Patent Application
20080285813
The present invention generally relates to verifying the identity of a person, and more particularly to a method for identifying and verifying an approved user of a wireless communication device.
Transactions of many types require a system for identifying a person (Who is it?) or for verifying a person's claimed identity (Is she who she says she is?). The term recognition refers to identification and verification collectively. Traditionally, three methods have been used for recognizing a person: passwords, tokens, and biometrics.
Biometrics refers to information measured from a person's body or behavior. Examples of biometrics include fingerprints, hand shapes, palm prints, footprints, retinal scans, iris scans, face images, ear shapes, voiceprints, gait measurements, keystroke patterns, and signature dynamics. The advantages of pure biometric recognition are that there are no passwords to forget or to give out, and no cards (tokens) to lose or lend.
In biometric verification, a user presents a biometric which is compared to a stored biometric corresponding to the identity claimed by the user. If the presented and stored biometrics are sufficiently similar, then the user's identity is verified. Otherwise, the user's identity is not verified.
In biometric identification, the user presents a biometric which is compared with a database of stored biometrics typically corresponding to multiple persons. The closest match or matches are reported. Biometric identification is used for convenience, e.g., so that users would not have to take time consuming actions or carry tokens to identify themselves, and also for involuntary identification, e.g., when criminal investigators identify suspects by matching fingerprints.
There is an ever-growing need for convenient, user-friendly security features on wireless communication devices. These devices have permeated our society and have become a primary mode of communication in voice, text, image, and video formats today, with the promise of even greater functionality in the future including high speed web access, streaming video, and even financial transactions. Authentication of the device user in these applications is of paramount importance and a significant challenge.
Biometric technologies are viewed as providing at least a partial solution to accomplish these objectives of user identity and different types of biometrics have been incorporated into wireless products for this purpose. The most common of these include fingerprint, face, and voice recognition. Most of these biometric technology implementations require some type of specialized hardware, e.g., swipe sensor or camera, and/or specific actions to be taken by the user to “capture” the biometric data, e.g., swiping a finger, pointing a camera, or speaking a phrase. The special hardware adds unwanted cost to the product in a cost sensitive industry, and the active capture can make the authentication process inconvenient to use.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a biometric technology that can be implemented with existing sensing components of the wireless device and in which the biometric data capture occurs passively, or unobtrusively, during the normal operation of the device, without intentional and time consuming action of the user. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.
An apparatus and method is provided for recognizing ear biometrics of an approved user of a wireless device. The apparatus comprises a wireless communication device including a first biometric device for assessing the identity of the user, the biometric device comprising a touch input display including a plurality of pixels for providing a visual output, and a plurality of sensors, one each being incorporated within one of the plurality of pixels, for recording at least a partial image of a user's ear when the touch input display is placed against an ear of the user in a first mode and for receiving an input in response to being touched by the user in a second mode. A controller is coupled to the first biometric device in the first mode, wherein the controller enables the function when the identity of the user is verified by the first biometric device. Additional biometric devices may be included wherein a positive response from one of the biometric devices enables the function of the wireless device.
The present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements, and
The following detailed description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of the invention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background of the invention or the following detailed description of the invention.
The present invention comprises a method of capturing a distinctive, physical biometric, i.e., the shape of the ear, using a sensor incorporated within a touch input display in wireless communication devices and in the normal operation of the device, e.g., during a phone conversation.
Ear biometrics is a relatively unexplored biometric field, but has received a growing amount of attention over the past few years. There are three modes of ear biometrics: ear photographs, ear prints obtained by pressing the ear against a flat plane, and thermograph pictures of the ear. The most common implementation of ear biometrics is via photographs for automated identification applications. In practice, the main problem with this photographic implementation is the obscuration of the ear by headwear (hats), or hair, and inconsistent lighting conditions.
An ear print has sufficient distinctiveness to be considered a valid biometric for authentication purposes.
Ear characteristics meet most of the criteria for a good biometric. They are universal (substantially all humans), they are sufficiently distinctive to be of value for the purposes described herein in that they have a high level of permanency (they don't change much over time), and are readily collectable (as described herein).
There is a growing trend toward the use of touch input displays in high tier wireless communication devices, e.g., smart phones and PDAs. This is largely driven by the desire for efficient use of the limited surface area of the device. Typically, two user interface elements dominate the surface of the device: the keypad for input and the display for output. A touch input display input display (described in more detail hereinafter) combines the input and output user interface into a single element.
The touch input function can either be integrated into the display backplane or implemented in transparent layers applied over the surface of the display. There are at least three different touch input sensing technologies that have been demonstrated, including resistive, capacitive and optical. With the proper array-based implementation, each of these sensing modes is potentially capable of generating a “print” of an object that is placed in contact with the surface. Because there are no lenses used to project and create an image, this approach is called a “near field” mode of capture. Only the portion of the object that is in contact or close proximity with the input plane contributes to this print, so the print is a two-dimensional rendering only.
Referring to
Although the preferred exemplary embodiment of the phone 50 as shown illustrates a unitary body, any other configuration of wireless communication devices, e.g., a flip phone, may utilize the invention described herein. The phone 50 typically includes an antenna (not shown) for transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals for communicating with a complementary communication device such as a cellular base station or directly with another user communication device. The phone 50 may also comprise more than one display and may comprise additional input devices such as an on/off button and a function button.
Since phone conversations typically last an extended period of time, compared to the capture time, many input prints could be acquired for analysis to improve the accuracy of the biometric modality. And since most phone users position the phone underneath hair or caps covering the ear, and directly against the ear itself to achieve the best audio performance, this mode of acquisition is not hindered by such ear coverings.
The use of ears for biometric identification and verification provides several advantages over other biometric technologies, including: (1) ear biometrics are convenient and because their acquisition tends to be perceived as less invasive, (2) ear geometry readers work even if hands are dirty, unlike fingerprints, and (3) special sensors will not be required if the device employs an optical touchscreen. Ear biometrics generally comprise measuring physical dimensions and combinations thereof, such as the ratio between characteristic length or width; the pattern of lines on the ear; textures; colors; and other measurable characteristics of the ear. An ear biometric refers to a print of an ear, or parts of the ear; measurements that can be made from those images; representations that can be made from those images; or combinations of the images, the measurements, and the representations. An ear biometric as defined herein may comprise an image of an ear, and generally comprises measuring characteristics of the ear, e.g., lengths or distance between the characteristics.
Regardless of which of these embodiments, or another embodiment, is utilized, geometric measurements of the ear are made from the image, and compared with stored measurements of a person or persons. Values are assigned to the measurement comparisons. If the values are within a threshold, the identity of the person is verified.
Referring to
The substrate 70 protects the imaging device 72 and typically comprises plastic, e.g., polycarbonate or polyethylene terephthalate, or glass, but may comprise any type of material generally used in the industry. The thin transparent conductive coating 68 is formed over the substrate 70 and typically comprises a metal or an alloy such as indium tin oxide or a conductive polymer.
An electroluminescent (EL) layer 76 is separated from the imaging device 72 by an ITO ground layer 74. The EL stack layer 76 includes a backplane and electrodes which provide backlight for operation of the display 52 in both ambient light and low light conditions by alternately applying a high voltage level, such as one hundred volts, to the backplane and electrode. The ITO ground layer 74 is coupled to ground and provides an ITO ground plane 74 for reducing the effect on the imaging device 72 of any electrical noise generated by the operation of the EL stack layer 76 or other lower layers within the display 52. Beneath the EL stack layer 76 is a base layer 78 which may include one or more layers. The various layers 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78 are adhered together by adhesive layers (not shown) applied therebetween.
The imaging device 72 comprises a plurality of pixels 82 for displaying an image and a plurality of photosensors 84 for sensing touchscreen inputs on the transparent cover 66 of the display 52 in a first mode and for capturing a print of the ear in a second mode. Each pixel 82 may have one photosensor 84 associated therewith. When three pixels are grouped to form a triad of pixels to represent a color image, one photosensor 84 may be positioned with each triad, or with each pixel in the triad.
Referring to
Referring to
In accordance with the exemplary embodiment, a first print of an ear 10 as shown in
During normal use, when a user holds the wireless communication device to his/her ear, a second print of the user's ear is taken 174. This second print is passively captured without any specific, intentional action taken by the user. The above steps are repeated for the second print by binarizing the second print 175, assign reference points 176, and measuring distances between reference points 177. These distances, combinations, or both are then compared 178 with stored distances, combinations, or both from previously stored images. The comparison may be carried out using any method of comparing quantities or sets of quantities, e.g., by summing squared differences. Values are assigned based on the comparison, and a determination is made whether the values are within a threshold. If the values are within a threshold, the identity of the person whose hand is being scanned is verified 179 and a function of the wireless communication device is enabled 180.
In another exemplary embodiment, the above described method of verifying the user based on a print taken of his/her ear may be only one of several biometric measurements taken for verification. An attempt to take two or more biometric samples, such as a voiceprint, a picture of the user's face, a fingerprint, as well as an ear print may be made. Since one particular biometric sample may not be obtainable, a successful capture of another biometric sample may enable a function on the wireless communication device.
While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description of the invention, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment of the invention, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
