Composite Bar Code Symbologies

This is a newly-emerging class of symbology in which two symbols are printed in close proximity (fixed relative positions) to each other and contain linked data. Typically, one component is a linear symbol and the other either a multi-row or a matrix symbol.

These are intended for applications where different parts of the information may be required at different points of the item's life, and in cases where there are restrictions on the amount of space available in which, for example, a second linear bar code could be placed.

The major application will be that of the UCC.EAN composite symbol, which was originated to meet the needs of industries like pharmaceuticals where both product identification and supplementary information such as batch number and expiration date need to be encoded in a small space on a package. These symbols comprise one of the standard UCC.EAN family of linear codes such as EAN-13 or UPC-A, or a UCC.EAN 128 symbol, or the new RSS family of 'reduced space' symbologies together with an associated two-dimensional multi-row symbol. There are tight rules governing the structure and positional relationship of the two symbols and there are normally also linkages encoded in each to indicate the need to look for the other component during the decoding process. Certain users of these codes will need only to read the item identification in the linear symbol; others may need the full supplementary information carried in the two dimensional composite component.