Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Fingerprint
Navigation by fingerAs mobile phones decrease in size with everynew release, the physical space available formanufacturers wanting to offer biometric-baseduser authentication is becoming increasinglyscarce. In a bid to get around this problem, chipmanufacturer Atmel has launched a compactfingerprint sensor that also doubles as a screenmenu navigator on mobile phones and otherhandheld devices.
The new sensor comes at a time whenhandheld devices contain increasingly sensitiveinformation, and will likely be used as paymentdevices in the future. These developments,which move the domain of the mobile phoneaway from simply making telephone calls ortaking photographs, demand enhanced userauthentication, such as fingerprint verification.Atmel believes its thermal imaging-basedfingerprint sensor will be able to providepassword replacement, data encryption,profiling and theft prevention, as well as beingused as the primary screen navigation device.
The AT77C104B FingerChip sensor integrates8-way navigation and click functions. A userglides their finger over the surface of the sensor tonavigate and taps it in order to select an item.Once the sensor is integrated into a device, only a1.6 mm by 9.5 mm sensor area remains visible,the company claims.
From a technical standpoint one of the mainreasons this sort of technology has notpreviously been successful in mobile orhandheld devices is because of the high powerrequirements. Vincent Cachard, projectmanager for FingerChip applications at Atmel,told Btt: “What is particularly important here isthat everything is integrated into the hardware.This allows us to overcome the powerconsumption hurdles that once existed.” (Atmelclaims that the sensor operates within a voltagerange of 2.3V to 3.6V, draws a maximum of 6mA during fingerprint acquisition and less than10 uA in sleep mode.)
The sensor is shaped like a long thin rectangle,meaning the user must sweep their finger acrossthe sensor. From a user’s point of view this is moreawkward than a simple touch sensor, but it is arelatively easy action to learn. The final image willbe 500 dpi, as the sensor captures successiveimage stripes and then reconstructs them to formthe fingerprint image.
Bearing in mind the extreme conditions mostpeople’s mobile phones are subjected to, thecompany has also designed the sensor to operateat extreme temperatures and be resistant toelectrostatic discharge, shocks or sweat.
The company said that samples of the sensorare now available and will eventually be sold atless than US$6 for high-volume orders.
Contact: David Richard at Atmel,Tel: +33 476 583 041, email: [email protected]
fingerprint
Precise Biometrics wins USstate orderAn undisclosed US state has placed two orderswith Swedish fingerprint technology companyPrecise Biometrics for the supply of licencesthat will enable it to roll out smart cards thatcan perform on-board fingerprint matching.
Under terms of the pilot ID programme,Precise Biometrics will supply Precise Match-on-Card licences for a total of 90,000 users. Theorders also include a small number of combinedfingerprint and smart card readers and technicaldevelopment work. In total the value of thecurrent project to Precise Biometrics isapproximately SEK 1.5 million (US$????).
The initial pilot programme will run until theend of 2004. Once the results from this pilot areassessed, an official solution for the state will bechosen and start during 2005. This roll out willassist several million users.
Precise Biometrics’ technology makes itpossible to store and match fingerprints directlyon a smart card, rather than in a central databaseor on the smart card reader itself. This is anadvantage in high security situations or whenthere is a fear that an individual’s fingerprintcould be stolen or abused.
Contact: Christer Bergman at Precise Biometrics,Tel: +46 730 35 67 26, email:[email protected]
Fingerprint
MFG and First NationalBank tighten up securityInternational composites company MoldedFiber Glass (MFG) has taken action to secure itscompany network using biometricauthentication. The company will initiallydeploy fingerprint-based technology at itsOhio-based headquarters, followed by anationwide roll out designed to enable 2500users to seamlessly log on to its corporatenetwork.
MFG has chosen biometric middlewarevendor Saflink to provide its SAFsolution
NEWS
Biometric Technology Today • March 20044
P r o d u c tn e w s
• Think Computer Productshas launched a portable flashstorage device incorporating afingerprint sensor for access tothe secure storage partition. TheU-Key-Com FIDA drives rangein capacity from 64MB to 2GBand support up to 16 separatefingerprints, which provideaccess for multiple users at thediscretion of the administrator.The drive features twopartitions – one is public andcan be read from any systemwith a USB port, while theother sector is secure, requiringfingerprint authentication toaccess the data.• Nuance, the speechtechnology company, hasreleased the latest version of itsspeaker verification software.Nuance Verifier 3.5 includesnumerous enhancements to itsearlier versions including:increased accuracy over a rangeof communications channels;advanced log management tohelp companies gain insightinto how the system is used;and a mentoring option, whichis designed to informcustomers of best practicewhen implementing a speechsystem. According to Nuance,a mid-size financial servicescall centre using its latesttechnology could saveapproximately US$6 million inagent costs, simply by keepingmore calls within theautomated system. • Bioscrypt has launched thelatest version of its softwareincluding a new door-to-desktop (D2D) productdeveloped for enterprise use.The D2D product is designedto allow a single user to enroljust once in order to gain accessto both facilities andinformation. D2D is availableas part of a firmware upgrade toBioscrypt’s Veri-Series line offingerprint readers and as anSDK for enterprise applicationdevelopers.
