SELF-CLOCKING GLYPH CODE HAVING COMPOSITE GLYPHS FOR DISTRIBUTIVELY ENCODING MULTI-BIT DIGITAL VALUES

A self-clocking glyph code is provided for encoding n-bit long digital values (where n>1) in a logically ordered sequence of composite glyphs that are written, printed, or otherwise recorded on a hardcopy recording medium in accordance with a predetermined spatial formatting rule. As used herein, a "composite glyph" is a graphical symbol that has a plurality of predefined, substantially orthogonal, graphical characteristics; each of which is capable of assuming any one of a plurality of predefined graphical states. An n-bit long digital value is distributively encoded in a glyph of this type by decomposing its n-bits, prior to or during the encoding, into a plurality of shorter, ordered, non-overlapping bit strings. The digital values of these bit strings, in turn, are encoded in the states of respective graphical characteristics of the composite glyph in a predetermined logical order, thereby preserving the logical ordering of the bit strings.