typically interacts with the system using a monitor for displaying information and a keyboard and/or mouse for inputting information Whilst such an interface is powerful, it is relatively bulky and non-portable Information printed on paper can be easier to read and more portable than information displayed on a computer monitor
  • a pen on paper unlike a keyboard or mouse, a pen on paper generally lacks the ability to interact with computer software
  • a relay device for providing communication between a sensing device and a computer system, the relay device including
  • a first communications module for receiv ing first indicating data transmitted from the sensing device in a first formal, the indicating data being sensed by the sensing device when it is placed into an operative position in relation to
  • first coded data forming part of a first interface disposed on a first surface, the indicating data including a first region identity indicativ e of an identity of a region associated with the first interface.
  • a processor configured to generate second indicating data based on the first indicating data, and a second communications module for transmitting the second indicating data in a second format to the computer system
  • the base station includes a printer
  • the second format is a cellular communications network protocol, such as PHS. GSM. GPRS, or WCDMA
  • the second communication module includes a receiver for receiving response data transmitted from the computer sy stem, the response data being identified by the first region identity
  • the p ⁇ nter includes a p ⁇ ntmg mechanism, the p ⁇ nter being configured to receive the response data from the computer system, generate a second interface based at least partially on the response data, and p ⁇ nt the second interface onto a second surface using the p ⁇ ntmg mechanism
  • the response data includes a second region identity indicative of the identity of a second region associated with the second interface
  • the p ⁇ nter including a coded data generator configured to generate second coded data indicative of the second region identity, the second interface incorporating the second coded data
  • the interface includes visible information in addition to the coded data, the visible information being based at least partially on the response data
  • the p ⁇ nter is configured to p ⁇ nt the second interface onto the second surface such that coded data is not substantially visible to an unaided human Preferably, this is achieved by p ⁇ nting with infrared absorptive ink
  • the second coded data includes at least one tag, each tag being indicative of the second region identity
  • each of the tags includes first identity data defining a relative position of that tag, and second identity data identifying the region
  • the relay device takes the form of a cellular telephone
  • the p ⁇ nter includes a page-width p ⁇ nthead that includes electro-thermal bend actuators to eject the ink onto the surface More preferably, the p ⁇ nthead includes moving nozzle chambers Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed desc ⁇ ption that follows
  • Figure 1 is a schematic of a the relationship between a sample p ⁇ nted netpage and its online page desc ⁇ ption
  • Figure 2 is a schematic view of a interaction between a netpage pen, a netpage p ⁇ nter, a netpage page server, and a netpage application server,
  • Figure 3 illustrates a collection of netpage servers and p ⁇ nters interconnected via a network
  • Figure 4 is a schematic view of a high-level structure of a p ⁇ nted netpage and its online page desc ⁇ ption
  • Figure 5 is a plan view showing a structure of a netpage tag
  • Figure 6 is a plan view showing a relationship between a set of the tags shown in Figure 5 and a field of view of a netpage sensing device in the form of a netpage pen.
  • Figure 7 is a flowchart of a tag image processing and decoding algo ⁇ thm
  • Figure 8 is a perspective view of a netpage pen and its associated tag-sensing field-of-view cone
  • Figure 9 is a perspective exploded view of the netpage pen shown in Figure 8
  • Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram of a pen controller for the netpage pen shown in Figures 8 and 9
  • Figure 1 1 is a perspective view of a wall-mounted netpage p ⁇ nter
  • Figure 12 is a section through the length of the netpage p ⁇ nter of Figure 11 ,
  • Figure 12a is an enlarged portion of Figure 12 showing a section of the duplexed p ⁇ nt engines and glue wheel assembly
  • Figure 13 is a detailed view of the ink cart ⁇ dge, ink, air and glue paths, and p ⁇ nt engines of the netpage p ⁇ nter of Figures 1 1 and 12,
  • Figure 14 is a schematic block diagram of a p ⁇ nter controller for the netpage p ⁇ nter shown in Figures 1 1 and 12,
  • Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram of duplexed p ⁇ nt engine controllers and MemjetTM p ⁇ ntheads associated with the p ⁇ nter controller shown in Figure 14,
  • Figure 16 is a schematic block diagram of the p ⁇ nt engine controller shown in Figures 14 and 15, - 3 -
  • Figure 17 is a perspective view of a single MemjetTM p ⁇ nting element, as used in. for example, the netpage p ⁇ nter of
  • Figure 18 is a perspective view of a small part of an array of MemjetTM p ⁇ ntmg elements
  • Figure 19 is a se ⁇ es of perspective views illustrating the operating cycle of the Memjet 71 " pnntmg element shown in Figure 13,
  • Figure 20 is a perspective view of a short segment of a pagewidth MemjetTM p ⁇ nthead
  • Figure 21 is a schematic view of a user class diagram
  • Figure 22 is a schematic view of a p ⁇ nter class diagram
  • Figure 23 is a schematic view of a pen class diagram
  • Figure 24 is a schematic view of an application class diagram
  • Figure 25 is a schematic view of a document and page desc ⁇ ption class diagram
  • Figure 26 is a schematic view of a document and page ownership class diagram
  • Figure 27 is a schematic view of a terminal element specialization class diagram
  • Figure 28 is a schematic view of a static element specialization class diagram
  • Figure 29 is a schematic view of a hyperlink element class diagram
  • Figure 30 is a schematic view of a hyperlink element specialization class diagram
  • Figure 31 is a schematic view of a hyperlmked group class diagram
  • Figure 32 is a schematic view of a form class diagram
  • Figure 33 is a schematic view of a digital ink class diagram
  • Figure 34 is a schematic view of a field element specialization class diagram
  • Figure 35 is a schematic view of a checkbox field class diagram
  • Figure 36 is a schematic view of a text field class diagram
  • Figure 37 is a schematic view of a signature field class diagram
  • Figure 38 is a flowchart of an input processing algo ⁇ thm
  • Figure 38a is a detailed flowchart of one step of the flowchart of Figure 38
  • Figure 39 is a schematic view of a page server command element class diagram.
  • Figure 40 is a schematic view of a resource desc ⁇ ption class diagram
  • Figure 41 is a schematic view of a favo ⁇ tes list class diagram
  • Figure 42 is a schematic view of a history list class diagram
  • Figure 43 is a schematic view of a subsc ⁇ ption delivery protocol
  • Figure 44 is a schematic view of a hyperlink request class diagram
  • Figure 45 is a schematic view of a hyperlink activation protocol
  • Figure 46 is a schematic view of a form submission protocol
  • Figure 47 is a schematic view of a commission payment protocol
  • Figure 48 is a flowchart of document processing in a netpage p ⁇ nter
  • Figure 49 is a schematic view of a set of radial wedges making up a symbol
  • Figure 50 is a schematic view of a ⁇ ng A and B symbol allocation scheme
  • Figure 51 is a schematic view of a first ⁇ ng C and D symbol allocation scheme
  • Figure 52 is a schematic view of a second nng C and D symbol allocation scheme
  • Figure 53 is a simple exploded view of the wallp ⁇ nter
  • Figure 54 is an exploded view of the ink cartridge
  • Figure 55 is a pair of three-quarter views of the ink cartridge
  • Figure 56 is a three-quarter view of a single ink bladder, - 4 -
  • Figures 57a and 57b are lateral and longitudinal sections through the ink cartridge.
  • Figure 58 is a front three-quarter view of the open media tray
  • Figure 59 is a front three-quarter view of the electrical system of the pnnter.
  • Figure 60 is a rear three-quarter view of the elect ⁇ cal system
  • Figure 61 is a front three-quarter view of the wallp ⁇ nter with the lower front cover removed.
  • Figure 62 is a section through the binder assembly
  • Figure 63 is a rear three-quarter view of the open glue wheel assembly
  • Figure 64 is a section through the binding assembly and the exit hatch
  • Figure 65 is a three-dimensional view of an interface module
  • Figure 66 is an exploded view of an interface module,
  • Figure 67 is a top three-quarter view of the media tray; and Figure 68 is a section through the top part of the p ⁇ nter
  • the invention is configured to work with the netpage networked computer system, a detailed overview of which follows It will be appreciated that not every implementation will necessarily embody all or even most of the specific details and extensions discussed below m relation to the basic system However, the system is desc ⁇ bed in its most complete form to reduce the need for external reference when attempting to understand the context in which the prefe ⁇ ed embodiments and aspects of the present invention operate
  • the preferred form of the netpage system employs a computer interface in the form of a mapped surface, that is, a physical surface which contains references to a map of the surface maintained in a computer system
  • the map references can be que ⁇ ed by an approp ⁇ ate sensing device
  • the map references may be encoded visibly or invisibly, and defined in such a way that a local query on the
  • the netpage system relies on the production of. and human interaction with, netpages
  • netpages These are pages of text, graphics and images p ⁇ nted on ordinary paper, but which work like interactive web pages
  • Information is encoded on each page using ink which is substantially invisible to the unaided human eye
  • the ink however, and thereby the coded data, can be sensed by an optically imaging pen and transmitted to the netpage system
  • buttons and hyperlinks on each page can be clicked with the pen to request information from the network or to signal preferences to a network server
  • text w ⁇ tten by hand on a netpage is automatically recognized and converted to computer text in the netpage system, allowing forms to be filled in
  • signatures recorded on a netpage are automatically ve ⁇ fied, allowing e-commerce transactions to be securely autho ⁇ zed
  • a p ⁇ nted netpage 1 can represent a interactive form which can be filled in by the user both physically, on the p ⁇ nted page, and "electronically"', via communication between the pen and the netpage system
  • the example shows a "Request" form containing name and address fields and a submit button
  • the netpage consists of graphic data 2 p ⁇ nted using visible ink, and coded data 3 p ⁇ nted as a collection of tags 4 using invisible ink
  • the corresponding page desc ⁇ ption 5 stored on the netpage network, desc ⁇ bes the individual elements of the netpage In particular it desc ⁇ bes the type and spatial extent (zone) of each interactive element (I e text field or button in the example), to allow the netpage system to correctly interpret input via the netpage
  • the submit button 6, for example, has a - 5 - zone 7 which co ⁇ esponds to the spatial extent of the corresponding graphic 8
  • the netpage pen 101 As illustrated in Figure 2, the netpage pen 101. a preferred form of which is shown in Figures 8 and 9 and desc ⁇ bed in more detail below, works in conjunction with a netpage p ⁇ nter 601. an Internet-connected p ⁇ nting appliance for home, office or mobile use The pen is wireless and communicates securely with the netpage p ⁇ nter via a short-range radio link 9
  • the netpage p ⁇ nter 601 is able to deliver, pe ⁇ odically or on demand, personalized newspapers, magazines, catalogs, brochures and other publications, all p ⁇ nted at high quality as interactive netpages Unlike a personal computer, the netpage p ⁇ nter is an appliance which can be, for example, wall-mounted adjacent to an area where the moming news is first consumed, such as in a user's kitchen, near a breakfast table, or near the household's point of departure for the day It also comes in tabletop desktop, portable and miniature versions
  • Netpages p ⁇ nted at their point of consumption combine the ease-of-use of paper with the timeliness and interactivity of an interactive medium
  • the netpage pen 101 interacts with the coded data on a p ⁇ nted netpage 1 and communicates, via a short-range radio link 9, the interaction to a netpage p ⁇ nter
  • the p ⁇ nter 601 sends the interaction to the relevant netpage page server 10 for interpretation
  • the page server sends a corresponding message to application computer software running on a netpage application server 13
  • the application server may in turn send a response which is p ⁇ nted on the o ⁇ ginating p ⁇ nter
  • netpage system is made considerably more convenient in the preferred embodiment by being used in conjunction with high-speed microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based Inkjet (MemjetTM) p ⁇ nters
  • MEMS microelectromechanical system
  • MemjetTM Inkjet
  • pnntmg relatively high-speed and high-quality pnntmg is made more affordable to consumers
  • a netpage publication has the physical characte ⁇ stics of a traditional newsmagazine, such as a set of letter- size glossy pages p ⁇ nted in full color on both sides, bound together for easy navigation and comfortable handling
  • the netpage p ⁇ nter exploits the growing availability of broadband Internet access Cable service is available to 95% of households in the United States, and cable modem service offe ⁇ ng broadband Internet access is already available to 20% of these
  • the netpage p ⁇ nter can also operate with slower connections, but with longer deliv ery times and lower image quality Indeed, the netpage system can be enabled using existing consumer Inkjet and laser p ⁇ nters although the system will operate more slowly and will therefore be less acceptable from a consumer's point of view
  • the netpage system is hosted on a p ⁇ vate intranet
  • the netpage system is hosted on a single computer or computer-enabled device, such as a p ⁇ nter
  • Netpage publication servers 14 on the netpage network are configured to deliver p ⁇ nt-quality publications to netpage p ⁇ nters
  • Pe ⁇ odical publications are delivered automatically to subscnbing netpage p ⁇ nters via pointcasting and multicasting Internet protocols
  • Personalized publications are filtered and formatted according to individual user profiles
  • a netpage p ⁇ nter can be configured to support any number of pens, and a pen can work with any number of netpage p ⁇ nters
  • each netpage pen has a unique identifier
  • a household may have a collection of colored netpage pens, one assigned to each member of the family This allows each user to maintain a distinct profile with respect to a netpage publication server or application server
  • a netpage pen can also be registered with a netpage registration server 1 1 and linked to one or more payment card accounts This allows e-commerce payments to be securely authonzed using the netpage pen
  • the netpage registration server compares the signature captured by the netpage pen with a previously registered signature, allowing it to authenticate the user's identity to an e-commerce server
  • Other biomet ⁇ cs can also be used to ve ⁇ fy identity
  • a version of the netpage pen includes fingerp ⁇ nt scanning, ve ⁇ fied in a similar way by the netpage registration server
  • netpage p ⁇ nter may deliver pe ⁇ odicals such as the moming newspaper without user intervention it can be configured never to deliver unsolicited junk mail In its preferred form, it only delivers pe ⁇ odicals from - 6 - subsc ⁇ bed or otherwise autho ⁇ zed sources In this respect, the netpage p ⁇ nter is unlike a fax machine or e-mail account which is visible to any junk mailer who knows the telephone number or email address 1 NETPAGE SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
  • UML Unified Modeling Language
  • a class diagram consists of a set of object classes connected by relationships, and two kinds of relationships are of interest here associations and generalizations
  • An association represents some kind of relationship between objects, l e between instances of classes
  • a generalization relates actual classes, and can be understood in the following way if a class is thought of as the set of all objects of that class, and class A is a generalization of class B, then B is simply a subset of A
  • the UML does not directly support second-order modelling - 1 e classes of classes
  • Each class is drawn as a rectangle labelled with the name of the class It contains a list of the attributes of the class, separated from the name by a ho ⁇ zontal line, and a list of the operations of the class, separated from the att ⁇ bute list by a ho ⁇ zontal line In the class diagrams which follow, however, operations are never modelled
  • An association is drawn as a line joining two classes, optionally labelled at either end with the multiplicity of the association The default multiplicity is one
  • An aste ⁇ sk (*) indicates a multiplicity of "many", 1 e zero or more
  • Each association is optionally labelled with its name, and is also optionally labelled at either end with the role of the co ⁇ esponding class
  • An open diamond indicates an aggregation association (' is-part-of '), and is drawn at the aggregator end of the association line
  • Netpages are the foundation on which a netpage network is built They provide a paper-based user interface to published information and interactive services
  • a netpage consists of a pnnted page (or other surface region) invisibly tagged with references to an online desc ⁇ ption of the page
  • the online page desc ⁇ ption is maintained persistently by a netpage page server
  • the page desc ⁇ ption desc ⁇ bes the visible layout and content of the page, including text, graphics and images It also desc ⁇ bes the input elements on the page, including buttons, hyperlinks, and input fields
  • a netpage allows markings made with a netpage pen on its surface to be simultaneously captured and processed by the netpage system
  • Multiple netpages can share the same page desc ⁇ ption However, to allow input through otherwise identical pages to be distinguished, each netpage is assigned a unique page identifier This page ID has sufficient precision to distinguish between a very large number of netpages
  • Each reference to the page desc ⁇ ption is encoded in a p ⁇ nted tag
  • the tag identifies the unique page on which it appears, and thereby indirectly identifies the page desc ⁇ ption
  • the tag also identifies its own position on the page Characte ⁇ stics of the tags are desc ⁇ bed in more detail below
  • Tags are pnnted in infrared-absorptive ink on any substrate which is infrared-reflective, such as ordinary paper Near-infrared wavelengths are invisible to the human eye but are easily sensed by a solid-state image sensor with an approp ⁇ ate filter
  • a tag is sensed by an area image sensor in the netpage pen, and the tag data is transmitted to the netpage system via the nearest netpage p ⁇ nter
  • the pen is wireless and communicates with the netpage p ⁇ nter via a short-range radio link Tags are sufficiently small and densely a ⁇ anged that the pen can reliably image at least one tag even on a single click on the page It is important that the pen recognize the page ID and position on every interaction with the page, since the interaction is stateless Tags are e ⁇ or-correctably encoded to make them partially tolerant to surface damage
  • the netpage page server maintains a unique page instance for each p ⁇ nted netpage, allowing it to maintain a 7 - distinct set of user-supplied values for input fields in the page desc ⁇ ption for each p ⁇ nted netpage
  • each tag identifies the region in which it appears, and the location of that tag within the region
  • a tag may also contain flags which relate to the region as a whole or to the tag
  • One or more flag bits may, for example, signal a tag sensing device to provide feedback indicative of a function associated with the immediate area of the tag, without the sensing device having to refer to a desc ⁇ ption of the region
  • a netpage pen may, for example, illuminate an "active area" LED when in the zone of a hyperlink
  • each tag contains an easily recognized mva ⁇ ant structure which aids initial detection, and which assists in minimizing the effect of any warp induced by the surface or by the sensing process
  • the tags preferably tile the entire page, and are sufficiently small and densely arranged that the pen can reliably image at least one tag even on a single click on the page It is important that the pen recognize the page ID and position on every interaction with the page, since the interaction is stateless
  • the region to which a tag refers coincides with an entire page, and the region ID encoded in the tag is therefore synonymous with the page ID of the page on which the tag appears
  • the region to which a tag refers can be an arbitrary subregion of a page or other surface For example, it can coincide with the zone of an interactive element, in which case the region ID can directly identify the interactive element
  • Each tag contains 120 bits of information, typically allocated as shown in Table 1 Assuming a maximum tag density of 64 per square inch, a 16-bit tag ID supports a region size of up to 1024 square inches Larger regions can be mapped continuously without increasing the tag ID precision simply by using abutting regions and maps The 100-bit region ID allows 2 100 (-10 30 or a million trillion t ⁇ llion) different regions to be uniquely identified 1.2.2 Tag Data Encoding
  • the 120 bits of tag data are redundantly encoded using a (15. 5) Reed-Solomon code This yields 360 encoded bits consisting of 6 codewords of 15 4-bit symbols each
  • the ( 15, 5) code allows up to 5 symbol errors to be corrected per codeword, l e it is tolerant of a symbol error rate of up to 33% per codeword
  • Each 4-bit symbol is represented in a spatially coherent way in the tag. and the symbols of the six codewords are interleaved spatially within the tag This ensures that a burst error (an error affecting multiple spatially adjacent bits) damages a minimum number of symbols overall and a minimum number of symbols in any one codeword, thus maximising the likelihood that the burst error can be fully corrected.
  • the physical representation of the tag shown in Figure 5, includes fixed target structures 15, 16, 17 and va ⁇ able data areas 18
  • the fixed target structures allow a sensing device such as the netpage pen to detect the tag and infer its three-dimensional o ⁇ entation relative to the sensor
  • the data areas contain representations of the individual bits - 8 - of the encoded tag data
  • the tag is rendered at a resolution of 256x256 dots When p ⁇ nted at 1600 dots per inch this yields a tag with a diameter of about 4 mm At this resolution the tag is designed to be surrounded by a "quiet area" of radius 16 dots Since the quiet area is also cont ⁇ ubbed by adjacent tags, it only adds 16 dots to the effective diameter of the tag
  • the tag includes six target structures
  • a detection nng 15 allows the sensing device to initially detect the tag
  • the ⁇ ng is easy to detect because it is rotationally inva ⁇ ant and because a simple correction of its aspect ratio removes most of the effects of perspective distortion
  • An onentation axis 16 allows the sensing device to determine the approximate planar o ⁇ entation of the tag due to the yaw of the sensor
  • the o ⁇ entation axis is skewed to yield a unique o ⁇ entation
  • Four perspective targets 17 allow the sensing device to infer an accurate two-dimensional perspective transform of the tag and hence an accurate three-dimensional position and o ⁇ entation of the tag relative to the sensor All target structures are redundantly large to improve their immunity to noise
  • each data bit is represented by a radial wedge 510 in the form of an area bounded by two radial lines 512, a radially inner arc 514 and a radially outer arc 516
  • Each wedge 510 has a minimum dimension of 8 dots at 1600 dpi and is designed so that its base (l e its inner arc 514), is at least equal to this minimum dimension
  • the radial height of the wedge 510 is always equal to the minimum dimension
  • Each 4-bit data symbol is represented by an array 518 of 2x2 wedges 510.
  • the interleaving is designed to maximise the average spatial distance between any two symbols of the same codeword
  • the sensing device In order to support "single-click" interaction with a tagged region via a sensing device, the sensing device must be able to see at least one entire tag in its field of view no matter where in the region or at what o ⁇ entation it is positioned
  • the required diameter of the field of view of the sensing device is therefore a function of the size and spacing of the tags
  • Binary shape moments 25 are then computed (at 24) for each shape, and these provide the basis for subsequently locating target structures
  • Central shape moments are by their nature invanant of position, and can be easily made inva ⁇ ant of scale, aspect ratio and rotation
  • the ⁇ ng target structure 15 is the first to be located (at 26)
  • a ⁇ ng has the advantage of being very well behaved when perspective-distorted Matching proceeds by aspect-normalizing and rotation-normalizing each shape's moments Once its second-order moments are normalized the ⁇ ng is easy to recognize even if the perspective distortion was significant
  • the ⁇ ng's onginal aspect and rotation 27 together provide a useful approximation of the perspectiv e - 9 - transform
  • the axis target structure 16 is the next to be located (at 28)
  • Matching proceeds by applying the ⁇ ng s normalizations to each shape's moments, and rotation-normalizing the resulting moments Once its second-order moments are normalized the axis target is easily recognized Note that one third order moment is required to disambiguate the two possible o ⁇ entations of the axis The shape is deliberately skewed to one side to make this possible Note also that it is only possible to rotation-normalize the axis target after it has had the ⁇ ng s normalizations applied, since the perspective distortion can hide the axis target ' s axis The axis target s o ⁇ ginal rotation provides a useful approximation of the tag's rotation due to pen yaw 29
  • the four perspective target structures 17 are the last to be located (at 30) Good estimates of their positions are computed based on their known spatial relationships to the nng and axis targets, the aspect and rotation of the ⁇ ng, and the rotation of the axis Matching proceeds by applying the ⁇ ng ' s normalizations to each shape's moments Once their second-order moments are normalized the circular perspective targets are easy to recognize, and the target closest to each estimated position is taken as a match
  • the onginal centroids of the four perspective targets are then taken to be the perspective-distorted corners 31 of a square of known size in tag space, and an eight-degree-of-freedom perspective transform 33 is inferred (at 32) based on solving the well-understood equations relating the four tag-space and image- space point pairs (see Heckbert, P , Fundamentals of Texture Mapping and Image Warping Masters Thesis, Dept of EECS, U of California at Berkeley, Technical Report No UCB/CSD 89/516, June 1989, the contents of which
  • the inferred tag-space to image-space perspective transform is used to project (at 36) each known data bit position in tag space into image space where the real-valued position is used to bihnearly interpolate (at 36) the four relevant adjacent pixels in the input image
  • the previously computed image threshold 21 is used to threshold the result to produce the final bit value 37
  • each of the six 60-bit Reed-Solomon codewords is decoded (at 38) to yield 20 decoded bits 39, or 120 decoded bits in total Note that the codeword symbols are sampled in codeword order, so that codewords are implicitly de-interleaved du ⁇ ng the sampling process
  • the ⁇ ng target 15 is only sought in a subarea of the image whose relationship to the image guarantees that the ⁇ ng, if found, is part of a complete tag If a complete tag is not found and successfully decoded, then no pen position is recorded for the current frame Given adequate processing power and ideally a non-minimal field of view 193, an alternative strategy involves seeking another tag in the current image
  • the obtained tag data indicates the identity of the region containing the tag and the position of the tag within the region
  • An accurate position 35 of the pen nib in the region, as well as the overall o ⁇ entation 35 of the pen, is then inferred (at 34) from the perspective transform 33 observed on the tag and the known spatial relationship between the pen's physical axis and the pen's optical axis 1.2.5
  • Tag Map Decoding a tag results in a region ID, a tag ID, and a tag-relative pen transform Before the tag ID and the tag-relative pen location can be translated into an absolute location within the tagged region, the location of the tag within
  • a tag map reflects the scheme used to tile the surface region with tags, and this can vary according to surface type When multiple tagged regions share the same tiling scheme and the same tag numbe ⁇ ng scheme, they can also share the same tag map
  • the tag map for a region must be ret ⁇ evable via the region ID
  • a tag ID and a pen transtorm the tag map can be retrieved, the tag ID can be translated into an absolute tag location within the region, and the tag-relative pen location can be added to the tag location to Yield an absolute pen location within the region - 10 -
  • a location-indicating tag contains a tag ID which when translated through the tag map associated with the tagged region yields a unique tag location within the region
  • the tag-relative location of the pen is added to this tag location to yield the location of the pen within the region This in turn is used to determine the location of the pen relative to a user interface element in the page desc ⁇ ption associated with the region Not only is the user interface element itself identified, but a location relative to the user interface element is identified
  • Location-indicating tags therefore t ⁇ vially support the capture of an absolute pen path in the zone of a particular user interface element
  • An object-indicating tag contains a tag ID which directly identifies a user interface element in the page desc ⁇ ption associated with the region All the tags in the zone of the user interface element identify the user interface element, making them all identical and therefore indistinguishable Object-indicating tags do not, therefore, support the capture of an absolute pen path They do, however support the capture of a relative pen path So long as the position sampling frequency exceeds twice the encountered tag frequency, the displacement from one sampled pen position to the next within a stroke can be unambiguously determined
  • the tags function m cooperation with associated visual elements on the netpage as user interactive elements in that a user can interact with the p ⁇ nted page using an approp ⁇ ate sensing device in order for tag data to be read by the sensing device and for an approp ⁇ ate response to be generated in the netpage system 1.3 DOCUMENT AND PAGE DESCRIPTIONS
  • FIG. 25 and 26 A prefe ⁇ ed embodiment of a document and page desc ⁇ ption class diagram is shown in Figures 25 and 26
  • a document is desc ⁇ bed at three levels
  • the document 836 has a hierarchical structure whose terminal elements 839 are associated with content objects 840 such as text objects, text style objects, image objects, etc
  • content objects 840 such as text objects, text style objects, image objects, etc
  • the document is paginated and otherwise formatted Formatted terminal elements 835 will in some cases be associated with content objects which are different from those associated with their co ⁇ esponding te ninal elements, particularly where the content objects are style-related
  • Each pnnted instance of a document and page is also desc ⁇ bed separately, to allow input captured through a particular page instance 830 to be recorded separately from input captured through other instances of the same page desc ⁇ ption
  • the presence of the most abstract document desc ⁇ ption on the page server allows a user to request a copy
  • a fo ⁇ natted document 834 consists of a set of formatted page desc ⁇ ptions 5, each of which consists of a set of fo ⁇ natted te ⁇ mnal elements 835
  • Each formatted element has a spatial extent or zone 58 on the page This defines the active area of input elements such as hyperlinks and input fields
  • a document instance 831 co ⁇ esponds to a fo ⁇ natted document 834 It consists of a set of page instances 830, each of which co ⁇ esponds to a page desc ⁇ ption 5 of the fo ⁇ natted document Each page instance 830 desc ⁇ bes a single unique p ⁇ nted netpage 1. and records the page ID 50 of the netpage A page instance is not part of a document instance if it represents a copy of a page requested in isolation
  • a page instance consists of a set of terminal element instances 832 An element instance only exists if it records instance-specific information Thus, a hyperlink instance exists for a hyperlink element because it records a transaction ID 55 which is specific to the page instance, and a field instance exists for a field element because it records input specific to the page instance An element instance does not exist, however, for static elements such as textflows - 11 -
  • a terminal element can be a static element 843. a hyperlink element 844. a field element 845 or a page server command element 846. as shown in Figure 27
  • a static element 843 can be a style element 847 with an associated style object 854, a textflow element 848 with an associated styled text object 855.
  • a page instance has a background field 833 which is used to record any digital ink captured on the page which does not apply to a specific input element
  • a tag map 81 1 is associated with each page instance to allow tags on the page to be translated into locations on the page 1.4 THE NETPAGE NETWORK
  • a netpage network consists of a distributed set of netpage page servers 10, netpage registration servers 11. netpage ID servers 12, netpage application servers 13, netpage publication servers 14, and netpage p ⁇ nters 601 connected via a network 19 such as the Internet, as shown in Figure 3
  • the netpage registration server 11 is a server which records relationships between users, pens, p ⁇ nters, applications and publications, and thereby autho ⁇ zes va ⁇ ous network activities It authenticates users and acts as a signing proxy on behalf of authenticated users in application transactions It also provides handw ⁇ tmg recognition services
  • a netpage page server 10 maintains persistent information about page desc ⁇ ptions and page instances
  • the netpage network includes any number of page servers, each handling a subset of page instances Since a page server also maintains user input values for each page instance, clients such as netpage p ⁇ nters send netpage input directly to the approp ⁇ ate page server The page server interprets any such input relative to the desc ⁇ ption of the
  • a netpage ID server 12 allocates document IDs 51 on demand, and provides load-balancing of page servers via its ID allocation scheme
  • a netpage p ⁇ nter uses the Internet Dist ⁇ ubbed Name System (DNS), or similar, to resolve a netpage page ID
  • a netpage application server 13 is a server which hosts interactive netpage applications
  • a netpage publication server 14 is an application server which publishes netpage documents to netpage p ⁇ nters They are desc ⁇ bed in detail in Section 2 Netpage servers can be hosted on a va ⁇ ety of network server platforms from manufacturers such as IBM,
  • Hewlett-Packard, and Sun Multiple netpage servers can run concu ⁇ ently on a single host, and a single server can be dist ⁇ ubbed over a number of hosts
  • Some or all of the functionality provided by netpage servers, and in particular the functionality provided by the ID server and the page server, can also be provided directly in a netpage appliance such as a netpage pnnter, in a computer workstation, or on a local network 1.5 THE NETPAGE PRINTER
  • the netpage p ⁇ nter 601 is an appliance which is registered with the netpage system and p ⁇ nts netpage documents on demand and via subsc ⁇ ption Each p ⁇ nter has a unique p ⁇ nter ID 62. and is connected to the netpage network via a network such as the Internet, ideally via a broadband connection
  • the netpage p ⁇ nter contains no persistent storage
  • the network is the computer
  • Netpages function interactively across space and time with the help of the distnubbed netpage page servers 10. independently of particular netpage p ⁇ nters
  • the netpage p ⁇ nter receives subsc ⁇ bed netpage documents from netpage publication servers 14 Each document is dist ⁇ ubbed in two parts the page layouts, and the actual text and image objects which populate the pages Because of personalization, page layouts are typically specific to a particular subsc ⁇ ber and so are pointcast to the - 12 - subsc ⁇ ber's p ⁇ nter via the approp ⁇ ate page server Text and image objects, on the other hand, are typically shared with other subscnbers, and so are multicast to all subsc ⁇ bers' p ⁇ nters and the approp ⁇ ate page servers
  • the netpage publication server optimizes the segmentation of document content into pointcasts and multicasts After receiving the pointcast of a document's page layouts, the p ⁇ nter knows which multicasts. if any, to listen to
  • the p ⁇ nter Once the p ⁇ nter has received the complete page layouts and objects that define the document to be p ⁇ nted, it can p ⁇ nt the document
  • the pnnter rastenzes and p ⁇ nts odd and even pages simultaneously on both sides of the sheet It contains duplexed p ⁇ nt engine controllers 760 and p ⁇ nt engines utilizing MemjetTM p ⁇ ntheads 350 for this purpose
  • the p ⁇ nting process consists of two decoupled stages raste ⁇ zation of page desc ⁇ ptions.
  • the raster image processor consists of one or more standard DSPs 757 running in parallel
  • the duplexed p ⁇ nt engine controllers consist of custom processors which expand, dither and p ⁇ nt page images in real time, synchronized with the operation of the p ⁇ ntheads in the p ⁇ nt engines
  • P ⁇ nters not enabled for IR p ⁇ nting have the option to p ⁇ nt tags using IR-absorptive black k, although this rest ⁇ cts tags to otherwise empty areas of the page Although such pages have more limited functionality than IR-pnnted pages, they are still classed as netpages
  • a normal netpage p ⁇ nter p ⁇ nts netpages on sheets of paper More specialised netpage p ⁇ nters may p ⁇ nt onto more specialised surfaces, such as globes
  • Each p ⁇ nter supports at least one surface type, and supports at least one tag tiling scheme, and hence tag map, for each surface type
  • the tag map 81 1 which desc ⁇ bes the tag tiling scheme actually used to p ⁇ nt a document becomes associated with that document so that the document's tags can be co ⁇ ectly interpreted
  • Figure 2 shows the netpage p ⁇ nter class diagram, reflecting pnnter-related information maintained by a registration server 1 1 on the netpage network
  • a prefe ⁇ ed embodiment of the netpage p ⁇ nter is desc ⁇ bed in greater detail m Section 6 below, with reference to Figures 1 1 to 16 1.5.1 MemjetTM Printheads
  • the netpage system can operate using p ⁇ nters made with a wide range of digital pnntmg technologies, including the ⁇ nal Inkjet, piezoelectnc mkjet, laser electrophotographic, and others
  • p ⁇ nters made with a wide range of digital pnntmg technologies, including the ⁇ nal Inkjet, piezoelectnc mkjet, laser electrophotographic, and others
  • MemjetTM is a drop-on-demand Inkjet technology that incorporates - 13 - pagewidth pnntheads fab ⁇ cated using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology
  • Figure 17 shows a single p ⁇ nting element 300 of a MemjetTM p ⁇ nthead
  • the netpage wallp ⁇ nter incorporates 168960 pnntmg elements 300 to form a 1600 dpi pagewidth duplex p ⁇ nter
  • This pnnter simultaneously p ⁇ nts cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and infrared inks as well as paper conditioner and ink fixative
  • the pnntmg element 300 is approximately 1 10 microns long by 32 microns wide Arrays of these pnntmg elements are formed on a silicon substrate 301 that incorporate
  • Major elements of the pnntmg element 300 are the nozzle 302. the nozzle ⁇ m 303, the nozzle chamber 304. the fluidic seal 305, the ink channel ⁇ m 306, the lever arm 307, the active actuator beam pair 308, the passive actuator beam pair 309, the active actuator anchor 310. the passive actuator anchor 31 1, and the ink inlet 312
  • the active actuator beam pair 308 is mechanically joined to the passive actuator beam pair 309 at the join 319 Both beams pairs are anchored at their respective anchor points 310 and 31 1
  • the combination of elements 308, 309, 310, 31 1 , and 319 form a cantilevered electrothermal bend actuator 320
  • Figure 18 shows a small part of an a ⁇ ay of p ⁇ nting elements 300, including a cross section 315 of a p ⁇ nting element 300
  • the cross section 315 is shown without ink. to clearly show the ink inlet 312 that passes through the silicon wafer 301
  • Figures 19(a), 19(b) and 19(c) show the operating cycle of a MemjetTM p ⁇ nting element 300
  • Figure 19(a) shows the quiescent position of the ink meniscus 316 p ⁇ or to p ⁇ nting an ink droplet Ink is retained in the nozzle chamber by surface tension at the ink meniscus 316 and at the fluidic seal 305 formed between the nozzle chamber 304 and the ink channel ⁇ m 306
  • the p ⁇ nthead CMOS circuitry dist ⁇ butes data from the p ⁇ nt engine controller to the co ⁇ ect p ⁇ nting element, latches the data, and buffers the data to dnve the electrodes 318 of the active actuator beam pair 308
  • Joule heating causes the beam pair 308 to expand
  • the passive actuator beam pair 309 is not heated, it does not expand, resulting in a stress difference between the two beam pairs
  • This stress difference is partially resolved by the cantilevered end of the electrothermal bend actuator 320 bending towards the substrate 301
  • the lever arm 307 transmits this movement to the nozzle chamber 304
  • the nozzle chamber 304 moves about two microns to the position shown m Figure 19(b) This increases the ink pressure, forcing ink 321 out of the nozzle 302, and causing the ink meniscus 316 to
  • the actuator 320 returns to its onginal position This aids in the break-off of the ink droplet 317 from the ink 321 in the nozzle chamber, as shown in Figure 19(c)
  • the nozzle chamber is refilled by the action of the surface tension at the meniscus 316
  • Figure 20 shows a segment of a pnnthead 350 In a netpage p ⁇ nter, the length of the p ⁇ nthead is the full width of the paper (typically 210 mm) in the direction 351 The segment shown is 04 mm long (about 0 2% of a complete p ⁇ nthead) When p ⁇ nting, the paper is moved past the fixed p ⁇ nthead in the direction 352 The pnnthead has 6 rows of interdigitated pnntmg elements 300, p ⁇ nting the six colors or types of ink supplied by the ink inlets 312
  • a nozzle guard wafer 330 is attached to the p ⁇ nthead substrate 301
  • filtered air is pumped through the air inlets 332 and out of the nozzle guard holes dunng p ⁇ nting
  • the nozzle guard is sealed while the p ⁇ nter is idle 1.6
  • the active sensing device of the netpage system is typically a pen 101 , which, using its embedded controller - 14 -
  • the system is able to sense when the nib is in contact with the surface, and the pen is able to sense tags at a sufficient rate to capture human handw ⁇ ting (1 e at 200 dpi or greater and 100 Hz or faster)
  • Information captured by the pen is encrypted and wirelessly transmitted to the p ⁇ nter (or base station), the p ⁇ nter or base station interpreting the data with respect to the (known) page structure
  • the prefe ⁇ ed embodiment of the netpage pen operates both as a normal marking ink pen and as a non- markmg stylus
  • the marking aspect is not necessary for using the netpage system as a browsing system, such as when it is used as an Internet interface
  • Each netpage pen is registered with the netpage system and has a unique pen ID 61
  • Figure 23 shows the netpage pen class diagram, reflecting pen-related information maintained by a registration server 1 1 on the netpage network
  • the pen determines its position and o ⁇ entation relative to the page
  • the nib is attached to a force sensor, and the force on the nib is interpreted relative to a threshold to indicate whether the pen is "up” or "down”
  • a threshold to indicate whether the pen is "up” or "down”
  • the force is captured as a continuous value to allow, say. the full dynamics of a signature to be venfied
  • the pen determines the position and o ⁇ entation of its nib on the netpage by imaging, in the infrared spectrum, an area 193 of the page in the vicinity of the nib It decodes the nearest tag and computes the position of the nib relative to the tag from the observed perspective distortion on the imaged tag and the known geometry of the pen optics
  • the position resolution of the tag may be low, because the tag density on the page is inversely proportional to the tag size, the adjusted position resolution is quite high, exceeding the minimum resolution required for accurate handwntmg recognition
  • Pen actions relative to a netpage are captured as a senes of strokes
  • a stroke consists of a sequence of time- stamped pen positions on the page, initiated by a pen-down event and completed by the subsequent pen-up event
  • a stroke is also tagged with the page ID 50 of the netpage whenever the page ID changes, which, under normal circumstances, is at the commencement of the stroke
  • Each netpage pen has a cu ⁇ ent selection 826 associated with it, allowing the user to perform copy and paste operations etc
  • the selection is timestamped to allow the system to discard it after a defined time penod
  • the cu ⁇ ent selection descnbes a region of a page instance It consists of the most recent digital ink stroke captured through the pen relative to the background area of the page It is interpreted in an application-specific manner once it is submitted to an application via a selection hyperlink activation
  • Each pen has a cu ⁇ ent nib 824 This is the nib last notified by the pen to the system In the case of the default netpage pen desc ⁇ bed above, either the marking black ink nib or the non-marking stylus nib is cu ⁇ ent
  • Each pen also has a cu ⁇ ent nib style 825 This is the nib style last associated with the pen by an application, e g in response to the user selecting a color from a palette
  • the default nib style is the nib style associated with the cu ⁇ ent nib Strokes captured through a pen are tagged with the cu ⁇ ent nib style When the strokes are subsequently reproduced, they are reproduced in the nib style with which they are tagged
  • the pen Whenever the pen is within range of a p ⁇ nter with which it can communicate, the pen slowly flashes its "online" LED When the pen fails to decode a stroke relative to the page, it momentarily activates its ' e ⁇ or" LED When the pen succeeds in decoding a stroke relative to the page, it momentanly activates its "ok” LED
  • a sequence of captured strokes is refe ⁇ ed to as digital ink
  • Digital ink forms the basis for the digital exchange of drawings and handwntmg, for online recognition of handw ⁇ ting, and for online ve ⁇ fication of signatures
  • the pen is wireless and transmits digital ink to the netpage pnnter via a short-range radio link
  • the transmitted digital ink is encrypted for p ⁇ vacy and secu ⁇ ty and packetized for efficient transmission, but is always flushed - 15 - on a pen-up event to ensure timely handling in the p ⁇ nter
  • the pen When the pen is out-of-range of a pnnter it buffers digital ink in internal memory which has a capacity of over ten minutes of continuous handwntmg When the pen is once again within range of a pnnter. it transfers any buffered digital ink
  • a pen can be registered with any number of pnnters, but because all state data resides in netpages both on paper and on the network, it is largely immate ⁇ al which pnnter a pen is communicating with at any particular time
  • the netpage pnnter 601 receives data relating to a stroke from the pen 101 when the pen is used to interact with a netpage 1
  • the coded data 3 of the tags 4 is read by the pen when it is used to execute a movement, such as a stroke
  • the data allows the identity of the particular page and associated interactive element to be determined and an indication of the relative positioning of the pen relative to the page to be obtained
  • the indicating data is transmitted to the pnnter where it resolves, via the DNS, the page ID 50 of the stroke into the network address of the netpage page server 10 which maintains the co ⁇ esponding page instance 830 It then transmits the stroke to the page server If the page was recently identified in an earlier stroke, then the pnnter may already have the address of the relevant page server in its cache
  • Each netpage consists of a compact page layout maintained persistently by a netpage page server (see below)
  • the page layout refers to objects such as images, fonts and pieces of text, typically stored elsewhere on the netpage network
  • the page server When the page server receives the stroke from the pen, it retrieves the page desc ⁇ ption to which the stroke applies, and determines which element of the page desc ⁇ ption the stroke intersects It is then able to interpret the stroke in the context of the type of the relevant element
  • a “click” is a stroke where the distance and time between the pen down position and the subsequent pen up position are both less than some small maximum
  • An object which is activated by a click typically requires a click to be activated, and accordingly, a longer stroke is ignored
  • the failure of a pen action, such as a "sloppy" click, to register is indicated by the lack of response from the pen's "ok" LED
  • a hyperlink is a means of sending a message to a remote application, and typically elicits a pnnted response in the netpage system
  • a hyperlink element 844 identifies the application 71 which handles activation of the hyperlink, a link ID 54 which identifies the hyperlink to the application, an "alias required" flag which asks the system to include the user ' s application alias ID 65 in the hyperlink activation, and a desc ⁇ ption which is used when the hyperlink is recorded as a favo ⁇ te or appears in the user's history
  • the hyperlink element class diagram is shown in Figure 29 When a hyperlink is activated, the page server sends a request to an application somewhere on the network
  • the application is identified by an application ID 64, and the application ID is resolved in the normal way via the DNS
  • a general hyperlink can implement a request for a linked document, or may simply signal a preference to a server
  • a form hyperlink submits the co ⁇ esponding form to the application
  • a selection hyperlink submits the cu ⁇ ent selection to the application If the cu ⁇ ent selection contains a single-word piece of text for example, the application may return a single-page document giving the word's meaning within the context in which it appears, or a translation into a different language
  • Each hyperlink type is charactenzed by what mfo ⁇ nation is submitted to the application
  • the co ⁇ esponding hyperlink instance 862 records a transaction ID 55 which can be specific to the page instance on which the hyperlink instance appears
  • the transaction ID can identify user-specific data to the application, for - 16 - example a shopping cart" of pending purchases maintained by a purchasing application on behalf of the user
  • the system includes the pen s cu ⁇ ent selection 826 m a selection hyperlink activation
  • the system includes the content of the associated form instance 868 in a form hyperlink activation, although if the hyperlink has its "submit delta" attnbute set. only input since the last form submission is included
  • the system includes an effective return path in all hyperlink activations
  • a hyperhnked group 866 is a group element 838 which has an associated hyperlink, as shown in Figure 31 When input occurs through any field element in the group, the hyperlink 844 associated with the group is activated
  • a hyperhnked group can be used to associate hyperlink behavior with a field such as a checkbox It can also be used, in conjunction with the ' submit delta" attnbute of a fo ⁇ n hyperlink, to provide continuous input to an application It can therefore be used to support a "blackboard" interaction model, l e where input is captured and therefore shared as soon as it occurs 1.7.2
  • a form defines a collection of related input fields used to capture a related set of inputs through a pnnted netpage
  • a form allows a user to submit one or more parameters to an application software program running on a server
  • a form 867 is a group element 838 in the document hierarchy It ultimately contains a set of terminal field elements 839
  • a form instance 868 represents a pnnted instance of a fo ⁇ n It consists of a set of field instances 870 which co ⁇ espond to the field elements 845 of the form
  • Each field instance has an associated value 871 , whose type depends on the type of the co ⁇ esponding field element
  • Each field value records input through a particular pnnted fo ⁇ n instance, l e through one or more pnnted netpages
  • the form class diagram is shown in Figure 32
  • Each form instance has a status 872 which indicates whether the form is active, frozen, submitted, void or expired A form is active when first pnnted A fo ⁇ n becomes frozen
  • Each form instance is associated (at 59) with any fo ⁇ n instances denved from it thus providing a version history
  • Digital ink 873 consists of a set of timestamped stroke groups 874, each of which consists of a set of styled strokes 875
  • Each stroke consists of a set of timestamped pen positions 876, each of which also includes pen orientation and nib force
  • the digital ink class diagram is shown in Figure 33
  • a field element 845 can be a checkbox field 877, a text field 878, a drawing field 879, or a signature field 880
  • the field element class diagram is shown in Figure 34 Any digital ink captured in a field s zone 58 is assigned to the field
  • a checkbox field has an associated boolean value 881 , as shown m Figure 35 Any mark (a tick, a cross, a stroke, a fill zigzag, etc ) captured in a checkbox field's zone causes a true value to be assigned to the field's value
  • a text field has an associated text value 882, as shown in Figure 36
  • Any digital ink captured in a text field s zone is automatically converted to text via online handwntmg recognition, and the text is assigned to the field s value Online handw ⁇ ting recognition is well-understood (see, for example. Tappert, C . C Y Suen and T Wakahara, "The State of the Art in On-Line Handw ⁇ ting Recognition", IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence
  • a signature field has an associated digital signature value 883, as shown in Figure 37
  • Any digital ink captured in a signature field s zone is automatically venfied with respect to the identitv of the owner of the pen, and a 17 - digital signature of the content of the form of which the field is part is generated and assigned to the field s value
  • the digital signature is generated using the pen user s p ⁇ vate signature key specific to the application which owns the form Online signature ve ⁇ fication is well-understood (see. for example, Plamondon. R and G Lorette, "Automatic Signature Venfication and Wnter Identification - The State of the Art", Pattern Recognition, Vol 22, No 2, 1989, the contents of which are herein incorporated by cross-reference)
  • a field element is hidden if its "hidden" attnbute is set
  • a hidden field element does not have an input zone on a page and does not accept input It can have an associated field value which is included in the form data when the form containing the field is submitted
  • Digital ink as already stated, consists of a sequence of strokes Any stroke which starts in a particular element's zone is appended to that element's digital ink stream, ready for interpretation Any stroke not appended to an object's digital ink stream is appended to the background field s digital ink stream
  • the system maintains a cu ⁇ ent selection for each pen
  • the selection consists simply of the most recent stroke captured in the background field
  • the selection is cleared after an inactivity timeout to ensure predictable behavior
  • the raw digital ink captured in every field is retained on the netpage page server and is optionally transmitted with the form data when the form is submitted to the application.
  • the entire background area of a form can be designated as a drawing field
  • the application can then decide, on the basis of the presence of digital ink outside the explicit fields of the form, to route the form to a human operator, on the assumption that the user may have indicated amendments to the filled-in fields outside of those fields - 18 -
  • Figure 38 shows a flowchart of the process of handling pen input relative to a netpage
  • the process consists of receiving (at 884) a stroke from the pen. identifying (at 885) the page instance 830 to which the page ID 50 in the stroke refers, retrieving (at 886) the page descnption 5, identifying (at 887) a fo ⁇ natted element 839 whose zone 58 the stroke intersects, determining (at 888) whether the formatted element co ⁇ esponds to a field element, and if so appending (at 892) the received stroke to the digital ink of the field value 871 , interpreting (at 893) the accumulated digital ink of the field, and determining (at 894) whether the field is part of a hyperhnked group 866 and if so activating (at 895) the associated hyperlink, alternatively determining (at 889) whether the formatted element co ⁇ esponds to a hyperlink element and if so activating (at 895) the co ⁇ es
  • Figure 38a shows a detailed flowchart of step 893 in the process shown in Figure 38, where the accumulated digital ink of a field is interpreted according to the type of the field
  • the process consists of determining (at 896) whether the field is a checkbox and (at 897) whether the digital ink represents a checkmark, and if so assigning (at 898) a true value to the field value, alternatively determining (at 899) whether the field is a text field and if so converting (at 900) the digital ink to computer text, with the help of the appropnate registration server, and assigning (at 901) the converted computer text to the field value, alternatively determining (at 902) whether the field is a signature field and if so venfying (at 903) the digital ink as the signature of the pen's owner, with the help of the approp ⁇ ate registration server, creating (at 904) a digital signature of the contents of the co ⁇ esponding form, also with the help of the registration server and using
  • a page server command is a command which is handled locally by the page server It operates directly on form, page and document instances
  • a page server command 907 can be a void form command 908, a duplicate form command 909, a reset form command 910, a get form status command 911 , a duplicate page command 912, a reset page command 913, a get page status command 914, a duplicate document command 915, a reset document command 916, or a get document status command 917. as shown in Figure 39
  • a void form command voids the co ⁇ esponding fo ⁇ n instance
  • a duplicate fo ⁇ n command voids the co ⁇ esponding form instance and then produces an active pnnted copy of the cu ⁇ ent fo ⁇ n instance with field values preserved The copy contains the same hyperlink transaction IDs as the onginal, and so is indistinguishable from the onginal to an application
  • a reset fo ⁇ n command voids the co ⁇ esponding fo ⁇ n instance and then produces an active pnnted copy of the form instance with field values discarded
  • a get form status command produces a pnnted report on the status of the co ⁇ esponding form instance, including who published it, when it was pnnted, for whom it was pnnted, and the form status of the form instance Since a form hyperlink instance contains a transaction ID. the application has to be involved in producing a new form instance
  • a button requesting a new form instance is therefore typically implemented as a hyperlink
  • a duplicate page command produces a pnnted copy of the co ⁇ esponding page instance with the background field value preserved If the page contains a form or is part of a form, then the duplicate page command is interpreted as a duplicate form command
  • a reset page command produces a pnnted copy of the co ⁇ esponding page instance with the background field value discarded If the page contains a form or is part of a form then the reset page command is interpreted as a reset form command
  • a get page status command produces a pnnted report on the status of the co ⁇ esponding page instance, including who published it, when it was pnnted, for whom it was pnnted, and the status of any fonns it contains or is part of
  • the netpage logo which appears on every netpage is usually associated with a duplicate page element - 19 -
  • a duplicate document command produces a pnnted copy of the co ⁇ esponding document instance with background field values preserved If the document contains any forms, then the duplicate document command duplicates the forms in the same way a duplicate fo ⁇ n command does A reset document command produces a pnnted copy of the co ⁇ esponding document instance with background field values discarded If the document contains any forms, then the reset document command resets the forms in the same way a reset form command does A get document status command produces a pnnted report on the status of the co ⁇ esponding document instance, including who published it, when it was pnnted, for whom it was pnnted, and the status of any fo ⁇ n
  • the command operates on the page identified by the pen's cu ⁇ ent selection rather than on the page containing the command This allows a menu of page server commands to be pnnted If the target page doesn't contain a page server command element for the designated page server command, then the command is ignored
  • An application can provide application-specific handling by embedding the relevant page server command element in a hyperhnked group
  • the page server activates the hyperlink associated with the hyperhnked group rather than executing the page server command
  • a page server command element is hidden if its "hidden" attnbute is set
  • a hidden command element does not have an input zone on a page and so cannot be activated directly by a user It can, however, be activated via a page server command embedded in a different page, if that page server command has its "on selected" attnbute set
  • each netpage is pnnted with the netpage logo at the bottom to indicate that it is a netpage and therefore has interactive properties
  • the logo also acts as a copy button In most cases pressing the logo produces a copy of the page In the case of a form, the button produces a copy of the entire form And in the case of a secure document, such as a ticket or coupon, the button elicits an explanatory note or advertising page
  • the netpage pnnter has a single button labelled "Help" When pressed it elicits a single page of information, including
  • the help menu provides a hierarchical manual on how to use the netpage system
  • the document function menu includes the following functions
  • a document function is initiated by simply pressing the button and then touching any page of the document
  • the status of a document indicates who published it and when, to whom it was delivered, and to whom and when it was - 20 - subsequently submitted as a form
  • the netpage network directory allows the user to navigate the hierarchy of publications and services on the network As an alternative, the user can call the netpage network "900" number "yellow pages” and speak to a human operator The operator can locate the desired document and route it to the user's p ⁇ nter Depending on the document type. the publisher or the user pays the small "yellow pages" service fee
  • the help page is obviously unavailable if the p ⁇ nter is unable to p ⁇ nt In this case the "e ⁇ or" light is lit and the user can request remote diagnosis over the network 2 PERSONALIZED PUBLICATION MODEL
  • news is used as a canonical publication example to illustrate personalization mechanisms in the netpage system
  • news is often used in the limited sense of newspaper and newsmagazine news, the intended scope in the present context is wider
  • the editonal content and the advertising content of a news publication are personalized using different mechanisms
  • the editonal content is personalized according to the reader s explicitly stated and implicitly captured interest profile
  • the advertising content is personalized according to the reader s locality and demographic 2.1 EDITORIAL PERSONALIZATION
  • a subscnber can draw on two kinds of news sources those that deliver new s publications, and those that deliver news streams While news publications are aggregated and edited by the publisher, news streams are aggregated either by a news publisher or by a specialized news aggregator News publications typically co ⁇ espond to traditional newspapers and newsmagazines, while news streams can be many and vaned a "raw" news feed from a news service, a cartoon stnp, a freelance wnter' s column, a friend's bulletin board, or the reader's own e-mail
  • the netpage publication server supports the publication of edited news publications as well as the aggregation of multiple news streams By handling the aggregation and hence the formatting of news streams selected directly by the reader, the server is able to place advertising on pages over which it otherwise has no editonal control
  • the subscnber builds a daily newspaper by selecting one or more contributing news publications, and creating a personalized version of each
  • the resulting daily editions are pnnted and bound together into a single newspaper
  • the vanous members of a household typically express their different interests and tastes by selecting different daily publications and then customizing them
  • the reader can extend the daily newspaper by creating custom sections, each one drawing on any number of news streams Custom sections might be created for e-mail and friends' announcements ("Personal"), or for monitonng news feeds for specific topics ("Alerts" or "Clippings") For each section, the reader optionally specifies its size, either qualitatively (e g short, medium, or long), or numencally (I e as a limit on its number of pages), and the desired proportion of advertising, either qualitatively (e g high, normal, low, none), or numencally (I e as a percentage)
  • the reader also optionally expresses a preference for a large number of shorter articles or a small number of longer articles
  • Each article is ideally wntten (or edited) in both short and long forms to support this preference
  • An article may also be wntten (or edited) different versions to match the expected sophistication of the reader, for example to provide children's and adults' versions
  • the approp ⁇ ate version is selected according to the reader's age
  • the reader can specify a "reading age" which takes precedence over their biological age
  • each section is selected and p ⁇ ontized by the editors, and each is assigned a useful lifetime By default they are delivered to all relevant subscnbers. in p ⁇ ontv order, subject to space constraints in - 21 - the subsc ⁇ bers' editions
  • the reader may optionally enable collaborative filte ⁇ ng This is then applied to articles which have a sufficiently long lifetime
  • Each article which qualifies for collaborative filte ⁇ ng is pnnted with rating buttons at the end of the article
  • the buttons can provide an easy choice (e g "liked” and “disliked " ), making it more likely that readers will bother to rate the article
  • the reader optionally specifies a serendipity factor, either qualitatively (e g do or don't surpnse me), or numencally
  • a serendipity factor lowers the threshold used for matching du ⁇ ng collaborative filte ⁇ ng
  • a high factor makes it more likely that the co ⁇ esponding section will be filled to the reader's specified capacity
  • a different serendipity factor can be specified for different days of the week
  • the reader also optionally specifies topics of particular interest within a section, and this modifies the pnonties assigned by the editors
  • the speed of the reader's Internet connection affects the quality at which images can be delivered
  • the reader optionally specifies a preference for fewer images or smaller images or both If the number or size of images is not reduced, then images may be delivered at lower quality (l e at lower resolution or with greater compression)
  • the reader specifies how quantities, dates, times and monetary values are localized This involves specifying whether units are impenal or metric, a local timezone and time format, and a local cu ⁇ ency, and whether the localization consist of in situ translation or annotation These preferences are denved from the reader's locality by default
  • the reader optionally specifies a global preference for a larger presentation. Both text and images are scaled accordingly, and less information is accommodated on each page
  • the netpage system can be configured to provide automatic translation services in vanous guises
  • Effective advertising is placed on the basis of locality and demographics
  • Locality determines proximity to particular services, retailers etc , and particular interests and concerns associated with the local community and environment Demographics determine general interests and preoccupations as well as likely spending patterns
  • a news publisher's most profitable product is advertising "space , a multi-dimensional entity determined by the publication's geographic coverage, the size of its readership, its readership demographics, and the page area available for advertising
  • the netpage publication server computes the approximate multi-dimensional size of a publication's saleable advertising space on a per-section basis, taking into account the publication's geographic coverage, the section's readership, the size of each reader's section edition, each reader's advertising proportion, and each reader s demographic
  • the netpage system allows the advertising space to be defined in greater detail, and allows smaller pieces of it to be sold separately It therefore allows it to be sold at closer to its true value
  • the same advertising "slot" can be sold in varying proportions to several advertisers, with individual readers' pages randomly receiving the advertisement of one advertiser or another, overall preserving the - 22 - proportion of space sold to each advertiser
  • an advertising aggregator can provide arbitra ⁇ ly broad coverage of both geography and demographics
  • the subsequent disaggregation is efficient because it is automatic This makes it more cost-effective for publishers to deal with advertising aggregators than to directly capture advertising Even though the advertising aggregator is taking a proportion of advertising revenue, publishers may find the change profit-neutral because of the greater efficiency of aggregation
  • the advertising aggregator acts as an intermediary between advertisers and publishers, and may place the same advertisement m multiple publications
  • ad placement in a netpage publication can be more complex than ad placement in the publication's traditional counterpart, because the publication ' s advertising space is more complex While ignonng the full complexities of negotiations between advertisers, advertising aggregators and publishers, the prefe ⁇ ed form of the netpage system provides some automated support for these negotiations, including support for automated auctions of advertising space Automation is particularly desirable for the placement of advertisements which generate small amounts of income, such as small or highly localized advertisements
  • the aggregator captures and edits the advertisement and records it on a netpage ad server Co ⁇ espondingly, the publisher records the ad placement on the relevant netpage publication server When the netpage publication server lays out each user's personalized publication, it picks the relevant advertisements from the netpage ad server 2.3 USER PROFILES
  • the customization of a publication is typically publication-specific, and so the customization information is maintained by the relevant netpage publication server
  • a collaborative filtenng vector consists of the user's ratings of a number of news items It is used to co ⁇ elate different users' interests for the purposes of making recommendations
  • the localization of advertising relies on the locality indicated in the user s contact details, while the targeting of advertising relies on personal information such as date of birth, gender, mantal status, income, profession, education, or qualitative de ⁇ vatives such as age range and income range - 23 -
  • Each user, pen, p ⁇ nter, application provider and application is assigned its own unique identifier, and the netpage registration server maintains the relationships between them, as shown m Figures 21, 22, 23 and 24
  • a publisher is a special kind of application provider
  • a publication is a special kind of application
  • Each user 800 may be authonzed to use any number of pnnters 802. and each p ⁇ nter may allow any number of users to use it
  • Each user has a single default p ⁇ nter (at 66). to which pe ⁇ odical publications are delivered by default, whilst pages p ⁇ nted on demand are delivered to the p ⁇ nter through which the user is interacting
  • the server keeps track of which publishers a user has authonzed to p ⁇ nt to the user's default p ⁇ nter
  • a publisher does not record the ID of any particular p ⁇ nter, but instead resolves the ID when it is required
  • the publisher 806 (l e application provider 803) is authonzed to p ⁇ nt to a specified pnnter or the user's default pnnter This authonzation can be revoked at any time by the user
  • Each user may have several pens 801 , but a pen is specific to a single user If a user is authonzed to use a particular pnnter. then that pnnter recognizes any of the user's pens
  • the pen ID is used to locate the co ⁇ esponding user profile maintained by a particular netpage registration server, via the DNS in the usual way
  • a Web terminal 809 can be authonzed to pnnt on a particular netpage pnnter, allowing Web pages and netpage documents encountered dunng Web browsing to be conveniently pnnted on the nearest netpage pnnter
  • the netpage system can collect, on behalf of a pnnter provider, fees and commissions on income earned through publications pnnted on the provider's pnnters Such income can include advertising fees, click-through fees, e- commerce commissions, and transaction fees If the pnnter is owned by the user, then the user is the pnnter provider
  • Each user also has a netpage account 820 which is used to accumulate micro-debits and credits (such as those desc ⁇ bed in the preceding paragraph), contact details 815, including name, address and telephone numbers, global preferences 816, including pnvacy, delivery and localization settings, any number of biomet ⁇ c records 817, containing the user's encoded signature 818, fingerpnnt 819 etc, a handw ⁇ ting model 819 automatically maintained by the system, and SET payment card accounts 821 with which e-commerce payments can be made
  • the list is maintained by the system on the user's behalf It is organized as a hierarchy of folders 924, a prefer ⁇ ed embodiment of which is shown in the class diagram in Figure 41
  • the system maintains a history list 929 on each user's behalf, containing links to documents etc accessed by the user through the netpage system It is organized as a date-ordered list, a prefe ⁇ ed embodiment of which is shown in the class diagram in Figure 42 2.4 INTELLIGENT PAGE LAYOUT
  • the netpage publication server automatically lays out the pages of each user's personalized publication on a section-by-section basis Since most advertisements are in the form of pre-formatted rectangles, they are placed on the page before the editonal content
  • the advertising ratio for a section can be achieved with wildly varying advertising ratios on individual pages within the section, and the ad layout algonthm exploits this
  • the algonthm is configured to attempt to co-locate closely tied editonal and advertising content, such as placing ads for roofing material specifically within the publication because of a special feature on do-it-yourself roofing repairs 24 -
  • the editonal content selected for the user including text and associated images and graphics, is then laid out according to vanous aesthetic rules
  • section size preference can, however, be matched on average over time, allowing significant day-to-day vanations 2.5 DOCUMENT FORMAT
  • the p ⁇ mary efficiency mechanism is the separation of information specific to a single user's edition and information shared between multiple users' editions
  • the specific information consists of the page layout
  • the shared information consists of the objects to which the page layout refers, including images, graphics, and pieces of text
  • a text object contains fully-formatted text represented in the Extensible Markup Language (XML) using the Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) XSL provides precise control over text formatting independently of the region into which the text is being set, which in this case is being provided by the layout
  • the text object contains embedded language codes to enable automatic translation, and embedded hyphenation hints to aid with paragraph formatting
  • An image object encodes an image in the JPEG 2000 wavelet-based compressed image format
  • a graphic object encodes a 2D graphic in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format
  • the layout itself consists of a se ⁇ es of placed image and graphic objects, linked textflow objects through which text objects flow, hyperlinks and input fields as desc ⁇ bed above, and wate ⁇ nark regions These layout objects are summanzed in Table 3
  • the layout uses a compact format suitable for efficient distribution and storage
  • the netpage publication server allocates with the - 25 - help of the netpage ID server 12, a unique ID for each page, page instance, document, and document instance
  • the server computes a set of optimized subsets of the shared content and creates a multicast channel for each subset, and then tags each user-specific layout with the names of the multicast channels which will carry the shared content used by that layout
  • the server then pointcasts each user's layouts to that user's pnnter via the approp ⁇ ate page server, and when the pointcastmg is complete, multicasts the shared content on the specified channels After receiving its pointcast.
  • each page server and pnnter subscnbes to the multicast channels specified in the page layouts Du ⁇ ng the multicasts, each page server and pnnter extracts from the multicast streams those objects refe ⁇ ed to by its page layouts
  • the page servers persistently archive the received page layouts and shared content
  • the pnnter re-creates the fully- populated layout and then rastenzes and pnnts it
  • the pnnter pnnts pages faster than they can be delivered Assuming a quarter of each page is covered with images, the average page has a size of less than 400KB The pnnter can therefore hold in excess of 100 such pages in its internal 64MB memory, allowing for temporary buffers etc
  • the pnnter pnnts at a rate of one page per second This is equivalent to 400KB or about 3Mbit of page data per second, which is similar to the highest expected rate of page data delivery over a broadband network
  • the netpage publication server therefore allows pnnters to submit requests for re-multicasts When a cntical number of requests is received or a timeout occurs, the server re-multicasts the co ⁇ esponding shared objects
  • a pnnter can produce an exact duplicate at any time by retrieving its page layouts and contents from the relevant page server 2.7 ON-DEMAND DOCUMENTS
  • a netpage document is requested on demand, it can be personalized and delivered in much the same way as a penodical However, since there is no shared content, delivery is made directly to the requesting pnnter without the use of multicast
  • a netpage formatting server is a special instance of a netpage publication server
  • the netpage formatting server has knowledge of various Internet document formats, including Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF), and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) In the case of HTML, it can make use of the higher resolution of the pnnted page to present Web pages in a multi-column format, with a table of contents It can automatically include all Web pages directly linked to the requested page The user can tune this behavior via a preference
  • the netpage formatting server makes standard netpage behavior, including interactivity and persistence, available on any Internet document, no matter what its ongin and fo ⁇ nat It hides knowledge of different document formats from both the netpage pnnter and the netpage page server, and hides knowledge of the netpage system from Web servers
  • Cryptography is used to protect sensitive information, both in storage and in transit, and to authenticate parties to a transaction
  • the netpage network uses both classes of cryptography
  • Secret-key cryptography also refe ⁇ ed to as symmetric cryptography, uses the same key to encrypt and - 26 - decrypt a message Two parties wishing to exchange messages must first a ⁇ ange to securely exchange the secret key
  • Public-key cryptography also refe ⁇ ed to as asymmetric cryptography, uses two encryption keys
  • the two keys are mathematically related in such a way that any message encrypted using one key can only be decrypted using the other key
  • One of these keys is then published, while the other is kept pnvate
  • the public key is used to encrypt any message intended for the holder of the pnvate key Once encrypted using the public key. a message can only be decrypted using the pnvate key
  • two parties can securely exchange messages without first having to exchange a secret key To ensure that the pnvate key is secure, it is normal for the holder of the pnvate key to generate the key pair
  • Public-key cryptography can be used to create a digital signature
  • the holder of the pnvate key can create a known hash of a message and then encrypt the hash using the pnvate key
  • anyone can then venfy that the encrypted hash constitutes the "signature" of the holder of the pnvate key with respect to that particular message by decrypting the encrypted hash using the public key and venfying the hash against the message
  • the signature is appended to the message, then the recipient of the message can venfy both that the message is genuine and that it has not been altered in transit
  • a certificate autho ⁇ ty is a trusted third party which authenticates the connection between a public key and someone's identity
  • the certificate authonty ve ⁇ fies the person's identity by examining identity documents, and then creates and signs a digital certificate containing the person's identity details and public key
  • convinced who trusts the certificate authonty can use the public key in the certificate with a high degree of certainty that it is genuine They just have to venfy that the certificate has indeed been signed by the certificate authonty, whose public key is well-known
  • Each netpage p ⁇ nter is assigned a pair of unique identifiers at time of manufacture which are stored in read- only memory in the p ⁇ nter and in the netpage registration server database
  • the first ID 62 is public and uniquely identifies the p ⁇ nter on the netpage network
  • the second ID is secret and is used when the p ⁇ nter is first registered on the network
  • the p ⁇ nter When the p ⁇ nter connects to the netpage network for the first time after installation, it creates a signature pubhc p ⁇ vate key pair It transmits the secret ID and the public key securely to the netpage registration server The server compares the secret ID against the p ⁇ nter' s secret ID recorded in its database, and accepts the registration if the IDs match It then creates and signs a certificate containing the p ⁇ nter' s public ID and public signature key, and stores the certificate in the registration database
  • the netpage registration server acts as a certificate autho ⁇ ty for netpage p ⁇ nters, since it has access to secret information allowing it to venfy p ⁇ nter identity
  • a record is created in the netpage registration server database authonzing the publisher to p ⁇ nt the publication to the user's default pnnter or a specified pnnter
  • Every document sent to a p ⁇ nter via a page server is addressed to a particular user and is signed by the publisher using the publisher ' s pnvate signature key
  • the page server venfies, via the registration database, that the publisher is authonzed to deliver the publication to the specified user
  • the page server venfies the signature using the publisher's public key, obtained from the publisher s certificate stored in the registration database - 27 -
  • the netpage registration server accepts requests to add p ⁇ nting autho ⁇ zations to the database, so long as those requests are initiated via a pen registered to the p ⁇ nter
  • Each netpage pen is assigned a unique identifier at time of manufacture which is stored in read-only memory in the pen and in the netpage registration server database
  • the pen ID 61 uniquely identifies the pen on the netpage network
  • a netpage pen can "know” a number of netpage p ⁇ nters, and a p ⁇ nter can "know” a number of pens
  • a pen communicates with a p ⁇ nter via a radio frequency signal whenever it is within range of the p ⁇ nter
  • a pen stores a session key for every p ⁇ nter it knows, indexed by p ⁇ nter ID, and a p ⁇ nter stores a session key for every pen it knows, indexed by pen ID Both have a large but finite storage capacity for session keys, and will forget a session key on a least-recently-used basis if necessary
  • the pen and pnnter discover whether they know each other If they don't know each other, then the pnnter dete ⁇ mnes whether it is supposed to know the pen This might be, for example, because the pen belongs to a user who is registered to use the pnnter If the pnnter is meant to know the pen but doesn't, then it initiates the automatic pen registration procedure If the pnnter isn't meant to know the pen, then it agrees with the pen to ignore it until the pen is placed in a charging cup, at which time it initiates the registration procedure
  • the pen In addition to its public ID, the pen contains a secret key-exchange key
  • the key-exchange key is also recorded in the netpage registration server database at time of manufacture Dunng registration, the pen transmits its pen ID to the pnnter, and the pnnter transmits the pen ID to the netpage registration server
  • the server generates a session key for the pnnter and pen to use, and securely transmits the session key to the pnnter It also transmits a copy of the session key encrypted with the pen's key-exchange key
  • the pnnter stores the session key internally, indexed by the pen ID, and transmits the encrypted session key to the pen
  • the pen stores the session key internally, indexed by the pnnter ID
  • a fake pen can impersonate a pen in the pen registration protocol, only a real pen can decrypt the session key transmitted by the pnnter
  • the netpage system supports the delivery of secure documents such as tickets and coupons
  • the netpage pnnter includes a facility to pnnt wate ⁇ narks, but will only do so on request from publishers who are suitably authonzed
  • the publisher indicates its authonty to pnnt watermarks in its certificate, which the pnnter is able to authenticate
  • the "watermark" p ⁇ nting process uses an alternative dither mat ⁇ x in specified "watermark" regions of the page
  • Back-to-back pages contain mi ⁇ or-image watermark regions which coincide when pnnted
  • the dither matnces used in odd and even pages' watermark regions are designed to produce an interference effect when the regions are viewed together, achieved by looking through the pnnted sheet
  • the effect is similar to a watermark in that it is not visible when looking at only one side of the page, and is lost when the page is copied by normal means
  • Secure documents are typically generated as part of e-commerce transactions They can therefore include the - 28 - user's photograph which was captured when the user registered biomet ⁇ c information with the netpage registration server as desc ⁇ bed in Section 2
  • a secure document ve ⁇ fication pen can be developed with built-in feedback on ve ⁇ fication failure, to support easy point-of-presentation document ve ⁇ fication
  • the netpage system uses the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) system as one of its payment systems SET, having been developed by MasterCard and Visa, is organized around payment cards, and this is reflected in the terminology However, much of the system is independent of the type of accounts being used
  • SET Secure Electronic Transaction
  • the netpage registration server acts as a proxy for the netpage user (i e the cardholder) in SET payment transactions
  • the netpage system uses biomet ⁇ cs to authenticate the user and autho ⁇ ze SET payments Because the system is pen-based, the biomet ⁇ c used is the user's on-line signature, consisting of time-varying pen position and pressure A fingerp ⁇ nt biomet ⁇ c can also be used by designing a fingerp ⁇ nt sensor into the pen, although at a higher cost The type of biomet ⁇ c used only affects the capture of the biomet ⁇ c. not the autho ⁇ zation aspects of the system
  • the first step to being able to make SET payments is to register the user ' s biometnc with the netpage registration server This is done in a controlled environment, for example a bank, where the biomet ⁇ c can be captured at the same time as the user's identity is ve ⁇ fied
  • the biomet ⁇ c is captured and stored in the registration database, linked to the user's record
  • the user's photograph is also optionally captured and linked to the record
  • the SET cardholder registration process is completed, and the resulting pnvate signature key and certificate are stored in the database
  • the user's payment card information is also stored, giving the netpage registration server enough information to act as the user's proxy in any SET payment transaction
  • the p ⁇ nter securely transmits the order information, the pen ID and the biometnc data to the netpage registration server
  • the server venfies the biomet ⁇ c with respect to the user identified by the pen ID. and from then on acts as the user's proxy in completing the SET payment transaction
  • the netpage system includes a mechanism for micro-payments, to allow the user to be conveniently charged for p ⁇ nting low-cost documents on demand and for copying copynght documents and possibly also to allow the user to be reimbursed for expenses incu ⁇ ed in p ⁇ nting advertising mate ⁇ al The latter depends on the level of subsidy already provided to the user
  • a network account which aggregates micro-payments
  • the user receives a statement on a regular basis, and can settle any outstanding debit balance using the standard payment mechanism
  • the network account can be extended to aggregate subsc ⁇ ption fees for pe ⁇ odicals. which would also otherwise be presented to the user in the form of individual statements
  • the netpage registration server instead maintains an anonymous relationship between a user and an application via a unique alias ID 65, as shown in Figure 24 Whenever the user activates a hyperlink tagged with the "registered" attnbute, the netpage page server asks the netpage registration server to translate the associated application ID 64, together with the pen ID 61, into an alias ID 65 The alias ID is then submitted to the hyperlink's application
  • the application maintains state information indexed by alias ID. and is able to retrieve user-specific state information without knowledge of the global identity of the user
  • the system also maintains an independent certificate and pnvate signature key for each of a user s applications, to allow it to sign application transactions on behalf of the user using only application-specific information
  • UPC product bar code
  • Each application is associated with an application provider, and the system maintains an account on behalf of each application provider, to allow it to credit and debit the provider for click-through fees etc
  • An application provider can be a publisher of penodical subscnbed content The system records the user's willingness to receive the subscnbed publication, as well as the expected frequency of publication
  • Each document and content object may be desc ⁇ bed by one or more resource desc ⁇ ptions 842
  • Resource descnptions use the Dublin Core metadata element set, which is designed to facilitate discovery of electronic resources
  • a resource desc ⁇ ption may identify ⁇ ghts holders 920
  • the netpage system automatically transfers copynght fees from users to nghts holders when users p ⁇ nt copynght content - 30 -
  • a communications protocol defines an ordered exchange of messages between entities
  • entities such as pens, p ⁇ nters and servers utilise a set of defined protocols to cooperatively handle user interaction with the netpage system
  • Each protocol is illustrated by way of a sequence diagram in which the ho ⁇ zontal dimension is used to represent message flow and the vertical dimension is used to represent time
  • Each entity is represented by a rectangle containing the name of the entity and a vertical column representing the lifeline of the entity Du ⁇ ng the time an entity exists, the lifeline is shown as a dashed line Du ⁇ ng the time an entity is active, the lifeline is shown as a double line
  • the protocols considered here do not create or destroy entities, lifelines are generally cut short as soon as an entity ceases to participate in a protocol
  • a large number of users may subscnbe to a penodical publication
  • Each user's edition may be laid out differently, but many users' editions will share common content such as text objects and image objects
  • the subscnption delivery protocol therefore delivers document structures to individual pnnters via po tcast, but delivers shared content objects via multicast
  • the application (l e publisher) first obtains a document ID 51 for each document from an ID server 12 It then sends each document structure, including its document ID and page descnptions, to the page server 10 responsible for the document's newly allocated ID It includes its own application ID 64, the subscnber's alias ID 65, and the relevant set of multicast channel names It signs the message using its pnvate signature key
  • the page server uses the application ID and alias ID to obtain from the registration server the co ⁇ esponding user ID 60, the user's selected pnnter ID 62 (which may be explicitly selected for the application, or may be the user's default pnnter), and the application's certificate
  • the application's certificate allows the page server to venfy the message signature
  • the page server's request to the registration server fails if the application ID and alias ID don't together identify a subscnption 808
  • the page server then allocates document and page instance IDs and forwards the page descnptions, including page IDs 50, to the pnnter It includes the relevant set of multicast channel names for the pnnter to listen to
  • the application Once the application has distnaded all of the document structures to the subscnbers' selected pnnters via the relevant page servers, it multicasts the vanous subsets of the shared objects on the previously selected multicast channels
  • the pnnter dete ⁇ nines, via the DNS, the network address of the page server 10a handling the particular page ID 50
  • the address may already be in its cache if the user has recently interacted ith the same page
  • the pnnter then forwards the pen ID, its own pnnter ID 62, the page ID and click location to the page server
  • the page server loads the page descnption 5 identified by the page ID and determines which input element's zone 58. if any. the click lies in Assuming the relevant input element is a hyperlink element 844, the page server then obtains the associated application ID 64 and link ID 54. and determines, via the DNS. the network address of the - 31 - application server hosting the application 71
  • the page server uses the pen ID 61 to obtain the co ⁇ esponding user ID 60 from the registration server 1 1 and then allocates a globally unique hyperlink request ID 52 and builds a hyperlink request 934
  • the hyperlink request class diagram is shown in Figure 44
  • the hyperlink request records the IDs of the requesting user and pnnter. and identifies the clicked hyperlink instance 862
  • the page server then sends its own server ID 53. the hyperlink request ID, and the link ID to the application
  • the application produces a response document according to application-specific logic, and obtains a document ID 51 from an ID server 12 It then sends the document to the page server 10b responsible for the document's newly allocated ID. together with the requesting page server's ID and the hyperlink request ID
  • the second page server sends the hyperlink request ID and application ID to the first page server to obtain the co ⁇ esponding user ID and pnnter ID 62
  • the first page server rejects the request if the hyperlink request has expired or is for a different application
  • the second page server allocates document instance and page IDs 50. returns the newly allocated page IDs to the application, adds the complete document to its own database, and finally sends the page descnptions to the requesting pnnter
  • the hyperlink instance may include a meaningful transaction ID 55, in which case the first page server includes the transaction ID in the message sent to the application This allows the application to establish a transaction- specific context for the hyperlink activation
  • the first page server sends both the pen ID 61 and the hyperlink's application ID 64 to the registration server 11 to obtain not just the user ID co ⁇ esponding to the pen ID but also the alias ID 65 co ⁇ esponding to the application ID and the user ID It includes the alias ID in the message sent to the application, allowing the application to establish a user-specific context for the hyperlink activation
  • the pnnter forwards the pen ID 61 , its own pnnter ID 62, the page ID 50 and stroke path to the page server 10 in the usual way
  • the page server loads the page descnption 5 identified by the page ID and dete ⁇ mnes which input element s zone 58, if any, the stroke intersects Assuming the relevant input element is a text field 878, the page server appends the stroke to the text field's digital ink
  • the page server After a penod of inactivity in the zone of the text field, the page server sends the pen ID and the pending strokes to the registration server 11 for interpretation
  • the registration server identifies the user co ⁇ esponding to the pen, and uses the user's accumulated handwntmg model 822 to interpret the strokes as handwntten text
  • the registration server returns the text to the requesting page server
  • the page server appends the text to the text value of the text field
  • the page server 10 appends the stroke to the signature field's digital ink After a penod of inactivity in the zone of the signature field, the page server sends the pen ID 61 and the pending strokes to the registration server 1 1 for venfication It also sends the application ID 64 associated with the form of which the signature field is part, as well as the form ID 56 and the cu ⁇ ent data content of the form
  • the registration server identifies the user co ⁇ esponding to the pen, and uses the user's dynamic signature biomet ⁇ c 818 to venfy the strokes as the user s signature
  • the registration server uses the application ID 64 and - 32 - user ID 60 to identify the user s application-specific pnvate signature key It then uses the key to generate a digital signature of the form data, and returns the digital signature to the requesting page server
  • the page server assigns the digital signature to the signature field and sets the associated form'
  • the digital signature includes the alias ID 65 of the co ⁇ esponding user This allows a single form to capture multiple users' signatures
  • Form submission occurs via a form hyperlink activation It thus follows the protocol defined in Section 5 2 with some form-specific additions
  • the hyperlink activation message sent by the page server 10 to the application
  • the application venfies each one by extracting the alias ID 65 associated with the co ⁇ esponding digital signature and obtaining the co ⁇ esponding certificate from the registration server 1 1
  • fees and commissions may be payable from an application provider to a publisher on click-throughs, transactions and sales Commissions on fees and commissions on commissions may also be payable from the publisher to the provider of the pnnter
  • the hyperlink request ID 52 is used to route a fee or commission credit from the target application provider 70a (e g merchant) to the source application provider 70b (l e publisher), and from the source application provider 70b to the pnnter provider 72
  • the target application receives the hyperlink request ID from the page server 10 when the hyperlink is first activated, as descnbed in Section 5 2
  • the target application needs to credit the source application provider, it sends the application provider credit to the onginal page server together with the hyperlink request ID
  • the page server uses the hyperlink request ID to identify the source application, and sends the credit on to the relevant registration server 11 together with the source application ID 64, its own server ID 53, and the hyperlink request ID
  • the registration server credits the co ⁇ esponding application provider's account 827 It also notifies the application provider
  • the application provider needs to credit the pnnter provider, it sends the pnnter provider credit to the onginal page server together with the hyperlink request ID
  • the page server uses the hyperlink request ID to identify the pnnter, and sends the credit on to the relevant registration server together with the pnnter ID
  • the registration server credits the co ⁇ esponding pnnter provider account 814
  • the source application provider is optionally notified of the identity of the target application provider, and the pnnter provider of the identity of the source application provider 6.
  • the pen generally designated by reference numeral 101 , includes a housing 102 m the form of a plastics moulding having walls 103 defining an inte ⁇ or space 104 for mounting the pen components
  • the pen top 105 is in operation rotatably mounted at one end 106 of the housing 102
  • a semi-transparent cover 107 is secured to the opposite end 108 of the housing 102
  • the cover 107 is also of moulded plastics, and is formed from semi- transparent mate ⁇ al in order to enable the user to view the status of the LED mounted within the housing 102
  • the cover 107 includes a main part 109 which substantially su ⁇ ounds the end 108 of the housing 102 and a projecting portion 110 which projects back from the main part 109 and fits within a co ⁇ esponding slot 1 1 1 fo ⁇ ned in the walls 103 of the housing 102
  • a radio antenna 1 12 is mounted behind the projecting portion 1 10, within the housing 102 Screw threads 113 su ⁇ ound g an aperture U3A on
  • the antenna 1 12 is also mounted on the flex PCB 117
  • the status LED 1 16 is mounted at the top of the pen 101 for good all-around visibility
  • the pen can operate both as a normal marking ink pen and as a non-marking stylus
  • An ink pen cartridge 118 with nib 1 19 and a stylus 120 with stylus nib 121 are mounted side by side within the housing 102 Either the ink cartridge nib 1 19 or the stylus nib 121 can be brought forward through open end 122 of the metal end piece 114.
  • Respective slider blocks 123 and 124 are mounted to the ink cartndge 1 18 and stylus 120, respectively
  • a rotatable cam ba ⁇ el 125 is secured to the pen top 105 in operation and a ⁇ anged to rotate therewith
  • the cam ba ⁇ el 125 includes a cam 126 in the fo ⁇ n of a slot within the walls 181 of the cam ba ⁇ el Cam followers 127 and 128 projecting from slider blocks 123 and 124 fit within the cam slot 126
  • the slider blocks 123 or 124 move relative to each other to project either the pen nib 1 19 or stylus nib 121 out through the hole 122 in the metal end piece 1 14
  • the pen 101 has three states of operation By turning the top 105 through 90° steps, the three states are
  • Stylus 120 nib 121 out â€ĸ Ink cartndge 118 nib 119 out, and
  • a second flex PCB 129 is mounted on an electronics chassis 130 which sits within the housing 102
  • the second flex PCB 129 mounts an infrared LED 131 for providing infrared radiation for projection onto the surface
  • An image sensor 132 is provided mounted on the second flex PCB 129 for receiving reflected radiation from the surface
  • the second flex PCB 129 also mounts a radio frequency chip 133, which includes an RF transmitter and RF receiver, and a controller chip 134 for controlling operation of the pen 101
  • An optics block 135 (formed from moulded clear plastics) sits within the cover 107 and projects an infrared beam onto the surface and receives images onto the image sensor 132
  • Power supply wires 136 connect the components on the second flex PCB 129 to battery contacts 137 which are mounted within the cam ba ⁇ el 125 A te ⁇ mnal 138 connects to the battery contacts 137 and the cam ba ⁇ el 125 A three volt rechargeable battery 139 sits within the cam ba ⁇ el 125 in contact with the battery contacts An induction charging coil
  • the second flex PCB 129 is mounted about the second flex PCB 129 to enable recharging of the battery 139 via induction
  • PCB 129 also mounts an infrared LED 143 and infrared photodiode 144 for detecting displacement m the cam ba ⁇ el 125 when either the stylus 120 or the ink cartndge 1 18 is used for wnting, in order to enable a determination of the force being applied to the surface by the pen nib 119 or stylus nib 121
  • the IR photodiode 144 detects light from the IR LED 143 via reflectors (not shown) mounted on the slider blocks 123 and 124
  • Rubber gnp pads 141 and 142 are provided towards the end 108 of the housing 102 to assist gnpping the pen 101, and top 105 also includes a clip 142 for clipping the pen 101 to a pocket 6.2 PEN CONTROLLER
  • the pen 101 is a ⁇ anged to dete ⁇ nine the position of its nib (stylus nib 121 or ink cartndge nib 119) by imaging, in the infrared spectrum, an area of the surface in the vicinity of the nib It records the location data from the nearest location tag, and is a ⁇ anged to calculate the distance of the nib 121 or 1 19 from the location tab utilising optics
  • controller chip 134 calculates the onentation of the pen and the nib-to-tag distance from the perspective distortion observed on the imaged tag
  • the pen 101 can transmit the digital ink data (which is encrypted for secunty and packaged for efficient transmission) to the computing system
  • the digital ink data is transmitted as it is formed
  • digital ink data is buffered within the pen 101 (the pen 101 circuitry includes a buffer a ⁇ anged to store digital ink data for approximately 12 minutes of the pen motion on the surface) and can be transmitted later
  • the controller chip 134 is mounted on the second flex PCB 129 in the pen 101
  • Figure 10 is a block diagram - 34 - lllustrat g in more detail the architecture of the controller chip 134 Figure 10 also shows representations of the RF chip 133, the image sensor 132, the t ⁇ -color status LED 116, the IR illumination LED 131 , the IR force sensor LED 143, and the force sensor photodiode 144
  • the pen controller chip 134 includes a controlling processor 145 Bus 146 enables the exchange of data between components of the controller chip 134 Flash memory 147 and a 512 KB DRAM 148 are also included
  • An analog-to-digital converter 149 is a ⁇ anged to convert the analog signal from the force sensor photodiode 144 to a digital signal
  • An image sensor interface 152 interfaces with the image sensor 132
  • a transceiver controller 153 and base band circuit 154 are also included to interface with the RF chip 133 which includes an RF circuit 155 and RF resonators and inductors 156 connected to the antenna 112
  • the controlling processor 145 captures and decodes location data from tags from the surface via the image sensor 132. monitors the force sensor photodiode 144. controls the LEDs 1 16, 131 and 143. and handles short-range radio communication via the radio transceiver 153 It is a medium-performance ( ⁇ 40MHz) general-purpose RISC processor
  • the processor 145, digital transceiver components (transceiver controller 153 and baseband circuit 154), image sensor interface 152, flash memory 147 and 512KB DRAM 148 are integrated in a single controller ASIC Analog RF components (RF circuit 155 and RF resonators and inductors 156) are provided in the separate RF chip
  • the image sensor is a 215x215 pixel CCD (such a sensor is produced by Matsushita Electronic Corporation, and is desc ⁇ bed in a paper by Itakura, K T Nobusada, N Okusenya, R Nagayoshi, and M Ozaki, "A 1mm 50k-P ⁇ xel IT CCD Image Sensor for Miniature Camera System", IEEE Transactions on Electronic Devices, Volt 47, number I . January 2000, which is incorporated herein by reference) with an IR filter
  • the controller ASIC 134 enters a quiescent state after a penod of inactivity when the pen 101 is not in contact with a surface It incorporates a dedicated circuit 150 which monitors the force sensor photodiode 144 and wakes up the controller 134 via the power manager 151 on a pen-down event
  • the radio transceiver communicates in the unlicensed 900MHz band normally used by cordless telephones, or alternatively in the unlicensed 2 4GHz industnal, scientific and medical (ISM) band, and uses frequency hopping and collision detection to provide interference-free communication
  • ISM scientific and medical
  • the pen incorporates an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) interface for short- range communication with a base station or netpage p ⁇ nter
  • IrDA Infrared Data Association
  • the pen 101 includes a pair of orthogonal accelero meters mounted in the normal plane of the pen 101 axis
  • the accelerometers 190 are shown m Figures 9 and 10 in ghost outline
  • each location tag ID can then identify an object of interest rather than a position on the surface For example, if the object is a user interface input element (e g a command button), then the tag ID of each location tag within the area of the input element can directly identify the input element
  • the acceleration measured by the accelerometers in each of the x and y directions is integrated with respect to time to produce an instantaneous velocity and position
  • the vertically-mounted netpage wallpnnter 601 is shown fully assembled in Figures 1 1 and 12 As best shown in Figures 12. 12a and 68, it pnnts netpages on A4 sized media using duplexed 8 1 /-" MemjetTM pnnt engines 602 - 35 - and 603 It uses a straight paper path with the paper 604 passing through duplexed pnnt engines 602 and 603 which p ⁇ nt both sides of a sheet simultaneously, in full color and with full bleed
  • a multi-DSP raster image processor (RIP) rastenzes pages to internal memory, and a pair of custom pnnt engine controllers expand, dither and pnnt page images to the duplexed pnntheads in real time
  • An integral binding assembly 605 applies a st ⁇ p of glue along one edge of each pnnted sheet, allowing it to adhere to the previous sheet when pressed against it This creates a final
  • the wallp ⁇ nter 601 consists of a main chassis 606, which accommodates all major components and assemblies As best shown in Figure 58. it has a pivoting media tray 607 on the front upper portion, which is covered by a front molding 608 and handle molding 609 The front molding 608.
  • handle molding 609 and lower front molding 610 can vary in color, texture and finish to make the product more appealing to consumers They simply clip onto the front of the wallp ⁇ nter 601
  • Figures 59 and 60 show the wallp ⁇ nter elect ⁇ cal system in isolation
  • a flexible p ⁇ nted circuit board (flex PCB) 611 runs from the media tray 607 to the main PCB 612 It includes four different color LEDs 613, 614, 615 and 616 and a push button 617
  • the LEDs show through the front molding and indicate "on” 613, “ink out” 614, ' paper out” 615 and “e ⁇ or” 616
  • the push button 617 elicits p ⁇ nted "help" in the form of usage instructions, pnnter and consumable status information, and a directory of resources on the netpage network
  • the wallp ⁇ nter 601 is powered by an internal 110V/220V power supply 620 and has a metal mounting plate 621 that is secured to a wall or stable vertical surface by four screws Plunged keyhole slot details 622 m the metal plate 621 allow for four spigots mounted on the rear of the p ⁇ nter to hook onto the plate
  • the wallp ⁇ nter 601 is prevented from being lifted off by a screw that locates the chassis molding 606 to the plate 621 at one position behind the media tray 607 Refemng to Figures 53, 65 and 66
  • the side of the wallp ⁇ nter 601 includes a module bay 624 which accommodates a network interface module 625 which allows the p ⁇ nter to be connected to the netpage network and to a local computer or network
  • the interface module 625 can be selected and installed in the factory or in the field to provide the interfaces required by the user
  • the modules may have common connector options, such as IEEE 1394 (Firewire) connection, standard Centronics pnnter
  • FIG. 58 shows the front hatch access to the paper 604 and the ink cartndge 627 Refemng to Figure 67, paper 604 is placed into a hinged top tray 607 and pressed down onto a sprung platen 666
  • the tray 607 is mounted to the chassis 606 via hinges 700
  • Each hinge has a base, a hinge lever and a hinge side Pivots on the base and paper/media tray 607 engage the lever and side such that the paper/media tray 607 rotates in a manner that avoids kinking the supply hoses 646 - 36 -
  • the paper 604 is positioned under edge guides 667 before being closed and is automatically registered to one side of the tray 607 by action of a metal sp ⁇ ng part 668
  • An ink cartndge 627 connects into a pivoting mk connector molding 628 via a se ⁇ es of self-sealing connectors 629
  • the connectors 629 transmit ink. air and glue to their separate locations
  • the ink connector molding 628 contains a sensor, which detects a QA chip on the ink cartridge and ve ⁇ fies identification p ⁇ or to pnntmg When the front hatch is sensed closed, a release mechanism allows the sprung platen 666 to push the paper 604 against a motonzed media pick-up roller assembly 626
  • Figure 54 shows the complete assembly of the replaceable ink cartndge 627 It has bladders or chambers for sto ⁇ ng fixative 644, adhesive 630, and cyan 631, magenta 632, yellow 633, black 634 and infrared 635 inks
  • the cartndge 627 also contains a micro air filter 636 in a base molding 637 As shown in Figure 13, the micro air filter 636 interfaces with an air pump 638 inside the p ⁇ nter via a hose 639 This provides filtered air to the pnntheads 705 to prevent ingress of micro particles into the MemjetTM p ⁇ ntheads 705 which may clog the nozzles
  • the operational life of the filter is effectively linked to the life of the cartndge This ensures that the filter is replaced together with the cartndge rather than relying on the user to clean or replace the filter at the required intervals
  • the adhesive and infrared ink are replenished together
  • the cartndge 627 has a thin wall casing 640
  • the ink bladders 631 to 635 and fixitive bladder 644 are suspended within the casing by a pin 645 which hooks the cartndge together
  • the single glue bladder 630 is accommodated in the base molding 637 This is a fully recyclable product with a capacity for pnnting and gluing 3000 pages (1500 sheets)
  • the motonzed media pick-up roller assembly 626 pushes the top sheet directly from the media tray 607 past a paper sensor (not shown) on the first pnnt engine 602 into the duplexed MemjetTM pnnthead assembly
  • Two MemjetTM pnnt engines 602 and 603 are mounted in an opposing in-line sequential configuration along the straight paper path
  • the paper 604 is drawn into the first pnnt engine 602 by integral, powered pick-up rollers 626
  • the position and size of the paper 604 is sensed and full bleed p ⁇ nting commences
  • Fixative is p ⁇ nted simultaneously to aid drying in the shortest possible time
  • the MemjetTM p ⁇ nt engines 602 and 603 include a rotary capping, blotting and platen device 669
  • the capping device seals the MemjetTM pnntheads 705 when not in use It uncaps and rotates to produce an integral blotter, which is used for absorbing mk fired from the p ⁇ ntheads 705 du ⁇ ng routine pnnter startup maintenance It simultaneously moves an internal capping device inside the MemjetTM p ⁇ nthead 705 that allows air to flow into the protective nozzle shield area
  • the third rotation of the device moves a platen surface into place, which supports one side of the sheet 604 du ⁇ ng p ⁇ nting
  • This second pnnt engine 603 is mounted the opposite way up to the first in order to pnnt the underside of the sheet 604
  • the paper 604 passes from the duplexed pnnt engines 602 and 603, into the binder assembly 605
  • the p ⁇ nted page passes between a powered spike wheel axle 670 with a fibrous support roller and another movable axle with spike wheels and a momentary action glue wheel 673
  • the movable axle/glue assembly 673 is mounted to a metal support bracket and it is transported forward to interface with the powered axle 670 by action of a camshaft 642 A separate motor powers 675 this camshaft
  • Both motors 676 are controlled by the MemjetTM p ⁇ ntheads - 37 -
  • the glue wheel assembly 673 consists of a partially hollow axle 679 with a rotating coupling 680 for the glue supply hose 641 from the ink cartridge 627
  • This axle 679 connects to a glue wheel 681 , which absorbs adhesive by capillary action through radial holes
  • a molded housing su ⁇ ounds the glue wheel 681.
  • Pivoting side moldings 683 and sprung outer doors 684 are attached to the metal support bracket and hinge out sideways when the rest of the assembly 673 is thrust forward This action exposes the glue wheel 681 through the front of the molded housing
  • Tension spnngs 685 close the assembly and effectively cap the glue wheel 681 du ⁇ ng penods of inactivity
  • the "portrait" binder assembly 605 is best shown in Figure 62 It has a metal support chassis 686, a sprung molded binding platen 687 that runs on four traverser rods, a molded angled platen 689 which supports the document 618 after the sheet 604 has been moved across, and an exit hatch 690 with support bracket 6 1
  • the binding platen 687 is propelled forward at high speed via a looped system of wheels 692 and a sprung steel cable 693 that attaches to a powered cable winder shaft 694
  • the cable loop 693 shortens and transports the binding platen 687 forward
  • This powered shaft 694 has a slip clutch mechanism and provides the necessary speed to push the sheet 604 forward onto the rear of a previous sheet, glue/bind it then return under the action of return sp ⁇ ngs 699 to the home position to accept the next p ⁇ nted sheet
  • the binding assembly 605 binds pages one by one into a bound document, thereby producing bound documents without significantly adding to the time taken to p ⁇ nt the separate pages of the document Furthermore it applies the adhesive directly p ⁇ or to pressing it against the previous page This is more effective than applying adhesive to the rear of each page and sequentially pressing each page to the subsequent page because any interruption in the p ⁇ nting process such as replenishing the paper supply may allow the adhesive applied to the last adhered page to detenorate and become less effective
  • the cable 693 is sprung to allow for positive pressure to be applied to the previous sheet to aid binding Furthermore, the angled platen 689 is shallower at the top than at the base in order to support the document 618 in an over axis configuration
  • a sensor (not shown) operatively connected to the control of the stepper motor, may be used to determine the position of the last page bound to the document to allow the platen to accurately adhere the next page to it
  • a paper tapper 643 knocks the sheet 604 to one side of the binder 605 as it is transported across to the angled platen 689
  • the main PCB 612 controls motors 695, 696 and 697 for the cable winder shaft 694. the tapper 643 and the exit hatch 690 respectively
  • the powered exit hatch 690 opens A tamper sensor (not shown) is provided to detect document jams or other interferences acting to prevent the exit hatch 690 from closing
  • the tapper 643 also tap aligns the p ⁇ nted document 618 du ⁇ ng ejection out of the binder 605 into the collection tray 619
  • Plastic - 38 - foils 698 on the lower front molding 610 work together with the hatch 690 to direct the finished document 618 to the back of the collection tray 619 and feed any further documents into the tray without hitting existing ones
  • a plurality the flexible foils may be provided, each having different lengths to accommodate documents having different page sizes
  • the collection tray 619 is molded m clear plastic and pulls out of its socket under a certain loading Access for removing documents is provided on three sides 7.2 MEMJET-BASED PRINTING
  • a MemjetTM pnnthead produces 1600 dpi bi-level CMYK On low-diffusion paper, each ejected drop forms an almost perfectly circular 22 5 ⁇ m diameter dot Dots are easily produced in isolation, allowing dispersed-dot dithe ⁇ ng to be exploited to its fullest
  • a page layout may contain a mixture of images, graphics and text Continuous-tone (contone) images and graphics are reproduced using a stochastic dispersed-dot dither Unlike a clustered-dot (or amplitude-modulated) dither, a dispersed-dot (or frequency-modulated) dither reproduces high spatial frequencies (l e image detail) almost to the limits of the dot resolution, while simultaneously reproducing lower spatial frequencies to their full color depth, when spatially integrated by the eye
  • a stochastic dither mat ⁇ x is carefully designed to be free of objectionable low-frequency patterns when tiled across the image As such its size typically exceeds the minimum size required to
  • Human contrast sensitivity peaks at a spatial frequency of about 3 cycles per degree of visual field and then falls off loga ⁇ thmically, decreasing by a factor of 100 beyond about 40 cycles per degree and becoming immeasurable beyond 60 cycles per degree At a normal viewing distance of 12 inches (about 300mm), this translates roughly to 200- 300 cycles per inch (cpi) on the p ⁇ nted page, or 400-600 samples per inch according to Nyquist's theorem
  • contone resolution above about 300 ppi is of limited utility outside special applications such as medical imaging Offset pnnting of magazines, for example, uses contone resolutions in the range 150 to 300 ppi Higher resolutions cont ⁇ bute slightly to color e ⁇ or through the dither
  • Black text and graphics are reproduced directly using bi-level black dots, and are therefore not antialiased (l e low-pass filtered) before being pnnted Text is therefore supersampled beyond the perceptual limits discussed above, to produce smoother edges when spatially integrated by the eye Text resolution up to about 1200 dpi continues to contribute to perceived text sha ⁇ ness (assuming low-diffusion paper, of course)
  • the netpage pnnter uses a contone resolution of 267 ppi (1 e 1600 dpi / 6), and a black text and graphics resolution of 800 dpi 7.3 DOCUMENT DATA FLOW
  • each page must be pnnted at a constant speed to avoid creating visible artifacts This means that the pnnting speed can't be vaned to match the input data rate Document rastenzation and document pnnting are therefore decoupled to ensure the pnnthead has a constant supply of data A page is never pnnted until it is fully raste ⁇ zed This is achieved by sto ⁇ ng a compressed version of each raste ⁇ zed page image in memory
  • This decoupling also allows the raster image processor (RIP) to run ahead of the p ⁇ nter when raste ⁇ zing simple pages, buying time to raste ⁇ ze more complex pages
  • the compressed page image format contains a separate foreground bi-level black layer and background contone color layer The black layer is composited over the contone layer after the contone layer is dithered
  • Netpage tags are rendered to a separate layer and are ultimately p ⁇ nted using infrared-abso ⁇ tive ink
  • a Letter page of contone CMYK data has a size of 25MB
  • lossy contone compression algo ⁇ thms such as JPEG (ISO/IEC 19018-1 1994, Information technology - Digital compression and coding of - 39 - continuous-tone still images Requirements and guidelines, 1994 the contents of which are herein inco ⁇ orated by cross- reference)
  • contone images compress with a ratio up to 10 1 without noticeable loss of quality, giving a compressed page
  • a Letter page of bi-level data has a size of 7MB Coherent data such as text compresses very well Using lossless bi-level compression algo ⁇ thms such as Group 4 Facsimile (ANSI/EIA 538-1988, Facsimile Coding Schemes and Coding Control Functions for Group 4 Facsimile Equipment, August 1988, the contents of which are herein incorporated by cross-reference), ten-point text compresses with a ratio of about 10 1, giving a compressed page size of 0 8MB
  • CMYK contone image data consists of 114MB of bi-level data Using lossless bi- level compression algo ⁇ thms on this data is pointless precisely because the optimal dither is stochastic - l e since it introduces hard-to-compress disorder
  • the two-layer compressed page image format therefore exploits the relative strengths of lossy JPEG contone image compression and lossless bi-level text compression
  • the format is compact enough to be storage-efficient, and simple enough to allow straightforward real-time expansion du ⁇ ng p ⁇ nting Since text and images no ⁇ nally don't overlap, the normal worst-case page image size is 2 5MB (1 e image only), while the normal best-case page image size is 0 8MB (l e text only)
  • the absolute worst-case page image size is 3 3MB (l e text over image) Assuming a quarter of an average page contains images, the average page image size is 1 2MB 7.4 PRINTER CONTROLLER ARCHITECTURE
  • the netpage pnnter controller consists of a controlling processor 750, a factory-installed or field-installed network interface module 625, a radio transceiver (transceiver controller 753, baseband circuit 754, RF circuit 755, and RF resonators and inductors 756), dual rast
  • the controlling processor handles communication with the network 19 and with local wireless netpage pens 101, senses the help button 617, controls the user interface LEDs 613-616, and feeds and synchronizes the RIP DSPs 757 and pnnt engine controllers 760 It consists of a medium-performance general-pu ⁇ ose microprocessor
  • the controlling processor 750 communicates with the pnnt engine controllers 760 via a high-speed senal bus 659
  • the RIP DSPs rastenze and compress page descnptions to the netpage pnnter' s compressed page format
  • Each pnnt engine controller expands, dithers and pnnts page images to its associated MemjetTM pnnthead 350 in real time (l e at over 30 pages per minute)
  • the duplexed pnnt engine controller s pnnt both sides of a sheet simultaneously
  • the master pnnt engine controller 760a controls the paper transport and monitors ink usage in conjunction with the master QA chip 665 and the mk cartndge QA chip 761
  • the pnnter controller's flash memory 658 holds the software for both the processor 750 and the DSPs 757, as well as configuration data This is copied to main memory 657 at boot time
  • the processor 750, DSPs 757, and digital transceiver components are integrated in a single controller ASIC 656
  • Analog RF components RF circuit 755 and RF resonators and inductors 756) are provided in a separate RF chip 762
  • the network interface module 625 is separate, since netpage pnnters allow the network connection to be factory-selected or field-selected Flash memory 658 and the 2x256Mbit (64MB) DRAM 657 is also off-chip
  • the pnnt engine controllers 760 are provided in separate ASICs
  • a variety of network interface modules 625 are provided, each providing a netpage network interface 751 and optionally a local computer or network interface 752 Netpage network Internet interfaces include POTS modems, Hybnd Fiber-Coax (HFC)
  • the radio transceiver 753 communicates m the unlicensed 900MHz band normally used by cordless telephones, or alternatively in the unlicensed 2 4GHz industnal, scientific and medical (ISM) band, and uses frequency hopping and collision detection to provide interference-free communication
  • ISM scientific and medical
  • the pnnter controller optionally inco ⁇ orates an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) interface for receiving data "squirted" from devices such as netpage cameras
  • IrDA Infrared Data Association
  • the pnnter uses the IrDA interface for short-range communication with suitably configured netpage pens 7.4.1 RASTERIZATION AND PRINTING
  • main processor 750 has received and venfied (at 550) the document's page layouts and page objects into memory 657 (at 551), it runs the approp ⁇ ate RIP software on the DSPs 757
  • the DSPs 757 rastenze (at 552) each page descnption and compress (at 553) the rastenzed page image
  • the main processor stores each compressed page image in memory 657 (at 554)
  • the simplest way to load-balance multiple DSPs is to let each DSP rastenze a separate page
  • the DSPs can always be kept busy since an arbitrary number of rastenzed pages can, in general, be stored in memory This strategy only leads to potentially poor DSP utilization when rastenzing short documents
  • Watermark regions in the page descnption are raste ⁇ zed to a contone-resolution bi-level bitmap which is losslessly compressed to negligible size and which forms part of the compressed page image
  • the infrared (IR) layer of the pnnted page contains coded netpage tags at a density of about six per inch
  • Each tag encodes the page ID, tag ID, and control bits, and the data content of each tag is generated dunng rastenzation and stored in the compressed page image
  • the mam processor 750 passes back-to-back page images to the duplexed pnnt engine controllers 760
  • Each pnnt engine controller 760 stores the compressed page image in its local memory 769, and starts the page expansion and pnntmg pipeline Page expansion and p ⁇ nting is pipelined because it is impractical to store an entire 1 14MB bi-level CMYK+IR page image in memory
  • the p ⁇ nt engine controller expands the compressed page image (at 555). dithers the expanded contone color data to bi-level dots (at 556), composites the expanded bi-level black layer over the dithered contone layer (at 557). renders the expanded netpage tag data (at 558), and finally p ⁇ nts the fully-rendered page (at 559) to produce a p ⁇ nted netpage 1
  • the page expansion and pnnt g pipeline of the p ⁇ nt engine controller 760 consists of a high speed IEEE 1394 senal interface 659, a standard JPEG decoder 763, a standard Group 4 Fax decoder 764, a custom halftoner/compositor unit 765, a custom tag encoder 766, a line loader/formatter unit 767, and a custom interface 768 to the MemjetTM p ⁇ nthead 350
  • the pnnt engine controller 360 operates in a double buffered manner While one page is loaded into DRAM 769 via the high speed senal interface 659, the previously loaded page is read from DRAM 769 and passed through the p ⁇ nt engine controller pipeline Once the page has finished p ⁇ nting, the page just loaded is p ⁇ nted while another page is loaded
  • the first stage of the pipeline expands (at 763) the JPEG-compressed contone CMYK layer, expands (at 764) the Group 4 Fax-compressed bi-level black layer, and renders (at 766) the bi-level netpage tag layer according to the tag format defined m section 1 2, all in parallel
  • the second stage dithers (at 765) the contone CMYK layer and composites (at 765) the bi-level black layer over the resulting bi-level CMYK layer
  • the resultant bi-level CMYK+IR dot data is - 41 - buffered and formatted (at 767) for
  • the pnnt engine controller 760 contains a low-speed processor 772 for synchronizing the page expansion and rendenng pipeline, configu ⁇ ng the p ⁇ nthead 350 via a low-speed senal bus 773, and controlling the stepper motors 675, 676
  • the two p ⁇ nt engines each pnnts 30 Letter pages per minute along the long dimension of the page (1 1"), giving a line rate of 8 8 kHz at 1600 dpi
  • the two pnnt engines each pnnts 45 Letter pages per minute along the short dimension of the page (8'/-"), giving a line rate of 10 2 kHz
  • These line rates are well within the operating frequency of the MemjetTM pnnthead, which in the cu ⁇ ent design exceeds 30 kHz CONCLUSION

Abstract

A relay device for providing communication between a sensing device and a computer system includes first and second communications modules and a processor. The first communications module receives first indicating data transmitted from the sensing device in a first format. The indicating data is sensed by the sensing device when it is placed into an operative position in relation to first coded data forming part of a first interface disposed on a first surface. In particular, the indicating data includes a first region identity indicative of an identity of a region associated with the first interface. The processor is configured to generate second indicating data based on the first indicating data. The second communications module then transmits the second indicating data in a second format to the computer system.

Description

RELAY DEVICE
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present Κn\ entΚon relates to a rela> device for prov iding communication between a sensing device and a computer system
The invention has been developed primarily to allow communication between a sensing device sensing information from an interface surface and a remote computer system However, although the invention will largely be described herein with reference to this use. it w ill be appreciated that the invention is not limited to use in this field
CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS
Various methods systems and apparatus relating to the present invention are disclosed in the following co- pending applications filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention simultaneously with the present application
PCT/AU00/00518. PCT/AU00/00519. PCI/AUOO/00520. PCT/AU00/00521. PCT/AU00/00522, PC r/AUOO/00523. PCT/AU00/00524 PCT/ U00/00525. PCT/AU00ÎĻ0526 PCT/AU00/00527,
PCT/AU00/00528. PCT/AU00/00529. PCT/AU00/00530. PCI /AUOO/00531 PCT/AU00/00532. PCT/AU00/00533. PCT/AU00/00534 PCT/AU00/00535, PCT/AU00/00536. PCT/AU00/00537, PCT/AU00/00538. PCT/AU00/00539, PCT/AU00/00540. PCT/AUOO/00541 , PCT/AU00/00542, PCT/AU00/00543. PCT/AU00/00544. PCT/AUOO/00545. PCT/AUOO/00547, PCT/AU00/00546, PCT/AU00/00554. PCT/AU00/00556. PCT/AU00/00557, PCT/AUOO/00558. PCT/AU00/00559,
PCT/AUOO/00560, PCT/AU00/00561 , PCT/AU00/00563, PCT/AU00/00564, PCT/AU00/00565, PCT/AU00/00566. PCT/AU00/00567. PCT/AU00/00568, PCT/AU00/00569. PCT/AU00/00570, PCT/AU00/00571. PCT/AU00/00572. PCT/AU00/00573, PCT/AU00/00574. PCT/AU00/00575, PCT/AU00/00576. PCT/AU00/00577, PCT/AU00/00578, PCT/AU00/00579. PCT/AU00/00581 , PCT/AU00/00580. PCT/AUOO/00582, PCT/AUOO/00587, PCT/AU00/00588, PCT/AUOO/00589,
PCT/AUOO/00583. PCT/AUOO/00593. PCT/AU00/O0590, PCT/AU00/00591 , PCT/AU00/00592, PCT/AU00/00594. PCT/AUOO/00595. PCT/AU00/00596. PCT/AUOO/00597. PCT/AU00/00598, PCT/AU00/00516. and PCT/AU00/00517
The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated herein by cross-reference
BACKGROUND
Presently, a user of a computer system typically interacts with the system using a monitor for displaying information and a keyboard and/or mouse for inputting information Whilst such an interface is powerful, it is relatively bulky and non-portable Information printed on paper can be easier to read and more portable than information displayed on a computer monitor However, unlike a keyboard or mouse, a pen on paper generally lacks the ability to interact with computer software
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
According to the invention, there is provided a relay device for providing communication between a sensing device and a computer system, the relay device including
a first communications module for receiv ing first indicating data transmitted from the sensing device in a first formal, the indicating data being sensed by the sensing device when it is placed into an operative position in relation to
RECTIFIED SHEET - l a -
first coded data forming part of a first interface disposed on a first surface, the indicating data including a first region identity indicativ e of an identity of a region associated with the first interface. a processor configured to generate second indicating data based on the first indicating data, and a second communications module for transmitting the second indicating data in a second format to the computer system
Preferably , the base station includes a printer
In a preferred form, the second format is a cellular communications network protocol, such as PHS. GSM. GPRS, or WCDMA Preferably , the second communication module includes a receiver for receiving response data transmitted from the computer sy stem, the response data being identified by the first region identity
CTIFIED SHEET - 2 -
In a particularly preferred form, the pĪ€nter includes a pĪ€ntmg mechanism, the pĪ€nter being configured to receive the response data from the computer system, generate a second interface based at least partially on the response data, and pĪ€nt the second interface onto a second surface using the pĪ€ntmg mechanism Preferably, the response data includes a second region identity indicative of the identity of a second region associated with the second interface, the pĪ€nter including a coded data generator configured to generate second coded data indicative of the second region identity, the second interface incorporating the second coded data
In one embodiment, the interface includes visible information in addition to the coded data, the visible information being based at least partially on the response data More preferably, the pĪ€nter is configured to pĪ€nt the second interface onto the second surface such that coded data is not substantially visible to an unaided human Preferably, this is achieved by pĪ€nting with infrared absorptive ink
Preferably, the second coded data includes at least one tag, each tag being indicative of the second region identity
In a preferred form, each of the tags includes first identity data defining a relative position of that tag, and second identity data identifying the region
In a particularly preferred form, the relay device takes the form of a cellular telephone
Preferably, the pĪ€nter includes a page-width pĪ€nthead that includes electro-thermal bend actuators to eject the ink onto the surface More preferably, the pĪ€nthead includes moving nozzle chambers Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed descĪ€ption that follows
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Preferred and other embodiments of the invention will now be descĪ€bed, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a schematic of a the relationship between a sample pĪ€nted netpage and its online page descĪ€ption, Figure 2 is a schematic view of a interaction between a netpage pen, a netpage pĪ€nter, a netpage page server, and a netpage application server,
Figure 3 illustrates a collection of netpage servers and pĪ€nters interconnected via a network, Figure 4 is a schematic view of a high-level structure of a pĪ€nted netpage and its online page descĪ€ption. Figure 5 is a plan view showing a structure of a netpage tag, Figure 6 is a plan view showing a relationship between a set of the tags shown in Figure 5 and a field of view of a netpage sensing device in the form of a netpage pen.
Figure 7 is a flowchart of a tag image processing and decoding algoĪ€thm, Figure 8 is a perspective view of a netpage pen and its associated tag-sensing field-of-view cone, Figure 9 is a perspective exploded view of the netpage pen shown in Figure 8, Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram of a pen controller for the netpage pen shown in Figures 8 and 9, Figure 1 1 is a perspective view of a wall-mounted netpage pĪ€nter, Figure 12 is a section through the length of the netpage pĪ€nter of Figure 11 ,
Figure 12a is an enlarged portion of Figure 12 showing a section of the duplexed pĪ€nt engines and glue wheel assembly, Figure 13 is a detailed view of the ink cartĪ€dge, ink, air and glue paths, and pĪ€nt engines of the netpage pĪ€nter of Figures 1 1 and 12,
Figure 14 is a schematic block diagram of a pĪ€nter controller for the netpage pĪ€nter shown in Figures 1 1 and 12,
Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram of duplexed pĪ€nt engine controllers and Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€ntheads associated with the pĪ€nter controller shown in Figure 14,
Figure 16 is a schematic block diagram of the pĪ€nt engine controller shown in Figures 14 and 15, - 3 -
Figure 17 is a perspective view of a single Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€nting element, as used in. for example, the netpage pĪ€nter of
Figures 10 to 12,
Figure 18 is a perspective view of a small part of an array of Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€ntmg elements,
Figure 19 is a seĪ€es of perspective views illustrating the operating cycle of the Memjet71" pnntmg element shown in Figure 13,
Figure 20 is a perspective view of a short segment of a pagewidth Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€nthead,
Figure 21 is a schematic view of a user class diagram,
Figure 22 is a schematic view of a pĪ€nter class diagram,
Figure 23 is a schematic view of a pen class diagram, Figure 24 is a schematic view of an application class diagram,
Figure 25 is a schematic view of a document and page descĪ€ption class diagram,
Figure 26 is a schematic view of a document and page ownership class diagram,
Figure 27 is a schematic view of a terminal element specialization class diagram,
Figure 28 is a schematic view of a static element specialization class diagram, Figure 29 is a schematic view of a hyperlink element class diagram
Figure 30 is a schematic view of a hyperlink element specialization class diagram,
Figure 31 is a schematic view of a hyperlmked group class diagram
Figure 32 is a schematic view of a form class diagram,
Figure 33 is a schematic view of a digital ink class diagram, Figure 34 is a schematic view of a field element specialization class diagram,
Figure 35 is a schematic view of a checkbox field class diagram,
Figure 36 is a schematic view of a text field class diagram,
Figure 37 is a schematic view of a signature field class diagram,
Figure 38 is a flowchart of an input processing algoĪ€thm, Figure 38a is a detailed flowchart of one step of the flowchart of Figure 38,
Figure 39 is a schematic view of a page server command element class diagram.
Figure 40 is a schematic view of a resource descĪ€ption class diagram,
Figure 41 is a schematic view of a favoĪ€tes list class diagram,
Figure 42 is a schematic view of a history list class diagram, Figure 43 is a schematic view of a subscĪ€ption delivery protocol,
Figure 44 is a schematic view of a hyperlink request class diagram,
Figure 45 is a schematic view of a hyperlink activation protocol,
Figure 46 is a schematic view of a form submission protocol,
Figure 47 is a schematic view of a commission payment protocol, Figure 48 is a flowchart of document processing in a netpage pĪ€nter,
Figure 49 is a schematic view of a set of radial wedges making up a symbol,
Figure 50 is a schematic view of a Ī€ng A and B symbol allocation scheme,
Figure 51 is a schematic view of a first Ī€ng C and D symbol allocation scheme,
Figure 52 is a schematic view of a second nng C and D symbol allocation scheme, Figure 53 is a simple exploded view of the wallpĪ€nter,
Figure 54 is an exploded view of the ink cartridge,
Figure 55 is a pair of three-quarter views of the ink cartridge,
Figure 56 is a three-quarter view of a single ink bladder, - 4 -
Figures 57a and 57b are lateral and longitudinal sections through the ink cartridge. Figure 58 is a front three-quarter view of the open media tray, Figure 59 is a front three-quarter view of the electrical system of the pnnter. Figure 60 is a rear three-quarter view of the electĪ€cal system, Figure 61 is a front three-quarter view of the wallpĪ€nter with the lower front cover removed. Figure 62 is a section through the binder assembly, Figure 63 is a rear three-quarter view of the open glue wheel assembly, Figure 64 is a section through the binding assembly and the exit hatch, Figure 65 is a three-dimensional view of an interface module, Figure 66 is an exploded view of an interface module,
Figure 67 is a top three-quarter view of the media tray; and Figure 68 is a section through the top part of the pĪ€nter
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND OTHER EMBODIMENTS Note Memjetâ„ĸ is a trade mark of Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd. Australia In the preferred embodiment, the invention is configured to work with the netpage networked computer system, a detailed overview of which follows It will be appreciated that not every implementation will necessarily embody all or even most of the specific details and extensions discussed below m relation to the basic system However, the system is descĪ€bed in its most complete form to reduce the need for external reference when attempting to understand the context in which the prefeĪ€ed embodiments and aspects of the present invention operate In bĪ€ef summary, the preferred form of the netpage system employs a computer interface in the form of a mapped surface, that is, a physical surface which contains references to a map of the surface maintained in a computer system The map references can be queĪ€ed by an appropĪ€ate sensing device Depending upon the specific implementation, the map references may be encoded visibly or invisibly, and defined in such a way that a local query on the mapped surface yields an unambiguous map reference both within the map and among different maps The computer system can contain information about features on the mapped surface, and such information can be retrieved based on map references supplied by a sensing device used with the mapped surface The information thus retĪ€eved can take the form of actions which are initiated by the computer system on behalf of the operator in response to the operator's interaction with the surface features
In its preferred form, the netpage system relies on the production of. and human interaction with, netpages These are pages of text, graphics and images pĪ€nted on ordinary paper, but which work like interactive web pages Information is encoded on each page using ink which is substantially invisible to the unaided human eye The ink however, and thereby the coded data, can be sensed by an optically imaging pen and transmitted to the netpage system
In the preferred form, active buttons and hyperlinks on each page can be clicked with the pen to request information from the network or to signal preferences to a network server In one embodiment, text wĪ€tten by hand on a netpage is automatically recognized and converted to computer text in the netpage system, allowing forms to be filled in In other embodiments, signatures recorded on a netpage are automatically veĪ€fied, allowing e-commerce transactions to be securely authoĪ€zed
As illustrated in Figure 1 , a pĪ€nted netpage 1 can represent a interactive form which can be filled in by the user both physically, on the pĪ€nted page, and "electronically"', via communication between the pen and the netpage system The example shows a "Request" form containing name and address fields and a submit button The netpage consists of graphic data 2 pĪ€nted using visible ink, and coded data 3 pĪ€nted as a collection of tags 4 using invisible ink The corresponding page descĪ€ption 5, stored on the netpage network, descĪ€bes the individual elements of the netpage In particular it descĪ€bes the type and spatial extent (zone) of each interactive element (I e text field or button in the example), to allow the netpage system to correctly interpret input via the netpage The submit button 6, for example, has a - 5 - zone 7 which coĪ€esponds to the spatial extent of the corresponding graphic 8
As illustrated in Figure 2, the netpage pen 101. a preferred form of which is shown in Figures 8 and 9 and descĪ€bed in more detail below, works in conjunction with a netpage pĪ€nter 601. an Internet-connected pĪ€nting appliance for home, office or mobile use The pen is wireless and communicates securely with the netpage pĪ€nter via a short-range radio link 9
The netpage pĪ€nter 601, a preferred form of which is shown in Figures 1 1 to 13 and descĪ€bed in more detail below, is able to deliver, peĪ€odically or on demand, personalized newspapers, magazines, catalogs, brochures and other publications, all pĪ€nted at high quality as interactive netpages Unlike a personal computer, the netpage pĪ€nter is an appliance which can be, for example, wall-mounted adjacent to an area where the moming news is first consumed, such as in a user's kitchen, near a breakfast table, or near the household's point of departure for the day It also comes in tabletop desktop, portable and miniature versions
Netpages pĪ€nted at their point of consumption combine the ease-of-use of paper with the timeliness and interactivity of an interactive medium
As shown in Figure 2, the netpage pen 101 interacts with the coded data on a pĪ€nted netpage 1 and communicates, via a short-range radio link 9, the interaction to a netpage pĪ€nter The pĪ€nter 601 sends the interaction to the relevant netpage page server 10 for interpretation In appropĪ€ate circumstances, the page server sends a corresponding message to application computer software running on a netpage application server 13 The application server may in turn send a response which is pĪ€nted on the oĪ€ginating pĪ€nter
The netpage system is made considerably more convenient in the preferred embodiment by being used in conjunction with high-speed microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based Inkjet (Memjetâ„ĸ) pĪ€nters In the preferred form of this technology, relatively high-speed and high-quality pnntmg is made more affordable to consumers In its preferred form, a netpage publication has the physical characteĪ€stics of a traditional newsmagazine, such as a set of letter- size glossy pages pĪ€nted in full color on both sides, bound together for easy navigation and comfortable handling
The netpage pĪ€nter exploits the growing availability of broadband Internet access Cable service is available to 95% of households in the United States, and cable modem service offeĪ€ng broadband Internet access is already available to 20% of these The netpage pĪ€nter can also operate with slower connections, but with longer deliv ery times and lower image quality Indeed, the netpage system can be enabled using existing consumer Inkjet and laser pĪ€nters although the system will operate more slowly and will therefore be less acceptable from a consumer's point of view In other embodiments, the netpage system is hosted on a pĪ€vate intranet In still other embodiments, the netpage system is hosted on a single computer or computer-enabled device, such as a pĪ€nter
Netpage publication servers 14 on the netpage network are configured to deliver pĪ€nt-quality publications to netpage pĪ€nters PeĪ€odical publications are delivered automatically to subscnbing netpage pĪ€nters via pointcasting and multicasting Internet protocols Personalized publications are filtered and formatted according to individual user profiles
A netpage pĪ€nter can be configured to support any number of pens, and a pen can work with any number of netpage pĪ€nters In the preferred implementation, each netpage pen has a unique identifier A household may have a collection of colored netpage pens, one assigned to each member of the family This allows each user to maintain a distinct profile with respect to a netpage publication server or application server
A netpage pen can also be registered with a netpage registration server 1 1 and linked to one or more payment card accounts This allows e-commerce payments to be securely authonzed using the netpage pen The netpage registration server compares the signature captured by the netpage pen with a previously registered signature, allowing it to authenticate the user's identity to an e-commerce server Other biometĪ€cs can also be used to veĪ€fy identity A version of the netpage pen includes fingerpĪ€nt scanning, veĪ€fied in a similar way by the netpage registration server
Although a netpage pĪ€nter may deliver peĪ€odicals such as the moming newspaper without user intervention it can be configured never to deliver unsolicited junk mail In its preferred form, it only delivers peĪ€odicals from - 6 - subscĪ€bed or otherwise authoĪ€zed sources In this respect, the netpage pĪ€nter is unlike a fax machine or e-mail account which is visible to any junk mailer who knows the telephone number or email address 1 NETPAGE SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
Each object model in the system is descĪ€bed using a Unified Modeling Language (UML) class diagram A class diagram consists of a set of object classes connected by relationships, and two kinds of relationships are of interest here associations and generalizations An association represents some kind of relationship between objects, l e between instances of classes A generalization relates actual classes, and can be understood in the following way if a class is thought of as the set of all objects of that class, and class A is a generalization of class B, then B is simply a subset of A The UML does not directly support second-order modelling - 1 e classes of classes Each class is drawn as a rectangle labelled with the name of the class It contains a list of the attributes of the class, separated from the name by a hoĪ€zontal line, and a list of the operations of the class, separated from the attĪ€bute list by a hoĪ€zontal line In the class diagrams which follow, however, operations are never modelled
An association is drawn as a line joining two classes, optionally labelled at either end with the multiplicity of the association The default multiplicity is one An asteĪ€sk (*) indicates a multiplicity of "many", 1 e zero or more Each association is optionally labelled with its name, and is also optionally labelled at either end with the role of the coĪ€esponding class An open diamond indicates an aggregation association (' is-part-of '), and is drawn at the aggregator end of the association line
A generalization relationship ("ls-a") is drawn as a solid line joining two classes, with an arrow (in the form of an open tnangle) at the generalization end When a class diagram is broken up into multiple diagrams, any class which is duplicated is shown with a dashed outline in all but the main diagram which defines it It is shown with attnbutes only where it is defined 1.1 NETPAGES
Netpages are the foundation on which a netpage network is built They provide a paper-based user interface to published information and interactive services A netpage consists of a pnnted page (or other surface region) invisibly tagged with references to an online descĪ€ption of the page The online page descĪ€ption is maintained persistently by a netpage page server The page descĪ€ption descĪ€bes the visible layout and content of the page, including text, graphics and images It also descĪ€bes the input elements on the page, including buttons, hyperlinks, and input fields A netpage allows markings made with a netpage pen on its surface to be simultaneously captured and processed by the netpage system Multiple netpages can share the same page descĪ€ption However, to allow input through otherwise identical pages to be distinguished, each netpage is assigned a unique page identifier This page ID has sufficient precision to distinguish between a very large number of netpages
Each reference to the page descĪ€ption is encoded in a pĪ€nted tag The tag identifies the unique page on which it appears, and thereby indirectly identifies the page descĪ€ption The tag also identifies its own position on the page CharacteĪ€stics of the tags are descĪ€bed in more detail below
Tags are pnnted in infrared-absorptive ink on any substrate which is infrared-reflective, such as ordinary paper Near-infrared wavelengths are invisible to the human eye but are easily sensed by a solid-state image sensor with an appropĪ€ate filter
A tag is sensed by an area image sensor in the netpage pen, and the tag data is transmitted to the netpage system via the nearest netpage pĪ€nter The pen is wireless and communicates with the netpage pĪ€nter via a short-range radio link Tags are sufficiently small and densely aĪ€anged that the pen can reliably image at least one tag even on a single click on the page It is important that the pen recognize the page ID and position on every interaction with the page, since the interaction is stateless Tags are eĪ€or-correctably encoded to make them partially tolerant to surface damage
The netpage page server maintains a unique page instance for each pĪ€nted netpage, allowing it to maintain a 7 - distinct set of user-supplied values for input fields in the page descĪ€ption for each pĪ€nted netpage
The relationship between the page descnption. the page instance, and the pĪ€nted netpage is shown in Figure 4 The page instance is associated with both the netpage pĪ€nter which pĪ€nted it and if known, the netpage user who requested it 1.2 NETPAGE TAGS
1.2.1 Tag Data Content
In a preferred form, each tag identifies the region in which it appears, and the location of that tag within the region A tag may also contain flags which relate to the region as a whole or to the tag One or more flag bits may, for example, signal a tag sensing device to provide feedback indicative of a function associated with the immediate area of the tag, without the sensing device having to refer to a descĪ€ption of the region A netpage pen may, for example, illuminate an "active area" LED when in the zone of a hyperlink
As will be more clearly explained below, in a preferred embodiment, each tag contains an easily recognized mvaĪ€ant structure which aids initial detection, and which assists in minimizing the effect of any warp induced by the surface or by the sensing process The tags preferably tile the entire page, and are sufficiently small and densely arranged that the pen can reliably image at least one tag even on a single click on the page It is important that the pen recognize the page ID and position on every interaction with the page, since the interaction is stateless
In a preferred embodiment, the region to which a tag refers coincides with an entire page, and the region ID encoded in the tag is therefore synonymous with the page ID of the page on which the tag appears In other embodiments, the region to which a tag refers can be an arbitrary subregion of a page or other surface For example, it can coincide with the zone of an interactive element, in which case the region ID can directly identify the interactive element
Table 1 - Tag data
Figure imgf000010_0001
Each tag contains 120 bits of information, typically allocated as shown in Table 1 Assuming a maximum tag density of 64 per square inch, a 16-bit tag ID supports a region size of up to 1024 square inches Larger regions can be mapped continuously without increasing the tag ID precision simply by using abutting regions and maps The 100-bit region ID allows 2100 (-1030 or a million trillion tĪ€llion) different regions to be uniquely identified 1.2.2 Tag Data Encoding
The 120 bits of tag data are redundantly encoded using a (15. 5) Reed-Solomon code This yields 360 encoded bits consisting of 6 codewords of 15 4-bit symbols each The ( 15, 5) code allows up to 5 symbol errors to be corrected per codeword, l e it is tolerant of a symbol error rate of up to 33% per codeword
Each 4-bit symbol is represented in a spatially coherent way in the tag. and the symbols of the six codewords are interleaved spatially within the tag This ensures that a burst error (an error affecting multiple spatially adjacent bits) damages a minimum number of symbols overall and a minimum number of symbols in any one codeword, thus maximising the likelihood that the burst error can be fully corrected 1.2.3 Physical Tag Structure
The physical representation of the tag, shown in Figure 5, includes fixed target structures 15, 16, 17 and vaĪ€able data areas 18 The fixed target structures allow a sensing device such as the netpage pen to detect the tag and infer its three-dimensional oĪ€entation relative to the sensor The data areas contain representations of the individual bits - 8 - of the encoded tag data
To achieve proper tag reproduction, the tag is rendered at a resolution of 256x256 dots When pĪ€nted at 1600 dots per inch this yields a tag with a diameter of about 4 mm At this resolution the tag is designed to be surrounded by a "quiet area" of radius 16 dots Since the quiet area is also contĪ€buted by adjacent tags, it only adds 16 dots to the effective diameter of the tag
The tag includes six target structures A detection nng 15 allows the sensing device to initially detect the tag The Ī€ng is easy to detect because it is rotationally invaĪ€ant and because a simple correction of its aspect ratio removes most of the effects of perspective distortion An onentation axis 16 allows the sensing device to determine the approximate planar oĪ€entation of the tag due to the yaw of the sensor The oĪ€entation axis is skewed to yield a unique oĪ€entation Four perspective targets 17 allow the sensing device to infer an accurate two-dimensional perspective transform of the tag and hence an accurate three-dimensional position and oĪ€entation of the tag relative to the sensor All target structures are redundantly large to improve their immunity to noise
The overall tag shape is circular This supports, amongst other things optimal tag packing on an lĪ€egular triangular gĪ€d In combination with the circular detection Ī€ng 15, this makes a circular arrangement of data bits within the tag optimal As shown in Figure 48, to maximise its size, each data bit is represented by a radial wedge 510 in the form of an area bounded by two radial lines 512, a radially inner arc 514 and a radially outer arc 516 Each wedge 510 has a minimum dimension of 8 dots at 1600 dpi and is designed so that its base (l e its inner arc 514), is at least equal to this minimum dimension The radial height of the wedge 510 is always equal to the minimum dimension Each 4-bit data symbol is represented by an array 518 of 2x2 wedges 510. as best shown in Figure 48 The 15 4-bit data symbols of each of the six codewords are allocated to the four concentĪ€c symbol Ī€ngs 18a to 18d, shown in Figure 5, in interleaved fashion as shown in Figures 49 to 51 Symbols of first to sixth codewords 520- 525 are allocated alternately in circular progression around the tag
The interleaving is designed to maximise the average spatial distance between any two symbols of the same codeword In order to support "single-click" interaction with a tagged region via a sensing device, the sensing device must be able to see at least one entire tag in its field of view no matter where in the region or at what oĪ€entation it is positioned The required diameter of the field of view of the sensing device is therefore a function of the size and spacing of the tags
Assuming a circular tag shape, the minimum diameter of the sensor field of view is obtained when the tags are tiled on a equilateral tĪ€angular gĪ€d, as shown in Figure 6 1.2.4 Tag Image Processing and Decoding
The tag image processing and decoding performed by a sensing device such as the netpage pen is shown in
Figure 7 While a captured image is being acquired from the image sensor, the dynamic range of the image is determined
(at 20) The center of the range is then chosen as the binary threshold for the image 21 The image is then thresholded and segmented into connected pixel regions (I e shapes 23) (at 22) Shapes which are too small to represent tag target structures are discarded The size and centroid of each shape is also computed
Binary shape moments 25 are then computed (at 24) for each shape, and these provide the basis for subsequently locating target structures Central shape moments are by their nature invanant of position, and can be easily made invaĪ€ant of scale, aspect ratio and rotation The Ī€ng target structure 15 is the first to be located (at 26) A Ī€ng has the advantage of being very well behaved when perspective-distorted Matching proceeds by aspect-normalizing and rotation-normalizing each shape's moments Once its second-order moments are normalized the Ī€ng is easy to recognize even if the perspective distortion was significant The Ī€ng's onginal aspect and rotation 27 together provide a useful approximation of the perspectiv e - 9 - transform
The axis target structure 16 is the next to be located (at 28) Matching proceeds by applying the Ī€ng s normalizations to each shape's moments, and rotation-normalizing the resulting moments Once its second-order moments are normalized the axis target is easily recognized Note that one third order moment is required to disambiguate the two possible oĪ€entations of the axis The shape is deliberately skewed to one side to make this possible Note also that it is only possible to rotation-normalize the axis target after it has had the Ī€ng s normalizations applied, since the perspective distortion can hide the axis target's axis The axis target s oĪ€ginal rotation provides a useful approximation of the tag's rotation due to pen yaw 29
The four perspective target structures 17 are the last to be located (at 30) Good estimates of their positions are computed based on their known spatial relationships to the nng and axis targets, the aspect and rotation of the Ī€ng, and the rotation of the axis Matching proceeds by applying the Ī€ng's normalizations to each shape's moments Once their second-order moments are normalized the circular perspective targets are easy to recognize, and the target closest to each estimated position is taken as a match The onginal centroids of the four perspective targets are then taken to be the perspective-distorted corners 31 of a square of known size in tag space, and an eight-degree-of-freedom perspective transform 33 is inferred (at 32) based on solving the well-understood equations relating the four tag-space and image- space point pairs (see Heckbert, P , Fundamentals of Texture Mapping and Image Warping Masters Thesis, Dept of EECS, U of California at Berkeley, Technical Report No UCB/CSD 89/516, June 1989, the contents of which are herein incorporated by cross-reference)
The inferred tag-space to image-space perspective transform is used to project (at 36) each known data bit position in tag space into image space where the real-valued position is used to bihnearly interpolate (at 36) the four relevant adjacent pixels in the input image The previously computed image threshold 21 is used to threshold the result to produce the final bit value 37
Once all 360 data bits 37 have been obtained in this way, each of the six 60-bit Reed-Solomon codewords is decoded (at 38) to yield 20 decoded bits 39, or 120 decoded bits in total Note that the codeword symbols are sampled in codeword order, so that codewords are implicitly de-interleaved duĪ€ng the sampling process
The Ī€ng target 15 is only sought in a subarea of the image whose relationship to the image guarantees that the Ī€ng, if found, is part of a complete tag If a complete tag is not found and successfully decoded, then no pen position is recorded for the current frame Given adequate processing power and ideally a non-minimal field of view 193, an alternative strategy involves seeking another tag in the current image The obtained tag data indicates the identity of the region containing the tag and the position of the tag within the region An accurate position 35 of the pen nib in the region, as well as the overall oĪ€entation 35 of the pen, is then inferred (at 34) from the perspective transform 33 observed on the tag and the known spatial relationship between the pen's physical axis and the pen's optical axis 1.2.5 Tag Map Decoding a tag results in a region ID, a tag ID, and a tag-relative pen transform Before the tag ID and the tag-relative pen location can be translated into an absolute location within the tagged region, the location of the tag within the region must be known This is given by a tag map, a function which maps each tag ID in a tagged region to a corresponding location The tag map class diagram is shown in Figure 22, as part of the netpage pĪ€nter class diagram
A tag map reflects the scheme used to tile the surface region with tags, and this can vary according to surface type When multiple tagged regions share the same tiling scheme and the same tag numbeĪ€ng scheme, they can also share the same tag map
The tag map for a region must be retĪ€evable via the region ID Thus, given a region ID, a tag ID and a pen transtorm. the tag map can be retrieved, the tag ID can be translated into an absolute tag location within the region, and the tag-relative pen location can be added to the tag location to Yield an absolute pen location within the region - 10 -
1.2.6 Tagging Schemes
Two distinct surface coding schemes are of interest, both of which use the tag structure descĪ€bed earlier in this section The prefeĪ€ed coding scheme uses "location-indicating" tags as already discussed An alternative coding scheme uses object-indicating tags A location-indicating tag contains a tag ID which when translated through the tag map associated with the tagged region yields a unique tag location within the region The tag-relative location of the pen is added to this tag location to yield the location of the pen within the region This in turn is used to determine the location of the pen relative to a user interface element in the page descĪ€ption associated with the region Not only is the user interface element itself identified, but a location relative to the user interface element is identified Location-indicating tags therefore tĪ€vially support the capture of an absolute pen path in the zone of a particular user interface element
An object-indicating tag contains a tag ID which directly identifies a user interface element in the page descĪ€ption associated with the region All the tags in the zone of the user interface element identify the user interface element, making them all identical and therefore indistinguishable Object-indicating tags do not, therefore, support the capture of an absolute pen path They do, however support the capture of a relative pen path So long as the position sampling frequency exceeds twice the encountered tag frequency, the displacement from one sampled pen position to the next within a stroke can be unambiguously determined
With either tagging scheme, the tags function m cooperation with associated visual elements on the netpage as user interactive elements in that a user can interact with the pĪ€nted page using an appropĪ€ate sensing device in order for tag data to be read by the sensing device and for an appropĪ€ate response to be generated in the netpage system 1.3 DOCUMENT AND PAGE DESCRIPTIONS
A prefeĪ€ed embodiment of a document and page descĪ€ption class diagram is shown in Figures 25 and 26 In the netpage system a document is descĪ€bed at three levels At the most abstract level the document 836 has a hierarchical structure whose terminal elements 839 are associated with content objects 840 such as text objects, text style objects, image objects, etc Once the document is pĪ€nted on a pĪ€nter with a particular page size and according to a particular user s scale factor preference, the document is paginated and otherwise formatted Formatted terminal elements 835 will in some cases be associated with content objects which are different from those associated with their coĪ€esponding te ninal elements, particularly where the content objects are style-related Each pnnted instance of a document and page is also descĪ€bed separately, to allow input captured through a particular page instance 830 to be recorded separately from input captured through other instances of the same page descĪ€ption The presence of the most abstract document descĪ€ption on the page server allows a user to request a copy of a document without being forced to accept the source document s specific format The user may be requesting a copy through a pĪ€nter with a different page size, for example Conversely, the presence of the formatted document descĪ€ption on the page server allows the page server to efficiently interpret user actions on a particular pĪ€nted page
A foĪ€natted document 834 consists of a set of formatted page descĪ€ptions 5, each of which consists of a set of foĪ€natted teĪ€mnal elements 835 Each formatted element has a spatial extent or zone 58 on the page This defines the active area of input elements such as hyperlinks and input fields
A document instance 831 coĪ€esponds to a foĪ€natted document 834 It consists of a set of page instances 830, each of which coĪ€esponds to a page descĪ€ption 5 of the foĪ€natted document Each page instance 830 descĪ€bes a single unique pĪ€nted netpage 1. and records the page ID 50 of the netpage A page instance is not part of a document instance if it represents a copy of a page requested in isolation
A page instance consists of a set of terminal element instances 832 An element instance only exists if it records instance-specific information Thus, a hyperlink instance exists for a hyperlink element because it records a transaction ID 55 which is specific to the page instance, and a field instance exists for a field element because it records input specific to the page instance An element instance does not exist, however, for static elements such as textflows - 11 -
A terminal element can be a static element 843. a hyperlink element 844. a field element 845 or a page server command element 846. as shown in Figure 27 A static element 843 can be a style element 847 with an associated style object 854, a textflow element 848 with an associated styled text object 855. an image element 849 with an associated image element 856, a graphic element 850 with an associated graphic object 857. a video clip element 851 with an associated video clip object 858, an audio clip element 852 with an associated audio clip object 859, or a scĪ€pt element 853 with an associated scĪ€pt object 860, as sho n in Figure 28
A page instance has a background field 833 which is used to record any digital ink captured on the page which does not apply to a specific input element
In the prefeĪ€ed form of the invention, a tag map 81 1 is associated with each page instance to allow tags on the page to be translated into locations on the page 1.4 THE NETPAGE NETWORK
In a prefeĪ€ed embodiment, a netpage network consists of a distributed set of netpage page servers 10, netpage registration servers 11. netpage ID servers 12, netpage application servers 13, netpage publication servers 14, and netpage pĪ€nters 601 connected via a network 19 such as the Internet, as shown in Figure 3 The netpage registration server 11 is a server which records relationships between users, pens, pĪ€nters, applications and publications, and thereby authoĪ€zes vaĪ€ous network activities It authenticates users and acts as a signing proxy on behalf of authenticated users in application transactions It also provides handwĪ€tmg recognition services As descĪ€bed above, a netpage page server 10 maintains persistent information about page descĪ€ptions and page instances The netpage network includes any number of page servers, each handling a subset of page instances Since a page server also maintains user input values for each page instance, clients such as netpage pĪ€nters send netpage input directly to the appropĪ€ate page server The page server interprets any such input relative to the descĪ€ption of the coĪ€esponding page
A netpage ID server 12 allocates document IDs 51 on demand, and provides load-balancing of page servers via its ID allocation scheme A netpage pĪ€nter uses the Internet DistĪ€buted Name System (DNS), or similar, to resolve a netpage page ID
50 into the network address of the netpage page server handling the coĪ€esponding page instance
A netpage application server 13 is a server which hosts interactive netpage applications A netpage publication server 14 is an application server which publishes netpage documents to netpage pĪ€nters They are descĪ€bed in detail in Section 2 Netpage servers can be hosted on a vaĪ€ety of network server platforms from manufacturers such as IBM,
Hewlett-Packard, and Sun Multiple netpage servers can run concuĪ€ently on a single host, and a single server can be distĪ€buted over a number of hosts Some or all of the functionality provided by netpage servers, and in particular the functionality provided by the ID server and the page server, can also be provided directly in a netpage appliance such as a netpage pnnter, in a computer workstation, or on a local network 1.5 THE NETPAGE PRINTER
The netpage pĪ€nter 601 is an appliance which is registered with the netpage system and pĪ€nts netpage documents on demand and via subscĪ€ption Each pĪ€nter has a unique pĪ€nter ID 62. and is connected to the netpage network via a network such as the Internet, ideally via a broadband connection
Apart from identity and secuĪ€ty settings in non-volatile memory, the netpage pĪ€nter contains no persistent storage As far as a user is concerned, "the network is the computer" Netpages function interactively across space and time with the help of the distnbuted netpage page servers 10. independently of particular netpage pĪ€nters
The netpage pĪ€nter receives subscĪ€bed netpage documents from netpage publication servers 14 Each document is distĪ€buted in two parts the page layouts, and the actual text and image objects which populate the pages Because of personalization, page layouts are typically specific to a particular subscĪ€ber and so are pointcast to the - 12 - subscĪ€ber's pĪ€nter via the appropĪ€ate page server Text and image objects, on the other hand, are typically shared with other subscnbers, and so are multicast to all subscĪ€bers' pĪ€nters and the appropĪ€ate page servers
The netpage publication server optimizes the segmentation of document content into pointcasts and multicasts After receiving the pointcast of a document's page layouts, the pĪ€nter knows which multicasts. if any, to listen to
Once the pĪ€nter has received the complete page layouts and objects that define the document to be pĪ€nted, it can pĪ€nt the document
The pnnter rastenzes and pĪ€nts odd and even pages simultaneously on both sides of the sheet It contains duplexed pĪ€nt engine controllers 760 and pĪ€nt engines utilizing Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€ntheads 350 for this purpose The pĪ€nting process consists of two decoupled stages rasteĪ€zation of page descĪ€ptions. and expansion and pnntmg of page images The raster image processor (RIP) consists of one or more standard DSPs 757 running in parallel The duplexed pĪ€nt engine controllers consist of custom processors which expand, dither and pĪ€nt page images in real time, synchronized with the operation of the pĪ€ntheads in the pĪ€nt engines
PĪ€nters not enabled for IR pĪ€nting have the option to pĪ€nt tags using IR-absorptive black k, although this restĪ€cts tags to otherwise empty areas of the page Although such pages have more limited functionality than IR-pnnted pages, they are still classed as netpages
A normal netpage pĪ€nter pĪ€nts netpages on sheets of paper More specialised netpage pĪ€nters may pĪ€nt onto more specialised surfaces, such as globes Each pĪ€nter supports at least one surface type, and supports at least one tag tiling scheme, and hence tag map, for each surface type The tag map 81 1 which descĪ€bes the tag tiling scheme actually used to pĪ€nt a document becomes associated with that document so that the document's tags can be coĪ€ectly interpreted
Figure 2 shows the netpage pĪ€nter class diagram, reflecting pnnter-related information maintained by a registration server 1 1 on the netpage network
A prefeĪ€ed embodiment of the netpage pĪ€nter is descĪ€bed in greater detail m Section 6 below, with reference to Figures 1 1 to 16 1.5.1 Memjetâ„ĸ Printheads
The netpage system can operate using pĪ€nters made with a wide range of digital pnntmg technologies, including theĪ€nal Inkjet, piezoelectnc mkjet, laser electrophotographic, and others However, for wide consumer acceptance, it is desirable that a netpage pĪ€nter have the following charactenstics
â€ĸ photographic quality color pnntmg â€ĸ high quality text pĪ€nting
â€ĸ high reliability
â€ĸ low pĪ€nter cost
Figure imgf000015_0001
â€ĸ low paper cost â€ĸ simple operation
â€ĸ nearly silent pĪ€nting
â€ĸ high pĪ€nting speed
â€ĸ simultaneous double sided pnntmg
â€ĸ compact form factor â€ĸ low power consumption
No commercially available pĪ€nting technology has all of these charactenstics
To enable to production of pĪ€nters with these charactenstics, the present applicant has invented a new pĪ€nt technology, refeĪ€ed to as Memjetâ„ĸ technology Memjetâ„ĸ is a drop-on-demand Inkjet technology that incorporates - 13 - pagewidth pnntheads fabĪ€cated using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology Figure 17 shows a single pĪ€nting element 300 of a Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€nthead The netpage wallpĪ€nter incorporates 168960 pnntmg elements 300 to form a 1600 dpi pagewidth duplex pĪ€nter This pnnter simultaneously pĪ€nts cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and infrared inks as well as paper conditioner and ink fixative The pnntmg element 300 is approximately 1 10 microns long by 32 microns wide Arrays of these pnntmg elements are formed on a silicon substrate 301 that incorporates CMOS logic, data transfer timing, and dnve circuits (not shown)
Major elements of the pnntmg element 300 are the nozzle 302. the nozzle Ī€m 303, the nozzle chamber 304. the fluidic seal 305, the ink channel Ī€m 306, the lever arm 307, the active actuator beam pair 308, the passive actuator beam pair 309, the active actuator anchor 310. the passive actuator anchor 31 1, and the ink inlet 312
The active actuator beam pair 308 is mechanically joined to the passive actuator beam pair 309 at the join 319 Both beams pairs are anchored at their respective anchor points 310 and 31 1 The combination of elements 308, 309, 310, 31 1 , and 319 form a cantilevered electrothermal bend actuator 320
Figure 18 shows a small part of an aĪ€ay of pĪ€nting elements 300, including a cross section 315 of a pĪ€nting element 300 The cross section 315 is shown without ink. to clearly show the ink inlet 312 that passes through the silicon wafer 301
Figures 19(a), 19(b) and 19(c) show the operating cycle of a Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€nting element 300 Figure 19(a) shows the quiescent position of the ink meniscus 316 pĪ€or to pĪ€nting an ink droplet Ink is retained in the nozzle chamber by surface tension at the ink meniscus 316 and at the fluidic seal 305 formed between the nozzle chamber 304 and the ink channel Ī€m 306
While pnntmg, the pĪ€nthead CMOS circuitry distĪ€butes data from the pĪ€nt engine controller to the coĪ€ect pĪ€nting element, latches the data, and buffers the data to dnve the electrodes 318 of the active actuator beam pair 308 This causes an electncal cuĪ€ent to pass through the beam pair 308 for about one microsecond, resulting in Joule heating The temperature increase resulting from Joule heating causes the beam pair 308 to expand As the passive actuator beam pair 309 is not heated, it does not expand, resulting in a stress difference between the two beam pairs This stress difference is partially resolved by the cantilevered end of the electrothermal bend actuator 320 bending towards the substrate 301 The lever arm 307 transmits this movement to the nozzle chamber 304 The nozzle chamber 304 moves about two microns to the position shown m Figure 19(b) This increases the ink pressure, forcing ink 321 out of the nozzle 302, and causing the ink meniscus 316 to bulge The nozzle nm 303 prevents the ink meniscus 316 from spreading across the surface of the nozzle chamber 304
As the temperature of the beam pairs 308 and 309 equalizes, the actuator 320 returns to its onginal position This aids in the break-off of the ink droplet 317 from the ink 321 in the nozzle chamber, as shown in Figure 19(c) The nozzle chamber is refilled by the action of the surface tension at the meniscus 316
Figure 20 shows a segment of a pnnthead 350 In a netpage pĪ€nter, the length of the pĪ€nthead is the full width of the paper (typically 210 mm) in the direction 351 The segment shown is 04 mm long (about 0 2% of a complete pĪ€nthead) When pĪ€nting, the paper is moved past the fixed pĪ€nthead in the direction 352 The pnnthead has 6 rows of interdigitated pnntmg elements 300, pĪ€nting the six colors or types of ink supplied by the ink inlets 312
To protect the fragile surface of the pĪ€nthead duĪ€ng operation, a nozzle guard wafer 330 is attached to the pĪ€nthead substrate 301 For each nozzle 302 there is a coĪ€esponding nozzle guard hole 331 through which the ink droplets are fired To prevent the nozzle guard holes 331 from becoming blocked by paper fibers or other debns. filtered air is pumped through the air inlets 332 and out of the nozzle guard holes dunng pĪ€nting To prevent ink 321 from drying, the nozzle guard is sealed while the pĪ€nter is idle 1.6 The Netpage Pen
The active sensing device of the netpage system is typically a pen 101 , which, using its embedded controller - 14 -
134. is able to capture and decode IR position tags from a page via an image sensor The image sensor is a solid-state device provided with an appropĪ€ate filter to permit sensing at only near-infrared wavelengths As descĪ€bed in more detail below, the system is able to sense when the nib is in contact with the surface, and the pen is able to sense tags at a sufficient rate to capture human handwĪ€ting (1 e at 200 dpi or greater and 100 Hz or faster) Information captured by the pen is encrypted and wirelessly transmitted to the pĪ€nter (or base station), the pĪ€nter or base station interpreting the data with respect to the (known) page structure
The prefeĪ€ed embodiment of the netpage pen operates both as a normal marking ink pen and as a non- markmg stylus The marking aspect, however, is not necessary for using the netpage system as a browsing system, such as when it is used as an Internet interface Each netpage pen is registered with the netpage system and has a unique pen ID 61 Figure 23 shows the netpage pen class diagram, reflecting pen-related information maintained by a registration server 1 1 on the netpage network
When either nib is in contact with a netpage, the pen determines its position and oĪ€entation relative to the page The nib is attached to a force sensor, and the force on the nib is interpreted relative to a threshold to indicate whether the pen is "up" or "down" This allows a interactive element on the page to be 'clicked' by pressing with the pen nib, in order to request, say, information from a network Furthermore, the force is captured as a continuous value to allow, say. the full dynamics of a signature to be venfied
The pen determines the position and oĪ€entation of its nib on the netpage by imaging, in the infrared spectrum, an area 193 of the page in the vicinity of the nib It decodes the nearest tag and computes the position of the nib relative to the tag from the observed perspective distortion on the imaged tag and the known geometry of the pen optics Although the position resolution of the tag may be low, because the tag density on the page is inversely proportional to the tag size, the adjusted position resolution is quite high, exceeding the minimum resolution required for accurate handwntmg recognition
Pen actions relative to a netpage are captured as a senes of strokes A stroke consists of a sequence of time- stamped pen positions on the page, initiated by a pen-down event and completed by the subsequent pen-up event A stroke is also tagged with the page ID 50 of the netpage whenever the page ID changes, which, under normal circumstances, is at the commencement of the stroke
Each netpage pen has a cuĪ€ent selection 826 associated with it, allowing the user to perform copy and paste operations etc The selection is timestamped to allow the system to discard it after a defined time penod The cuĪ€ent selection descnbes a region of a page instance It consists of the most recent digital ink stroke captured through the pen relative to the background area of the page It is interpreted in an application-specific manner once it is submitted to an application via a selection hyperlink activation
Each pen has a cuĪ€ent nib 824 This is the nib last notified by the pen to the system In the case of the default netpage pen descĪ€bed above, either the marking black ink nib or the non-marking stylus nib is cuĪ€ent Each pen also has a cuĪ€ent nib style 825 This is the nib style last associated with the pen by an application, e g in response to the user selecting a color from a palette The default nib style is the nib style associated with the cuĪ€ent nib Strokes captured through a pen are tagged with the cuĪ€ent nib style When the strokes are subsequently reproduced, they are reproduced in the nib style with which they are tagged
Whenever the pen is within range of a pĪ€nter with which it can communicate, the pen slowly flashes its "online" LED When the pen fails to decode a stroke relative to the page, it momentarily activates its ' eĪ€or" LED When the pen succeeds in decoding a stroke relative to the page, it momentanly activates its "ok" LED
A sequence of captured strokes is refeĪ€ed to as digital ink Digital ink forms the basis for the digital exchange of drawings and handwntmg, for online recognition of handwĪ€ting, and for online veĪ€fication of signatures
The pen is wireless and transmits digital ink to the netpage pnnter via a short-range radio link The transmitted digital ink is encrypted for pĪ€vacy and secuĪ€ty and packetized for efficient transmission, but is always flushed - 15 - on a pen-up event to ensure timely handling in the pĪ€nter
When the pen is out-of-range of a pnnter it buffers digital ink in internal memory which has a capacity of over ten minutes of continuous handwntmg When the pen is once again within range of a pnnter. it transfers any buffered digital ink A pen can be registered with any number of pnnters, but because all state data resides in netpages both on paper and on the network, it is largely immateĪ€al which pnnter a pen is communicating with at any particular time
A prefeĪ€ed embodiment of the pen is descnbed in greater detail in Section 6 below, with reference to Figures 8 to 10
1.7 NETPAGE INTERACTION The netpage pnnter 601 receives data relating to a stroke from the pen 101 when the pen is used to interact with a netpage 1 The coded data 3 of the tags 4 is read by the pen when it is used to execute a movement, such as a stroke The data allows the identity of the particular page and associated interactive element to be determined and an indication of the relative positioning of the pen relative to the page to be obtained The indicating data is transmitted to the pnnter where it resolves, via the DNS, the page ID 50 of the stroke into the network address of the netpage page server 10 which maintains the coĪ€esponding page instance 830 It then transmits the stroke to the page server If the page was recently identified in an earlier stroke, then the pnnter may already have the address of the relevant page server in its cache Each netpage consists of a compact page layout maintained persistently by a netpage page server (see below) The page layout refers to objects such as images, fonts and pieces of text, typically stored elsewhere on the netpage network
When the page server receives the stroke from the pen, it retrieves the page descĪ€ption to which the stroke applies, and determines which element of the page descĪ€ption the stroke intersects It is then able to interpret the stroke in the context of the type of the relevant element
A "click" is a stroke where the distance and time between the pen down position and the subsequent pen up position are both less than some small maximum An object which is activated by a click typically requires a click to be activated, and accordingly, a longer stroke is ignored The failure of a pen action, such as a "sloppy" click, to register is indicated by the lack of response from the pen's "ok" LED
There are two kinds of input elements in a netpage page descĪ€ption hyperlinks and form fields Input through a form field can also tĪ€gger the activation of an associated hyperlink 1.7.1 Hyperlinks
A hyperlink is a means of sending a message to a remote application, and typically elicits a pnnted response in the netpage system
A hyperlink element 844 identifies the application 71 which handles activation of the hyperlink, a link ID 54 which identifies the hyperlink to the application, an "alias required" flag which asks the system to include the user's application alias ID 65 in the hyperlink activation, and a descĪ€ption which is used when the hyperlink is recorded as a favoĪ€te or appears in the user's history The hyperlink element class diagram is shown in Figure 29 When a hyperlink is activated, the page server sends a request to an application somewhere on the network
The application is identified by an application ID 64, and the application ID is resolved in the normal way via the DNS There are three types of hyperlinks general hyperlinks 863, form hyperlinks 865. and selection hyperlinks 864, as shown in Figure 30 A general hyperlink can implement a request for a linked document, or may simply signal a preference to a server A form hyperlink submits the coĪ€esponding form to the application A selection hyperlink submits the cuĪ€ent selection to the application If the cuĪ€ent selection contains a single-word piece of text for example, the application may return a single-page document giving the word's meaning within the context in which it appears, or a translation into a different language Each hyperlink type is charactenzed by what mfoĪ€nation is submitted to the application
The coĪ€esponding hyperlink instance 862 records a transaction ID 55 which can be specific to the page instance on which the hyperlink instance appears The transaction ID can identify user-specific data to the application, for - 16 - example a shopping cart" of pending purchases maintained by a purchasing application on behalf of the user
The system includes the pen s cuĪ€ent selection 826 m a selection hyperlink activation The system includes the content of the associated form instance 868 in a form hyperlink activation, although if the hyperlink has its "submit delta" attnbute set. only input since the last form submission is included The system includes an effective return path in all hyperlink activations
A hyperhnked group 866 is a group element 838 which has an associated hyperlink, as shown in Figure 31 When input occurs through any field element in the group, the hyperlink 844 associated with the group is activated A hyperhnked group can be used to associate hyperlink behavior with a field such as a checkbox It can also be used, in conjunction with the ' submit delta" attnbute of a foĪ€n hyperlink, to provide continuous input to an application It can therefore be used to support a "blackboard" interaction model, l e where input is captured and therefore shared as soon as it occurs 1.7.2 Forms
A form defines a collection of related input fields used to capture a related set of inputs through a pnnted netpage A form allows a user to submit one or more parameters to an application software program running on a server A form 867 is a group element 838 in the document hierarchy It ultimately contains a set of terminal field elements 839 A form instance 868 represents a pnnted instance of a foĪ€n It consists of a set of field instances 870 which coĪ€espond to the field elements 845 of the form Each field instance has an associated value 871 , whose type depends on the type of the coĪ€esponding field element Each field value records input through a particular pnnted foĪ€n instance, l e through one or more pnnted netpages The form class diagram is shown in Figure 32 Each form instance has a status 872 which indicates whether the form is active, frozen, submitted, void or expired A form is active when first pnnted A foĪ€n becomes frozen once it is signed A form becomes submitted once one of its submission hyperlinks has been activated, unless the hyperlink has its "submit delta" attribute set A form becomes void when the user invokes a void foĪ€n, reset form or duplicate form page command A form expires when the time the form has been active exceeds the form's specified lifetime While the form is active, form input is allowed Input through a form which is not active is instead captured in the background field 833 of the relevant page instance When the form is active or frozen, form submission is allowed Any attempt to submit a form when the form is not active or frozen is rejected, and instead elicits an form status report
Each form instance is associated (at 59) with any foĪ€n instances denved from it thus providing a version history This allows all but the latest version of a form in a particular time penod to be excluded from a search All input is captured as digital ink Digital ink 873 consists of a set of timestamped stroke groups 874, each of which consists of a set of styled strokes 875 Each stroke consists of a set of timestamped pen positions 876, each of which also includes pen orientation and nib force The digital ink class diagram is shown in Figure 33
A field element 845 can be a checkbox field 877, a text field 878, a drawing field 879, or a signature field 880 The field element class diagram is shown in Figure 34 Any digital ink captured in a field s zone 58 is assigned to the field
A checkbox field has an associated boolean value 881 , as shown m Figure 35 Any mark (a tick, a cross, a stroke, a fill zigzag, etc ) captured in a checkbox field's zone causes a true value to be assigned to the field's value
A text field has an associated text value 882, as shown in Figure 36 Any digital ink captured in a text field s zone is automatically converted to text via online handwntmg recognition, and the text is assigned to the field s value Online handwĪ€ting recognition is well-understood (see, for example. Tappert, C . C Y Suen and T Wakahara, "The State of the Art in On-Line HandwĪ€ting Recognition", IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence
Vol 12, No 8, August 1990, the contents of which are herein incorporated by cross-reference)
A signature field has an associated digital signature value 883, as shown in Figure 37 Any digital ink captured in a signature field s zone is automatically venfied with respect to the identitv of the owner of the pen, and a 17 - digital signature of the content of the form of which the field is part is generated and assigned to the field s value The digital signature is generated using the pen user s pĪ€vate signature key specific to the application which owns the form Online signature veĪ€fication is well-understood (see. for example, Plamondon. R and G Lorette, "Automatic Signature Venfication and Wnter Identification - The State of the Art", Pattern Recognition, Vol 22, No 2, 1989, the contents of which are herein incorporated by cross-reference)
A field element is hidden if its "hidden" attnbute is set A hidden field element does not have an input zone on a page and does not accept input It can have an associated field value which is included in the form data when the form containing the field is submitted
"Editing" commands, such as stnke-throughs indicating deletion, can also be recognized in form fields Because the handwntmg recognition algoĪ€thm works "online" (l e with access to the dynamics of the pen movement), rather than "offline" (I e with access only to a bitmap of pen markings), it can recognize run-on discretely- wĪ€tten characters with relatively high accuracy, without a wĪ€ter-dependent training phase A wnter-dependent model of handwntmg is automatically generated over time, however, and can be generated up- front if necessary,
Digital ink. as already stated, consists of a sequence of strokes Any stroke which starts in a particular element's zone is appended to that element's digital ink stream, ready for interpretation Any stroke not appended to an object's digital ink stream is appended to the background field s digital ink stream
Digital ink captured in the background field is interpreted as a selection gesture Orcumscnption of one or more objects is generally interpreted as a selection of the circumscnbed objects, although the actual interpretation is application-specific Table 2 summanses these vaĪ€ous pen interactions with a netpage
Table 2 - Summary of pen interactions with a netpage
Figure imgf000020_0001
The system maintains a cuĪ€ent selection for each pen The selection consists simply of the most recent stroke captured in the background field The selection is cleared after an inactivity timeout to ensure predictable behavior
The raw digital ink captured in every field is retained on the netpage page server and is optionally transmitted with the form data when the form is submitted to the application This allows the application to inteĪ€ogate the raw digital ink should it suspect the ongmal conversion, such as the conversion of handwntten text This can, for example involve human intervention at the application level for forms which fail certain application-specific consistency checks As an extension to this, the entire background area of a form can be designated as a drawing field The application can then decide, on the basis of the presence of digital ink outside the explicit fields of the form, to route the form to a human operator, on the assumption that the user may have indicated amendments to the filled-in fields outside of those fields - 18 -
Figure 38 shows a flowchart of the process of handling pen input relative to a netpage The process consists of receiving (at 884) a stroke from the pen. identifying (at 885) the page instance 830 to which the page ID 50 in the stroke refers, retrieving (at 886) the page descnption 5, identifying (at 887) a foĪ€natted element 839 whose zone 58 the stroke intersects, determining (at 888) whether the formatted element coĪ€esponds to a field element, and if so appending (at 892) the received stroke to the digital ink of the field value 871 , interpreting (at 893) the accumulated digital ink of the field, and determining (at 894) whether the field is part of a hyperhnked group 866 and if so activating (at 895) the associated hyperlink, alternatively determining (at 889) whether the formatted element coĪ€esponds to a hyperlink element and if so activating (at 895) the coĪ€esponding hyperlink, alternatively, in the absence of an input field or hyperlink, appending (at 890) the received stroke to the digital ink of the background field 833 and copying (at 891) the received stroke to the cuĪ€ent selection 826 of the cuĪ€ent pen, as maintained by the registration server
Figure 38a shows a detailed flowchart of step 893 in the process shown in Figure 38, where the accumulated digital ink of a field is interpreted according to the type of the field The process consists of determining (at 896) whether the field is a checkbox and (at 897) whether the digital ink represents a checkmark, and if so assigning (at 898) a true value to the field value, alternatively determining (at 899) whether the field is a text field and if so converting (at 900) the digital ink to computer text, with the help of the appropnate registration server, and assigning (at 901) the converted computer text to the field value, alternatively determining (at 902) whether the field is a signature field and if so venfying (at 903) the digital ink as the signature of the pen's owner, with the help of the appropĪ€ate registration server, creating (at 904) a digital signature of the contents of the coĪ€esponding form, also with the help of the registration server and using the pen owner's pnvate signature key relating to the coĪ€esponding application, and assigning (at 905) the digital signature to the field value
1.7.3 Page Server Commands
A page server command is a command which is handled locally by the page server It operates directly on form, page and document instances
A page server command 907 can be a void form command 908, a duplicate form command 909, a reset form command 910, a get form status command 911 , a duplicate page command 912, a reset page command 913, a get page status command 914, a duplicate document command 915, a reset document command 916, or a get document status command 917. as shown in Figure 39
A void form command voids the coĪ€esponding foĪ€n instance A duplicate foĪ€n command voids the coĪ€esponding form instance and then produces an active pnnted copy of the cuĪ€ent foĪ€n instance with field values preserved The copy contains the same hyperlink transaction IDs as the onginal, and so is indistinguishable from the onginal to an application A reset foĪ€n command voids the coĪ€esponding foĪ€n instance and then produces an active pnnted copy of the form instance with field values discarded A get form status command produces a pnnted report on the status of the coĪ€esponding form instance, including who published it, when it was pnnted, for whom it was pnnted, and the form status of the form instance Since a form hyperlink instance contains a transaction ID. the application has to be involved in producing a new form instance A button requesting a new form instance is therefore typically implemented as a hyperlink
A duplicate page command produces a pnnted copy of the coĪ€esponding page instance with the background field value preserved If the page contains a form or is part of a form, then the duplicate page command is interpreted as a duplicate form command A reset page command produces a pnnted copy of the coĪ€esponding page instance with the background field value discarded If the page contains a form or is part of a form then the reset page command is interpreted as a reset form command A get page status command produces a pnnted report on the status of the coĪ€esponding page instance, including who published it, when it was pnnted, for whom it was pnnted, and the status of any fonns it contains or is part of
The netpage logo which appears on every netpage is usually associated with a duplicate page element - 19 -
When a page instance is duplicated with field values preserved, field values are pĪ€nted in their native form l e a checkmark appears as a standard checkmark graphic, and text appears as typeset text Only drawings and signatures appear in their oĪ€g al form, with a signature accompanied by a standard graphic indicating successful signature veĪ€fication A duplicate document command produces a pnnted copy of the coĪ€esponding document instance with background field values preserved If the document contains any forms, then the duplicate document command duplicates the forms in the same way a duplicate foĪ€n command does A reset document command produces a pnnted copy of the coĪ€esponding document instance with background field values discarded If the document contains any forms, then the reset document command resets the forms in the same way a reset form command does A get document status command produces a pnnted report on the status of the coĪ€esponding document instance, including who published it, when it was pnnted, for whom it was pnnted, and the status of any foĪ€ns it contains
If the page server command's "on selected" attnbute is set, then the command operates on the page identified by the pen's cuĪ€ent selection rather than on the page containing the command This allows a menu of page server commands to be pnnted If the target page doesn't contain a page server command element for the designated page server command, then the command is ignored
An application can provide application-specific handling by embedding the relevant page server command element in a hyperhnked group The page server activates the hyperlink associated with the hyperhnked group rather than executing the page server command
A page server command element is hidden if its "hidden" attnbute is set A hidden command element does not have an input zone on a page and so cannot be activated directly by a user It can, however, be activated via a page server command embedded in a different page, if that page server command has its "on selected" attnbute set
1.8 STANDARD FEATURES OF NETPAGES
In the prefeĪ€ed form, each netpage is pnnted with the netpage logo at the bottom to indicate that it is a netpage and therefore has interactive properties The logo also acts as a copy button In most cases pressing the logo produces a copy of the page In the case of a form, the button produces a copy of the entire form And in the case of a secure document, such as a ticket or coupon, the button elicits an explanatory note or advertising page
The default single-page copy function is handled directly by the relevant netpage page server Special copy functions are handled by linking the logo button to an application
1.9 USER HELP SYSTEM In a prefeĪ€ed embodiment, the netpage pnnter has a single button labelled "Help" When pressed it elicits a single page of information, including
â€ĸ status of pnnter connection
â€ĸ status of pnnter consumables
â€ĸ top-level help menu â€ĸ document function menu
â€ĸ top-level netpage network directory
The help menu provides a hierarchical manual on how to use the netpage system The document function menu includes the following functions
â€ĸ pĪ€nt a copy of a document â€ĸ pnnt a clean copy of a foĪ€n
â€ĸ pnnt the status of a document
A document function is initiated by simply pressing the button and then touching any page of the document The status of a document indicates who published it and when, to whom it was delivered, and to whom and when it was - 20 - subsequently submitted as a form
The netpage network directory allows the user to navigate the hierarchy of publications and services on the network As an alternative, the user can call the netpage network "900" number "yellow pages" and speak to a human operator The operator can locate the desired document and route it to the user's pĪ€nter Depending on the document type. the publisher or the user pays the small "yellow pages" service fee
The help page is obviously unavailable if the pĪ€nter is unable to pĪ€nt In this case the "eĪ€or" light is lit and the user can request remote diagnosis over the network 2 PERSONALIZED PUBLICATION MODEL
In the following descnption, news is used as a canonical publication example to illustrate personalization mechanisms in the netpage system Although news is often used in the limited sense of newspaper and newsmagazine news, the intended scope in the present context is wider
In the netpage system, the editonal content and the advertising content of a news publication are personalized using different mechanisms The editonal content is personalized according to the reader s explicitly stated and implicitly captured interest profile The advertising content is personalized according to the reader s locality and demographic 2.1 EDITORIAL PERSONALIZATION
A subscnber can draw on two kinds of news sources those that deliver new s publications, and those that deliver news streams While news publications are aggregated and edited by the publisher, news streams are aggregated either by a news publisher or by a specialized news aggregator News publications typically coĪ€espond to traditional newspapers and newsmagazines, while news streams can be many and vaned a "raw" news feed from a news service, a cartoon stnp, a freelance wnter' s column, a friend's bulletin board, or the reader's own e-mail
The netpage publication server supports the publication of edited news publications as well as the aggregation of multiple news streams By handling the aggregation and hence the formatting of news streams selected directly by the reader, the server is able to place advertising on pages over which it otherwise has no editonal control
The subscnber builds a daily newspaper by selecting one or more contributing news publications, and creating a personalized version of each The resulting daily editions are pnnted and bound together into a single newspaper The vanous members of a household typically express their different interests and tastes by selecting different daily publications and then customizing them
For each publication, the reader optionally selects specific sections Some sections appear daily, while others appear weekly The daily sections available from The New York Times online, for example, include "Page One Plus", "National", "International", "Opinion", "Business", "Arts/Living", "Technology", and "Sports" The set of available sections is specific to a publication, as is the default subset
The reader can extend the daily newspaper by creating custom sections, each one drawing on any number of news streams Custom sections might be created for e-mail and friends' announcements ("Personal"), or for monitonng news feeds for specific topics ("Alerts" or "Clippings") For each section, the reader optionally specifies its size, either qualitatively (e g short, medium, or long), or numencally (I e as a limit on its number of pages), and the desired proportion of advertising, either qualitatively (e g high, normal, low, none), or numencally (I e as a percentage)
The reader also optionally expresses a preference for a large number of shorter articles or a small number of longer articles Each article is ideally wntten (or edited) in both short and long forms to support this preference An article may also be wntten (or edited) different versions to match the expected sophistication of the reader, for example to provide children's and adults' versions The appropĪ€ate version is selected according to the reader's age The reader can specify a "reading age" which takes precedence over their biological age
The articles which make up each section are selected and pĪ€ontized by the editors, and each is assigned a useful lifetime By default they are delivered to all relevant subscnbers. in pĪ€ontv order, subject to space constraints in - 21 - the subscĪ€bers' editions
In sections where it is appropĪ€ate. the reader may optionally enable collaborative filteĪ€ng This is then applied to articles which have a sufficiently long lifetime Each article which qualifies for collaborative filteĪ€ng is pnnted with rating buttons at the end of the article The buttons can provide an easy choice (e g "liked" and "disliked"), making it more likely that readers will bother to rate the article
Articles with high pĪ€oĪ€ties and short lifetimes are therefore effectively considered essential reading by the editors and are delivered to most relevant subscĪ€bers
The reader optionally specifies a serendipity factor, either qualitatively (e g do or don't surpnse me), or numencally A high serendipity factor lowers the threshold used for matching duĪ€ng collaborative filteĪ€ng A high factor makes it more likely that the coĪ€esponding section will be filled to the reader's specified capacity A different serendipity factor can be specified for different days of the week
The reader also optionally specifies topics of particular interest within a section, and this modifies the pnonties assigned by the editors
The speed of the reader's Internet connection affects the quality at which images can be delivered The reader optionally specifies a preference for fewer images or smaller images or both If the number or size of images is not reduced, then images may be delivered at lower quality (l e at lower resolution or with greater compression)
At a global level, the reader specifies how quantities, dates, times and monetary values are localized This involves specifying whether units are impenal or metric, a local timezone and time format, and a local cuĪ€ency, and whether the localization consist of in situ translation or annotation These preferences are denved from the reader's locality by default
To reduce reading difficulties caused by poor eyesight, the reader optionally specifies a global preference for a larger presentation. Both text and images are scaled accordingly, and less information is accommodated on each page
The language in which a news publication is published, and its coĪ€esponding text encoding, is a property of the publication and not a preference expressed by the user However, the netpage system can be configured to provide automatic translation services in vanous guises
2.2 ADVERTISING LOCALIZATION AND TARGETING
The personalization of the editonal content directly affects the advertising content, because advertising is typically placed to exploit the editonal context Travel ads, for example, are more likely to appear in a travel section than elsewhere The value of the editonal content to an advertiser (and therefore to the publisher) lies in its ability to attract large numbers of readers with the nght demographics
Effective advertising is placed on the basis of locality and demographics Locality determines proximity to particular services, retailers etc , and particular interests and concerns associated with the local community and environment Demographics determine general interests and preoccupations as well as likely spending patterns
A news publisher's most profitable product is advertising "space , a multi-dimensional entity determined by the publication's geographic coverage, the size of its readership, its readership demographics, and the page area available for advertising
In the netpage system, the netpage publication server computes the approximate multi-dimensional size of a publication's saleable advertising space on a per-section basis, taking into account the publication's geographic coverage, the section's readership, the size of each reader's section edition, each reader's advertising proportion, and each reader s demographic
In companson with other media, the netpage system allows the advertising space to be defined in greater detail, and allows smaller pieces of it to be sold separately It therefore allows it to be sold at closer to its true value
For example, the same advertising "slot" can be sold in varying proportions to several advertisers, with individual readers' pages randomly receiving the advertisement of one advertiser or another, overall preserving the - 22 - proportion of space sold to each advertiser
The netpage system allows advertising to be linked directly to detailed product information and online purchasing It therefore raises the mtnnsic value of the advertising space
Because personalization and localization are handled automatically by netpage publication servers, an advertising aggregator can provide arbitraĪ€ly broad coverage of both geography and demographics The subsequent disaggregation is efficient because it is automatic This makes it more cost-effective for publishers to deal with advertising aggregators than to directly capture advertising Even though the advertising aggregator is taking a proportion of advertising revenue, publishers may find the change profit-neutral because of the greater efficiency of aggregation The advertising aggregator acts as an intermediary between advertisers and publishers, and may place the same advertisement m multiple publications
It is worth noting that ad placement in a netpage publication can be more complex than ad placement in the publication's traditional counterpart, because the publication's advertising space is more complex While ignonng the full complexities of negotiations between advertisers, advertising aggregators and publishers, the prefeĪ€ed form of the netpage system provides some automated support for these negotiations, including support for automated auctions of advertising space Automation is particularly desirable for the placement of advertisements which generate small amounts of income, such as small or highly localized advertisements
Once placement has been negotiated, the aggregator captures and edits the advertisement and records it on a netpage ad server CoĪ€espondingly, the publisher records the ad placement on the relevant netpage publication server When the netpage publication server lays out each user's personalized publication, it picks the relevant advertisements from the netpage ad server 2.3 USER PROFILES
2.3.1 Information Filtering
The personalization of news and other publications relies on an assortment of user-specific profile information, including â€ĸ publication customizations collaborative filtenng vectors contact details presentation preferences
The customization of a publication is typically publication-specific, and so the customization information is maintained by the relevant netpage publication server
A collaborative filtenng vector consists of the user's ratings of a number of news items It is used to coĪ€elate different users' interests for the purposes of making recommendations Although there are benefits to maintaining a single collaborative filtenng vector independently of any particular publication, there are two reasons why it is more practical to maintain a separate vector for each publication there is likely to be more overlap between the vectors of subscĪ€bers to the same publication than between those of subscĪ€bers to different publications, and a publication is likely to want to present its users' collaborative filtenng vectors as part of the value of its brand, not to be found elsewhere Collaborative filtenng vectors are therefore also maintained by the relevant netpage publication server
Contact details, including name, street address. ZIP Code, state, country, telephone numbers, are global by nature, and are maintained by a netpage registration server Presentation preferences, including those for quantities, dates and times, are likewise global and maintained m the same way
The localization of advertising relies on the locality indicated in the user s contact details, while the targeting of advertising relies on personal information such as date of birth, gender, mantal status, income, profession, education, or qualitative deĪ€vatives such as age range and income range - 23 -
For those users who choose to reveal personal information for advertising purposes, the information is maintained by the relevant netpage registration server In the absence of such information, advertising can be targeted on the basis of the demographic associated with the user's ZIP or ZIP+4 Code
Each user, pen, pĪ€nter, application provider and application is assigned its own unique identifier, and the netpage registration server maintains the relationships between them, as shown m Figures 21, 22, 23 and 24 For registration purposes, a publisher is a special kind of application provider, and a publication is a special kind of application
Each user 800 may be authonzed to use any number of pnnters 802. and each pĪ€nter may allow any number of users to use it Each user has a single default pĪ€nter (at 66). to which peĪ€odical publications are delivered by default, whilst pages pĪ€nted on demand are delivered to the pĪ€nter through which the user is interacting The server keeps track of which publishers a user has authonzed to pĪ€nt to the user's default pĪ€nter A publisher does not record the ID of any particular pĪ€nter, but instead resolves the ID when it is required
When a user subscĪ€bes 808 to a publication 807, the publisher 806 (l e application provider 803) is authonzed to pĪ€nt to a specified pnnter or the user's default pnnter This authonzation can be revoked at any time by the user Each user may have several pens 801 , but a pen is specific to a single user If a user is authonzed to use a particular pnnter. then that pnnter recognizes any of the user's pens
The pen ID is used to locate the coĪ€esponding user profile maintained by a particular netpage registration server, via the DNS in the usual way
A Web terminal 809 can be authonzed to pnnt on a particular netpage pnnter, allowing Web pages and netpage documents encountered dunng Web browsing to be conveniently pnnted on the nearest netpage pnnter
The netpage system can collect, on behalf of a pnnter provider, fees and commissions on income earned through publications pnnted on the provider's pnnters Such income can include advertising fees, click-through fees, e- commerce commissions, and transaction fees If the pnnter is owned by the user, then the user is the pnnter provider
Each user also has a netpage account 820 which is used to accumulate micro-debits and credits (such as those descĪ€bed in the preceding paragraph), contact details 815, including name, address and telephone numbers, global preferences 816, including pnvacy, delivery and localization settings, any number of biometĪ€c records 817, containing the user's encoded signature 818, fingerpnnt 819 etc, a handwĪ€ting model 819 automatically maintained by the system, and SET payment card accounts 821 with which e-commerce payments can be made
2.3.2 Favorites List A netpage user can maintain a list 922 of "favontes" - links to useful documents etc on the netpage network
The list is maintained by the system on the user's behalf It is organized as a hierarchy of folders 924, a preferĪ€ed embodiment of which is shown in the class diagram in Figure 41
2.3.3 History List
The system maintains a history list 929 on each user's behalf, containing links to documents etc accessed by the user through the netpage system It is organized as a date-ordered list, a prefeĪ€ed embodiment of which is shown in the class diagram in Figure 42 2.4 INTELLIGENT PAGE LAYOUT
The netpage publication server automatically lays out the pages of each user's personalized publication on a section-by-section basis Since most advertisements are in the form of pre-formatted rectangles, they are placed on the page before the editonal content
The advertising ratio for a section can be achieved with wildly varying advertising ratios on individual pages within the section, and the ad layout algonthm exploits this The algonthm is configured to attempt to co-locate closely tied editonal and advertising content, such as placing ads for roofing material specifically within the publication because of a special feature on do-it-yourself roofing repairs 24 -
The editonal content selected for the user, including text and associated images and graphics, is then laid out according to vanous aesthetic rules
The entire process, including the selection of ads and the selection of editonal content, must be iterated once the layout has converged, to attempt to more closely achieve the user's stated section size preference The section size preference can, however, be matched on average over time, allowing significant day-to-day vanations 2.5 DOCUMENT FORMAT
Once the document is laid out, it is encoded for efficient distribution and persistent storage on the netpage network
The pĪ€mary efficiency mechanism is the separation of information specific to a single user's edition and information shared between multiple users' editions The specific information consists of the page layout The shared information consists of the objects to which the page layout refers, including images, graphics, and pieces of text
A text object contains fully-formatted text represented in the Extensible Markup Language (XML) using the Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) XSL provides precise control over text formatting independently of the region into which the text is being set, which in this case is being provided by the layout The text object contains embedded language codes to enable automatic translation, and embedded hyphenation hints to aid with paragraph formatting
An image object encodes an image in the JPEG 2000 wavelet-based compressed image format A graphic object encodes a 2D graphic in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format
The layout itself consists of a seĪ€es of placed image and graphic objects, linked textflow objects through which text objects flow, hyperlinks and input fields as descĪ€bed above, and wateĪ€nark regions These layout objects are summanzed in Table 3 The layout uses a compact format suitable for efficient distribution and storage
Table 3 - netpage layout objects
Figure imgf000027_0001
2.6 DOCUMENT DISTRIBUTION As descĪ€bed above, for purposes of efficient distĪ€bution and persistent storage on the netpage network, a user-specific page layout is separated from the shared objects to which it refers
When a subscĪ€bed publication is ready to be distnbuted. the netpage publication server allocates with the - 25 - help of the netpage ID server 12, a unique ID for each page, page instance, document, and document instance
The server computes a set of optimized subsets of the shared content and creates a multicast channel for each subset, and then tags each user-specific layout with the names of the multicast channels which will carry the shared content used by that layout The server then pointcasts each user's layouts to that user's pnnter via the appropĪ€ate page server, and when the pointcastmg is complete, multicasts the shared content on the specified channels After receiving its pointcast. each page server and pnnter subscnbes to the multicast channels specified in the page layouts DuĪ€ng the multicasts, each page server and pnnter extracts from the multicast streams those objects refeĪ€ed to by its page layouts The page servers persistently archive the received page layouts and shared content
Once a pnnter has received all the objects to which its page layouts refer, the pnnter re-creates the fully- populated layout and then rastenzes and pnnts it
Under normal circumstances, the pnnter pnnts pages faster than they can be delivered Assuming a quarter of each page is covered with images, the average page has a size of less than 400KB The pnnter can therefore hold in excess of 100 such pages in its internal 64MB memory, allowing for temporary buffers etc The pnnter pnnts at a rate of one page per second This is equivalent to 400KB or about 3Mbit of page data per second, which is similar to the highest expected rate of page data delivery over a broadband network
Even under abnormal circumstances, such as when the pnnter runs out of paper, it is likely that the user will be able to replenish the paper supply before the pnnter' s 100-page internal storage capacity is exhausted
However, if the pnnter' s internal memory does fill up, then the pnnter will be unable to make use of a multicast when it first occurs The netpage publication server therefore allows pnnters to submit requests for re-multicasts When a cntical number of requests is received or a timeout occurs, the server re-multicasts the coĪ€esponding shared objects
Once a document is pnnted, a pnnter can produce an exact duplicate at any time by retrieving its page layouts and contents from the relevant page server 2.7 ON-DEMAND DOCUMENTS When a netpage document is requested on demand, it can be personalized and delivered in much the same way as a penodical However, since there is no shared content, delivery is made directly to the requesting pnnter without the use of multicast
When a non-netpage document is requested on demand, it is not personalized, and it is delivered via a designated netpage formatting server which reformats it as a netpage document A netpage formatting server is a special instance of a netpage publication server The netpage formatting server has knowledge of various Internet document formats, including Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF), and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) In the case of HTML, it can make use of the higher resolution of the pnnted page to present Web pages in a multi-column format, with a table of contents It can automatically include all Web pages directly linked to the requested page The user can tune this behavior via a preference The netpage formatting server makes standard netpage behavior, including interactivity and persistence, available on any Internet document, no matter what its ongin and foĪ€nat It hides knowledge of different document formats from both the netpage pnnter and the netpage page server, and hides knowledge of the netpage system from Web servers
3 SECURITY 3.1 CRYPTOGRAPHY
Cryptography is used to protect sensitive information, both in storage and in transit, and to authenticate parties to a transaction There are two classes of cryptography in widespread use secret-key cryptography and public-key cryptography The netpage network uses both classes of cryptography
Secret-key cryptography, also refeĪ€ed to as symmetric cryptography, uses the same key to encrypt and - 26 - decrypt a message Two parties wishing to exchange messages must first aĪ€ange to securely exchange the secret key
Public-key cryptography, also refeĪ€ed to as asymmetric cryptography, uses two encryption keys The two keys are mathematically related in such a way that any message encrypted using one key can only be decrypted using the other key One of these keys is then published, while the other is kept pnvate The public key is used to encrypt any message intended for the holder of the pnvate key Once encrypted using the public key. a message can only be decrypted using the pnvate key Thus two parties can securely exchange messages without first having to exchange a secret key To ensure that the pnvate key is secure, it is normal for the holder of the pnvate key to generate the key pair
Public-key cryptography can be used to create a digital signature The holder of the pnvate key can create a known hash of a message and then encrypt the hash using the pnvate key Anyone can then venfy that the encrypted hash constitutes the "signature" of the holder of the pnvate key with respect to that particular message by decrypting the encrypted hash using the public key and venfying the hash against the message If the signature is appended to the message, then the recipient of the message can venfy both that the message is genuine and that it has not been altered in transit
To make public-key cryptography work, there has to be a way to distnbute public keys which prevents impersonation This is normally done using certificates and certificate authonties A certificate authoĪ€ty is a trusted third party which authenticates the connection between a public key and someone's identity The certificate authonty veĪ€fies the person's identity by examining identity documents, and then creates and signs a digital certificate containing the person's identity details and public key Anyone who trusts the certificate authonty can use the public key in the certificate with a high degree of certainty that it is genuine They just have to venfy that the certificate has indeed been signed by the certificate authonty, whose public key is well-known
In most transaction environments, public-key cryptography is only used to create digital signatures and to securely exchange secret session keys Secret-key cryptography is used for all other purposes
In the following discussion, when reference is made to the secure transmission of information between a netpage pĪ€nter and a server, what actually happens is that the pĪ€nter obtains the server's certificate, authenticates it with reference to the certificate authoĪ€ty, uses the public key-exchange key m the certificate to exchange a secret session key with the server, and then uses the secret session key to encrypt the message data A session key, by definition, can have an arbitranly short lifetime 3.2 NETPAGE PRINTER SECURITY
Each netpage pĪ€nter is assigned a pair of unique identifiers at time of manufacture which are stored in read- only memory in the pĪ€nter and in the netpage registration server database The first ID 62 is public and uniquely identifies the pĪ€nter on the netpage network The second ID is secret and is used when the pĪ€nter is first registered on the network
When the pĪ€nter connects to the netpage network for the first time after installation, it creates a signature pubhc pĪ€vate key pair It transmits the secret ID and the public key securely to the netpage registration server The server compares the secret ID against the pĪ€nter' s secret ID recorded in its database, and accepts the registration if the IDs match It then creates and signs a certificate containing the pĪ€nter' s public ID and public signature key, and stores the certificate in the registration database
The netpage registration server acts as a certificate authoĪ€ty for netpage pĪ€nters, since it has access to secret information allowing it to venfy pĪ€nter identity
When a user subscnbes to a publication, a record is created in the netpage registration server database authonzing the publisher to pĪ€nt the publication to the user's default pnnter or a specified pnnter Every document sent to a pĪ€nter via a page server is addressed to a particular user and is signed by the publisher using the publisher's pnvate signature key The page server venfies, via the registration database, that the publisher is authonzed to deliver the publication to the specified user The page server venfies the signature using the publisher's public key, obtained from the publisher s certificate stored in the registration database - 27 -
The netpage registration server accepts requests to add pĪ€nting authoĪ€zations to the database, so long as those requests are initiated via a pen registered to the pĪ€nter
3.3 NETPAGE PEN SECURITY
Each netpage pen is assigned a unique identifier at time of manufacture which is stored in read-only memory in the pen and in the netpage registration server database The pen ID 61 uniquely identifies the pen on the netpage network
A netpage pen can "know" a number of netpage pĪ€nters, and a pĪ€nter can "know" a number of pens A pen communicates with a pĪ€nter via a radio frequency signal whenever it is within range of the pĪ€nter Once a pen and pĪ€nter are registered, they regularly exchange session keys Whenever the pen transmits digital ink to the pĪ€nter. the digital ink is always encrypted using the appropĪ€ate session key Digital ink is never transmitted in the clear
A pen stores a session key for every pĪ€nter it knows, indexed by pĪ€nter ID, and a pĪ€nter stores a session key for every pen it knows, indexed by pen ID Both have a large but finite storage capacity for session keys, and will forget a session key on a least-recently-used basis if necessary
When a pen comes within range of a pĪ€nter, the pen and pnnter discover whether they know each other If they don't know each other, then the pnnter deteĪ€mnes whether it is supposed to know the pen This might be, for example, because the pen belongs to a user who is registered to use the pnnter If the pnnter is meant to know the pen but doesn't, then it initiates the automatic pen registration procedure If the pnnter isn't meant to know the pen, then it agrees with the pen to ignore it until the pen is placed in a charging cup, at which time it initiates the registration procedure
In addition to its public ID, the pen contains a secret key-exchange key The key-exchange key is also recorded in the netpage registration server database at time of manufacture Dunng registration, the pen transmits its pen ID to the pnnter, and the pnnter transmits the pen ID to the netpage registration server The server generates a session key for the pnnter and pen to use, and securely transmits the session key to the pnnter It also transmits a copy of the session key encrypted with the pen's key-exchange key The pnnter stores the session key internally, indexed by the pen ID, and transmits the encrypted session key to the pen The pen stores the session key internally, indexed by the pnnter ID Although a fake pen can impersonate a pen in the pen registration protocol, only a real pen can decrypt the session key transmitted by the pnnter
When a previously unregistered pen is first registered, it is of limited use until it is linked to a user A registered but "un-owned" pen is only allowed to be used to request and fill in netpage user and pen registration forms, to register a new user to which the new pen is automatically linked, or to add a new pen to an existing user The pen uses secret-key rather than public-key encryption because of hardware performance constraints in the pen
3.4 SECURE DOCUMENTS
The netpage system supports the delivery of secure documents such as tickets and coupons The netpage pnnter includes a facility to pnnt wateĪ€narks, but will only do so on request from publishers who are suitably authonzed The publisher indicates its authonty to pnnt watermarks in its certificate, which the pnnter is able to authenticate
The "watermark" pĪ€nting process uses an alternative dither matĪ€x in specified "watermark" regions of the page Back-to-back pages contain miĪ€or-image watermark regions which coincide when pnnted The dither matnces used in odd and even pages' watermark regions are designed to produce an interference effect when the regions are viewed together, achieved by looking through the pnnted sheet The effect is similar to a watermark in that it is not visible when looking at only one side of the page, and is lost when the page is copied by normal means
Pages of secure documents cannot be copied using the built-in netpage copy mechanism descĪ€bed in Section 1 9 above This extends to copying netpages on netpage-aware photocopiers
Secure documents are typically generated as part of e-commerce transactions They can therefore include the - 28 - user's photograph which was captured when the user registered biometĪ€c information with the netpage registration server as descĪ€bed in Section 2
When presented with a secure netpage document, the recipient can venfy its authenticity by requesting its status in the usual way The unique ID of a secure document is only valid for the lifetime of the document, and secure document IDs are allocated non-contiguously to prevent their prediction by opportunistic forgers A secure document veĪ€fication pen can be developed with built-in feedback on veĪ€fication failure, to support easy point-of-presentation document veĪ€fication
Clearly neither the watermark nor the user's photograph are secure in a cryptographic sense They simply provide a significant obstacle to casual forgery Online document veĪ€fication. particularly using a veĪ€fication pen, provides an added level of secuĪ€ty where it is needed, but is still not entirely immune to forgeĪ€es 3.5 NON-REPUDIATION
In the netpage system, forms submitted by users are delivered reliably to forms handlers and are persistently archived on netpage page servers It is therefore impossible for recipients to repudiate delivery
E-commerce payments made through the system, as descĪ€bed in Section 4. are also impossible for the payee to repudiate
4 ELECTRONIC COMMERCE MODEL
4.1 SECURE ELECTRONIC TRANSACTION (SET)
The netpage system uses the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) system as one of its payment systems SET, having been developed by MasterCard and Visa, is organized around payment cards, and this is reflected in the terminology However, much of the system is independent of the type of accounts being used
In SET, cardholders and merchants register with a certificate authority and are issued with certificates containing their public signature keys The certificate authoĪ€ty venfies a cardholder's registration details with the card issuer as appropnate, and venfies a merchant's registration details with the acquirer as appropnate Cardholders and merchants store their respective pnvate signature keys securely on their computers DuĪ€ng the payment process, these certificates are used to mutually authenticate a merchant and cardholder, and to authenticate them both to the payment gateway
SET has not yet been adopted widely, partly because cardholder maintenance of keys and certificates is considered burdensome lntenm solutions which maintain cardholder keys and certificates on a server and give the cardholder access via a password have met with some success 4.2 SET PAYMENTS
In the netpage system the netpage registration server acts as a proxy for the netpage user (i e the cardholder) in SET payment transactions
The netpage system uses biometĪ€cs to authenticate the user and authoĪ€ze SET payments Because the system is pen-based, the biometĪ€c used is the user's on-line signature, consisting of time-varying pen position and pressure A fingerpĪ€nt biometĪ€c can also be used by designing a fingerpĪ€nt sensor into the pen, although at a higher cost The type of biometĪ€c used only affects the capture of the biometĪ€c. not the authoĪ€zation aspects of the system
The first step to being able to make SET payments is to register the user's biometnc with the netpage registration server This is done in a controlled environment, for example a bank, where the biometĪ€c can be captured at the same time as the user's identity is veĪ€fied The biometĪ€c is captured and stored in the registration database, linked to the user's record The user's photograph is also optionally captured and linked to the record The SET cardholder registration process is completed, and the resulting pnvate signature key and certificate are stored in the database The user's payment card information is also stored, giving the netpage registration server enough information to act as the user's proxy in any SET payment transaction
When the user eventually supplies the biometĪ€c to complete a payment, for example by signing a netpage - 29 - order form, the pĪ€nter securely transmits the order information, the pen ID and the biometnc data to the netpage registration server The server venfies the biometĪ€c with respect to the user identified by the pen ID. and from then on acts as the user's proxy in completing the SET payment transaction
4.3 MICRO-PAYMENTS The netpage system includes a mechanism for micro-payments, to allow the user to be conveniently charged for pĪ€nting low-cost documents on demand and for copying copynght documents and possibly also to allow the user to be reimbursed for expenses incuĪ€ed in pĪ€nting advertising mateĪ€al The latter depends on the level of subsidy already provided to the user
When the user registers for e-commerce, a network account is established which aggregates micro-payments The user receives a statement on a regular basis, and can settle any outstanding debit balance using the standard payment mechanism
The network account can be extended to aggregate subscĪ€ption fees for peĪ€odicals. which would also otherwise be presented to the user in the form of individual statements
4.4 TRANSACTIONS When a user requests a netpage in a particular application context, the application is able to embed a user- specific transaction ID 55 in the page Subsequent input through the page is tagged with the transaction ID. and the application is thereby able to establish an appropĪ€ate context for the user's input
When input occurs through a page which is not user-specific, however, the application must use the user's unique identity to establish a context A typical example involves adding items from a pre-pĪ€nted catalog page to the user's virtual "shopping cart" To protect the user's pnvacy, however, the unique user ID 60 known to the netpage system is not divulged to applications This is to prevent different application providers from easily coĪ€elating independently accumulated behavioral data
The netpage registration server instead maintains an anonymous relationship between a user and an application via a unique alias ID 65, as shown in Figure 24 Whenever the user activates a hyperlink tagged with the "registered" attnbute, the netpage page server asks the netpage registration server to translate the associated application ID 64, together with the pen ID 61, into an alias ID 65 The alias ID is then submitted to the hyperlink's application
The application maintains state information indexed by alias ID. and is able to retrieve user-specific state information without knowledge of the global identity of the user
The system also maintains an independent certificate and pnvate signature key for each of a user s applications, to allow it to sign application transactions on behalf of the user using only application-specific information To assist the system in routing product bar code (UPC) "hyperlink" activations, the system records a favonte application on behalf of the user for any number of product types
Each application is associated with an application provider, and the system maintains an account on behalf of each application provider, to allow it to credit and debit the provider for click-through fees etc An application provider can be a publisher of penodical subscnbed content The system records the user's willingness to receive the subscnbed publication, as well as the expected frequency of publication
4.5 RESOURCE DESCRIPTIONS AND COPYRIGHT
A prefeĪ€ed embodiment of a resource descnption class diagram is shown in Figure 40 Each document and content object may be descĪ€bed by one or more resource descĪ€ptions 842 Resource descnptions use the Dublin Core metadata element set, which is designed to facilitate discovery of electronic resources
Dublin Core metadata conforms to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Resource Descnption Framework (RDF)
A resource descĪ€ption may identify Ī€ghts holders 920 The netpage system automatically transfers copynght fees from users to nghts holders when users pĪ€nt copynght content - 30 -
5 COMMUNICATIONS PROTOCOLS
A communications protocol defines an ordered exchange of messages between entities In the netpage system, entities such as pens, pĪ€nters and servers utilise a set of defined protocols to cooperatively handle user interaction with the netpage system Each protocol is illustrated by way of a sequence diagram in which the hoĪ€zontal dimension is used to represent message flow and the vertical dimension is used to represent time Each entity is represented by a rectangle containing the name of the entity and a vertical column representing the lifeline of the entity DuĪ€ng the time an entity exists, the lifeline is shown as a dashed line DuĪ€ng the time an entity is active, the lifeline is shown as a double line Because the protocols considered here do not create or destroy entities, lifelines are generally cut short as soon as an entity ceases to participate in a protocol
5.1 SUBSCRIPTION DELIVERY PROTOCOL
A prefeĪ€ed embodiment of a subscnption delivery protocol is shown in Figure 43
A large number of users may subscnbe to a penodical publication Each user's edition may be laid out differently, but many users' editions will share common content such as text objects and image objects The subscnption delivery protocol therefore delivers document structures to individual pnnters via po tcast, but delivers shared content objects via multicast
The application (l e publisher) first obtains a document ID 51 for each document from an ID server 12 It then sends each document structure, including its document ID and page descnptions, to the page server 10 responsible for the document's newly allocated ID It includes its own application ID 64, the subscnber's alias ID 65, and the relevant set of multicast channel names It signs the message using its pnvate signature key
The page server uses the application ID and alias ID to obtain from the registration server the coĪ€esponding user ID 60, the user's selected pnnter ID 62 (which may be explicitly selected for the application, or may be the user's default pnnter), and the application's certificate
The application's certificate allows the page server to venfy the message signature The page server's request to the registration server fails if the application ID and alias ID don't together identify a subscnption 808
The page server then allocates document and page instance IDs and forwards the page descnptions, including page IDs 50, to the pnnter It includes the relevant set of multicast channel names for the pnnter to listen to
It then returns the newly allocated page IDs to the application for future reference
Once the application has distnbuted all of the document structures to the subscnbers' selected pnnters via the relevant page servers, it multicasts the vanous subsets of the shared objects on the previously selected multicast channels
Both page servers and pnnters monitor the appropnate multicast channels and receive their required content objects They are then able to populate the previously pomtcast document structures This allows the page servers to add complete documents to their databases, and it allows the pnnters to pnnt the documents
5.2 HYPERLINK ACTIVATION PROTOCOL A prefeĪ€ed embodiment of a hyperlink activation protocol is shown in Figure 45
When a user clicks on a netpage with a netpage pen. the pen communicates the click to the nearest netpage pnnter 601 The click identifies the page and a location on the page The pnnter already knows the ID 61 of the pen from the pen connection protocol
The pnnter deteĪ€nines, via the DNS, the network address of the page server 10a handling the particular page ID 50 The address may already be in its cache if the user has recently interacted ith the same page The pnnter then forwards the pen ID, its own pnnter ID 62, the page ID and click location to the page server
The page server loads the page descnption 5 identified by the page ID and determines which input element's zone 58. if any. the click lies in Assuming the relevant input element is a hyperlink element 844, the page server then obtains the associated application ID 64 and link ID 54. and determines, via the DNS. the network address of the - 31 - application server hosting the application 71
The page server uses the pen ID 61 to obtain the coĪ€esponding user ID 60 from the registration server 1 1 and then allocates a globally unique hyperlink request ID 52 and builds a hyperlink request 934 The hyperlink request class diagram is shown in Figure 44 The hyperlink request records the IDs of the requesting user and pnnter. and identifies the clicked hyperlink instance 862 The page server then sends its own server ID 53. the hyperlink request ID, and the link ID to the application
The application produces a response document according to application-specific logic, and obtains a document ID 51 from an ID server 12 It then sends the document to the page server 10b responsible for the document's newly allocated ID. together with the requesting page server's ID and the hyperlink request ID The second page server sends the hyperlink request ID and application ID to the first page server to obtain the coĪ€esponding user ID and pnnter ID 62 The first page server rejects the request if the hyperlink request has expired or is for a different application
The second page server allocates document instance and page IDs 50. returns the newly allocated page IDs to the application, adds the complete document to its own database, and finally sends the page descnptions to the requesting pnnter
The hyperlink instance may include a meaningful transaction ID 55, in which case the first page server includes the transaction ID in the message sent to the application This allows the application to establish a transaction- specific context for the hyperlink activation
If the hyperlink requires a user alias, l e its "alias required" attnbute is set, then the first page server sends both the pen ID 61 and the hyperlink's application ID 64 to the registration server 11 to obtain not just the user ID coĪ€esponding to the pen ID but also the alias ID 65 coĪ€esponding to the application ID and the user ID It includes the alias ID in the message sent to the application, allowing the application to establish a user-specific context for the hyperlink activation
5.3 HANDWRITING RECOGNITION PROTOCOL When a user draws a stroke on a netpage with a netpage pen. the pen communicates the stroke to the nearest netpage pnnter The stroke identifies the page and a path on the page
The pnnter forwards the pen ID 61 , its own pnnter ID 62, the page ID 50 and stroke path to the page server 10 in the usual way
The page server loads the page descnption 5 identified by the page ID and deteĪ€mnes which input element s zone 58, if any, the stroke intersects Assuming the relevant input element is a text field 878, the page server appends the stroke to the text field's digital ink
After a penod of inactivity in the zone of the text field, the page server sends the pen ID and the pending strokes to the registration server 11 for interpretation The registration server identifies the user coĪ€esponding to the pen, and uses the user's accumulated handwntmg model 822 to interpret the strokes as handwntten text Once it has converted the strokes to text, the registration server returns the text to the requesting page server The page server appends the text to the text value of the text field
5.4 SIGNATURE VERIFICATION PROTOCOL
Assuming the input element whose zone the stroke intersects is a signature field 880. the page server 10 appends the stroke to the signature field's digital ink After a penod of inactivity in the zone of the signature field, the page server sends the pen ID 61 and the pending strokes to the registration server 1 1 for venfication It also sends the application ID 64 associated with the form of which the signature field is part, as well as the form ID 56 and the cuĪ€ent data content of the form The registration server identifies the user coĪ€esponding to the pen, and uses the user's dynamic signature biometĪ€c 818 to venfy the strokes as the user s signature Once it has veĪ€fied the signature, the registration server uses the application ID 64 and - 32 - user ID 60 to identify the user s application-specific pnvate signature key It then uses the key to generate a digital signature of the form data, and returns the digital signature to the requesting page server The page server assigns the digital signature to the signature field and sets the associated form's status to frozen
The digital signature includes the alias ID 65 of the coĪ€esponding user This allows a single form to capture multiple users' signatures
5.5 FORM SUBMISSION PROTOCOL
A prefeĪ€ed embodiment of a form submission protocol is shown in Figure 46
Form submission occurs via a form hyperlink activation It thus follows the protocol defined in Section 5 2 with some form-specific additions In the case of a form hyperlink, the hyperlink activation message sent by the page server 10 to the application
71 also contains the form ID 56 and the cuĪ€ent data content of the foĪ€n If the foĪ€n contains any signature fields, then the application venfies each one by extracting the alias ID 65 associated with the coĪ€esponding digital signature and obtaining the coĪ€esponding certificate from the registration server 1 1
5.6 COMMISSION PAYMENT PROTOCOL A prefeĪ€ed embodiment of a commission payment protocol is shown in Figure 47
In an e-commerce environment, fees and commissions may be payable from an application provider to a publisher on click-throughs, transactions and sales Commissions on fees and commissions on commissions may also be payable from the publisher to the provider of the pnnter
The hyperlink request ID 52 is used to route a fee or commission credit from the target application provider 70a (e g merchant) to the source application provider 70b (l e publisher), and from the source application provider 70b to the pnnter provider 72
The target application receives the hyperlink request ID from the page server 10 when the hyperlink is first activated, as descnbed in Section 5 2 When the target application needs to credit the source application provider, it sends the application provider credit to the onginal page server together with the hyperlink request ID The page server uses the hyperlink request ID to identify the source application, and sends the credit on to the relevant registration server 11 together with the source application ID 64, its own server ID 53, and the hyperlink request ID The registration server credits the coĪ€esponding application provider's account 827 It also notifies the application provider
If the application provider needs to credit the pnnter provider, it sends the pnnter provider credit to the onginal page server together with the hyperlink request ID The page server uses the hyperlink request ID to identify the pnnter, and sends the credit on to the relevant registration server together with the pnnter ID The registration server credits the coĪ€esponding pnnter provider account 814
The source application provider is optionally notified of the identity of the target application provider, and the pnnter provider of the identity of the source application provider 6. NETPAGE PEN DESCRIPTION 6.1 PEN MECHANICS
Refemng to Figures 8 and 9, the pen, generally designated by reference numeral 101 , includes a housing 102 m the form of a plastics moulding having walls 103 defining an inteĪ€or space 104 for mounting the pen components The pen top 105 is in operation rotatably mounted at one end 106 of the housing 102 A semi-transparent cover 107 is secured to the opposite end 108 of the housing 102 The cover 107 is also of moulded plastics, and is formed from semi- transparent mateĪ€al in order to enable the user to view the status of the LED mounted within the housing 102 The cover 107 includes a main part 109 which substantially suĪ€ounds the end 108 of the housing 102 and a projecting portion 110 which projects back from the main part 109 and fits within a coĪ€esponding slot 1 1 1 foĪ€ned in the walls 103 of the housing 102 A radio antenna 1 12 is mounted behind the projecting portion 1 10, within the housing 102 Screw threads 113 suĪ€ound g an aperture U3A on the cover 107 are aĪ€anged to receive a metal end piece 1 14, including - 33 - coĪ€esponding screw threads 1 15 The metal end piece 1 14 is removable to enable ink cartndge replacement
Also mounted within the cover 107 is a tn-color status LED 1 16 on a flex PCB 1 17 The antenna 1 12 is also mounted on the flex PCB 117 The status LED 1 16 is mounted at the top of the pen 101 for good all-around visibility
The pen can operate both as a normal marking ink pen and as a non-marking stylus An ink pen cartridge 118 with nib 1 19 and a stylus 120 with stylus nib 121 are mounted side by side within the housing 102 Either the ink cartridge nib 1 19 or the stylus nib 121 can be brought forward through open end 122 of the metal end piece 114. by rotation of the pen top 105 Respective slider blocks 123 and 124 are mounted to the ink cartndge 1 18 and stylus 120, respectively A rotatable cam baĪ€el 125 is secured to the pen top 105 in operation and aĪ€anged to rotate therewith The cam baĪ€el 125 includes a cam 126 in the foĪ€n of a slot within the walls 181 of the cam baĪ€el Cam followers 127 and 128 projecting from slider blocks 123 and 124 fit within the cam slot 126 On rotation of the cam baĪ€el 125, the slider blocks 123 or 124 move relative to each other to project either the pen nib 1 19 or stylus nib 121 out through the hole 122 in the metal end piece 1 14 The pen 101 has three states of operation By turning the top 105 through 90° steps, the three states are
Stylus 120 nib 121 out, â€ĸ Ink cartndge 118 nib 119 out, and
â€ĸ Neither ink cartndge 1 18 nib 119 out nor stylus 120 nib 121 out
A second flex PCB 129, is mounted on an electronics chassis 130 which sits within the housing 102 The second flex PCB 129 mounts an infrared LED 131 for providing infrared radiation for projection onto the surface An image sensor 132 is provided mounted on the second flex PCB 129 for receiving reflected radiation from the surface The second flex PCB 129 also mounts a radio frequency chip 133, which includes an RF transmitter and RF receiver, and a controller chip 134 for controlling operation of the pen 101 An optics block 135 (formed from moulded clear plastics) sits within the cover 107 and projects an infrared beam onto the surface and receives images onto the image sensor 132
Power supply wires 136 connect the components on the second flex PCB 129 to battery contacts 137 which are mounted within the cam baĪ€el 125 A teĪ€mnal 138 connects to the battery contacts 137 and the cam baĪ€el 125 A three volt rechargeable battery 139 sits within the cam baĪ€el 125 in contact with the battery contacts An induction charging coil
140 is mounted about the second flex PCB 129 to enable recharging of the battery 139 via induction The second flex
PCB 129 also mounts an infrared LED 143 and infrared photodiode 144 for detecting displacement m the cam baĪ€el 125 when either the stylus 120 or the ink cartndge 1 18 is used for wnting, in order to enable a determination of the force being applied to the surface by the pen nib 119 or stylus nib 121 The IR photodiode 144 detects light from the IR LED 143 via reflectors (not shown) mounted on the slider blocks 123 and 124
Rubber gnp pads 141 and 142 are provided towards the end 108 of the housing 102 to assist gnpping the pen 101, and top 105 also includes a clip 142 for clipping the pen 101 to a pocket 6.2 PEN CONTROLLER
The pen 101 is aĪ€anged to deteĪ€nine the position of its nib (stylus nib 121 or ink cartndge nib 119) by imaging, in the infrared spectrum, an area of the surface in the vicinity of the nib It records the location data from the nearest location tag, and is aĪ€anged to calculate the distance of the nib 121 or 1 19 from the location tab utilising optics
135 and controller chip 134 The controller chip 134 calculates the onentation of the pen and the nib-to-tag distance from the perspective distortion observed on the imaged tag
Utilising the RF chip 133 and antenna 112 the pen 101 can transmit the digital ink data (which is encrypted for secunty and packaged for efficient transmission) to the computing system
When the pen is in range of a receiver, the digital ink data is transmitted as it is formed When the pen 101 moves out of range, digital ink data is buffered within the pen 101 (the pen 101 circuitry includes a buffer aĪ€anged to store digital ink data for approximately 12 minutes of the pen motion on the surface) and can be transmitted later
The controller chip 134 is mounted on the second flex PCB 129 in the pen 101 Figure 10 is a block diagram - 34 - lllustrat g in more detail the architecture of the controller chip 134 Figure 10 also shows representations of the RF chip 133, the image sensor 132, the tĪ€-color status LED 116, the IR illumination LED 131 , the IR force sensor LED 143, and the force sensor photodiode 144
The pen controller chip 134 includes a controlling processor 145 Bus 146 enables the exchange of data between components of the controller chip 134 Flash memory 147 and a 512 KB DRAM 148 are also included An analog-to-digital converter 149 is aĪ€anged to convert the analog signal from the force sensor photodiode 144 to a digital signal
An image sensor interface 152 interfaces with the image sensor 132 A transceiver controller 153 and base band circuit 154 are also included to interface with the RF chip 133 which includes an RF circuit 155 and RF resonators and inductors 156 connected to the antenna 112
The controlling processor 145 captures and decodes location data from tags from the surface via the image sensor 132. monitors the force sensor photodiode 144. controls the LEDs 1 16, 131 and 143. and handles short-range radio communication via the radio transceiver 153 It is a medium-performance (~40MHz) general-purpose RISC processor
The processor 145, digital transceiver components (transceiver controller 153 and baseband circuit 154), image sensor interface 152, flash memory 147 and 512KB DRAM 148 are integrated in a single controller ASIC Analog RF components (RF circuit 155 and RF resonators and inductors 156) are provided in the separate RF chip
The image sensor is a 215x215 pixel CCD (such a sensor is produced by Matsushita Electronic Corporation, and is descĪ€bed in a paper by Itakura, K T Nobusada, N Okusenya, R Nagayoshi, and M Ozaki, "A 1mm 50k-PΚxel IT CCD Image Sensor for Miniature Camera System", IEEE Transactions on Electronic Devices, Volt 47, number I . January 2000, which is incorporated herein by reference) with an IR filter
The controller ASIC 134 enters a quiescent state after a penod of inactivity when the pen 101 is not in contact with a surface It incorporates a dedicated circuit 150 which monitors the force sensor photodiode 144 and wakes up the controller 134 via the power manager 151 on a pen-down event
The radio transceiver communicates in the unlicensed 900MHz band normally used by cordless telephones, or alternatively in the unlicensed 2 4GHz industnal, scientific and medical (ISM) band, and uses frequency hopping and collision detection to provide interference-free communication
In an alternative embodiment, the pen incorporates an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) interface for short- range communication with a base station or netpage pĪ€nter
In a further embodiment, the pen 101 includes a pair of orthogonal accelero meters mounted in the normal plane of the pen 101 axis The accelerometers 190 are shown m Figures 9 and 10 in ghost outline
The provision of the accelerometers enables this embodiment of the pen 101 to sense motion without reference to surface location tags, allowing the location tags to be sampled at a lower rate Each location tag ID can then identify an object of interest rather than a position on the surface For example, if the object is a user interface input element (e g a command button), then the tag ID of each location tag within the area of the input element can directly identify the input element
The acceleration measured by the accelerometers in each of the x and y directions is integrated with respect to time to produce an instantaneous velocity and position
Since the starting position of the stroke is not known, only relative positions within a stroke are calculated Although position integration accumulates eĪ€ors in the sensed acceleration, accelerometers typically have high resolution, and the time duration of a stroke, over which eĪ€ors accumulate, is short 7. NETPAGE PRINTER DESCRIPTION
7.1 PRINTER MECHANICS
The vertically-mounted netpage wallpnnter 601 is shown fully assembled in Figures 1 1 and 12 As best shown in Figures 12. 12a and 68, it pnnts netpages on A4 sized media using duplexed 81/-" Memjetâ„ĸ pnnt engines 602 - 35 - and 603 It uses a straight paper path with the paper 604 passing through duplexed pnnt engines 602 and 603 which pĪ€nt both sides of a sheet simultaneously, in full color and with full bleed A multi-DSP raster image processor (RIP) rastenzes pages to internal memory, and a pair of custom pnnt engine controllers expand, dither and pnnt page images to the duplexed pnntheads in real time An integral binding assembly 605 applies a stĪ€p of glue along one edge of each pnnted sheet, allowing it to adhere to the previous sheet when pressed against it This creates a final bound document 618 which can range in thickness from one sheet to several hundred sheets The binding assembly will be considered in close detail below with particular reference to Figures 62, 63 and 64
Referring to Figures 11, 12. 12a, 13 and 53 to 58, the wallpĪ€nter 601 consists of a main chassis 606, which accommodates all major components and assemblies As best shown in Figure 58. it has a pivoting media tray 607 on the front upper portion, which is covered by a front molding 608 and handle molding 609 The front molding 608. handle molding 609 and lower front molding 610 can vary in color, texture and finish to make the product more appealing to consumers They simply clip onto the front of the wallpĪ€nter 601
Figures 59 and 60 show the wallpĪ€nter electĪ€cal system in isolation A flexible pĪ€nted circuit board (flex PCB) 611 runs from the media tray 607 to the main PCB 612 It includes four different color LEDs 613, 614, 615 and 616 and a push button 617 The LEDs show through the front molding and indicate "on" 613, "ink out" 614, ' paper out" 615 and "eĪ€or" 616 The push button 617 elicits pĪ€nted "help" in the form of usage instructions, pnnter and consumable status information, and a directory of resources on the netpage network
Pnnted, bound documents 618 exit through the base of the wallpĪ€nter 601 into a clear, plastic, removable collection tray 619 This is discussed in greater detail below with specific reference to Figure 64
The wallpĪ€nter 601 is powered by an internal 110V/220V power supply 620 and has a metal mounting plate 621 that is secured to a wall or stable vertical surface by four screws Plunged keyhole slot details 622 m the metal plate 621 allow for four spigots mounted on the rear of the pĪ€nter to hook onto the plate The wallpĪ€nter 601 is prevented from being lifted off by a screw that locates the chassis molding 606 to the plate 621 at one position behind the media tray 607 Refemng to Figures 53, 65 and 66, the side of the wallpĪ€nter 601 includes a module bay 624 which accommodates a network interface module 625 which allows the pĪ€nter to be connected to the netpage network and to a local computer or network The interface module 625 can be selected and installed in the factory or in the field to provide the interfaces required by the user The modules may have common connector options, such as IEEE 1394 (Firewire) connection, standard Centronics pnnter port connection or a combined USB2 649 and Ethernet 650 connection This allows the consumer to connect the wallpĪ€nter 601 to a computer or use it as a network pnnter Figure 66 shows the exploded assembly of the module 625 The interface module PCB 651, (with gold contact edge stĪ€ps) plugs directly into the main wallpnnter PCB 612 via an edge connector 654 The different connector configurations are accommodated in the module design by use of a tool insert 652 Finger recesses 653 on either side of the module 625 allow for easy manual insertion or removal Turning to Figure 68, the mam PCB 612 is attached to the rear of the chassis 606 The board 612 interfaces through the chassis molding 606 to the interface module 625 The PCB 612 also carĪ€es the necessary peĪ€pheral electronics to the Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€ntheads 705 This includes a main CPU with two 32MB DRAMs, flash memory. IEEE 1394 interface chip, six motor controllers, vanous sensor connectors, interface module PCB edge connector, power management, internal/external data connectors and a QA chip Figure 58 shows the front hatch access to the paper 604 and the ink cartndge 627 Refemng to Figure 67, paper 604 is placed into a hinged top tray 607 and pressed down onto a sprung platen 666 The tray 607 is mounted to the chassis 606 via hinges 700 Each hinge has a base, a hinge lever and a hinge side Pivots on the base and paper/media tray 607 engage the lever and side such that the paper/media tray 607 rotates in a manner that avoids kinking the supply hoses 646 - 36 -
The paper 604 is positioned under edge guides 667 before being closed and is automatically registered to one side of the tray 607 by action of a metal spĪ€ng part 668 An ink cartndge 627 connects into a pivoting mk connector molding 628 via a seĪ€es of self-sealing connectors 629 The connectors 629 transmit ink. air and glue to their separate locations The ink connector molding 628 contains a sensor, which detects a QA chip on the ink cartridge and veĪ€fies identification pĪ€or to pnntmg When the front hatch is sensed closed, a release mechanism allows the sprung platen 666 to push the paper 604 against a motonzed media pick-up roller assembly 626
Figure 54, shows the complete assembly of the replaceable ink cartndge 627 It has bladders or chambers for stoĪ€ng fixative 644, adhesive 630, and cyan 631, magenta 632, yellow 633, black 634 and infrared 635 inks The cartndge 627 also contains a micro air filter 636 in a base molding 637 As shown in Figure 13, the micro air filter 636 interfaces with an air pump 638 inside the pĪ€nter via a hose 639 This provides filtered air to the pnntheads 705 to prevent ingress of micro particles into the Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€ntheads 705 which may clog the nozzles By incoĪ†orating the air filter 636 within the cartndge 627, the operational life of the filter is effectively linked to the life of the cartndge This ensures that the filter is replaced together with the cartndge rather than relying on the user to clean or replace the filter at the required intervals Furthermore, the adhesive and infrared ink are replenished together with the visible inks and air filter thereby reducing how frequently the pĪ€nter operation is interrupted because of the depletion of a consumable mateĪ€al
The cartndge 627 has a thin wall casing 640 The ink bladders 631 to 635 and fixitive bladder 644 are suspended within the casing by a pin 645 which hooks the cartndge together The single glue bladder 630 is accommodated in the base molding 637 This is a fully recyclable product with a capacity for pnnting and gluing 3000 pages (1500 sheets)
Refemng to Figures 12, 12a, 59, 60 and 68, the motonzed media pick-up roller assembly 626 pushes the top sheet directly from the media tray 607 past a paper sensor (not shown) on the first pnnt engine 602 into the duplexed Memjetâ„ĸ pnnthead assembly
Two Memjetâ„ĸ pnnt engines 602 and 603 are mounted in an opposing in-line sequential configuration along the straight paper path The paper 604 is drawn into the first pnnt engine 602 by integral, powered pick-up rollers 626 The position and size of the paper 604 is sensed and full bleed pĪ€nting commences
Fixative is pĪ€nted simultaneously to aid drying in the shortest possible time
As best shown m Figure 12a, the Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€nt engines 602 and 603 include a rotary capping, blotting and platen device 669 The capping device seals the Memjetâ„ĸ pnntheads 705 when not in use It uncaps and rotates to produce an integral blotter, which is used for absorbing mk fired from the pĪ€ntheads 705 duĪ€ng routine pnnter startup maintenance It simultaneously moves an internal capping device inside the Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€nthead 705 that allows air to flow into the protective nozzle shield area The third rotation of the device moves a platen surface into place, which supports one side of the sheet 604 duĪ€ng pĪ€nting
The paper exits the first Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€nt engine 602 through a set of powered exit spike wheels (aligned along the straight paper path), which acts against a rubbeĪ€zed roller These spike wheels contact the 'wet' pĪ€nted surface and continue to feed the sheet 604 into the second Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€nt engine 603
This second pnnt engine 603 is mounted the opposite way up to the first in order to pnnt the underside of the sheet 604
As shown in Figures 12, 12a, 13, 62 and 63, the paper 604 passes from the duplexed pnnt engines 602 and 603, into the binder assembly 605 The pĪ€nted page passes between a powered spike wheel axle 670 with a fibrous support roller and another movable axle with spike wheels and a momentary action glue wheel 673 The movable axle/glue assembly 673 is mounted to a metal support bracket and it is transported forward to interface with the powered axle 670 by action of a camshaft 642 A separate motor powers 675 this camshaft Both motors 676 are controlled by the Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€ntheads - 37 -
The glue wheel assembly 673 consists of a partially hollow axle 679 with a rotating coupling 680 for the glue supply hose 641 from the ink cartridge 627 This axle 679 connects to a glue wheel 681 , which absorbs adhesive by capillary action through radial holes A molded housing suĪ€ounds the glue wheel 681. with an opening at the front Pivoting side moldings 683 and sprung outer doors 684 are attached to the metal support bracket and hinge out sideways when the rest of the assembly 673 is thrust forward This action exposes the glue wheel 681 through the front of the molded housing Tension spnngs 685 close the assembly and effectively cap the glue wheel 681 duĪ€ng penods of inactivity
As the sheet 604 passes into the glue wheel assembly 673, adhesive is applied to one vertical edge on the front side (apart from the first sheet of a document) as it is transported down into the binding assembly 605 It will be appreciated that this aĪ€angement applies adhesive to each page duĪ€ng pnntmg so that the paper movement through the pnnter is not interrupted or stopped at a separate gluing station This increases the pĪ€nter speed, however, it requires that the pages move through the pnnter in "portrait" configuration (that is, in a direction parallel to the long edges) This in tum requires the paper tray, binding station and collection station to be in portrait configuration This may make the overall length of the pĪ€nter too great to conveniently fit into areas having limited space In these situations, the media tray, binding station and collection station can be aĪ€anged in "landscape" oĪ€entation (short sides parallel to paper movement) to shorten the length of the pĪ€nter However, the gluing assembly must still be able to apply glue along the long side of the pages In this version of wallpnnter (not shown), the adhesive is applied to the longitudinal edge of each page with a reciprocating glue stĪ€p
The "portrait" binder assembly 605 is best shown in Figure 62 It has a metal support chassis 686, a sprung molded binding platen 687 that runs on four traverser rods, a molded angled platen 689 which supports the document 618 after the sheet 604 has been moved across, and an exit hatch 690 with support bracket 6 1 The pnnted page 604 is fed in until it rests on the exit hatch 690 The binding platen 687 is propelled forward at high speed via a looped system of wheels 692 and a sprung steel cable 693 that attaches to a powered cable winder shaft 694 As the cable winder shaft 694 is rotated, the cable loop 693 shortens and transports the binding platen 687 forward This powered shaft 694 has a slip clutch mechanism and provides the necessary speed to push the sheet 604 forward onto the rear of a previous sheet, glue/bind it then return under the action of return spĪ€ngs 699 to the home position to accept the next pĪ€nted sheet A single operating cycle of the reciprocating platen takes less than 2 seconds
The binding assembly 605 binds pages one by one into a bound document, thereby producing bound documents without significantly adding to the time taken to pĪ€nt the separate pages of the document Furthermore it applies the adhesive directly pĪ€or to pressing it against the previous page This is more effective than applying adhesive to the rear of each page and sequentially pressing each page to the subsequent page because any interruption in the pĪ€nting process such as replenishing the paper supply may allow the adhesive applied to the last adhered page to detenorate and become less effective
The cable 693 is sprung to allow for positive pressure to be applied to the previous sheet to aid binding Furthermore, the angled platen 689 is shallower at the top than at the base in order to support the document 618 in an over axis configuration
A sensor (not shown) operatively connected to the control of the stepper motor, may be used to determine the position of the last page bound to the document to allow the platen to accurately adhere the next page to it
A paper tapper 643 knocks the sheet 604 to one side of the binder 605 as it is transported across to the angled platen 689 The main PCB 612 controls motors 695, 696 and 697 for the cable winder shaft 694. the tapper 643 and the exit hatch 690 respectively
When a document 618 is bound and finished, the powered exit hatch 690 opens A tamper sensor (not shown) is provided to detect document jams or other interferences acting to prevent the exit hatch 690 from closing The tapper 643 also tap aligns the pĪ€nted document 618 duĪ€ng ejection out of the binder 605 into the collection tray 619 Plastic - 38 - foils 698 on the lower front molding 610 work together with the hatch 690 to direct the finished document 618 to the back of the collection tray 619 and feed any further documents into the tray without hitting existing ones A plurality the flexible foils may be provided, each having different lengths to accommodate documents having different page sizes The collection tray 619 is molded m clear plastic and pulls out of its socket under a certain loading Access for removing documents is provided on three sides 7.2 MEMJET-BASED PRINTING
A Memjetâ„ĸ pnnthead produces 1600 dpi bi-level CMYK On low-diffusion paper, each ejected drop forms an almost perfectly circular 22 5Îŧm diameter dot Dots are easily produced in isolation, allowing dispersed-dot ditheĪ€ng to be exploited to its fullest A page layout may contain a mixture of images, graphics and text Continuous-tone (contone) images and graphics are reproduced using a stochastic dispersed-dot dither Unlike a clustered-dot (or amplitude-modulated) dither, a dispersed-dot (or frequency-modulated) dither reproduces high spatial frequencies (l e image detail) almost to the limits of the dot resolution, while simultaneously reproducing lower spatial frequencies to their full color depth, when spatially integrated by the eye A stochastic dither matĪ€x is carefully designed to be free of objectionable low-frequency patterns when tiled across the image As such its size typically exceeds the minimum size required to support a particular number of intensity levels (e g 16x16x8 bits for 257 intensity levels)
Human contrast sensitivity peaks at a spatial frequency of about 3 cycles per degree of visual field and then falls off logaĪ€thmically, decreasing by a factor of 100 beyond about 40 cycles per degree and becoming immeasurable beyond 60 cycles per degree At a normal viewing distance of 12 inches (about 300mm), this translates roughly to 200- 300 cycles per inch (cpi) on the pĪ€nted page, or 400-600 samples per inch according to Nyquist's theorem
In practice, contone resolution above about 300 ppi is of limited utility outside special applications such as medical imaging Offset pnnting of magazines, for example, uses contone resolutions in the range 150 to 300 ppi Higher resolutions contĪ€bute slightly to color eĪ€or through the dither
Black text and graphics are reproduced directly using bi-level black dots, and are therefore not antialiased (l e low-pass filtered) before being pnnted Text is therefore supersampled beyond the perceptual limits discussed above, to produce smoother edges when spatially integrated by the eye Text resolution up to about 1200 dpi continues to contribute to perceived text shaĪ†ness (assuming low-diffusion paper, of course)
The netpage pnnter uses a contone resolution of 267 ppi (1 e 1600 dpi / 6), and a black text and graphics resolution of 800 dpi 7.3 DOCUMENT DATA FLOW
Because of the pagewidth nature of the Memjetâ„ĸ pnnthead, each page must be pnnted at a constant speed to avoid creating visible artifacts This means that the pnnting speed can't be vaned to match the input data rate Document rastenzation and document pnnting are therefore decoupled to ensure the pnnthead has a constant supply of data A page is never pnnted until it is fully rasteĪ€zed This is achieved by stoĪ€ng a compressed version of each rasteĪ€zed page image in memory
This decoupling also allows the raster image processor (RIP) to run ahead of the pĪ€nter when rasteĪ€zing simple pages, buying time to rasteĪ€ze more complex pages
Because contone color images are reproduced by stochastic ditheĪ€ng, but black text and line graphics are reproduced directly using dots, the compressed page image format contains a separate foreground bi-level black layer and background contone color layer The black layer is composited over the contone layer after the contone layer is dithered
Netpage tags are rendered to a separate layer and are ultimately pĪ€nted using infrared-absoĪ†tive ink
At 267 ppi, a Letter page of contone CMYK data has a size of 25MB Using lossy contone compression algoĪ€thms such as JPEG (ISO/IEC 19018-1 1994, Information technology - Digital compression and coding of - 39 - continuous-tone still images Requirements and guidelines, 1994 the contents of which are herein incoĪ†orated by cross- reference), contone images compress with a ratio up to 10 1 without noticeable loss of quality, giving a compressed page
At 800 dpi, a Letter page of bi-level data has a size of 7MB Coherent data such as text compresses very well Using lossless bi-level compression algoĪ€thms such as Group 4 Facsimile (ANSI/EIA 538-1988, Facsimile Coding Schemes and Coding Control Functions for Group 4 Facsimile Equipment, August 1988, the contents of which are herein incorporated by cross-reference), ten-point text compresses with a ratio of about 10 1, giving a compressed page size of 0 8MB
Once dithered, a page of CMYK contone image data consists of 114MB of bi-level data Using lossless bi- level compression algoĪ€thms on this data is pointless precisely because the optimal dither is stochastic - l e since it introduces hard-to-compress disorder
The two-layer compressed page image format therefore exploits the relative strengths of lossy JPEG contone image compression and lossless bi-level text compression The format is compact enough to be storage-efficient, and simple enough to allow straightforward real-time expansion duĪ€ng pĪ€nting Since text and images noĪ€nally don't overlap, the normal worst-case page image size is 2 5MB (1 e image only), while the normal best-case page image size is 0 8MB (l e text only) The absolute worst-case page image size is 3 3MB (l e text over image) Assuming a quarter of an average page contains images, the average page image size is 1 2MB 7.4 PRINTER CONTROLLER ARCHITECTURE The netpage pnnter controller consists of a controlling processor 750, a factory-installed or field-installed network interface module 625, a radio transceiver (transceiver controller 753, baseband circuit 754, RF circuit 755, and RF resonators and inductors 756), dual raster image processor (RIP) DSPs 757, duplexed pnnt engine controllers 760a and 760b, flash memory 658, and 64MB of DRAM 657, as illustrated in Figure 63
The controlling processor handles communication with the network 19 and with local wireless netpage pens 101, senses the help button 617, controls the user interface LEDs 613-616, and feeds and synchronizes the RIP DSPs 757 and pnnt engine controllers 760 It consists of a medium-performance general-puĪ†ose microprocessor The controlling processor 750 communicates with the pnnt engine controllers 760 via a high-speed senal bus 659
The RIP DSPs rastenze and compress page descnptions to the netpage pnnter' s compressed page format Each pnnt engine controller expands, dithers and pnnts page images to its associated Memjetâ„ĸ pnnthead 350 in real time (l e at over 30 pages per minute) The duplexed pnnt engine controllers pnnt both sides of a sheet simultaneously
The master pnnt engine controller 760a controls the paper transport and monitors ink usage in conjunction with the master QA chip 665 and the mk cartndge QA chip 761
The pnnter controller's flash memory 658 holds the software for both the processor 750 and the DSPs 757, as well as configuration data This is copied to main memory 657 at boot time The processor 750, DSPs 757, and digital transceiver components (transceiver controller 753 and baseband circuit 754) are integrated in a single controller ASIC 656 Analog RF components (RF circuit 755 and RF resonators and inductors 756) are provided in a separate RF chip 762 The network interface module 625 is separate, since netpage pnnters allow the network connection to be factory-selected or field-selected Flash memory 658 and the 2x256Mbit (64MB) DRAM 657 is also off-chip The pnnt engine controllers 760 are provided in separate ASICs A variety of network interface modules 625 are provided, each providing a netpage network interface 751 and optionally a local computer or network interface 752 Netpage network Internet interfaces include POTS modems, Hybnd Fiber-Coax (HFC) cable modems, ISDN modems, DSL modems, satellite transceivers, cuĪ€ent and next-generation cellular telephone transceivers, and wireless local loop (WLL) transceivers Local interfaces include IEEE 1284 (parallel - 40 - port), lOBase-T and 100Base-T Ethernet, USB and USB 2 0. IEEE 1394 (Firewire). and vanous emerging home networking interfaces If an Internet connection is available on the local network, then the local network interface can be used as the netpage network interface
The radio transceiver 753 communicates m the unlicensed 900MHz band normally used by cordless telephones, or alternatively in the unlicensed 2 4GHz industnal, scientific and medical (ISM) band, and uses frequency hopping and collision detection to provide interference-free communication
The pnnter controller optionally incoĪ†orates an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) interface for receiving data "squirted" from devices such as netpage cameras In an alternative embodiment, the pnnter uses the IrDA interface for short-range communication with suitably configured netpage pens 7.4.1 RASTERIZATION AND PRINTING
As shown in Figure 52. once the main processor 750 has received and venfied (at 550) the document's page layouts and page objects into memory 657 (at 551), it runs the appropĪ€ate RIP software on the DSPs 757
The DSPs 757 rastenze (at 552) each page descnption and compress (at 553) the rastenzed page image The main processor stores each compressed page image in memory 657 (at 554) The simplest way to load-balance multiple DSPs is to let each DSP rastenze a separate page The DSPs can always be kept busy since an arbitrary number of rastenzed pages can, in general, be stored in memory This strategy only leads to potentially poor DSP utilization when rastenzing short documents
Watermark regions in the page descnption are rasteĪ€zed to a contone-resolution bi-level bitmap which is losslessly compressed to negligible size and which forms part of the compressed page image The infrared (IR) layer of the pnnted page contains coded netpage tags at a density of about six per inch
Each tag encodes the page ID, tag ID, and control bits, and the data content of each tag is generated dunng rastenzation and stored in the compressed page image
The mam processor 750 passes back-to-back page images to the duplexed pnnt engine controllers 760 Each pnnt engine controller 760 stores the compressed page image in its local memory 769, and starts the page expansion and pnntmg pipeline Page expansion and pĪ€nting is pipelined because it is impractical to store an entire 1 14MB bi-level CMYK+IR page image in memory
The pĪ€nt engine controller expands the compressed page image (at 555). dithers the expanded contone color data to bi-level dots (at 556), composites the expanded bi-level black layer over the dithered contone layer (at 557). renders the expanded netpage tag data (at 558), and finally pĪ€nts the fully-rendered page (at 559) to produce a pĪ€nted netpage 1
7.4.2 PRINT ENGINE CONTROLLER
The page expansion and pnnt g pipeline of the pĪ€nt engine controller 760 consists of a high speed IEEE 1394 senal interface 659, a standard JPEG decoder 763, a standard Group 4 Fax decoder 764, a custom halftoner/compositor unit 765, a custom tag encoder 766, a line loader/formatter unit 767, and a custom interface 768 to the Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€nthead 350
The pnnt engine controller 360 operates in a double buffered manner While one page is loaded into DRAM 769 via the high speed senal interface 659, the previously loaded page is read from DRAM 769 and passed through the pĪ€nt engine controller pipeline Once the page has finished pĪ€nting, the page just loaded is pĪ€nted while another page is loaded The first stage of the pipeline expands (at 763) the JPEG-compressed contone CMYK layer, expands (at 764) the Group 4 Fax-compressed bi-level black layer, and renders (at 766) the bi-level netpage tag layer according to the tag format defined m section 1 2, all in parallel The second stage dithers (at 765) the contone CMYK layer and composites (at 765) the bi-level black layer over the resulting bi-level CMYK layer The resultant bi-level CMYK+IR dot data is - 41 - buffered and formatted (at 767) for pnnting on the Memjetâ„ĸ pnnthead 350 via a set of line buffers Most of these line buffers are stored in the off-chip DRAM The final stage pĪ€nts the six channels of bi-level dot data (including fixative) to the Memjetâ„ĸ pĪ€nthead 350 via the pĪ€nthead interface 768
When several pnnt engine controllers 760 are used in unison, such as in a duplexed configuration, they are synchronized via a shared line sync signal 770 Only one pĪ€nt engine 760, selected via the external master/slave pin 771 , generates the line sync signal 770 onto the shared line
The pnnt engine controller 760 contains a low-speed processor 772 for synchronizing the page expansion and rendenng pipeline, configuĪ€ng the pĪ€nthead 350 via a low-speed senal bus 773, and controlling the stepper motors 675, 676 In the 81/-" versions of the netpage pnnter, the two pĪ€nt engines each pnnts 30 Letter pages per minute along the long dimension of the page (1 1"), giving a line rate of 8 8 kHz at 1600 dpi In the 12" versions of the netpage pnnter the two pnnt engines each pnnts 45 Letter pages per minute along the short dimension of the page (8'/-"), giving a line rate of 10 2 kHz These line rates are well within the operating frequency of the Memjetâ„ĸ pnnthead, which in the cuĪ€ent design exceeds 30 kHz CONCLUSION
The present invention has been descnbed with reference to a prefeĪ€ed embodiment and number of specific alternative embodiments However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant fields that a number of other embodiments, diffenng from those specifically descnbed, will also fall within the spmt and scope of the present invention Accordingly, it will be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments descnbed in the present specification, including documents mcoĪ†orated by cross-reference as appropnate The scope of the invention is only limited by the attached claims

Claims

- 42 -
1 A relay device for providing communication between a sensing device and a computer system, the relay device including a first communications module for receiving first indicating data transmitted from the sensing device m a first format, the indicating data being sensed by the sensing device when it is placed into an operative position in relation to first coded data forming part of a first interface disposed on a first surface, the indicating data including a first region identity indicative of an identity of a region associated with the first interface, a processor configured to generate second indicating data based on the first indicating data, and a second communications module for transmitting the second indicating data in a second format to the computer system
2 A relay device according to claim 1, further including a pĪ€nter
3 A relay device according to claim 2, wherein the second format is a wireless communications protocol 4 A relay device according to claim 2, wherein the wireless communications protocol is a cellular network protocol
5 A relay device according to claim 2, wherein the second communication module includes a receiver for receiving response data transmitted from the computer system, the response data being identified by the first region identity 6 A relay device according to claim 5, wherein the pnnter includes a pĪ€nting mechanism, the pĪ€nter being configured to receive the response data from the computer system, generate a second interface based at least partially on the response data, and pĪ€nt the second interface onto a second surface using the pĪ€nting mechanism 7 A relay device according to claim 6, wherein the response data includes a second region identity indicative of the identity of a second region associated with the second interface, the pĪ€nter including a coded data generator configured to generate second coded data indicative of the second region identity, the second interface incoĪ†orating the second coded data
8 A relay device according to claim 7, wherein the interface includes visible information in addition to the coded data, the visible information being based at least partially on the response data
9 A relay device according to claim 7, wherein the pnnter is configured to pĪ€nt the second interface onto the second surface such that coded data is not substantially visible to an unaided human
10 A relay device according to claim 9, wherein the second coded data is pĪ€nted onto the second surface with infrared absoĪ†tive ink 1 1 A relay device according to claim 7, wherein the second coded data is also indicative of at least one reference point of the second region
12 A relay device according to claim 1 1 , wherein the at least one reference point is determined on the basis of a coded data layout
13 A relay device according to claim 12, wherein the pĪ€nter is configured to receive the coded data layout from the computer system via the second communications module
14 A relay device according to claim 13, further including storage means for stoĪ€ng a plurality of the coded data layouts, the pĪ€nter being configured to receive, from the computer system, layout selection information indicative of one of the coded data layouts, and use the layout selection information to select one of the stored coded lavouts tor use in determining the at least one - 43 - reference point
15 A relay device according to claim 7. wherein the second coded data includes at least one tag, each tag being indicative of the second region identity
16 A relay device according to claim 15. wherein the coded data includes a plurality of the tags, the coded data generator being configured to ascertain a position of each tag pnor to pnnting, the respective positions being determined on the basis of a coded data layout
17 A relay device according to claim 16. wherein the coded data generator is configured to receive the coded data layout from the computer system
18 A relay device according to claim 16, further including storage means for stoĪ€ng a plurality of the coded data layouts, the coded data generator being configured to receive, from the computer system, layout selection information indicative of one of the coded data layouts, and generate the coded data based on the layout selection information
19 A relay device according to claim 15, wherein each of the tags includes first identity data defining a relative position of that tag. and second identity data identifying the region
20 A relay device according to claim 19, wherein the tags are disposed at predetermined positions on the surface
21 A pĪ€nter according to any one of claims 2 to 20, wherein the pĪ€nting mechanism includes an mkjet pĪ€nthead for pnnting ink onto the surface 22 A pĪ€nter according to claim 21 , wherein the pĪ€nthead is a drop on demand mkjet pĪ€nthead
23 A pnnter according to claim 22, wherein the pĪ€nthead is a pagewidth pĪ€nthead
24 A pnnter according to claim 23, wherein the pnnthead is configured to deliver a plurality of ink colors onto the surface with one pĪ€nting pass
25 A pnnter according to claim 23, wherein the pnnthead includes electro-thermal bend actuators to eject the ink onto the surface
26 A pĪ€nter according to claim 25, wherein the pĪ€nthead includes moving nozzle chambers
PCT/AU2000/000562 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Relay device WO2000072286A1 (en)

Priority Applications (15)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AT00929074T ATE489694T1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 RELAY DEVICE
AU47297/00A AU761770B2 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Relay device
DK00929074.3T DK1222644T3 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 relay device
JP2000620603A JP4724303B2 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Printer
BR0010889-8A BR0010889A (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Relay device
DE60045284T DE60045284D1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 RELAY DEVICE
MXPA01012064A MXPA01012064A (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Relay device.
EP00929074A EP1222644B1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Relay device
CA002371479A CA2371479C (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Relay device
IL14664900A IL146649A (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Relay device
HK03100079.1A HK1048009A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2003-01-03 Relay device
AU2003246318A AU2003246318B2 (en) 1999-05-25 2003-09-12 Relay device for use with processing sensor
AU2003246317A AU2003246317B2 (en) 1999-05-25 2003-09-12 Relay device for use with coded marks
AU2003246313A AU2003246313B2 (en) 1999-05-25 2003-09-12 Relay device for use with sensor with identifier
IL168248A IL168248A (en) 1999-05-25 2005-04-26 Relay device for use with coded marks

Applications Claiming Priority (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AUPQ0559A AUPQ055999A0 (en) 1999-05-25 1999-05-25 A method and apparatus (npage01)
AUPQ0559 1999-05-25
AUPQ1313A AUPQ131399A0 (en) 1999-06-30 1999-06-30 A method and apparatus (NPAGE02)
AUPQ1313 1999-06-30
AUPQ3632A AUPQ363299A0 (en) 1999-10-25 1999-10-25 Paper based information inter face
AUPQ3632 1999-10-25

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Publication Number Publication Date
WO2000072286A1 true WO2000072286A1 (en) 2000-11-30

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PCT/AU2000/000534 WO2000072247A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Method and system for printing a document
PCT/AU2000/000564 WO2000072129A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Portable interactive printer
PCT/AU2000/000556 WO2000071455A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Printer cartridge with binder
PCT/AU2000/000560 WO2000072126A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Interface surface printer
PCT/AU2000/000561 WO2000072127A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Interactive printer
PCT/AU2000/000535 WO2000071353A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Method and system for printing a photograph
PCT/AU2000/000562 WO2000072286A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Relay device
PCT/AU2000/000554 WO2000071357A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Printed media production
PCT/AU2000/000526 WO2000072124A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Method and system for accessing the internet

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PCT/AU2000/000534 WO2000072247A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Method and system for printing a document
PCT/AU2000/000564 WO2000072129A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Portable interactive printer
PCT/AU2000/000556 WO2000071455A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Printer cartridge with binder
PCT/AU2000/000560 WO2000072126A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Interface surface printer
PCT/AU2000/000561 WO2000072127A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Interactive printer
PCT/AU2000/000535 WO2000071353A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Method and system for printing a photograph

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PCT/AU2000/000526 WO2000072124A1 (en) 1999-05-25 2000-05-24 Method and system for accessing the internet

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US (32) US6987573B1 (en)
EP (9) EP1259872B1 (en)
JP (10) JP4693996B2 (en)
KR (9) KR100641044B1 (en)
CN (12) CN1351725B (en)
AT (8) ATE327545T1 (en)
AU (10) AU762667B2 (en)
BR (9) BR0010906A (en)
CA (9) CA2374824C (en)
DE (8) DE60028259D1 (en)
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ES (2) ES2269152T3 (en)
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