Patent ID: 7299985

Claim:
An apparatus that acts on a bar code comprising: a light detector that detects light reflected back from a surface on which a bar code may be present and provides a detection signal corresponding to the timing and strength of changes in the amplitude of the reflected light; a digitizer that translates the detection signal and outputs a plurality of digitizer signals representative of the timing and strength of those changes in the detection signal that correspond to transitions between light and dark areas on the surface, wherein the digitizer outputs a timing signal indicative of the polarity and duration of transitions in the detection signal on one or more timing signal lines and a strength signal indicative of the strength of the transitions in the detection signal on one or more of strength signal lines; a multiplexer that encodes the plurality of digitizer signals into a single digital signal, wherein the multiplexer receives the timing signal and strength signals for a given transition and encodes the iming and strength signals into a single signal by transmitting a pulse trak for the given transition that includes a coded indicator pulse indicating the polarity of the given transition followed by a strength pulse that correlates to the strength of the given transition.