Fingerprint recognition method and electronic device performing thereof

• US 9,934,371 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2015
• Issued: 04/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Hong, Hyun Ju, Park, Hyung Jin
• Primary Examiner(s): Merkoulova, Olga
• Application Number:
  US14/708,734
• Publication Number:
  US 20150324569A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,058 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1652 the display being flexible, e.g. mimicking a sheet of paper, or rollable
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04102 Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04112 Electrode mesh in capacitive digitiser: electrode for touch sensing is formed of a mesh of very fine, normally metallic, interconnected lines that are almost invisible to see. This provides a quite large but transparent electrode surface, without need for ITO or similar transparent conductive material
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/03 Recognition of patterns in medical or anatomical images
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1306 non-optical, e.g. ultrasonic or capacitive sensing
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1347 Preprocessing; Feature extraction
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1353 Extracting features related to minutiae or pores
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1359 Extracting features related to ridge properties; Determining the fingerprint type, e.g. whorl or loop
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1371 Matching features related to minutiae or pores
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1376 Matching features related to ridge properties or fingerprint texture

Abstract

A fingerprint recognition method and electronic device performing the same are provided. The electronic device includes a fingerprint sensor configured to perform fingerprint sensing according to a control signal of a processor, and includes the processor configured to obtain a fingerprint-unrecognizable position from a sensing area of the fingerprint sensor, to obtain, based on the fingerprint-unrecognizable position, a distance to a fingerprint from the fingerprint-unrecognizable position, and to control, based on the distance, the fingerprint sensor by adjusting a sensing operation of the fingerprint sensor.

Claims

1. A fingerprint recognition method comprising:

in response to receiving a fingerprint on a sensing area of a fingerprint sensor, identifying a first position of the sensing area that fails to sense the fingerprint;

determining a distance from the first position to a reference point of the fingerprint sensor; and

adjusting a sensing operation of the fingerprint sensor based on the distance.

2. The fingerprint recognition method of claim 1, wherein the fingerprint is unrecognizable due to a curve of the sensing area.

3. The fingerprint recognition method of claim 1, wherein the identifying of the first position comprises:

receiving a signal associated with the fingerprint; and

when the signal is lower than a threshold value, determining the first position associated with the signal.

4. The fingerprint recognition method of claim 1, further comprising a flexible touch screen configured to detect a touch input, and

wherein the fingerprint sensor is disposed in the flexible touch screen.

5. The fingerprint recognition method of claim 1, wherein the identifying of the first position comprises:

obtaining a fingerprint image for the fingerprint by the fingerprint sensor; and

identifying the first position based on at least one of a resolution, a contrast, and a quality of the fingerprint image.

6. The fingerprint recognition method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a horizontal distance to the first position from a vertical reference line associated with the reference point; and

determining the distance based on a curvature angle, a curvature radius of a curve from the vertical reference line to the first position, and the horizontal distance.

7. The fingerprint recognition method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining the vertical reference line based on at least one of an input signal of the fingerprint sensor, a touch input through the fingerprint sensor, and a fingerprint image that is obtained from the fingerprint sensor; and

determining the curvature radius and the curvature angle based on the vertical reference line.

8. The fingerprint recognition method of claim 6, wherein the vertical reference line, the curvature radius, and the curvature angle are determined based on a pattern of a curve of the sensing area.

9. The fingerprint recognition method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting of the sensing operation comprises:

adjusting, based on the distance, at least one of a gain of a receiver of the fingerprint sensor and a transmission power of a transmitter of the fingerprint sensor.

10. The fingerprint recognition method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a first area of the sensing area that fails to sense the fingerprint; and

determining a gain of a receiver of the fingerprint sensor in the first area or determining a transmission power of a transmitter in the first area.

11. The fingerprint recognition method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a fingerprint area associated with the fingerprint;

comparing the fingerprint area with a center of the sensing area to determine if the fingerprint is outside of a fingerprint sensing boundary; and

providing, based on a result of the comparing of the fingerprint area, a feedback for a location of the fingerprint.

12. The fingerprint recognition method of claim 11, wherein the providing of the feedback comprises:

if the fingerprint is outside of the fingerprint sensing boundary, displaying information to place a subsequent fingerprint inside of the fingerprint sensing boundary.

13. The fingerprint recognition method of claim 12, wherein information corresponds to a shadow shaped as a fingerprint.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform the method of claim 1.

15. An electronic device comprising:

a fingerprint sensor configured to receive a fingerprint on a sensing area; and

a processor configured to;

in response to receiving the fingerprint on the sensing area, identify a first position of the sensing area that fails to sense the fingerprint, determine a distance from the first position to a reference point of the fingerprint sensor, and adjust a sensing operation of the fingerprint sensor based on the distance.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a signal associated with the fingerprint, and

when the signal is lower than a threshold value, determine the first position associated with the signal.

17. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

obtain a fingerprint image for the fingerprint by sensing the fingerprint using the fingerprint sensor; and

determine the first position from the fingerprint image based on at least one of a resolution, a contrast, and a quality of the fingerprint image.

18. The electronic device of claim 15,

wherein the electronic device further comprises a flexible touch screen configured to detect a touch input, and

wherein the fingerprint sensor is included in the flexible touch screen.

19. The electronic device of claim 18,

wherein the flexible touch screen is configured to detect the touch input from the fingerprint in the sensing area, and

wherein the processor is further configured to obtain the first position based on the touch input.

20. The electronic device of claim 15,

wherein the electronic device further comprises a flexible touch screen configured to detect a touch input,

wherein the fingerprint sensor is located at a side of the electronic device,

wherein the flexible touch screen is located at a front part of the electronic device and is configured to display an icon of at least one application, which is executed by fingerprint authentication, in a row, and

wherein the processor is further configured to execute, if the fingerprint is authenticated by the fingerprint sensor, an application that is in a row associated with the fingerprint.

21. The electronic device of claim 15,

wherein the fingerprint sensor includes sensing electrodes comprised of at least one of a receiver and a transmitter, and

wherein the processor is further configured to adjust at least one of a gain of the receiver and a transmission power of the transmitter.