Optical authentication
First Claim
1. An apparatus for determining a signature from an article in a reading volume of the apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
- a source operable to generate a coherent beam;
a beam directing member operable to direct the coherent beam into the reading volume;
a detector arrangement for collecting signals created by scatter of the coherent beam within the reading volume, wherein different ones of the signals relate to scatter from different parts of the reading volume, the detector arrangement having a numerical aperture greater than approximately 0.1 to cause a speckle component of the collected signals to be at least partially averaged out over the cone angle of collection; and
a processor operable to determine a signature for an intrinsic structure of an article in the reading volume from the collected signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for determining a signature from an article in a reading volume of the apparatus. The apparatus can comprise a source operable to generate a coherent beam and a beam directing member operable to direct the coherent beam into the reading volume. The apparatus may also comprise a detector arrangement for collecting signals created by scatter of the coherent beam within the reading volume, wherein different ones of the signals relate to scatter from different parts of the reading volume, the detector arrangement having a numerical aperture greater than a predetermined minimum and a processor operable to determine a signature for an article in the reading volume from the collected signals. Use of such apparatus can be repeated whenever required to test authenticity of the article. Using this system, it has been discovered that it is essentially pointless to go to the effort and expense of making specially prepared tokens, since unique characteristics are measurable in a straightforward manner from a wide variety of every day articles.
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Citations
63 Claims
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1. An apparatus for determining a signature from an article in a reading volume of the apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
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a source operable to generate a coherent beam; a beam directing member operable to direct the coherent beam into the reading volume; a detector arrangement for collecting signals created by scatter of the coherent beam within the reading volume, wherein different ones of the signals relate to scatter from different parts of the reading volume, the detector arrangement having a numerical aperture greater than approximately 0.1 to cause a speckle component of the collected signals to be at least partially averaged out over the cone angle of collection; and a processor operable to determine a signature for an intrinsic structure of an article in the reading volume from the collected signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 62)
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44. A method for determining a signature from an article in a reading volume, the method comprising:
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generating a coherent beam; directing the coherent beam into the reading volume; collecting signals created by scatter of the coherent beam within the reading volume, wherein different ones of the signals relate to scatter from different parts of the reading volume, using a detector arrangement having a numerical aperture greater than approximately 0.1 to cause a speckle component of the collected signals to be at least partially averaged out over the cone angle of collection; and determining a signature for an intrinsic structure of an article in the reading volume from the collected signals. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 63)
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57. A method for verifying the authenticity of an article, the method comprising:
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determining a signature from an article using an apparatus operable to direct a coherent beam into a reading volume where the article is arranged, operable to collect signals created by scatter of the coherent beam within the reading volume, wherein different ones of the signals relate to scatter from different parts of the reading volume, a detector arrangement having a numerical aperture greater than approximately 0.1 to cause a speckle component of the collected signals to be at least partially averaged out over the cone angle of collection, and operable to determine a signature for an intrinsic structure of an article in the reading volume from the collected signals; storing the signature so determined in a database; determining a signature from an article using an apparatus operable to direct a coherent beam into a reading volume where the article is arranged, operable to collect signals created by scatter of the coherent beam within the reading volume, wherein different ones of the signals relate to scatter from different parts of the reading volume, a detector arrangement having a numerical aperture greater than approximately 0.1 to cause a speckle component of the collected signals to be at least partially averaged out over the cone angle of collection, and operable to determine a signature for an intrinsic structure of an article in the reading volume from the collected signals; and comparing the signature so generated to the signature stored in the database to determine whether the same article was the source of both signatures. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60, 61)
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Specification