Patent ID: 7239749
Filing Date: 2007-07-03
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
1. A method of automatically recognizing alphanumeric symbols, comprising: (a) receiving digital information indicative of each unrecognized alphanumeric symbol; (b) computing one or more arcpolys for each unrecognized alphanumeric symbol; (c) identifying at least one of a set of structural and a set of topological features for each arcpoly of each unrecognized alphanumeric symbol; (d) wherein a set of topological relationships for each pair of arcpolys each comprises a one-of-nine topological connection code and separation, and wherein topological relational features are also automatically classified; (e) generating and storing a plurality of candidate lists representative of a complete set of characters; and (f) generating a reduced list of candidate alphanumeric symbols from the plurality of candidate lists based on one or more symbolic representations of each arcpoly of the unrecognized alphanumeric symbol and the stored plurality of candidate lists so that the unrecognized alphanumeric symbol can be recognized, wherein the reduced candidate list contains candidates which are common to the plurality of candidate lists.