Method and apparatus for placing data onto plain paper

1. A system for placing a data source on plain paper as digital data comprising:

formatting means for formatting the data source into a series of digital data values, wherein the series of digital data values are formatted into a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels in at least one data box, wherein each pixel represents at least one bit in the series of digital data values, and further wherein the data box includes a frame bordering the series of digital data values having alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides for identifying the vertical separations between the plurality of rows of data and having pixels in corners in the frame to determine horizontal spacing between pixels within said at least one data box; and

printing means coupled to the formatting means for printing said at least one box onto at least one piece of plain paper having the plurality of rows and the plurality of columns, such that the data source is represented in digitized form on the plain paper.

2. The system as defined in claim 1 wherein the formatting means formats the data into a series of binary values.

3. The system as defined in claim 1 wherein a plurality of boxes having data values are printed on the plain paper.

4. The system as defined in claim 1 wherein a bit of data is printed on the plain paper, such that the presence of a dot on the plain paper indicates that the bit is in a first logical state and the absence of a dot on the plain paper indicates that the bit is in a second logical state.

5. The system as defined in claim 1 wherein a bit of data is printed on the plain paper, such that the change between the presence or absence of a dot on the plain paper indicates whether a bit is in a first logical state or is in a second logical state.

6. The system as defined in claim 1 wherein each pixel value printed represents three bits of data.

7. The system as defined in claim 1 further comprising compression means for compressing the data source before the formatting means formats the data.

8. A system for placing a data source on plain paper as digital data comprising:

formatting means for formatting the data source into a series of binary values, wherein the series of binary values are formatted into a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels in a plurality of data boxes, wherein each pixel represents at least one bit in the series of binary values, and further wherein each of the plurality of data boxes includes a frame bordering the series of binary values having alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides for identifying the vertical separations between the plurality of rows of data and having pixels in corners in the frame to determine horizontal spacing between pixels; and

printing means coupled to the formatting means for printing said plurality of data boxes onto at least one piece of plain paper, wherein the presence of a dot on the plain paper indicates that the bit is in a first logical state and the absence of a dot on the plain paper indicates that the bit is in a second logical state, wherein the plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels are printed in the plurality of rows and the plurality of columns in the plurality of data boxes, such that the data source is represented in digitized form on the plain paper.

9. The system as defined in claim 8 further comprising compression means for compressing the data source before the formatting means formats the data.

10. The system as defined in claim 8 further comprising means for error correction.

11. The system as defined in claim 8 wherein each pixel value printed represents a plurality bits of data.

12. A system for decoding plain paper having at least one data box for storing binary data values in the form of pixels, wherein said at least one data box includes a plurality of borders, said system comprising:

first locating means for locating means for locating said at least one data box on the plain paper, wherein said first locating means includes means for scanning rows of the plain paper until a predetermined number of contiguous pixels of a first color are located in a row, such that said first locating means locate one of the plurality of borders, said first locating means further comprising means for locating the other of the plurality of borders;

second locating means for locating pixels of a second color in corners of the plurality of borders of said at least one data box;

third locating means for locating the plurality of rows of pixels in each said at least one data box on the plain paper;

decoding means coupled to the first locating means, the second locating means and the third locating means for decoding each pixel in the plurality of rows into a binary data value, wherein the presence of a dot on the plain paper indicates that the bit is in a first logical state and the absence of a dot on the plain paper indicates that the bit is in a second logical state, and further wherein the decoding means locates pixels in said at least one data box based on horizontal spacing of pixels determined by the second locating means and vertical spacing of pixels determined by the third locating means, such that the plain paper is decoded.

13. The system as defined in claim 12 wherein said at least one data box includes at least two opposite edges having markers for identifying the vertical separations between the rows of data in said each of the plurality of data boxes, such that said third locating means locates each of the plurality of rows of binary data using said at least two opposite edges.

14. A method for placing digital data on plain paper comprising the steps of:

formatting the data source into a series of binary values, wherein the series of binary values are formatted into a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels in a plurality of data boxes, wherein each pixel represents at least one bit in the series of binary values, and further wherein each of the plurality of data boxes includes a frame bordering the series of binary values having alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides for identifying the vertical separations between the plurality of rows of pixels and having pixels in corners in the frame to determine horizontal spacing between pixels within said at least one data box; and

printing the plurality of data boxes onto at least one piece of plain paper, wherein each of the plurality of binary values is either printed or not printed according to its logic state, such that the presence of a dot on the plain paper indicates that the bit is in a first logical state and the absence of a dot on the plain paper indicates that the bit is in a second logical state, wherein the binary values are printed in the plurality of rows and the plurality of columns in the plurality of boxes, such that the data source is represented in digitized form on the plain paper.

15. A method for decoding plain paper having at least one data box for storing binary data values in the form of pixels, said method comprising the steps of:

first locating said at least one data box on the plain paper, including the step of scanning rows of the plain paper until a predetermined number of contiguous pixels of a first color are located in a row, such that one of a plurality of borders of said at least one data box is located, and including the step of locating the other of the plurality of borders;

second location pixels of a second color in corners of the plurality of borders of said at least one data box, wherein horizontal spacing of pixels in said at least one data box is determined:

third Locating the plurality of rows of pixels in each of said at least one data box on the plain paper, wherein vertical spacing of pixels in said at least one data box is determined;

decoding each pixel in the plurality of rows into a binary data value, wherein the presence of a dot on the plain paper indicates that the bit is in a first logical state and the absence of a dot on the plain paper indicates that the bit is in a second logical state, and further wherein the pixels in said at least one data box are located based on horizontal spacing of pixels determined by the second locating step and vertical spacing of pixels determined by the third locating step, such that the plain paper is decoded.

16. A reproduction system for reproducing a data source comprising:

encryption means for performing encryption on the data source to produce encrypted data representing the data source, wherein the data source is digital and the encrypted data produced is digital;

encoding means coupled to the encryption means for encoding the encrypted data into a series of pixel values; and

printing means coupled to the encoding means for printing the series of pixel values onto at least one piece of plain paper, wherein the pixel values are printed in at least one box in a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels, wherein each pixel represents at least one bit in the series of digital data values, and wherein said at least one box includes a frame bordering the series of pixels having alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides for identifying the vertical separations between the plurality of rows of data and having pixels in corners in the frame to determine horizontal spacing between pixels within said at least one data box, such that the data source represented in encrypted digitized form on the plain paper.

17. The reproduction system as defined in claim 16 further comprising scanning means for scanning the data source into digitized signals.

18. The reproduction system as defined in claim 16 further comprising means for performing error correction encoding on the encrypted data.

19. The reproduction system as defined in claim 16 wherein the encryption means uses a digital key.

20. The reproduction system as defined in claim 19 wherein the key seeds a pseudo-random sequence.

21. The reproduction system as defined in claim 19 wherein the key comprises a one-time pad.

22. The reproduction system as defined in claim 16 wherein the encryption means includes means for encrypting the data according to the digital encryption standard (DES).

23. The reproduction system as defined in claim 16 wherein the encryption means includes means for encrypting the data according to the RSA algorithm.

24. A system for representing and recognizing data on plain paper in the form of a plurality of data boxes comprising:

encoding means for encoding the data, wherein the encoding means includes:

encryption means for performing encryption on the data source to produce encrypted data representing the data source, wherein the data source is digital and the encrypted data produced is digital;

encoding means coupled to the encryption means for encoding the encrypted data into a series of pixel values; and

first output means coupled to the encoding means for outputting the series of pixel values onto at least one piece of plain paper, wherein the series of pixel values are printed in at least one box in a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns and wherein said at least one box includes a frame bordering the series of pixels having alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides for identifying the vertical separations between the plurality of rows of data and having pixels in corners in the frame to determine horizontal spacing between pixels within said at least one data box, such that the data source represented in encrypted digitized form on the plain paper; and

recognition means for recognizing the data in the plurality of boxes, wherein the recognition means includes:

scanning means for scanning said at least one box on the plain paper and for converting the pixels into electrical signals representative of the characters, wherein the scanning means scans rows of the plain paper until a predetermined number of contiguous pixels of a first color are located in a row, such that one of a plurality of borders of said at least one data box is located, and further wherein said scanning means locates the other of the plurality of borders, said scanning means also including means for determining the horizontal spacing and the vertical spacing of pixels in said at least one data box;

decoding means coupled to the scanning means for decoding the electrical signals into output signals representative of the data;

decryption means coupled to the decoding means for decrypting the electrical signals; and

second output means coupled to the decrypting means for transferring the output signals onto a piece of plain paper.

25. The reproduction system as defined in claim 24 wherein the encryption means uses a digital key.

26. The reproduction system as defined in claim 25 wherein the key seeds a pseudo-random sequence.

27. The reproduction system as defined in claim 25 wherein the key comprises a one-time pad.

28. A process for reproducing a data source comprising the steps of:

performing encryption on the data source to produce encrypted data representing the data source, wherein the data source is digital and the encrypted data produced is digital;

encoding the encrypted data into a series of pixel values; and

outputting the series of pixel values onto at least one piece of plain paper, wherein the pixel values are printed in at least one box in a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns and wherein said at least one box includes a frame bordering the series of pixels having alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides for identifying the vertical separations between the plurality of rows of data and having pixels in corners in the frame to determine horizontal spacing between pixels within said at least one data box, such that the data source represented in encrypted digitized form on the plain paper.

29. A process for decoding the data in the plurality of boxes comprising the steps of:

scanning said at least one box on the plain paper and for converting the pixels into electrical signals representative of the characters, wherein each of the pixels; represents a binary value;

decoding the electrical signals into output signals representative of the data, wherein the step of decoding includes the steps of:

locating the corners of said at least one box using pixels in the corners;

determining the spacing of the pixels according to the location of the corners of said at least one box, wherein horizontal spacing of the pixels is determined using the pixels in the corners of said at least one box;

locating the rows of pixels in said at least one box using alternating pixels along two opposite sides of said at least one box, such that the vertical separation between the plurality of rows of data is identified; and

sampling the pixels according to the horizontal spacing and the vertical separation in order to produce decoded data;

decrypting the decoded data; and

transferring the output signals onto a piece of plain paper.

30. The process as defined in claim 29 wherein the step of decrypting the decoded data comprises the step of decrypting the decoded data according to a key.

31. The process as defined in claim 29 wherein the step of decrypting the decoded data comprises the step of decrypting the decoded data according to a key seeding a pseudo-random sequence.

32. The process as defined in claim 29 wherein the step of decrypting the decoded data comprises the step of decrypting the decoded data according to a key comprising a one-time pad.

33. A system for placing a data source on plain paper as digital data comprising:

a formatter, wherein the formatter formats the data source into a series of digital data values, wherein the series of digital data values are formatted into a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels in at least one data box, wherein each pixel represents at least one bit in the series of digital data values, and further wherein the data box includes a frame bordering the series of digital data values having alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides for identifying the vertical separations between the plurality of rows of data and having pixels in corners in the frame to determine horizontal spacing between pixels within said at least one data box; and

a printer coupled to the formatter, wherein the printer prints said at least one box onto at least one piece of plain paper having the plurality of rows and the plurality of columns, such that the data source is represented in digitized form on the plain paper.

34. The system defined in claim 33 further comprising a data compresser coupled to receive the data source, wherein the data compresser compresses the data source and supplies the data source in a compressed form to the formatter for formatting.

35. The system defined in claim 33 further comprising an error correction encoder coupled to receive the data source, wherein the error correction encoder performs error correction encoding on the data source and supplies the data source in an error correction encoded form to the formatter for formatting.

36. A system for placing a data source on plain paper as digital data comprising:

a data compresser coupled to receive the data source, wherein the data compresser compresses the data source to produce a compressed data source;

an error correction encoder coupled to receive the compressed data source, wherein the error correction encoder performs error correction encoding on the compressed data source to produce a compressed and error correction encoded data source;

a formatter coupled to receive the compressed and error correction encoded data source, wherein the formatter formats the compressed and error correction encoded data source into a series of digital data values, wherein the series of digital data values are formatted into a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels in at least one data box, wherein each pixel represents at least one bit in the series of digital data values, and further wherein the data box includes a frame bordering the series of digital data values having alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides for identifying the vertical separations between the plurality of rows of data and having pixels in corners in the frame to determine horizontal spacing between pixels within said at least one data box; and

a printer coupled to the formatter, wherein the printer prints said at least one box onto at least one piece of plain paper having the plurality of rows and the plurality of columns, such that the data source is represented in digitized form on the plain paper.

37. The system defined in claim 3 wherein at least one of the plurality of boxes contains error correction encoded data for the other of the plurality of boxes.