Patent ID: 8266442

Claim:
A system for providing secure access to a controlled item, the system comprising: a processor; a memory; and a transmitter subsystem for enrolling biometric signatures into a database, using a legitimate sequence of one or more biometric signals to enrol each biometric signature, and for providing an accessibility attribute when a legitimate biometric signal is received, wherein the accessibility attribute comprises one or more of an access attribute that grants unconditional access, a duress attribute that grants access with activation of an alert tone, an alert attribute that sounds a chime, and a telemetry attribute that represents a communication channel for communicating state information for the transmitter subsystem to a receiver sub-system; and the receiver sub-system for providing access to the controlled item dependent upon said accessibility attribute, said transmitter subsystem is operable to: (a) when the database of biometric signatures is empty, (ai) categorise a biometric signal received by the transmitter sub-system as an administrator biometric signal and (aii) enrol the administrator biometric signal in the database of biometric signatures as an administrator signature; (b) when the database of biometric signatures is not empty, classify a sequence of biometric signals received by the transmitter sub-system as control information when (bi) the received biometric signals are administrator biometric signals, and (bii) the biometric signals forming the received sequence are of predetermined duration, predetermined quantity, and are input within a predetermined time; (c) when the received sequence of biometric signals is identified as control information, (ci) check the control information against predetermined control information and (cii) enrol another user dependent upon a biometric signal from the another user and the checked control information; and (d) when the received sequence of biometric signals is not identified as control information, (di) match biometric signals received by the transmitter sub-system against signatures in the database of biometric signatures, and (dii) when a received biometric signal matches a signature in the database send the accessibility attribute to the receiver.