Patent ID: 7151846
Filing Date: 2006-12-19
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
1. An apparatus comparing an obtained first fingerprint with a preliminarily registered second fingerprint, and determining whether or not the fingerprints match each other, comprising: a ridge relation obtaining unit obtaining relation of a ridge containing a vicinal feature point near a feature point to be checked in a matching process performed on the first and the second fingerprints to the ridge containing the feature point to be checked in the matching process; and a matching unit performing the matching process by searching the second fingerprint containing the vicinal feature point near the feature point to be checked in the matching process for the relation of the ridge containing the vicinal feature point to the ridge containing the feature point to be checked in the matching process, and, wherein when said first and second fingerprints match in all of position, type, and direction associated with a ridge direction of the vicinal feature points where feature point direction is ridge direction when the feature point is an end point and a direction of a larger number of ridges when the feature point is a bifurcation point, it is determined that feature information of feature points to be checked contained in the first and the second fingerprints are the same feature points.