BIOMETRIC

J+3+1+5+7+8+11
Biometric Technologies
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Captures biometric data via a biometric identification device, e.g. a fingerprint sensor and
associated circuitry
••
Extracts the relevant data from the actual submitted sample
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Compares the scanned data with data captured for reference
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Matches the submitted sample with templates
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Determines whether the identity of the biometric data holder is authentic
Biometric systems consist of both hardware and software. A biometric identification device gathers,
reads and compares the biometric data. The biometric data is the sample taken from the individual and
which must be unique to the person. Embedded software within the biometric system includes a biometric
engine that processes the gathered biometric data. The software typically works in tandem with the
hardware to operate the biometric data capture process, extract the data, and undertake comparison,
including data matching.
The most common biometric identifiers
used in biometric authentication systems
today are fingerprint, face, voice
vein and signature. Many variations
exist within each basic identifier category
and there are also systems on the
market combining several identifiers,
i.e. performing multimodal authenticati.
The market shares of the different
biometrics systems shown above are a
compound of both stand-alone biometric
systems and client-server biometric
systems, given that most biometric
systems belong to either of these two
categories.
The following sections give a brief overview
of each major type of biometric
identifier and its key characteristics.
3.2 Fingerprint Recognition
Fingerprint recognition, being the major biometric identifier in use, will be treated in much greater detail
in chapter 4. However, to enable a comparison with other identifiers, a brief overview of fingerprint recognition
principles and features is given here.
The ridges on the skin of our fingertips form unique patterns shown in our fingerprints. In biometrics,
the patterns that are formed by the ridges are called minutiae 2 . Examples of minutiae are ridge endings,
crossovers, cores and bifurcations, see Figure 9.
Several different technologies are available to capture
fingerprints – from manual methods traditionally used
in forensic science to the advanced active capacitive
technology used in the sensors from FPC, Apple and
Synaptics. The unique characteristics of a fingerprint
can for example be read by optical, capacitive, ultrasonic,
thermal or piezo-electrical sensors types, each
type having its own benefits and drawbacks as described
in chapter 4..
Looking at fingerprint recognition as such it comes out
as a very attractive biometric identifier, when compared
to other modalities such as e.g. iris scanning and voice
recognition. The main reasons why fingerprint recognition
is the dominant biometric modality used in commercial
applications today can be summarized as:
••
Each fingerprint has a very high level of
uniqueness, i.e. authentication is definite.
Market Shares by Biometric Type, 2015
65+
Vein - 8%
Face -11%
Signature &
Hardwriting - 1%
Voice - 7%
Eye - 5%
(Source: ABI)
Other - 3%
Figure 8. Biometrics market share by system type, based on revenue.
Source: ABI Research 2016
Fingerprint - 65%
2 Minutiae is a Latin word for trifles and minor details.
Figure 9. Fingerprint formation
8 Jan 2017