System control via characteristic gait signature

• US 20080175443A1
• Filed: 01/23/2007
• Published: 07/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DP Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Fullpower Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: Kinsolving, Arthur, Kahn, Philippe
• Granted Patent: US 7,917,768 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/115
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2218/12 Classification; Matching
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/25 Recognition of walking or running movements, e.g. gait recognition

Abstract

A device includes an access control element to compare new acceleration data from an accelerometer with registered gait signature associated with an authorized user of a mobile device to determine the identity of the user of the mobile device.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an identification logic to compare new acceleration data from an accelerometer in a mobile device with a registered gait signature associated with an authorized user of the mobile device to determine an identity of the user of the device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the new acceleration data and the data associated with an authorized user are results of motion of the mobile device caused by a user.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a sensor to determine environmental data, wherein the environmental data is associated with the new acceleration data.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a security logic to grant access to the mobile device when the new acceleration data matches the registered gait signature, and to deny access to the device when the new accelerometer data does not match the registered gait signature.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mobile device provides one or more of the following functionalities:

personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular telephone, portable gaming device, portable computing device, digital camera, and personal entertainment device.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a configuration logic to configure the mobile device to a preset configuration of the identified user associated with the new acceleration data.

7. A system comprising:

a portable device including an accelerometer coupled to a security module and a first memory;

a transmitter to transmit acceleration data from the portable device to a server;

a comparison logic to determine if the acceleration data matches a characteristic gait signature of the user; and

a security logic to restrict access to the device if the acceleration data does not match characteristic gait data.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the portable device includes the functionality of one or more of the following:

personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a portable gaming device, a portable computer device, a digital camera and a personal entertainment device.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the server transmits a signal to the security module to shut down the portable device.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein acceleration data is stored for a plurality of users.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a configuration logic to configure the portable device for a recognized user, the user recognized based on the identified gait signature.

12. A method comprising:

registering a gait signature based on acceleration data associated with a gait;

collecting acceleration data;

determining if the acceleration data matches the gait signature; and

authorizing a user to use the device if the acceleration data matches the gait signature.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

when the user is not identified as an authorized user of the device, prompting the user to enter a security entry.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

updating the gait signature data based on the collected acceleration data, when the security entry is a correct security entry.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the comparison is performed on a remote computing device.