2D Barcoding With Benefits

Source from:  TJI 04/06/2012

Among the various options now available for combined authentication and track & trace is Pelta™, a patent pending technology from Pagemark Technology Inc that is based on standard public -domain 2D barcodes. According to Pagemark CEO RanDair Porter, Pelta has the advantage of being straightforward to deploy and offers strong security while providing a simple method of authentication. Primary markets are document authentication, tax stamps and brand protection. At first glance, Pelta authenticators look like Quick Response (QR) codes, but what makes the Pelta barcodes unique is a hidden layer that is secretly encoded on top of a standard QR barcode. This layer includes encrypted covert information which provides a machine-readable way of uniquely identifying the document. Furthermore, the encrypted covert message can be tied to other visible information on the document, thus providing authenticity validation. It is said to be impossible for a counterfeiter to create the hidden information within the barcode. While 2D barcodes contain standard messages readable by any QR barcode reader, the covert information in Pelta barcodes can only be read by Page‧mark's proprietary algorithm. The algorithm is deployed in software running on smartphones, web cameras or desktop scanners. According to Porter, "the widespread use of smartphones today means that they constitute a powerful platform for reading Pelta barcodes. Pagemark supplies a reader application capable of reading both overt and covert messages within these barcodes. Customers using the system are given customer-specific modules which uniquely link reader software running on a smart phone to the barcode generation." The system can best be explained in four steps. In Step 1, the user defines the overt and covert messages in a way that best accommodates the user's authentication strategy. Step 2 is to generate the barcodes using one of three methods. Either ‧Pagemark can generate the barcodes for each customer and deliver them as image files. Or they can be generated by the Pagemark server interface. Alternatively, customers can license the generator software module and integrate this into their own system. Step 3 is when the barcodes are placed on the documents, using the customer's preferred printing technology. And Step 4 is the end-user authentication in the field, in which the document is validated using the Pelta smart phone application. This application uses the smart phone camera to capture and process the Pelta barcode image printed on the document. The application will reveal to the user. Both the covert and overt messages must exist and must match printed information on the document or some other predefined method message known to the authentication process. The Pelta applications are currently supported by the Apple iPhone and Android-based phones, with more to follow. They take advantage of the camera, GPS, SMS functionality within the devices. Enditem