Tuesday, March 4, 2003
Casio Computer and Alps Electric said they will jointly develop a fingerprint authentication module for mobile equipment.
Casio said it aims to set the price of the new module lower than US$10 in the initial stage of mass production. The module is slated to be put on the market in October 2003.
Users roll a small transparent roller with their fingertip, enabling the equipment to scan the necessary part of their fingertip. Previously, two types of fingerprint authentication modules have been proposed. One of them is a flat module that scans the entire area of the fingertip instantly. The other type is that users slide their fingertip on a module to have the pattern of lines on it read. These modules, however, had weak points. In the first type, the module takes up a lot of space on the surface of the equipment. In the second type, some area of the user's fingertip is pressed harder against the module than other areas when the person slides his or her fingertip on it, deforming the image of the fingerprint. The new module by Casio and Alps claims to solve these problems.
The roller of the new module measures 6mm in diameter and 15mm in length. The two firms have downsized the roller by embedding in it necessary parts, such as a light source, image pickup device and optical lens. The new module's scanning process is as follows. First, the light from the light source illuminates the fingertip on the roller. Then, the reflected light passes through the optical lens and reaches the image pickup device, allowing it to read the pattern of lines on the fingertip.
The scanning of the fingertip while the finger rolls the roller makes it possible to evenly distribute the pressure that is applied to all areas of the fingertip, and improve accuracy in reading data to minimize the distorted data information of the fingerprint.
The new module is capable of scanning not only the pattern of lines on the fingertip, but also printed characters. If embedded in the mobile phone, it will be able to read the URL printed in a magazine and enable the user to access the Web site without typing in the URL. The resolution of the module is 600ppi.
Casio Computer was in charge of developing the basic technology, and has already completed the work. Now Alps Electric will embark on the development of the mass-production technology
By: DocMemory
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