Patent ID: 7783088
Filing Date: 2010-08-24
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
1. A fingerprint authenticating apparatus that authenticates a user by comparing fingerprint information acquired from the user with pre-registered fingerprint information, the fingerprint authenticating apparatus comprising: a fingerprint sensor that is a capacitance fingerprint sensor or a weak-electric-field fingerprint sensor and acquires fingerprint information of an object being in contact with a surface of the fingerprint sensor; a light source that is arranged adjacent to the surface of the fingerprint sensor and irradiates a light to the object from a lateral side of the fingerprint sensor; a plurality of light receiving elements that detects the light, each of which being arranged in a same direction as a direction of the light irradiated by the light source and arranged with a different distance from the light source; a measuring unit that measures a diffusion pattern of the light passing through the object based on which light receiving element, from among the light receiving elements, detected the light; and a determining unit that determines whether the object is a live finger or an artificial finger based on the diffusion pattern measured by the measuring unit.