INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ISSN-2320-7884 (Online) www.ijdcst.com ISSN-2321-0257(Print) EVOLUTION OF BARCODE Janaswamy Phaniteja#1, P Derin J Tom#2 #1 - Janaswamy Phaniteja, B Tech.-III Year, Dept. of Information Technology, Aurora’s Engineering College, Bhongir, Nalgonda Dist., 9246580683 #2 - P Derin J Tom, B Tech.-III Year, Dept. of Information Technology, Aurora’s Engineering College, Bhongir, Nalgonda Dist., 8801072944, Abstract: A barcode is an optical machine-readable first working system used ultraviolet ink, but this representation of data, which shows data about the proved too easy to fade and was fairly expensive. object to which it attaches. These days’ barcodes have become very common for Unique Identification Convinced that the system was workable with further (UID) of almost everything from groceries to development, Woodland left Drexel, moved into his expensive goods. father's apartment in Florida, and continued working The mapping between messages and on the system. His next inspiration came from Morse barcodes is called a symbology. The specification of code, and he formed his first barcode from sand on a symbology includes the encoding of the single the beach. "I just extended the dots and dashes digits/characters of the message as well as the start downwards and made narrow lines and wide lines and stop markers into bars and space, the size of the out of them." To read them, he adapted technology quiet zone required to be before and after the from optical soundtracks in movies, using a 500-watt barcode as well as the computation of a checksum. light bulb shining through the paper onto an RCA935 As every coin has two faces, every photomultiplier tube (from a movie projector) on the technology also has two faces i.e. the advantages far side. He later decided that the system would work and disadvantages. It depends on us (i.e; users & better if it were printed as a circle instead of a line, [1] developers) which side we chose to explore! allowing it to be scanned in any direction . Keywords: Barcode, 1D Barcode, 2D Barcode, On 20 October 1949 Woodland and Silver filed a Matrix Code, QR Code, Barcode Readers, UPC, patent application for "Classifying Apparatus and CCD Reader Method", in which they described both the linear and Bull’s-eye printing patterns, as well as the mechanical and electronic systems needed to read the I. INTRODUCTION: code. The patent was issued on 7 October 1952 as US Patent 2,612,994. In 1951, Woodland moved to A barcode is an optical machine-readable IBM and continually tried to interest IBM in representation of data, which shows data about the [1] developing the system. The company eventually object to which it attaches . Originally barcodes commissioned a report on the idea, which concluded represented data by varying the widths and spacing’s that it was both feasible and interesting, but that of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or processing the resulting information would require one-dimensional (1D). Later they evolved into equipment that was some time off in the future. rectangles, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns in two dimensions (2D). Although 2D The first consumer product that introduced barcode systems use a variety of symbols, they are generally was Wrigley’s Gum [3]. referred to as barcodes as well. Barcodes originally were scanned by special optical scanners called barcode readers; later, scanners and interpretive III. SYMBOLOGIES: software became available on devices including The mapping between messages and barcodes is desktop printers and Smartphone’s. called a symbology [1]. The specification of a symbology includes the encoding of the single II. HISTORY: digits/characters of the message as well as the start and stop markers into bars and space, the size of the In 1948 Bernard Silver, a graduate student at Drexel quiet zone required to be before and after the barcode Institute of Technology in Philadelphia, as well as the computation of a checksum. Linear Pennsylvania, USA overheard the president of the symbologies can be classified mainly by two local food chain, Food Fair, asking one of the deans properties: to research a system to automatically read product information during checkout. Silver told his friend Continuous vs. discrete: Characters in Norman Joseph Woodland about the request, and [3] continuous symbologies usually abut, with they started working on a variety of systems . Their one character ending with a space and the INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ISSN-2320-7884 (Online) www.ijdcst.com ISSN-2321-0257(Print) next beginning with a bar, or vice versa. barcodes are being developed that will be more Characters in discrete symbologies begin secure and will encode more data. Barcode systems and end with bars; the inter-character space such as the UPC system have already become a is ignored, as long as it is not wide enough regular part of the daily life of many people. to look like the code ends. Based on the type of the symbology that is used in Two-width vs. many-width: Bars and the barcode, they are basically divided into two spaces in two-width symbologies are wide types. They are: or narrow; the exact width of a wide bar has no significance as long as the symbology 1. Linear (1D) Barcodes requirements for wide bars are adhered to 2. Matrix (2D) Barcodes (usually two to three times wider than a narrow bar). Bars and spaces in many-width These are the most commonly used types of symbologies are all multiples of a basic barcodes. There are even 3D barcodes that are being width called the module; most such codes developed. use four widths of 1, 2, 3 and 4 modules. A. LINEAR (1D) BARCODES: Some symbologies use interleaving. The first character is encoded using black bars of varying Linear barcode is a first generation, "one width. The second character is then encoded, by dimensional" barcode that is made up of lines and varying the width of the white spaces between these spaces of various widths that create specific patterns. bars. Thus characters are encoded in pairs over the These patterns represent stock-keeping unit (SKU) same section of the barcode. numbers which are easily and quickly read by computer scanners. Continuous and discrete linear Stacked symbologies repeat a given linear bar codes are still in common use today, also called symbology vertically. UPC barcode. The most common among the many 2D symbologies The following table contains the list of some of the are matrix codes, which feature square or dot-shaped Linear Barcode Symbologies that are being used in modules arranged on a grid pattern. 2-D symbologies various fields now-a-days. also come in circular and other patterns and may employ steganography, hiding modules within an Continuous Bar image (for example, Data Glyphs). Symbology or Uses widths discrete Linear symbologies are optimized for laser scanners, Worldwide which sweep a light beam across the barcode in a retail, GS1- straight line, reading a slice of the barcode light-dark approved – patterns. Stacked symbologies are also optimized for U.P.C. Continuous Many International laser scanning, with the laser making multiple passes Standard across the barcode. ISO/IEC In the 1990s development of charge coupled device 15420 (CCD) imagers to read barcodes was pioneered by Old format Welch Allyn. Imaging does not require moving parts, used in as a laser scanner does. In 2007, linear imaging had libraries and begun to supplant laser scanning as the preferred Codabar Discrete Two blood banks scan engine for its performance and durability. and on air bills (out of 2-D symbologies cannot be read by a laser as there is date) typically no sweep pattern that can encompass the Wholesale, libraries entire symbol. They must be scanned by an image- Code 25 – International based scanner employing a CCD or other digital Interleaved Continuous Two standard camera sensor technology. 2 of 5 ISO/IEC IV. TYPES OF BARCODES: 16390 Various – There are many types of barcodes that are used to International track products, mail, and people. Nearly everyone Code 128 Continuous Many Standard has purchased products that have one or more ISO/IEC barcodes. Barcodes have a permanent place in 15417 modern tracking systems. More advanced types of INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ISSN-2320-7884 (Online) www.ijdcst.com ISSN-2321-0257(Print) Telephones Code 11 Discrete Two Table-1: Types of Linear Barcode (out of date) Symbologies Worldwide retail, GS1- approved – B. MATRIX (2D) BARCODES: EAN-8, Continuous Many International EAN-13 A matrix code, also termed a 2D barcode or simply a Standard 2D code is a two-dimensional way to represent ISO/IEC information. It is similar to a linear (1-dimensional) 15420 [1] barcode, but can represent more data per unit area . Facing USPS Identificati Continuous One business A Data Matrix code is a two-dimensional matrix on Mark reply mail barcode consisting of black and white "cells" or GS1 modules arranged in either a square or rectangular DataBar, pattern. The information to be encoded can be text or formerly Various, numeric data. Usual data size is from a few bytes up Reduced Continuous Many GS1- to 1556 bytes. The length of the encoded data Space approved depends on the number of cells in the matrix. Error Symbology correction codes are often used to increase reliability: (RSS) even if one or more cells are damaged so it is Healthcare – unreadable, the message can still be read. A Data HIBC is a data Matrix symbol can store up to 2,335 alphanumeric (HIBCC structure to characters.