SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION IN A VEHICLE

• US 20140303899A1
• Filed: 04/06/2013
• Published: 10/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Fung, Kin C., Dick, Timothy J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,272,689 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/19
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/25 using biometry
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2218/12 Classification; Matching
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/15 Biometric patterns based on physiological signals, e.g. heartbeat, blood flow
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/37 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voice recognition

Abstract

A computer implemented method for identifying a vehicle occupant including receiving a signal from a plurality of sensors, wherein the signal indicates a measurement of cardiac activity, determining a biomarker based on biometric features of the signal and identifying the vehicle occupant based on the biomarker.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for identifying a vehicle occupant, comprising:

receiving a signal from a plurality of sensors, wherein the signal indicates a measurement of cardiac activity;

determining a biomarker based on biometric features of the signal; and

identifying the vehicle occupant based on the biomarker

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors are contactless sensors that transmit and receive signals without direct contact between the sensor and the vehicle occupant.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal is one of an electric signal, an acoustic or an optical signal.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement of cardiac activity is a cardiac waveform.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the biomarker further includes extracting a P wave and a T wave of the cardiac waveform.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the vehicle occupant further includes comparing the biomarker to a stored biomarker.

7. The method of claim 1, further including transmitting a signal towards a thoracic region of the vehicle occupant and receiving a reflected signal after the signal reflects from the vehicle occupant.

8. A computer implemented method for detecting a driver identity, comprising:

receiving a cardiac signal produced from the driver;

analyzing the signal for identifying features;

determining the driver identity based on the identifying features; and

transmitting the driver identity to a vehicle system, wherein the vehicle system is modified based on the driver identity.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein analyzing the cardiac signal further includes processing the cardiac signal to determine a cardiac waveform.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the cardiac signal is a reflected signal, reflected from the driver after transmitting a signal towards the driver.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the driver identity further includes comparing the identifying features to driver identifying features that are stored in a driver profile.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the driver identity is used to determine vehicle personalization features of the vehicle system.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the cardiac signal further includes receiving the cardiac signal from a sensor, where the sensor is not in direct contact with the driver.

14. A system for personal identification in a vehicle, comprising:

a receiving module configured for receiving a signal from a plurality of sensors, wherein the signal indicates a measurement of cardiac activity;

a biomarker module configured for determining a biomarker based on the biometric features of the signal; and

an identification module configured for identifying the vehicle occupant based on the biomarker.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the plurality of sensors are contactless sensors in a vehicle for sensing cardiac activity of the vehicle occupant.

16. The system of claim 14. wherein the signal is one of an electric signal, an acoustic or an optical signal.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the measurement of cardiac activity is a cardiac waveform

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the biometric feature is at least one of a P wave or a T wave.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the sensors are further configured for transmitting a signal towards the thoracic region of the vehicle occupant and receiving a reflected signal from the vehicle occupant.

20. The system of claim 14, further comprising a memory for storing a personal identification profile with stored biometric features associated with the vehicle occupant and wherein the identification module identifies the vehicle occupant based on a comparison of the biometric features with the stored biometric features.