JP5276914B2 - Biometric information verification device and biometric information authentication system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To raise authentication accuracy in self authentication and authentication for acceptance of others in biometric authentication processing and to prevent deterioration in system usability. <P>SOLUTION: A biometric matching device includes: a biometric information input unit for inputting biometric information capable of identifying a user; a biometric information feature extraction unit for extracting a feature of the inputted biometric information and generating feature data; a storage unit storing biometric information for matching; a matching unit for comparing the generated feature data with the biometric information for matching stored in the storage unit and performing biometric information matching; an authentication result comparison unit for determining user authenticatability from a result of matching performed by the matching unit and a result of matching performed by a terminal on the basis of biometric information for matching stored in another terminal; and an authentication management unit for permitting later use by the user when it is determined by the authentication result comparison unit that the user is successfully authenticated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a biometric information collation device and a biometric information authentication system, and in particular, manages biometric information such as fingerprints using a plurality of collation devices connected via a network, and performs biometric information update processing and the like on each collation device. The present invention relates to a distributed biometric information authentication system.

  In the conventional biometric information authentication system, biometric information such as fingerprints, voiceprints, irises, retinas, veins, and faces is recognized and the identity is confirmed. There are a number of usage forms for such a device for recognizing biometric information depending on the number of people who use it, the state of use, and the like.

  For example, when the user to be authenticated is an individual, a program that implements a biometric authentication function is introduced into a personal computer or a mobile phone, and biometric information used for verification is stored in the same personal computer or the like. In this case, since the user and the biometric information to be stored are also small, the authentication process is completed in the single personal computer.

  In addition, when there are a plurality of persons who perform biometric authentication, such as bank ATM terminals, network terminals, door locks, etc., it consists of a plurality of terminals operated by the user and a server connected to these via a network. A relatively large-scale biometric authentication system is used. In this case, when the user inputs his / her ID and biometric information (such as a fingerprint) instead of a password from the terminal, these pieces of information are transmitted to the server, and collation processing is performed on the server. Therefore, it is necessary to store the collation ID and biometric information in the server in advance before use.

FIG. 19 shows a configuration diagram of a conventional biometric authentication system.
In FIG. 19, this system is composed of one authentication server and a plurality of terminals (A, B, C, D), and a biometric information input for inputting a fingerprint or the like to a terminal used by a user. Each device is connected.

  Further, the authentication server and the terminal are connected by a network such as a LAN, and are installed in the same store or in different places. The authentication server includes a biometric authentication information DB that stores biometric information of a large number of users and a biometric authentication module that collates biometric information.

  Such a system acquires in advance biometric information such as a user's fingerprint, voiceprint, rainbowprint, retina, vein, or face, symbolizes the features, and stores them in a server. That is, the biometric information of all users is collectively managed by the server. Then, when the user uses the terminal, the user's ID and the user's biometric information are input, and the input ID and biometric information are stored in advance on the authentication server side. The user's ID and biometric information are collated, and the collation result is returned to the terminal.

  By the way, biometric information accompanies the user himself and is frequently used today because there is no fear of being stolen like a password. In addition, passwords must match completely at the time of verification, whereas biometric information does not match completely, and the temperature, humidity, and input when acquiring verification biometric information to be stored on the server The same data is not always acquired due to a number of factors such as the contact state and positional relationship with the sensor, and changes in the state of the living body due to personal injury.

  For example, in the case of fingerprints, what is acquired in a state where the finger is wet and the finger is swollen often does not match that acquired in a state where it is not. Therefore, it can be said that the biometric information input at the time of collation and the biometric information for collation stored in the server do not completely match.

  On the other hand, when they completely match, it can be said that the input biological information is acquired by an unauthorized means. Therefore, in the case of biometric authentication, verification may be rejected even though the person uses the terminal, and conversely, verification may succeed even if another person uses the terminal. is there.

As described above, the phenomenon of identity rejection or acceptance of others is an essential feature in biometric authentication and cannot be completely eliminated. A system in which the utilization form of the biometric authentication system as shown in FIG. 19 is improved is disclosed in the following patent document, for example.
JP 2006-187387 A JP 2007-80193 A JP 2006-14945 A JP 2004-110839 A

  However, in the conventional system in which personal biometric information is used in one terminal such as a personal computer, it is necessary to store biometric information in the terminal in advance. When a user uses a plurality of personal computers, it is necessary to acquire and store the user's biometric information in advance for each personal computer, and such multiple acquisition operations are troublesome.

  In addition, as described above, it is almost impossible to always acquire the same biological information depending on the situation at the time of acquisition work, so it is difficult to maintain the consistency of biological information acquired by a plurality of terminals. there were. For example, there are cases in which biometric information can be collated at most terminals, but biometric information cannot always be collated at a specific terminal.

  In addition, in a system that manages biometric information collectively with a server, biometric information is stored only in one location, so authentication processing cannot be performed when there is a failure in the network or server or when maintenance is performed. . In addition, when accesses from a large number of terminals are temporarily concentrated on the server, the response may become slow and processing may not be possible, and a decrease in system availability using the server becomes a problem.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and biometric information is distributed and stored at a plurality of terminals, and the mutual authentication between the terminals improves the accuracy of personal authentication. An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described conventional problems of a system that performs centralized management using a server.

The present invention provides a biometric information input unit that inputs biometric information that can identify a user, a biometric information feature extraction unit that extracts features of the input biometric information and generates feature data, and stores biometric information for verification And a biometric information matching unit that compares biometric information of the user by comparing the generated feature data and biometric information for verification stored in the storage unit, and the biometric information feature The feature data generated by the extraction unit is transmitted to another terminal connected to the network, and the result of matching generated by the authentication process performed using the feature data in the other terminal is received. Authentication for determining whether or not the user can be authenticated based on the result of the verification performed by the communication unit including the reception unit, the verification performed by the biometric information verification unit, and the verification result of the terminal received from the other terminal Results comparison When the authentication result comparison unit determines that the user has been successfully authenticated, the authentication management unit that permits the use of the user and the communication unit include the feature data from another terminal. A biometric information matching device comprising: an authentication information replacing unit that replaces the matching biometric information already stored in the storage unit with the received feature data when an update request is received .
The biometric information collating apparatus characterized by this is provided.
According to this, since the authentication of the biometric information of a certain user is performed using the collation result of the user and other terminals, the authentication accuracy of the personal authentication and the acceptance of the other person can be improved. In addition, it is possible to perform authentication processing at the time of occurrence of a failure that occurs when biometric information is collectively managed by the server, and it is possible to prevent a decrease in the availability of the authentication processing system.

Further, the feature data generated by the biometric information feature extraction unit is generated by a transmission unit that transmits the feature data to another terminal connected to the network, and an authentication process performed using the feature data in the other terminal. The communication device further includes a communication unit including a receiving unit that receives a result of the collation.
Further, when the communication unit receives an update request including the feature data from another terminal, an authentication information replacement unit that replaces the biometric information for verification already stored in the storage unit with the received feature data Is further provided.

Further, when the biometric information of the user is not stored in the storage unit, the authentication management unit stores the biometric information of the user input by the biometric information input unit in the storage unit as biometric information for verification. It is characterized by newly registering.
In addition, the authentication result comparison unit generates verification result information including authentication propriety information indicating whether or not biometric information verification is successful, and an approximation indicating the degree of possibility of successful verification. Features.
In addition, the authentication management unit uses the approximation included in the verification result information generated by the authentication result comparison unit and the approximation included in the verification result received from another terminal, to achieve the most successful verification. Identifying a terminal having a high degree of approximation and transmitting an update request including feature data of biometric information input by the biometric information input unit to the identified terminal using the communication unit It is characterized by.

When biometric information of a user is input by the biometric information input unit, a biometric authentication request including feature data of the input biometric information is used to verify the input user by using the communication unit. It transmits to the terminal which has already memorized biometric information.
In addition, when the biometric authentication request is received via the communication unit, the biometric information matching unit collates the feature data included in the received biometric authentication request and the user stored in the storage unit The biometric information of the user is compared with the biometric information for use, and the user's biometric information is collated.
Whether the storage unit currently stores the authenticated user ID for identifying the user who has input the biometric information by the biometric information input unit, the login status of the user, and the biometric information of the user. And an authentication management unit that manages the account management table so that the account management table has the same contents as an account management table provided in another terminal connected to the network. And

Further, the present invention provides a biometric information input unit, a biometric information feature extraction unit, a storage unit that stores biometric information for verification, a biometric information verification unit, an authentication result comparison unit, an authentication management unit, a communication unit, A biometric information collating method of a biometric information collating apparatus including an authentication information replacing unit , wherein a biometric information is input by a user through the biometric information input unit and the biometric information input by the biometric information feature extracting unit. The feature of information is extracted to generate feature data, and the communication unit transmits the feature data generated by the biometric information feature extraction to another terminal connected to the network, and then the other terminal receiving a result of collation that is generated by the authentication processing performed by using the feature data, the biometric authentication unit, the characteristic data the generated, and a crosscheck biometric information stored in the storage unit The biometric information of the user to match by compare, the authentication result comparison unit, the result of collation of biometric information, and a result of the collation performed by another terminal the received authentication of the user When the authentication management unit determines that the authentication of the user has been successful, the authentication management unit permits the user to use the authentication information replacement unit. The biometric information collation is characterized in that when the update request including the feature data is received from another terminal by the communication unit, the biometric information for collation already stored in the storage unit is replaced with the received feature data. The present invention provides a biometric information collation method for an apparatus.

Further, the present invention is a biometric information authentication system in which a plurality of biometric information collating devices are connected via a network, and biometric information for collation of a specific user is one of the plurality of biometric information collating devices. or stored in any biometric authentication device, the biometric information input unit provided in the first bIOLOGICAL information collating apparatus, if the biometric information of the user is inputted, the inputted user One or a plurality of biometric information storing biometric information for user verification using the biometric information of the user and the stored biometric information for verification of the user. Performed by the biometric information collation unit provided in the collation device, and the communication unit provided in the first biometric information collation device receives the result of the user authentication process performed by another biometric information collation device, Provided in the first biometric information matching device Authentication result comparing unit is that, by collecting the results of the user authentication process performed in the self and other biological information matching device determines whether the user authentication based on those results, If it is determined that the user has been successfully authenticated, the user is permitted to use the authentication information replacement provided in one or more biometric information collating devices other than the first biometric information collating device. When the unit receives an update request from the first biometric information matching device, the stored biometric information for verification is replaced with biometric information for verification included in the update request. A biometric authentication system is provided.

  According to the present invention, authentication of the biometric information of a certain user is performed using the authentication information for collation of the user distributed and stored in itself and other terminals. Authentication accuracy can be improved, and the authentication process can be continued even if one terminal breaks down.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.
However, this does not limit the present invention.

<Configuration of biometric authentication system>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the biometric information authentication system according to the present invention.
The biometric information authentication system according to the present invention includes a plurality of terminals connected via a network 10. A server that collectively manages and saves biometric information is not required.
Here, as the network 10, any type of network currently used can be used. For example, a wired LAN may be used when all terminals are arranged on the same premises, and a wireless LAN may be used when arranged on the same floor with good visibility. If a plurality of terminals are not on the same premises, a WAN such as the Internet may be used through a line such as ISDN or FTTH. Further, the communication protocol between the terminals is not limited as long as peer-to-peer communication is possible, and the same protocol as that normally used in a LAN or the like may be used.

The terminal of the present invention can be configured by a single unit, but particularly in the case of a system including a plurality of terminals, the effect of improving authentication accuracy and security and reducing the cost of the entire system is great.
As the terminal, a dedicated biometric information matching device may be used, but a number of information processing devices such as a personal computer PC, a workstation WS, and a portable terminal that are currently used can be used. When an information processing device such as a personal computer is used, a dedicated program for performing the biometric information authentication process of the present invention is installed in each information processing device, and the microprocessor built in each device operates according to the dedicated program. Each function for biometric authentication of the present invention is executed by organically operating.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration block diagram of an embodiment of the biometric information collating apparatus (hereinafter also referred to as a terminal) of the present invention.
The terminal of the present invention mainly includes a biometric information input unit 201, a biometric information feature extraction unit 202, a biometric information matching unit 203, an authentication result comparison unit 204, a biometric information replacement unit 205, an operation input unit 206, and an authentication constituting a storage unit. Biometric information DB 207, management table 208 and account management table 209, communication unit 210, authentication management unit 211 that controls each of the above functional blocks and various hardware to execute the biometric information authentication process of the present invention. .

Here, the biometric information input unit 201 is a part that acquires biometric information such as a user's fingerprint and veins, and for example, a camera or a scanner is used.
The biometric information feature extraction unit 202 is a part that extracts feature data used for collation from the input biometric information, and its function is mainly realized by a dedicated module program. This feature data is hereinafter also referred to as symbolized biological information, symbolized data, or biological data.
The biometric information matching unit 203 is a part that checks the degree of approximation between the feature data extracted from the biometric information and the matching biometric information stored in advance in the authentication biometric information DB 207, and its function is mainly a dedicated module. Realized by the program. As a result of this check, an authentication result is created that includes information indicating whether the verification has succeeded or failed (authentication enabled / disabled) and information required for comparison by the authentication result comparison unit 204 (such as the degree of approximation).

  The authentication result comparison unit 204 is a part that collects and compares authentication results sent from other terminals, and is a part that determines whether or not the user can be authenticated based on those results. This is also realized mainly by a dedicated module program. Here, for example, the degree of approximation of a plurality of authentication results is checked to determine which terminal has the highest degree of approximation of the authentication result sent from it.

The authentication information replacement unit 205 is a part that replaces biometric authentication information that is currently stored based on comparison of authentication results with other biometric authentication information (for example, recently entered biometric authentication information). Realized by a dedicated module program.
The operation input unit 206 is a pointing device such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a pen, for example, and is a part where a user directly inputs numbers, characters, and symbols such as an ID.

As shown in FIG. 1, the communication unit 210 is a part that transmits and receives data to and from other terminals via a network.
In particular, the communication unit generates feature data generated by the biometric information feature extraction unit by a transmission unit that transmits the feature data to another terminal connected to the network, and an authentication process performed using the feature data in the other terminal. And a receiving unit for receiving the collation result.
The receiving unit is a part that receives, for example, an update request including feature data of biometric information input at the terminal and a biometric authentication request including feature data of input biometric information from another terminal.
Conversely, the transmission unit is a part that transmits the update request or biometric authentication request to another terminal A.
The storage unit is a semiconductor memory such as a ROM, RAM, or flash memory, or a storage device such as a hard disk. In addition to the authentication biometric information DB 207 and management tables (208, 209), each module program, A lot of information necessary for executing the information authentication process is stored.

  The biometric information DB 207 for authentication is a part in which feature data (symbolized biometric information) extracted by the biometric information feature extraction unit 202 is stored, and information stored therein is collated by the biometric information collation unit 203. This corresponds to the biometric information for verification. In addition to the feature data, biometric information for collation is stored together with the feature data registration date and time, the degree of approximation, the number of authentications, and the like.

  The management table 208 is a part that stores information that is used and generated in each functional block of the biometric information authentication process of the present invention. Information for identifying individual users and terminals, each stage of the authentication process (extraction, Information generated by collation, comparison, replacement, etc.).

  The account management table 209 is information including the ID of the user, the registration status of the user authentication information, the status of login to the terminal, etc. For example, it is possible to confirm which terminal the user is currently using. Used to prevent double login to multiple terminals. Therefore, the account management table 209 is information shared by all the terminals constituting the system of FIG. 1, and the same information is always stored in all the terminals connected to the network. This information is managed so that other terminals connected to the network have the same information.

As described above, the authentication management unit 211 is a part that executes the biometric information authentication process of the terminal by controlling each functional block, and includes a microcomputer mainly including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O controller, a timer, and the like. It consists of a control program, and the CPU controls each functional module by operating various hardware based on the control program.
Further, when it is determined that the user has been successfully authenticated, the authentication management unit permits subsequent use of the user and causes the terminal to execute a desired process (for example, a login process). To.

<Outline of Biometric Information Authentication Process of the Invention>
In the present invention, each terminal has the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 2, and when a user intends to use a certain terminal, before using the original intended function of the terminal, A biometric authentication process is performed while communicating. That is, the present invention is characterized in that authentication processing is performed while using biometric information stored in another terminal, and authentication processing that is complete only by the terminal to be used is not performed.

The biometric information authentication process of the present invention is realized mainly by the following series of processes.
First, when the user A inputs the ID of the user A at the terminal A to be used by the operation input unit 206, the user A performs message communication with other terminals (B, C, D), and the ID exists. A confirmation process is performed. Thereafter, the biological information of the user A is input using the biological information input unit 201. Then, feature data extraction processing by the biometric information special extraction unit 202 is performed, and subsequently biometric information collation processing by the biometric information collation unit 203 is performed. This collation process is performed not only by the terminal A but also by other terminals (B, C, D).
In order to perform collation processing in another terminal, the input biometric information of the user A is transmitted from the terminal A to the other terminal A.

Next, the authentication result comparison unit 204 collects the authentication results of the verification processing performed in all the terminals, and determines whether or not authentication is possible. Here, if at least one of the plurality of authentication results is successfully authenticated, the user A is permitted to use the terminal A. That is, the user A can log in.
Thereafter, when the user A logs in at the terminal A, the original intended function can be used.

After logging in at the terminal A, information indicating that the terminal A has logged in to another terminal is transmitted, and the contents of the account management table are changed to be the same.
Further, the plurality of authentication results described above are analyzed, and the authentication information replacement unit 205 executes new registration of biometric information and update processing to new biometric information as necessary. Here, the update process is performed not only at the terminal A but also at other terminals (B, C, D).

The above is the outline of the authentication processing of the present invention. By replacing each other's information between the distributed terminals in this way, the accuracy of personal authentication is improved, the cost is reduced by not using a server, and authentication is performed. It is possible to prevent a decrease in the availability of the entire system.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the authentication process of the present invention will be described in detail.

<Verification processing with fraction type authentication system>
Here, in a fractional type authentication system using a plurality of terminals, it is shown when collation is permitted or rejected.
FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of an authentication model of a conventional verification process that is not distributed. Here, biometric data 1 for collation stored in the server in advance, new input biometric information (3, 4) to be collated input from the terminal, and comparison between both are determined to be successful. A collation range 2 is shown.
The biometric data 1 for collation stored in the server is one, and the input biometric information 3 that exists within a circle centered on the biometric data 1 for collation and has a closeness within a certain range is verified. Judged successful. On the other hand, the input biometric information 4 present outside the circle with a relatively low degree of approximation fails to be verified and authentication is rejected. Here, the degree of approximation can be said to be a parameter indicating the degree of possibility of successful collation.
In this case, the collation range 2 corresponds to the degree of approximation between the input biometric data and the biometric data for collation, but if the radius of the collation range 2 is increased and the range that is determined to be approximate is set large, Although the refusal rate can be reduced, the acceptance rate of others increases, which is not preferable for security. On the other hand, if the collation range 2 is narrowed, the acceptance rate of others is lowered and preferable in terms of security, but the rejection rate of the identity person is increased and deteriorated.

  Therefore, as in the past, when centrally managing one piece of biometric data for one user per user, if the collation range 2 is fixedly set to one, the conflicting rejection rate and the acceptance of others The rate is also fixed, and it is difficult to flexibly respond to various situation changes such as individual differences among users.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of an authentication model in the distributed authentication system of the present invention.
In the distributed authentication model, a plurality of pieces of biometric information for matching (biometric data for matching) is used. A plurality of pieces of biometric information for verification are stored in advance in different terminals. However, it may be stored in only one terminal at the beginning instead of being stored in all terminals from the beginning. Further, the plurality of pieces of biometric information for collation stored in each terminal may be the same, but it is preferable that they are non-identical biometric data maintaining a certain degree of approximation. This is because the biometric information input by the user at the terminal is usually different every time it is used, and also for improving the accuracy of authentication.

Therefore, in FIG. 4, it is assumed that a plurality of different biometric data for verification (1a, 1b, 1c) are stored in advance in any of the terminals. In addition, collation ranges (2a, 2b, 2c) are set for the respective biometric data for collation (1a, 1b, 1c).
For example, if the input biometric information falls within the collation range set for the biometric data for verification 1a, it is determined that the input biometric information has been successfully verified with the biometric data for verification 1a. Further, the three pieces of biometric data for verification (1a, 1b, 1c) are data obtained separately for the same user and are different data, but are data having a fairly high degree of approximation, as shown in FIG. In addition, the collation ranges (2a, 2b, 2c) are considered to overlap each other.

  Therefore, in the present invention, if the biometric information 3 input at a certain terminal is in any one of the collation ranges (2a, 2b, 2c) of the plurality of biometric data for collation, the collation is successful. Judge that Conversely, if the input biometric information 4 does not enter any of the three verification ranges and is outside all the verification ranges, verification fails and authentication is rejected.

  In the case of FIG. 4, the range determined to be the principal is the union of the three verification ranges, so if the radius size of each verification range is the same as in FIG. Increases and can reduce the rejection rate. On the other hand, when the same person rejection rate as that in FIG. 3 is sufficient, the size of each verification range in FIG. 4 can be made smaller than that in FIG.

  On the other hand, the fact that the rejection rate of the principal can be reduced means that the acceptance rate of others is increased, so that the union of the collation ranges is preferably as small as possible, and the collation ranges of the biometric data for each collation It is preferable to make (2a, 2b, 2c) as small as possible. In addition, when there are a large number of biometric data for verification, the union of the verification ranges tends to be large, so for example, the biometric data for verification farthest from the center of gravity of a plurality of biometric data for verification is not adopted, The biometric data for verification that is used many times in the verification of input biometric information remains, and the biometric data for verification that is rarely used for verification is deleted, making it the most frequently used biometric data for verification. It is preferable to update biometric data for collation such as replacement in order to improve the acceptance rate of others.

In the conventional authentication system using a server, if a plurality of pieces of biometric data for verification are stored for each user, the same authentication as shown in FIG. 4 is possible. Since the verification takes time and the load is concentrated on the server, the response for transmitting the authentication result from the server to the terminal is also delayed.
However, in the present invention, since each verification biometric data is stored separately for each terminal, the verification processing of the input biometric information and each verification biometric data is performed in a distributed manner on different terminals. The load is rarely concentrated on one terminal, and sufficient availability of the authentication system can be ensured.
In addition, since distributed verification processing is performed using a plurality of terminals, even if one of the terminals fails and cannot be operated, the biometric data for verification stored in the failed terminal is used. However, verification using biometric data for verification of other terminals is possible, and authentication processing is not completely interrupted as in the case of a server failure.

FIG. 5 shows an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the biometric information DB for authentication.
Here, the authentication biometric information DB 207 can use (validate) the biometric information ID, the encoded biometric information, the registration date, the degree of approximation, the number of authentications, and the encoded biometric information for verification. It is composed of status information indicating that the verification is not possible (invalid).

Here, the biometric information ID (such as Bio-ID1) is information for specifying the feature data of each user, and one ID is assigned to each user. FIG. 5 shows biometric information for collation of four people. This biometric information ID is also used in the management table 208.
Symbolized biological information (such as Symbolic-Bio-ID1) corresponds to the feature data described above, and is data that allows the input biological information to be handled by a computer so that a characteristic part of the biological information can be identified. It is symbolized information, and the same information that is also used in a conventional authentication system may be used.

The degree of approximation (approximation 1 etc.) in FIG. 5 is the information representing the degree of approximation between the “symbolized biometric information” stored here and the biometric information input when the previous collation was performed. The degree of approximation is information. For example, the degree of approximation is calculated by numerical values by symbolizing characteristic parts of the input biological information and biological information to be collated. Specifically, in the case of a fingerprint, the positional relationship between a plurality of feature points such as branch points is digitized. The digitized positional relationship is judged using a discriminant analysis technique which is a kind of statistical multivariate analysis. Specifically, a discriminant score can be obtained by deriving an estimation formula of a linear discriminant function and substituting a numerical value of the positional relationship into this estimation formula. This discrimination score can be used as the degree of approximation.
The number of times of authentication (Confirm-Coutner1, etc.) means the number of times that the symbolized biometric information has been successfully verified in the verification process. For example, the feature data of the input biometric information input by a certain user and the biometric information of the user stored in the DB 207 are collated, and the collation of the symbolized biometric information as shown in FIG. 4 is performed. If the input biometric information is included in the range, it is determined that the verification is successful, and 1 is added to the number of authentications. Here, the number of authentications is used in the update process of biometric information for verification, and it can be said that the larger the number of authentications, the more frequently used and effective biometric information is as authentication information for identity verification.

  If the status information (state 1 or the like) is “valid”, the corresponding symbolized biometric information is used for authentication, and if it is “invalid”, it is information that is not used. The validation or invalidation of the state information is performed, for example, when the biometric information is deregistered.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the management table and the account management table.
Here, the management table 208 includes a person-to-be-authenticated ID presence management table (ID-confirm-Table) and two authentication result tables (Certification-Table).
The person-to-be-authenticated person ID management table 208-1 is information in which three IDs are stored together, is information on messages transmitted and received between terminals, and is a biometric for verification corresponding to the inputted person-to-be-authenticated ID. This is information used for each terminal ID in order to confirm when an inquiry is made to each terminal as to whether or not the information ID exists. These pieces of information are information set at the time of new registration, for example.
The authenticated person ID (user-ID1) is information for identifying a user.
The terminal ID (Terminal-ID1) is information for identifying a terminal in which biometric data for verification (biometric information for verification) of the user having the authenticated user ID is stored. When there are a plurality of pieces of biometric data for verification, all terminal IDs in which the respective biometric data for verification are stored are stored.

The biometric information ID is information that identifies the biometric information of the person assigned to each person to be authenticated. The authentication result tables (208-2 and 208-3) are information generated as a result of collation processing performed at a certain terminal.
The first table 208-2 includes a terminal ID, an authenticated user ID, an authentication result, a degree of approximation, and a registration date / time. Here, the authentication result (Result 1) is information indicating whether or not the collation is successful.
The degree of approximation (approximation1) is numerical information indicating the degree of approximation with the collation data obtained by the collation process. When there are a plurality of pieces of collation data, there are a plurality of degrees of approximation.
The registration date and time (time1) is information indicating the date and time when the authentication result is registered in the management table 208-2.
The second table 208-3 includes a terminal ID, a biometric information ID, a registration date and time, a degree of approximation, and the number of authentications. Here, the registration date and time means the date and time when biometric information is acquired and authentication is successful.

As shown in FIG. 6, the account management table 209 includes an authenticated person ID, status information, and additional information.
The state information is information indicating whether the user's login state and the user's biometric information are currently stored in the terminal effectively. For example, the user's biometric information is already registered. “New”, “Logged in” indicating that the person is currently logged in at a certain terminal, “Not logged in” indicating that the person is not currently logged in, and the biological information of the person is currently registered. It consists of “deletion” indicating that it is not. The additional information includes, for example, the currently logged-in terminal ID.

FIG. 7 shows an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of a configuration format of messages transmitted and received between the terminals.
Here, the contents of the messages (MF1 to MF15) will be described with reference to a flowchart described later. Mainly, the “source” indicating the source of the message, the “source” indicating the destination of the message, and the meaning of the message It consists of a “command” indicating the contents and “additional information” which is information necessary for the command.

  The additional information includes information stored in the management table such as an ID to be authenticated, a biometric information ID, symbolized biometric information, a degree of approximation, and the number of authentications. For example, the message MF1 is an ID presence confirmation message transmitted from the terminal A to the terminal B in step SA02 of the flowchart of the authentication process described later.

<Authentication process of the present invention>
8 and 9 are flowcharts showing an embodiment of the authentication process according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 shows an example in which a user uses his / her terminal A to input his / her ID and biometric information and communicates between two terminals A and B. The terminal B is a representative example of other terminals. When there are three or more terminals connected to the network, the terminal A and other terminals perform the same communication.
In step SA01 of FIG. 8, the user (authenticated person) inputs his own authenticated person ID (user-ID) at the terminal A.
In step SA02, the authentication management unit 211 transmits an “ID existence confirmation request message” MF01 to all terminals connected to the network. This message MF01 is transmitted in a format as shown in FIG. Here, the transmission is preferably performed by broadcast. In this case, it is also transmitted to the own terminal A.
In transmission to the own terminal A, an instruction is given not to actually transmit data but to the message reception module already activated by multitasking in the terminal A to perform reception processing.

Next, in step SB01, the other terminal B receives the “ID existence confirmation request message” MF01. In step SB02, the terminal B extracts the “ID to be authenticated” included in the message MF01 and searches the authentication biometric information authentication DB 207 stored in itself. That is, it is checked whether or not biometric information for verification corresponding to the ID of the user of terminal A has already been registered in its own biometric information DB 207 for authentication.
Then, when it is confirmed at the terminal B that the biometric information of the ID has already been registered, an “ID existence confirmation result message” MF02 is returned to the terminal A at step SB03.

Further, as shown in steps SA100 to SA103 in FIG. 8, since the “ID existence confirmation request message” MF01 is also transmitted to the own terminal A, the processing performed by the terminal B in the message receiving module of the terminal A (step SB01) To SB03).
The message MF02 includes a command indicating “ID existence confirmation result”, “presence / absence of presence” and “biological information ID” which are the contents of the command. Here, the biometric information ID is the biometric information ID (Bio-ID) shown in the management table 208-1 of FIG. 6, is biometric information for collation stored in the terminal B in advance, and has a unique ID. Have a number.
Moreover, this ID is used in order to confirm whether the same biometric data for collation exists in another terminal so that it may mention later. For example, when the terminal A receives the message MF02 from a plurality of terminals (B, C, D), if the biometric information ID having the same number is included in this message, the same biometric data for verification is stored. Since there will be more than one, one of them may be adopted.

Next, in step SA03, the terminal A receives the message MF02.
In step SA04, the “existence confirmation result” in the message MF02 is stored in the “authentication result” in the authentication result table (208-2). Further, at this time, the ID presence management table (208-1) stores the authenticated person ID, the ID of the terminal in which the biometric information for verification corresponding to the ID exists, and the received biometric information ID. .

In step SA05, at terminal A, the user inputs biometric information from biometric information input unit 201.
In step SA06, the biometric information feature extraction unit 202 symbolizes the input biometric information based on a predetermined standard, and generates the symbolized biometric information. Here, for example, when performing fingerprint authentication, a pattern matching method, a minutia method, a frequency analysis method, or the like is used as the predetermined reference.

  In step SA07, the generated “symbolized biometric information” is included in the “biometric authentication request message” MF03 and transmitted to another terminal B. Here, this message is not sent to all terminals, but is sent to terminals having terminal IDs selected so as not to overlap with the same biometric information ID based on the ID presence management table. That is, when there are a plurality of terminals having the same biometric information ID, it is only necessary to transmit to one of the terminals. This message MF03 is transmitted to a terminal having biometric information for verification corresponding to the same ID as the authenticated person ID.

Next, terminal B receives this “biometric authentication request message” MF03 in step SB04.
In step B05, an authentication process is performed on the received “symbolized biometric information”. Here, collation is performed using the received “symbolized biometric information” and biometric information for collation stored in the terminal B in advance, and the biometric information received in the collation range as shown in FIG. Judge whether it is included. At this time, the degree of approximation is also obtained.
By this authentication process, a collation result including “collation availability”, “approximation”, and “registration date / time of biometric information for collation” is generated.
In step SB06, the generated verification result is included in the “biometric authentication result message” MF04 and transmitted to the terminal A.

  When the biometric authentication result message MF04 is received in Step SA08 of the terminal A, the verification result included in the message MF04 is stored in the authentication result table in Step SA09. If there are collation results sent from terminals other than terminal B, all of them are stored.

  In step SA10, a verification result determination process is performed. Here, the “verification possibility” in the verification result is checked, and if there is a result of “permitted” in step SA11, it is determined that the authentication of the user of the terminal A is successful. When verification results are sent from a plurality of terminals, if at least one of the verification results is “OK”, it is determined that the authentication is successful. On the other hand, if all the collation results are “No” in step SA11, it is determined that the authentication has failed, and the process is terminated.

If the authentication is successful in step SA11, the process proceeds to step SA12 in FIG.
In step SA12, since the authentication is successful, the login process of terminal A is executed. Here, in the login process, for example, an access right is granted to a specific file based on an access control list preset for the person to be authenticated.
When the login process ends, in step SA13, a “login notification message” MF06 is transmitted to all terminals. Here, the message MF06 includes a login notification, an authenticated user ID, and an ID of the logged-in terminal. By confirming this message MF06, it is understood that the user has succeeded in authentication at the terminal A and has logged in.
In step SB07 of terminal B, “login notification message” MF06 is received.
In step SB08, the “status” in the account management table of terminal B is set to “logged in”.

Next, in step SA14, it is checked whether or not the biometric information for verification corresponding to the ID of the logged-in user already exists in the self-authentication biometric information DB 207 in the own terminal A.
In step SA15, when it exists, it progresses to step SA17, and when that is not right, it progresses to step SA16.
If it does not exist, in step SA16, the biometric data generated from the biometric information input in step SA05 is stored in the self-authentication biometric information DB 207 as biometric information for terminal A, and the process ends. In this case, the user's biometric data is stored in the terminal A for the first time. As a result, biometric information about the user is newly added, and the latest biometric information is used in the next authentication process for the user. Can be improved.

  On the other hand, in step SA17, since the biometric information for collation already exists in its own terminal A, the “approximation” is extracted from all the authentication results received from other terminals including its own terminal and compared. To do. Here, it is determined from which terminal the highest degree of approximation is sent from among the plurality of degrees of approximation. That is, the terminal ID of the terminal having the biological information with the highest degree of approximation is obtained.

  In step SA18, an “update request message” MF05 to be transmitted to the terminal having the biological information with the highest degree of approximation is generated. This message MF05 includes the “update request”, the ID of the authenticated user, the degree of approximation, the “symbolized biometric information” of the biometric information input in step SA05, and the number of authentications. Then, the terminal A transmits this message MF05 to the terminal B that has the biometric information having the highest degree of approximation among the terminals that have sent the collation result.

  However, if there are multiple terminals with the highest degree of approximation, check the registration date and time when the biometric information was registered, adopt the most recently registered authentication information, and return to the terminal that had the authentication information. Send.

  In step SB09, the terminal B receives the “update request message” MF05. In step SB10, the terminal B changes the biometric data for verification corresponding to the user's ID to “symbolized biometric information” included in the message MF05, and the registration date and time of the authentication result table. Is updated to the date and time when the update request message is received and the update process is performed, the degree of approximation is changed to the degree of approximation included in the message MF05, and 1 is added to the number of authentications. Thereby, the biometric information for collation memorize | stored in the terminal with the highest degree of approximation is replaced with the newly input biometric information of the user.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of logout processing at the terminal A.
In FIG. 10, it is assumed that after the user performs a desired operation or process at terminal A, the process ends and an attempt is made to log out. At this time, logout processing is executed in step SA31.
The logout process is, for example, a process in which the current person to be authenticated cannot use the terminal until new authentication is performed.

Next, in step SA32, a “logout notification message” MF07 is created and transmitted to all other terminals.
The other terminal B receives the “logout notification message” MF07 in step SB21.
In step SB22, the account management table 209 of the terminal B is updated, and the “state” is changed to “not logged in”. As a result, the use of the user at the terminal A is finished, and the authentication process for the user is finished at all other terminals.

<New registration process for biometric information>
Below, the new registration process of the biometric information for collation of this invention is demonstrated.
The new registration process refers to a process in which a user newly inputs his / her authenticated person ID and his / her biometric information and registers at an arbitrary terminal among a plurality of terminals connected to the network.
FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of the process for newly registering biometric information for verification according to the present invention. Here, a case where the terminal A newly inputs its own biometric information will be described.

  In step SA41, after starting up, the terminal A browses the network to which its own terminal is connected, searches for other terminals currently connected to the network, and acquires the terminal IDs of the other terminals. .

In step SA42, a list of acquired terminal IDs is created. A terminal having a terminal ID included in this list is a terminal that is currently activated and connected to the network.
In step SA43, an “account management table acquisition message” MF09 is transmitted to terminal B in the created terminal ID list.

The other terminal B receives the “account management table acquisition message” MF09 in step SB31.
In step SB32, the contents of the current account management table 209 of terminal B itself are read.
In step SB33, the terminal B transmits an “account management table transmission message” MF10 including the contents of the read account management table to the terminal A.

Next, in step SA44, the terminal A receives the “account management table transmission message” MF10.
In step SA45, the account management table of terminal B that includes the received message in MF 10 is acquired.
As a result, the terminal A can confirm the state of the terminal B that is already connected to the network and is currently activated. For example, the information of the user who is logged in at the terminal B can be confirmed.
Steps SA41 to SA45 are automatically executed immediately after the terminal A is activated, and no user operation input is required. The account management table is acquired not only for one terminal B but also for all terminals included in the created terminal ID list.

  In step SA46, at terminal A, the user inputs his / her authenticated user ID in order to newly register his / her biometric information. Here, the input ID is an ID for identifying the user, and the same ID as that already registered cannot be used.

  In step SA47, it is checked whether or not the input ID does not overlap with an already registered ID. This is done by checking whether the input ID does not match the authenticated user ID in the account management table 209.

In step SA48, if there is a matching ID, the input ID has already been registered and cannot be used, so the process ends.
On the other hand, if there is no matching ID in the management table, the input ID is registered as the ID of the user. In this case, the process proceeds to step SA49, and the user inputs his / her biometric information from the biometric information input unit 201 of the terminal A.

In step SA50, the biometric information feature extraction unit 202 symbolizes the input biometric information.
In step SA51, the encoded biometric information is stored in the authentication biometric information DB 207. At this time, the registration date and time and the biometric information ID are automatically added and stored so as not to overlap with other IDs. However, initial values (zero) are set for the approximation degree and the authentication count. Further, the newly input authentication-subject ID is added to the account management table 209 of the terminal A, and the “state” corresponding to this ID is set to “new”.

  In step SA52, the terminal A transmits a “new registration notification message” MF08 to all other terminals by broadcast.

In the terminal B, in step SB41, the “new registration notification message” MF08 is received.
In step SB42, the "registered ID" included in the received message MF08 is read, the account management table 209 in the terminal B of itself is searched, and the person to be authenticated corresponding to this "registered ID" The “state” of the ID is set to “new”.
Thereby, it is possible to notify all other currently activated terminals that the user has newly registered the biometric information for his / her collation at the terminal A. In this case, the biometric data itself of the biometric information input by the user is stored only in the terminal A and is not transmitted to other terminals. Only the fact that the biometric information of the user of the person to be authenticated ID is newly registered is stored in the other terminal.

FIG. 12 shows another flowchart of the process for newly registering biometric information for verification according to the present invention.
Here, a case where the biometric information is newly registered at the terminal C will be described. The terminal C is a terminal activated later, and is not a terminal through which a user directly inputs biometric information.
In terminal C, the processing from step SC11 to step SC15 is the same as the processing shown in FIG. 11 (steps SA41 to SA45). That is, when the terminal C is activated, terminal browsing, creation of a terminal ID list, and acquisition processing of an account management table of another terminal are performed. At this time, the processing (SB31 to SB33) performed in the other terminal B accompanying the transmission / reception of the message is the same.

  In step SC16 of the terminal C, it is checked whether or not there is an account management table in which the “status” is “new” in the acquired account management table. If there is something that is “new”, the authentication target ID (user-ID) is read out.

If there is no data that is “new” in step SC <b> 17, the processing ends because there is no data to be newly registered.
On the other hand, if any of the account management tables is “new”, the process proceeds to step SC18, and the “ID existence confirmation request message” MF01 including the above-mentioned authenticated person ID (user-ID) is sent to another Broadcast to all terminals. The process of step SC18 is the same as step SA02 of FIG.

  In the other terminal B that has received this message MF01, the processes of steps SB01, SB02, and SB03 shown in FIG. 8 are executed. That is, the terminal B receives the message MF01, searches its own biometric information DB for authentication, and checks whether or not there is an authenticated person ID. Then, an “ID existence confirmation result message” MF02 including the presence / absence of the authenticated user ID and the biometric information ID corresponding to the authenticated user ID is returned to the terminal C.

In step SC19, the terminal C receives the “ID existence confirmation result message” MF02.
In step SC20, the presence confirmation result included in the received message MF02 is stored in the ID presence management table (208-1) of the terminal C. The information stored here is a person-to-be-authenticated ID, a terminal ID in which biometric information for authentication corresponding to the ID exists, and a biometric information ID corresponding to the ID.

  In step SC21, a “biological information request message” MF14 including the terminal ID and the biological information ID stored in step SC20 is transmitted to the terminal having the terminal ID. The terminal ID set as the “destination” of the message MF14 is the ID of the terminal that stores the biometric information for authentication specified by the biometric information ID. This terminal is called terminal B.

In the terminal B, in step SB51, the “biological information request message” MF14 addressed to itself is received. In step SB52, the self-authentication biometric information DB 207 is searched, and “symbolized biometric information” corresponding to the biometric information ID included in the message MF14 is read.
In step SB53, a “biological information response message” MF15 including the read “symbolized biological information” is created and returned to the terminal C.

In the terminal C, in step SC22, the “biometric information response message” MF15 is received.
In step SC23, the “symbolized biometric information” (biometric data) included in the message MF15 is newly registered in the biometric information DC207 for authentication of the terminal C with biometric information ID.

Through the above processing, in the terminal C activated later, the same biological information as the biological information already stored in the other terminals is newly registered.
Thereby, even in the terminal C that has not stored the biometric information about a certain user, the biometric information that the user has previously registered in another terminal can be acquired. The acquired biometric information can be used as biometric information for verification.
If the user's biometric information has already been registered in a plurality of other terminals, at least one of the plurality of biometric information of the user may be acquired. However, all of the plurality of pieces of biological information may be acquired, or only the biological information having the highest degree of approximation may be newly stored in consideration of the degree of approximation information attached to the biological information.

<Deleting authentication information>
Here, a process of peripheralizing authentication information already registered in the authentication biometric information DB 207 will be described.
FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of the registration deletion process of the present invention.
When the user performs an operation for executing the erasure process at the terminal A, the erasure process is executed not only at the terminal A but also at other terminals B by the following process.
In FIG. 13, the processing of terminal A from step SA61 to SA65 and the processing at other terminal B from step SB31 to step SB33 executed corresponding thereto are the processing shown in FIG. 11 (steps SA41 to SA41). The same as step SA45). As a result, all terminals currently connected to the network are synchronized so as to have the same account management table.

In step SA66, the terminal A inputs his own authenticated user ID (user-ID1) that the user wants to delete.
In step SA67, it is confirmed whether or not the input ID (user-ID1) exists in its own account management table 209.
In step SA68, if the ID (user-ID1) does not exist, the ID is an unregistered ID, and it is not necessary to delete the ID, so the processing ends.
On the other hand, if the ID exists, the process proceeds to step SA69.
In step SA69, the “status” information in the account management table is checked for the ID (user-ID1), and it is confirmed whether or not the status is currently “logged in”.

In step SA70, if it is “logged in”, it indicates that the user of that ID is currently using this system at some terminal, and it is not appropriate to perform the erasure process. finish.
On the other hand, if it is not “logged in”, it is considered that the deletion process may be performed, and the process proceeds to step SA71. In step SA71, first, in the terminal A to which the user has input the ID, the “status” information corresponding to the input ID of the authenticated person in the account management table 209 of the terminal A is set to “delete (delete)”. Set. That is, the actual biometric information stored in the terminal A may be erased, but only the “status” of the person-to-be-authenticated ID may be “deleted” in order to disable the user ID. As a result, the biometric information for authentication of the user ID input by the user cannot be used.

Next, in step SA72, the “registration cancellation message” MF11 is transmitted by broadcast from the terminal A to all other terminals.
In step SB61, the other terminal B receives the “registration cancellation message” MF11.
In step SB62, the “status” corresponding to the received authenticated user ID in terminal B's own account management table 209 is changed to “deleted”.
In step SB63, the “state” field (state) is set to “invalid” for the biometric information ID of the user corresponding to the received ID of the person to be authenticated in the biometric information DB 207 for authentication stored in the terminal B. To "". As a result, the biometric information of the user cannot be used in the terminal A and other terminals that have been deleted by the user.

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart of another embodiment of the registration deletion process of the present invention.
Here, a description will be given of the erasure process for making the biometric information in the terminal C unusable in the terminal C activated later.
The processing of steps SC81 to SC85 performed at the terminal C of FIG. 14 and the processing of steps SB31 to SB33 performed corresponding to this processing are the same as the processing of steps SA61 to SA65 of FIG.
In step SC <b> 86, it is checked whether there is any account management table acquired from another terminal whose “state” is “deleted”.
In step SC87, if there is no “erasure”, the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if there is a user ID to be “erased”, the process proceeds to step SC88, and the biometric information ID of the user having the user ID to be authenticated in the biometric information DB 207 for authentication in the terminal C. , “Status” field is set to “Invalid”. This process is the same as step SB63 in FIG.

<Confirmation process for simultaneous login>
FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of the simultaneous login confirmation process of the present invention.
In the present invention, the shared account management table 209 is used in all terminals connected to the network. At this time, it is assumed that there is only one terminal where a user is logged in, and in order to ensure sufficient security, it is necessary to prevent double login with the same authenticated user ID. By performing the processing as shown in FIG. 15, double login is prohibited.
The processing from steps SA101 to SA105 at the terminal A in FIG. 15 and the processing from steps SB31 to SB33 at the terminal B are the same as the processing already described with reference to FIG.

In step SA106, the user inputs the ID of the person to be authenticated at terminal A.
In step SA107, it is confirmed whether or not the input authentication-subjected user ID exists in the account management table 209 of the terminal A. If it exists, “status” information corresponding to the ID is checked.

  If the “status” is not “logged in” in step SA108, for example, if it is detected that “not logged in”, for example, the process that the user is trying to perform on the terminal A is not double login. Processing, for example, login processing is executed.

However, if the “status” is already “logged in”, it means that the authenticated user ID has already been used on some terminal, so the user can input at this terminal A. With this ID, you are trying to do a double login.
Therefore, if it is detected in step SA108 that “logged in” is detected, the process proceeds to step SA109, and a warning indicating “double login” is given to the user.
For example, since the system has already been used with the input ID and double login has been performed, it is only necessary to display that the login is not permitted or to notify by voice.

In step SA110, an inquiry is made as to what processing should be performed in order to have the user select the next processing for the failure to log in.
For example, a display indicating that an input for selection should be made is displayed, and the user inputs what kind of processing is to be performed. Here, if the user makes an input indicating that the current login is to be canceled, the process proceeds to step SA111 to perform a process of rejecting the current login. On the other hand, when the user inputs that the current login at the terminal A is valid, the process proceeds to step SA112 to execute a process for forcibly logging out the login at another terminal already logged in. Then, processing for validating login at the terminal A is performed.

<Description of biometric information update process>
FIG. 16 shows an explanatory diagram of one embodiment of the update process of biometric information for verification used in the present invention.
FIG. 16 illustrates a case where three terminals (A, B, C) are connected to the network, and the biometric information for collation for a certain user M is distributed and stored in these three terminals.

First, it is assumed that the biometric information for verification of the user M is not stored in any terminal in the state SD1.
Next, it is assumed that the user M first inputs the biometric information 1 for verification at the terminal A in the state SD2. At this time, the biological information 1 is stored in the terminal A. Since it has never been used for authentication, the number of authentications is set to zero.
Next, in the state SD3, the biometric information 1 for verification input to the terminal A is transmitted to the other terminals B and C. Thereby, the biometric information identical to the biometric information 1 of the user M is stored in the other terminals (B, C).
As in the state SD3, the transmission timing may be performed, for example, when newly registering biometric information for authentication. Further, the user M needs to input his / her biological information only once at one terminal A among a plurality of terminals, and does not need to input biological information at other terminals (B, C). .

  In state SD4, user M inputs biometric information 2 to log in at terminal A. At this time, the input biometric information 2 is compared with the biometric information 1 for collation input in the state SD2. Then, the degree of approximation is calculated, and if it is within a predetermined collation range, it is determined that the collation is successful. If successful, the biometric information for verification is replaced with “biological information 2”. Then, 1 is added to the number of authentications.

  Next, it is assumed that the user M inputs the biometric information 3 to log in at the terminal B in the state SD5. At this time, the input biometric information 3 is compared with the biometric information for verification 1 stored in the terminal B. When the collation is successful, the biometric information for collation of terminal B is replaced with “biometric information 3”. Also, 1 is added to the number of authentications.

Thereafter, if the authentication process of the user M is repeatedly performed in any of the terminals, the biometric information for verification such as the states SD4 and SD5 is updated and the number of authentications is incremented.
The state SD6 indicates that, for example, the verification biometric information A is stored in the terminal A and the verification process of the user M is performed 25 times after the authentication process is repeatedly performed several times.
Similarly, in the terminal B, it is assumed that the biometric information B for verification is stored and the number of authentications is 12.
However, in the terminal C, if the collation process of the user M has never been performed, the biometric information 1 stored in the state SD3 remains stored in the terminal C.

Here, in the terminal C where the number of authentications is zero, the old biometric information 1 is stored, and there is a high possibility that the biometric information recently input by the user M is stored with a relatively low degree of approximation.
The old biometric information that is not updated because authentication is not performed is called “defective biometric information”.
If the user inputs biometric information at the terminal C for the first time in the state SD6, the degree of approximation of the input biometric information may be out of the verification range due to comparison with the old biometric information 1. There is sex.
That is, even though the user himself / herself is using the user, the user authentication may fail.
Therefore, it is preferable to update the biometric information 1 of “defective matching biometric information” still stored in the terminal C periodically or at a predetermined timing.

The state SD7 in FIG. 16 means that this update process is executed.
For example, since the biometric information A for verification of the terminal A that has been relatively updated in the state SD6 and the number of times of authentication is relatively high, it is considered that the degree of approximation with the biometric information that the user M inputs next is high. The biometric information A for comparison stored in A is transmitted (copied) to the terminal C.
Thereafter, as shown in the state SD8, the biometric information for comparison stored in the terminal C becomes the biometric information A that is the same as the biometric information of the terminal A.
If such an update process is performed periodically, even if the authentication process is performed on the terminal C that is not frequently used by the user M, there is little possibility that the personal authentication will fail.
Hereinafter, the update process of such “defective matching biometric information” will be described.

<Defect matching biometric information update process>
FIG. 17 shows a flowchart of an embodiment of the process for updating the defect matching biometric information.
In step SA01 in FIG. 17, it is assumed that the user inputs his / her authenticated user ID at terminal A. Thereafter, the ID existence confirmation process described with reference to FIG. 8 is performed.
That is, the same processing as steps SA02, SA03, and SA04 described in FIG. 8 is performed at terminal A, and the same processing as steps SB01, SB02, and SB03 illustrated in FIG. .
At this time, the messages MF01 and MF02 are transmitted and received between the terminal A and the terminal B, and the information on the presence confirmation result sent from the other terminal B is stored in the ID presence management table of the terminal A. .

Next, a series of loop processes for confirming biometric authentication information is executed for all target terminals between step SA201 and step SA205 of terminal A.
Here, all target terminals are terminals specified by terminal IDs (Terminal-IDs) stored in the ID presence management table.

First, in step SA202 from step SA201 to SA205, a “biometric authentication information request message” MF12 is transmitted from terminal A to another terminal B.
This message MF12 includes a command indicating a biometric authentication information request and a biometric information ID of the biometric information to be requested.

In step SB71, the terminal B receives the “biometric authentication information request message” MF12.
In step SB72, the biometric information ID in the received message is read, the authentication biometric information DB 207 of the terminal B is searched, and information having the same biometric information ID as the read biometric information ID is found. Then, “registration date”, “approximation”, and “authentication count” corresponding to the found biometric information ID are read out.

  In step SB73, a “biometric authentication information result message” MF13 is returned from terminal B to terminal A. This message MF13 includes the biometric information result command, the biometric information ID included in the message MF12, and the “registration date”, “approximation”, and “authentication count” found in the search.

In step SA203, the terminal A receives the “biometric information result message” MF13.
In step SA204, the information contained in the received message MF13 is stored in its own authentication result table 208-3. As a result, information about the biological information that has requested confirmation from another terminal is acquired.
That is, for the biometric information corresponding to the biometric information ID currently stored in the terminal B, the registration date and time at the terminal B, the degree of approximation, and the number of authentications at the terminal B are acquired.
The above processing (SA201 to SA205, SB71 to SB73) is performed on all terminals stored in the ID presence management table (208-1).

Next, in step SA206, the biometric information ID having the largest number of authentications is extracted from the authentication result table (208-3). Further, when there are a plurality of items having the largest number of authentications, the biometric information ID having the highest degree of approximation is extracted from them.
Thereby, the extracted biometric information ID is referred to as Best-ID. It can be said that the biometric information having the Best-ID is the biometric information having the highest success rate when the identity is confirmed.

In step SA207, the biometric information ID with the least number of authentications and the oldest registration date / time is extracted from the authentication result table (208-3). The extracted biometric information ID is not limited to one.
The biometric information ID thus extracted is referred to as a Worst-ID. Since the biometric information having the worst-ID is rarely used for authentication so far, it is unlikely to match the biometric information of the currently input user and may be rejected at the time of identity verification. It can be said that it is high biological information.

In step SA208, the biological information having the worst-ID is replaced with the biological information having the best-ID. This process corresponds to the update process performed from state SD6 to SD8 shown in FIG.
When there are a plurality of biometric information IDs having a worst-ID, it is not necessary to reduce the number to one, and step SA208 is performed for all the worst-IDs.

FIG. 18 shows a detailed flowchart of the replacement process performed in step SA208.
First, in step SA301, the terminal ID of the terminal storing the biometric information having the Best-ID extracted in step SA206 of terminal A is acquired from the authentication result table (208-3).
In Step SA302, the “biometric information request message” MF14 is transmitted to the terminal having the terminal ID acquired from the terminal A. This message MF14 includes the acquired terminal ID, the biometric information ID corresponding to the Best-ID, and the command “biometric information request”.
In step SB81, the terminal B having the best-ID biometric information receives the “biometric information request message” MF14.
In step SB82, the biometric information DB for authentication of the terminal B is searched, “biological information ID corresponding to Best-ID” included in the received message is found, and stored corresponding to the biometric information ID. Obtain “symbolized biological information”.

In step SB83, the terminal B transmits a “biological information response message” MF15 including the acquired “symbolized biological information” to the terminal A.
In step SA303, the terminal A receives the “biometric information response message” MF15.
Next, in terminal A, the processing from step SA304 to SA306 is repeated. Specifically, the process of step SA305 is performed for the terminal ID having the biological information ID of Worst-ID. At this time, if there are a plurality of worst-IDs, step SA305 is executed for all terminals corresponding thereto.
The terminal ID of the terminal storing the biological information corresponding to the biological information ID of the worst-ID is acquired from the authentication result table (208-3) of the terminal A.

  In step SA305, a “biometric authentication information update request message” MF5 is created and transmitted to a terminal having biometric information corresponding to the Worst-ID. Here, the message MF5 includes the command “update request”, the worst-ID, the terminal ID of the terminal having the biological information corresponding to the worst-ID, and the “symbolized biological information” received in step SA303. included.

In step SB85, the terminal B receives the “biometric authentication information update request message” MF5. Here, the terminal B is a terminal having biological information corresponding to the Worst-ID.
Next, in step SB86, the corresponding biometric information in the authentication biometric information DB 207 of the terminal B is replaced with “symbolized biometric information” included in the received message MF5.

Here, the terminal B searches for the biometric information ID that matches the received Worst-ID from the biometric information DB for authentication, and stores the “symbolized biometric information” stored in correspondence with the biometric information ID. , Update to “symbolized biometric information” corresponding to the Best-ID sent in the message MF5.
Through the above process, the biometric information update process for changing from the state SD6 shown in FIG. 16 to the state SD8 is performed. As a result, biometric information that is not suitable for use in verification is replaced with biometric information that is suitable for personal authentication. Therefore, the accuracy of user authentication can be improved.

In the present invention, the biometric information of one user is stored in a plurality of terminals connected to the network.
If there are M terminals, a maximum of M different pieces of biological information are stored in different terminals. Since the same biometric information may be stored in a plurality of biometric information, the total number N of biometric information of the user is equal to or less than the number M of terminals connected to the network (N ≦ M).

In a system that collectively manages N different pieces of biometric information of a single user using a conventional server, the server includes biometric information newly input and N pieces of biometric information stored in advance. It is necessary to perform collation, and the server has to perform N collation processes. Therefore, the load on the server is large and the response to the terminal is also slow.
However, in this invention, since N pieces of biometric information are stored in different terminals, the pieces of biometric information are collated on different terminals, and N collation processes are concentrated on one terminal. It is never done. Therefore, since each terminal only needs to perform one verification process, the response of the entire system is fast, and even when one terminal fails, an authentication process with sufficient authentication accuracy is possible.

It is a block diagram of the configuration of the biometric information authentication system of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the configuration of an embodiment of the biometric information collating device of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram of the authentication model of the conventional collation process. It is a schematic diagram of the authentication model of the distributed authentication system of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of one Example of biometric information DB for authentication of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of one Example of the management table and account management table of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of one Example of the structure format of the message of this invention. It is a flowchart of one Example of the authentication process of this invention. It is a flowchart of one Example of the authentication process of this invention. It is a flowchart of the logout process of this invention. It is a flowchart of one Example of the new registration process of the biometric information for collation of this invention. It is a flowchart of one Example of the new registration process of the biometric information for collation of this invention. It is a flowchart of one Example of the registration deletion process of this invention. It is a flowchart of one Example of the registration deletion process of this invention. It is a flowchart of the confirmation process of simultaneous login of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of one Example of the update process of the biometric information for collation of this invention. It is a flowchart of one Example of the update process of the defect collation biometric information of this invention. It is a flowchart of the replacement process of biometric information of this invention. It is a block diagram of the conventional biometric information authentication system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 201 Biometric information input part 202 Biometric information feature extraction part 203 Biometric information collation part 204 Authentication result comparison part 205 Authentication information replacement part 206 Operation input part 207 Biometric information DB for authentication
208 Management Table 209 Account Management Table 210 Communication Unit 211 Authentication Management Unit

Claims (9)

A biometric information input unit for inputting biometric information that can identify a user;
A biometric information feature extraction unit that extracts features of the input biometric information and generates feature data;
A storage unit for storing biometric information for verification;
A biometric information matching unit that compares the generated feature data with biometric information for matching stored in a storage unit and performs matching of the biometric information of the user;
A transmission unit that transmits the feature data generated by the biometric information feature extraction unit to another terminal connected to a network, and a verification generated by an authentication process performed using the feature data in the other terminal A communication unit comprising a receiving unit for receiving the result of
An authentication result comparison unit that determines whether or not the user can be authenticated based on a result of the verification performed in the biometric information verification unit and a result of the verification of the terminal received from the other terminal ;
If the authentication result comparison unit determines that the user has been successfully authenticated, an authentication management unit that permits the use of the user;
An authentication information replacement unit that replaces biometric information for collation already stored in the storage unit with the received feature data when the communication unit receives an update request including the feature data from another terminal; , biometric authentication apparatus characterized by comprising. When the biometric information of the user is not stored in the storage unit,
The biometric information collation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the authentication management unit newly registers the biometric information of the user input by the biometric information input unit in the storage unit as biometric information for collation.   The authentication result comparison unit generates verification result information including authentication propriety information indicating whether or not biometric information has been successfully verified, and an approximation indicating the degree of possibility of successful verification. The biometric information matching device according to claim 1. The authentication management unit uses the degree of approximation included in the verification result information generated by the authentication result comparison unit and the degree of approximation included in the result of verification received from another terminal, so that verification can be most successful. Identify devices with a high degree of similarity,
4. The biometric information matching apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein an update request including characteristic data of biometric information input by the biometric information input unit is transmitted to the identified terminal using the communication unit. When the user's biometric information is input by the biometric information input unit,
The biometric authentication request including the feature data of the input biometric information is transmitted to the terminal that has already stored the biometric information for verification of the input user by using the communication unit. Item 2. The biometric information collating apparatus according to Item 1 . When the biometric authentication request is received via the communication unit, the biometric information matching unit includes the feature data included in the received biometric authentication request and the user's matching biometric stored in the storage unit 6. The biometric information collating apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the biometric information of the user is collated by comparing with information. The storage unit indicates an authenticated person ID that identifies a user who has input biometric information by the biometric information input unit, a login state of the user, and whether the biometric information of the user is currently stored effectively. It has an account management table that contains status information,
Any of the authentication management unit, the account management table, described in 6 of claims 1, wherein the managing to have the same contents and account management table other terminal connected to a network comprises Biological information collation device. A biometric information input unit, a biometric information feature extraction unit, a storage unit that stores biometric information for verification, a biometric information verification unit, an authentication result comparison unit, an authentication management unit, a communication unit, an authentication information replacement unit, A biometric information collation method for a biometric information collation apparatus comprising:
The biometric information input unit allows the user to input biometric information,
Generating feature data by extracting features of the input biological information by the biological information feature extraction unit;
After the communication unit transmits the feature data generated by the biometric information feature extraction to another terminal connected to the network, it is generated by an authentication process performed using the feature data in the other terminal. Received the matching result,
The biometric information collating unit compares the generated feature data with the biometric information for collation stored in the storage unit to collate the biometric information of the user,
The authentication result comparison unit determines whether or not the user can be authenticated from the result of collation of the biometric information and the result of collation performed at the other terminal received ,
If the authentication management unit determines that the authentication result comparison unit has succeeded in authenticating the user, permit the use of the user ,
When the authentication information replacement unit receives an update request including the feature data from another terminal by the communication unit, the biometric information for collation already stored in the storage unit is replaced with the received feature data. A biometric information collating method for a biometric information collating apparatus. A biometric authentication system in which a plurality of biometric verification devices are connected via a network,
Biometric information for collation of a specific user is stored in one or more arbitrary biometric information collating devices among the plurality of biometric information collating devices,
When the biometric information input unit provided in the first BIOLOGICAL information collating apparatus, biometric information of the user is input,
The user's verification biometric information is stored in the user's verification process using the input user biometric information and the stored user verification biometric information. Performed by a biometric information matching unit provided in one or more biometric information matching devices;
The communication unit provided in the first biometric information matching device receives a result of the user authentication process performed by another biometric information matching device;
The authentication result comparison unit provided in the first biometric information collating device collects the results of the user authentication process performed by the self and other biometric information collating devices, and based on the results, Determine whether the user can be authenticated ,
If it is determined that the user authentication is successful, the user is allowed to use,
When the authentication information replacement unit provided in one or a plurality of biometric information collating devices other than the first biometric information collating device receives an update request from the first biometric information collating device, it is stored for verification The biometric information is replaced with biometric information for verification included in the update request .

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