JP2006285487A - Biological information detection apparatus and biological authentication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact and low-cost authentication apparatus without causing the failure of biological misdetection. <P>SOLUTION: A biological information detection apparatus is provided with a fingerprint imaging apparatus 103 and a fingerprint illuminating light source 104 and a vein imaging apparatus 105 and a vein illuminating light source 106 for acquiring a plurality of pieces of one-dimensional or two-dimensional partial information of the finger in order to acquire fingerprint information and vein information of the finger. The vein imaging apparatus 105 and the vein illumination light source 106 realize biological detection functions, and the imaging range b of the vein imaging apparatus 105 is made wider than the image pickup range (a) of the fingerprint imaging apparatus 103. Whether or not fingerprint information and vein information acquired by combining the plurality of pieces of partial information read by the fingerprint imaging apparatus 103 and the vein imaging apparatus 105, respectively match with preliminarily registered fingerprint information and vein information is collated by an authentication processor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a biometric information detection apparatus and a biometric authentication apparatus, and more particularly to a biometric information detection apparatus and a biometric authentication apparatus that acquire and authenticate different biometric information from the same part of a biometric.

  In recent years, the importance of biometric authentication using voiceprints, fingerprints, and facial features has increased as a method for identifying individuals on a network. However, in biometric authentication, the result of authentication largely depends on the physical condition and state of the living body at that time. Therefore, it is not easy to maintain the authentication accuracy only by using a certain method alone. Therefore, it is required to improve the authentication accuracy by making a composite determination using a plurality of biological information, and a system for performing authentication using a plurality of biological information has been proposed.

On the other hand, in recent years, mobile devices typified by mobile phones have come to function as terminals connected to a network, and there is a demand for a small biometric authentication device that can be mounted on a mobile device. On the other hand, for example, as a technique for realizing miniaturization in the fingerprint sensor of Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, the positions of the fingertip and the solid-state imaging device are relatively moved, and a continuous partial image of the moving fingertip is obtained. A sweep type has been proposed in which an image of the entire fingertip is obtained by image synthesis. According to this technology, the solid-state image sensor and the fiber optics plate are inexpensive because the two-dimensional array of solid-state image sensor, which previously required an area about the size of a finger, is only required for the finger width. . In addition to the optical method described above, methods such as a capacitance method and a heat sensing method are also known for this sweep type.
JP 2002-216116 A JP 2002-133402 A

  However, in the authentication using a plurality of biometric information, it is necessary to have a plurality of sensors, which inevitably has a problem that the system becomes large and expensive.

  In addition, the biometric authentication device is required to accurately detect the timing of acquiring the biometric information by some method. For example, in the case of a fingerprint authentication device, fingerprint imaging starts at the timing when the finger is placed on the sensor. Fingerprint information cannot be obtained even if imaging is performed at other timings. In particular, in the case of a device that acquires information by changing the relative positional relationship between a living body and a sensor, such as a sweep-type fingerprint sensor, the sensor determines whether the living body can be detected and searches for an appropriate sensor setting. In addition, there is a possibility that information about a portion that has passed through the sensor from the initial position until imaging is started cannot be acquired because the relative positional relationship has changed. As a result, the range in which the biometric information can be obtained is narrowed, and there is a problem that the authentication accuracy is lowered.

The biological information detection apparatus of the present invention includes a plurality of biological information acquisition means for acquiring a plurality of partial one-dimensional or two-dimensional partial information in order to acquire biological information of one part of the biological body,
The biological information detection apparatus acquires at least two different biological information from the partial position by a plurality of the biological information acquisition means.

  In the present invention, authentication is performed based on different biological information (for example, fingerprint pattern information and vein pattern information of a finger) of a part of the living body (for example, a finger). Since the same part of the living body is used, a plurality of biological information acquisition means can be arranged close to each other, and the entire system becomes small. In addition, since a plurality of biological information acquisition means are close to each other, even when using a sweep type sensor that relatively moves one part of the biological body and the plurality of biological information acquisition means, the user can simultaneously perform one action. It is convenient because different biological information can be acquired, and the system can be further reduced in size and cost by using a sweep type sensor. Furthermore, by causing one of the sensors to perform a biological detection operation at that time, the problem of erroneous detection of the biological body is solved, and a device that reliably acquires biological information and performs authentication is provided to improve user convenience. .

As described above, according to the present invention, a compact and low-cost product can be provided while configuring a system with high authentication accuracy using a plurality of pieces of biological information. Furthermore, even if it stands from a user's standpoint, the malfunction by the erroneous detection of a biological body can be eliminated.
Furthermore, when a sweep type sensor is used, highly accurate multiple biometric authentication can be performed with a single sweep operation, so that a convenient system can be provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a biometric authentication apparatus that performs authentication from two fingerprints and a finger vein according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the biometric authentication device of this embodiment includes an authentication processing device 101 as a biometric information authentication means, a user interface device (hereinafter abbreviated as “UI”) 102, a fingerprint imaging device 103, and a fingerprint illumination light source 104. , A vein imaging device 105, a vein illumination light source 106, a personal biometric information database (hereinafter abbreviated as “DB”) 107 as biometric information registration means, and an external device 108. The biological information detection device includes a fingerprint imaging device 103, a fingerprint illumination light source 104, a vein imaging device 105, and a vein illumination light source.

  The authentication processing device 101 performs matching between the captured fingerprint and vein pattern and the fingerprint and vein pattern of each individual registered in the DB 107. The authentication processing device 101 includes a collation unit that performs image processing on the composite fingerprint image and the synthetic vein image output from the fingerprint imaging device 103 and the vein imaging device 105, and collates the fingerprint image and the vein image stored in the DB 107 in advance. Have. The personal fingerprint pattern and vein pattern are read in advance in the DB 107 by the fingerprint imaging device 103 and the vein imaging device 105, and a combined fingerprint image and a combined vein image are generated and registered as a fingerprint image for verification and a vein image.

  The UI 102 is a device for guiding operations and procedures to a user when inputting a fingerprint / vein pattern by a visual method or sound using a CRT or liquid crystal. The external device 108 operates according to the authentication result. For example, various devices such as a door lock and access to a personal computer (PC) can be considered.

  FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the biological information detection device. The fingerprint imaging device 103, the fingerprint illumination light source 104, and the vein imaging device 105 are arranged in this order from the abdomen distal end side of the finger 201. A vein illumination light source 106 is disposed at a position opposite to. The vein illumination light source 106 is a light source that emits infrared light, and the emitted light passes through the finger and is detected by the facing vein imaging device 105.

  The user moves the living body information detection apparatus configured as described above in the direction c in FIG. The fingerprint imaging device 103 uses a quasi-one-dimensional optical sensor to reduce the size and cost of the device, and a part of the fingerprint is captured in one imaging. While the finger is moving on the fingerprint imaging device 103, the fingerprint imaging device 103 repeats the imaging of the partial fingerprint images at a high speed. This is a so-called sweep type imaging apparatus that captures a simple fingerprint image.

  Here, the quasi-one-dimensional optical sensor is a two-dimensional optical sensor having a plurality of sub-scanning rows instead of a single row, but has a large number of vertical and horizontal pixels, for example, eight rows for 480 pixels. Differently, it refers to something that looks like a one-dimensional sensor. If the finger position in FIG. 2 is the position where the finger was placed at the start of authentication, the imaging range of the entire fingerprint finally obtained by the fingerprint imaging device 103 combining the partial fingerprint images is: The range is approximately a from the tip of the finger to the first joint. Usually, there are many individual features included in a fingerprint in the range a, and even in a system that has actually been put to practical use, the fingerprint imaging range used for authentication is this range a. Therefore, in this case, a sufficient range of fingerprint images can be obtained for accurate fingerprint authentication.

  On the other hand, the vein imaging device 105 is also a quasi-one-dimensional optical sensor similar to the fingerprint imaging device 103, which captures a partial vein image with a single imaging and captures a partial vein image while the finger is moving. The whole vein image is acquired by repeating the above at a high speed and composing a plurality of them.

  Examples of the optical sensor used in the fingerprint imaging device 103 and the vein imaging device 105 include a CCD and a CMOS sensor.

  In the case of FIG. 2, the vein image capturing range finally obtained by the vein image capturing device 105 by combining the partial vein images is approximately the range b from the tip of the finger to the second joint, and is the fingerprint capturing range. Although it is wider than a, in a biological information detection apparatus, this is intentionally so. Since veins have a lower pattern complexity than fingerprints, feature quantities per unit area are small. To compensate for this, it is necessary to capture a wider area than fingerprints to ensure a certain amount of feature quantities. Because. Therefore, in the biometric authentication device 1, the vein imaging device 105 that requires a wide imaging area is arranged on the base side of the finger. With this arrangement, when the user places the finger so that the second joint portion of the finger is directly above the vein imaging device 105, the fingerprint imaging device 103 is arranged at a position where the first indirect of the finger comes. Therefore, a compact system configuration without wasted space can be achieved. In addition, since the vein imaging range covers the fingerprint imaging range, if the user moves the finger by the amount corresponding to the vein imaging range, there is no need to be aware of the fingerprint imaging range, which increases convenience.

  As described above, the biometric authentication apparatus of the present embodiment constitutes a highly accurate biometric authentication system that performs authentication using two different pieces of biometric information, that is, a fingerprint and a vein. Moreover, since two pieces of biological information are acquired from the same body part called a finger, the sensors can be arranged very close to each other, and the entire system is compact. Moreover, in this case, even if a small and low-cost sweep type sensor is used, the user can acquire fingerprints and veins simultaneously with a single finger movement, so that convenience is not lost and a wide imaging range is required. Since the device is arranged to place the sensor at the base of the finger, a more compact and user-friendly system is provided.

  The vein imaging device 105 also functions as a detection sensor for the finger 201. This will be described with reference to the operation flow of FIG. When the user requests authentication, the biometric authentication device starts authentication (Step 1). Thereafter, the operation flow branches into a processing flow system of the fingerprint imaging apparatus 103 and a processing flow system of the vein imaging apparatus 105.

  The fingerprint imaging device 103 starts imaging the fingerprint immediately after the start of authentication (FP-Step1), and acquires the partial fingerprint image (FP-Step2) and synthesizes the partial fingerprint image until the finger passes over the fingerprint imaging device 103 The processing of (FP-Step 3) and the fingerprint imaging end determination (FP-Step 4) is repeated (FP-Steps 2 to 4). On the other hand, the vein imaging device 105 first operates in the finger detection mode (Ve-Step 1), whether the finger is placed on the biometric authentication device 1 (Ve-Step 2), and the placed finger is forged. Processing (Ve-Step 3) for determining whether it is a finger (whether it is a living body finger) is performed (Ve-Steps 1 to 3). In Ve-Step2, whether or not a finger has been placed is determined based on whether the finger has just been placed immediately after authentication is started and the vein illumination light source 106 is turned on and the same condition is taken after a certain period of time. This is done according to the difference from the output level. If an image is taken with a finger placed after a certain time has elapsed, a shadow is created by the finger and the output level is lowered. In Ve-Step 3, whether or not the finger is a living body is determined by first illuminating the vein illumination light source 106 and imaging the vein, and then locating the vein in accordance with the illumination timing of the fingerprint illumination light source 104 without leaving a time difference. Judgment is made by taking an image and comparing both images. If imaging is performed without leaving a time difference and there is almost no movement of the finger, the main difference in imaging conditions is the position of the illumination light source.

  According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-265269, the vein depth to be imaged differs depending on the direction of illumination, and when illuminated from above using the vein illumination light source 106, the vein inside the finger is imaged, and the fingerprint illumination light source When the vein is imaged by borrowing 104 from the finger pad, the vein on the skin surface is imaged. For this reason, the vein patterns of the two differ from each other even though the images are captured at approximately the same time. However, if this is a fake vein pattern printed on paper, the same vein pattern is detected regardless of the illumination direction, so that it can be identified as a fake finger. Even if you want to make a three-dimensional fake finger, manufacturing such a thing requires a very advanced technique, and firstly there is a way to get a three-dimensional vein pattern inside the person's finger. Because there is no impersonation, it is virtually impossible.

  In this way, when the determination of the biometric finger is completed, the vein imaging device 105 starts imaging the vein (Ve-Step 4), and acquires the partial vein image (Ve-Step 4) until the finger passes over the vein imaging device 105. Repeat Step 5), composition (Ve-Step 6) and vein imaging end determination (Ve-Step 7) (Ve-Step 5 to 7). It is sent to 101 for verification. In this example, the fingerprint imaging device 103 and the vein imaging device 105 synthesize the partial fingerprint image and the partial vein image. However, the authentication processing device 101 may synthesize the partial fingerprint image and the partial vein image.

  The feature of this biometric authentication device is that the processing flow branches into two after starting authentication (Step 1), and one of the sensors can immediately perform an operation dedicated to acquiring biometric information (in this embodiment, fingerprint information). In the point. For example, the biometric information detection apparatus in FIG. 4 is used in a conventional biometric authentication apparatus that performs authentication only with the fingerprint imaging apparatus 401. Then, it is necessary for the fingerprint imaging device 401 to detect a finger and determine whether it is a biological finger or a fake finger. However, the user moves his / her finger even during this determination period. Assuming that the position where the finger is initially placed is the position of the instruction indicated by the solid line, and if the distance d is moved to the position of the dotted instruction during finger detection / judgment, the actual fingerprint imaging Only a part of the e range is performed. Therefore, the fingerprint feature amount is insufficient, and the authentication accuracy is significantly reduced. However, as described above, the biometric information detection apparatus according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 2 can be dedicated to the imaging by the fingerprint imaging apparatus 103, and therefore the first joint from the position of the solid line instruction where the finger is first placed to the tip. All images can be taken. This does not cause a decrease in fingerprint authentication accuracy.

  In the biological information detection apparatus according to the present embodiment, a sensor that performs detection and determination of a biological finger is a vein imaging apparatus that acquires a wider range of biological information. As mentioned earlier, in the case of fingerprints, important individual features are concentrated from the first joint of the finger to the fingertip, whereas the vein is a wide area from the second joint to the fingertip. Since individual features are dispersed in the same area, if the image is missing by the same area width, the amount of features lost is overwhelmingly more likely to affect the authentication. Therefore, the fingerprint imaging device 103 concentrates on fingerprint imaging to acquire information without missing, and the vein imaging device 105 has two functions of detection / judgment and vein imaging itself.

  In the above description, the optical sensor that captures fingerprints and veins is quasi-one-dimensional. However, even if it is a one-dimensional sensor or a normal two-dimensional sensor, the relative position between the sensor for detecting the living body and the living body is determined. If it is a biometric authentication apparatus that synthesizes partial images by changing, the same effect is obtained.

Further, the sensor may not be an optical type. For example, various sensors such as a pressure-sensitive type, a capacitance type, a thermal type, and an electric field detection type can be used as long as the sensor detects a fingerprint.
[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of a biological information detection apparatus using fingerprints and veins according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of the biometric authentication device is the same as the configuration of FIG. 1 described in the first embodiment, and in FIG. 5, the same reference numerals are given to the same constituent members as those of the biometric information detection device of FIG. use.

  In the biological information detection apparatus shown in FIG. 5, the vein imaging device 105, the fingerprint illumination light source 104, and the fingerprint imaging device 103 are arranged in this order from the tip side of the finger 201, and the vein is located at a position facing the vein imaging device 105 across the finger 201. An illumination light source 106 is disposed. Further, the interval f between the vein imaging device 105 and the fingerprint imaging device 103 is approximately the same as the length of the first joint of an adult finger, and is arranged at an interval of approximately 1.5 cm to 2.5 cm.

  The user moves the biometric information detection apparatus configured as described above in the direction c while bringing the finger 201 into contact therewith. The fingerprint imaging device 103 is a quasi-one-dimensional optical sensor similar to that of the first embodiment described above, and images a whole fingerprint image by joining a plurality of partial images while the finger is moving.

  On the other hand, the vein imaging device 105 mainly functions as a detection sensor in the second embodiment. As in the first embodiment, the presence or absence of finger contact is detected from the difference between the initial output level where no finger is placed and the output level after the finger is placed in contact with the vein imaging device 105. Whether or not the finger is a living finger is determined based on the difference in vein patterns picked up by switching the illumination light source.

  A feature of this biological information detection device is that the vein imaging device 105 is separated by a distance f (about the length of the first joint of an adult finger) in front of the fingerprint imaging device 103 and closer to the finger tip. The interval between the fingerprint imaging device 103 that does not perform biometric detection and the vein imaging device 105 that performs biometric detection is set to be equal to or greater than the biometric information acquisition range required by the fingerprint imaging device 103. Since the vein imaging device 105 as a detection sensor is on the distal end side, authentication does not start unless the user places a finger for authentication so that at least the fingertip is placed on the vein imaging device 105. If the user's finger placement position is inappropriate, as shown in FIG. 6, the user interface (UI) device 102 may be used to prompt the user to correct the finger placement. As a result, the position where the user puts the finger is corrected and the authentication can be started, the tip part of the finger from the first joint is always positioned forward of the fingerprint imaging device 103. Then, if the finger is moved in the direction c from that state, the fingerprint ahead of the first joint of the finger is always imaged, and an imaging region sufficient for authentication can be secured.

  As described above, according to the biological information detection apparatus of the present embodiment, it is possible to configure a system that guides the user with a reliable finger position. For this reason, even if the user places an improperly placed finger, the user can quickly correct it, and smooth authentication can be performed.

  Note that the optical sensor for imaging the fingerprint and the vein in this description is the same as in the first embodiment, and is not limited to the optical quasi-one-dimensional sensor. That is, it may be a one-dimensional sensor or a normal two-dimensional sensor, and various sensors such as a pressure-sensitive type, a capacitance type, a thermal type, and an electric field detection type can be used.

  The present invention is applied to an information processing apparatus that requires personal authentication, such as a personal computer, a door opening / closing lock, a biometric information detection apparatus and a biometric authentication apparatus used in mobile devices such as a mobile phone and a PDA.

1 is a configuration block diagram of a biometric authentication apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is side surface sectional drawing of a biometric information detection apparatus. It is an operation | movement flowchart of a biometrics authentication apparatus. It is side surface sectional drawing of the biometric information detection apparatus using only fingerprint information. It is side surface sectional drawing of the biometric information detection apparatus of the biometrics apparatus 2 of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows improper finger arrangement | positioning at the time of use of a biometric information detection apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

101: Authentication processing device of biometric authentication device
102: User interface device (UI) of biometric authentication device
103: Fingerprint imaging device of biometric authentication device
104: Fingerprint illumination light source for biometric authentication device
105: Biometric device vein imaging device
106: Vein illumination light source of biometric authentication device
107: Personal biometric information database (DB) of biometric authentication device
108: External device for biometric authentication device
201: Finger
401: Fingerprint imaging device for biometric authentication device
402: Fingerprint illumination light source for biometric authentication device
403: Finger
a: Fingerprint imaging range required for normal authentication
b: Vein imaging range required for normal authentication
c: Direction of movement of finger 201
d: Finger movement distance until fingerprint detection device 401 finishes finger detection
e: Fingerprint imaging range captured by fingerprint imaging device 401
f: The same width as the first joint of an adult finger

Claims (12)

A plurality of biological information acquisition means for acquiring a plurality of partial one-dimensional or two-dimensional partial information in order to acquire biological information of one part of the biological body;
A biological information detection apparatus that acquires at least two different pieces of biological information from the partial position by a plurality of biological information acquisition means. The biological information detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of biological information acquisition means has a biological detection function. The biological information detection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the biological information acquisition unit having the biological detection function acquires a wider range of biological information in the partial position from the biological information acquired from the partial position. A biological information detection apparatus, which is a biological information acquisition means. 4. The biological information detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one part of the living body is a finger. 5. 5. The biological information detection apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the biological information acquisition means for acquiring a wider range of biological information is arranged on a side closer to the base of the finger. . 5. The biological information detecting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein one of the acquired biological information is a fingerprint. The biological information detecting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein one of the acquired biological information is a blood vessel pattern of a finger. The biological information detection apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the biological information acquisition unit that acquires biological information in a wider range is disposed on a side closer to a fingertip. The biological information detection apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the biological information acquisition unit having the biological detection function is a second biological information acquisition unit, the first biological information acquisition unit that does not perform biological detection and the biological information acquisition unit The biological information detection apparatus characterized in that an interval between the second biological information acquisition means and the biological information acquisition range required by the first biological information acquisition means is the same or longer. 10. The biological information detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of biological information acquisition units relatively move one part of the biological body and the plurality of biological information acquisition units. A biological information detection apparatus that acquires a plurality of pieces of the partial information. The biological information detection apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the biological information acquisition unit having the biological detection function includes an optical sensor and a first light source disposed at a position where a finger is sandwiched between the optical sensor. And having
An output of the photosensor based on light from the first light source, and an output of the photosensor based on light from a second light source arranged at a position where no finger is sandwiched between the photosensors. A biological information detection apparatus comprising: means for detecting a finger of a living body by detecting and comparing the output patterns. The biometric information detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 11 and biometric information obtained by synthesizing a plurality of pieces of partial information output by a plurality of biometric information acquisition units of the biometric information detection device as identification information. Biometric information registration means to be registered in advance;
A biometric information authenticating unit for collating whether each biometric information obtained by synthesizing the plurality of pieces of partial information read by the plurality of biometric information acquiring units matches the identification information; Information authentication device.