Data processing apparatus and method

• US 20060090114A1
• Filed: 06/02/2003
• Published: 04/27/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Fountain Venture AS
• Original Assignee: Fountain Venture AS
• Inventors: Duffy, Dominic Gavan, Jones, Aled Wynne
• Application Number:
  US10/516,173
• Publication Number:
  US 20060090114A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/746
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/18 Eye characteristics, e.g. of the iris
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/193 Preprocessing; Feature extraction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0057 Block codes H04L1/0061, H04L1/0064 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence

Abstract

There is described a process for generating a number representative of an analogue data source in which during enrolment a distinctive characteristic of the analogue data source is measured to obtain physical data. Part of the physical data is used to generate a physical value which is representative of the analogue source. An error correction algorithm is applied to the physical value to generate error correction data, which is then transformed, using another part of the physical data, to generate transform data. During subsequent regeneration of the physical value, the distinctive characteristic is re-measured to generate a new set of physical data, and a physical value is generated using the same part of the physical data as was used during enrolment. Error correction data is then generated by transforming the transform data, using an inverse transform to that used during enrolment, using the same part of the physical data as was used to transform the error correction data during enrolment. The regenerated error correction data is then used by the error correction algorithm to correct errors in the physical value representative of the analogue source. By using part of the physical data set to transform the error correction data and then storing the resulting transform data, the security of the original physical data is improved.

Claims

1. A method of providing process information for a number generation process which is operable to generate a number representative of an analogue data source, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving analogue data representative of the analogue data source;

processing the received analogue data to form a first data set and a second data set;

generating error correction data associated with said first data set;

generating transform data for transforming said second data set into the error correction data; and

storing said transform data.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the analogue data source comprises a plurality of data elements, and said analogue data processing step comprises assigning a respective different data element of the analogue data to each data element of the first data set and the second data set.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the assigning step comprises the steps of:

generating map data associating each data element of the first data set and the second data set with a respective different data element of the received analogue data; and

assigning the analogue data to the first data set and the second data set in accordance with the generated map data.

4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

processing the first data set to form a third data set and a fourth data set;

generating additional error correction data associated with said third data set;

generating additional transform data for transforming said fourth data set into the additional error correction data; and

storing said additional transform data.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the error correction data associated with said first data set is generated using a first error correction algorithm, and the additional error correction data associated with said third data set is generated using a second error correction algorithm which is different from the first error correction algorithm.

6. A method according to claim 1, comprising repeating the generation and storage of transform data plural times, with the first data set of one time forming the analogue data for the next time.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein at least two of said plural times of generation and storage of transform data use different error correction algorithms.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the received analogue data comprises a plurality of data elements, each data element having a multi-digit value,

wherein said processing step comprises extracting from each data element of the analogue data the value of the digit in a first predetermined digit position of the multi-digit value to form a first group of digits, and forming said first data set and said second data set by processing the first group of digits,

and wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

extracting from each data element of the analogue data the value of the digit in a second predetermined digit position of the multi-digit value to form a second group of digits;

processing the second group of digits to form a third data set and a fourth data set;

generating additional error correction data associated with said third data set;

generating additional transform data for transforming said fourth data set into said additional error correction data; and

storing said additional transform data.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the error correction data associated with said first data set is generated using a first error correction algorithm, and the additional error correction data associated with said third data set is generated using a second error correction algorithm which is different from the first error correction algorithm.

10. A method according to claim 8, wherein the first predetermined position is the least significant digit.

11. A method according to claim 8, wherein the second predetermined position is the second least significant digit.

12. A method according to claim 8, wherein each data element is represented by a plurality of binary digits.

13. A method according to claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

predicting a fault rate of the received analogue data; and

selecting an error correction methodology in accordance with the predicted fault rate.

29. A storage device storing instructions including instructions for causing a programmable apparatus to perform a method according to claim 1.

30. A signal conveying instructions including instructions for causing a programmable apparatus to perform a method according to claim 1.

14. A method of generating a number representative of an analogue data source, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving analogue data representative of the analogue data source;

processing the received analogue data to form a first data set and a second data set;

retrieving transform data from a data store;

generating an intermediate number using the first data set;

transforming the second data set into error correction data using the retrieved transform data; and

processing said intermediate number and said error correction data using an error correction algorithm to generate the number representative of the analogue source.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein said error correction algorithm is a first error correction algorithm, and wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

forming a third data set and a fourth data set using said second number;

retrieving additional transform data from a data store;

generating a third number using the third data set;

transforming the fourth data set into additional error correction data using the retrieved additional transform data; and

processing said number and said error correction data using a second error correction algorithm to generate a fourth number.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the second error correction algorithm is different from the first error correction algorithm.

17. A method according to claim 14, comprising generating plural numbers representative of the analogue data source by using each generated number as the analogue data from which another representative number is generated, and in each number generation operation retrieving associated transform data.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein at least two of the representative numbers are generated using different error correction algorithms.

19. A method according to claim 14, wherein the received analogue data comprises a plurality of data elements, each data element having a value represented by a plurality of digits,

wherein said intermediate number is a first intermediate number;

wherein said analogue data processing step comprises the steps of;

processing the received analogue data to form a plurality of groups of digits, each group of digits being formed by extracting from each data element of the analogue data the value of the digit in a respective different digit position of the multi-digit value; and

processing a first group of digits to form the first data set and the second data set,

wherein the method further comprises the steps of;

processing a second group of digits, different from the first group of digits, to form a third data set and a fourth data set;

generating a second intermediate number using the third data set;

retrieving additional transform data from the data store;

. and transforming said fourth data set into additional error correction data using the retrieved additional transform data,

and wherein said intermediate number processing step comprises processing the first intermediate number and the associated error correction data using a first error correction algorithm and processing the second intermediate number and the associated additional error correction data using a second error correction algorithm to generate the number representative of the analogue source.

20. A method according to claim 19, wherein the first predetermined position is one place less significant than the second predetermined position.

21. A method according to claim 14, further comprising the step of identifying the data elements of the analogue data which contain errors as suspect data elements.

22. A method according to claim 21, further comprising the steps of:

assigning all possible combinations of values to one or more digits of the suspect data elements;

for each combination of values, i) determining the resultant intermediate number and associated error correction data, and ii) applying the error correction algorithm to the resultant intermediate number to generate a corrected number; and

using the most common value of the corrected number to generate the number representative of the analogue source.

23. A method according to claim 21, further comprising storing data identifying the suspect data elements in order to track errors in the analogue data.

24. A method of generating a number representative of an analogue data source together with error correction data for said number, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving analogue data representative of the analogue data source, said analogue data comprising a plurality of data elements each having a multi-digit value;

processing the received analogue data to form a plurality of groups of digits, each group of digits being formed by extracting from each data element of the analogue data the value of the digit in a respective different digit position of the multi-digit value;

forming a plurality of intermediate numbers, each intermediate number being formed by processing one or more of the groups of digits;

for each of the intermediate numbers, applying a respective error correction algorithm to form associated error correction data; and

generating said number representative of the analogue source by combining the plurality of intermediate numbers.

25. A method according to claim 24, wherein for at least two of the intermediate numbers, respective different error correction algorithms are applied to generate the corresponding error correction data.

28. A method according to claim 24, wherein each data element of the analogue data is represented by a plurality of binary digits.

26. A method of generating a number representative of an analogue data source, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving analogue data representative of the analogue data source, said analogue data comprising a plurality of data elements each having a multi-digit value;

processing the received analogue data to form a plurality of groups of digits, each group of digits being formed by extracting from each data element of the analogue data the value of the digit in a respective different digit position of the multi-digit value;

forming a plurality of intermediate numbers, each intermediate number being formed by processing one or more of the groups of digits;

for each intermediate number, recovering corresponding error correction data, and applying an error correction algorithm to the intermediate number and the corresponding error correction data to form a corrected intermediate number; and

combining said corrected intermediate numbers to form the number representative of the analogue source.

27. A method according to claim 26, wherein for at least two of the intermediate numbers, respective different error correction algorithms are applied to the intermediate number an the corresponding error correction data to form corrected intermediate numbers.

59. A method according to claim 26, wherein each data element of the analogue data is represented by a plurality of binary digits.

31. An apparatus for providing process information for a number generation process which is operable to generate a number representative of an analogue data source, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver operable to receive analogue data representative of the analogue data source;

a processor operable to process the received analogue data to form a first data set and a second data set;

an error correction data generator operable to generate error correction data associated with said first data set;

a transform data generator operable to generate transform data for transforming said second data set into the error correction data; and

an outputter operable to output the transform data to a storage device

32. An apparatus according to claim 31, wherein the analogue data source comprises a plurality of data elements, and said processor is arranged to assign a respective different data element of the analogue data to each data element of the first data set and the second data set.

33. An apparatus according to claim 32, wherein the processor is arranged to i) generate map data associating each data element of the first data set and the second data set with a respective different data element of the received analogue data, and ii) assign the analogue data to the first data set and the second data set in accordance with the generated map data.

34. An apparatus according to claim 31, further comprising:

means for processing the first data set to form a third data set and a fourth data set;

means for generating additional error correction data associated with said third data set;

means for generating additional transform data for transforming said fourth data set into the additional error correction data; and

means for storing said additional transform data.

35. An apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the error correction data associated with said first data set is generated using a first error correction algorithm, and the additional error correction data associated with said third data set is generated using a second error correction algorithm which is different from the first error correction algorithm.

36. An apparatus according to 31, comprising means for repeating the generation and storage of transform data plural times, with the first data set of one time forming the analogue data for the next time.

37. An apparatus according to claim 36, wherein said repeating means is operable to use different error correction algorithms for at least two of said plural times of generation and storage of transform data.

38. An apparatus according to claim 31, wherein the received analogue data comprises a plurality of data elements, each data element having a multi-digit value,

wherein said apparatus further comprises a data element slitter operable i) to extract from each data element of the analogue data the value of the digit in a first predetermined digit position of the multi-digit value to form a first group of digits, and ii) to extract from each data element of the analogue data the value of the digit in a second predetermined digit position of the multi-digit value to form a second group of digits, wherein said processor is operable to form said first data set and said second data set by processing the first group of digits,

and wherein the apparatus further comprises:

means for processing the second group of digits to form a third data set and a fourth data set;

means for generating additional error correction data associated with said third data set;

means for generating additional transform data for transforming said fourth data set into said additional error correction data; and

means for storing said additional transform data.

39. An apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the error correction data associated with said first data set is generated using a first error correction algorithm, and the additional error correction data associated with said third data set is generated using a second error correction algorithm which is different from the first error correction algorithm.

40. An apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the first predetermined position is the least significant digit.

41. An apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the second predetermined position is the second least significant digit.

42. An apparatus according to claim 38, wherein each data element is represented by a plurality of binary digits.

43. An apparatus according to claim 38, further:

means for predicting a fault rate of the received analogue data; and

means for selecting an error correction methodology in accordance with the predicted fault rate.

44. An apparatus for of generating a number representative of an analogue data source, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver operable to receive analogue data representative of the analogue data source;

a processor operable to process the received analogue data to form a first data set and a second data set;

a data retriever operable to retrieve transform data from a data store;

a number generator operable to generate an intermediate number using the first data set;

a data transformer operable to transform the second data set into error correction data using the retrieved transform data; and

an error corrector operable to process said intermediate number and said error correction data using an error correction algorithm to generate the number representative of the analogue source.

45. An apparatus according to claim 44 further comprising the means for forming a third data set and a fourth data set using said second number,

wherein said data retriever is operable to retrieve additional transform data from a data store

wherein said number generator is operable to generate a third number using the third data set,

wherein said data transformer is operable to transform the fourth data set into additional error correction data using the retrieved additional transform data, and

wherein said error corrector is operable to process said number and said error correction data using a second error correction algorithm to generate a fourth number.

46. An apparatus according to claim 45, wherein said error corrector comprises a selector operable to select one of a plurality of error correction algorithms.

47. An apparatus according to claim 44 wherein the data processor is operable to receive a generated number as a new set of analogue data in order to generate another representative number.

48. An apparatus according to claim 47, wherein at least two of the representative numbers are generated using different error correction algorithms.

49. An apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the received analogue data comprises a plurality of data elements, each data element having a value represented by a plurality of digits,

wherein said intermediate number is a first intermediate number;

wherein said data processor comprises;

a data element splitter operable to process the received analogue data to form a plurality of groups of digits, each group of digits being formed by extracting from each data element of the analogue data the value of the digit in a respective different digit position of the multi-digit value,

wherein the data processor is operable to process a first group of digits to form the first data set and the second data set, and to process a second group of digits, different from the first group of digits, to form a third data set and a fourth data set,

wherein the number generator is operable to generate a second intermediate number using the third data set,

wherein the data retriever is operable to retrieve additional transform data from the data store,

wherein said data transformer is operable to transform said fourth data set into additional error correction data using the retrieved additional transform data, and

wherein said error corrector is operable to process the first intermediate number and the associated error correction data using a first error correction algorithm, and to process the second intermediate number and the associated additional error correction data using a second error correction algorithm to generate the number representative of the analogue source.

50. An apparatus according to claim 49, wherein the first predetermined position is one place less significant than the second predetermined position.

51. An apparatus according to claim 44, further comprising a suspect data element identifier operable to identify the data elements of the analogue data which contain errors as suspect data elements.

52. An apparatus according to claim 51, further comprising:

means for assigning all possible combinations of values to one or more digits of the suspect data elements;

wherein the error corrector is operable, for each combination of values, i) to determine the resultant intermediate number and associated error correction data, and ii) to apply the error correction algorithm to the resultant intermediate number to generate a corrected number, and iii) to select the most common value of the corrected number for generating the number representative of the analogue source.

53. An apparatus according to claim 51, further comprising a data store operable to store data identifying the suspect data elements in order to track errors in the analogue data.

54. An apparatus for generating a number representative of an analogue data source together with error correction data for said number, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving analogue data representative of the analogue data source, said analogue data comprising a plurality of data elements each having a multi-digit value;

means for processing the received analogue data to form a plurality of groups of digits, each group of digits being formed by extracting from each data element of the analogue data the value of the digit in a respective different digit position of the multi-digit value;

means for forming a plurality of intermediate numbers, each intermediate number being formed by processing one or more of the groups of digits;

means for applying, for each of the intermediate numbers, a respective error correction algorithm to form associated error correction data; and

means for generating said number representative of the analogue source by combining the plurality of intermediate numbers.

55. An apparatus according to claim 54, wherein for at least two of the intermediate numbers, said applying means is operable to apply respective different error correction algorithms to generate the corresponding error correction data.

58. An apparatus according to claim 54, wherein each data element of the analogue data is represented by a plurality of binary digits.

56. An apparatus for of generating a number representative of an analogue data source, the method comprising the steps of:

means for receiving analogue data representative of the analogue data source, said analogue data comprising a plurality of data elements each having a multi-digit value;

means for processing the received analogue data to form a plurality of groups of digits, each group of digits being formed by extracting from each data element of the analogue data the value of the digit in a respective different digit position of the multi-digit value;

means for forming a plurality of intermediate numbers, each intermediate number being formed by processing one or more of the groups of digits;

means for recovering, for each intermediate number, recovering corresponding error correction data;

means for correcting each intermediate number using the corresponding error correction data and an error correction algorithm to form a corrected intermediate number; and

means for combining said corrected intermediate numbers to form the number representative of the analogue source.

57. An apparatus according to claim 56, wherein said correcting means is operable to apply respective different error correction algorithms for at least two of the intermediate numbers.

60. An apparatus according to claim 56, wherein each data element of the analogue data is represented by a plurality of binary digits.