Patent ID: 7315664

Claim:
A method comprising: providing a first optical conduit, a portion of the optical conduit being figuratively divisible into a plurality of segments connected in series with each other; labeling the first optical conduit with a multi-digit binary code by forming light reflecting portions along the first optical conduit in a manner such that some of the segments of the first optical conduit each contain at least one of the light reflecting portions and such that the other of the segments are devoid of any of the light reflecting portions, the multi-digit binary code comprising a series of digits each of which is associated with a separate one of segments of the first optical conduit and each of which has one of alternative first and second states, each digit that is associated with one of the segments containing at least one of the light reflecting portions being in the first state and each digit that is associated with one of the segments being devoid of any of the light reflecting portions being in the second state; providing a second optical conduit, a portion of the second optical conduit being figuratively divisible into a plurality of segments connected in series with each other; labeling the second optical conduit with a multi-digit binary code by forming light reflecting portions along the second optical conduit in a manner such that some of the segments of the second optical conduit each contain at least one of the light reflecting portions and such that the other of the segments are devoid of any of the light reflecting portions, the multi-digit binary code comprising a series of digits each of which is associated with a separate one of segments of the second optical conduit and each of which has one of alternative first and second states, each digit that is associated with one of the segments containing at least one of the light reflecting portions being in the first state and each digit that is associated with one of the segments being devoid of any of the light reflecting portions being in the second state, the multi-digit binary code labeled on the second conduit being distinct from the multi-digit binary code labeled on the first optical conduit; utilizing reflected light resulting from the transmission of at least one light pulse along the first and second optical conduits to identify the multi-digit binary code of the optical conduit; and utilizing the multi-digit binary code to distinguish the first optical conduit from the second optical conduit.