Control of wireless communication device capability in a mobile device with a biometric key

Inventors

Perna, Steven N. • Clifton, Mark A. • KIM, Jongjin • Varma, Bobby S. • Piro, Stephen J. • Mapen, Barry E. • Richards, Kevin P. • Ackerman, David Alan • Lanzillotto, Ann-Marie • Wade, David J. • Davis, Timothy J. • Fleisch, Michael P. • Bhangley, Jitendra J. • Van Sant, Glen J.

Assignees

Princeton Identity Inc

Abstract

An iris biometric recognition module includes technology for capturing images of an iris of an eye of a person, whether the person is moving or stationary. The iris biometric recognition technology can perform an iris matching procedure for, e.g., authentication or identity purposes, by comparing a digital iris image to a reference iris image and, if the digital and reference iris images match, authenticating a person as authorized to access a first device and transmitting a wireless communication from the first device to a second device.

Core Innovation

The invention describes a biometric access control device and an iris biometric system that authenticate a person to access a wireless communication capability. The system aligns a camera or an iris imager lens with the iris of the person, controls an illuminator device to emit light, and captures a plurality of digital images of the iris synchronously with the synchronous emission. The captured digital images are compared to a reference iris image stored in a database to determine whether a match is present, and authorization is granted in response to a match.

The core recognition approach uses a low resolution image selected from a plurality of resolutions and determines the match by selecting a low frequency component corresponding to the low resolution image. The low resolution image and the low frequency component being the lowest sufficient to identify coarse iris features are used for determining the match, and the result controls whether the person is authenticated as authorized to access the wireless communication capability. The system architecture supports a client device and a second device, and the authenticated person is used to transmit wireless communication to the second device.

The device architecture further enables the reference iris image database and the recognition components to be coupled with local, remote, or cloud database connectivity. In some implementations, the invention includes an illuminator device operated with pulsed or strobe illumination, with the claimed illumination operating at levels above continuous-wave eye-safe limits. The wireless capability can be controlled as authorization is enabled or denied, and in some implementations authorization can be terminated after a predetermined time period, including transaction contexts such as an automated teller machine.

Claims Coverage

The partial content includes three independent claims (clm-00001, clm-00007, clm-00014). Across these independent claims, the coverage centers on iris-alignment and synchronous illumination/capture, matching using a low-resolution/low-frequency coarse-features approach, and granting or controlling authorization to transmit wireless communications between devices.

Across the independent claims, the inventive coverage combines iris alignment and synchronous image acquisition, iris matching using a low-resolution image with a selected low-frequency component sufficient for coarse iris features, and authorization logic that authenticates the person and enables transmitting wireless communications from a first/client device to a second device.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications