Fingerprint scan

Introduction
Finger-scan technology utilizes the
distinctive features of the fingerprint
to identify or verify the identity of
individuals.
Finger-scan technology is the most
commonly deployed biometric
technology, used in a broad range of
physical access and logical access
applications.

Physical and logical access

Physical access systems monitor, restrict, or
grant movement of a person or object into
or out of a specific area. Most physical
access implementations involve entry into a
room or building: bank vaults, server rooms,
control tow-ers, or any location to which
access is restricted. Time and attendance
are a common physical access application,
combining access to a location with an audit
of when the authentication occurred

 Logical access systems monitor,

restrict, or grant access to data or
information.
Logging into a PC, accessing data
stored on a network, accessing an
account, or authenticating a
transaction are examples of logical
access. Biometrics replace or
complement passwords, PINs, and
tokens in logical access systems.

 Finger-scans strengths include the

following:
It is a mature and proven core technology,
capable of high levels of accuracy.
It can be deployed in a range of
environments.
It employs easy-to-use devices.
The ability to enroll multiple fingers can
increase system accuracy and flexibility.

 Finger-scan has a handful of

weaknesses that may impact its
effectiveness for certain applications:
Most devices are unable to enroll
some small percentage of users.
Performance can deteriorate over
time.

Components
Finger-scan systems comprise image
acquisition hardware, image
processing components, template
generation and matching components,
and storage components.
These components can be located within a
single peripheral orstandalone device, or
may be spread among a peripheral
device, a local PC,and a central server.

 The surface on which the finger is placed is called a

platen, also referred to simply as a scanner.
Platens can be made of various materials, including
glass, plastic, silicon, and polymer.
Proprietary coatings are used to prevent damage to
the platen itself a scratched platen reduces a
device s ability to acquire high-quality fingerprint
images.
Depending on the type of finger-scan technology
used, areas of contact between the fingerprint and
the platen are measured through chip-based
cameras, through ultrasonic imaging,

 A platen is one piece of a finger-scan module, the basic

building block of a peripheral or standalone finger-scan
device.
A module normally contains a platen attached to a small
printed circuit board, along with a standard connector that
allows digitized information to be transmitted to the
peripheral or standalone device.
Many of today s finger-scan modules are capable of
performing all system functions image acquisition,
image processing, template generation, template
matching, and template storagewithin a very small
package.
These modules simply send match/no-match decisions to an
external application or system

 Modules can be built into PC peripheral devices, embedded in

keyboards, lap-tops, handheld devices, or PCMCIA cards;
integrated into door control devices; or built into standalone
terminals and readers.
Eventually they may be commonly found in mobile phones, on
the surface of smart cards, and in motorized vehicles.
Depending on cost and system design requirements,
peripherals designed for PC access can perform all functions
internally.
How-ever, in most finger-scan systems, template generation
and matching, being more processor-intensive activities,
take place on a local PC or central server.
Standalone and physical access devices are more likely to have
built-in processing power, such that all of the biometric processes
take place within the device itself

 The results of a finger-scan match are transmitted

from the biometric system in the proper format for
authentication to logical or physical access
systems.
Finger-scan systems may be tightly integrated with
these external systems
(applications, operating systems, smart card
authentication components, electronic door locks,
mobile phones) or may simply pass a password to
the application. This integration piece is an
extremely important part of any biometric system

How Finger-Scan Technology Works

There are five stages involved in
finger-scan verification and
identification:
fingerprint image acquisition,
image processing,
location of distinctive characteristics,
template creation, and
template matching.

1. Image Acquisition
The first challenge facing a finger-scan system is
to acquire a high-quality image of the
fingerprint. Image quality is measured in dots
per inch (DPI)
more dots per inch means a higher-resolution
image.
Todays finger-scan
peripherals can acquire images of 500 DPI, the
standard for forensic-quality fingerprinting.
The lowest DPI generally found in the market is
in the 300- to-350-DPI range

 Image acquisition is a major challenge for finger-scan

developers, because fingerprint quality can vary
substantially from person to person and from finger to finger.
Some populations are more likely than others to have faint or
difficult-to-acquire fingerprints, whether due to wear and tear
or physiological traits.
In addition, environmental factors can impact image
acquisition. In very cold weather, the oils normally found on
a fingerprint (which make for better imaging) dry up, such
that fingerprints can appear faint.
Users may need to press more firmly or even rub the finger
into their opposite palm to ensure that a quality image is
acquired.

working
For a finger-scan image to act as an effective
enrollment, the center of the finger-print must
be placed on the platen.
Many users unfamiliar with the technology will
place their finger at an angle, such that only
the upper portion of the finger-print appears.
This results in fewer distinctive features being
located during enrollment and verification,
reducing the likelihood of successful operation

 An additional factor in image acquisition that can affect

a systems accuracy and performance is the size of the
platen.
Over time, finger-scan vendors have developed smaller
and smaller platens in order to manufacture smaller
devices and to reduce costs.
Very small platens acquire a smaller portion of the
fingerprint, meaning that less data is available to create
and match templates.
Users with large fingers may also find it difficult to
present their fingerprint in a consistent fashion, leading
to false rejections

2. Image Processing
Once a high-quality image is acquired, it must be
converted to a usable format.
Image processing subroutines eliminate gray areas
from the image by converting the fingerprint image
s gray pixels to white and black, depending on their
pitch.
What results is a series of thick black ridges (the
raised part of the fingerprint) contrasted to white
valleys.
The ridges are then thinned from approximately 5 to
8 pixels in width down to a single pixel, for precise
location of features