Patent ID: 6941003
Filing Date: 2005-09-06
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
1. A method of fast fingerprint search space partitioning and prescreening, said method comprising the steps of: inputting the contents of a fingerprint repository comprising file fingerprints for index creation; creating an index based on each minutia and selected neighbors of each minutia in each file fingerprint in the repository; searching the index to identify all minutiae which correspond to the minutiae in a search fingerprint; and analyzing results of this search to determine which file fingerprints contributed the most minutiae with the best correspondence to the minutiae in the search fingerprint, wherein each file fingerprint of the fingerprint repository includes the following data: the number of minutiae in the fingerprint; and for each minutia: the base angle of the minutia in a frame of reference whose angular orientation to and permissible deviation from the axis of the finger of the fingerprint is pre-defined; the Cartesian coordinates (X, Y) of the minutia relative to the same frame of reference; the minutia index of the nearest neighboring minutia in each of eight octants wherein each octant comprises a 45 degree wedge and the first octant of which is centered on the base angle of the minutia and wherein the nearest neighboring minutia are know as octant neighbors; a count of friction ridges between the minutia and each of its eight octant neighbors; an Euclidean distance between the minutia and each of its eight octant neighbors and the difference between the base angle of the minutia and the base angle of each of its eight octant neighbors.