Fingerprint recognition methods and devices

A fingerprint recognition device and method thereof are provided. The fingerprint recognition method includes: obtaining a plurality of swiping frames; generating a plurality of registered fingerprint datasets according to the swiping frames; obtaining a pressing fingerprint dataset; and comparing the pressing fingerprint dataset with the registered fingerprint datasets.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority of Taiwan Patent Application No. 103107800 filed on Mar. 7, 2014, and Taiwan Patent Application No. 103126149, filed on Jul. 31, 2014, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The invention generally relates to fingerprint recognition technology, and more particularly, to fingerprint recognition technology for obtaining a plurality of registered fingerprint datasets after a user swipes his/her finger over a fingerprint sensor several times and performing fingerprint recognition by comparing a verifying fingerprint with the registered fingerprint datasets wherein the verifying fingerprint is obtained by the fingerprint sensor while a user presses his/her finger on the fingerprint sensor.

Description of the Related Art

In recent years, biometric recognition technology has developed greatly. Since security codes and access cards may be easily stolen or lost, more attention has been paid to fingerprint-recognition technology. Fingerprints are unique and never-changing, and each person has multiple fingers for identity recognition. In addition, fingerprints can be obtained easily using fingerprint sensors. Therefore, fingerprint recognition can provide increased security and convenience, and financial security and confidential data can be better protected.

In one conventional method of fingerprint recognition, the user presses his or her finger on the fingerprint sensor several times in order to generate a plurality of registered fingerprint datasets and then presses his or her finger again on the fingerprint sensor for verification. However, for the fingerprint sensor with a small sensing area, in order to obtain sufficient registered fingerprint datasets for recognition, the user needs to press many times so as to complete the fingerprint registration process.

In another conventional method of fingerprint recognition, the user swipes his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor of an electronic device, and the electronic device will obtain a plurality of frames when the user is swiping the finger over the fingerprint sensor. The electronic device will then construct the frames to generate a registered fingerprint dataset. The user may be asked to swipe the finger over the fingerprint sensors several times. Therefore, a plurality of registered fingerprint datasets will be generated accordingly. For verification, the user has to swipe the finger over the fingerprint sensor again, and the electronic device comprising the fingerprint sensor will generate a verifying fingerprint dataset accordingly. The electronic device will compare the verifying fingerprint dataset with the registered fingerprint dataset(s) and then decide whether the verifying fingerprint dataset passes the verification.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A fingerprint recognition method and device thereof are provided to obtain a plurality of registered fingerprint datasets after a user swipes his/her finger over a fingerprint sensor several times and performing fingerprint recognition by comparing a verifying fingerprint with the registered fingerprint datasets wherein the verifying fingerprint is obtained by the fingerprint sensor while a user presses his/her finger on the fingerprint sensor.

An embodiment of the invention provides a fingerprint recognition method. The fingerprint recognition method comprises: obtaining a plurality of swiping frames; generating a plurality of registered fingerprint datasets according to the swiping frames; obtaining a pressing fingerprint dataset; and comparing the pressing fingerprint dataset with the registered fingerprint datasets.

An embodiment of the invention provides a fingerprint recognition device. The fingerprint recognition device comprises a fingerprint sensor and a processing unit. The fingerprint sensor is configured to sense a plurality of swiping frames. The processing unit is configured to generate a plurality of registered fingerprint datasets according to the swiping frames, obtain a pressing fingerprint dataset and compare the pressing fingerprint dataset with the registered fingerprint datasets.

Other aspects and features of the invention will become apparent to those with ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following descriptions of specific embodiments of communication transmission methods and systems.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1is an electronic device100according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown inFIG. 1, the electronic device100comprises a fingerprint sensor110, a processing unit120and a storage unit130.FIG. 1presents a simplified block diagram in which only the elements relevant to the invention are shown. However, the invention should not be limited to what is shown inFIG. 1.

In an embodiment of the invention, the fingerprint sensor110has a small sensing area of n×m. For example, the sensing area of the fingerprint sensor110is 10 mm×4 mm or 6 mm×6 mm. Namely, the sensing area of the fingerprint sensor110is small, and the area of the frames which are sensed by the fingerprint sensor110while the user is swiping or pressing his or her finger over or on the fingerprint sensor will be small too since the area of the frame is equal to the sensing area of the fingerprint sensor110. The frame is small, and therefore, each frame comprises few minutiae (e.g. fewer than 5 minutiae).

In an embodiment of the invention, when registering a fingerprint, the user may swipe his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110several times (i.e. 3˜4 times). After each time of the user's finger swiping over the fingerprint sensor110, the electronic device100will obtain a plurality of swiping frames and the processing unit120will select a plurality of effective frames from the swiping frames. Namely, the number of the effective frames is smaller than that of the swiping frames. The effective frames will form a registered fingerprint dataset. In an embodiment of the invention, after the processing device120has selected the registered fingerprint dataset, the registered fingerprint dataset will be stored in the storage unit130. After the user swipes his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110several times (i.e. 3˜4 times), a plurality of registered fingerprint datasets will be stored in the storage unit130.

In an embodiment of the invention, in order to register a fingerprint, the user will be asked to swipe his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110four times along four different directions. For example, the user will be asked to swipe his or her finger four times along four different directions of (1) from upper to lower (or vise-versa), (2) from left to right (or vise-versa), (3) from upper-left to lower-right (or vise-versa) and (4) from upper-right to lower-left (or vise-versa). By asking the user to swipe the finger along the four different directions, four registered fingerprint datasets will be generated and each of the registered fingerprint datasets is corresponding to one of the four different directions.

In order to verify a fingerprint, in an embodiment of the invention, the user will be asked to press his or her finger on the fingerprint sensor110. One frame of fingerprint data will be sensed by the fingerprint sensor110. The frame of fingerprint data forms a verifying fingerprint dataset. Since the four registered fingerprint datasets are respectively corresponding to the directions of (1) from upper to lower (or vise-versa), (2) from left to right (or vise-versa), (3) from upper-left to lower-right (or vise-versa) and (4) from upper-right to lower-left (or vise-versa), the rotation between the verifying fingerprint dataset and one of the registered fingerprint dataset will be less than 22.5 degrees. Therefore, during fingerprint recognition, no matter in which direction the user presses his or her finger on the fingerprint sensor110, the rotation between the verifying fingerprint dataset and one of the registered fingerprint datasets will be less than 22.5 degrees and therefore, is tolerable for fingerprint recognition.

In an embodiment of the invention, after obtaining a plurality of swiping frames sensed by the fingerprint sensor110during the user's swiping the finger over the fingerprint sensor110, the processing unit120will select a number of effective frames from the swiping frames to form a registered fingerprint dataset. After the user swipes his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110four times respectively along four different directions, four registered fingerprint datasets corresponding to the four different directions will be generated. The processing unit120will generate an array to represent each of the registered fingerprint dataset according to the selected frames included in the registered fingerprint dataset. In one embodiment of the invention, each array is indicated as Si={Fi1, Fi2, FiN}, wherein i indicates the i-th time of the user's swiping the finger over the fingerprint sensor110. In the case of asking the user to swipe the finger over the fingerprint sensor110four times for fingerprint registration, the range of i is 1≦i≦4. FiNindicates an effective frame included in the registered fingerprint dataset. In an embodiment of the invention, when the number of the effective frames for one registered fingerprint dataset is smaller than a default value, the processing unit120will determine that the registered fingerprint dataset is ineffective and will discard it.

In an embodiment of the invention, the processing unit120selects the effective frames by comparing the minutiae of the swiping frames sensed by the fingerprint sensor110during the user's swiping the finger over the fingerprint sensor110. In the embodiment, the processing unit120may identify a number of groups of minutiae in each of the swiping frames, and then compare the swiping frames in sequence by determining whether a specific group of minutiae repeatedly appears in a number of continuous swiping frames.FIG. 2will illustrate an example of the embodiment.

FIG. 2is a schematic diagram illustrating the selection of the effective frames according to an embodiment of the invention. For illustration, it is assumed that six swiping frames F1˜F6are sensed and generated after the user swipes his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110. As shown inFIG. 2, the processing unit120will identify a number of groups of minutiae included in each of frames F1˜F6. The identified groups of minutiae are Groups A˜E. Group A appears in frames F1and F2. Group B appears in frames F1, F2and F3. Group C appears in frames F3, F4and F5. Group D appears in frames F4and F5. Group E appears in frames F5and F6. Then the processing unit120will compares the frames F1˜F6in sequence to determine whether a specific group of minutiae repeatedly appears in several continuous frames. As mentioned, Group A appears in frames F1and F2while Group B appears in frames F1, F2and F3. Since the set of frames F1and F2is a subset of that of frames F1, F2and F3, the processing unit120will initiate the selection process by analyzing Group B. The processing unit120determines that frames F1, F2and F3are overlapped while frame F1and frame F4are not overlapped since Group B repeatedly appears in frames F1, F2and F3, but not in frame F4. Namely, frame F1and F3are overlapped, and among the overlapped frames comprising Group B, the distance between frame F1and frame F3is the farthest. Therefore, the processing unit120will select frame F1and frame F3as the effective frames to be included into the registered fingerprint dataset. Then, the processing unit120will analyze Group C and determine that frames F3, F4and F5are overlapped while frame F3and frame F6are not overlapped since Group C repeatedly appears in frames F3, F4and F5, but not in frame F6. Namely, frame F3and F5are overlapped, and among the overlapped frames F3, F4and F5comprising Group C, the distance between frame F3and frame F5is the farthest. Therefore, the processing unit120will further select the frame F5to be an effective frame, and the frame F5will also be included into the registered fingerprint dataset (F3has been selected and included). Since the set of frames F4and F5is a subset of that of frames F3, F4and F5, the processing unit120will continue the selection process by analyzing Group E without analyzing Group D. The processing unit120will analyze Group E and determine that frames F5and F6are overlapped while frame F4and frame F6are not overlapped since Group E repeatedly appears in frames F5and F6, but not in frame F4. Therefore, the processing unit120will further select the frame F5to be an effective frame, and the frame F5will also be included into the registered fingerprint dataset (F5has been selected and included). Therefore, after analyzing Groups A˜E, the processing unit120will select frames F1, F3and F5as the effective frames to be included into the registered fingerprint dataset to make the registered fingerprint dataset can comprise Groups A˜E. Note that the embodiment is only for specifying the invention and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. The processing unit120may select a plurality of frames as the effective frames to be included into the registered fingerprint dataset according to different conditions of minutiae of sensed swiping frames.

In another embodiment of the invention, the processing unit120selects effective frames by comparing the reference areas included in the swiping frames which are sensed and obtained during the user's swiping the finger over the fingerprint sensor110. In the embodiment, the processing unit will identify a plurality of reference areas which are included in the swiping frames. The processing unit120will then sequentially compare the swiping frames to determine whether a specific reference area repeatedly appears in a number of continuous swiping frames, and select the effective frames to be included into the registered fingerprint dataset according to the comparison results.FIG. 3will illustrate an example of the embodiment.

FIG. 3is a schematic diagram illustrating selection of the effective frames according to another embodiment of the invention. For illustration, it is assumed that six swiping frames F1˜F6are sensed and generated after the user swipes his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110. As shown inFIG. 3, the processing unit120will identify the reference areas RA˜RCwhich are included in the swiping frames F1˜F6. Reference area RAappears in frames F1, F2and F3, and does not appear in frame F4. Reference area RBappears in frames F3, F4and F5, and does not appear in frame F6. Reference area RCappears in frames F5and F6. Then, the processing unit120will compare the frames F1˜F6in sequence to determine whether a specific reference area repeatedly appears in several continuous frames, and select the effective frames to be included into the registered fingerprint dataset according to the comparison results. The processing unit120will initiate the selection process by analyzing reference area RA, and determine that frames F1, F2and F3are overlapped while frame F1and frame F4are not overlapped since reference area RArepeatedly appears in frames F1, F2and F3, but not in frame F4. Namely, frame F1and F3are overlapped, and among the overlapped frames F1, F2and F3comprising reference area RA, the distance between frame F1and frame F3is the farthest. Therefore, the processing unit120will select frame F1and frame F3as the effective frames to be included into the registered fingerprint dataset. Then, the processing unit120will analyze reference area RB, and determine that frames F3, F4and F5are overlapped while frame F3and frame F6are not overlapped since reference area RBrepeatedly appears in frames F3, F4and F5, but not in frame F6. Namely, frame F3and F5are overlapped, and among the overlapped frames F3, F4and F5comprising reference area RB, the distance between frame F3and frame F5is the farthest. Therefore, the processing unit120will further select the frame F5to be an effective frame, and the frame F5will also be included into the registered fingerprint dataset (F3has been selected and included). Then, the processing unit120will analyze reference area RC, and determine that frames F5and F6are overlapped since reference area RCrepeatedly appears in frames F5and F6. Therefore, the processing unit120will further select the frame F5(F5has been selected and included) to be an effective frame, and the frame F5will also be included into the registered fingerprint dataset. Therefore, after analyzing reference areas RA˜RC, the processing unit120will select frames F1, F3and F5as the effective frames to be included into the registered fingerprint dataset to make the registered fingerprint dataset comprise reference areas RA˜RC. Note that the embodiment is only for specifying the invention and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. The processing unit120may select a plurality of frames as the effective frames to be included into the registered fingerprint dataset according to different conditions of reference areas of sensed swiping frames.

In another embodiment of the invention, the electronic device100further comprises a prompting unit (not shown in figures). When the user swipes his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110, the fingerprint sensor110will sense along which direction or on which location the user swipes his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110to generate sensed information. The prompting unit generates prompting information according to the sensed information obtained by the fingerprint sensor110. In an embodiment of the invention, the prompting information is provided to the user for indicating the user whether the user swipes his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110along the correct direction and whether the user needs to move his or her finger to a different location. In an embodiment of the invention, the user swipes his or her finger and stops swiping his or her finger temporarily over the fingerprint sensor110several times, and a registered fingerprint dataset will be generated accordingly. After the user has swiped his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110along a default distance, the prompting information will be generated to notify the user to temporarily stop swiping his or her finger without his or her finger leaving the fingerprint sensor110. A plurality of swiping frames will be sensed during that swiping, and a plurality of effective frames will be selected accordingly. Thereafter, the prompting information will notify the user to swipe his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110again. After a default distance, the prompting information will notify the user to stop swiping his or her finger. Another plurality of effective frames will be selected from the swiping frames sensed during that swiping. In the embodiment, the above mentioned process may be repeated several times, and the selected effective frames from different groups of swiping frames sensed during several times of swiping will be included into the registered fingerprint dataset. In an embodiment of the invention, the prompting information may be configured to inform the user by generating a voice or showing a message on a display unit (not shown in figures).

After all of the registered fingerprint datasets are generated, for verification, the user will be asked to press his or her finger on the fingerprint sensor110. A pressing fingerprint dataset will be generated accordingly, and transmitted to the processing unit120. The processing unit120will compare the pressing fingerprint dataset with the registered fingerprint datasets. When the pressing fingerprint dataset matches one of the registered fingerprint datasets, the pressing fingerprint dataset will be verified.

FIG. 4is a flow chart400illustrating the fingerprint recognition method according to an embodiment of the invention. The fingerprint recognition method is applied to the electronic device100. As shown inFIG. 4, firstly, in step S410, a plurality of swiping frames are obtained. In step S420, a plurality of registered fingerprint datasets are generated from the plurality of swiping frames. In step S430, a pressing fingerprint dataset is obtained. In step S440, the pressing fingerprint dataset is compared with the registered fingerprint datasets.

FIG. 5is a flow chart500illustrating step S420according to an embodiment of the invention. In an embodiment of the invention, in flow chart400, each of the registered fingerprint datasets corresponds to a different swiping direction. In the embodiment, step S420comprises the following steps. In step S510, a plurality of effective frames are selected from a plurality of swiping frames to be included into one registered fingerprint dataset. The plurality of swiping frames are sensed when the user swipes his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110along a particular direction, and that registered fingerprint dataset is corresponding to that particular direction. In step S520, an array is generated to represent each of the registered fingerprint datasets. Each of the arrays comprises the effective frames selected from the plurality of swiping frames sensed when the user swipes his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110along a particular direction, and the array is corresponding to that particular direction. In the embodiment, the effective frames are selected by comparing the minutiae of the swiping frames or by comparing the reference areas of the swiping frames

FIG. 6is a flow chart600illustrating the fingerprint recognition method according to another embodiment of the invention. The fingerprint recognition method is applied to the electronic device100. As shown inFIG. 6, firstly, in step S610, a plurality of swiping frames are obtained. In step S620, sensing information is generated by the electronic device100while the plurality of swiping frames are being obtained. In step S630, prompting information is generated according to the sensing information. In step S640, the prompting information is used to indicate the user along which direction or/and at which location to swipe his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor110. In step S650, a plurality of effective frames are selected from the plurality of swiping frames to be included into the registered fingerprint datasets. In step S660, one pressing fingerprint dataset is obtained. In step S670, the pressing fingerprint dataset is compared with the registered fingerprint datasets.

Compared with the conventional fingerprint recognition method, in the fingerprint recognition method according to the invention, the user can register his or her fingerprint by swiping his or her finger over the fingerprint sensor, and the user can be recognized and verified by pressing his or her finger on the fingerprint sensor. In addition, in the fingerprint recognition method according to another embodiment, there is no need to reconstruct the frames to generate a composite registered fingerprint dataset. Furthermore, the fingerprint recognition method according to another embodiment may avoid storing too much useless fingerprint information. As a result, the efficiency of fingerprint recognition is promoted.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention, but do not denote that they are present in every embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment of the invention.

The above paragraphs describe many aspects. Obviously, the teaching of the invention can be accomplished by many methods, and any specific configurations or functions in the disclosed embodiments only present a representative condition. Those who are skilled in this technology will understand that all of the disclosed aspects in the invention can be applied independently or be incorporated.