RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY

Dept. of ECE,SITAMS

RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY

1. INTRODUCTION Rainbow technology, a breakthrough in digital data storage enables us to store up to a massive 450GB on just a piece of paper. Rainbow Storage is a group of techniques to store digital data in some colors, color combinations and some symbols known as rainbow format, and therefore a rainbow picture will be generated. The technique is used to achieve high-density storage. With the help of Rainbow system we would be watching full-length high-definition videos from a piece of paper. The main attraction is the cheap paper. The Rainbow technology is feasible because printed text, readable by the human eye is a very wasteful use of the potential capacity of paper to store data. By printing the data encoded in a denser way much higher capacities can be achieved. Paper is, of course, bio-degradable, unlike CDs or DVDs. And sheets of paper also cost a fraction of the cost of a CD or DVD. The computable data printed on a paper can be attached in a tearable sheet and will be capable of carrying even software programs, or movies, MP3 data or text. The developer is promoting the theme of disposable storage and says newspapers, magazines and video albums could benefit from the idea and also distribute their material in this form in order to curtail use of paper and facilitate the disposal of waste. The technique is used to achieve high-density storage. With the help of Rainbow system we would be watching full-length high-definition videos from a piece of paper. The main attraction is the cheap paper. The Rainbow technology is feasible because printed text, readable by the human eye is a very wasteful use of the potential capacity of paper to store data. By printing the data encoded in a denser way much higher capacities can be achieved. Data from 90 GB to 450 GB can be stored in an RVD(Rainbow Versatile Disk), which is 131 times the capacity of a normal CD. RVD supports the data in any format like movie files, MP3 files, picture files, data files etc., Special drives need to be developed in order to support RVDs. A method called Vertical Lining is applied in RVD.

Dept. of ECE,SITAMS

RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY 2. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?

Fig: Data stored in rainbow format on an ordinary paper.

It uses geometric shapes such as squares and hexagons to represent data patterns, instead of the usual binary method that uses ones and zeros to represent data. Besides, color is also used in the Rainbow system, to represent other data elements. Files such as text, images, sounds and video clips are encoded in "rainbow format" as colored circles, triangles, squares and so on, and printed as dense graphics on paper at a density of 2.7GB per square inch. An RVD therefore looks like a print-out of the modern art. The paper can then be read through a specially developed scanner and the contents decoded into their original digital format and viewed or played. The Rainbow technology is feasible because printed text, readable by the human eye is a very wasteful use of the potential capacity of paper to store data. By printing the data encoded in a denser way much higher capacities can be achieved. The retrieval of data is done by scanning the paper or the plastic sheet containing the data into a scanner and later reading it over monitor. Instead of using 0s and 1s, we use color dots where each color dot can represent minimum 8 bits (1 byte). The rainbow picture will be highly compressed and can be represented in any color medium. For retrieving the contents from the medium, picture can be captured and data can be generated from the color combinations. "Although environmental light differences and Dept. of ECE,SITAMS
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RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY color shading is a problem, it can overcome up to a certain limit by using efficient mapping functions". 2.1: How its done? In Rainbow technology, the data in any format termed rainbow format has been designed in such a way that it can be printed out in the form of images. The data is converted to rainbow format on the basis of Rainbow Algorithm. Trigonometric forms like circle or square, certain color combinations and certain other forms are being used. Each trigonometric form, color combination represents a complete pattern. Most modern technologies like image processing, pattern matching, etc. are used for the purpose. The data which gets converted into an image form is then printed on paper or any other thing. This is how the data storage is made possible. When the steps are reversed, the rainbow picture is converted into data. 2.2: Absolute Rainbow Dots Absolute rainbow dots are used to detect errors caused by scratches, and whether any fading has occurred. Absolute rainbow dots are predefined dots carrying a unique value. These dots can be inserted in the rainbow picture in pre-specified areas. If fading occurs these dot values will change accordingly, and at the reproduction stage this can be checked and corrected. Absolute rainbow dots will be microscopically small so that they occupy very little space in the rainbow picture. These will be colored differently so that each dot will have its own fixed unique value.

Dept. of ECE,SITAMS

RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY

3.CONVERSION PROCEEDURES:
The following steps are used to convert the original data to the data detected by the rainbow devices.

1) Level-1 Data to DataPicture: Data to DataPicture conversion takes place in four steps. chunk of data bits are taken from data source (Normally Binary file), which is known as a word. The size of the word can vary according to the nature of writers, readers and storage mediums. The word can be converted into a value that will be unique for each different combination of bits. Thus a picture will be generated by representing values as colours. The value then passes through some error checking producing some mechanisms. After

error correction bits, it will attach to the data picture. Header, Picture

Boundary Mapper (PBM) (for keeping track of the boundary of data picture), universal Picture Dot (a static value that is used for mapping errors that occurred due to colour fading), etc will be attached to the picture. Thus the final output (DataPicture) will be generated. Now the original data is encoded into DataPicture and it can be now printed in any printable media.

RAINBOW SYMBOL

DATA FILE

TABLE RRR(RSTSTSRTR RRS (9999(((((9999999(( CONVERSION (((TTATABLE ALGORITHM

ERROR HANDLER

RAINBOW PICTURE

SECURITY & AUTHENTICATION DATA

Dept. of ECE,SITAMS

RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY

2) Level-2 DataPicture to Data: DataPicture to data conversion uses just the reverse process. DataPicture is taken as an input and the parameters like UPD, PBM, etc are read from the header. The actual data is generated by picture to value conversion. Some image processing methods are used for this stage. Value mapping functions are used for mapping the arrangements done on actual data. Some errors that occur due to colour fading can also be handled at this stage. The values are passed through some error correction mechanisms. Fault tolerance and automatic repair is also performed at this stage[3]. Then the value to word conversion takes place. The encoded DataPicture is hence decoded into the result data which will be the original data.

RAINBOW SYMBOL

TABLE

RAINBOW PICTURE

MAPPING FUNCTION HANDLER

CONVERSION ALGORITHM

ERROR HANDLER

DATA FILE

SECURITY & AUTHENTICATION DATA

Dept. of ECE,SITAMS

RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY

4. PROCESS OF STORING DATA:

Fig: Working process using Rainbow Technology

Printing at 1,200 dots per inch (DPI) leads to a theoretical maximum of 1,440,000 colored dots per square inch. If a scanner can reliably distinguish between 256 unique colors (thus encoding one byte per dot), the maximum possible storage is approximately 140 megabytes for a sheet of A4 papermuch lower when the necessary error correction is employed. If the scanner were able to accurately distinguish between 16,777,216 colors (24 bits, or 3 bytes per dot), the capacity would triple, but it still falls well below the media stories' claims of several hundred gigabytes. Printing this quantity of unique colors would require specialized equipment to generate many spot colors. The process color model used by most printers provides only four colors, with additional colors simulated by a halftone pattern. At least one of three things must be true for the claim to be valid:

The paper must be printed and scanned at a much higher resolution than 1,200 DPI, The printer and scanner must be able to accurately produce and distinguish between an extraordinary number of distinct color values

Dept. of ECE,SITAMS

RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY

The compression scheme must be a revolutionary lossless compression algorithm. If Rainbow's "geometric" algorithm is to be encoded and decoded by a computer, it

would equally viable to store the compressed data on a conventional disk rather than printing it to paper or other non-digital medium. Printing something as dots on a page rather than bits on a disk will not change the underlying compression ratio, so a lossless compression algorithm that could store 250 gigabytes within a few hundred megabytes of data would be revolutionary indeed. Likewise, data can be compressed with any algorithm and subsequently printed to paper as colored dots. The amount of data that can be reliably stored in this way is limited by the printer and scanner, as described above.

Dept. of ECE,SITAMS

RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY 5. IMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENTS

Discs can now be developed from plastic paper too which will be able to hold 450 GB of data.
In order to read the Rainbow prints, all that is required is a scanner and specialized software. Smaller scanners could fit inside laptop computers or mobile phones, and read SIM card-sized RVD's containing 5GB of data.

The recording media could be either paper or plastic sheets. The piece of paper or even plastic sheet storing the data has just to be scanned in the scanner and read over the monitor. A scanning drive based on the Rainbow software has simultaneously been developed which will come in smaller sizes to be initially carried with the laptops and later to fit into their bodies.

The developer is simultaneously moulding the technology into 'Rainbow Cards' which will be of SIM card size and store 5 GB of data equivalent to three films of DVD quality.

As 'Rainbow Cards' will become Popular, Rainbow Card Readers will replace CD drives of mobile phone and computer notebooks and will enable more data in portable forms for mini digital readers. Large scale manufacture of the Rainbow card will bring down its cost to just 50 paise Dept. of ECE,SITAMS
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RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY

Principle I
Every color or color combinations can be converted in to some values and from the values the colors or color combinations can be regenerated.

Principle II
Every different color or color combinations will produce different values.

6. COMPARISON WITH OTHER STORAGE DEVICES:

Fig: CD, DVDs a thing of past.

Currently, of the several options available for data storage, DVDs are the best mode, but are yet expensive. CD or DVD consumes 16gms of polycarbonate, which is a petroleum by-product. While a CD costs Rs. 15, his paper or plastic-made RVD will cost just about Rs. 1.50 and will even have 131 times more storage capacity.

Using this technology an A4 sheet of paper could store 256GB of data. In comparison, a DVD can store 4.7GB of data.

Paper is, of course, bio-degradable, unlike CDs or DVDs. And sheets of paper also cost a fraction of the cost of a CD or DVD. Dept. of ECE,SITAMS
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RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY

7. PRODUCTS FROM TECHNOLOGY By using Rainbow Storage, we can develop many kinds of products. They include 1) Disposable storage 2) RVD 3) Rainbow cards 4) Data centres

1) Disposable storage: Rainbow storage can be used to achieve Disposable storage. We can store any kind of data in any kind of media that can represent colour. It can be used as one time storage. We can use bio degradable materials here (because it is not intended for long time). This category of products can be used for distribution of files, documents, etc. Here we can use even printers, scanners, cameras and so on as input and output devices.

2) RVD: RVD (Rainbow Versatile Disk) is another product that can be developed by using Rainbow Storage. We need to develop specific drives for reading and writing. It can hold huge amount of data and it will be very cheap enough to reduce storage price dramatically. The technique Vertical lining is used in RVD to ensure high density. Storage capacity will vary according to the nature of the mediums used.

3) Rainbow Cards: Rainbow cards can be constructed as a cheap secondary storage medium for

PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) and other small digital devices. They can be constructed in many standards and sizes. The size can vary from visiting card size to the size of a SIM card. Specific readers need to be attached with such devices.

4) Data Centres: Datacenters are the static storage servers that can hold Peta Bytes of data. It will be a sequential access storage system that can be used for secondary storage of data. We can construct a data centre with a cost of around 35 lakhs.
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Dept. of ECE,SITAMS

RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY

8.ADVANTAGES: Data can be stored on an ordinary paper. Huge data banks can be constructed out of Rainbow-based storage medium. Larger amount of data can be had on lesser space. The extremely low-cost technology will drastically reduce the cost of storage and provide for high speed storage too. Files in any format like movie files, songs, images, text can be stored using this technology. He biodegradable nature of the storage devices would do away with the e-waste pollution. The four main storage devices made using this technology are RVD, Disposable storage, Data Banks, Rainbow cards, and answer to the storage problems faced by the computer world. With the help of disposable storage, a high density data storage is made possible even on paper or plastic sheets, any type of computer files can be stored and distributed this way, so instead of giving cds with the computer magazines, its content can be printed in a page, video albums, software etc. Can be distributed at a very low cost with the help disposable storage Rainbow cards can be used in mobile devices in place of DVDs & VCDs. In a square inch sized rainbow cards, (equivalent to the size of sim card) more than 5GB data can be stored. A major crisis faced in the design of the small digital devices is the huge size of the CD/DVD drives. The rainbow cards can solve this problem. Un-authorized copies of the films can be controlled to a certain limits using these cards. A UK-based company has already evinced interest in making rainbow cards Another theme put forward by rainbow technology is the Data Banks; it is huge server with a high storage capacity. As per a research project done in US in 2003 to store the available static data films, songs, tutorials presentations etc the server required will cost $500 crores (23000 crores). But by using data banks, a similar server can be made with Rs.35 lacks. All the available films and other static data can be used by paying cash with the internet. Almost 125.603 PB data storage is possible in a Data Bank. Un-authorized copies of the films can be controlled to a certain limit using these cards.

Dept. of ECE,SITAMS

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RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY 9.DISADVANTAGES The paper has the tendency to fade away hence the data loss may occur. Since it is made of paper, it can be easily destroyed. A scanner can reliably distinguish 256 unique colors and the scanner which can distinguish 1,440,000 colors is costly.

Figure 2: Picture of a wall post containing hidden data in its eyes

Figure 3: Zoomed view of Fig 2

Dept. of ECE,SITAMS

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RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY

10.CONCLUSION:

Once the Rainbow technology is in, soon we would be watching full-length highdefinition videos from a piece of paper! With the popularity of the Rainbow Technology, computer or fashion magazines in future need not carry CDs in a pack. One of the major advantages of the Rainbow system is the fact that it should cost a lot less to produce than the typical polycarbonate DVDs, CDs and now Blu- rays. Huge data banks can be constructed out of Rainbow-based storage medium. Technologies like these will lure us more towards it. In future, we will see RVDs replacing DVDs and Blu Ray Disks as the major future storage device. To do that, it has to overcome its shortcomings. Lets hope this environment friendly technology comes into our everyday computing life.

11.FUTURE:
The in the mere future the following technologies may be developed making use of Rainbow Technology : Rainbow Communication. Rainbow Computing. Rainbow Micro Storage.

Dept. of ECE,SITAMS

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RAINBOW TECHNOLOGY

16.BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. "Data Can Now Be Stored on Paper" by M. A. Siraj, Arab News (published November 18, 2006; accessed November 29, 2006) 2. Paper storage man misunderstood The Inquirer article, 12 December 2006 (retrieved 15 December 2006. 3. "Store 256GB on an A4 sheet" by Chris Mellor, Techworld (published November 24, 2006; accessed November 29, 2006) 4 IT Soup: Scam of Indian student developing technology to store 450 GB of data on a sheet of paper By IT Soup (published November 25, 2006; accessed November 25, 2006) 5 "Can you get 256GB on an A4 sheet? No way!" By Chris Mellor, Techworld (published November 24, 2006; accessed November 29, 2006)

Dept. of ECE,SITAMS

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