Patent ID: 7366332

Claim:
A surface shape recognition sensor device characterized by comprising: a plurality of capacitance detection units which are arranged in a grid shape to cause a detection element to detect a capacitance generated with respect to an object and output a capacitance signal representing a value of the capacitance; detection elements which are arranged near said capacitance detection units; a plurality of control lines which connect, of said capacitance detection units, capacitance detection units arranged in a column direction; a plurality of data lines which connect, of said capacitance detection units, capacitance detection units arranged in a row direction; a column selector which sequentially selects one of said control lines to select each capacitance detection unit connected to said control line; a first A/D conversion unit which is arranged for each data line and A/D-converts the capacitance signal, which is output from each capacitance detection unit selected by said column selector to said data line, into three-dimensional data and outputs the three-dimensional data; a row selector which sequentially selects the three-dimensional data obtained from said first A/D conversion unit for each data line and outputs the three-dimensional data as surface shape data representing a surface shape of the object; an impedance detection unit which is arranged together with a detection element as a pair in place of one of said capacitance detection units and comes into electrical contact with the object through said detection element to detect an impedance of the object and outputs a detection signal corresponding to the impedance; and a biometric determination unit which determines on the basis of the detection signal from said impedance detection unit whether the object is a living body, wherein said biometric recognition unit comprises a response signal generation unit which applies a predetermined supply signal to said detection element and outputs, as a response signal, a signal whose phase and amplitude have changed in accordance with an impedance of the object which is in electrical contact through said detection element, and a waveform information detection unit which detects, as waveform information, one of the phase and amplitude representing a waveform of the response signal and outputs a detection signal representing the waveform information, and said biometric determination unit executes determination on the basis of whether the waveform information contained in the detection signal falls within a reference range of the waveform information which indicates an authentic living body.