Portable device having biometrics-based authentication capabilities
First Claim
1. A portable device comprising:
- a microprocessor;
a non-volatile memory coupled to the microprocessor; and
a biometrics-based authentication module coupled to and controlled by the microprocessor, wherein access to the non-volatile memory is granted to a user provided that the biometrics-based authentication module authenticates the user'"'"'s identity and wherein access to the non-volatile memory is denied to the user otherwise.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and method for implementing biometrics-based authentication. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is embodied in a portable device. Specifically, in one embodiment, the portable device includes a microprocessor, a non-volatile memory coupled thereto, and a biometrics-based authentication module controlled by the microprocessor. Preferably, the biometrics technology used is fingerprint authentication technology. The authentication module is capable of registering a fingerprint upon first use of the portable device, storing an encoded version of the fingerprint in the non-volatile memory. Subsequently, the authentication module can read a person'"'"'s fingerprint and reliably determine whether the fingerprint matches the registered fingerprint stored in the non-volatile memory. If a match is found, access to information in the non-volatile memory is granted to that person; otherwise, access is denied. Embodiments of the present invention thus provide a highly convenient, secured and reliable method and system for user authentication and access control which was not achievable in prior art password-based authentication approaches.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A portable device comprising:
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a microprocessor;
a non-volatile memory coupled to the microprocessor; and
a biometrics-based authentication module coupled to and controlled by the microprocessor, wherein access to the non-volatile memory is granted to a user provided that the biometrics-based authentication module authenticates the user'"'"'s identity and wherein access to the non-volatile memory is denied to the user otherwise. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A portable device comprising:
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a bus;
a microprocessor coupled to the bus;
a non-volatile memory coupled to the bus; and
a biometrics-based authentication module coupled to the bus, wherein under the control of the microprocessor the biometrics-based authentication module is configured to (1) capture a first biometrics marker;
(2) store the first biometrics marker in the non-volatile memory;
(3) capture a second biometrics marker; and
(4) determine whether the second biometrics marker can be authenticated against the first biometrics marker. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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17. A biometrics-based authentication method implemented using a portable device, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) obtaining a first biometrics marker from a user with a biometrics sensor installed on the portable device;
(b) retrieving a registered biometrics marker from a memory of the portable device, the registered biometrics marker having been stored therein during a registration process;
(c) comparing the first biometrics marker against the registered biometrics marker; and
(d) signaling an authentication success provided that a match is identified in said step (c).
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Specification