Application_verification_standards_revB Wp Application Verification Standards

2016-08-25

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Technology White Paper

Application of Data Matrix
Verification Standards

Overview of Data Matrix Quality Standards
and Measured Parameters

Technology White Paper

Application of Data Matrix Verification Standards
Data Matrix symbol verification at its most basic level eliminates the subjective quality determination that causes discord between marking
and reading suppliers, and replaces those subjective opinions with objective measurements regarding the quality of the mark. Standards for
verification take this process further to allow an even field of play for all measurement systems, such that cross-company and cross-industry
applications may use an adopted standard to ensure the readability of symbols through their processes by setting limits based upon agreed
standards. Topics of this white paper include:

- An introduction of the following standards:
ISO/IEC 16022
SAE AS9132
ISO/IEC 15415
AIM DPM-1-2006
ISO/IEC 15434 and ISO/IEC 15418
- Parameters measured by each standard
- Examples of standard application, especially regarding the United States Department of Defense Item Unique Identification
initiative MIL-STD-130.

Steve Twaddle, Microscan Systems, Inc.

ISO/IEC 16022

SAE AS9132

The Data Matrix symbology was invented by International Data
Matrix, Inc. The Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility (AIM) promulgated the Data Matrix as a public standard in
1996 as “International Symbology Specification – Data Matrix.”
This standard was then adopted by ISO as standard ISO/IEC
16022 in May of 2000. The second revision of ISO/IEC 16022
was released in September of 2006. ISO/IEC 16022 Appendix
N contains the first public standard for measurement of Data
Matrix symbols. This standard includes measurement of the following parameters:

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) first published
Aerospace Standard (AS)9132 in 2002. This standard differs
from other standards in two significant respects. AS9132 covers three specific marking methods: dot peen, laser etch, and
electro-chemical etch. Also, AS9132 is a pass or fail standard
that does not lend itself to process control, as there are no intermediate steps between success and failure. The parameters
measured by AS9132 are:

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•
•
•
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Reference Decode
Symbol Contrast
Print Growth
Axial Non-Uniformity
Unused Error Correction

The lowest of the grades for the above parameters becomes the
overall grade for the Data Matrix, and then the parameters are
combined. The limitations of this standard are its over-reliance
on contrast with regard to the overall quality of a symbol. This
is because the standard is modeled after a guideline for linear
(1D) symbols.
This standard has some application for symbols produced using
black ink on white paper. However, very few marks of this type
are used in the MIL-STD-130 application. The first version of
MIL-STD-130 to include verification was MIL-STD-130L (October
10, 2003) which stated that marks must be graded as no less
than “B” when generated and no less than “C” through the life
of the mark, by the standards of ISO/IEC 16022.
Lighting requirements for ISO/IEC 16022 verification are not
specified aside from the need for uniformity across the field of
view. However, the standard recommends lighting from two or
more sides at a 45° angle of incidence.

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Dot Peening
• Cell Fill
• Cell Size
• Dot Size Offset
• Dot Center Offset
• Angle of Distortion
• Dot Ovality
• Matrix Size
Laser and Electro-Chemical Etching
• Cell Fill
• Contrast
• Angle of Distortion
• Matrix Size
• Cell Size
If any one of the measured parameters for a mark fail then the
overall grade for that mark is a failure. There are no lighting or
imaging requirements stated in the AS9132 standard.

ISO/IEC 15415
The first ISO/IEC standard designed to address Data Matrix
verification was ISO/IEC 15415 (June, 2004). This standard
attempted to correct the insufficiencies of the previous stan-

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Technology White Paper
dards by addressing the components of direct part marking. The
parameters measured by ISO/IEC 15415 are:

•
•
•
•
•
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•
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Symbol Contrast
Axial Non-Uniformity
Grid Non-Uniformity
Unused Error Correction
Fixed Pattern Damage
Modulation
Reference Decode
Print Growth (may be reported but is not included as a
grade component)

ISO/IEC 15415 specifies that the verification report must include the following information, with each element separated by
a forward-slash character:

•
•
•
•

Grade (Arithmetic mean to one decimal place of the grades
measured from all images)
Aperture (Diameter of the artificial aperture to the nearest
thousandth of an inch)
Light (Wavelength in nanometers)
Angle (Assumed to be 45° and only reported if different
than 45°)

One of the requirements of ISO/IEC 15415 is capturing five
images each taken at 72° (± 5°) from each other, such that the
symbol is measured at five orientations through one complete
rotation. Another limitation of ISO/IEC 15415 is its over-sensitivity to minute changes in grayscale across the symbol and
quiet zone, resulting in failing grades for modulation and fixed
pattern damage on many easy-to-read parts.

5.2 Lighting
This guideline recommends three specific lighting environments
consisting of two forms of diffuse (non-directional) lighting:

•
•

•

The parameters measured by AIM DPM-1-2006 are:

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Cell Contrast
Axial Non-Uniformity
Grid Non-Uniformity
Unused Error Correction
Fixed Pattern Damage
Cell Modulation
Reference Decode
Minimum Reflectance

As with other standards, the overall grade is the lowest of any of
the sub-grades. Highlights of the physical setup for AIM DPM-12006 are:

•
•

AIM DPM-1-2006

Diffuse on-axis illumination uses a diffuse light source illuminating the symbol approximately perpendicular to its surface (nominally parallel to the optical axis of the camera).
Diffuse off-axis illumination uses light from an array of LEDs
reflected from the inside of a diffusely reflecting surface of
a hemisphere, with the symbol at its center, to provide even
incident illumination from all directions.
Directional illumination is oriented at a low angle (approximately 30 degrees) to the mark surface.

•

The image sensor plane must be parallel to the surface of
the part although no tolerance is specified for the
parallelism.
The symbol must be oriented such that one edge is parallel
to the side of the image sensor (±5°).
A specific set of lights must be used for this verification
type: 90° (90), dome (D), 30° from four directions (30Q),
30° from two directions (30T) and 30° from one direction
(30S).
The image must be in the best possible focus, but there is
no stated focus tolerance.

The AIM Direct Part Mark Quality Guideline was released in
December 2006. The basic differences between ISO/IEC 15415
and AIM DPM-1-2006 are enumerated in Sections 5.1 and 5.2
of the guideline as follows:

•

5.1 Process Differences from ISO/IEC 15415
All parameters in the symbology and print quality specifications
apply except for:

ISO/IEC 15434 and ISO/IEC 15418

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

A different method for setting the image contrast.
A different method for creating the binary image.
A new method for choosing the aperture size.
An image pre-process methodology for joining disconnected
modules in a symbol.
A different process for determining the Modulation parameter renamed Cell Modulation.
A different process for determining the Symbol Contrast
parameter which has been renamed Cell Contrast.
A different process for computing Fixed Pattern Damage.
A new parameter called Minimum Reflectance.

This guideline explains how to specify and report quality grades
in a manner complementary to, yet distinct from, the method in
ISO/IEC 15415.

2

These standards concern the syntax and semantics (formatting)
of the string for Data Matrix symbols used in the IUID program
as specified by the MIL-STD-130. The string must start with the
characters “[)>” followed by a Record Separator (ASCII decimal
30) and ends with the Record Separator and the End of Transmission (ASCII decimal 4). The string may be formatted using
one of three formats:

•
•
•

Application Identifiers (AI)
Data Identifiers (DI)
Text Element Identifiers (TEI)

All data elements in the string include a data qualifier specifying what type of information follows, and the Group Separator
(ASCII decimal 29) separates individual elements. Unique Item
Identifier (UII) strings using the AI or DI format may use a macro
that replaces the leading “[)>RS05GS” or “[)>RS06GS” and trailing
“RSEOT” with a single byte, thus saving data capacity in the Data
Matrix symbol.

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Technology White Paper

Application of Verification Standards in MIL-STD-130
During the various releases of the MIL-STD-130, the definition of acceptable Data Matrix marking quality has gone through several
stages, and has used parts of each of the standards mentioned earlier in this document. The table below describes the standards
referenced in MIL-STD-130 and how they are applied.

1. Exceptions to ISO/IEC 15415 in MIL-STD-130:

2. Exceptions to AIM DPM-1-2006 in MIL-STD-130:

•
•
•

•
•

No rotational averaging
Contrast and Modulation grades allowed to be as low as “C”
660nm lighting requirement

Parameters Used in Verification
Below is a brief description of the parameters used in measuring Data Matrix symbols. Many of these measurements use the
concept of the “ideal grid.” This is the equally spaced array of
line segments formed by using the four corners and dividing
the entire Data Matrix by the number of rows horizontally and
columns vertically.
Angle of Distortion – The difference from perpendicular of the
two solid edges of the Data Matrix, measured in degrees.
Axial Non-Uniformity – The difference between the height and
the width with respect to the rows and columns.
Cell Contrast – In AIM DPM-1-2006, the difference in the
population of dark pixels to the population of light pixels (see
histogram) using the sample principle as “Symbol Contrast”
with modified definition.
Cell Size – The overall width divided by the number of columns
or the overall height divided by the number of rows.
Cell Modulation – In AIM DPM-1-2006, a measurement of the
uniformity of the color of the dark areas and the light areas of
the Data Matrix (see histogram) similar to “Modulation” but differing in implementation.
Dot Center Offset – The linear difference of the location of the
center of the cell compared to the center of the ideal grid center
calculated as a percentage of the nominal cell size.

3

•

Dome light not allowed
Quad-directional 45° medium-angle light from ISO/IEC
15415 allowed
Only applies to direct part marks – not labels

Dot Size Offset – The difference in the apparent size of each
individual data element in the Data Matrix.
Fixed Pattern Damage – A measurement of the errors in the
borders of the Data Matrix as well as any errors in the quiet
zone around the symbol necessary for the decoding process.
Grid Non-Uniformity – The difference of the measured grid in
relation to the ideal grid formed from the four corners of the
Data Matrix.
Matrix Size – The overall size of the symbol as measured linearly across the width or height.
Minimum Reflectance – Lowest reflectance of any sample area
in the Data Matrix.
Modulation – In ISO/IEC 15415, a measurement of the uniformity of the color of the dark areas and the light areas of the
Data Matrix (see histogram) similar to “Cell Modulation” but
differing in implementation.
Module Fill – The percentage of completeness of the ideal grid.
Nominal Module Size – The scalable X-dimension of a typical
symbol cell.
Dot Ovality – The difference of the widest part of a round cell
versus the narrowest part of the cell.

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Technology White Paper
Print Growth – The positive or negative size relation of the cells
as printed with respect to the ideal grid.
Reference Decode – This is a pass/fail measurement of the
Data Matrix based upon a binary image of the symbol as specified in ISO/IEC 16022 (First edition – 2000, Second edition –
2006).

Symbol Contrast – The difference in the population of dark
pixels to the population of light pixels (see histogram) similar to
AIM DPM-1-2006 “Cell Contrast”.
Unused Error Correction – The amount of error correction that
can be read incorrectly when the symbol is still readable that is
currently being read correctly, expressed as a percentage.

Histogram showing pixel color populations for a bimodal distribution typically found in the Data Matrix symbology.

4

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Technology White Paper

Verification Parameters vs. Standards

Standard
Date
ISO/IEC 16022
May 2000
ISO/IEC 15415
June 2004
AS9132 Laser Etch
Feb. 2002
AS9132 Dot Peen
Feb. 2002
AS9132 Electrochem Etch Feb. 2002
AIM DPM-1-2006
Dec. 2006

Applicability
Labels
All
Laser DPM
Dot DPM
EC Etch DPM
DPM

MIL-STD-130
130L
130L Chg.1/130M
130L Chg.1/130M
130L Chg.1/130M
130L Chg.1/130M
130M Chg.1/130N

www.microscan.com
North America (Corporate Headquarters)
Email: info@microscan.com
Europe
Email: emea@microscan.com
Asia Pacific
Email: asia@microscan.com

5

©2012 Microscan Systems, Inc. 06/12



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