System control via characteristic gait signature

• US 7,917,768 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2007
• Issued: 03/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DP Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: DP Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Kahn, Philippe, Kinsolving, Arthur
• Primary Examiner(s): Smithers, Matthew B
• Assistant Examiner(s): CALLAHAN, PAUL E
• Application Number:
  US11/657,234
• Publication Number:
  US 20080175443A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,526 Days
• Field of Search: 713/155, 713/168, 713/186, 713/156, 726/5, 726/6, 726/18, 726/16
• US Class Current: 713/186
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2218/12 Classification; Matching
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/25 Recognition of walking or running movements, e.g. gait recognition

Abstract

A device includes an access control element to compare new acceleration data from an accelerometer with registered gait signature associated with an authorized user of a mobile device to determine the identity of the user of the mobile device.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an identification logic implemented by a processor to compare new acceleration data from an accelerometer in a mobile device with a registered gait signature associated with an authorized user of the mobile device and stored in a memory, to determine an identity of the user of the device, the identification logic to prompt a user to enter a security entry when the user is not successfully identified based on the gait signature;

a gait signature calculator to update the registered gait signature based on the new acceleration data when a user correctly enters the security entry; and

a configuration logic to configure the mobile device to a preset configuration profile associated with the identified user based on the new acceleration data.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

the gait signature calculator further to update the registered gait signature based on the new acceleration data when the user is successfully identified based on the comparison.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a sensor to determine environmental data, wherein the environmental data is associated with the new acceleration data.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a security logic to grant access to the mobile device when the new acceleration data matches the registered gait signature, and to deny access to the device when the new accelerometer data does not match the registered gait signature.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mobile device provides one or more of the following functionalities:

personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular telephone, portable gaming device, portable computing device, digital camera, and personal entertainment device.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

registration logic to cumulatively record adjustments to the registered gait signature when the new acceleration data is received and determined to be associated with the user.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

an environmental sensor to receive environmental data, the environmental data used to increase accuracy of the identification logic.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the environmental sensor senses one or more of:

temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind data, pollen counts, and other data available about the environment.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a gait signature calculator to calculate a gait signature based on comparison points.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the gait comparison points comprise one or more of:

cadence, vertical acceleration during a step, horizontal acceleration the step, and acceleration on downward movement of step.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is associated with a plurality of users, each of the user having a configuration profile, wherein:

the configuration logic configures the mobile device for the identified one of the plurality of users.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a user interface to enable the user to enter a security entry when the user is not identified as an authorized user of the device based on the new acceleration data;

a registration logic to update the gait signature data based on the collected acceleration data, when the security entry is a correct security entry.

13. A system comprising:

a portable device including an accelerometer coupled to a security module and a first memory;

a transmitter to transmit acceleration data from the portable device to a server;

a comparison logic to determine if the acceleration data matches a characteristic gait signature of a user;

a security logic to restrict access to the device if the acceleration data does not match the characteristic gait signature and the user does not enter a correct security entry;

a gait signature calculator to update the characteristic gait signature based on the acceleration data when a user correctly enters the security entry; and

a configuration logic to configure the portable device for the user recognized based on the identified gait signature or the security entry by applying a configuration profile.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the portable device includes the functionality of one or more of the following:

personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a portable gaming device, a portable computer device, a digital camera and a personal entertainment device.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the server transmits a signal to the security module to shut down the portable device.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein acceleration data is stored for a plurality of users.

17. A method comprising:

registering, on a mobile device, one or more gait signatures based on acceleration data associated with a gait of one or more users;

collecting acceleration data;

determining if the acceleration data matches one of the gait signatures;

identifying an authorized user to use the device if the acceleration data matches one of the gait signatures;

when the user is not identified based on the gait signatures, prompting the user to enter a security entry and updating the gate signature data based on the collected acceleration data, when the correct security entry is received; and

configuring the device to a preference of the identified authorized user by applying a configuration profile.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the comparison is performed on a remote computing device.

19. A method comprising:

registering, on a device, one or more gait signatures based on acceleration data associated with a gait of one or more users;

collecting acceleration data;

determining if the acceleration data matches one of the gait signatures;

identifying an authorized user to use the device when the acceleration data matches one of the gait signatures;

when the user is not identified as an authorized user of the device, prompting the user to enter a security entry and updating the gait signature data based on the collected acceleration data, when the security entry is a correct security entry; and

configuring the device to a preference of the identified authorized user.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

associating environmental data with the collected acceleration data.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

when the authorized user is identified based on the collected acceleration data or the security entry, adjusting the registered gait signature of the authorized user based on the collected acceleration data.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

calculating a plurality of comparison points to identify the gait signature, the plurality of comparison points comprising one or more of;

cadence, vertical acceleration during a step, horizontal acceleration the step, and acceleration on downward movement of step.