Fingerprint Technology 001

Training course on in-depth concepts on Fingerprint Technology

BIOENABLE TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD

C4/1, RAKSHA LEKHA SOCIETY, KOREGOAN PARK, PUNE-1
WWW.BIOENABLETECH.COM
INFO@BIOENABLETECH.COM
Minutiae, the discontinuities that interrupt the otherwise smooth flow of ridges, are the basis for most fingerprint
authentication. Minutiae points are local ridge characteristics that occur at either a ridge bifurcation or a ridge ending.

• Algos can detect 30 or more minutiae points, new

algos try to detect the max. no. of points

• One fingerprint can have more then 100 minutiae

points

• Name of minutiae points, orientation, and distance

from other points is stored in fingerprint template

• Fingerprint classifications like right/left loop, whorls,

arches are not used by most minutiae algos

• Even if 15 minutiae points match in two templates they

can be securely declared to be from same finger/person

• Security level define how many minutiae points must

match. Security level is from 0-9, 1 may mean 5 3-5
minutia points must match depending on the algos

• Anomalies caused by scars, sweat, or dirt appear as false minutiae

• Not well developed algorithms can mis-judge minutiae points
• Pressure also can deform or merge minutiae points
• Water, oil, dust can hide, deform minutiae
 Fingerprint Template
REGISTRATION

Registration/Enrolment
Matching

ID=2281 ID=2281
ID=2281 ID=2281 ID=2281

ID=2281 ID=2281 ID=2281

Database
ID+ Registered
templates ID=2281 ID=2281 ID=2281

Fingerprint M ID
=2
ID=2281 ID=2281 ID=2281

Optical Fingerprint Fingerprint Fingerprint Template AT 28

1
scanner Image Minutiae extraction 256-1000 bytes CH
50KB-80KB IN
G
1:1 matching (Verification, one to one): ID/Card is required along with finger, ID can come from
keypad, card etc. extra cost for cards? Time required to input ID on Keypad? More secure! More useful
for system more then 50 users!

1:N matching (Identification, one to many): ID/Card is not required, software tries to match finger
scanned with indexed database of all registered fingerprints. Can take longer time for system with more
Fingerprint ID=2281
then 50 users. No card reader or keypad required.
Template
1:G matching (Group matching, one to group): Modern software allow you to group users using 256-1000 bytes
group ID. In case group ID is entered 1:N matching happen within the group only. Useful for upto 500
users system. Supported by few product s only.
 FAR/FMR: False Acceptance rate, False match Rate
FRR/FNMR: False Rejection Rate/False Non match Rate
ERR: Equal Error rate

• Most figures are lab tested and not real environment figures. Most claims not verified by any body. Does not take
dust, moist, dry conditions, Ways of testing different

• FAR/FRR are tested at default security levels. If security level change FAR/FRR also change, if FAR decrease,
FRR increase, we want low FAR and low FRR. In 1:1 matching system lower security level is acceptable, In 1:N FAR
chances are high, to reduce FRR we increase security levels but then FRR increases

• Scanner as well as algos used can effect FAR/FRR along with people, behavior, awareness, place, environment,
registration etc. (see next slide for details)

• In Time attendance systems low FRR is required, in high security Access control systems FAR must be almost
zero and higher FRR may be acceptable.

• 1:N is not common in the market so not necessary to always offer 1:N. Focus on customer convenience and give
choice to customer for 1:1, 1:N , pin/password, card readers etc.

• In India 1 in 100 people can have problem verifying or even registering fingers. This is prominent for very old
people, due to finger skin type, manual labor, very deformed/uncommon finger ridge patterns, damage of finger skin,
finger coloring, finger hardness.
 Reasons for Fingerprint failures

Behavior and awareness also cause FAR/FRR problems like higher pressure is bad for optical scanners, very
light pressure is also wrong, finger must touch and cover the surface of the scanner. Many people keep fingers
tilted, some scan the lower part of the finger, some scan the upper part only, some people’s hand vibrate on
scanner, some place improperly in fear, some think that they can get a electric shock, some have privacy
concerns and many other factors related to person behavior can effect the verification process. Education and
awareness is very important.

Improper registration is cause of 50% of the FRR problems. The person registering finger must be able to judge
if the registration is perfect. Software normally do not help. Since most people have first experience of fingerprint
system at the time of registration, their fear and low awareness lead to low quality registration and then FRR and
sometimes FAR problems. Registration must be repeated after 1-3 weeks of experience of employees with the
system. Also hamster based visual registration is better, registering multiple fingers is better, I think more work
should be done to simplify registration process and improve quality.

Environmental conditions effect the FRR significantly, in cold season finger skin gets squeezed, in hot season
many people have sweat on their fingers, moist and dry fingers due to work environment also effect the FRR.
 OPTICAL SENSOR WORKING
Live check: Dual LEDs with prism are
used to avoid scanning of fake paper
fingerprints.

Finger
Prism

LEDs

Lens 1

Lens 2
To PC(USB)
or Optical Scanners
ARM controller CMOS Image
sensor

Issues
• Live check not secure enough

• Latent check increases verification time

• Larger Size, cost cannot be reduced after certain limit

 Active/E-Field capacitive
sensor
Capacitance is the ability to hold an electrical charge.
Fingerprint Cards' sensor contains tens of thousands of
• ESD problem small capacitive plates, each with their own electrical circuit
• Surface degradation embedded in the chip. When the finger is placed on the
sensor extremely weak electrical charges are created,
building a pattern between the finger's ridges or valleys and
the sensor's plates. Using these charges the sensor
measures the capacitance pattern across the surface. The
measured values are digitized by the sensor then sent to
the neighboring microprocessor.

The latter method, used by Fingerprint

Cards, is called the active or reflective
method, and it brings several
advantages. Using the programmable
logic internal to the capacitive sensor
configuration it is possible to read off
and adjust the sensor reception to
different skin types and conditions.
Another important benefit is that the
strengthened signal communications
between the fingerprint surface and the
sensor plates allows for the introduction
of strong, protective coating layers on
the sensor surface. This enables
Fingerprint Cards, as the only sensor
vendor, to sustain the requirement for
15kV electrostatic discharge (ESD), as
well as wear cycle tests for one million
touches to the sensor.
 Fingerprint sensor on card

Swipe sensors : Latest in Fingerprint technology

Lower cost but not comfortable enough, useful for mobile phones etc. Sites:
•Findebiometrics.com
•Biodigest.com
•Biometricsgroup.com
•Biometrics.org
•Ibia.org
•Biometricsinfo.org
•Biometricscatalog.com

Thanks

Pradeep Bhatia
MD, BioEnable