Fingerprint recognition and retrieval system
First Claim
1. In a fingerprint recognition system, apparatus for extracting topological coordinates from a known fingerprint and storing composite sets of extracted topological coordinates in a machine searchable fingerprint database comprising:
- means for establishing a scanning line,means for selecting a predetermined point on said scanning line,means for scanning said known fingerprint in a predetermined scan pattern by progressive movement of said scanning line over said known fingerprint, including each successive topological characteristic in said predetermined scan pattern and determining the scan location data (M) of each said successive topological characteristic relative to said scanning line and scanning pattern,means for determining the number of ridge lines (R) between said predetermined point on said scanning line and each said successive topological characteristic,means for assigning a predetermined type code (T) to each successive topological characteristic, andmeans for storing said type code (T), scan location data (M) and the number of ridge lines (R) for each known fingerprint in a machine searchable database.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Fingerprints are scanned by a scanning system (13). Topological systems for coding and comparing fingerprints are described, including a system for recording a description of fingerprints. In a preferred embodiment, a central point of the fingerprint is selected as a center of rotating scan line. The scan line is rotated to different topological characteristics. A code (T) representing the type of irregularity is recorded (16, 17). A measure (M) of the scanning position when encountering the irregularity is made (16, 17). In the case of a rotating scan line the angular coordinate (θ) is recorded as the measure (M) of scanning position. The ridge count (R) (16) is also recorded. A list of coordinate sets (T, θ, R) specifies the topology of a sector. For fragmentary prints similar coordinate sets are generated. A fourth coordinate can be added corresponding to the radial distance (D) (16). A full set of coordinates (T,θ, R, D) gives a complete topological and spatial description of a fingerprint. Comparison of fingerprints can then be conducted by a computer (20).
-
Citations
86 Claims
-
1. In a fingerprint recognition system, apparatus for extracting topological coordinates from a known fingerprint and storing composite sets of extracted topological coordinates in a machine searchable fingerprint database comprising:
-
means for establishing a scanning line, means for selecting a predetermined point on said scanning line, means for scanning said known fingerprint in a predetermined scan pattern by progressive movement of said scanning line over said known fingerprint, including each successive topological characteristic in said predetermined scan pattern and determining the scan location data (M) of each said successive topological characteristic relative to said scanning line and scanning pattern, means for determining the number of ridge lines (R) between said predetermined point on said scanning line and each said successive topological characteristic, means for assigning a predetermined type code (T) to each successive topological characteristic, and means for storing said type code (T), scan location data (M) and the number of ridge lines (R) for each known fingerprint in a machine searchable database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. In a fingerprint recognition system, a method of extracting topological coordinates from a known fingerprint and storing composite sets of extracted topological coordinates in a machine searchable fingerprint database comprising:
-
placing a scanning line on said known fingerprint selecting a point on said scanning line to be a predetermined point, scanning said known fingerprint in a predetermined scan pattern or direction by systematic movement of said scanning line over said known fingerprint, including each successive topological characteristic in said predetermined scan pattern, determining the scan location data (M) on each said successive topological characteristic relative to said scanning line and scanning pattern, determining the number of ridge lines (R) between said predetermined point on said scanning line and each said successive topological characteristic, assigning a predetermined type code (T) to each successive topological characteristic, and storing the type code (T), scan location data (M) and the number of ridge lines (R) in a machine searchable database. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
-
34. In a fingerprint recognition system, apparatus for extracting topological coordinates from a known fingerprint and storing composite sets of extracted topological coordinates in a machine searchable fingerprint database comprising:
-
means for selecting a central point on said known fingerprint, means for successively measuring the angular orientation (θ
) relative to a predetermined reference line on said known fingerprint of each successive topological characteristic in a predetermined direction of rotation,means for determining the number of ridge lines (R) between said central point and each said successive topological characteristic, means for assigning a predetermined type code (T) to each successive topological characteristic, and means for storing the type code (T), angular orientation (θ
) and number of ridge lines (R) in said machine searchable database. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
-
-
42. A method of establishing a machine searchable library of fingerprints comprising the steps of:
-
(1) selecting a central point of the fingerprint as a center of a ridge scan line, (2) relatively moving said ridge scan line to successively different topological characteristics of said fingerprint for a plurality of ridge lines, (3) assigning a predetermined type code (T) to each said selected topological characteristic located, said type code (T) being selected from a table of predetermined topological characteristics, (4) measuring the location (M) of said ridge scan line from a predetermined first scan line location, (5) counting the number of ridges (R) between said center to the ridge scanned and forming a composite code (T, M, R) for each different topological characteristic, (6) storing each composite code (T, M, R) in a machine searchable database. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44)
-
-
45. A method for coding an uknown latent or rolled finerprint comprising the steps of:
-
(1) locating a central point of the fingerprint as a center of a rotating ridge scan line, (2) relatively rotating said ridge scan line to different topological characteristics of said fingerprint for a plurality of ridge lines, (3) assigning a predetermined type code (T) to each said selected topological characteristic located, (4) measuring the angular orientation (θ
) of said ridge scan line from a predetermined first angular orientation,(5) counting the number of ridges (R), between said center to the ridge scanned, and (6) forming a composite code (T, θ
, R) for each different topological characteristic on the print.
-
-
46. A method of identifying an unknown latent or rolled fingerprint in a rolled fingerprint database comprised of rolled fingerprints coded in topological coordinate set format wherein the ridge characteristics and other irregularities are coded by their type (T), relative angular orientation (θ
- ) about a selected central observation point and from a predetermined line of reference, and the number of ridges (R) from said central feature, comprising the steps of;
(1) topologically coding said unknown fingerprint in the same code format as the said rolled fingerprint, (2) topologically reconstructing the rolled fingerprint and the unknown print from the topological coordinate sets for a given rolled fingerprint stored in said database and the topological coordinate set for said unknown print, (3) comparing vectors extracted from such topological reconstruction to obtain an identity of said unknown fingerprint. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49)
- ) about a selected central observation point and from a predetermined line of reference, and the number of ridges (R) from said central feature, comprising the steps of;
-
50. A method of displaying a replica of a fingerprint, comprising:
-
topologically reconstructins an image of said fingerprint corresponding to a set of topological coordinates of the form (T, M, R, D) stored in a machine searchable database, wherein; (T) is an irregularity type, (M) is the scan location data for the irregularity derived by a moving scan line from a predetermined point, (R) is the number of ridges crossed by said moving scan line from said predetermined point to the irregularity, (D) is the distance from the irregularity to said predetermined point on said scan line, and displaying said reconstructed fingerprint image at an enquiry terminal coupled to said machine searchable database. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
-
-
56. A method of displaying a replica of a fingerprint comprising,
storing at least one set of topological coordinates for the minutiae of a fingerprint, of the form (T, M, R, D) wherein, T is a type code for each minutiae, said type code being selected from a predetermined table of minutiae types, M is the scan line location data of each successive minutiae in a predetermined movement pattern of a scan line over a fingeprint, R is the number of ridge lines between a predetermined point on said scan line and each successive minutiae encountered by said scan line in its predetermined movement pattern over said fingerprint, D is the distance from the minutiae to said predetermined point, topologically reconstructing an image of said fingerprint from said one set of topological coordinates, and displaying said image.
-
57. Fingerprint coding apparatus for coding an unknown latent or rolled fingerprint comprising the steps of:
-
means for locating a central point of the fingerprint as a center of rotating ridge scan line, means for relatively rotating said ridge scan line to different topological characteristics of said fingerprint for a plurality of ridge lines, means for assigning a predetermined type code (T) to each said selected topological characteristics located, means for measuring the angular orientation (θ
) of said ridge scan line from a predetermined first angular orientation,means for counting the number of ridges (R), between said center to the each said topological characteristic, and means for forming a composite code (T, θ
, R) for each different topological characteristic on the print.
-
-
58. Apparatus for identifying an unknown latent or rolled fingerprint in a rolled fingerprint database comprised of rolled fingerprints coded in topological coordinate set format wherein the ridge characteristics and other irregularities are coded by their type (T), relative angular orientation (θ
- ) about a selected central feature observation point and from a predetermined line of reference, and the number of ridges (R) from said central feature, comprising;
(1) means for topologically coding said unknown fingerprint in the same code format as the said rolled fingerprint, (2) means for topologically reconstructing the rolled fingerprint and the unknown print from the topological coordinate sets for a given rolled fingerprint stored in said database and the topological coordinate set for said unknown print, (3) means for comparing vectors extracted from such topological reconstruction to obtain an identity of said unknown fingerprint. - View Dependent Claims (59)
- ) about a selected central feature observation point and from a predetermined line of reference, and the number of ridges (R) from said central feature, comprising;
-
60. A fingerprint recognition and retrieval system comprising:
-
storage means for storing a plurality of sets of topological coordinates for the minutes for a corresponding plurality of known fingerprints, each of said sets of topological coordinates being of the form (T, M, R) wherein, "T" is a predetermined type code for each said type code being selected from a predetermined table of minutiae types, "M" is the scan line location data of each successive minutiae in a predetermined movement pattern of a scan line over the fingerprint, and "R" is the numer of ridge lines between a predetermined point on said scan line and each successive minutiae encountered by said scan line in its predetermined movement pattern over said fingerprint, terminal means for entering a set of topological coordinates of the same form for the minutiae for at least a portion of an unknown fingerprint, means for comparing said set of topological coordinates for at least a portion of an unknown fingerprint with said plurality of sets of topological coordinates corresponding to said plurality of known fingerprints, to locate a match therefor and, means for retrieving a matching known fingerprint. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62)
-
-
63. A method of establishing a machine searchable library of fingerprints having minutiae distributed in a pattern unique to the individual to whom the print belongs comprising the steps of:
-
scanning the fingerprint to obtain a set of topological coordinates, said set of topological coordinates being of the form (T, M, R, D) wherein, T is a type code for each minutiae, said type code being selected from a predetermined table of minutiae types, M is the scan line location data of each successive minutiae in a predetermined movement pattern of a scan line over a fingerprint, R is the number of ridge lines between a predetermined point on said scan line and each successive minutiae encountered by said scan line in its predetermined movement pattern over said fingerprint, and D is the distance from the minutiae to said predetermined point, topologically reconstructing said fingerprint from said set of topological coordinates. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66)
-
-
67. In a fingerprint recognition system, apparatus for extracting topological coordinates from a known fingerprint and storing composite sets of extracting topological coordinates in a machine searchable fingerprint database and a central computer coupled to said database and one or more inquiry terminals connected to said comprising,
means for establishing a scanning line, means for selecting a predetermined point on said scanning line, means for scanning said known fingerprint in a predetermined scan pattern by progressive movement of said scanning line over said known fingerprint, including each successive topological characteristic in said predetermined scan pattern and determining the scan location data (M) of each said successive topological characteristic relative to said scanning line and scanning pattern, means for determining the number of ridge lines (R) between said predetermined point on said scanning line and each said successive topological characteristic, means for assigning a predetermined type code (T) to each successive topological characteristic, each said type code (T) being selected from a predetermined table of topological characteristics, means for storing said type code (T), scan location data (M) and the number of ridge lines (R) for each successive topological characteristic of said known fingerprint in a machine searchable database, each said inquiry terminal means including means for extracting from an unknown latent or rolled fingerprint, including fingerprints where no core or delta are detected, and portions of latent prints, sets of topological coordinates comprising: -
means for establishing a scanning line on said unknown fingerprint, means for selecting a predetermined point on said scanning line scanning said unknown fingerprint, means for scanning said unknown fingerprint in said predetermined scan pattern by progressive movement of said scanning line over said known fingerprint, including each successive topological characteristic in said predetermined scan pattern and determining the scan location data (Mu) of each said topological characteristic relative to said scanning line and scanning pattern, means for determining the number of ridge lines (Ru) between said predetermined point on said scanning line and each said successive topological characteristic, means for assigning a predetermined type code (Tu) to each successive topological characteristic encountered by said scan line, said type code (Tu) being selected from said predetermined list of topological characteristics, and said central computer having means for comparing said topological coordinate sets (Tu, Mu, Ru) from said unknown fingerprint with the composite sets of topological coordinate sets in said machine searchable database to identify the known fingerprint corresponding to said unknown print. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
-
-
77. A fingerprint recognition method comprising:
-
extracting topological coordinates from a known fingerprint and storing composite sets of extracted topological coordinates in a machine searchable fingerprint database by; placing a scanning line on said known fingerprint selecting a point on said scanning line to be a predetermined point, scanning said known fingerprint in a predetermined scan pattern and direction by systematic movement of said scanning line over said known fingerprint, including each successive topological irregularity in said predetermined scan pattern, determining the scan location data (M) of each said successive topological irregularity relative to said scanning line and scanning pattern, determining the number of ridge lines (R) between said predetermined point on said scanning line and each said successive topological irregularity, assigning a predetermined type code (T) to each successive topological irregularity, said type code (T) being selected from a predetermined table of topological irregularities, and storing the type code (T), scan location data (M) and the number of ridge lines (R) in a machine searchable database, with respect to unknown fingerprints including scene of crime fingerprints and fingerprints where no core or delta is detected extracting sets of topological coordinates comprising; placing said scanning line on said unknown fingerprint, selecting a point on said scanning line to be said predetermined point, scanning said unknown fingerprint in a predetermined scan pattern and direction by systematic movement of said scanning line over said unknown fingerprint, including each successive topological irregularity in said predetermined scan pattern and determining the scan location data (Mu) of each said successive topological characteristic relative to said scanning line and scanning pattern, determining the number of ridge lines (Ru) between said predetermined point on said scanning line and each said successive topological characteristic, assigning a predetermined type code (Tu) to each successive topological characteristic, said type code (Tu) being selected from said predetermined table of topological irregularities, and causing said topological coordinate sets for an unknown print to be compared with the topological coordinate data in said machine searchable database to identify the known print corresponding to said unknown print.
-
-
78. A method of displaying a replica of a fingerprint comprising:
-
topologically reconstructing at least a portion of an image of said fingerprint corresponding to a set of topological coordinates of the form (T, M, R, D) stored in a machine searchable database, wherein; (T) is a code for an irregularity type selected from a predetermined table of irregularity types, (M) is the scan location data for the irregularity derived by moving a scan line from a predetermined point, (R) is the number of ridges crossed by said moving scan line from said predetermined point to the irregularity, (D) is the distance from the irregularity to said predetermined point on said scan line, and displaying said reconstructed fingerprint image at an inquiry terminal coupled to said machine searchable database.
-
-
79. Apparatus for identifying an unknown latent or rolled fingerprint in a rolled fingerprint database comprised of rolled fingerprints coded in topological coordinate set format wherein the ridge characteristics and other irregularities are scanned and coded by their type (T) selected from a predetermined table of irregularity types, scan location data (M) relative to a predetermined point of reference, and the number of ridges (R) from said predetermined point of reference comprising:
-
(1) means for topologically coding said unknown fingerprint in the same code format as the said rolled fingeprint, (2) means for topologically reconstructing at least a portion of the rolled fingerprint and the unknown print from the topological coordinate sets for a given rolled fingerprint stored in said database and the topological coordinate set for said unknown print, (3) means for extracting vectors from each topologically reconstructed fingerprint, (4) means for comparing vectors extracted from such topological reconstruction to obtain an identity of said unknown fingerprint.
-
-
80. A fingerprint recognition system comprising
with respect to known fingerprints, storage means forming a computer database of machine searchable known fingerprints including: -
means for scanning each said known fingerprint in its entirety in a predetermined direction of scan and locating each ridge event or irregularity, and extracting and storing the following data, a type code for each ridge event or irregularity, said type code being selected from a predetermined table of type codes including the following possible ridge events or irregularities; a. whether a ridge ends or begins relative to said predetermined direction of scan, b. bifurcation of a ridge and the direction of the bifurcation relative to said predetermined direction of scan, c. ridge running into or out of an unclear and/or scarred area relative to said predetermined direction of scan, d. ridge running out of or coming into sight relative to said predetermined direction of scan, the number of ridges between a selected point on the fingerprint and the event or irregularity, and the distance from a predetermined point in said print to said event or irregularity, and with respect to unknown and scene of crime fingerprints, one or more terminals, each terminal including means for scanning an unknown fingerprint or scene of crime fingerprint in said predetermined direction of scan and extracting and storing data for said unknown and scene of crime fingerprints as set forth above with respect to said known fingerprints, and computer means for comparing the data for said unknown and scene of crime fingerprints with data for said known fingerprints stored in said computer database to locate a match therefore, and means for retrieving a matching known fingerprint.
-
-
81. A fingerprint recognition system comprising, in combination,
with respect to known fingerprints: -
storage means forming a computer database of machine searchable known fingerprints including; means for scanning each said known fingerprint in its entirety in a predetermined single direction of scan and locating each ridge event or irregularity, and extracting and storing the following data; firstly, a type code (T) for each ridge event or irregularity, said type code being selected from a predetermined table of type codes including the following possible ridge events or irregularities; a. whether a ridge ends or begins relative to said predetermined direction of scan, b. bifurcation of a ridge and the direction of the bifurcation relative to said predetermined single direction of scan, c. ridge running into or out of an unclear and/or scarred area relative to said predetermined single direction of scan, d. ridge appearing or disappearing at the edge of said fingerprint relative to said pedetermined single direction of scan, secondly, further information including the scan location data (M) of each successive ridge event or irregularity in said predetermined direction of scan such that the order in which said ridge events or irregularities are scanned can be determined and ridge count data (R) for each ridge event or irregularity to specify the topological position of each ridge event or irregularity and enable the topological relationship between each ridge event or irregularity to be reconstructed, with respect to unknown and scene of crime fingerprints; one or more terminals, each terminal including means for scanning an unknown fingerprint or scene of crime fingerprint in its entirety in the same predetermined single direction of scan as for said known fingerprints to locate each ridge event or irregularity, and extracting and storing the following data for said unknown and scene of crime fingerprint; firstly, a type code (T) for each event or irregularity selected from said predetermined table of type codes as set forth above with respect to said known fingerprints, secondly, further information including the scan location data (Mu) of each successive event or irregularity in said predetermined single direction of scan of said unknown fingerprint such that the order in which said ridge events or irregularities are scanned can be determined, and ridge count data (Ru) of each successive event or irregularity to specify the topological position of each ridge event or irregularity to enable the topological relationship between each ridge event or irregularity to be reconstructed, computer means for comparing the data for said unknown and scene of crime fingerprints with data for said known fingerprints stored in said computer database to locate a match therefore, and means for retrieving a matching known fingerprint. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83, 84, 85)
-
-
86. A fingerprint recognition system comprising, in combination,
with respect to known fingerprints: -
scanning each said known fingerprint in its entirety in a predetermined single direction of scan and locating each ridge event or irregularity, and extracting and storing the following data in a computer database of machine searchable file fingerprints; firstly, a type code (T) for each ridge event or irregularity, said type code being selected from a predetermined table of type codes including the following possible ridge event or irregularities; a. whether a ridge ends or begins relative to said predetermined direction of scan, b. bifurcation of a ridge and the direction of the bifurcation relative to said predetermined direction of scan, c. ridge running into or out of an unclear and/or scarred area relative to said predetermined direction of scan, d. ridge appearing or disappearing at the edge of said fingerprint relative to said predetermined direction of scan, secondly, further information including scan location data (M) of each successive event or irregularity in said predetermined single direction of scan such that the order in which said ridge events or irregularities are scanned can be determined for the entire fingerprint and ridge count data (R) of each successive event or irregularity which specifies the topological position of each ridge event or irregularity and enable the topological relationship between each ridge event or irregularity to be reconstructed, with respect to unknown and scene of crime fingerprints; scanning an unknown fingerprint or scene of crime fingerprint in the same predetermined single direction of scan to locate each ridge event or irregularity, and extracting and storing data for said unknown and scene of crime fingerprints including a type code (Tu) and scan location data (Mu) and ridge count data (Ru) of each successive ridge event or irregularity in said predetermined single direction of scan in the identical manner as set forth above with respect to said file fingerprints, comparing the data for said unknown and scene of crime fingerprints with data for said file fingerprints stored in said computer database to locate a match therefore, and retrieving a matching file fingerprint.
-
Specification