Authentication system and method

• US 5,705,993 A
• Filed: 07/14/1995
• Issued: 01/06/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Paul Alesu
• Original Assignee: Paul Alesu
• Inventors: Alesu, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Horabik, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): Asongwed, Anthony A.
• Application Number:
  US08/502,818
• Time in Patent Office: 907 Days
• Field of Search: 340/825.3, 340/825.34, 382/187, 382/119, 382/124
• US Class Current: 340/5.86
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/30 Writer recognition; Reading and verifying signatures

Abstract

A system and method of authentication electronic transactions in which personal hand writing patterns like signatures are used. Signatures are conveyed from sender to receiver through a data communications channel and stored as data streams. The method is based on the fact that nobody can hand write two identical patterns. The result of the authentication test is false if the new hand writing pattern is identical or too close to any of the previously stored patterns.

Claims

1. An authentication system based on personal hand writing patterns comprising:

means for conveying personal hand writing patterns as data streams;

means for analyzing said data streams for specific hand writing characteristics including angles, length of strokes, speed of movements, relative distances, stylus pressure;

means for storing initial data streams as genuine specific hand writing characteristics sets;

means for comparing a specific hand writing characteristics set of a new data stream against said stored data stream of genuine specific hand writing characteristics sets in which the result of the authentication is false if the specific hand writing characteristics set of said new data stream are identical or substantially identical to any of the stored data streams of specific genuine hand writing characteristics sets;

means for adding the new data stream if accepted as genuine, to the previously stored data streams.

2. An authentication method based on personal hand writing patterns comprising the following steps:

conveying personal hand writing patterns as data streams;

analyzing said data streams for specific hand writing characteristics including angles, length of strokes, speed of movement, relative distances, stylus pressure;

comparing a specific hand writing characteristics set of a new data stream against said stored data streams of genuine specific hand writing characteristics sets in which the result of the authentication is false if said specific hand writing characteristics of the new data stream are identical or substantially identical to any of the stored data streams of genuine specific hand writing characteristics sets;

adding the new data stream if accepted as genuine, to the previously stored data streams.

3. An authentication method of claim 2 in which the substantially identical criteria is obtained by means of computing and storing statistics on said data streams of stored genuine hand writing characteristics sets.