1、DRAFT FOR DEVELOPMENT DD CEN/TS 14567:2004 Postal services Automated processing of mail items Address block locator ICS 03.240 DD CEN/TS 14567:2004 This Draft for Development was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 12 February 2004 BSI 12 February 2004 ISB
2、N 0 580 43395 1 National foreword This Draft for Development is the official English language version of CEN/TS 14567:2004. This publication is not to be regarded as a British Standard. It is being issued in the Draft for Development series of publications and is of a provisional nature because it i
3、s providing specifications in evolving technologies. It should be applied on this provisional basis, so that information and experience of its practical application may be obtained. Comments arising from the use of this Draft for Development are requested so that UK experience can be reported to the
4、 European organization responsible for its conversion to a European standard. A review of this publication will be initiated 2 years after its publication by the European organization so that a decision can be taken on its status at the end of its 3-year life. Notification of the start of the review
5、 period will be made in an announcement in the appropriate issue of Update Standards. According to the replies received by the end of the review period, the responsible BSI Committee will decide whether to support the conversion into a European Standard, to extend the life of the Technical Specifica
6、tion or to withdraw it. Comments should be sent in writing to the Secretary of BSI Technical Committee SVS/4, Postal services, at 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL, giving the document reference and clause number and proposing, where possible, an appropriate revision of the text. A list of organ
7、izations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its secretary. Cross-references The British Standards which implement international or European publications referred to in this document may be found in the BSI Catalogue under the section entitled “International Standards Corresp
8、ondence Index”, or by using the “Search” facility of the BSI Electronic Catalogue or of British Standards Online. This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application. Compliance with a British Standard does not of
9、 itself confer immunity from legal obligations. Summary of pages This document comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, the CEN/TS title page, pages 2 to 41 and a back cover. The BSI copyright notice displayed in this document indicates when the document was last issued. Amendments issued sin
10、ce publication Amd. No. Date CommentsTECHNICALSPECIFICATION SPCIFICATIONTECHNIQUE TECHNISCHESPEZIFIKATION CEN/TS14567 January2004 ICS03.240 Englishversion PostalservicesAutomatedprocessingofmailitemsAddress blocklocator ServicespostauxTraitementautomatiquedesenvois postauxLocalisateurdadressepostale
11、 PostalischeDienstleistungenAutomatischeVerarbeitung vonSendungenErkennungdesAdressblocks ThisTechnicalSpecification(CEN/TS)wasapprovedbyCENon3February2003forprovisionalapplication. TheperiodofvalidityofthisCEN/TSislimitedinitiallytothreeyears.AftertwoyearsthemembersofCENwillberequested tosubmitthei
12、r comments,particularlyonthequestionwhethertheCEN/TScanbeconvertedintoaEuropeanStandard. CENmembersarerequiredtoannouncetheexistenceofthisCEN/TSinthesamewayasforanENandtomaketheCEN/TSavailable promptlyatnationallevelinanappropriateform.Itispermissibletokeepconflictingnationalstandardsinforce(inparal
13、l eltotheCEN/TS) untilthefinaldecisionaboutthepossibleconversionoftheCEN/TSintoanENisreached. CENmembersarethenationalstandardsbodiesofAustria,Belgium,Cyprus,CzechRepublic,Denmark,Estonia,Finland,France, Germany,Greece,Hungary,Iceland,Ireland,Italy,Latvia,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Malta,Netherlands,Norwa
14、y,Poland,Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia,Spain,Sweden,SwitzerlandandUnitedKingdom. EUROPEANCOMMITTEEFORSTANDARDIZATION COMITEUROPENDENORMALISATION EUROPISCHESKOMITEEFRNORMUNG ManagementCentre:ruedeStassart,36B1050Brussels 2004CEN Allrightsofexploitationinanyformandbyanymeansreserved worldwideforCENnati
15、onalMembers. Ref.No.CEN/TS14567:2004:ECEN/TS14567:2004(E) 2 Contents page Foreword3 Introduction .4 1 Scope 7 2 Normativereferences 8 3 Termsanddefinitions. .8 4 Symbolsandabbreviations . .10 5 Addressblocklocatorwithoutinformationencodation 10 5.1 General10 5.2 Sizeandlayout. 11 5.3 Placement .11 5
16、4 Printquality . .12 6 Informationbasedaddressblocklocators .12 6.1 General12 6.2 Stringofcharacters .12 6.3 Addressblocklocatorsbasedonbarcodes . .13 6.4 Addressblocklocatorsbasedontwodimensionalsymbols.15 6.5 Informationcontent . 16 AnnexA (informative) PossiblealgorithmforlocatingABLsbasedonconc
17、entricsquares19 AnnexB (informative) PossiblealgorithmforlocatingABLsbasedoncharacterstrings29 Bibliography 41CEN/TS14567:2004(E) 3 Foreword Thisdocument(CEN/TS14567:2004)hasbeenpreparedbyTechnicalCommitteeCEN/TC331,“Postalservices“, thesecretariatofwhichisheldbyNEN. Thisdocumenthasbeenpreparedunder
18、amandategiventoCENbytheEuropeanCommissionandtheEuropean FreeTradeAssociation. AnnexesAandBareinformative. AccordingtotheCEN/CENELECInternalRegulations,thenationalstandardsorganizationsofthefollowing countriesareboundtoannouncethisCENTechnicalSpecification:Austria,Belgium,Cyprus,CzechRepublic, Denmar
19、k,Estonia,Finland,France,Germany,Greece,Hungary,Iceland,Ireland,Italy,Latvia,Lithuania, Luxembourg,Malta,Netherlands,Norway,Poland,Portugal,Slovakia,Slovenia,Spain,Sweden,Switzerlandand UnitedKingdom.CEN/TS14567:2004(E) 4 Introduction Thereliability,speedandcostofmailprocessinganddeliveryarethemosti
20、mportantaspectsoftheQualityof Servicewhichisrequestedbypostalserviceusers.Postaloperatorsperformanceintheserespectsishighly dependentuponthelevelofautomationachievedinthemailsortingprocess. Theautomaticreadingofaddressesisoneofthetechniqueswhichhelptospeedupandreducethecostsofmail sorting.Thefirstst
21、epinaddressreadingisthedeterminationofthelocationoftheaddressblock.Addressblock locationistheprocessbywhichanaddressreadingmachineautomaticallylocatesoneormorepotentialaddress blockswithintheelectronicimageofapostalitembeforetryingtoreadthem. Thereliabilityandeaseofaddressblocklocationdirectlyaffect
22、stheperformanceandcostofaddressreading systems.However,addressblocklocationmaybedifficult,especiallywhenaddressesarenotplacedinapre specifiedlocationand/orwhentheyareprintedon,orsurroundedby,noisybackgrounds.Noisemaybemadeof text,pictures,logos,drawings,textures,andallsortsofpatternsthatcanbemistake
23、nfortherelevantaddress block.Thisdifficultyisparticularlyobviousforplasticwrappeditemsforwhichtheaddressisprintedonalabel whichisaffixedonabackground(seeFigure1). Toovercomethedifficultyposedbynoisybackgrounds,addressreadingmachinesneedtobeabletofilteroutnon addressmaterialinelectronicimagesofpostal
24、items.Cost/performancetradeoffsgenerallyleadtoaddress readingmachineswhicharenotabletoreliablylocateaddressesinallsituations. Noiseisalsodetrimentaltovideocodingoperationsbecauseittakeslongerforhumanoperatorstofindthe addressisinacluttereddisplay(balltrapeffect)thanitwouldtakeforanaddressappearingov
25、erahomogeneous background.Modernvideocodingsystemsmaythereforealsobeequippedwithaddressblocklocationmodulesin ordertofacilitatethetaskofhumanoperatorsandtofitmorethanoneaddressontoasingledisplay. MultiLineOpticalCharacterRecognition(MLOCR)andvideocodingsystemsaredesignedtolocateaddress blocksthrough
26、theirtypicalfeatures,suchastheirlocationrelativetothebordersofthepostalitem,theiralignment andthenumberandsyntaxoflines.However,thesefeaturesarenotsufficienttoachievereliablelocationof addressblocksonallitems. Onepossibleapproachtoresolutionofthisproblemistoimposeconstraintsonthephysicalplacementof
27、addressesonpostalitemsandontheappearanceofthenonaddresszonesoftheitem.However,thisapproachis limitedinpracticebecausemailersrequireaconsiderabledegreeoffreedominthelocationofaddressesandon thevisualappearanceofpostalitems. AddressBlockLocators(ABLs)provideanalternativesolution.Anaddressblocklocatori
28、saspecificfeatureor mark,addedtoanitem,whichcanbeeasilyandreliablydetectedbyimageprocessingsoftwareandwhichis unlikelytooccuronanitem,otherthaninassociationwithanaddressblock.SinceanABLcanbeeasilydetected, placingoneinthevicinityofanaddressblockmakesitpossibletolocatetheblockwhateveritspositionand b
29、ackground.TheuseofABLs,particularlyonitemswithabusybackground,mayimproveautomationsystem performance,therebyallowingconstraintsonaddresspresentationandpositiontoberelaxed. TheEuropeanCommitteeforStandardization(CEN)drawsattentiontothefactthatitisclaimedthatcompliance withthisdocumentmayinvolvetheuse
30、ofapatentconcerningABL.CENtakesnopositionconcerningthe evidence,validityandscopeofthispatentright.TheFrenchPostOfficestatesthattheABLstandardisinpart coveredbyapatentcalledMarquedereprageetprocddelocalisationduneinformationparajoutdecette marque,laiddowninFrancethe10/03/1995forLAPOSTE,number9502827,
31、publishedthe13/09/1996,number 2731535anddeliveredthe25/04/1997. TheFrenchPostOfficecommitsitselftograntanyuseroftheABLstandard,alicenseforusingthispatentinthe countrieswherethepatenthasbeenlaiddown.Todate,theFrenchPostOfficehastherighttograntalicensein Franceonly.Thislicensewillbenegotiatedinreasona
32、bleconditions. Attentionisdrawntothepossibilitythatsomeoftheelementsofthisdocumentmaybethesubjectofpatentrights otherthanthoseidentifiedabove.CENshallnotbeheldresponsibleforidentifyinganyorallsuchpatentrights.CEN/TS14567:2004(E) 5 Figure1Atypicalimageofanaddresslabelstuckoveraclutteredbackground Tos
33、upportreliable,lowcost,locationofaddressblocksinamannerwhichisacceptabletomailers,ABLsshould: beeasilyprintable,usingnormallyavailableequipment,bymailproducers:inmanycasesaddressblock locatorswillhavetobeprintedatthesametimeastheaddress.Tolimitcostsandsimplifyoperations,printing shouldrequirenospeci
34、aloradditionalequipmentbeyondthatalreadyusedforaddressprinting; bepreprintable:foraddressesprintedonlabels,itshouldbepossibletouselabelsonwhichanABLhasbeen preprinted.TheABLthenassistsinlocatingthelabel,whichinturncarriestheaddress; allowrelaxationofconstraintsonaddresspresentation:machinereadabilit
35、yofaddressesimposesanumberof constraintsonaddresspresentation.Someoftheseconstraints(e.g.fixingtheaddresslocationonthepostal itemface)aredesignedsothataddressescanbelocatedmoreeasily.Byeasingaddressblocklocation,ABLs allowrelaxationofsuchconstraintsonaddresspresentation.Forexample,whenusinganaddress
36、block locator,itcouldbepossibletoplacetheaddressinanylocationonthepostalitem; haveminimalnegativeimpactontheaestheticappearanceofpostalitems; besmallinsize:forreasonsofcostsand,aboveall,ofaestheticsandsavingspace,ABLsshouldbeassmall aspossible; preferablybeusableforinformationencoding:sinceABLsneces
37、sarilyusesomespaceonthepostalitem,that spacecandesirablyalsobeutilisedforencodinginformation(identifiers,routingcodes,proofofpayment,non deliveryinstructions,etc.)whichmaybeusefultothemailer,thepostaloperatorand/ortherecipient; givesomefreedomtomailers,enablingthemtochoosethemostconvenientlocator(an
38、dinformationcontent) foranygivensituation.ThisimpliesthatthereshouldbenotjustoneABL,butasmallsetofconsistentand compatiblydesignedABLs;CEN/TS14567:2004(E) 6 notbesubjecttoriskofimproperuse:ABLspecificationsshouldbeeasyfornonspecialiststounderstand, easytoimplementwithoutspecialequipment,andshouldgua
39、ranteeproperuseinmostcases; bedistinctive:ABLsshouldhavecharacteristicswhichmakeitunlikelythattheywilloccurotherthanin associationwithanaddressblockandwhichmakethemdifferentfrommarksdefinedbyotherstandardsorfor otherpurposes.ThefindingofanABLshouldbeareliableindicationthatanaddressblockisnearby; bee
40、asilyandreliablylocatable,byimageprocessingsoftware,usingtractablealgorithms:itwouldinprinciple bepossibletodesignimageprocessingsoftwarethatwouldbeabletolocatealmostanytypeofABL. However,tocontaincosts,itisimportantthatdetectionsystemscanbebasedonsimplealgorithmswhichdo notrequireexcessivecomputing
41、power.Moreover,ifanABLispresent,thereshouldbeahighprobability (95%to99%)ofitsbeingdetected.Similarly,thereshouldbealowprobability(maximum5%)ofthe detectionsystemfalselydetectinganABLwherenoABLhasbeenprinted; togetherwiththealgorithmsusedtolocatetheminimages,beinthepublicdomain:ABLsshouldbebasedon pa
42、tternsthathavenotbeenpatentedandthatcanbeprintedbymailersandusedbypostaloperatorsand theirequipmentsupplierswithouthavingtopayanyfee; berobusttoskew:addressesareoftenskewed,particularlyonflats,anditwouldbeunrealistictorequire mailerstoeliminateskewintheaddressestheyprint.Also,mailsortingsystemsdonot
43、perfectlyregisteritems, soanaddressmayappearskewedtotheimagecapturedevice,evenwhenitisperfectlyalignedontheitem. ABLsshouldthereforebedetectableevenwhentheyareskewedwithinsomeacceptablelimits; supportdetectionofaddressorientation:skewedaddresses,especiallyaddressesprintedonlabels,should remainreadable.Forthis,theorientationoftheaddressmustbedeterminedandcompensatedfor.Itis thereforedesirablethatABLssupportaneasycomputationof(probable)addressskew; becompatiblewithothermarks:postalitemsmayhaveothermarks(e.g.fo
