This invention is in the field of personnel access control systems. More particularly it is in the field of access control systems for providing limited or temporary access of personnel to a facility.
Many organizations desire to limit access to their facilities and work sites to authorized persons only. Typical among these organizations are private companies, universities, schools, governmental agencies, military installations, and the like. Means for access control frequently involve the use of ID badge readers which in turn are linked to automatic gates or turnstiles. These automatic gates are activated to admit a person only when a valid badge is read by the reader. Often ID badges have a picture printed thereon of the badge-holder which provides an extra measure of security.
While there are a number of types of badge readers in use, an increasingly popular type is the proximity reader which does not require a badge to be physically inserted or run past a read head to operate. Proximity reader systems operate with ID badges which contain a radio frequency identification (RFID) device. An RFID is an electronic device, able to be made very thin and easily incorporated as part of an ID badge. RFIDs require no power source of their own to operate. The RFID device operates as a transponder and transmits stored information when held near a badge reader which in turn contains an RF transceiver tuned to the frequency of the RIFD. If the information transmitted by the RFID transponder is recognized as valid by the proximity reader, the gate is opened and the badge-holder is allowed access to the facility.
Since this type of RFID-containing proximity badge takes some time to make and is relatively expensive, they are not usually used for visitors and others who require only temporary authorization to enter a facility. Most often used is a simple paper badge having no image or other visitor ID which is filled out manually by a security guard. Such an ID badge is easily counterfeited and represents a security loophole that increases the risk that an unauthorized person will gain entry to a confidential or secure area.
Thus there exists a need to provide a badge making system that can quickly make inexpensive badges which may be used for visitors or other persons for whom access control is desired on a temporary basis, and which also may be recognized by an automatic access control gates controlled by proximity readers.
In answer to these and other problems of the prior art, in accordance with the present invention there is provided a system for controlling access at a personnel control gate, comprising: a proximity reader connected to the control gate for controlling access through the control gate, and an ancillary reader located adjacent to the proximity reader, the ancillary reader enabled to return an RF transponder signal recognizable by the proximity reader whenever the ancillary reader detects an authorized access code present on an ID badge, thereby causing the proximity reader to control the control gate and allow the bearer of the ID badge access through the control gate.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a system for controlling access of at least one personnel control gate, comprising: an image capture device for capturing a digital image of a visitor and storing the digital image as a data file; a computer for receiving the digital image data file, the processor enabled to embed an authorized access code in the image data file steganographically, the computer further enabled to receive additional information relative to the visitor; a printer connected to the computer for printing a ID badge, the ID badge having the image of the visitor with the authorized access code steganographically embedded in the image, the ID badge having the additional information printed thereon; a proximity reader cooperating with at least one personnel control gate to control access through the control gate; and an ancillary reader located adjacent to the proximity reader, the ancillary reader enabled to return an RF transponder signal recognizable by the proximity reader whenever the ancillary reader detects the authorized access code steganographically embedded in the image of the visitor printed on the ID badge, thereby causing the proximity reader to control the control gate and allow the visitor bearing the ID badge access through the control gate.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention there is also provided a method for controlling access at a personnel control gate, comprising: detecting by an ancillary reader an authorized access code contained on an ID badge engaged therewith, the ancillary reader being placed adjacent to a proximity reader, the proximity reader cooperating with the personnel control gate to control the gate; enabling the ancillary reader when the access code is detected to return an RF transponder signal recognizable by the adjacent proximity reader; and activating the proximity reader upon recognizing the RF transponder signal from the ancillary reader to control the control gate and allow a bearer of the ID badge access through the control gate.
These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and appended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention presented below, reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which:
Turning first to
The computer 16 is also used to associate an authorized access code with the individual's other stored data. This authorized access code is a unique identifier which operates much like the very familiar Personal Identification Number (PIN) used by the bearer of a transaction card to activate the card. Any unique numeric or alphanumeric code may be used for the access code in the present invention, however. When a reader at a control gate which is programmed to recognize the authorized access code is engaged with a badge containing the code, the reader then cooperates with the control gate to admit the bearer of the access code.
For the present invention, the authorized access code is incorporated directly on the ID badge in the form of a visually indiscernible indicia which has been embedded in the visitor's previously captured and stored digital image file. When the visitor's badge is printed, the visitor's image containing this embedded code is printed on it. A means well known in the art for embedding such a visually indiscernible indicia in a digital image file is the data hiding technique known as steganography, or digital watermarking. The presence of such an indiscernible indicia or digital watermark may be detected and the access code extracted only by an appropriately equipped reader. In addition to providing a means of incorporating the authorized access code, the presence of the digital watermark also serves to authenticate the ID badge, for example by preventing a false badge being created by substituting an image which has no digital watermark. A digital watermarking technique particularly useful for hiding data in an image steganographically in this way is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,920 to Daly, et al., and the method of Daly et al. is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference.
Badge printer 18 is used to print an ID badge 20 for the visitor. Badge printer 18 may be any digital printer capable of printing text and images, for example a laser electrophotographic printer, or an ink jet or thermal dye transfer printer.
Turning now to
Shown printed on ID badge 20 is the name and/or logo of the facility 22 for which access by personnel is being controlled. Also printed on ID badge 20 are the name 24 of the person for whom the badge is created, and the date 26 when the ID badge 20 is valid and can be used to gain entry to the facility. Although not shown in
Returning now to
Ancillary reader 40, is located adjacent to proximity reader 38 in access control station 34, but not so close as to interfere with the engaging of proximity ID badges, and is used to read an ID badge such as the ID badge 20 illustrated in
While the various components of ancillary reader 40 are shown in
Also stored in memory 44 of ancillary reader 40 are previously programmed access codes authorized to be valid under predetermined conditions. For example, a particular access code may be authorized to admit a visitor on a particular date or series of dates. Other codes may be authorized to admit only at certain times of day, for example on just one work shift or other. Still other codes may permit access only at certain gates and not others. Authorized access codes may be changed and reprogrammed as needed either by reprogramming each reader at each gate individually or through a networked system where all readers at an installation are linked to a central control facility by a wired communications channel or a wireless network (not shown). If the access code extracted from the ID badge matches an authorized access code stored in memory 44, then processor 46 enables radio frequency (RF) transponder 48 to return the authorized access code value via antenna 41 to proximity reader 38. Thus the signal from transponder 48 exactly mimics the resulting signal which would have been received by proximity reader 38 if it had interrogated directly a proximity badge containing an RFID transponder containing the access code. When proximity reader 38 receives an authorized access code from transponder 48, it cooperates with control gate 36 to admit the visitor.
In order to provide a more clear understanding of the invention, the steps required in its practice will now be described in detail.
When a visitor carrying a ID badge approaches an access control gate where entry is desired, he or she engages the ID badge with ancillary reader 40 (step 108). In step 110, ancillary reader 40 detects the presence of the visually indiscernible indicia embedded in step 104 and extracts the access code from it. In step 112 the extracted access code is compared to the authorized codes stored in computer 16. If the extracted code does not match a preprogrammed authorized code then a “rejected” signal is provided to the visitor in step 114 via a display device such as a display lamp or screen. If the access code does match a stored authorized code, then the ancillary reader enables the transponder 48 to reply with an authorized access code to proximity reader 38 in step 116. It is understood that proximity readers are activated when an object such as an ID card is placed at a minimum distance from the reader. That activation process can be supplied from the activated auxiliary reader either by physical means: such as by moving the antenna from the auxiliary reader closer to the proximity reader; or by electronic means such as by boosting the signal strength of the signal returned from the auxiliary reader's transponder. In step 118 the proximity reader is activated and cooperates with control gate 36 to admit the visitor.
It will be understood that while the invention has been described with respect to an embodiment where an authorized access code is provided as a visually indiscernible mark steganographically embedded in a ID badge, the invention will also operate equally well where the authorized access code is incorporated by other methods. For example, the authorized access code may be encoded in the form of a machine readable bar code. This bar code is then printed on the ID badge along with the visitor's image and other information as described previously. In this embodiment, the ancillary reader comprises a bar code reader which reads the bar code when the ID badge is engaged with it at a control gate. If the bar code read by the ancillary reader matches the pre-programmed authorized access code stored by the reader, the transponder of the ancillary reader is activated in a manner analogous to that already described for the other embodiments disclosed. With this embodiment, for security reasons, it may be desirable to change the bar coded access code frequently, for example on a daily basis, or even more frequently. Changing the access code frequently will in turn necessitate reprogramming the ancillary readers with the new authorized access codes often, but this is easily accomplished by a networked system where all readers at an installation are linked to a central control facility by a wired communications channel or a wireless network as described previously.
The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that still other variations and modifications can be effected within the scope of the invention.
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