WO2002021871A1

WO2002021871A1 - Method and system for unblocking a mobile terminal

Info

Publication number: WO2002021871A1
Application number: PCT/EP2001/009959
Authority: WO
Inventors: Heydan Von Frankenberg; Michael Ruehle; Robert Frischholz
Original assignee: Bioid Ag
Priority date: 2000-09-04
Filing date: 2001-08-29
Publication date: 2002-03-14
Also published as: DE10043447A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and system for unblocking a mobile terminal, comprising an optical recording device and a data transmission device for wireless transmission of data. The mobile terminal records an image or image sequence of a user; characteristics are extracted therefrom; the extracted characteristics are compared with stored characteristics and the mobile device is unblocked for use if the extracted characteristics and stored characteristics match each other. The use thereof can be especially related to a requested service or the termination of a transaction.

Description

Method and system for unlocking a mobile device

The invention relates to a method and a system for activating a mobile terminal.

Mobile end devices, such as mobile telephones or portable computers with an Internet connection, are generally activated today by means of PIN or password methods to identify a user. The user must enter a secret number or a password into the device, which is compared with a secret number stored in the device in order to unlock the terminal if the two numbers match. This type of unlock tion is relatively susceptible to abuse because a secret number is not tied to a specific person, but any person who comes into possession of this secret number can gain access to the system. Under certain circumstances, a secret number can also be recalculated or determined by systematic tests, so that even if the secret number is kept secret by the authorized user, the system is not always protected against misuse.

To a limited extent, biometric access methods are already in use in the field of mobile devices. Examples of this are signature verification in so-called PDAs (personal digital assistants) or hand-held organizers, e.g. according to the sign-on procedure for Palm Organizer; Fingerprint sensors, e.g. were presented by Siemens ™ in their SlO prototype at the Cebit '98 fair; and voice verification for mobile phones, e.g. was introduced by the Voice TIMES ™ consortium.

From WO 99/16024 a biometric identification system is also known, which has several mobile workstations and a file server arranged remote from the workstations. The workstations receive input biometric data, such as a fingerprint or photographic data, and transmit this biometric data to the remote file server. The file server compares the incoming biometric data with stored biometric data to determine if there are matches. The biometric identification system of WO 99/16024 is used to identify people at borders in order to be able to assign data relevant to immigration to individuals as quickly as possible. This document does not deal with the problems of the activation of mobile devices.

The invention is based on the object of specifying a method and a system for activating a mobile terminal which is less susceptible to misuse and which uses resources of the mobile device for the authentication of the user and the activation of the device.

This object is achieved by a method with the feature of claim 1 and by a system with the features of claim 10.

The invention provides a new method for activating a mobile terminal, which is based on the fact that the mobile terminal has at least one optical recording device and one data transmission device for the wireless transmission of data. In the method according to the invention, an image or an image sequence of a user is recorded. For this purpose, a striking area, such as the face of the user, is selected in particular. Features are extracted from the recording, and the extracted features are compared with stored features of stored users, the mobile terminal being activated for use if the extracted features and the stored features match.

The recording can e.g. be recorded in the form of a video still image or a video sequence of the user. If the mobile terminal additionally has a sound recording device, which is e.g. in the case of a mobile telephone, the voice sequence of the user can also be recorded and evaluated and compared with stored voice sequences of stored users.

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The invention in its currently preferred embodiment provides three versions:

First, the entire recording (i.e. video recording plus, if applicable, voice recording) is transmitted to a central authentication point, the specified features (e.g. the face, facial expressions, language) are extracted from the recording and compared with the characteristics stored by users stored in the authentication point, the If the authentication point matches, sends an activation signal to the mobile terminal in order to activate the device or a requested service for the identified user.

Second, from the recording, features are extracted in the mobile terminal, which are transmitted to a central authentication point, the extracted features being compared with features stored in the authentication point of users and the authentication point, if they match, sends an activation signal to the mobile terminal.

Third, certain features of the recording are extracted in the mobile terminal, and the extracted features are compared in the terminal itself with features stored in the terminal, the mobile terminal being activated for use if they match.

In particular, the mobile terminal can be activated to use a service or to complete a transaction.

The invention also provides a system for activating a mobile terminal, which comprises a mobile terminal with an optical recording device and a data transmission device for wireless transmission of data, an image extraction device for extracting features from a recorded image or an image sequence of a potential user of the mobile terminal, a storage device for storing features of at least one authorized user of the mobile terminal, a comparator device for comparing features extracted from the recording with features stored in the storage device and an enabling device for enabling the mobile terminal when the extracted features and the stored features match , According to the invention, the image extraction device, the storage device, the comparator device and the activation device and a data transmission device can be contained in an authentication point remote from the mobile terminal device, which communicates with the mobile terminal device via the data transmission device. Alternatively, the storage device, the comparator device and the activation device and a data transmission device can be located in the authentication point remote from the mobile terminal, in which case the mobile terminal contains the image extraction device. According to yet another embodiment, the image extraction device, the storage device, the comparison device and the activation device can be integrated in the mobile terminal device, so that the mobile terminal device itself can activate a requested service or the use of the terminal device without communication with a remote authentication point.

DE 198 47 261.7 and an article by B. Takäcs and H. Wechsler in "Face Recognition Using Binary Image Metrics", 2nd International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition, IEEE proceedings, April 1998, describe methods for extracting features known from images or image sequences of a person and comparing these features with stored features for authenticating the person. Further methods for automatic face recognition are described in: H. Wechsler et. al., Face Recognition: "From Theory to Applications", Volume Computer and Systems Science, 163 of NATO ASI Series, Heidelberg, Springer, 1998, and Bichsel et al .: "The Electronic Doorman: Automatic Recognition and Identification of Human Faces", Pattern Recognition, pages 106-113, September 24, 1990. Such methods can be used for Realization of the present invention can be used. Reference is made to this publication.

The invention takes advantage of the fact that in the future optical recording and playback devices in mobile terminals, such as video cameras and video displays in mobile video telephones, will also be used to a large extent, so that these resources of the mobile terminals are additionally used for the biometric authentication of the users can be used. For the biometric sensors, no additional space requirements or additional manufacturing and cost expenditure will have to be planned in the future - in contrast to the use of fingerprint sensors, for example.

The invention can be used in the field of so-called personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile video telephones, in particular UMTS mobile telephones, in order to identify a user and to activate the device for an authorized user. The invention can also be used in the field of e-commerce and m-commerce (mobile commerce), e.g. to authorize a transaction or the confirmation of a purchase by means of facial recognition and / or voice recognition instead of entering a secret number.

The invention is explained below with reference to preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. The figures show:

1 shows a schematic representation of a first embodiment of the system according to the invention for activating a mobile terminal;

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a second embodiment of the system according to the invention; and

Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a third embodiment of the system according to the invention. , /

FIG. 1 schematically shows a mobile terminal, such as a mobile UMTS video telephone 10, which has an optical detection device 12, such as a video camera and an antenna 13, the antenna 13 representing a data transmission device for wireless data transmission. A central authentication point 14 and a user 15 are also shown in FIG. 1. In the embodiment of the invention 1 shown in FIG. ¹ , the mobile videophone 10 takes a video still picture or a video sequence of the user 15 and sends it to the authentication point 14. Of course, no overall picture of the user 15 has to be recorded, but distinctive areas, in particular that Face. The recording can, but does not have to be temporarily stored in the mobile terminal 10.

In the authentication center 14, the received image is digitized and certain features are extracted from the digitized image or the image sequence, such as the shape and color of the eyes, nose, face contour, characteristic features of the facial expressions and the like. These characteristics are compared with stored characteristics of authorized users.

In the case of feature extraction, the features essential for distinguishing the person are extracted from the digitized and possibly pre-processed recording. These can be frequency distributions, intensity distributions, extracted edges, local regions etc. By extracting the features, the high dimension of the original recording (eg NTSC video: 640x480 points = 307200 values) is usually reduced to a lower dimension of a feature vector (usually a few kilobytes, as can be read in the article "Face Recognition using Binary Image Metrics" mentioned, in this special case even less than 100 bytes). This reduced feature vector then forms the input data for a classifier, which decides which one by comparing with all stored feature vectors. Class, i.e. to which of the stored persons the feature vector is to be assigned.

Striking areas that are particularly suitable for identifying a person are the face and in particular the contour of the face, the eye region, the mouth region and the nose. The identification based on such local regions of the captured image is made. eg often carried out in several stages. It can be done, for example, that the recorded image of a face is digitized, initially on a small scale is compared with a correspondingly small face model, and the area of the digitized image in which a face was found is enlarged and compared again with a correspondingly larger face model. The comparison between the point groups of the digitized image and the face model can take place on the basis of the Hausdorff distance between the two point groups or by cross correlation or in another way known to the person skilled in the art.

If the authentication point 14 determines a match with an authorized user, it sends an activation signal to the mobile terminal 10, whereby this is released for further use. The use can consist in the input and output of data into and from the mobile terminal and in the data exchange with the authentication point or another point, such as a data server. Use may also refer to a requested service or the completion of a transaction, such as the confirmation of a purchase.

FIG. 2 shows an alternative embodiment of the invention, the same or similar parts as in FIG. 1 being designated by the same reference symbols and not being described again. The embodiment of FIG. 2 differs from FIG. 1 in that a memory, a digital data processing device and a module for feature extraction 16 are integrated in the mobile terminal device, so that the captured image is digitized in the terminal device and searched features are extracted locally. Subsequently, not the entire recording, but rather the already extracted features of this recording are sent to the central authentication point 14, which then, as before, compares the extracted features with the stored features. If they match, the authentication point 14 in turn sends an activation signal to the mobile terminal 10.

FIG. 3 again shows a further embodiment of the invention, in which the mobile terminal can be activated without data exchange with a central authentication point. In this case, the mobile terminal 10 comprises, in addition to the optical detection device, device 12 and the antenna 13, an image storage and image extraction device 16 as well as a comparator and activation device 17 in order to extract searched features from the recording in the mobile terminal 10 itself, to compare them with stored user features stored in the mobile terminal and, if they match Unlock use of the mobile device or a requested service.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the data which are used for comparison with the extracted features, that is to say the features of the authorized user, can also be stored in a removable memory or on a card, such as a SIM card of a mobile telephone. In the case of a mobile telephone in particular, the personal data are then stored on this exchangeable card, which can be used with various mobile devices, in particular with various mobile telephones. For comparison with the extracted features, the data stored on the card or in the removable memory are read out.

If the mobile terminal also has a voice recording device (not shown), in addition to the recording of an image or an image sequence of the user, a voice recording of the user can also be carried out and evaluated in order to introduce an additional security level for the identification of the user.

The features disclosed in the above description of the figures and the drawing can be of importance both individually and in any combination for realizing the invention in its various embodiments.

Claims

Method and system for activating a mobile terminalJ Claims

1. A method for activating a mobile terminal (10), the mobile terminal 10 having an optical recording device (12) and a data transmission device (13) for wireless transmission of data, in which an image or an image sequence of a user (15) is recorded , features are extracted from the recording, the extracted features are compared with stored features and, if they match, Mood of the extracted features and the stored features the mobile terminal (10) is released for use.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a video still image of the user (15) or striking sections of the user (15) is recorded.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a video sequence of the user (15) or striking sections of the user (15) is recorded.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the mobile terminal (10) also has a sound recording device, characterized in that in addition a voice sequence of the user is recorded.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the recording is transmitted to a central authentication point (14), extracted from the specified features from the recording and compared with features stored in the authentication point (14), the authentication point ( 14) sends an activation signal to the mobile terminal (10) if they match.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that predetermined features are extracted from the recording in the mobile terminal (10) and the extracted features are transmitted to a central authentication point (14), the extracted features with in the Authentication point (14) stored features are compared and the authentication point (14) sends an unlock signal to the mobile terminal (10) if they match. '

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that predetermined features are extracted from the recording in the mobile terminal (10) and the extracted features are compared with features stored in the mobile terminal (10) and the mobile terminal ( 10) is activated for use if they match.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that features of an authorized user are stored in a removable memory, in particular on a removable memory card, which can be inserted into the mobile terminal and is necessary for its operation.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mobile terminal (10) is activated for the use of a service or for the conclusion of a transaction.

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mobile terminal (10) is a mobile videophone or a portable computer with an integrated video camera.

11. System for unlocking a mobile terminal (10), comprising a mobile terminal (10) with an optical recording device (12) and a data transmission device (13) for wireless transmission of data, an image extraction device (16) for extracting features from a - No menen picture or a picture sequence of a user of the mobile terminal (10), a storage device (14; 17) for storing features of at least one potential user of the mobile terminal (10), a comparator device (14; 17) for comparing from the Recording extracted features with features stored in the storage device and an unlocking device (14; 17) for unlocking the mobile terminal (10)

Match the extracted features and the saved features.

12. System according to claim 11, characterized by an authentication point (14) remote from the mobile terminal, which comprises the image extraction device, the storage device, the comparing device and the activation device and a data transmission device and communicates with the mobile terminal (10) via the data transmission device ,

13. System according to claim 11, characterized by an authentication point (14) remote from the mobile terminal device, which comprises the storage device, the comparator device and the activation device as well as a data transmission device and communicates with the mobile terminal device (10) via the data transmission device, the mobile terminal (10) contains the image extraction device (16).

14. System according to claim 11, characterized in that the image extraction device (16), the storage device (17), the comparator device (17) and the activation device (17) are integrated in the mobile terminal (16) ..

15. System according to claim 14, characterized in that the storage device has a storage medium, in particular a memory card, which is interchangeably integrated in the mobile terminal (16).

16. System according to any one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that the mobile terminal (10) has a Tonaufnahmeeimichtung.

17. System according to one of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that the mobile terminal (10) is a mobile videophone or a portable computer with an integrated video camera.