METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR BILL MANAGEMENT

Abstract: Methods and systems are disclosed which relate to online bill management via interface surfaces printed with information and coded data. The coded data, encoded visibly or invisibly, may be queried by an appropriate sensing device. The sensing device communicates with a computer system. Together, the interface surfaces, sensing device and computer system are capable of effecting online bill management, including bill payment, over a network.

Description: METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR BILL MANAGEMENT FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates generally to methods, systems and apparatus for interacting with computers More particularly, the invention relates to online bill management utilizing such methods, systems and apparatus The invention has been developed primarily to allow a large number of distributed users to interact with networked information via pπnted matter and optical sensors, thereby to obtain interactive printed matter on demand via high-speed networked color printers Although the invention will largely be described herein with reference to this use, it will 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, PCT/AU00/00520, PCT/AU00/00521 , PCT/AU00/00522, PCT/AU00/00523, PCT/AU00/00524, PCT/AU00/00525, PCT/AU00/00526, PCT/AU00/00527, PCT/AU00/00528, PCT/AU00/00529, PCT/AU00/00530, PCT/AU00/00531 , PCT/AU00/00532, PCT/AU00/00533, PCT/AU00/00534, PCT/AU00/00535, PCT/AU00/00536, PCT/AU00/00538, PCT/AU00/00539, PCT/AU00/00540, PCT/AU00/00541 , PCT/AU00/00542, PCT/AU00/00543, PCT/AU00/00544, PCT/AU00/00545, PCT/AU00/00547, PCT/AU00/00546, PCT/AU00/00554, PCT/AU00/00556, PCT/AU00/00557, PCT/AU00/00558, PCT/AU00/00559, PCT/AUOO/00560, PCT/AU00/00561, PCT/AU00/00562, 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/AUOO/00581 , PCT/AU00/00580, PCT/AUOO/00582, PCT/AU00/00587. PCT/AUOO/00588. PCT/AU00/00589, PCT/AU00/00583, PCT/AU00/00593, PCT/AU00/00590, PCT/AU00/00591 , PCT/AU00/00592, PCT/AU00/00594, PCT/AU00/00595, PCT/AU00/00596, PCT/AU00/00597, PCT/AU00/00598, PCT/AU00/00516, and PCT/AU00/00517 The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated herein by cross-reference BACKGROUND A bill management service allows a bill payer to view, pay, and otherwise manage their bills over the Internet The bill payer can notify their regular billers to redirect bills to their bill manager The bills may be sent in traditional paper form by mail or may be sent electronically A regular notification of due bills is typically sent to the bill payer by e-mail over the Internet The bill payer can then select which bills to pay, how much to pay, and what payment method to use OBJECT It is an object of the present invention to combine advantages of paper-based bills and online bill management - 1a - SUMMARY OF INVENTION The present invention provides, in a first aspect, a method of enabling online bill payment, the method including the steps of providing a potential purchaser with a form containing information relating to a bill paying transaction, the form including coded data indicative of an identity of the form and of at least one reference point of the form, receiving, in a computer system, indicating data from a sensing device regarding the identity of the form and a position of the sensing device relative to the form, the sensing device, when placed in an operative position relative to the form, sensing the indicating data using at least some of the coded data, and identifymg, m the computer system and from the indicating data, at least one parameter relating to the bill paying transaction Preferably at least one parameter relating to the bill pay g transaction is associated with at least one zone of the form and m which the method mcludes identifymg, in the computer system and from the zone relative to which the sensmg device is located, said at least one parameter Preferably the method further mcludes receiving, in the computer system, data regarding movement of the sensmg device relative to the form, the sensmg device sensmg its movement relative to the form usmg at least some of the coded data Preferably also the method mcludes identifymg, m the computer system and from said movement bemg at least partially withm said at least one zone, said at least one parameter of the bill paymg transaction In a second aspect the present mvention provides a method of enabling onlme bill paymg, the method mcludmg the steps of providmg a potential purchaser with a form contammg information relating to a bill paymg transaction, the form mcludmg coded data indicative of at least one parameter of the bill paymg transaction, receiving, m a computer system, data from a sensmg device regarding said at least one parameter and regarding movement of the sensmg device relative to the form, the sensmg device, when moved relative to the form, sensmg the data regarding said at least one parameter usmg at least some of the coded data and generating the data regarding its own movement relative to the form, and interpreting, m the computer system, said movement of the sensmg device as it relates to said at least one parameter In a third aspect, the present mvention provides a method of enablmg onlme bill paymg, the method mcludmg the steps of providmg a potential purchaser with a form contammg information relating to a bill paymg transaction, the form including coded data indicative of an identity of the form, receiving, m a computer system, data from a sensmg device regarding an identity of the potential purchaser and regarding the identity of the form, the sensing device contammg the data regarding the identity of the user and sensmg the data regarding the identity of the form usmg at least some of the coded data, and identifymg, m the computer system and from the data regarding the identity of the potential purchaser and the identity of the form, a bill paymg transaction Preferably, the coded data is also indicative of at least one parameter of the bill paymg transaction, and the method mcludes receivmg, m the computer system, indicating data from the sensmg device regarding said at least one parameter of the bill paymg transaction, the sensmg device sensmg the indicating data usmg at least some of the coded data Preferably also, the method mcludes receivmg, m the computer system, data from the sensmg device regarding movement of the sensmg device relative to the form, the sensmg device generating data regarding its own movement relative to the form Preferably, m any of these aspects, the is an action parameter of the bill paymg transaction, the method including effecting, m the computer system, an operation m respect of the action parameter Preferably, the action parameter of the bill paymg transaction is selected from the group compnsmg requesting information relating to a bill, selectmg a bill to pay, de-selecting a bill to pay, resetting the form, electronically forwarding a bill, paymg a bill, listing due bills, listing billers, addmg or removing payment methods or listing failed bills In a fourth aspect, the present mvention provides a system for enabling onlme bill paymg, the system mcludmg a form containing information relatmg to a bill paymg transaction, the form mcludmg coded data mdicative of an identity of the form and of at least one reference pomt of the form, and a computer system for receivmg mdicatmg data from a sensmg device for identifymg at least one parameter relatmg to the bill paymg transaction, the mdicatmg data bemg mdicative of the identify of the form and a position of the sensmg device relative to the form, the sensmg device sensmg the mdicatmg data usmg at least some of the coded data In a fifth aspect, the present mvention provides a system for enablmg onlme bill paymg, the system mcludmg a form contammg information relating to a bill paymg transaction, the form mcludmg coded data mdicative of at least one parameter of the bill paymg transaction, and a computer system for receivmg data from a sensmg device regardmg said at least one parameter and regardmg movement of the sensing device relative to the form, and for mterpretmg said movement of the sensmg device as it relates to said at least one parameter, the sensmg device, when moved relative to the form, sensmg the data regardmg said at least one parameter usmg at least some of the coded data and generatmg the data regardmg its own movement relative to the form In a sixth aspect, the present mvention provides a system for enablmg onlme bill paymg, the system mcludmg a form mcludmg coded data mdicative of an identify of the form, and a computer system for receivmg from a sensmg device data regardmg an identity of the potential purchaser and the identity of the form, and for identifymg, from said received data, a bill paymg transaction, the sensmg device contammg the data regardmg the identify of the potential purchaser and sensmg the data regardmg the identify of the form usmg at least some of the coded data In a seventh aspect, the present mvention provides a method of makmg an online bill payment, compnsmg the steps of obtaining from a network source, a bill paymg form surface, the surface havmg coded data prmted on it, the coded data mdicative of an identify of the form, the coded data bemg readable by a sensmg device, providmg to a networked computer system, information from the sensmg device, the information based on at least some of the coded data and make a payment transaction associated with bill or bills covered by the bill paymg form Accordmgly, the present mvention provides a system and a method which utilizes one or more forms capable of mteracting with a computer system Whilst the novel method and system of the present mvention may be used m conjunction with a smgle computer system, in a particularly preferred form it is designed to operate over a computer network, such as the Internet Physically the form is disposed a surface medium of any suitable structure However, m a preferred arrangement, the form is disposed on sheet matenal such as paper or the like which has the coded data pnnted on it and which allows mteraction with the computer system The coded data is detectable preferably, but not exclusively, outside the visible spectrum, thereby enablmg it to be machine-readable but substantially invisible to the human eye The form may also mclude visible matenal which provides information to a user, such as the application or purpose of the form, and which visible information may be registered or conelate m position with the relevant hidden coded data The system also includes a sensmg device to convey data from the form to the computer system, and m some instances, to contnbute additional data Again, the sensing device may take a vanety of forms but is preferably compact and easily portable In a particularly preferred arrangement, the sensmg device is configured as a pen which is designed to be able to physically mark the form as well as to selectively enable the coded data from the form to be read - 4 - and transmitted to the computer system The coded data then provides control mformation, configured such that designation thereof by a user causes mstructions to be applied to the software runmng on the computer system or network The nature of the mteraction between the form and the sensmg device and the data that each contnbutes to the computer system may vary In one arrangement, the coded data on the form is mdicative of the identity of the form and of at least one reference pomt on that form In another embodiment, the form includes coded data which is mdicative of a parameter of the form, whereas the sensmg device is operative to provide data regardmg its own movement relative to that form to the computer system together with coded data from the form In yet another arrangement, the form mcludes the coded data which at least identifies the form, and the sensmg device is designed to provide, to the computer system, data based on the form coded data, and also on data which identifies the user of the device In a preferred arrangement, the system and method also employs specially designed pnnters to pnnt the form Further these pnnters constitute or form part of the computer system and are designed to receive data from the sensmg device As mdicated above, the system and method of the mvention is ideally suited to operate over a network In this arrangement, the pnnters are fully mtegrated mto the network and allow for pnntmg of the forms on demand and also for distnbuting of the forms usmg a mixture of multicast and pomtcast commumcation protocols Accordmgly, m a preferred form, the present mvention provides methods and systems which use a paper and pen based mterface for a computer system This provides many significant benefits over traditional computer systems The advantage of paper is that it is widely used to display and record information Further, pnnted mformation is easier to read than information displayed on a computer screen Moreover, paper does not run on battenes, can be read m bnght light, or robustly accepts coffee spills or the like and is portable and disposable Furthermore, the system allows for hand-drawing and hand-wnting to be captured which affords greater nchness of expression than input via a computer keyboard and mouse The present mvention therefore provides a novel method and system for enablmg the forwarding of bills to a bill manager, management of bills, and payment of bills makmg use of novel surface mterfaces BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Preferred and other embodiments of the mvention will now be descnbed, 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 pnnted netpage and its onlme page descnption, Figure 2 is a schematic view of a mteraction between a netpage pen, a netpage pnnter, a netpage page server, and a netpage application server, Figure 3 illustrates a collection of netpage servers and pπnters interconnected via a network, Figure 4 is a schematic view of a high-level structure of a pπnted netpage and its onlme page descπption, Figure 5 is a plan view showmg a structure of a netpage tag, Figure 6 is a plan view showmg a relationship between a set of the tags shown m Figure 5 and a field of view of a netpage sensmg device m the form of a netpage pen, Figure 7 is a flowchart of a tag image processmg and decodmg algonthm, 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 m Figure 8, Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram of a pen controller for the netpage pen shown m Figures 8 and 9, Figure 11 is a perspective view of a wall-mounted netpage pnnter, Figure 12 is a section through the length of the netpage pnnter of Figure 11 , Figure 12a is an enlarged portion of Figure 12 showmg a section of the duplexed pnnt engmes and glue wheel assembly, Figure 13 is a detailed view of the ink cartridge, ink, air and glue paths, and pπnt engmes of the netpage pnnter of Figures 11 and 12, Figure 14 is a schematic block diagram of a pnnter controller for the netpage pnnter shown m Figures 11 and 12, Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram of duplexed pπnt engme controllers and Memjet™ pπntheads associated with the pnnter controller shown m Figure 14, Figure 16 is a schematic block diagram of the pnnt engme controller shown m Figures 14 and 15, Figure 17 is a perspective view of a smgle Memjet™ pnntmg element, as used m, for example, the netpage pnnter of Figures 10 to 12, Figure 18 is a perspective view of a small part of an array of Memjet™ pnntmg elements, Figure 19 is a senes of perspective views illustrating the operating cycle of the Memjet™ pnntmg element shown in Figure 13, Figure 20 is a perspective view of a short segment of a pagewidth Memjet™ pnnthead, Figure 21 is a schematic view of a user class diagram, Figure 22 is a schematic view of a pnnter 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 descnption 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 hyperlinked 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 mput processing algonthm, 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 descnption class diagram, Figure 41 is a schematic view of a favontes list class diagram, Figure 42 is a schematic view of a history list class diagram, Figure 43 is a schematic view of a subscnption 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 schematic view of a set of user mterface flow document icons, - 6 - Figure 49 is a schematic view of a set of user mterface page layout element icons, Figure 50 is a schematic view of a bill payments class diagram, Figure 51 is a schematic view of a customer class diagram, Figure 52 is a schematic view of a payment method class diagram, Figure 53 is a schematic view of a bill status class diagram, Figure 54 is a schematic view of a user mterface flow for an ongmal bill, Figure 55 is a schematic view of a user mterface flow for a bill manager (1), Figure 56 is a schematic view of a user mterface flow for a bill manager (2), Figure 57 is a schematic view of a user mterface flow for a bill manager (3), Figure 58 is a schematic view of a user mterface flow for a bill manager (4), Figure 59 is a schematic view of a user mterface flow for a bill copy, Figure 60 is a schematic view of an ongmal bill, Figure 61 is a schematic view of an ongmal bill payment method page, bemg the back page of the document of figure 60, Figure 62 is a schematic view of a bill manager main page, Figure 63 is a schematic view of a due bill list, Figure 64 is a schematic view of a list of all bills, Figure 65 is a schematic view of a biller list, Figure 66 is a schematic view of a biller setup page, Figure 67 is a schematic view of a payment method list page, Figure 68 is a schematic view of an add new payment method page, Figure 69 is a schematic view of an exceptions list, Figure 70 is a schematic view of a bill copy, Figure 71 is a schematic view of a bill copy payment method page, bemg the back page of the document of figure 70, and Figure 72 is a schematic view of a bill payment receipt DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND OTHER EMBODIMENTS Note Memjet™ is a trade mark of Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd, Australia In the preferred embodiment, the mvention 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 in relation to the basic system However, the system is descπbed m its most complete form to reduce the need for external reference when attempting to understand the context m which the preferred embodiments and aspects of the present invention operate In bπef summary, the preferred form of the netpage system employs a computer interface m the form of a mapped surface, that is, a physical surface which contams references to a map of the surface mamtamed in a computer system The map references can be queπed by an appropnate sensmg device Depending upon the specific implementation, the map references may be encoded visibly or invisibly, and defined m such a way that a local query on the mapped surface yields an unambiguous map reference both withm the map and among different maps The computer system can contain mformation about features on the mapped surface, and such information can be retneved based on map references supplied by a sensing device used with the mapped surface The information thus retneved can take the form of actions which are initiated by the computer system on behalf of the operator m response to the operator's mteraction with the surface features - 7 - In its preferred form, the netpage system relies on the production of, and human mteraction with, netpages These are pages of text, graphics and images pnnted on ordinary paper, but which work like mteractive web pages Information is encoded on each page usmg ink which is substantially mvisible 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 wntten by hand on a netpage is automatically recognized and converted to computer text m the netpage system, allowmg forms to be filled m In other embodiments, signatures recorded on a netpage are automatically venfied, allowmg e-commerce transactions to be securely authoπzed As illustrated m Figure 1, a pπnted netpage 1 can represent a mteractive form which can be filled m by the user both physically, on the pπnted page, and "electronically", via commumcation between the pen and the netpage system The example shows a "Request" form contammg name and address fields and a submit button The netpage consists of graphic data 2 pnnted usmg visible ink, and coded data 3 prmted as a collection of tags 4 using mvisible mk The correspondmg page descnption 5, stored on the netpage network, descnbes the individual elements of the netpage In particular it descnbes the type and spatial extent (zone) of each mteractive element (I e text field or button m the example), to allow the netpage system to correctly interpret mput via the netpage The submit button 6, for example, has a zone 7 which corresponds to the spatial extent of the correspondmg graphic 8 As illustrated m Figure 2, the netpage pen 101, a preferred form of which is shown m Figures 8 and 9 and descnbed m more detail below, works m conjunction with a netpage pnnter 601, an Internet-connected pnntmg appliance for home, office or mobile use The pen is wireless and commumcates securely with the netpage pnnter via a short-range radio link 9 The netpage pnnter 601, a prefened form of which is shown m Figures 11 to 13 and descnbed in more detail below, is able to deliver, penodically or on demand, personalized newspapers, magazmes, catalogs, brochures and other publications, all pnnted at high quality as interactive netpages Unlike a personal computer, the netpage pnnter is an appliance which can be, for example, wall-mounted adjacent to an area where the morning news is first consumed, such as m a user's kitchen, near a breakfast table, or near the household's pomt of departure for the day It also comes m tabletop, desktop, portable and miniature versions Netpages pnnted at their pomt of consumption combme the ease-of-use of paper with the timeliness and interactivity of an mteractive medium As shown in Figure 2, the netpage pen 101 mteracts with the coded data on a pnnted netpage 1 and commumcates, via a short-range radio link 9, the mteraction to a netpage pnnter The pnnter 601 sends the mteraction to the relevant netpage page server 10 for interpretation In appropnate circumstances, the page server sends a corresponding message to application computer software runrung on a netpage application server 13 The application server may m turn send a response which is pnnted on the oπginating pnnter The netpage system is made considerably more convenient m the preferred embodiment by bemg used m conjunction with high-speed microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based inkjet (Memjet™) pnnters 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 charactenstics of a traditional newsmagazme, such as a set of letter-size glossy pages pnnted m full color on both sides, bound together for easy navigation and comfortable handling The netpage pnnter exploits the growing availability of broadband Internet access Cable service is available to 95% of households m the United States, and cable modem service offenng broadband Internet access is aheady available to 20% of these The netpage pnnter can also operate with slower connections, but with longer - 8 - dehvery times and lower image quality Indeed, the netpage system can be enabled usmg existmg consumer inkjet and laser pnnters, although the system will operate more slowly and will therefore be less acceptable from a consumer's pomt of view In other embodiments, the netpage system is hosted on a pnvate intranet In still other embodiments, the netpage system is hosted on a smgle computer or computer-enabled device, such as a printer Netpage publication servers 14 on the netpage network are configured to deliver print-quality publications to netpage pnnters Penodical publications are delivered automatically to subscnbmg netpage pnnters via porntcasting and multicasting Internet protocols Personalized publications are filtered and formatted accordmg to mdividual user profiles A netpage pnnter can be configured to support any number of pens, and a pen can work with any number of netpage pnnters In the preferred implementation, each netpage pen has a umque identifier A household may have a collection of colored netpage pens, one assigned to each member of the family This allows each user to mamtam 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 11 and linked to one or more payment card accounts This allows e-commerce payments to be securely authorized usmg the netpage pen The netpage registration server compares the signature captured by the netpage pen with a previously registered signature, allowmg it to authenticate the user's identity to an e-commerce server Other biometrics can also be used to venfy identity A version of the netpage pen mcludes fingerprint scanning, venfied m a similar way by the netpage registration server Although a netpage pnnter may deliver penodicals such as the morning newspaper without user intervention, it can be configured never to deliver unsolicited junk mail In its preferred form, it only delivers penodicals from subscnbed or otherwise authoπzed sources In this respect, the netpage prmter 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 m the system is descnbed usmg a Unified Modelmg Language (UML) class diagram A class diagram consists ot a set of object classes connected by relationships, and two lands of relationships are of mterest 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 m 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 contams a list of the attnbutes of the class, separated from the name by a honzontal lme, and a list of the operations of the class, separated from the attribute list by a honzontal line In the class diagrams which follow, however, operations are never modelled An association is drawn as a lme joining two classes, optionally labelled at either end with the multiplicity of the association The default multiplicity is one An astensk (*) mdicates a multiplicity of "many", I 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 correspondmg class An open diamond indicates an aggregation association ("is-part-of '), and is drawn at the aggregator end of the association lme A generalization relationship ("is-a") is drawn as a solid lme joining two classes, with an arrow (m the form of an open tnangle) at the generalization end When a class diagram is broken up mto multiple diagrams, any class which is duplicated is shown with a dashed outline m all but the mam 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 mterface - 9 - to published information and mteractive services A netpage consists of a pnnted page (or other surface region) invisibly tagged with references to an onlme descnption of the page The onlme page descnption is mamtamed persistently by a netpage page server The page descnption descnbes the visible layout and content of the page, mcludmg text, graphics and images It also descnbes the mput elements on the page, mcludmg buttons, hyperlinks, and mput fields A netpage allows markmgs 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 descnption However, to allow mput through otherwise identical pages to be distinguished, each netpage is assigned a umque page identifier This page ID has sufficient precision to distinguish between a very large number of netpages Each reference to the page descnption is encoded m a pπnted tag The tag identifies the umque page on which it appears, and thereby indirectly identifies the page descnption The tag also identifies its own position on the page Charactenstics of the tags are descnbed m more detail below Tags are pnnted m infrared-absorptive ink on any substrate which is infrared-reflective, such as ordinary paper Near-infrared wavelengths are mvisible to the human eye but are easily sensed by a solid-state image sensor with an appropnate filter A tag is sensed by an area image sensor m the netpage pen, and the tag data is transmitted to the netpage system via the nearest netpage pnnter The pen is wireless and commumcates with the netpage pnnter via a short-range radio link Tags are sufficiently small and densely arranged that the pen can reliably image at least one tag even on a smgle click on the page It is important that the pen recognize the page ID and position on every mteraction with the page, smce the mteraction is stateless Tags are error-correctably encoded to make them partially tolerant to surface damage The netpage page server maintains a umque page mstance for each pnnted netpage, allowing it to maintain a distmct set of user-supplied values for mput fields m the page descnption for each pπnted netpage The relationship between the page descnption, the page mstance, and the pnnted netpage is shown m Figure 4 The page mstance is associated with both the netpage pnnter which pnnted 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 m which it appears, and the location of that tag withm the region A tag may also contam flags which relate to the region as a whole or to the tag One or more flag bits may, for example, signal a tag sensmg device to provide feedback mdicative of a function associated with the immediate area of the tag, without the sensmg device having to refer to a descnption of the region A netpage pen may, for example, illuminate an "active area" LED when m the zone of a hyperlink As will be more clearly explained below, a preferred embodiment, each tag contains an easily recogmzed mvanant structure which aids initial detection, and which assists m minimizing the effect of any waip mduced by the surface or by the sensmg 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 smgle click on the page It is important that the pen recognize the page ID and position on every mteraction with the page, smce the interaction is stateless In a prefened embodiment, the region to which a tag refers comcides with an entire page, and the region ID encoded m 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 comcide with the zone of an mteractive element, m which case the region ID can directly identify the mteractive 10 - element Table 1 - Tag data Each tag contams 120 bits of information, typically allocated as shown m Table 1 Assuming a maximum tag densify of 64 per square mch, a 16-bit tag ID supports a region size of up to 1024 square mches Larger regions can be mapped contmuously without mcreasmg the tag ID precision simply by usmg abuttmg regions and maps The 100-bιt region ID allows 2 100 (~10 30 or a million trillion trillion) different regions to be umquely identified 1.2.2 Tag Data Encoding The 120 bits of tag data are redundantly encoded usmg 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, I e it is tolerant of a symbol enor rate of up to 33% per codeword Each 4-bit symbol is represented m a spatially coherent way m the tag, and the symbols of the six codewords are mterleaved spatially withm 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 m 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, mcludes fixed target structures 15, 16, 17 and vanable data areas 18 The fixed target structures allow a sensmg device such as the netpage pen to detect the tag and infer its three-dimensional onentation relative to the sensor The data areas contain representations of the individual bits of the encoded tag data To achieve proper tag reproduction, the tag is rendered at a resolution ol 256x256 dots When pnnted at 1600 dots per mch 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 contnbuted by ad j acent tags, it only adds 16 dots to the effective diameter of the tag The tag mcludes six target structures A detection nng 15 allows the sensmg device to initially detect the tag The nng is easy to detect because it is rotationally mvanant and because a simple correction of its aspect ratio removes most of the effects of perspective distortion An onentation axis 16 allows the sensmg device to determme the approximate planar onentation of the tag due to the yaw of the sensor The onentation axis is skewed to yield a umque onentation Four perspective targets 17 allow the sensmg device to infer an accurate two-dimensional perspective transform of the tag and hence an accurate three-dimensional position and onentation 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 lrregular tnangular gnd In combmation with the circular detection nng, this makes a circular arrangement of data bits withm the tag optimal To maximise its size, each data bit is represented bv a radial wedge m the form of an area bounded by two radial lines and two concentπc circular arcs Each wedge has a mimmum dimension of 8 dots at 1600 dpi and is designed so that its base (its inner arc), is at least equal to this mimmum dimension The height of the wedge m the radial direction is always equal to the minimum dimension Each 4-bit data symbol is represented by an array of 2x2 - 11 - wedges The 15 4-bit data symbols of each of the six codewords are allocated to the four concentric symbol rings 18a to 18d m mterleaved fashion Symbols are allocated alternately 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" mteraction with a tagged region via a sensmg device, the sensmg device must be able to see at least one entire tag m its field of view no matter where m the region or at what onentation it is positioned The required diameter of the field of view of the sensmg device is therefore a function of the size and spacmg 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 tnangular gnd, as shown m Figure 6 1.2.4 Tag Image Processing and Decoding The tag image processmg and decoding performed by a sensmg device such as the netpage pen is shown m Figure 7 While a captured image is bemg 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 mto connected pixel regions (l 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 mvanant of position, and can be easily made mvanant of scale, aspect ratio and rotation The nng target structure 15 is the first to be located (at 26) A nng has the advantage of bemg very well behaved when perspective-distorted Matching proceeds by aspect-normalizing and rotation-normalizmg each shape's moments Once its second-order moments are normalized the nng is easy to recognize even if the perspective distortion was significant The nng's ongmal aspect and rotation 27 together provide a useful approximation of the perspective transform The axis target structure 16 is the next to be located (at 28) Matching proceeds by applymg the nng's normalizations to each shape's moments, and rotation-normalizmg 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 onentations 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 nng's normalizations applied, smce the perspective distortion can hide the axis target's axis The axis target's ongmal 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 -ire computed based on their known spatial relationships to the nng and axis targets, the aspect and rotation of the nng, and the rotation of the axis Matching proceeds by applymg the nng'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 comers 31 of a square of known size m tag space, and an eight-degree-of-freedom perspective transform 33 is inferred (at 32) based on solvmg the well-understood equations relatmg the four tag-space and lmage- space pomt pairs The infened tag-space to image-space perspective transform is used to project (at 36) each known data bit position m tag space mto image space where the real-valued position is used to bilmearly interpolate (at 36) the four - 12 - relevant adjacent pixels in the mput 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 m 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 m total Note that the codeword symbols are sampled m codeword order, so that codewords are implicitly de-mterleaved dunng the sampling process The nng target 15 is only sought m a subarea of the image whose relationship to the image guarantees that the nng, 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 cunent frame Given adequate processmg power and ideally a non-minimal field of view 193, an alternative strategy mvolves seeking another tag m the current image The obtained tag data mdicates the identify of the region containing the tag and the position of the tag withm the region An accurate position 35 of the pen mb m the region, as well as the overall onentation 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 withm the tagged region, the location of the tag withm the region must be known This is given by a tag map, a function which maps each tag ID m a tagged region to a conespondmg location The tag map class diagram is shown m Figure 22, as part of the netpage pnnter class diagram A tag map reflects the scheme used to tile the surface region with tags, and this can vary accordmg to surface type When multiple tagged regions share the same tilmg scheme and the same tag numbering scheme, they can also share the same tag map The tag map for a region must be retrievable via the region ID Thus, given a region ID, a tag ID and a pen transform, the tag map can be retneved, the tag ID can be translated mto an absolute tag location withm the region, and the tag-relative pen location can be added to the tag location to yield an absolute pen location withm the region 1.2.6 Tagging Schemes Two distinct surface coding schemes are of mterest, both of which use the tag structure descnbed earlier m this section The preferred coding scheme uses "location-mdicatmg" tags as aheady discussed An alternative codmg scheme uses object-indicating tags A location-mdicatmg tag contams a tag ID which, when translated through the tag map associated with the tagged region, yields a umque tag location withm the region The tag-relative location of the pen is added to this tag location to yield the location of the pen withm the region This m turn is used to determme the location of the pen relative to a user mterface element m the page descnption associated with the region Not only is the user mterface element itself identified, but a location relative to the user mterface element is identified Location-mdicatmg tags therefore trivially support the capture of an absolute pen path m the zone of a particular user mterface element An object-indicating tag contains a tag ID which directly identifies a user mterface element m the page descnption associated with the region All the tags m the zone of the user mterface element identify the user mterface element, makmg 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 withm a stroke can be unambiguously determined With either tagging scheme, the tags function in cooperation with associated visual elements on the netpage as user mteractive elements m that a user can mteract with the pnnted page usmg an appropnate sensmg device m order - 13 - for tag data to be read by the sensmg device and for an appropnate response to be generated m the netpage system 1.3 DOCUMENT AND PAGE DESCRIPTIONS A preferred embodiment of a document and page descnption class diagram is shown m Figures 25 and 26 In the netpage system a document is descnbed at three levels At the most abstract level the document 836 has a hierarchical structure whose termmal elements 839 are associated with content objects 840 such as text objects, text sfyle objects, image objects, etc Once the document is pnnted on a pnnter with a particular page size and accordmg to a particular user's scale factor preference, the document is paginated and otherwise formatted Formatted termmal elements 835 will m some cases be associated with content objects which are different from those associated with their correspondmg termmal elements, particularly where the content objects are style-related Each pπnted instance of a document and page is also descnbed separately, to allow mput captured through a particular page mstance 830 to be recorded separately from mput captured through other instances of the same page descnption The presence of the most abstract document descnption on the page server allows a user to request a copy of a document without bemg forced to accept the source document's specific format The user may be requesting a copy through a pnnter with a different page size, for example Conversely, the presence of the formatted document descnption on the page server allows the page server to efficiently interpret user actions on a particular pπnted page A formatted document 834 consists of a set of formatted page descnptions 5, each of which consists of a set of formatted termmal elements 835 Each formatted element has a spatial extent or zone 58 on the page This defines the active area of mput elements such as hyperlinks and mput fields A document mstance 831 corresponds to a formatted document 834 It consists of a set of page instances 830, each of which corresponds to a page descnption 5 of the formatted document Each page mstance 830 descnbes a smgle umque pnnted netpage 1 , and records the page ID 50 of the netpage A page mstance is not part of a document mstance if it represents a copy of a page requested m isolation A page mstance consists of a set of termmal element instances 832 An element mstance only exists if it records instance-specific information Thus, a hyperlink mstance exists for a hyperlink element because it records a transaction ID 55 which is specific to the page mstance, and a field instance exists for a field element because it records mput specific to the page mstance An element mstance does not exist, however, for static elements such as textflows A termmal element can be a static element 843, a hyperlink element 844, a field element 845 or a page server command element 846, as shown m Figure 27 A static element 843 can be a sfyle 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 scnpt element 853 with an associated scnpt object 860, as shown m Figure 28 A page mstance has a background field 833 which is used to record any digital ink captured on the page which does not apply to a specific mput element In the preferred form of the mvention, a tag map 811 is associated with each page mstance to allow tags on the page to be translated mto locations on the page 1.4 THE NETPAGE NETWORK In a preferred embodiment, a netpage network consists of a distnbuted set of netpage page servers 10, netpage registration servers 11, netpage ID servers 12, netpage application servers 13, netpage publication servers 14 and netpage prmters 601 connected via a network 19 such as the Internet, as shown m Figure 3 The netpage registration server 11 is a server which records relationships between users, pens, pnnters, applications and publications, and thereby authorizes vanous network activities It authenticates users and acts as a - 14 - signing proxy on behalf of authenticated users m application transactions It also provides handwntmg recogmtion services As descnbed above, a netpage page server 10 mamtams persistent mformation about page descnptions and page instances The netpage network mcludes any number of page servers, each handling a subset of page instances Smce a page server also mamtams user mput values for each page mstance, clients such as netpage pnnters send netpage mput directly to the appropnate page server The page server mterprets any such mput relative to the descnption of the correspondmg 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 prmter uses the Internet Distnbuted Name System (DNS), or similar, to resolve a netpage page ID 50 mto the network address of the netpage page server handling the correspondmg page mstance A netpage application server 13 is a server which hosts mteractive netpage applications A netpage publication server 14 is an application server which publishes netpage documents to netpage pnnters They tire descnbed in detail m Section 2 Netpage servers can be hosted on a variety of network server platforms from manufacturers such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun Multiple netpage servers can run concurrently on a smgle host, and a smgle server can be distnbuted over a number of hosts Some or all of the functionality provided by netpage servers, and m particular the functionality provided by the ID server and the page server, can also be provided directly m a netpage appliance such as a netpage pnnter, m a computer workstation, or on a local network 1.5 THE NETPAGE PRINTER The netpage pnnter 601 is an appliance which is registered with the netpage system and pnnts netpage documents on demand and via subscnption Each pnnter has a umque pnnter 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 secunty settings m non-volatile memory, the netpage pnnter contams 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, mdependently of particular wrtpage pnnters The netpage pnnter receives subscnbed netpage documents from netpage publication servers 14 Each document is distnbuted m 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 subscnber and so are pomtcast to the subscnber' s pnnter via the appropnate page server Text and image objects, on the other hand, are typically shared with other subscnbers, and so are multicast to all subscnbers' pπnters and the appropπate page servers The netpage publication server optimizes the segmentation of document content mto pomtcasts and multicasts After receivmg the pomtcast of a document's page layouts, the pnnter knows which multicasts, if any, to listen to Once the prmter has received the complete page layouts and objects that define the document to be pnnted, it can pnnt the document The pnnter rastenzes and pnnts odd and even pages simultaneously on both sides of the sheet It contams duplexed pnnt engme controllers 760 and pnnt engmes utilizing Memjet™ pnntheads 350 for this purpose The pnntmg process consists of two decoupled stages rasteπzation of page descnptions, and expansion and pnntmg of page images The raster image processor (RIP) consists of one or more standard DSPs 757 runmng m parallel The duplexed pnnt engme controllers consist of custom processors which expand, dither and pnnt page images m real time, synchronized with the operation of the pnntheads m the pnnt engines Pnnters not enabled for IR pnntmg have the option to pnnt tags usmg IR-absorptive black ink, although this - 15 - restncts tags to otherwise empty areas of the page Although such pages have more limited functionality than IR-pπnted pages, they are still classed as netpages A normal netpage pnnter pnnts netpages on sheets of paper More specialised netpage pnnters may pnnt onto more specialised surfaces, such as globes Each pnnter supports at least one surface type, and supports at least one tag tilmg scheme, and hence tag map, for each surface type The tag map 811 which descnbes the tag tilmg scheme actually used to pnnt a document becomes associated with that document so that the document's tags can be correctly mterpreted Figure 2 shows the netpage prmter class diagram, reflecting printer-related information mamtamed by a registration server 11 on the netpage network A prefened embodiment of the netpage pnnter is descnbed m greater detail m Section 6 below, with reference to Figures 11 to 16 1.5.1 Memjet™ Printheads The netpage system can operate usmg pnnters made with a wide range of digital pnntmg technologies, mcludmg thermal inkjet, piezoelectric inkjet, laser electrophotographic, and others However, for wide consumer acceptance, it is desirable that a netpage prmter have the following charactenstics • photographic quality color pnntmg • high quality text pnntmg • high reliability • low pnnter cost • low ink cost • low paper cost • simple operation • nearly silent pnntmg • high pnntmg speed • simultaneous double sided pnntmg • compact form factor • low power consumption No commercially available pnnting technology has all of these charactenstics To enable to production of pnnters with these charactenstics, the present applicant has mvented a new pnnt technology, referred to as Memjet™ technology Memjet™ is a drop-on-demand inkjet technology that incorporates pagewidth pnntheads fabncated usmg microelectromechamcal systems (MEMS) technology Figure 17 shows a smgle pnntmg element 300 of a Memjet™ pnnthead The netpage wallpnnter mcorporates 168960 pnntmg elements 300 to form a 1600 dpi pagewidth duplex pnnter This pnnter simultaneously pnnts cyan, magenta, yellow, black, and infrared inks as well as paper conditioner and ink fixative The pnnting element 300 is approximately 110 microns long by 32 microns wide Arrays of these pnntmg elements are formed on a silicon substrate 301 that incorporates CMOS logic, data transfer, ti mg, and dnve circuits (not shown) Major elements of the pnntmg element 300 are the nozzle 302, the nozzle nm 303, the nozzle chamber 304, the fluidic seal 305, the ink channel nm 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 311, and the ink inlet 312 The active actuator beam pair 308 is mechanically jomed to the passive actuator beam pair 309 at the jom 319 Both beams pairs are anchored at their respective anchor points 310 and 311 The combination of elements 308, - 16 - 309, 310, 311, and 319 form a cantilevered electrothermal bend actuator 320 Figure 18 shows a small part of an array of pnntmg elements 300, mcludmg a cross section 315 of a pnntmg 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 Memjet™ pnntmg element 300 Figure 19(a) shows the quiescent position of the ink memscus 316 pnor to pnntmg an ink droplet Ink is retained m the nozzle chamber by surface tension at the ink memscus 316 and at the fluidic seal 305 formed between the nozzle chamber 304 and the ink channel nm 306 While pnntmg, the pnnthead CMOS circuitry distributes data from the pnnt engme controller to the correct pnntmg element, latches the data, and buffers the data to dnve the electrodes 318 of the active actuator beam pair 308 This causes an electncal current to pass through the beam pair 308 for about one microsecond, resulting m Joule heating The temperature mcrease 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 m a stress difference between the two beam pairs This stress difference is partially resolved by the cantilevered end of the electrothermal bend actuator 320 bendmg 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 mcreases the ink pressure, forcmg ink 321 out of the nozzle 302, and causmg the ink memscus 316 to bulge The nozzle nm 303 prevents the ink meniscus 316 from spreadmg 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 m the break-off of the ink droplet 317 from the ink 321 m the nozzle chamber, as shown m Figure 19(c) The nozzle chamber is refilled by the action of the surface tension at the memscus 316 Figure 20 shows a segment of a pnnthead 350 In a netpage pnnter, the length of the pnnthead is the full width of the paper (typically 210 mm) m the direction 351 The segment shown is 0 4 mm long (about 0 2% of a complete pnnthead) When pnntmg, the paper is moved past the fixed pnnthead in the direction 352 The pnnthead has 6 rows of interdigitated pnntmg elements 300, pnntmg the six colors or types of ink supplied by the ink inlets 312 To protect the fragile surface of the pnnthead dunng operation, a nozzle guard wafer 330 is attached to the pnnthead substrate 301 For each nozzle 302 there is a correspondmg 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 pnntmg To prevent ink 321 from drymg, the nozzle guard is sealed while the pnnter is idle 1.6 The Netpage Pen The active sensmg device of the netpage system is typically a pen 101, which, usmg its embedded controller 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 em appropπate filter to permit sensing at only near-mfrared wavelengths As descnbed m more detail below, the system is able to sense when the mb is m contact with the surface, and the pen is able to sense tags at a sufficient rate to capture human handwntmg (l e at 200 dpi or greater and 100 Hz or faster) Information captured by the pen is encrypted and wirelessly transmitted to the pnnter (or base station), the pnnter or base station mterpretmg the data with respect to the (known) page structure The preferred embodiment of the netpage pen operates both as a normal markmg ink pen and as a non- markmg stylus The markmg aspect, however, is not necessary for usmg the netpage system as a browsmg system, such as when it is used as an Internet mterface Each netpage pen is registered with the netpage system and has a umque pen ID 61 Figure 23 shows the netpage pen class diagram, reflecting pen-related information mamtamed bv a registration - 17 - server 11 on the netpage network When either mb is m contact with a netpage, the pen determines its position and onentation relative to the page The mb is attached to a force sensor, and the force on the mb is mterpreted relative to a threshold to mdicate whether the pen is "up" or "down" This allows a mteractive element on the page to be 'clicked' by pressmg with the pen mb, 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 onentation of its mb on the netpage by imaging, m the infrared spectrum, an area 193 of the page m the vicinity of the mb It decodes the nearest tag and computes the position of the mb 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 mversely proportional to the tag size, the adjusted position resolution is quite high, exceeding the minimum resolution required for accurate handwntmg recogmtion 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 current selection 826 associated with it, allowmg 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 current selection descnbes a region of a page mstance It consists of the most recent digital ink stroke captured through the pen relative to the background area of the page It is mterpreted m an application-specific manner once it is submitted to an application via a selection hyperlink activation Each pen has a current mb 824 This is the b last notified by the pen to the system In the case of the default netpage pen descnbed above, either the markmg black ink mb or the non-markmg stylus mb is current Each pen also has a current mb style 825 This is the mb style last associated with the pen by an application, e g in response to the user selectmg a color from a palette The default nib style is the mb style associated with the current nib Strokes captured through a pen are tagged with the current mb style When the strokes are subsequently reproduced, they are reproduced m the mb style with which they are tagged Whenever the pen is withm range of a pnnter with which it can commumcate, the pen slowly flashes its "onlme" LED When the pen fails to decode a stroke relative to the page, it momentanly activates its "enor" LED When the pen succeeds m decoding a stroke relative to the page, it momentanly activates its "ok" LED A sequence of captured strokes is referred to as digital ink Digital mk forms the basis for the digital exchange of drawings and handwntmg, for online recogmtion of handwntmg, and for onlme venfication 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 pnvacy and secunty and packetized for efficient transmission, but is always flushed on a pen-up event to ensure timely handling m the pnnter When the pen is out-of-range of a pnnter it buffers digital ink m internal memory, which has a capacity of over ten mmutes of continuous handwntmg When the pen is once agam withm range of a pnnter, it transfers any buffered digital ink A pen can be registered with any number of pπnters, but because all state data resides m netpages both on paper and on the network, it is largely immatenal which pnnter a pen is communicating with at any particular time A preferred embodiment of the pen is descnbed m greater detail m Section 6 below, with reference to Figures 8 to 10 - 18 - 1.7 NETPAGE INTERACTION The netpage pnnter 601 receives data relating to a stroke from the pen 101 when the pen is used to mteract 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 mteractive element to be determined and an indication of the relative positioning of the pen relative to the page to be obtained The mdicatmg data is transmitted to the pnnter, where it resolves, via the DNS, the page ID 50 of the stroke mto the network address of the netpage page server 10 which maintains the correspondmg page mstance 830 It then transmits the stroke to the page server If the page was recently identified m an earlier stroke, then the pnnter may aheady have the address of the relevant page server m its cache Each netpage consists of a compact page layout mamtamed 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 descnption to which the stroke applies, and determines which element of the page descnption the stroke intersects It is then able to interpret the stroke m 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 accordmgly, 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 lands of mput elements m a netpage page descnption hyperlinks and form fields Input through a form field can also tngger 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 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 ask 1 ? the system to mclude the user's application alias ID 65 m the hyperlink activation, and a descnption which is used when the hyperlink is recorded as a favonte or appears m the user's history The hyperlink element class diagram is shown m 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 m 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 hyperlmk submits the correspondmg form to the application A selection hyperlink submits the current selection to the application If the current selection contains a smgle-word piece of text, for example, the application may return a smgle-page document givmg the word's meamng withm the context m which it appears, or a translation mto a different language Each hyperlink type is characterized by what mformation is submitted to the application The correspondmg hyperlink mstance 862 records a transaction ID 55 which can be specific to the page mstance on which the hyperlmk mstance appears The transaction ID can identify user-specific data to the application, for example a "shopping cart" of pendmg purchases mamtamed by a purchasing application on behalf of the user The system mcludes the pen's current selection 826 in a selection hyperlink activation The system mcludes the content of the associated form mstance 868 m a form hyperlink activation, although if the hyperlink has its "submit delta" attnbute set, only mput smce the last form submission is mcluded The system mcludes an effective return path in - 19 - all hyperlink activations A hyperlinked group 866 is a group element 838 which has an associated hyperlink, as shown m Figure 31 When mput occurs through any field element m the group, the hyperlink 844 associated with the group is activated A hyperlinked group can be used to associate hyperlink behavior with a field such as a checkbox It can also be used, m conjunction with the "submit delta" attnbute of a form hyperlink, to provide continuous mput to an application It can therefore be used to support a "blackboard" mteraction model, l e where mput 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 mputs through a pnnted netpage A form allows a user to submit one or more parameters to an application software program runmng on a server A form 867 is a group element 838 m the document hierarchy It ultimately contams a set of termmal field elements 839 A form mstance 868 represents a pnnted mstance of a form It consists of a set of field instances 870 which conespond to the field elements 845 of the form Each field mstance has an associated value 871, whose type depends on the type of the correspondmg field element Each field value records mput through a particular pnnted form mstance, I e through one or more pnnted netpages The form class diagram is shown m Figure 32 Each form mstance has a status 872 which mdicates whether the form is active, frozen, submitted, void or expired A form is active when first pnnted A form 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" attnbute set A form becomes void when the user mvokes a void form, 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 mput is allowed Input through a form which is not active is mstead captured m the background field 833 of the relevant page mstance 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 mstead elicits an form status report Each form mstance is associated (at 59) with any form instances denved from it, thus providmg a version history This allows all but the latest version of a form m a particular time penod to be excluded from a search All mput 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 mcludes pen onentation and mb 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 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 in Figure 35 Any mark (a tick, a cross, a stroke, a fill zigzag, etc ) captured m 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 m a text field's zone is automatically converted to text via onlme handwntmg recogmtion, and the text is assigned to the field's value Onlme handwntmg recogmtion is well-understood (see for example Tapper-, C , C Y Suen and T Wakahara, "The State of the Art m On-Lme Handwntmg Recogmtion", IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Vol 12, No 8, August 1990) A signature field has an associated digital signature value 883, as shown in Figure 37 Any digital ink captured m a signature field's zone is automatically venfied with respect to the identify of the owner of the pen, and a 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 usmg the pen user's pnvate signature key specific to the application which owns the form - 20 - Online signature venfication is well-understood (see for example Plamondon, R and G Lorette, "Automatic Signature Venfication and Wnter Identification - The State of the Art", Pattern Recogmtion, Vol 22, No 2, 1989) A field element is hidden if its "hidden" attribute is set A hidden field element does not have an mput zone on a page and does not accept mput It can have an associated field value which is mcluded m the form data when the form contammg the field is submitted "Editing" commands, such as stπke-throughs mdicatmg deletion, can also be recognized m form fields Because the handwntmg recogmtion algonthm works "onlme" (I 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- wntten characters with relatively high accuracy, without a wπter-dependent trainmg phase A wπter-dependent model of handwntmg is automatically generated over time, however, and can be generated up-front if necessary, Digital ink, as aheady stated, consists of a sequence of strokes Any stroke which starts m 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 mk stream is appended to the background field's digital ink stream Digital ink captured m the background field is mterpreted as a selection gesture Circumscnption of one or more objects is generally mterpreted as a selection of the circumscnbed objects, although the actual interpretation is application-specific Table 2 summanses these vanous pen interactions with a netpage Table 2 - Summary of pen interactions with a netpage The system mamtams a cturent selection for each pen The selection consists simply of the most recent stroke captured m the background field The selection is cleared after an inactivity timeout to ensure predictable behavior The raw digital ink captured m 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 mterrogate 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-m fields outside of those fields - 21 - Figure 38 shows a flowchart of the process of handling pen mput relative to a netpage The process consists of receivmg (at 884) a stroke from the pen, identifymg (at 885) the page mstance 830 to which the page ID 50 m the stroke refers, retnevmg (at 886) the page descπption 5, identifymg (at 887) a formatted element 839 whose zone 58 the stroke mtersects, determinmg (at 888) whether the formatted element corresponds to a field element, and if so appending (at 892) the received stroke to the digital ink of the field value 871, mterpretmg (at 893) the accumulated digital ink of the field, and determining (at 894) whether the field is part of a hyperlinked group 866 and if so activating (at 895) the associated hyperlink, alternatively determimng (at 889) whether the formatted element corresponds to a hyperlink element and if so activating (at 895) the correspondmg hyperlink, alternatively, m the absence of an mput field or hyperlink, appendmg (at 890) the received stroke to the digital ink of the background field 833, and copymg (at 891 ) the received stroke to the current selection 826 of the current pen, as mamtamed by the registration server Figure 38a shows a detailed flowchart of step 893 m the process shown m Figure 38, where the accumulated digital mk of a field is mterpreted accordmg to the type of the field The process consists of determmmg (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 detemumng (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 detemumng (at 902) whether the field is a signature field and if so venfymg (at 903) the digital ink as the signature of the pen's owner, with the help of the appropnate registration server, creating (at 904) a digital signature of the contents of the correspondmg form, also with the help of the registration server and usmg the pen owner's pnvate signature key relatmg to the correspondmg 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 m Figure 39 A void form command voids the correspondmg form mstance A duplicate form command voids the corresponding form mstance and then produces an active pnnted copy of the current form mstance with field values preserved The copy contams the same hyperlink fransaction IDs as the ongmal, and so is indistinguishable from the ongmal to an application A reset form command voids the conespondmg form mstance and then produces an active pnnted copy of the form mstance with field values discarded A get form status command produces a pnnted report on the status of the correspondmg form instance, mcludmg who published it when it was pnnted, for whom it was pnnted, and the form status of the form mstance Smce a form hyperlink mstance contams a transaction ID, the application has to be mvolved m producmg a new form mstance A button requestmg a new form mstance is therefore typically implemented as a hyperlink A duplicate page command produces a pnnted copy of the corresponding page instance with the background field value preserved If the page contams a form or is part of a form, then the duplicate page command is mterpreted as a duplicate form command A reset page command produces a pnnted copy of the corresponding page mstance with the background field value discarded If the page contams a form or is part of a form, then the reset page command is mterpreted as a reset form command A get page status command produces a prmted report on the status of the correspondmg page mstance, mcludmg who published it, when it was pnnted, for whom it was pπnted, and the status of - 22 - any forms it contams or is part of The netpage logo which appears on every netpage is usually associated with a duplicate page element When a page mstance is duplicated with field values preserved, field values are pπnted m their native form, l e a checkmark appears as a standard checkmark graphic, and text appears as typeset text Only drawings and signatures appear m their ongmal form, with a signature accompamed by a standard graphic mdicatmg successful signature venfication A duplicate document command produces a pnnted copy of the correspondmg document mstance with background field values preserved If the document contams any forms, then the duplicate document command duplicates the forms m the same way a duplicate form command does A reset document command produces a pnnted copy of the coπespondmg document mstance with background field values discarded If the document contams any forms, then the reset document command resets the forms m the same way a reset form command does A get document status command produces a pπnted report on the status of the correspondmg document mstance, mcludmg who published it, when it was pnnted, for whom it was pnnted, and the status of any forms it contams If the page server command's "on selected" attnbute is set, then the command operates on the page identified by the pen's cuπent selection rather than on the page contammg the command This allows a menu of page server commands to be pnnted If the target page doesn't contam 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 m a hyperlinked group The page server activates the hyperlink associated with the hyperlinked group rather than executmg 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 m a different page, if that page server command has its "on selected" attnbute set 1.8 STANDARD FEATURES OF NETPAGES In the preferred form, each netpage is prmted with the netpage logo at th'** bottom to mdicate that it is a netpage and therefore has mteractive properties The logo also acts as a copy button in most cases pressmg the logo produces a copy of the page In the case of a form, the button produces a copy of the entire form And m the case of a secure document, such as a ticket or coupon, the button elicits an explanatory note or advertismg page The default smgle-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 prefeπed embodiment, the netpage prmter has a smgle button labelled "Help" When pressed it elicits a smgle page of mformation, mcludmg • status of pnnter connection • status of pnnter consumables • top-level help menu • document function menu • top-level netpage network directory The help menu provides a hierarchical manual on how to use the netpage system The document function menu mcludes the following functions • pnnt a copy of a document • pnnt a clean copy of a form - 23 - • pnnt the status of a document A document function is initiated by simply pressmg the button and then touching any page of the document The status of a document mdicates who published it and when, to whom it was delivered, and to whom and when it was 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 altemative, 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 pnnter 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 pnnter is unable to pπnt In this case the "eπor" 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 m the netpage system Although news is often used m the limited sense of newspaper and newsmagazme news, the mtended scope m the present context is wider In the netpage system, the editonal content and the advertising content of a news publication are personalized usmg different mechanisms The editonal content is personalized accordmg to the reader's explicitly stated and implicitly captured mterest profile The advertismg content is personalized accordmg to the reader's locality and demographic 2.1 EDITORIAL PERSONALIZATION A subscnber can draw on two lands of news sources those that deliver news 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 coπespond to traditional newspapers and newsmagazines, while news streams can be many and vaπed a "raw" news feed from a news service, a cartoon stop, a freelance writer'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 advertismg on pages over which it otherwise has no editonal control The subscnber builds a daily newspaper by selectmg one or more contπbutmg news publications, and creating a personalized version of each The resulting daily editions are pnnted and bound together mto a smgle newspaper The vanous members of a household typically express their different mterests and tastes by selectmg 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, mclude "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 creatmg 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 monitoring 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 advertismg, either qualitatively (e g high, normal, low, none), or numencally (l e as a percentage) The reader also optionally expresses a preference for a large number of shorter articles or a small number of - 24 - longer articles Each article is ideally wntten (or edited) m both short and long forms to support this preference An article may also be wntten (or edited) m different versions to match the expected sophistication of the reader, for example to provide children's and adults' versions The appropπate version is selected accordmg 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 pπoπtized by the editors, and each is assigned a useful lifetime By default they are delivered to all relevant subscnbers, m pnoπfy order, subject to space constraints m the subscnbers' editions In sections where it is appropπate, the reader may optionally enable collaborative filteπng This is then applied to articles which have a sufficiently long lifetime Each article which qualifies for collaborative filtermg is pπnted with ratmg buttons at the end of the article The buttons can provide an easy choice (e g "liked" and "disliked'), makmg it more likely that readers will bother to rate the article Articles with high pnoπties and short lifetimes are therefore effectively considered essential reading by the editors and are delivered to most relevant subscnbers 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 duπng collaborative filtenng A high factor makes it more likely that the coπespondmg 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 withm 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 metnc, a local timezone and time format, and a local cuπency, and whether the localization consist of in situ translation or annotation These preferences are denved from the reader's locality by default To reduce readmg difficulties caused by poor eyesight, the reader optionally specifies a global preference for a larger presentation Both text and images are scaled accordmgly, and less information is accommodated on each page The language m which a news publication is published, and its coπespondmg 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 m various guises 2.2 ADVERTISING LOCALIZATION AND TARGETING The personalization of the editonal content directly affects the advertismg content, because advertismg is typically placed to exploit the editonal context Travel ads, for example, are more likely to appear m a travel section than elsewhere The value of the editorial content to an advertiser (and therefore to the publisher) lies m 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 mterests and concerns associated with the local community and environment Demographics determme general mterests and preoccupations as well as likely spending patterns A news publisher's most profitable product is advertismg ' space", a multi-dimensional entity determined by the publication's geographic coverage, the size of its readership, its readership demographics, and the page area - 25 - available for advertismg In the netpage system, the netpage publication server computes the approximate multi-dimensional size of a publication's saleable advertismg space on a per-section basis, takmg mto account the publication's geographic coverage, the section's readership, the size of each reader's section edition, each reader's advertismg proportion, and each reader's demographic In compaπson with other media, the netpage system allows the advertismg space to be defined m 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 advertismg "slot" can be sold m varying proportions to several advertisers, with mdividual readers' pages randomly receiving the advertisement of one advertiser or another, overall preservmg the proportion of space sold to each advertiser The netpage system allows advertismg to be linked directly to detailed product information and onlme purchasing It therefore raises the intrinsic value of the advertismg space Because personalization and localization are handled automatically by netpage publication servers, an advertismg aggregator can provide arbitraπly 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 advertismg aggregators than to directly capture advertismg Even though the advertismg aggregator is takmg a proportion of advertismg revenue, publishers may find the change profit-neutral because of the greater efficiency of aggregation The advertismg 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 m a netpage publication can be more complex than ad placement m the publication's traditional counterpart, because the publication's advertismg space is more complex While ignonng the full complexities of negotiations between advertisers, advertismg aggregators and publishers, the prefeπed form of the netpage system provides some automated support for these negotiations, mcludmg support for automated auctions of advertismg space Automation is particularly desirable for the placement of advertisements which generate small amounts of mcome, 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 Coπespondingly, 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, mcludmg • publication customizations • collaborative filtenng vectors • contact details • presentation preferences The customization of a publication is typically publication-specific, and so the customization information is mamtamed 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 coπelate different users' mterests for the purposes of makmg recommendations Although there are benefits to maintaining a smgle collaborative filteπng vector independently of any particular publication, there are two reasons why - 26 - lt is more practiced to maintain a separate vector for each publication there is likely to be more overlap between the vectors of subscnbers to the same publication than between those of subscnbers 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 filteπng vectors are therefore also mamtamed by the relevant netpage publication server Contact details, mcludmg name, street address, ZIP Code, state, country, telephone numbers, are global by nature, and are mamtamed by a netpage registration server Presentation preferences, mcludmg those for quantities, dates and times, are likewise global and mamtamed m the same way The localization of advertismg relies on the locality indicated m the user's contact details, while the targetmg of advertismg relies on personal information such as date of birth, gender, mantal status, mcome, profession, education, or qualitative denvatives such as age range and mcome range For those users who choose to reveal personal mformation for advertismg purposes, the mformation is mamtamed by the relevant netpage registration server In the absence of such information, advertismg can be targeted on the basis of the demographic associated with the user's ZIP or Z-P+4 Code Each user, pen, pnnter, application provider and application is assigned its own umque 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 land of application provider, and a publication is a special kmd of application Each user 800 may be authoπzed to use any number of pπnters 802, and each pnnter may allow any number of users to use it Each user has a smgle default pnnter (at 66), to which penodical publications are delivered by default, whilst pages pnnted on demand are delivered to the pnnter through which the user is interacting The server keeps track of which publishers a user has authorized to pπnt to the user's default pnnter A publisher does not record the ID of any particular pnnter, but mstead resolves the ID when it is required When a user subscnbes 808 to a publication 807, the publisher 806 (I e application provider 803) is authoπzed to pnnt to a specified pnnter or the user's default pnnter This authonzatio-] cin be revoked at any time by the user Each user may have several pens 801, but a pen is specific to a smgle uset 11 a user is authoπzed to use a particular pnnter, then that pnnter recognizes any of the user's pens The pen ID is used to locate the coπespondmg user profile mamtamed by a particular netpage registration server, via the DNS m the usual way A Web termmal 809 can be authorized to prmt on a particular netpage pnnter, allowing Web pages and netpage documents encountered dunng Web browsmg to be conveniently pπnted on the nearest netpage pnnter The netpage system can collect, on behalf of a pnnter provider, fees and commissions on mcome earned through publications pnnted on the provider's pnnters Such mcome can mclude 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 descnbed m the preceding paragraph), contact details 815, mcludmg name, address and telephone numbers, global preferences 816, mcludmg pnvacy, delivery and localization settings, any number of biometnc records 817, contammg the user's encoded signature 818, fingerprint 819 etc, a handwntmg model 819 automatically mamtamed 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 mamtam a list 922 of "favontes" - links to useful documents etc on the netpage network The list is mamtamed by the system on the user's behalf It is organized as a hierarchy of folders 924, a - 27 - prefeπred embodiment of which is shown m the class diagram m Figure 41 2.3.3 History List The system mamtams 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 prefeπed embodiment of which is shown m the class diagram m 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 Smce most advertisements are m the form of pre-formatted rectangles, they are placed on the page before the editonal content The advertismg ratio for a section can be achieved with wildly varying advertismg ratios on mdividual pages withm the section, and the ad layout algonthm exploits this The algonthm is configured to attempt to co-locate closely tied editonal and advertismg content, such as placmg ads for roofing matenal specifically withm the publication because of a special feature on do-it-yourself roofing repairs The editoπal content selected for the user, mcludmg text and associated images and graphics, is then laid out accordmg to vanous aesthetic rules The entire process, mcludmg 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, allowmg significant day-to-day vaπations 2.5 DOCUMENT FORMAT Once the document is laid out, it is encoded for efficient distnbution and persistent storage on the netpage network The primary efficiency mechanism is the separation of information specific to a smgle 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, mcludmg images, graphics, and pieces of text A text object contams fully-formatted text represented m the Extensible Markup Language (XML) usmg the Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) XSL provides precise control over text formatting mdependently of the region mto which the text is bemg set, which m this case is bemg provided by the layout The text object contams embedded language codes to enable automatic translation, and embedded hyphenation hints to aid with paragraph formatting An image object encodes an image m the JPEG 2000 wavelet-based compressed image format A graphic object encodes a 2D graphic m Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format The layout itself consists of a senes of placed image and graphic objects, linked textflow objects through which text objects flow, hyperlinks and input fields as descnbed above, and watermark regions These layout objects are summarized m Table 3 The layout uses a compact format suitable for efficient distnbution and storage Table 3 - netpage layout objects - 28 2.6 DOCUMENT DISTRIBUTION As descnbed above, for purposes of efficient distnbution and persistent storage on the netpage network, a user-specific page layout is separated from the shared objects to which it refers When a subscnbed publication is ready to be distnbuted, the netpage publication server allocates, with the help of the netpage ID server 12, a unique ID for each page, page mstance, document, and document mstance 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 pomtcasts each user's layouts to that user's pnnter via the appropπate page server, and when the pointcasting is complete, multicasts the shared content on the specified channels After receivmg its pomtcast, each page server and prmter subscnbes to the multicast channels specified m the page layouts Duπng the multicasts, each page server and pnnter extracts from the multicast streams those objects refeπed 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 prmter re-creates the fully- populated layout and then rastenzes and pnnts it Under normal circumstances, the pnnter pπnts 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 m excess of 100 such pages m its mtemal 64MB memory, allowing for temporary buffers etc The pnnter pπnts 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 mtemal memory does fill up, then the prmter will be unable to make use of a multicast when it first occurs The netpage publication server therefore allows pπnters to submit requests for re- multicasts When a cntical number of requests is received or a timeout occurs the server re-multicasts the coπespondmg shared objects Once a document is pnnted, a pnnter can produce an exact duplicate at any time by retnevmg 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 m much the same way as a penodical However, smce there is no shared content, delivery is made directly to the requestmg pnnter without the use of multicast - 29 - When a non-netpage document is requested on demand, it is not personalized, and it is delivered via a designated netpage formattmg server which reformats it as a netpage document A netpage formattmg server is a special mstance of a netpage publication server The netpage formattmg server has knowledge of vanous Internet document formats, mcludmg 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 pπnted page to present Web pages m a multi-column format, with a table of contents It can automatically mclude all Web pages directly linked to the requested page The user can tune this behavior via a preference The netpage formattmg server makes standard netpage behavior, mcludmg interactivity and persistence, available on any Internet document, no matter what its ongm and format 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 m storage and m transit, and to authenticate parties to a transaction There are two classes of cryptography m widespread use secret-key cryptography and public-key cryptography The netpage network uses both classes of cryptography Secret-key cryptography, also refeπed to as symmetnc cryptography, uses the same key to encrypt and decrypt a message Two parties wishing to exchange messages must first arrange to securely exchange the secret key Public-key cryptography, also refeπed to as asymmetnc cryptography, uses two encryption keys The two keys are mathematically related m such a way that any message encrypted usmg one key can only be decrypted usmg 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 mtended for the holder of the pnvate key Once encrypted usmg the public key, a message can only be decrypted usmg 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 usmg 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 usmg the public key and venfymg 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 m transit To make public-key cryptography work, there has to be a way to distnbute public keys which prevents impersonation This is normally done usmg certificates and certificate authoπties A certificate authoπty is a trusted third party which authenticates the connection between a public key and someone's identity The certificate authonty venfies the person's identity by examining identity documents, and then creates and signs a digital certificate contammg the person's identity details and public key Anyone who trusts the certificate authonty can use the public key m the certificate with a high degree of certainty that it is genuine They just have to venfy that the certificate has mdeed 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 mformation between a netpage pnnter and a server, what actually happens is that the pnnter obtains the server's certificate, authenticates it with reference to the certificate authonty, uses the public key-exchange key m the certificate to exchange a secret - 30 - 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 arbitraπly short lifetime 3.2 NETPAGE PRINTER SECURITY Each netpage pnnter is assigned a pair of umque identifiers at time of manufacture which are stored m read-only memory m the pnnter and m the netpage registration server database The first ID 62 is public and umquely identifies the pnnter on the netpage network The second ID is secret and is used when the pnnter is first registered on the network When the pnnter connects to the netpage network for the first time after installation, it creates a signature public/pnvate key pair It transmits the secret ID and the public key securely to the netpage registration server The server compares the secret ID agamst the pnnter' s secret ID recorded m its database, and accepts the registration if the IDs match It then creates and signs a certificate contammg the pnnter' s public ID and public signature key, and stores the certificate m the registration database The netpage registration server acts as a certificate authonty for netpage pnnters, smce it has access to secret mformation allowing it to venfy pnnter identity When a user subscnbes to a publication, a record is created m the netpage registration server database authorizing the publisher to pπnt the publication to the user's default prmter or a specified pnnter Every document sent to a pnnter via a page server is addressed to a particular user and is signed by the publisher usmg the publisher's pnvate signature key The page server venfies, via the registration database, that the publisher is authoπzed to deliver the publication to the specified user The page server venfies the signature usmg the publisher's public key, obtained from the publisher's certificate stored m the registration database The netpage registration server accepts requests to add pnntmg authorizations to the database, so long as those requests are initiated via a pen registered to the pnnter 3.3 NETPAGE PEN SECURITY Each netpage pen is assigned a umque identifier at time of manufacture which is stored m read-only memory m the pen and m the netpage registration server database The pen ID 61 un-qi-ely identifies the pen on the netpage network A netpage pen can "know" a number of netpage pπnters, and a pnnter can "know" a number of pens A pen commumcates with a pnnter via a radio frequency signal whenever it is withm range of the pnnter Once a pen and pnnter are registered, they regularly exchange session keys Whenever the pen transmits digital ink to the pnnter, the digital ink is always encrypted using the appropπate session key Digital ink is never transmitted m the clear A pen stores a session key for every pnnter it knows, mdexed by pnnter ID, and a pnnter stores a session key for every pen it knows, mdexed 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 withm range of a pnnter, the pen and pnnter discover whether they know each other If they don't know each other, then the pnnter determines 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 m a charging cup, at which time it initiates the registration procedure In addition to its public ID, the pen contams 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 - 31 - 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 mtemally, mdexed by the pen ID, and transmits the encrypted session key to the pen The pen stores the session key mtemally, mdexed by the pnnter ID Although a fake pen can impersonate a pen m 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 m 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 existmg user The pen uses secret-key rather than public-key encryption because of hardware performance constraints m the pen 3.4 SECURE DOCUMENTS The netpage system supports the delivery of secure documents such as tickets and coupons The netpage pnnter mcludes a facility to pnnt watermarks, but will only do so on request from publishers who are suitably authoπzed The publisher mdicates its authoπty to pπnt watermarks m its certificate, which the pnnter is able to authenticate The "watermark" pnntmg process uses an altemative dither matπx m specified "watermark" regions of the page Back-to-back pages contam minor-image watermark regions which comcide when pπnted The dither matπces used m odd and even pages' watermark regions are designed to produce an interference effect when the regions are viewed together, achieved by looking through the pπnted sheet The effect is similar to a watermark m 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 usmg the built-in netpage copy mechanism descπbed m Section 1 9 above This extends to copymg netpages on netpage-aware photocopiers Secure documents are typically generated as part of e-commerce transactions They can therefore mclude the user's photograph which was captured when the user registered biometnc information with the netpage registration server, as descnbed m Section 2 When presented with a secure netpage document, the recipient can venfy its authenticity by requestmg its status m the usual way The umque ID of a secure document is only valid for the lifetime ol the document, and secure document IDs are allocated non-contiguously to prevent their prediction by opportunistic forgers A secure document venfication pen can be developed with built-in feedback on venfication failure, to support easy point-of-presentation document venfication Clearly neither the watermark nor the user's photograph are secure m a cryptographic sense They simply provide a significant obstacle to casual forgery Onlme document venfication, particularly usmg a venfication pen, provides an added level of secunty where it is needed, but is still not entirely immune to forgenes 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 descnbed in Section 4, are also impossible for the payee to repudiate - 32 - 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, havmg been developed by MasterCard and Visa, is organized around payment cards, and this is reflected m the terminology However, much of the system is mdependent of the type of accounts bemg used In SET, cardholders and merchants register with a certificate authoπty and are issued with certificates contammg their public signature keys The certificate authonty venfies a cardholder's registration details with the card issuer as appropnate, and venfies a merchant's registration details with the acquirer as appropπate Cardholders and merchants store their respective pnvate signature keys securely on their computers Dunng 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 bitenm solutions which mamtam 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 (l e the cardholder) m SET payment transactions The netpage system uses biometncs to authenticate the user and authorize SET payments Because the system is pen-based, the biometnc used is the user's on-lme signature, consisting of time-varying pen position and pressure A fingerprint biometnc can also be used by designing a fingerprint sensor mto the pen, although at a higher cost The type of biometnc used only affects the capture of the biometnc, not the authorization aspects of the system The first step to bemg able to make SET payments is to register the user's biometnc with the netpage registration server This is done m a controlled environment, for example a bank, where the biometnc can be captured at the same time as the user's identity is venfied The biometnc is captured and stored m 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, givmg the netpage registration server enough information to act as the user's proxy m any SET payment transaction When the user eventually supplies the biometnc to complete a payment, for example by signing a netpage order form, the pnnter securely transmits the order information, the pen ID and the biometnc data to the netpage registration server The server venfies the biometnc 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 mcludes a mechanism for micro-payments, to allow the user to be convemently charged for pnntmg low-cost documents on demand and for copymg copynght documents, and possibly also to allow the user to be reimbursed for expenses inclined in pnntmg advertismg matenal The latter depends on the level of subsidy aheady 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 usmg the standard payment mechanism The network account can be extended to aggregate subscnption fees for peπodicals, which would also otherwise be presented to the user m the form of mdividual statements - 33 - 4.4 TRANSACTIONS When a user requests a netpage m a particular application context, the application is able to embed a user- specific transaction ID 55 in the page Subsequent mput through the page is tagged with the transaction ID, and the application is thereby able to establish an appropnate context for the user's mput When mput occurs through a page which is not user-specific, however, the application must use the user's umque identity to establish a context A typical example mvolves addmg items from a pre-pnnted catalog page to the user's virtual "shoppmg cart" To protect the user's pnvacy, however, the umque user ID 60 known to the netpage system is not divulged to applications This is to prevent different application providers from easily coπelating mdependently accumulated behavioral data The netpage registration server mstead mamtams an anonymous relationship between a user and an application via a umque alias ID 65, as shown m 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, mto an alias ID 65 The alias ID is then submitted to the hyperlink's application The application maintains state mformation mdexed by alias ID, and is able to retneve user-specific state information without knowledge of the global identity of the user The system also mamtams an mdependent certificate and pnvate signature key for each of a user's applications, to allow it to sign application transactions on behalf of the user usmg only application-specific information To assist the system m 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 mamtams 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 prefeπed embodiment of a resource descnption class diagram is shown m Figure 40 Each document and content object may be descnbed by one or more resource descnptions 842 Resource descnptions use the Dublin Core metadata element set, which is designed to facilitate discovery of electronic resources Dublm Core metadata conforms to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Resource Descnption Framework (RDF) A resource descnption may identify nghts holders 920 The netpage system automatically transfers copynght fees from users to nghts holders when users pπnt copynght content 5 COMMUNICATIONS PROTOCOLS A commumcations protocol defines an ordered exchange of messages between entities In the netpage system, entities such as pens, pnnters and servers utilise a set of defined protocols to cooperatively handle user mteraction with the netpage system Each protocol is illustrated by way of a sequence diagram m which the horizontal dimension is used to represent message flow and the vertical dimension is used to represent time Each entity is represented by a rectangle contammg the name of the entity and a vertical column representing the lifeline of the entity Duπng the time an entity exists, the lifeline is shown as a clashed lme Dunng the time an entity is active, the lifeline is shown as a double lme Because the protocols considered here do not create or destroy entities, lifelines are generally cut short as soon as an entity ceases to participate m a protocol 5.1 SUBSCRIPTION DELIVERY PROTOCOL A preferred embodiment of a subscnption delivery protocol is shown m Figure 43 - 34 - A large number of users may subscπbe 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 mdividual pπnters via pomtcast, 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, mcludmg its document ID and page descnptions, to the page server 10 responsible for the document's newly allocated ID It mcludes its own application ID 64, the subscπber's alias ID 65, and the relevant set of multicast channel names It signs the message usmg its pnvate signature key The page server uses the application ID and alias ID to obtam from the registration server the coπespondmg 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 mstance IDs and forwards the page descnptions, mcludmg page IDs 50, to the pnnter It mcludes 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 -ill 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 momtor the appropπate 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 pπnters to pπnt the documents 5.2 HYPERLINK ACTIVATION PROTOCOL A prefeπed embodiment of a hyperlmk activation protocol is shown in Figure 45 When a user clicks on a netpage with a netpage pen, the pen commumcates the click to the nearest netpage pnnter 601 The click identifies the page and a location on the page The pnnter aheady knows the ID 61 of the pen from the pen connection protocol The pnnter determines, via the DNS, the network address of the page server 10a handling the particular page ID 50 The address may aheady be m its cache if the user has recently mteracted with 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 descπption 5 identified by the page ID and determines which mput element's zone 58, if any, the click lies m Assuming the relevant mput element is a hyperlmk 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 application server hosting the application 71 The page server uses the pen ID 61 to obtam the coπesponding user ID 60 from the registration server 11, and then allocates a globally umque hyperlink request ID 52 and b lds a hyperlink request 934 The hyperlink request class diagram is shown m Figure 44 The hyperlink request records the IDs of the requestmg user and pnnter, and identifies the clicked hyperlink mstance 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 accordmg 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 requestmg 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 obtam - 35 - the coπespondmg 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 mstance 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 requestmg pnnter The hyperlink mstance may mclude a meaningful fransaction ID 55, m which case the first page server mcludes the transaction ID m 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, I 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 obtam not just the user ID coπespondmg to the pen ID but also the alias ID 65 coπespondmg to the application ID and the user ID It mcludes the alias ID m the message sent to the application, allowmg 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 commumcates the sfroke 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 sfroke path to the page server 10 m the usual way The page server loads the page descπption 5 identified by the page ID and determines which mput element's zone 58, if any, the stroke intersects Assuming the relevant mput element is a text field 878, the page server appends the sfroke to the text field's digital ink After a penod of inactivity m 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 coπespondmg 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 mput 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 m the zone of the signature field, the page server sends the pen ID 61 and the pending strokes to the registration server 11 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 cuπent data content of the form The registration server identifies the user coπespondmg to the pen, and uses the user's dynamic signature biometnc 818 to venfy the strokes as the user's signature Once it has venfied the signature, the registration server uses the application ID 64 and 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 requestmg 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 mcludes the alias ID 65 of the coπesponding user This allows a smgle form to capture multiple users' signatures 5.5 FORM SUBMISSION PROTOCOL A prefeπed 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 m Section 5 2, - 36 - 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 contams the form ID 56 and the cuπent data content of the form If the form contams any signature fields, then the application venfies each one by exfractmg the alias ID 65 associated with the coπespondmg digital signature and obtaining the coπespondmg certificate from the registration server 11 5.6 COMMISSION PAYMENT PROTOCOL A prefeπed embodiment of a commission payment protocol is shown m Figure 47 In an e-commerce environment, fees and commissions may be payable from an application provider to a publisher on chck-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 (I 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 oπginal 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 coπespondmg 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 ongmal 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 coπespondmg pnnter provider account 814 The source application provider is optionally notified of the identify of the target application provider, and the pnnter provider of the identify of the source application provider 6. NETPAGE PEN DESCRIPTION 6.1 PEN MECHANICS Refernng to Figures 8 and 9, the pen, generally designated by reference numeral 101, mcludes a housmg 102 m the form of a plastics moulding havmg walls 103 defining an mteπor space 104 for mounting the pen components The pen top 105 is in operation rotatably mounted at one end 106 of the housmg 102 A semi-transparent cover 107 is secured to the opposite end 108 of the housmg 102 The cover 107 is also of moulded plastics, and is formed from semi-transparent matenal m order to enable the user to view the status of the LED mounted withm the housmg 102 The cover 107 mcludes a mam part 109 which substantially suπounds the end 108 of the housmg 102 and a projecting portion 110 which projects back from the main part 109 and fits withm a coπespondmg slot 111 formed m the walls 103 of the housmg 102 A radio antenna 112 is mounted behind the proj ecting portion 110, withm the housmg 102 Screw threads 113 suπounding an aperture 113A on the cover 107 are aπanged to receive a metal end piece 114, mcludmg coπespondmg screw threads 115 The metal end piece 114 is removable to enable ink cartndge replacement Also mounted withm the cover 107 is a tπ-color status LED 116 on a flex PCB 117 The antenna 112 is also mounted on the flex PCB 117 The status LED 116 is mounted at the top of the pen 101 for good all-around visibility The pen can operate both as a normal markmg mk pen and as a non-markmg stylus An mk pen cartndge 118 with mb 119 and a stylus 120 with stylus mb 121 are mounted side by side withm the housmg 102 Either the ink cartndge mb 119 or the stylus mb 121 can be brought forward through open end 122 of the metal end piece 114, by - 37 - rotation of the pen top 105 Respective slider blocks 123 and 124 are mounted to the mk cartndge 118 and stylus 120, respectively A rotatable cam baπel 125 is secured to the pen top 105 m operation and aπanged to rotate therewith The cam baπel 125 mcludes a cam 126 in the form of a slot withm the walls 181 of the cam baπel Cam followers 127 and 128 projecting from slider blocks 123 and 124 fit withm the cam slot 126 On rotation of the cam baπel 125, the slider blocks 123 or 124 move relative to each other to project either the pen mb 119 or stylus mb 121 out through the hole 122 m the metal end piece 114 The pen 101 has three states of operation By turning the top 105 through 90° steps, the three states are Stylus 120 mb 121 out, • Ink cartndge 118 mb 119 out, and • Neither ink cartridge 118 mb 119 out nor stylus 120 mb 121 out A second flex PCB 129, is mounted on an electronics chassis 130 which sits within the housmg 102 The second flex PCB 129 mounts an infrared LED 131 for providmg infrared radiation for projection onto the surface An image sensor 132 is provided mounted on the second flex PCB 129 for receivmg reflected radiation from the surface The second flex PCB 129 also mounts a radio frequency chip 133, which mcludes an RF transmitter and RF receiver, and a confroller chip 134 for controlling operation of the pen 101 An optics block 135 (formed from moulded clear plastics) sits withm 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 withm the cam baπel 125 A terminal 138 connects to the battery contacts 137 and the cam baπel 125 A three volt rechargeable battery 139 sits withm the cam baπel 125 contact with the battery contacts An mduction charging coil 140 is mounted about the second flex PCB 129 to enable recharging of the battery 139 via mduction The second flex PCB 129 also mounts an infrared LED 143 and infrared photodiode 144 for detecting displacement m the cam baπel 125 when either the stylus 120 or the ink cartridge 118 is used for wntmg, m order to enable a determination of the force bemg applied to the surface by the pen mb 119 or stylus mb 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 gπp pads 141 and 142 are provided towards the end 108 of the h mg 102 to assist gnpping the pen 101, and top 105 also mcludes a clip 142 for clipping the pen 101 to a pocket 6.2 PEN CONTROLLER The pen 101 is aπanged to determine the position of its mb (stylus mb 121 or ink cartndge mb 119) by imaging, m the infrared spectrum, an area of the surface m the vicinity of the mb It records the location data from the nearest location tag, and is aπanged to calculate the distance of the mb 121 or 119 from the location tab utilismg 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 Utilismg 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 m 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 mcludes a buffer aπanged to store digital ink data for approximately 12 mmutes of the pen motion on the surface) and can be transmitted later The controller chip 134 is mounted on the second flex PCB 129 m the pen 101 Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating m more detail the architecture of the controller chip 134 Figure 10 also shows representations of the RF chip 133, the image sensor 132, the tn-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 confrollmg processor 145 Bus 146 enables the exchange of data - 38 - between components of the confroller chip 134 Flash memory 147 and a 512 KB DRAM 148 are also mcluded An analog-to-digital converter 149 is aπanged to convert the analog signal from the force sensor photodiode 144 to a digital signed An image sensor mterface 152 mterfaces with the image sensor 132 A transceiver controller 153 and base band circmt 154 are also included to mterface with the RF chip 133 which mcludes an RF circmt 155 and RF resonators and mductors 156 connected to the antenna 112 The confrollmg processor 145 captures and decodes location data from tags from the surface via the image sensor 132, momtors the force sensor photodiode 144, controls the LEDs 116, 131 and 143, and handles short-range radio commumcation via the radio transceiver 153 It is a medium-performance (~40MHz) general-purpose RISC processor The processor 145, digital transceiver components (transceiver confroller 153 and baseband circmt 154), image sensor mterface 152, flash memory 147 and 512KB DRAM 148 are mtegrated m a smgle controller ASIC Analog RF components (RF circmt 155 and RF resonators and mductors 156) are provided m the separate RF chip The image sensor is a 215x215 pixel CCD (such a sensor is produced by Matsushita Electronic Corporation, and is descnbed m a paper by Itakura, K T Nobusada, N Okusenya, R Nagayoshi, and M Ozaki, "A 1mm 50k-Pιxel IT CCD Image Sensor for Miniature Camera System", IEEE Transactions on Electronic Devices, Volt 47, number 1, January 2000, which is mcorporated herem 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 m contact with a surface It mcorporates a dedicated circmt 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 commumcates m the unlicensed 900MHz band normally used by cordless telephones, or alternatively m the unlicensed 2 4GHz mdustnal, scientific and medical (ISM) band, and uses frequency hoppmg and collision detection to provide interference-free commumcation In an alternative embodiment, the pen mcorporates an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) interface for short- range commumcation with a base station or netpage pnnter In a further embodiment, the pen 101 mcludes a pair of orthogonal accelerometers mounted m the normal plane of the pen 101 axis The accelerometers 190 are shown m Figures 9 and 10 m 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 mterest rather than a position on the surface For example, if the object is a user mterface mput element (e g a command button), then the tag ID of each location tag withm the area of the mput element can directly identify the mput element The acceleration measured by the accelerometers m each of the x and y directions is mtegrated with respect to time to produce an instantaneous velocity and position Smce the starting position of the stroke is not known, only relative positions withm a stroke are calculated Although position integration accumulates eπors m the sensed acceleration, accelerometers typically have high resolution, and the time duration of a sfroke, over which eπors accumulate, is short 7. NETPAGE PRINTER DESCRIPTION 7.1 PRINTER MECHANICS The vertically-mounted netpage wallpnnter 601 is shown fully assembled in Figure 11 It pnnts netpages on Letter/A4 sized media usmg duplexed 8! " Memjet™ pnnt engmes 602 and 603, as shown m Figures 12 and 12a It uses a straight paper path with the paper 604 passmg through the duplexed pnnt engmes 602 and 603 which pnnt both - 39 - sides of a sheet simultaneously, m full color and with full bleed An integral binding assembly 605 applies a stnp of glue along one edge of each pnnted sheet, allowmg it to adhere to the previous sheet when pressed agamst it This creates a final bound document 618 which can range m thickness from one sheet to several hundred sheets The replaceable ink cartndge 627, shown in Figure 13 coupled with the duplexed pπnt engmes, has bladders or chambers for stonng fixative, adhesive, and cyan, magenta, yellow, black and infrared mks The cartndge also contams a micro air filter m a base moldmg The micro air filter mterfaces with an air pump 638 mside the pnnter via a hose 639 This provides filtered air to the pnntheads to prevent ingress of micro particles mto the Memjet™ pnntheads 350 which might otherwise clog the pnnthead nozzles By incorporating the air filter withm the cartridge, the operational life of the filter is effectively linked to the life of the cartndge The ink cartndge is a fully recyclable product with a capacity for pnntmg and gluing 3000 pages (1500 sheets) Refernng to Figure 12, the motorized media pick-up roller assembly 626 pushes the top sheet directly from the media tray past a paper sensor on the first pnnt engme 602 mto the duplexed Memjet™ pnnthead assembly The two Memjet™ pnnt engmes 602 and 603 are mounted m an opposmg m-lme sequential configuration along the straight paper path The paper 604 is drawn mto 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 pnntmg commences Fixative is pnnted simultaneously to aid drymg m the shortest possible time The paper exits the first Memjet™ pnnt engme 602 through a set of powered exit spike wheels (aligned along the straight paper path), which act agamst a rubberized roller These spike wheels contact the 'wet' pnnted surface and continue to feed the sheet 604 mto the second Memjet™ pnnt engme 603 Referring to Figures 12 and 12a, the paper 604 passes from the duplexed prmt engmes 602 and 603 mto the binder assembly 605 The pnnted 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 The movable axle/glue assembly 673 is mounted to a metal support bracket and it is transported forward to mterface with the powered axle 670 via gears by action of a camshaft A separate motor powers this camshaft The glue wheel assembly 673 consists of a partially hollow axle 679 with a rotating couplmg for the glue supply hose 641 from the ink cartndge 627 This axle 679 connects to a glue wheel, which absorbs adhesive by capillary action through radial holes A molded housmg 682 suπounds the glue wheel, with an openmg at the front Pivotmg side moldings and sprung outer doors are attached to the metal bracket and lunge out sideways when the rest of the assembly 673 is thrust forward This action exposes the glue wheel through the front of the molded housing 682 Tension springs close the assembly and effectively cap the glue wheel duπng 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 bmdmg assembly 605 7.2 PRINTER CONTROLLER ARCHITECTURE The netpage pnnter confroller consists of a confrollmg processor 750, a factory-installed or field-installed network mterface module 625, a radio transceiver (transceiver controller 753, baseband circmt 754, RF circmt 755, and RF resonators and mductors 756), dual raster image processor (RIP) DSPs 757, duplexed pnnt engme controllers 760a and 760b, flash memory 658, and 64MB of DRAM 657, as illustrated m Figure 14 The confrollmg processor handles communication with the network 19 and with local wireless netpage pens 101, senses the help button 617, controls the user mterface LEDs 613-616, and feeds and synchronizes the RIP DSPs 757 and pnnt engme controllers 760 It consists of a medium-performance general-purpose microprocessor The confrollmg processor 750 commumcates with the pπnt engme controllers 760 via a high-speed senal bus 659 - 40 - The RIP DSPs rastenze and compress page descnptions to the netpage printer's compressed page format Each pπnt engme controller expands, dithers and pnnts page images to its associated Memjet™ pnnthead 350 in real time (l e at over 30 pages per minute) The duplexed pnnt engme controllers pnnt both sides of a sheet simultaneously The master pnnt engme confroller 760a controls the paper transport and momtors ink usage m conjunction with the master QA chip 665 and the ink cartπdge 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 mam memory 657 at boot time The processor 750, DSPs 757, and digital transceiver components (transceiver controller 753 and baseband circmt 754) are mtegrated m a smgle confroller ASIC 656 Analog RF components (RF circmt 755 and RF resonators and mductors 756) are provided m a separate RF chip 762 The network mterface module 625 is separate, smce 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 engme controllers 760 are provided m separate ASICs A vanety of network mterface modules 625 are provided, each providing a netpage network mterface 751 and optionally a local computer or network mterface 752 Netpage network Internet mterfaces mclude POTS modems, Hybnd Fiber-Coax (HFC) cable modems, ISDN modems, DSL modems, satellite fransceivers, cuπent and next- generation cellular telephone fransceivers, and wireless local loop (WLL) transceivers Local mterfaces mclude IEEE 1284 (parallel port), lOBase-T and 100Base-T Ethernet, USB and USB 2 0, IEEE 1394 (Firewire), and vanous emergmg home networkmg mterfaces If an Internet connection is available on the local network, then the local network mterface 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 mdustnal, scientific and medical (ISM) band, and uses frequency hoppmg and collision detection to provide interference-free commumcation The pnnter controller optionally mcorporates an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) mterface for receivmg data "squirted" from devices such as netpage cameras In an altemative embodiment, the pnnter uses the IrDA interface for short-range commumcation with suitably configured netpage pens 7.2.1 RASTERIZATION AND PRINTING Once the mam processor 750 has received and venfied the document's page layouts and page objects, it runs the appropnate RIP software on the DSPs 757 The DSPs 757 rastenze each page descnption and compress the rastenzed page image The mam processor stores each compressed page image m memory 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, m general, be stored m memory This strategy only leads to potentially poor DSP utilization when rastenzmg short documents Watermark regions m the page descπption are rastenzed 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 pπnted page contams coded netpage tags at a density of about six per mch Each tag encodes the page ID, tag ID, and control bits, and the data content of each tag is generated duπng rasteπzation and stored m the compressed page image The mam processor 750 passes back-to-back page images to the duplexed pnnt engme controllers 760 Each pnnt engine controller 760 stores the compressed page image m its local memory, and starts the page expansion and pnnting pipeline Page expansion and pnntmg is pipelined because it is impractical to store an entire 114MB bi-level CMYK+IR page image m memory In application terms, it is important to distinguish between netpage documents and netpage forms Documents contam pπnted information, as well as command buttons which can be pressed by the user to request further information or some other action Forms, m addition to behaving like normal documents, also contam mput fields which can be filled m by the user They provide the system with a data mput mechanism It is also useful to distinguish between documents which contam genenc information and documents which contam information specific to a particular mteraction between the user and an application Genenc documents may be pre-pnnted publications such as magazmes sold at news stands or advertismg posters encountered m public places Forms may also be pre-pnnted, mcludmg, for example, subscnption forms encountered m pre-pnnted publications They may, of course, also be generated on-the-fly by a netpage pnnter m response to user requests User-specific documents and forms are normally generated on the fly by a netpage pnnter m response to user requests Figure 48 shows a genenc document 990, a genenc form 991, a user- specific document 992, and a user-specific form 993 Netpages which participate m a user mterface flow are further descnbed by abstract page layouts A page layout may contam vanous kinds of elements, each of which has a unique style to differentiate it from the others As shown m Figure 49, these mclude fixed information 994, vanable information 995, mput fields 996, command buttons 997, and draggable commands 998 When a user mterface flow is broken up mto multiple diagrams, any document which is duplicated is shown with dashed outlines m all but the mam diagram which defines it 8.2 BILL MANAGEMENT OBJECT MODEL The Bill Management object model revolves around a bill manager, customers, bills and bill payments Each bill manager 500 has customers 501 and billers 504 Associated with each biller is a biller account 505 Each biller has a umque identifier and a name The Bill Payments class diagram is shown m Figure 50 Each customer 501 is related to a particular bill manager 500, and has an identifier which is unique withm the scope of the particular biller Each customer represents a particular Netpage user 800 to the bill manager A Netpage user 800, on the other hand, can be the customer of any number of bill managers Each customer has a number of payment methods 506 known to the bill manager The name and descnption of a customer denves from the details of the coπesponding Netpage user Each customer has a number of biller setups 509 Each biller setup 509 specifies the default payment options associated with a particular biller Each biller setup has an autopay setting mdicatmg whether bills from this biller are to be paid automatically on receipt by the bill manager, a coπespondmg invoice limit (if the due amount is above this limit the mvoice will not be paid automatically), and a default payment method The Customer class diagram is shown m Figure 51 Each customer has a bill list 502 which is made up of a number of bills 503 Each bill 503 is associated with one customer 501 and one biller 504, and has a umque bill number, a due date, due amount and a mimmum due amount Each bill has a bill status 508 which can be one of unpaid 513, paid 514, scheduled 515, cancelled 516, or exception 517 (I e the payment failed) The Bill Status class diagram is shown m Figure 53 Each bill payment 507 has a unique payment number, the date and time of the payment, the amount paid, and a receipt number Each bill payment 507 has an associated payment method 506 The Payment Method class diagram is shown m Figure 52 When the SET payment method 512 is used, the coπespondmg SET payment card 821 linked to the user is used to make payment according to the normal SET protocol When the payment card payment method 511 is used, the specified payment card is used to make payment according to the normal protocol between the biller and their acquiring bank or institution which handles the particular payment card type When the bank account method 510 is used, the customer's specified bank account is debited and the biller is credited 8.3 BILL MANAGEMENT USER INTERFACE A bill may be delivered to a user directly to their netpage pnnter, or may be delivered through the normal postal service Alternatively the user may instruct a biller to send bills directly to a bill manager 8.3.1 Paying an Original Bill An ongmal bill is one delivered to the user directly from the biller, rather than via a bill manager An ongmal bill may mclude a list of the user's payment methods known to the biller A typical ongmal bill 518 537 is shown m Figures 60 and 61 Payment of an ongmal bill is discussed NPAOOl Netpage Payments The biller may mclude a <Fwd To Bill Mgr> button on their bill, as shown m Figure 60 This allows the user to forward the bill to their bill manager for handling If the user presses the <Fwd To Bill Mgr> button and the user is not already registered with a bill manager, a User Registration page 519 (not shown) is pπnted for the biller' s prefeπed bill manager The user completes the registration details and presses <Done> The user is added as a customer of the bill manager and the bill is added to their bill list with a bill status of unpaid A Bill Forwarded Confirmation page 520 (not shown) is pπnted, confirming that the bill has been forwarded to the bill manager If the user presses the <Fwd To Bill Mgr> button and the user is registered with a bill manager, the bill is forwarded to the bill manager specified m the user's netpage setup The bill is added to the user's bill list and processed accordmg to the payment defaults set up for the biller A Bill Forwarded Confirmation page 520 (not shown) is pπnted, confirming that the bill has been forwarded to the bill manager The Ongmal Bill user mterface flow is shown m Figure 54 8.3.2 Bill Manager Main Page The user may obtam the Bill Manager mam page 522 from a vanety of links mcludmg • the netpage directory • the netpage user's own bookmark • an advertisement The Bill Manager user mterface flow is shown m Figures 55, 56, 57, and 58 The Bill Manager mam page is shown m Figure 62 If the user presses the <Informatιon> button the Bill Manager Information page 523 (not shown) is pnnted This gives general information about the service provided by the bill manager This function is available to all netpage users If the user presses the <User Registration button a User Registration page 524 (not shown) is pnnted This function is available to all netpage users Entry to other bill manager functions requires the netpage user to be a registered customer of the bill manager The user is required to sign the form with the netpage pen before submitting it The user is identified by the netpage pen they are usmg and the signature is venfied from netpage records 8.3.3 Listing Due Bills The bill manager automatically sends a list of due bills to the user at the start of each week The Due Bills List 528 is sent directly to the user's netpage pnnter The Due Bills List 528 can alternatively be sent to the user's netpage e-mail account The user can request a list of due bills at any time by signing the Bill Manager mam page 522 and pressmg the <Lιst Due Bιlls> button The Due Bill List 528, as shown m Figure 63, shows bills due withm the next seven days For each bill the list shows the due date, biller, amount due, minimum payment due, default payment method (if there is one), and the bill status The user can pay one or more bills immediately by checking the Pay checkbox next to the required bill lmes, signing the form and pressmg the <Pay Now> button The bills are paid usmg the default payment method specified m the biller setup For each bill successfully paid a Bill Payment Receipt page 530 is pπnted, as shown m Figure 72 If the user has not yet set up defaults for a biller, the due bill list is reprinted with one or more eπor messages at the top of the page The user can pπnt a copy of a bill by pressmg the <B> button next to the required bill lme A copy of the ongmal bill 527 537 is pnnted as shown m Figures 70 and 71 The user can cancel a bill and remove it from the due bill list by pressmg the <X> button next to the required bill lme A Bill Cancel Confirmation page 526 (not shown) is pπnted, showing the details of the bill bemg cancelled The user signs the form and presses the <Confirm Cancel> button The Due Bill List 528 is reprinted with the cancelled bill removed 8.3.4 Listing All Bills A user can pnnt a list of all bills by signmg the Bill Manager mam page 522 and pressing the <Lιst All Bιlls> button An All Bills List 525 is pnnted, as shown in Figure 64 For each bill the list shows the due date, biller, amount due, minimum payment due, payment method (or default payment method for unpaid bills), and the bill status The user can pnnt a copy of a bill by pressmg the <B> button next to the required bill lme A copy of the ongmal bill 527 537 is pnnted as shown m Figures 70 and 71 The user can cancel a bill and remove it from the bill list by pressmg the <X> button next to the required bill lme A Bill Cancel Confirmation page 526 (not shown) is pnnted, showmg the details of the bill bemg cancelled The user signs the form and presses the <Confirm Cancel> button The All Bills List 525 is reprinted with the cancelled bill removed 8.3.5 Biilers Set Up A user can pπnt a list of their biller setups by signing the Bill Manager mam page 522 and pressmg the <Lιst My Bιllers> button A My Biilers List 531 is pπnted, as shown m Figure 65 For each biller the list shows the biller name, the autopav setting (mdicatmg whether bills from this biller are to be paid automatically on receipt bv the bill manager), the autopay invoice limit (if the due amount is above this limit the mvoice will not be paid automatically), and the default payment method To modify an existmg biller setup the user clicks on the biller name A new Set Up Biller form 532 is pπnted for the cuπent biller, as shown m Figure 66 The user enters the new bill payment options for this biller, signs the form and presses <Done> An updated My Biilers List is pnnted To set up a new biller the user clicks on the <New Bιller> button A blank Set Up Biller form 532 is pnnted for the cuπent biller This form is similar to that shown m Figure 66 but the biller name field is an mput field The user enters the new biller name and the bill payment options, signs the form and presses <Done> An updated My Biilers List is pπnted The user can click the <Reset Form> button at the bottom of the page to invalidate the cuπent form and pnnt a fresh form The user can add a new payment method by pressmg the <New Payment Method> button No signature is required for this button An Add New Payment Method form 533 is pπnted When it is completed an updated Set Up Biller form 532 is pπnted, mcludmg the newly added payment method 8.3.6 Payment Methods A user can pπnt a list of their payment methods by signing the Bill Manager mam page and pressmg the <Lιst My Payment Methods> button A Payment Methods List 534 is pπnted, as shown m Figure 67 Payment methods may be bank accounts or credit cards Each bank account payment method shows the bank account type (savmgs or checkmg), the bank account name and bank account number Each credit card payment method shows the card type, the card name and account number, and the expiry date The user can delete a payment method by pressmg the <Del> button next to the payment method to be deleted An updated Payment Methods List page 534 is pnnted The user can add a new payment method by pressmg the <New Payment Method> button An Add New Payment Method form 533 is pnnted, as shown m Figure 68 To allow payment from a bank account the user specifies the bank account name, number and type To allow payment from a card the user specifies the card name, expiry date and card type The user then signs the form and presses <Done> An updated Payment Methods List 534 is pπnted The user can click the <Reset Form> button at the bottom of the page to invalidate the cuπent form and pπnt a fresh form 8.3.7 Exceptions A user can pπnt a list of their failed bill payments (exceptions) by signmg the Bill Manager mam page and pressmg the <Lιst Exceptιons> button An Exceptions List 535 is pπnted, as shown m Figure 69 For each bill payment exception the list shows the due date, biller, amount due, minimum payment due, payment method, and exception descnption Exceptions may occur when the user specifies an invalid payment method, or when there are insufficient funds to make the payment The user can pnnt a copy of a bill by pressmg the <B> button next to the required bill lme A copy of the ongmal bill 527 537 is pnnted as shown m Figures 70 and 71 The user can cancel an exception lme and remove it from the exception list by pressing the <X> button next to the required lme An updated Exceptions List 535 is pnnted 8.3.8 Bill Copy A user can pπnt a copy of a bill The bill copy 527 537 mcludes the detailed charges makmg up the bill, the total amount due, minimum payment due and the payment due date The bill copy also mcludes a list of all payment methods known to the bill manager The user selects a payment method from the list The user can optionally enter a payment amount, if they wish to pay less than the due amount If the field is left blank then the full due amount is paid Also, the user can optionally enter a payment date to schedule the bill payment for a future date If the field is left blank then the bill is paid immediately The user signs the form with their netpage pen and presses the <Pay> button The user is identified by the netpage pen they are usmg and the signature is venfied from Netpage records A Bill Payment Receipt 530 is pnnted, as shown m Figure 72 If the user clicks <Reset Form> the bill copy is re-pnnted CONCLUSION The present mvention has been descnbed with reference to a prefeπed embodiment and number of specific altemafrve embodiments However, it will be appreciated by those skilled m the relevant fields that a number of other embodiments, diffenng from those specifically descπbed, will also fall withm the spint and scope of the present mvention Accordmgly, it will be understood that the mvention is not mtended to be limited to the specific embodiments descπbed m the present specification, mcludmg documents mcorporated by cross-reference as appropnate The scope of the mvention is only limited by the attached claims

Claims: C LAI MS 1 A method of enablmg onlme bill payment, the method mcludmg the steps of providmg a potential purchaser with a form containing mformation relatmg to a bill paymg transaction, the form mcludmg coded data mdicative of an identify of the form and of at least one reference pomt of the form, receivmg, m a computer system, mdicatmg data from a sensmg device regardmg the identify of the form and a position of the sensmg device relative to the form, the sensmg device, when placed m an operative position relative to the form, sensmg the mdicatmg data usmg at least some of the coded data, and identifymg, m the computer system and from the mdicatmg data, at least one parameter relatmg to the bill paymg transaction 2 The method of claim 1 m which said at least one parameter relatmg to the bill paymg fransaction is associated with at least one zone of the form and in which the method mcludes identifymg, m the computer system and from the zone relative to which the sensmg device is located, said at least one parameter 3 The method of claim 2 which mcludes receivmg, m the computer system, data regardmg movement of the sensmg device relative to the form, the sensmg device sensmg its movement relative to the form usmg at least some of the coded data, and identifymg, m the computer system and from said movement bemg at least partially within said at least one zone, said at least one parameter of the bill paymg transaction 4 A method of enablmg onlme bill paymg, the method mcludmg the steps of providmg a potential purchaser with a form contammg information relatmg to a bill paymg fransaction, the form mcludmg coded data mdicative of at least one parameter of the bill paymg fransaction, receivmg, m a computer system, data from a sensmg device regardmg said at least one parameter and regardmg movement of the sensmg device relative to the form, the sensmg device, when moved relative to the form, sensmg the data regardmg said at least one parameter usmg at least some of the coded data and generatmg the data regardmg its own movement relative to the form, and interpreting, m the computer system, said movement of the sensmg device as it relates to said at least one parameter 5 A method of enablmg onlme bill paymg, the method mcludmg the steps of providmg a potential purchaser with a form containing information relating to a bill paymg transaction, the form mcludmg coded data mdicative of an identify of the form, receivmg, m a computer system, data from a sensing device regardmg an identity of the potential purchaser and regardmg the identity of the form, the sensmg device contammg the data regardmg the identity of the user and sensmg the data regardmg the identity of the form usmg at least some of the coded data, and identifymg, m the computer system and from the data regardmg the identity of the potential purchaser and the identify of the form, a bill paymg transaction 6 The method of claim 5 m which the coded data is also indicative of at least one parameter of the bill paymg transaction and the method mcludes receivmg, m the computer system, mdicatmg data from the sensing device regardmg said at least one parameter of the bill paymg fransaction, the sensmg device sensmg the mdicatmg data usmg at least some of the coded data 7 The method of claim 6 which mcludes receivmg, in the computer system, data from the sensmg device regarding movement of the sensmg device relative to the form, the sensmg device generating data regardmg its own movement relative to the form 8 The method of any one of claims 2, 4 or 6 m which the parameter is an action parameter of the bill paymg transaction, the method mcludmg effectmg, m the computer system, an operation m respect of the action parameter 9 The method of claim 8 m which the action parameter of the bill paymg fransaction is selected from the group compnsmg requestmg information relatmg to a bill, initiating bill payment, resetting the form, electronically forwarding a bill, paymg a bill, pnntmg a bill, canceling a bill payment, listmg due bills, listing or addmg biilers, listmg, adding or removmg payment methods and listmg or removmg failed bills 10 The method of any one of claims 3, 4 or 7 m which the parameter is an option parameter of the bill paymg fransaction, the method mcludmg identifying, m the computer system, that the potential purchaser has entered a hand-drawn mark by means of the sensmg device and effectmg, m the computer system, an operation associated with the option parameter 11 The method of claim 10 m which the option parameter is associated with at least one of a payment method, card type, bill payment lme, autopay option, and account type 12 The method of any one of claims 3, 4 or 7 m which the parameter is a text parameter of the bill paymg transaction, the method mcludmg identifymg, m the computer system, that the potential purchaser has entered handwritten text data by means of the sensmg device and effectmg, m the computer system, an operation associated with the text parameter 13 The method of claim 12 which mcludes converting, m the computer system, the handwntten text data to computer text 14 The method of claim 13 in which the text parameter is associated with at least one of payment limit, account name, account number, cardholder name, card expiry date, autopay limit, payment amount and payment date 15 The method of any one of claims 3, 4 or 7 m which the parameter is an authorization parameter of the bill paymg transaction, the method mcludmg identifymg, m the computer system, that a payer has entered a handwntten signature by means of the sensmg device and effectmg, in the computer system, an operation associated with the authorization parameter 16 The method of claim 15 which mcludes venfymg, m the computer system, that the signature is that of the payer 17 The method of claim 16 m which the authorization parameter is associated with payment authorization, listmg due bills, listmg all bills, listing biilers, listmg payment methods, listmg failed bills, addmg a payment method and addmg a biller 18 The method of any one of claims 3, 4 or 7 in which mdicatmg data relates to a request, that a bill be pπnted locally 19 The method of any one of claims 1 , 4 or 5 m which a portion of the coded data is supenmposed with a visual graphic, the visual graphic relatmg to the parameter associated with the portion 20 The method of any one of claims 1 , 4 or 5 in which the form is a bill 21 The method of claim 1, 4 or 5 which includes supplying the form as part of a product or its packagmg 22 The method of claim 21 m which the product is a pnnted penodical 23 The method of claim 22 which mcludes pnntmg the coded data to be substantially mvisible m the visible spectrum 24 The method of any one of claim 1 , 4 or 5 which mcludes retaining a retnevable record of each form generated, the form bemg retnevable usmg its identify as contained m its coded data 25 The method of any one of claims 1 , 4 or 5 which mcludes distnbution a plurality of the forms usmg conventional mail 26 The method of claim 1 or 4 m which the sensmg device contains an identification means which imparts a umque identity to the sensmg device and identifies it as belongmg to a particular potential purchaser and m which the method mcludes monitoring, m the computer system, said identity 27 The method of any one of claims 1, 4 or 5 which mcludes providing all required information relatmg to the bill paymg fransaction m the form to eliminate the need for a separate display device 28 The method of any one of claims 1, 4 or 5 m which the form is pnnted on multiple pages and m which the method mcludes binding the pages 29 A system for enablmg onlme bill paymg, the system mcludmg a form contammg information relating to a bill paymg fransaction, the form mcludmg coded data mdicative of an identity of the form and of at least one reference pomt of the form, and a computer system for receivmg mdicatmg data from a sensmg device for identifymg at least one parameter relating to the bill paymg fransaction, the indicating data bemg mdicative of the identify of the form and a position of the sensmg device relative to the form, the sensmg device sensmg the mdicatmg data usmg at least some of the coded data 30 The system of claim 29 m which said at least one parameter relatmg to the bill paymg transaction is associated with at least one zone of the form 31 The system of claim 29 which mcludes the sensmg device, the sensmg device sensmg its movement relative to the form usmg at least some of the coded data 32 A system for enablmg onlme bill paymg, the system mcludmg a form contammg information relating to a bill paymg fransaction, the form mcludmg coded data mdicative of at least one parameter of the bill paymg transaction, and a computer system for receivmg data from a sensmg device regardmg said at least one parameter and regardmg movement of the sensmg device relative to the form, and for mterpretmg said movement of the sensmg device as it relates to said at least one parameter, the sensmg device, when moved relative to the form, sensmg the data regardmg said at least one parameter usmg at least some of the coded data and generating the data regarding its own movement relative to the form 33 A system for enablmg onlme bill paymg, the system mcludmg a form mcludmg coded data mdicative of an identify of the form, and a computer system for receivmg from a sensmg device data regarding an identity of the potential purchaser and the identify of the form, and for identifymg, from said received data, a bill paymg transaction, the sensing device contammg the data regardmg the identity of the potential purchaser and sensing the data regardmg the identity of the form usmg at least some of the coded data 34 The system of claim 33 in which the coded data is also mdicative of at least one parameter of the bill paying fransaction, the computer system receivmg mdicatmg data from the sensmg device regardmg said at least one parameter of the bill paymg fransaction, and the sensmg device sensmg the mdicatmg data usmg at least some of the coded data 35 The system of claim 33 which mcludes the sensing device, the sensmg device sensmg its movement relative to the form 36 The system of any one of claims 29, 32 or 34 m which said at least one parameter of the bill paymg fransaction is selected from the group compnsmg an action parameter of the bill paymg fransaction, an option parameter of the bill paymg fransaction, a text parameter of the bill paymg fransaction, or an authorization parameter of the bill paymg fransaction 37 The system of claim 36 m which the action parameter of the bill paymg fransaction is selected from the group compnsmg requesting mformation relating to a bill, initiating bill payment, resetting the form, electronically forwardmg a bill, paymg a bill, pπnting a bill, cancelmg a bill payment, listing due bills, listing or adding biilers, listing, addmg or removmg payment methods and listing or removmg failed bills 38 The system of claim 36 m which the option parameter is associated with at least one of a payment method, card type, bill payment lme, autopay option, and account type 39 The system of claim 36 m which the text parameter is associated with at least one of payment limit, account name, account number, cardholder name, card expiry date, autopay limit, payment amount and payment date 40 The system of claim 36 m which the authorization parameter is associated with payment authorization, listmg due bills, listing all bills, listing biilers, listing payment methods, listmg failed bills, addmg a payment method and addmg a biller 41 The system of claim 36 m which the form is a bill 42 The system of any one of claims 31 , 32 or 35 m which the sensmg device mcludes a markmg mb 43 The system of claim 31 or 32 m which the sensmg device contams an identification means which imparts a unique identify to the sensmg device and identifies it as belongmg to a particular potential purchaser 44 The system of any one of claims 29, 32 or 33 m which the form is a surface of a surface-defining means and m which the system mcludes a pnnter for pnnting the form pπor to distnbution to a user 45 The system of claim 44 m which the pnnter pπnts the coded data at the same time as pnntmg the form on the surface-defining means 46 The system of any one of claims 29, 32 or 33 m which the coded data is substantially mvisible m the visible spectrum 47 The system of cl-um 29 or 33 which mcludes a database for keepmg a retnevable record of each form generated, each form bemg retnevable by usmg its identity as mcluded m its coded data 48 The system of claim 44 m which, to cater for a form pnnted on multiple pages, the pnnter mcludes a bmdmg means for bmdmg the pages 49 A method of makmg an onlme bill payment, compnsmg the steps of obtaining from a network source, a bill paymg form surface, the surface havmg coded data pπnted on it, the coded data indicative of an identity of the form, the coded data bemg readable by a sensmg device, providmg to a networked computer system, information from the sensmg device, the information based on at least some of the coded data, and make a payment transaction associated with bill or bills covered by the bill paymg form 50 The method of claim 49, wherem the sensing device generates the information mdicative of its time-varying location by sensmg its time- varying acceleration via at least one accelerometer 51 The method of bill paymg of claim 49, wherem the networked computer compnses a local pnnter and the bill paymg form surface is pnnted by the local pnnter 52 The method of bill paymg of claim 49, wherem the sensmg device captures data, further compnsmg time-varymg location data formmg a senes of sfrokes from which digital ink is denved, the digital ink denved from a signature zone bemg used to recognize or authenticate a user 53 The method of claim 49, wherem the sensmg device compnses a wireless pen mterface and a transmission of digital ink from the wireless pen mterface further compnses bio-metnc information denved from bio-metπc data captured by the pen mterface 54 The method of claim 49, wherem the biometnc data captured by the pen mterface is at least some data from the group mcludmg pen tilt, pen force and fingerpnnt data 55 The method of claim 49, wherem the surface is part of a product or its package 56 The method of claim 49, wherem at least some coded data is composed of an aπay of macrodots which are aπanged to depict a target area and data areas 57 The method of claim 56, wherem the target area compnses onentation mdicatmg comers 58 The method of claim 49, wherem the coded data is substantially mvisible 59 The method of claim 58, wherem the coded data is provided with infrared absorbing media

Inventors: LAPSTUN JACQUELINE ANNE, LAPSTUN PAUL, LAPSTUN, JACQUELINE, ANNE, LAPSTUN, PAUL
Applicants: LAPSTUN JACQUELINE ANNE, LAPSTUN PAUL, SILVERBROOK KIA, SILVERBROOK RES PTY LTD, LAPSTUN, JACQUELINE, ANNE, LAPSTUN, PAUL, SILVERBROOK RESEARCH PTY LTD, SILVERBROOK, KIA
Application year: 2000
Main classification: G06K11
IPC codes: G06F3, G06Q10, G06Q30, G06Q50