Barcode PLANET

The PLANET barcode (Postal Alpha-Numeric Encoding Technique) is a numeric postal barcode symbology developed by the United States Postal Service (USPS) for mail tracking. This legacy format is now obsolete and has been replaced by the Intelligent Mail barcode.

The PLANET barcode encodes digits only (0-9). Complete codes generally contain 12 or 14 digits, including a final check digit. The structure depends on the postal service type and includes a service identifier, a subscriber or customer identifier and, depending on the format, additional data.

Each digit is encoded using 5 bits, represented by short (=0) or tall (=1) vertical bars. Each group of 5 bars contains exactly 3 tall bars and 2 short bars. The PLANET encoding table is:

The last digit is a check digit calculated using a modulo 10 algorithm.

A complete PLANET barcode begins and ends with a tall framing bar, each corresponding to a bit 1.

Decoding a PLANET barcode consists of reading the vertical bars: short bars correspond to 0 and tall bars to 1. The bars are grouped into blocks of 5 bits, and each block is converted into a digit using the encoding table.

The PLANET barcode uses a modulo 10 check digit: the sum of all digits in the complete code must be a multiple of 10. The check digit $ X $ is appended to the end of the code.

To calculate it, add the digits of the code excluding the check digit and keep the units digit of the sum, denoted by $ N $. The check digit is then:

$ X = (10 - N) \mod 10 $.

The PLANET barcode can be recognized by its vertical bars of two heights: short and tall.

The PLANET barcode begins and ends with a tall framing bar.

Each digit is represented by a group of 5 bars consisting of 3 tall bars and 2 short bars.

A PLANET barcode generally contains 12 or 14 digits, including the check digit.

For a code containing $ n $ digits, the total number of bars is $ 5n + 2 $, because each digit is represented by 5 bars and the two framing bars are added at the beginning and end.

PLANET codes were used as part of the USPS CONFIRM service to track mail-processing events.

— Origin Confirm: tracking incoming reply mail, indicating that a reply (for example, a payment, order, or response to a solicitation) has entered the postal system and is on its way to the recipient.

— Destination Confirm: tracking outgoing mail, providing information about its progress through the postal system and helping anticipate its arrival at the destination.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) retired the PLANET barcode in favor of the Intelligent Mail barcode, which combines several functions into a single barcode.