System for and method of generating rotational inputs

• US 7,587,072 B2
• Filed: 08/04/2004
• Issued: 09/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: AuthenTec Incorporated (Apple Inc.)
• Inventors: Russo, Anthony P., Weigand, David L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bella; Matthew C
• Assistant Examiner(s): LIEW, ALEX KOK SOON
• Application Number:
  US10/912,655
• Publication Number:
  US 20050041885A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,861 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 382/124
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0338 Fingerprint track pad, i.e. fingerprint sensor used as pointing device tracking the fingertip image
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1335 Combining adjacent partial images (e.g. slices) to create a composite input or reference pattern; Tracking a sweeping finger movement

Abstract

A system for and method of obtaining rotation information is disclosed. The method comprises capturing a plurality of patterned images from a plurality of locations, correlating the plurality of patterned images to generate sets of linear differences, and using the sets of linear differences to generate the rotation information. Preferably, the plurality of locations comprise a first part of a fingerprint swipe sensor and a second part of the fingerprint swipe sensor, each part configured to capture a part of a fingerprint image. Each part captures a part of the fingerprint image at two positions and correlates the parts at the two positions to determine one set of linear differences. Together, the sets of linear differences are used to calculate the rotation information, which can be used to emulate a rotational device such as a steering wheel, a joystick, or a navigation bar.

Claims

1. A method of obtaining rotation information, the method comprising:

capturing a plurality of patterned images from a plurality of areas on a sensor that include first and second areas of the sensor;

correlating the plurality of patterned images from the first area, using a processor, to generated a first set of linear differences containing a first element corresponding to movement within the first area a distance along a first axis and from the second area to generate a second set of linear differences containing a first element corresponding to movement within the second area a distance along the first axis; and

comparing corresponding elements in the first and second sets of linear differences to generate the rotation information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second areas comprise first and second parts of the sensor.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a first of the plurality of patterned images is captured in the first part of the sensor and a second of the plurality of patterned images is captured in the second part of the sensor.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the sensor is a biometric image sensor.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the biometric image sensor is a finger image sensor.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first of the plurality of patterned images and the second of the plurality of patterned images together correspond to a fingerprint image in a first position on the sensor.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein a third of the plurality of patterned images is captured in the first part of the sensor and a fourth of the plurality of patterned images is captured in the second part of the sensor.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the third of the plurality of patterned images and the fourth of the plurality of patterned images together correspond to the fingerprint image in a second position on the sensor.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the rotation information corresponds to an angular difference between the first position and the second position.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein correlating the plurality of patterned images from the first and second areas comprises:

correlating the first patterned image with the third patterned image to generate the first set of linear differences;

correlating the second patterned image with the fourth patterned image to generate the second set of linear differences; and

correlating a first combination of the first patterned image and the second patterned image with a second combination of the third patterned image and the fourth patterned image to generate a third set of linear differences.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein correlating the first patterned image with the third patterned image, correlating the second patterned image with the fourth patterned image, and correlating the first combination with the second combination all comprise performing a cross correlation.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the cross correlation is a normalized cross correlation.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the cross correlation is a standardized cross correlation.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein the first part of the sensor and the second part of the sensor are contiguous.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein the first part of the sensor and the second part of the sensor are not contiguous.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the first part of the sensor comprises a first sub-frame of pixels and the second part of the sensor comprises a second sub-frame of pixels.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein capturing the first patterned image comprises storing in the first sub-frame first data corresponding to the first patterned image, capturing the second patterned image comprises storing in the second sub-frame second data corresponding to the second patterned image, capturing the third patterned image comprises storing in the first sub-frame third data corresponding to the third patterned image, and capturing the fourth patterned image comprises storing in the second sub-frame fourth data corresponding to the fourth patterned image.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein correlating the first patterned image with the third patterned image comprises correlating the first data with the third data to generate first and second linear differences from the first set of linear differences.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein correlating the second patterned image with the fourth patterned image comprises correlating the second data with the fourth data to generate first and second linear differences from the second set of linear differences.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein correlating the first combination with the second combination comprises correlating a combination of the first data and the second data with a combination of the third data and the fourth data to generate first and second linear differences from the third set of linear differences.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein correlating comprises determining a lag to correlate elements of one of the first and the second sub-frames, the lag and a difference between the elements corresponding to first and second linear differences from one of the sets of linear differences.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein each element corresponds to a row of one of the first and the second sub-frames.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein each element corresponds to a column of one of the first and the second sub-frames.

24. The method of claim 11, further comprising filtering the first set of linear differences, the second set of linear differences, the third set of linear differences, and the rotation information.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein filtering comprises multiplying by a scaling factor.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein filtering further comprises performing a smoothing function.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein filtering further comprises performing a clipping function.

28. The method of claim 10, wherein the finger image sensor is a finger placement sensor.

29. The method of claim 10, wherein the finger image sensor is a finger swipe sensor.

30. The method of claim 9, further comprising using the rotation information on a host platform having a display screen, the rotation information used to rotate an object on the display screen, thereby emulating a computer input device.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the computer input device is selected from the group consisting of a steering wheel, a joystick, and a navigation bar.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein emulating a computer input device comprises moving the object on the display screen at a rate related to the angular difference.

70. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second sets of linear differences each comprises a horizontal displacement and a vertical displacement.

73. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of linear differences further contains a second element corresponding to movement within the first area a distance along a second axis and the second set of linear differences further contains a second element corresponding to movement within the second area a distance along the second axis.

33. A system for obtaining rotation information, the system comprising:

means for capturing a plurality of patterned images from first and second areas; and

means for correlating the plurality of patterned images from the first area to generate a first set of linear differences containing a first element corresponding to movement within the first area a distance along a first axis and from the second area to generate a second set of linear differences containing a first element corresponding to movement within the second area a distance along the first axis; and

means for comparing corresponding elements in the first and second sets of linear differences to generate the rotation information.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the means for capturing comprises a sensor having a first part corresponding to the first area and a second part corresponding to the second area.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the sensor is a biometric image sensor.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the biometric image sensor is a finger image sensor.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the first part of the sensor is configured to capture a first of the plurality of patterned images and the second part of the sensor is configured to capture a second of the plurality of patterned images.

38. The system of claim 37 wherein the first of the plurality of patterned images and the second of the plurality of patterned images together correspond to a fingerprint image in a first position.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the first part of the sensor is further configured to capture a third of the plurality of patterned images and the second part of the sensor is further configured to capture a fourth of the plurality of patterned images.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the third of the plurality of patterned images and the fourth of the plurality of patterned images together correspond to the fingerprint image in a second position.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the rotation information corresponds to an angular difference between the first position and the second position.

42. The system of claim 40, wherein correlating the plurality of patterned images from the first and second areas comprises:

correlating the first patterned image with the third patterned image to generate the first set of linear differences;

correlating the second patterned image with the fourth patterned image to generate the second set of linear differences; and

correlating a first combination of the first patterned image and the second patterned image with a second combination of the third patterned image and the fourth patterned image to generate a third set of linear differences.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein correlating the first patterned image with the third patterned image, correlating the second patterned image with the fourth patterned image, and correlating the first combination with the second combination all comprise performing a cross correlation.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the cross correlation is a normalized cross correlation.

45. The system of claim 43, wherein the cross correlation is a standardized cross correlation.

46. The system of claim 34, wherein the first part of the sensor and the second part of the sensor are contiguous.

47. The system of claim 34, wherein the first part of the sensor and the second part of the sensor are not contiguous.

48. The system of claim 43, wherein the first part of the sensor comprises a first sub-frame of pixels and the second part of the sensor comprises a second sub-frame of pixels.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein capturing a patterned image comprises storing in the first sub-frame first data corresponding to the first patterned image, capturing the second patterned image comprises storing in the second sub-frame second data corresponding to the second patterned image, capturing the third patterned image comprises storing in the first sub-frame third data corresponding to the third patterned image, and capturing the fourth patterned image comprises storing in the fourth sub-frame data corresponding to the fourth patterned image.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein correlating the first patterned image with the third patterned image comprises correlating the first data with the third data to generate first and second linear differences from the first set of linear differences.

51. The system of claim 50, wherein correlating the second patterned image with the fourth patterned image comprises correlating the second data with the third data to generate first and second linear differences from the second set of linear differences.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein correlating the first combination with the second combination comprises correlating a combination of the first data and the second data with a combination of the third data and the fourth data to generate first and second linear differences from the third set of linear differences.

53. The system of claim 52, wherein correlating comprises determining a lag to correlate elements of one of the first and second sub-frames, the lag and a difference between the elements corresponding to the first and second linear differences from one of the sets of linear differences.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein each element corresponds to a row of one of the first and second sub-frames.

55. The system of claim 53, wherein each element corresponds to a column of one of the first and second sub-frames.

56. The system of claim 33, wherein the means for correlating is further configured for filtering the first set of linear differences, the second set of linear differences, the third set of linear differences, and the rotation information.

57. The system of claim 56, wherein filtering comprises multiplying by a scaling factor.

58. The system of claim 33, wherein the means for capturing comprises a finger placement sensor.

59. The system of claim 33, wherein the means for capturing comprises a finger swipe sensor.

60. The system of claim 41, further comprising a host device coupled to the means for correlating, the host device having a display screen and configured to receive the rotation information and use the rotation information to control an object on the display screen, thereby emulating a computer input device.

61. The system of claim 60, wherein the computer input device is selected from the group consisting of a steering wheel, a joystick, and a navigation bar.

62. The system of claim 61, wherein the host device is a portable device.

63. The system of claim 62, wherein the portable device is a device selected from the group consisting of a personal computer, a portable telephone, a portable electronic game device, and a digital camera.

64. The system of claim 60, wherein emulating a computer input device comprises moving the object on the display screen at a rate proportional to the angular difference.

65. The system of claim 41, further comprising a host device integral with at least one of the means for capturing and the means for correlating.

74. The system of claim 33, wherein the first set of linear differences further contains a second element corresponding to movement within the first area a distance along a second axis and the second set of linear differences further contains a second element corresponding to movement within the second area a distance along the second axis.

66. A method of emulating a rotational device using a pattern, the method comprising:

a. capturing a first image of the pattern at a first orientation on a sensor, wherein the first image has first and second portions;

b. capturing a second image of the pattern at a second orientation on the sensor, wherein the second image has third and fourth portions;

c. correlating the first and third portions, using a processor, to calculate a second set of linear differences corresponding to linear movement between the first and third portions and the second and fourth portions to calculate a second set of linear differences corresponding to linear movement between the second and third portions;

d. determining differences between corresponding elements of the first and second sets of linear differences to determine rotational data; and

f. using the rotational data to emulate the movement of a rotational device.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein the image comprises a fingerprint image.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein the rotational device is further configured to emulate a linear positioning device.

69. A method of sensing movement of an object on an image sensor comprising:

a. sensing first and second portions of a first image of the object on an image sensor;

b. sensing third and fourth portions of a second image of the object on the image sensor; and

c. comparing, using a processor, linear difference between the first portion and the third portion corresponding to linear movement between the first and third portions and comparing linear differences between the second portion and the fourth portion corresponding to linear movement between the second and fourth portions to determine whether the object rotated.

71. A method of determining an angular difference between images of a finger at different positions on a finger sensor comprising:

capturing images of the finger in first and second positions on a finger sensor, wherein in the first position, first and second portions of an image of the finger are captured in first and second locations of the finger sensor, respectively, and in the second position, third and fourth portions of an image of the finger are captured in the first and second locations, respectively;

correlating the first and third portions, using a processor, to generate a first set of linear differences, correlation the second and fourth portions to generate a second set of linear differences, and correlating a combination of the first and second portions with a combination of the third and fourth portions to generate a third set of linear differences; and

comparing the first and second sets of linear differences to determine an angular difference between the first and second positions.

72. A system for determining an angular difference comprising:

a finger sensor configured to capture images of the finger in first and second positions, wherein in the first position, first and second portions of an image of the finger are captured in first and second locations of the finger sensor, respectively, and in the second position, third and fourth portions of an image of the finger are captured in the first and second locations, respectively; and

a processor coupled to the finger sensor and configured to correlate the first and third portions to generate a first set of linear differences, to correlate the second and fourth portions to generate a second set of linear differences, and to correlate a combination of the first and second portions with a combination of the third and fourth portions to generate a third set of linear differences, wherein the processor is further configured to compare the first and second sets of linear differences to determine an angular difference between the first and second positions.