JPH10320554A - Individual authentication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an individual authentication system capable of surely authenticating an individual without increasing the time and labor of an authentication object person by a simple operation. SOLUTION: For a handwritten signature inputted from a tablet 2 by the authentication object person, normalization is performed in a signal processing part 11. Then, in a password processing part 13, after a password is obtained by character recognizing respective characters for constituting the handwritten signature, an external storage device 5 is retrieved and whether or not the same password as the password has been registered, is judged. Then, in a handwritten signature processing part 12, handwritten signature data registered in the external storage device 5 corresponding to the password are read and the registered handwritten signature data and inputted handwritten signature data are collated by utilizing a pattern matching technique. When the password is registered and the collation of the handwritten signature data matches, a judgement output part 14 defines that the authentication object person is the individual and opens an electronic lock 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a personal authentication system using a handwritten signature by a person to be authenticated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art
2. Description of the Related Art Various personal authentication systems have been developed in order to perform security checks when entering and exiting rooms, check computer users, check the owners of various cards such as credit cards, and the like.

FIG. 8 shows a conventional personal authentication system 10 for performing lock management when entering and leaving a room using only a password.
1 is a block diagram. In the personal authentication system 101, when the person to be authenticated inputs a password using the keyboard 102, the control device 103 searches the storage device 104, and the same password as the password is stored in the storage device 104.
Collation is performed beforehand. The control device 103 opens the electronic lock 105 when the input password is registered, and keeps the electronic lock 105 closed when the input password is not registered.

However, in the personal authentication system 101, if the registered password is short, there is a possibility that the password is leaked to a person other than the person to be authenticated. Therefore, it is necessary to register a long password. However, long passwords are difficult to remember and easy to forget. Further, there is a possibility that a password input by a guesswork by a person other than the person to be authenticated coincides with a registered password.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a conventional personal authentication system 111 for performing lock management when entering and exiting a room using a password and fingerprint collation. In the personal authentication system 111, first, when the person to be authenticated inputs a password using the keyboard 112, the control device 113 searches the storage device 114 and determines whether the same password as the password is registered in the storage device 114 in advance. Collate. The image data of the fingerprint of the person to be authenticated is registered in the storage device 114 in advance corresponding to the password. The control device 103 searches the storage device 114, reads out the image data of the fingerprint corresponding to the input password, and transfers it to the fingerprint matching device 115.

Next, when the person to be authenticated inputs a fingerprint image using the image input device 116, the fingerprint collating device 115
Compares the input fingerprint image data with the registered fingerprint image data using a pattern matching technique, and transfers the result of the comparison to the control device 113.

[0007] The control device 113 opens the electronic lock 105 only when the input password is registered in advance and the input fingerprint image data is registered in advance. The control device 113 keeps the electronic lock 105 closed when either the input password or the fingerprint image data is not registered.

In this personal authentication system 111, since personal authentication is performed by using both a password and fingerprint collation, reliable personal authentication is possible even with a short password, and there is no need to register a long password. Also, even if the password entered by a person other than the person to be authenticated by guesswork accidentally matches the registered password, it is impossible to match even the image data of the fingerprint. Absent. Therefore, this personal authentication system 111
According to this, the problem of the personal authentication system 101 described above can be avoided.

However, in this personal authentication system 111, fingerprint image data must be input in addition to the password, so that there is a problem that the person to be authenticated is troublesome. By the way, a personal authentication system using a password and handwritten signature verification using a handwritten signature by the person to be authenticated in place of the fingerprint verification in the personal authentication system 111 has been proposed. Even in such a personal authentication system, since the data of the handwritten signature must be input in addition to the password, there is a problem that the work of the person to be authenticated also increases.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a personal authentication system capable of performing reliable personal authentication by a simple operation without increasing the trouble of the person to be authenticated. It is in.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a personal authentication system in which a handwritten signature is input as signature data from a handwritten signature input unit. In the storage means, signature data and a password registered for personal authentication are stored in advance. Then, the signature collation unit collates the signature data stored in the storage unit with the signature data input from the handwritten signature input unit. Further, the password collating means obtains a password consisting of each character string constituting the handwritten signature by performing character recognition on the signature data input from the handwritten signature input means,
The password is compared with the password stored in the storage unit. The judging means judges that the person to be authenticated is the person to be authenticated when both the matching results match based on the matching results of the signature matching means and the password matching means.

Therefore, according to the personal authentication system of the present invention, since the input of the password is performed by character recognition of the handwritten signature, it is not necessary to input the password separately from the description of the handwritten signature. Therefore, the person to be authenticated only has to perform a simple operation of writing the handwritten signature once, and the trouble of the person to be authenticated does not increase in personal authentication.

Next, a personal authentication system according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a sign registration unit and a password registration unit for registering signature data and a password for personal authentication in a storage unit of the system according to the first embodiment. It is a thing. The signature registration means stores signature data for personal authentication input from the handwritten signature input means in the storage means and registers the signature data. The password registering means performs character recognition on the signature data input from the handwritten signature input means, obtains a password composed of each character string constituting the handwritten signature, stores the password in the storage means, and registers the password. I do.

Therefore, according to the personal authentication system of the present invention, it is possible to register signature data and password for personal authentication in the storage medium of the system according to the first aspect. Since the function of the signature registration means is almost the same as that of the signature verification means, the signature registration means may be incorporated in the signature verification means. Similarly, the password registration means may be incorporated in the password verification means.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a personal authentication system 1 of the present embodiment that performs locking management when entering and leaving a room.

The personal authentication system 1 comprises a tablet 2 as a handwritten signature input means, a display device 3, a microcomputer 4, and an external storage device 5 as a storage means, and controls opening and closing of an electronic lock 6. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an input surface of the tablet 2 and a display screen of the display device 3.

The tablet 2 and the display device 3 are stacked and integrated, and the handwritten signature input online via the tablet 2 is trace-displayed on the display screen of the display device 3 in real time. Therefore, the person to be authenticated can write a handwritten signature in the signature input area 2 a on the input surface of the tablet 2 while checking on the display screen of the display device 3.

On the input surface of the tablet 2, there is provided a selection switch 2 for switching and selecting a registration operation or a collation operation of a signature and a password at the time of personal authentication to be described later.
b, a confirmation switch 2c for determining the execution of each processing of the registration operation or the collation operation and proceeding to the next processing or returning to the previous processing is provided.

As the display device 3, a liquid crystal display device or a CR
T or the like is used. There are various types of tablets, such as a pressure-sensitive type, an electromagnetic induction type, a capacitance type, or a combination thereof. The pressure-sensitive method detects the position of the pen tip and the pen pressure based on the pressure applied to the input surface from the pen tip.
The electromagnetic induction system radiates an electromagnetic wave from an input surface, resonates a resonance circuit built in the pen, and detects the resonance frequency to detect the position of the pen tip and the pen pressure. The capacitance method detects the position of the pen tip and the pen pressure by detecting a change in the capacitance between the input surface and the pen tip. Note that, as the tablet 2 in the present embodiment, any of the above methods may be used, but it is necessary to use a pen (not shown) corresponding to the method of the tablet 2. In addition, when the tablet 2 of the electromagnetic induction type or the capacitance type is used and a thin liquid crystal display device is used as the display device 3, even if the tablet 2 is installed on the back surface of the display device 3, no input is required. Trouble is also eliminated.

FIG. 3A shows an example of a handwritten signature “1234” described in the signature input area 2 a of the tablet 2.
, And the broken line portion represents the spatial locus of the pen connecting the characters (numbers) of the handwritten signature. FIG. 3B shows time-series data obtained by sequentially sampling coordinate data of the handwritten signature shown in FIG. 3A on the tablet 2 for each of the X-axis and the Y-axis. FIG. 3C shows time-series data obtained by sequentially sampling pen pressure data when writing the handwritten signature shown in FIG. 3A on the tablet 2.

The microcomputer 4 includes a CPU, RA
M, ROM, etc., are executed in accordance with a program stored in advance in the ROM or the external storage device 5 to execute various arithmetic processes for registering or verifying a signature and password at the time of personal authentication, which will be described later. The arithmetic processing is represented by functional blocks as shown in FIG.

That is, in the microcomputer 4, first, the signal processing unit 11 performs a normalization process on the time-series data of the handwritten signature shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C input from the tablet 2. , And generates a predetermined number of bytes of handwritten signature data. The normalization process calculates the size of the tablet 2 from the time-series data of the handwritten signature,
This is executed to absorb differences in the size and inclination of the characters (numbers) of the handwritten signature at the time of description. Specifically, by performing normalization from the number of pixels in each direction of the tablet 2 and converting coordinate data of the handwritten signature into vector data, a handwritten signature described under various different conditions can be written under the same condition. Correct to the same state as described.

The handwritten signature data generated by the signal processing unit 11 is transferred to the handwritten signature processing unit 12 and the password processing unit 13. The handwritten signature processing unit 12 as a signature registration unit and a signature verification unit registers the handwritten signature data in the external storage device 5 as registration signature data in a signature registration process described later. Further, the handwritten signature processing unit 12 uses a pattern matching technique in the signature verification processing described later, using input handwritten signature data (hereinafter referred to as input signature data) and registered signature data read from the external storage device 5. Then, the comparison result is transferred to the determination output unit 14.
Although various methods of handwritten signature collation using a pattern matching technology have been proposed, any one of them may be used in the present embodiment.

The password processing unit 13 serving as a password registration unit and a password collation unit collates the handwritten signature data with the reference dictionary table stored in the table storage medium 15 by using a pattern matching technique, thereby obtaining a handwritten signature. The character recognition of each character (number) which constitutes is performed. Although various character recognition methods using the pattern matching technique have been proposed, any of these methods may be used in the present embodiment.

In the reference dictionary table of the table storage medium 15, standard data of handwritten characters (numbers) are registered in advance. Note that the table storage medium 15 includes a ROM and a RAM constituting the microcomputer 4.
Backup area is used.

When cutting out each character (number) constituting the handwritten signature, time series data of the pen pressure shown in FIG. If it is above, it is determined that it is between the characters, and if the time is less than the predetermined value, it is determined that the stroke of one character is a break.

Then, the password processing unit 13 registers each character (numeric) string constituting the handwritten signature in the external storage device 5 as a registration password in a password registration process described later. The password processing unit 13 searches the external storage device 5 in a password collation process described later, and registers the same password as a password (hereinafter, referred to as an input password) composed of each character (number) string constituting the input handwritten signature. It checks whether the password is registered in the external storage device 5 and transfers the check result to the determination output unit 14.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the storage format of the registered password and the registered signature data in the external storage device 5. For each handwritten signature, the registered password and the registered signature data are stored in association with each other. Then, in a registration operation described later, the handwritten signature processing unit 12 searches the external storage device 5 and reads the registered signature data corresponding to the registration password. In addition, as the external storage device 5,
A card having a data storage function such as a RAM, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, an IC card, a memory card, and a magnetic card is used.

The determination output section 14 as a determination means generates an output signal for keeping the electronic lock 6 closed in a steady state. Then, based on the collation results of the handwritten signature processing unit 12 and the password processing unit 13, the judgment output unit 14 determines that the person to be authenticated is the person to be authenticated and causes the electronic lock 6 to be opened when both the collation results match. To generate an output signal. That is, the determination output unit 14 determines that the registered password same as the input password is registered in the external storage device 5 and that the registered signature data same as the input signature data is registered in the external storage device 5 only.
It is determined that the person to be authenticated is the person. Then, the opening and closing of the electronic lock 6 is controlled according to the output signal generated by the determination output unit 14.

The control unit 16 operates the display device 3, the handwritten signature processing unit 12, the password processing unit 13,
The judgment output unit 14 is controlled. Further, the control unit 16 controls the display device 3 according to the result of the comparison by the handwritten signature processing unit 12 or the password processing unit 13 and the result of the determination by the determination output unit 14.

Next, the operation of the personal authentication system 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, step (hereinafter referred to as S) 51
In, the control unit 16 displays a message asking the person to be authenticated on the display screen of the display device 3 whether to perform the signing and password registration operation or the collation operation.

Next, in S52, when the person to be authenticated who sees the message operates the selection switch 2b of the tablet 2, the control unit 16 determines the contents of the operation. When the registration operation is selected, the process proceeds to S53, and when the selection operation is selected, the process proceeds to S54.

In S53, the control unit 16 controls the display device 3, the handwritten signature processing unit 12, the password processing unit 13,
The judgment output unit 14 is controlled to perform a registration operation. Also,
In S54, the control unit 16 controls the display device 3 and each of the units 12 to 14 to perform the collation operation. When the operation of S53 or S54 ends, the process returns to S51 again.

Next, the registration operation in S53 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in S61, the control unit 16 displays a message indicating that a registration operation is to be performed on the display screen of the display device 3.

Next, in S62, the control section 16 causes a message for explaining the operation content of the registration operation to be displayed on the display screen of the display device 3. Specifically, a message is displayed in the signature input area 2a of the tablet 2 using a pen to describe a handwritten signature composed of four characters (numbers) arbitrarily selected by the person to be authenticated.

Next, in S63, when the person to be authenticated who sees the message writes a handwritten signature in the signature input area 2a of the tablet 2, the tablet 2 in S64 writes the handwritten signature shown in FIGS. Generate chronological data for signatures. Next, in S65, the signal processing unit 11 performs a normalization process on the time-series data of the handwritten signature to generate handwritten signature data of a predetermined number of bytes.

Next, in S66, the password processing unit 13 performs a password registration process. That is, character recognition of each character (number) constituting the input handwritten signature is performed, and each character (number) string is registered in the external storage device 5 as a registration password.

Next, in S67, the control unit 16 displays on the display screen of the display device 3 a registered password and a message asking the person to be authenticated whether or not to perform the password registration process again. Next, in S68, the person to be authenticated who saw the message changes the confirmation switch 2 of the tablet 2.
When c is operated, the control unit 16 determines the contents of the operation. Then, when returning to the previous process (when re-performing the password registration process), the process returns to S62, and when proceeding to the next process (when not re-performing the password registration process), the process proceeds to S69.

In S69, the handwritten signature processing unit 12
Performs a signature registration process. That is, the input handwritten signature data is used as the registered signature data in the external storage device 5.
Registered in. Here, in the external storage device 5, the registered signature data is stored in association with the registered password.

Next, in S 70, the control unit 16 displays a message asking the person to be authenticated whether or not to repeat the signature registration process on the display screen of the display device 3. next,
In S71, the same process as S68 is performed. If the signature registration process is to be performed again, the process returns to S62. If the signature registration process is not to be performed again, the control unit 16 ends the registration operation.

Next, the collating operation in S54 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in S81, the control unit 16 displays a message to the effect that a collation operation is performed on the display screen of the display device 3.

Next, in S82, the control unit 16 displays a message for explaining the operation content of the collation operation on the display screen of the display device 3. Specifically, a message is displayed in the signature input area 2a of the tablet 2 using a pen to describe a handwritten signature composed of four characters (numbers) registered by the person to be authenticated in the registration operation.

Next, in steps S83 to S85, the same processing as in steps S63 to S65 is performed, and handwritten signature data (input signature data) is generated. Next, S86
, The password processing unit 13 performs a password collation process. That is, character recognition of each character (number) constituting the input handwritten signature is performed, and it is checked whether or not the same registered password as the input password composed of each character (number) string is registered in the external storage device 5. Then, the collation result is transferred to the determination output unit 14.

Next, in S87, if the same registered password as the input password is registered in the external storage device 5 corresponding to the collation result in S86 (if the input password and the registered password match), the flow proceeds to S88. The process proceeds to step S89 if not registered (if the input password does not match the registered password).

In S88, the handwritten signature processing unit 12
Searches the external storage device 5 and reads out the registered signature data corresponding to the registered password. Next, in S90,
The handwritten signature processing unit 12 performs signature verification processing. That is, the input signature data and the registered signature data read from the external storage device 5 are collated, and the collation result is transferred to the determination output unit 14.

Next, in S91, corresponding to the collation result in S90, if the input signature data and the registered signature data do not match, the process proceeds to S89, and if they match, the process proceeds to S92. In S92, the judgment output unit 1
Reference numeral 4 indicates that the person to be authenticated is the person himself / herself when the input password and the registered password and the input signature data and the registered signature data match, and generates an output signal for opening the electronic lock 6. .

Next, in step S93, the control unit 16 displays a message to the effect that the person to be authenticated is confirmed on the display screen of the display device 3, and terminates the collation operation. Further, in S89, the control unit 16 causes a message asking the person to be authenticated to re-perform the password collation processing or the signature collation processing to be displayed on the display screen of the display device 3.

Next, in S94, the same processing as in S68 is performed. If the password collation processing or the signature collation processing is to be performed again, the process returns to S82. If the password collation processing or the signature collation processing is not to be performed again, the control unit 16 performs the collation. End the operation. As described in detail above, in the personal authentication system 1 according to the present embodiment, for a signature handwritten by a person to be authenticated, first, a password obtained by character recognition of each character (number) constituting the handwritten signature is obtained. The personal authentication is performed according to the above, and when the identity of the user is confirmed, the personal authentication is then performed according to the handwritten signature verification. That is, in the personal authentication system 1, personal authentication is performed using both the password and the handwritten signature verification.

Therefore, according to the personal authentication system 1,
Since the input of the password is performed by character recognition of the handwritten signature, it is not necessary to input the password separately from the description of the handwritten signature. Therefore, the person to be authenticated only has to perform a simple operation of writing the handwritten signature once, and the trouble of the person to be authenticated does not increase in personal authentication.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but may be embodied as follows. Even in such a case, the same operation and effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained. (1) In the flowchart shown in FIG.
The processing of 68 and the processing of S69 to S71 are interchanged.
That is, the password registration process is performed after the signature registration process is performed.

(2) In the flowchart shown in FIG. 7, the processing of S86 to S87 and the processing of S90 to S91 are interchanged. That is, personal authentication is first performed for a signature handwritten by the person to be authenticated in accordance with the handwritten signature verification, and when it is confirmed that the user is himself / herself, each character (number) constituting the handwritten signature is recognized. Perform personal authentication according to the password obtained.
In this case, in S88, the password processing unit 13 searches the external storage device 5 and reads out the registered password corresponding to the registered signature data.

(3) The external storage device 5 is replaced with a storage medium using a backup area of a ROM or a RAM constituting the microcomputer 4. (4) The table storage medium 15 built in the microcomputer 4 is replaced with an external storage device such as a RAM, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, an IC card, a memory card, a magnetic card, or another card having a data storage function.

(5) The switches 2b and 2c are separated from the tablet 2. (6) In the handwritten signature processing unit 12, an appropriate handwritten signature verification technology other than the pattern matching technology is used. (7) The password processing unit 13 uses an appropriate character recognition technology other than the pattern matching technology.

(8) In the external storage device 5, the registered signature data and the registered password are stored separately without being associated with each other. (9) Instead of the personal authentication system 1 for controlling the opening and closing of the electronic lock 6 in the security check at the time of entering and leaving the room, various types of operations such as confirmation of computer users and confirmation of owners of various cards such as credit cards are performed. Apply to personal authentication system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a personal authentication system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an input surface of a tablet and a display screen of a display device.

FIG. 3A is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a handwritten signature described in a signature input area of a tablet. FIG.
FIG. 3B is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of coordinate data of a handwritten signature output from the tablet. FIG. 3C is an explanatory diagram illustrating pen pressure data output from the tablet.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a storage format of a registration password and registration signature data in an external storage device.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating the operation of the personal authentication system according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a registration operation in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a collation operation in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a conventional personal authentication system.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a conventional personal authentication system.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Tablet 4 ... Microcomputer 5 ...
External storage device 12: Handwritten signature processing unit 13: Password processing unit 14: Judgment output unit 16: Control unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A handwritten signature input device for converting a handwritten signature into signature data and inputting the data, a storage device in which signature data and a password registered for personal authentication are stored in advance, and a storage device storing the signature data and a password. A signature verification unit that verifies the signature data and the signature data input from the handwritten signature input unit; and a character recognition performed on the signature data input from the handwritten signature input unit to form a handwritten signature. A password verification unit that obtains a password composed of each character string and collates the password with a password stored in the storage unit, based on the verification results of the signature verification unit and the password verification unit, Determining means for determining that the person to be authenticated is the person when the IDs match. Personal authentication system that. 2. A signature registration means for storing and registering signature data for personal authentication inputted from said handwritten signature input means in said storage means, and a character for the signature data inputted from said handwritten signature input means. 2. A password registering means for obtaining a password composed of each character string constituting a handwritten signature by performing recognition, storing the password in a storage means and registering the password. Personal authentication system.