SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PRESSURE-BASED AUTHENTICATION OF AN INPUT ON A TOUCH SCREEN

• US 20110050394A1
• Filed: 08/27/2009
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Li, Hao, Li, Haifeng, Wei, Yi, Douros, Ken, Zhang, Keshu
• Granted Patent: US 8,988,191 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.82
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/045 using resistive elements, e.g. a single continuous surface or two parallel surfaces put in contact

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for authenticating an input on a touch screen. A method comprises obtaining one or more pressure metrics for an input by a user on a touch screen that is being proffered as that of a known user. Each pressure metric corresponds to a pressure applied to the touch screen by the user at a respective impression location of the input. The method further comprises authenticating the user as the known user based at least in part on the one or more pressure metrics.

Claims

1. A method for authenticating an input by a user on a touch screen, the input being proffered as that of a first user, the method comprising:

obtaining one or more pressure metrics for the input, wherein each pressure metric corresponds to a pressure applied by the user to the touch screen at a respective impression location of the input; and

authenticating the user as the first user based at least in part on the one or more pressure metrics.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising obtaining a signature template for the first user, wherein authenticating the user comprises authenticating the input when the one or more pressure metrics for the input matches one or more pressure metrics of the signature template.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

obtaining one or more pressure metrics for a configuration signature by the first user on the touch screen, wherein each pressure metric corresponds to a pressure applied by the first user to the touch screen at a respective impression location of the configuration signature; and

generating the signature template for the first user based at least in part on the one or more pressure metrics for the configuration signature.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining one or more pressure metrics comprises obtaining a signature pressure map for the input.

5. The method of claim 1, the touch screen comprising a transparent touch panel, wherein obtaining one or more pressure metrics for the input comprises obtaining, via the transparent touch panel, the one or more pressure metrics for the input, wherein each pressure metric corresponds to a pressure applied to the transparent touch panel at a respective impression location of the input.

6. A signature authentication system comprising:

a touch screen configured to obtain one or more pressure metrics for an input signature impressed upon the touch screen, the input signature being proffered as that of a user;

a data storage element configured to maintain a signature template for the user; and

a processing module coupled to the touch screen and the data storage element, wherein the processing module is configured to authenticate the input signature as being made by the user based at least in part on the one or more pressure metrics and the signature template.

7. The signature authentication system of claim 6, further comprising an input device coupled to the processing module, wherein the input device and the processing module are cooperatively configured to obtain an identifier for the user, wherein:

the data storage element maintains an association between the signature template and the identifier; and

the processing module is configured to obtain the signature template associated with the identifier from the data storage element.

8. The signature authentication system of claim 6, wherein the touch screen comprises a transparent touch panel.

9. The signature authentication system of claim 8, wherein the transparent touch panel comprises a resilient material having transparent conductive particles dispersed within the resilient material.

10. The signature authentication system of claim 8, the input signature comprising one or more impression locations on the transparent touch panel, wherein:

the transparent touch panel comprises a transparent composite layer; and

each pressure metric of the one or more pressure metrics corresponds to a resistance of the transparent composite layer at a respective impression location of the one or more impression locations.

11. The signature authentication system of claim 8, further comprising touch panel control circuitry coupled to the transparent touch panel and the processing module, wherein the touch panel control circuitry is configured to:

obtain one or more pressure maps, each pressure map comprising one or more pressure metrics for the input signature at a particular instant in time, wherein each pressure metric corresponds to a pressure applied to the transparent touch panel at a respective impression location of the input signature; and

provide the one or more pressure maps to the processing module.

12. The signature authentication system of claim 11, wherein the processing module is configured to generate a signature pressure map for the input signature based on the one or more pressure maps provided by the touch panel control circuitry.

13. The signature authentication system of claim 8, the input signature comprising one or more impression locations on the transparent touch panel, wherein:

the transparent touch panel comprises;

a transparent composite layer;

a first transparent electrode layer disposed on the transparent composite layer; and

a second transparent electrode layer, wherein the transparent composite layer is disposed on the second transparent electrode layer; and

each pressure metric of the one or more pressure metrics corresponds to a resistance of the transparent composite layer between the first transparent electrode layer and the second transparent electrode layer at a respective impression location of the one or more impression locations.

14. A method for using a touch screen associated with an electronic device, the method comprising:

obtaining an input pressure map for an input on the touch screen, the input being proffered as that of a user, wherein the input pressure map comprises one or more pressure metrics corresponding to pressure applied to the touch screen at respective impression locations of the input; and

obtaining a signature model associated with the user;

comparing the input pressure map to the signature model; and

when the input pressure map matches the signature model, determining the input on the touch screen was made by the user, such that the user is authenticated by the electronic device.

15. The method of claim 14, comparing the input pressure map to the signature model comprises determining a probability that the input pressure map is in accordance with the signature model.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein obtaining the signature model comprises:

obtaining a first pressure map for a configuration signature made by the user on the touch screen; and

applying a modeling technique to the first pressure map to obtain the signature model.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein applying the modeling technique comprises applying a modeling technique selected from a group consisting of a hidden Markov model, a k-nearest neighbor algorithm, a multilayer perceptron, a feedforward neural network, a radial basis function network, and a support vector machine.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising determining the input pressure map matches the signature model when a probability of the input following the signature model is greater than about fifty percent.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising updating the signature model by applying the modeling technique to the input pressure map when the input pressure map matches the signature model.

20. The method of claim 14, the touch screen comprising a transparent touch panel having a transparent composite layer, wherein obtaining the input pressure map comprises obtaining one or more pressure metrics for the input, wherein each pressure metric corresponds to a resistance of the transparent composite layer at a respective impression location of the input.