Patent ID: 7028893

Claim:
A fingerprint based smartcard comprising: a fingerprint module comprising a fingerprint capture device, a first processor and a first memory operatively coupled for capturing an initial fingerprint of a user and at least one subsequent fingerprint of the user and for comparing the at least one subsequent fingerprint to the initial fingerprint; and smartcard circuitry comprising a second processor, a second memory and a communication element operatively coupled together and to the fingerprint module for receiving results of the comparison and communicating the result to a host system wherein the fingerprint module and the smartcard circuitry are co-located on a common integrated circuit chip, wherein the fingerprint capture device comprises: the first memory comprising a first plurality of memory cells wherein each memory cell has a corresponding electrical device; and a fingerprint contact surface disposed substantially coplanar to the first memory wherein the fingerprint contact surface has a plurality of conductive paths formed through the fingerprint contact surface and wherein at least some of the conductive paths are substantially directly conductively coupled to at least some of the corresponding electrical devices.