Abstract:
A buffer assisted data storage method and system has built-in fingerprint recognition function. Recognized data is provided with a high hit-rate in a short time with the assistanace of a buffer, when a user processes his/her identity recognition through the built-in fingerprint recognition module of the data storage device. As a result, the entire identification and verification process is faster and more efficient. In addition, with the aim of enhancing flexibility of usage, an operation setup interface is introduced to optimize the overall performance of the buffer.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The invention relates to a data access system and method. Specifically, it is a system and method applied to a plug and play (PnP) portable data storage device that employs fingerprint identification technology with a buffer, which assists in quickly retrieving data as contrasted with fingerprints of users to confirm user identities and allow access to the data storage device. 
     2. Related Art 
     With the coming of the ‘m-commerce’ era, new slim-and-light personal portable devices (such as mobile phones, PDAs, portable laptop computers and the like) with comprehensive functionality and great carry-and-go portability, have recently come onto the market. These newly launched devices have become more and more popular; the demand for, and development of such popular devices never remains stagnant. More diversification of such devices is to be explored and applied. Among which, portable data storage device has become one of the hottest topics in the development of personal portable devices. Because of the convenience and handiness it offers to users, the portable data storage device is now playing an indispensable role in the realm of ‘m-commerce’, or mobile commerce, and is becoming another emerging trend of the future. 
     In general, conventional portable data storage devices take advantage of the characteristics of Plug and Play (PnP) devices, to afford every facility to users and to enable users freely to connect the devices to other connecting terminals and access the information therein. Therefore, there is almost no security mechanism designed to place a security control on data access. Some conventional devices adopt encryption, encoding or compression methods (while saving data) to prevent an unauthorized data access in case of misplacement or loss, and some take the user&#39;s password (as with conventional software) approach. All the aforesaid security mechanisms inconvenience users. Therefore, to solve the aforementioned problems, fingerprint identification technology has been applied to portable data storage devices to assist in verifying identity. This process is simple and easy-to-use; it requires only a few verifying steps. It not only eliminates the old, tedious decryption work, but also resolves the confusion caused by the conventional password mechanisms. 
     Yet, when the verification process (of the portable data storage devices) becomes tedious and complicated by reason of repeated procedures (such as retrieving, recognizing, verifying and matching), the said process turns out to be ineffective. Therefore, combining the advanced technology of computer software and hardware with portable (fingerprint recognition) data storage devices to set up a comprehensive buffer matching mechanism, may greatly improve overall performance. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In light of the aforementioned circumstances, the invention aims at establishing a buffer matching mechanism to assist the recognition process of a portable PnP data storage device, and offering a system and method of fingerprint recognition and data storage in order to achieve a high recognition and access rate. 
     Another object of the invention is to offer a user-friendly operation interface configuration. This allows users to fine-tune the memory buffer&#39;s configuration and optimize its functionality, allowing the system and method of the invention to have more flexibility. 
     To achieve the above-mentioned goal, the invention of a data storage system with buffer memory and fingerprint recognition comprises: a data storage module, a transmission interface module, a fingerprint recognition module, and a control module. 
     In addition, the methods of the said invention include the following steps: linking the data storage device to the terminal, entering a receiving/inputting mode to accept a fingerprint image, processing an identification operation through a buffered contrast mechanism, transmitting the access control command to allow access transmission, processing selected corresponding data transmission through a transmission interface. 
     The detailed description of the content and technology of the invention is depicted in the following diagrams: 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is the systematic structure diagram of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is the principal procedural flowchart of the invention; and 
     FIG. 3 is the buffer-aided flowchart of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a buffer assisted data system and method with a built-in fingerprint recognition function. By adding the buffer function to a data storage device  200 , the recognition process is accelerated and has great accuracy. Furthermore, the data access rate of the PC terminal  100  also increases. 
     FIG. 2 below illustrates the principal procedural flowchart of the invention; FIG. 1 below illustrates the systematic structure of the invention. The detailed description of the invention is as follows: 
     Prior to accessing data in the data storage device  200 , a user must connect the data storage device  200  to the PC terminal  100  (STEP  300 ). Once connected, the data storage device  200  automatically enters the transferring and receiving mode. In this transferring and receiving mode, the said device waits for the user to input his/her fingerprint followed by an identifying procedure (STEP  400 ). The sensor module  233  senses and receives the user&#39;s fingerprint in the fingerprint recognition module  230 . Once the user&#39;s fingerprint image data is received, the identification module  232  in the fingerprint recognition module  230  executes matching via the built-in buffer matching mechanism (STEP  500 ). The buffer matching mechanism first utilizes the recognized data that is pre-stored in the buffer module  234 . If nothing matches, the buffer matching mechanism automatically switches to the data module  231  and retrieves and processes the data therein. Once the identifying task is completed and verified, the fingerprint recognition module  230  generates an access control command, allowing the authorized user to access data, and at the same time, it passes the said command to the control module  220 . When the control module  220  receives the aforesaid command, it enables the automated data transfer and access function. The user may then proceed to accessing the data in the data storage module  240  (STEP  600 ). At this time, the user may select the desired data or content from the data storage device  200  through the PC terminal  100 . Furthermore, the corresponding data is transferred and accessed by connecting the transmission interface module  110  in the PC terminal  100  and the transmission interface module  210  in the data storage device  200  (STEP  700 ). The entire principal procedure is thus completed. 
     FIG. 3 further illustrates the procedural flow of the buffer-aided invention: 
     First of all, the identification module  232  reads the user&#39;s inputted fingerprint image from the (image) sensor module  233  (STEP  510 ), and retrieves the matching characteristics of the fingerprint image from the image sensor via fingerprint identification technology (STEP  520 ). At this time, the buffer memory matching mechanism in the identification module  232  is activated and it automatically checks for any familiar data in the buffer module  234  (STEP  530 ). If matching data is found, the said mechanism starts to read and identify the recognized data in the buffer module  234 . First, it retrieves the matching characteristics of the recognized data (STEP  540 ), followed by the identifying procedure based on the given matching characteristics (STEP  550 ), and further determines if the user is an authorized user (STEP  560 ). If yes, it generates an access control command and transfers the command to the control module  220  (STEP  590 ). Otherwise, it proceeds to the next record of recognized data until entire database has been read. If the buffer module  234  finds no suitable authorized user, the buffer matching mechanism automatically retrieves the recognized data in the data module  231  (STEP  570 ) instead. In the above-mentioned STEP  530 , if the buffer matching mechanism in the identification module  232  confirms that no data is stored in the buffer module  234 , the same procedure follows and it proceeds to STEP  570  as a result. At this point, the identification module  232  starts to read and process the data. First, it retrieves the matching characteristics of the recognized data (STEP  540 ), followed by the identifying procedure based on the given matching characteristics (STEP  550 ), and it further determines whether the user is an authorized user (STEP  560 ). If none of the data matches, it indicates that the user is not an authorized user of this particular data storage device  200 . If so, the user sees a relevant error message (STEP  580 ). If the user is confirmed as an authorized user, the access control command is generated and transferred to the control module  220  (STEP  590 ). The operation is then complete. 
     The invention further provides an executable computer program stored in the data storage module  240 . This program may be selected and executed from the PC terminal  100 . This offers users the configured operation interface  120  to freely configure the setup and the relevant buffer rules in the buffer module  234 . These rules or protocols include a limited number of records stored in buffer, and the rule for filtering and saving the memory buffer. The buffer-aided function provides the best performance and comfort for the user. 
     ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is a system and method of buffer-aided fingerprint recognition and data storage. It uses the information stored in a PnP data storage device, and by means of fingerprint identification technology, which is aided by a memory buffer, a user&#39;s identity can be verified. It significantly reduces the time needed to search mass information directly. Furthermore, the hit rate for identifying data increases tremendously and the matching accuracy is greatly improved. 
     The invention provides a configured operation interface (of a computer program) that allows users to configure the rules for the buffer through an external PC terminal when executing the program. The said interface not only optimizes the functionality of buffer-aided memory, but also adds flexibility to the invention. 
     While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment and alterations thereto, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.