Light source modulation for iris size adjustment

• US 10,614,332 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2017
• Issued: 04/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Gousev, Evgeni, Shen, Liang, Chan, Victor, Park, Edwin Chongwoo, Zhang, Xiaopeng
• Primary Examiner(s): Summers, Geoffrey E
• Application Number:
  US15/713,562
• Publication Number:
  US 20180173986A1
• Time in Patent Office: 928 Days
• Field of Search: 382117
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10152 Varying illumination
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/62 of area, perimeter, diameter or volume
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/19 Sensors therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/193 Preprocessing; Feature extraction
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/197 Matching; Classification
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/71 Circuitry for evaluating the brightness variation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/74 by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means

Abstract

Use of pupillary response to visible light for iris authentication is disclosed. One example involves (a) capturing an initial image of an eye including an inner circular boundary between a pupil region and an iris region and an outer circular boundary between the iris region and a sclera region, (b) determining a first size measurement indicative of the inner circular boundary, (c) responsive to at least the first size measurement, modulating one or more visible light sources to output visible light toward the eye of the user, (d) capturing a subsequent image of the eye of the user during a period of pupillary response, (e) obtaining an iris data record of the user, and (f) comparing the iris data record of the user to one or more registered iris data records to authenticate the user.

Claims

1. A method for performing iris authentication for a user comprising:

capturing an initial image of an eye of the user, the eye including an inner circular boundary between a pupil region and an iris region, and an outer circular boundary between the iris region and a sclera region;

determining, from the initial image, a first size measurement indicative of a size of the inner circular boundary;

(a) modulating one or more visible light sources to output visible light toward the eye of the user, by increasing an intensity of the one or more visible light sources by an increment amount;

(b) capturing a subsequent image of the eye of the user during a period of pupillary response resulting from modulating the one or more visible light sources;

(c) determining, from the subsequent image, an updated value of the first size measurement indicative of the size of the inner circular boundary,

wherein, for each increment in a serious of increments of the intensity of the one or more visible light sources, the steps of (a) modulating the one or more visible light sources, (b) capturing a subsequent image of the eye of the user, and (c) determining, from the subsequent image, the updated value of the first size measurement indicative of the size of the inner circular boundary, are repeated until a condition based on the first size measurement is satisfied;

based on the subsequent image of the eye for the increment during which the condition based on the first size measurement is satisfied, obtaining an iris data record of the user; and

comparing the iris data record of the user to one or more registered iris data records to authenticate the user,

wherein the increment amount is determined based on an environmental reading from a light sensor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein modulating the one or more visible light sources comprises increasing the visible light output toward the eye of the user upon determining that the first size measurement exceeds a reference size.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining, from the initial image, a second size measurement indicative of a size of the outer circular boundary, wherein the reference size is determined based on the second size measurement.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, from the initial image, a second size measurement indicative of a size of the outer circular boundary, wherein modulating the one or more visible light sources comprises increasing the visible light output toward the eye of the user upon determining that a size ratio, based on the first size measurement and the second size measurement, exceeds a target ratio.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the environmental reading is an ambient light sensor (ALS) reading.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a target brightness setting for the one or more visible light sources; and

modulating the one or more visible light sources according to the target brightness setting prior to capturing the subsequent image of the eye of the user.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising determining, from the initial image, a second size measurement indicative of a size of the outer circular boundary, wherein the target brightness setting of the one or more visible light sources is determined based on (1) the first size measurement, (2) the second size measurement, and (3) the environmental reading.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the environmental reading is an ambient light sensor (ALS) reading.

9. An apparatus for performing iris authentication for a user comprising:

one or more image sensors configured to capture an initial image of an eye of the user, the eye including an inner circular boundary between a pupil region and an iris region, and an outer circular boundary between the iris region and a sclera region; and

one or more processing units configured to;

determine, from the initial image, a first size measurement indicative of a size of the inner circular boundary;

(a) modulate one or more visible light sources to output visible light toward the eye of the user, by increasing an intensity of the one or more visible light sources by an increment amount;

(b) receive a subsequent image of the eye of the user captured during a period of pupillary response resulting from modulating the one or more visible light sources;

(c) determine, from the subsequent image, an updated value of the first size measurement indicative of the size of the inner circular boundary,

wherein, for each increment in a serious of increments of the intensity of the one or more visible light sources, the one or more processing units are configured to repeat the steps of (a) modulating the one or more visible light sources, (b) capturing a subsequent image of the eye of the user, and (c) determining, from the subsequent image, the updated value of the first size measurement indicative of the size of the inner circular boundary, until a condition based on the first size measurement is satisfied;

obtain, based on the subsequent image of the eye for the increment during which the condition based on the first size measurement is satisfied, an iris data record of the user; and

compare the iris data record of the user to one or more registered iris data records to authenticate the user,

wherein the one or more processing units are configured to determine the increment amount based on an environmental reading from a light sensor.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the one or more processing units are configured to modulate the one or more visible light sources by increasing the visible light output toward the eye of the user upon determining that the first size measurement exceeds a reference size.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine, from the initial image, a second size measurement indicative of a size of the outer circular boundary, wherein the reference size is determined based on the second size measurement.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine, from the initial image, a second size measurement indicative of a size of the outer circular boundary, wherein the one or more processing units are configured to modulate the one or more visible light sources by increasing the visible light output toward the eye of the user upon determining that a size ratio, based on the first size measurement and the second size measurement, exceeds a target ratio.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the environmental reading is an ambient light sensor (ALS) reading.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to:

determine a target brightness setting for the one or more visible light sources; and

modulate the one or more visible light sources according to the target brightness setting prior to capturing the subsequent image of the eye of the user.

15. The apparatus of claim 14,

wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine, from the initial image, a second size measurement indicative of a size of the outer circular boundary, and

wherein the one or more processing units are further configured to determine the target brightness setting of the one or more visible light sources based on (1) the first size measurement, (2) the second size measurement, and (3) the environmental reading.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the apparatus comprises a vision sensor system, the vision sensor system comprising at least one of the one or more image sensors and at least one of the one or more processing units.

17. A system for performing iris authentication for a user comprising:

means for capturing an initial image of an eye of the user, the eye including an inner circular boundary between a pupil region and an iris region, and an outer circular boundary between the iris region and a sclera region;

means for determining, from the initial image, a first size measurement indicative of a size of the inner circular boundary;

(a) means for modulating one or more visible light sources to output visible light toward the eye of the user, by increasing an intensity of the one or more visible light sources by an increment amount;

(b) means for capturing a subsequent image of the eye of the user during a period of pupillary response resulting from modulating the one or more visible light sources;

(c) means for determining, from the subsequent image, an updated value of the first size measurement indicative of the size of the inner circular boundary;

means, for each increment in a serious of increments of the intensity of the one or more visible light sources, for repeatedly operating the means for (a) modulating the one or more visible light sources, (b) capturing a subsequent image of the eye of the user, and (c) determining, from the subsequent image, the updated value of the first size measurement indicative of the size of the inner circular boundary, until a condition based on the first size measurement is satisfied;

means for, based on the subsequent image of the eye for the increment during which the condition based on the first size measurement is satisfied, obtaining an iris data record of the user;

means for comparing the iris data record of the user to one or more registered iris data records, to authenticate the user; and

means for determining the increment amount based on an environmental reading from a light sensor.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for modulating the one or more visible light sources is configured to modulate the one or more visible light sources upon determining that the first size measurement exceeds a reference size.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising means for determining, from the initial image, a second size measurement indicative of a size of the outer circular boundary, wherein the reference size is determined based on the second size measurement.

20. The system of claim 17, further comprising means for determining, from the initial image, a second size measurement indicative of a size of the outer circular boundary, wherein the means for modulating the one or more visible light sources is configured to modulate the one or more visible light sources upon determining that a size ratio, based on the first size measurement and the second size measurement, exceeds a target ratio.

21. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

means for determining a target brightness setting for the one or more visible light sources; and

means for applying the target brightness setting to the one or more visible light sources prior to capturing the subsequent image of the eye of the user.

22. The system of claim 21,

wherein the system further comprises means for determining, from the initial image, a second size measurement indicative of a size of the outer circular boundary, and

wherein the target brightness setting of the one or more visible light sources is determined based on (1) the first size measurement, (2) the second size measurement, and (3) the environmental reading.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions therein for execution by one or more processing units, comprising instructions to:

capture an initial image of an eye of the user, the eye including an inner circular boundary between a pupil region and an iris region, and an outer circular boundary between the iris region and a sclera region;

determine, from the initial image, a first size measurement indicative of a size of the inner circular boundary;

(a) modulate one or more visible light sources to output visible light toward the eye of the user, by increasing an intensity of the one or more visible light sources by an increment amount;

(b) capture a subsequent image of the eye of the user during a period of pupillary response resulting from modulation of the one or more visible light sources;

(c) determine, from the subsequent image, an updated value of the first size measurement indicative of the size of the inner circular boundary,

wherein, for each increment in a serious of increments of the intensity of the one or more visible light sources, the steps of (a) modulating the one or more visible light sources, (b) capturing a subsequent image of the eye of the user, and (c) determining, from the subsequent image, the updated value of the first size measurement indicative of the size of the inner circular boundary, are repeated until a condition based on the first size measurement is satisfied;

based on the subsequent image of the eye for the increment during which the condition based on the first size measurement is satisfied, obtain an iris data record of the user; and

compare the iris data record of the user to one or more registered iris data records, to authenticate the user,

wherein the increment amount is determined based on an environmental reading from a light sensor.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to:

determine a target brightness setting for the one or more visible light sources; and

apply the target brightness setting to the one or more visible light sources prior to capturing the subsequent image of the eye of the user.