BIOMETRIC AUTHENTICATION SYSTEM AND BIOMETRIC SENSOR CONFIGURED FOR SINGLE USER AUTHENTICATION

• US 20120016798A1
• Filed: 07/13/2010
• Published: 01/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tec Solutions Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Tec Solutions Incorporated
• Inventors: CARPER, Todd Alan
• Granted Patent: US 8,799,167 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/43
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/033 Test or assess software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/034 Test or assess a computer or a system
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1085 involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1324 by using geometrical optics, e.g. using prisms G06V40/1312 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1365 Matching; Classification

Abstract

A biometric authentication system comprises a biometric sensor configured for single user authentication. The biometric sensor can be configured for single user authentication through an enrollment procedure in which one or more sensing parameters are adjusted based on unique characteristics of the user. Thereafter, the user can be authenticated by capturing biometric data using the adjusted sensing parameters and comparing the captured biometric data against stored template data.

Claims

1. A biometric authentication system, comprising:

a biometric sensor configured to capture biometric information using one or more sensing parameters derived from biometric data of only one person; and

a processor configured to compare the captured biometric information with stored template information to determine whether to authenticate a user.

2. The biometric authentication system of claim 1, wherein the template information comprises biometric information captured from the only one person.

3. The biometric authentication system of claim 2, wherein the template information is captured using the one or more sensing parameters.

4. The biometric authentication system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensing parameters comprise focus, resolution, or contrast parameters of an imaging device.

5. The biometric authentication system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensing parameters cause the biometric sensor to capture biometric information from the only one person with greater fidelity compared with biometric information from other individuals.

6. The biometric authentication system of claim 1, wherein the biometric sensor is a fingerprint sensor.

7. The biometric authentication system of claim 1, wherein the biometric sensor is embedded in a smartcard.

8. The biometric authentication system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to communicate with an automatic teller machine (ATM) to regulate access to a bank account based on biometric information submitted to the biometric sensor.

9. The biometric authentication system of claim 1, further comprising a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag coupled to the processor for communication with an access controller.

10. A biometric authentication system, comprising:

a biometric sensor configured to capture biometric data from a user;

an enrollment component configured to receive enrollment biometric data captured by the biometric sensor from a single individual, and to generate one or more sensing parameters for the biometric sensor based on the received biometric data; and

an authentication component configured to receive authentication biometric data captured by the biometric sensor using the one or more sensing parameters, and to determine whether to authenticate a user by comparing the authentication biometric data with stored template information captured from the single individual.

11. The biometric authentication system of claim 10, wherein the stored template information is captured using the one or more sensing parameters generated by the enrollment component.

12. The biometric authentication system of claim 10, wherein the authentication biometric data and the template information that are compared with each other each comprise an unabbreviated sample of biometric data captured by the biometric sensor.

13. The biometric authentication system of claim 10, further comprising:

an access controller configured to actuate a secured entity to permit access by an authenticated user.

14. The biometric authentication system of claim 10, wherein the biometric sensor is integrated in an access badge for a building.

15. A method of operating a biometric authentication system, comprising:

calibrating a biometric sensor to sense biometric data with sensing parameters based on biometric characteristics of a single user; and

authenticating the single user by capturing biometric data using the calibrated biometric sensor and comparing the captured biometric data with previously stored biometric data.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the previously stored biometric data is captured using the calibrated biometric sensor

17. The method of claim 15, wherein calibrating the biometric sensor comprises:

performing an iterative process wherein each iteration comprises capturing biometric data from the single user and updating sensing parameters of the biometric sensor based on the captured biometric data.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the iterative process terminates after a predetermined number of iterations.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the biometric sensor is a fingerprint sensor.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

upon authenticating the single user, communicating with an access controller to allow the single user to access to a secured entity.