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...without keys, keypads, badges, personal identification numbers. Your finger is all you need. The increasing use of e-commerce is one of the factors stimulating the development of biometric technologies which is the science of measuring and statistically analyzing biological data. There is no point in being able to book holidays, buy shares or even just check your bank balance from your PC or mobile terminal unless the whole infrastructure is secure against fraud.  Figure 1 Although the level of fraud today is relatively low, this is unlikely to be true in the future when much more e-commerce takes place over wireless links. The key security point is to have a reliable way of proving that the person operating a mobile terminal and requesting a service is entitled to do so and a key part of this is to establish the identity of the user. Security mechanisms today can be divided into three broad classes:  Information known only to the user, such as PIN codes and passwords. Often considered adequate, this level of security is undermined when people keep a written record of their PIN codes and passwords in the same wallet where they keep their bank cards ! Possession of an object such as asmartcard or token. Like PINs and passwords, these do not prove identity. Biometric technologies, linked to the true identity of the user and which may be either behavioral or physiological. Behavioral techniques are based on the analysis of voice patterns, signatures or key stroke patterns. Physiological techniques are based on permanent and unique characteristics such as fingerprints, facial structure, retina and iris scanning and DNA.Technique to Technology Before a biometric technique can be used in mass applications, the uniqueness of the biometric “signature” must be demonstrated and widely accepted; and the technology must be cost-effective. Fingerprint-based identification is the oldest and most firmly established biometrical technique. Historically, finger prints were first used to sign legal documents among the ancient Assyrians and Chinese. The use of fingerprints for identification purposes was put forward in the late 19th century by the British scientist Sir Francis Galton and for over a century, courts have accepted fingerprint evidence as proof of identity. Existing fingerprint recognition technologies, however, based on optical technology, are bulky and power greedy and often too expensive to be used in mass market applications. This is all about to change, following an agreement recently concluded between ST and IDEX, a developer of innovative biometric fingerprint and pointer technology based in Heggedal, Asker, Norway. Under the terms of the agreement, ST and IDEX will develop a miniature biometric module called SmartFinger™ that combines both fingerprint recognition and on-screen navigation features for mobile Internet applications. ST is already a leader in the emerging field of solid-state fingerprint biometric solutions with the TouchChip™ product family, which offers a full biometric subsystem solution, with over one hundred thousand silicon area sensors already shipped. The SmartFinger module will provide a unique and cost-effective solution for mobile commerce applications that have a very small form-factor and very low power consumption, including wireless multimedia terminals, smart phones and portable equipment such as personal digital assistants (PDAs). SmartFinger will exploit a number of key IDEX patents covering AC capacitive sensing technology that can not only sense the pattern of ridges and valleys that make up a fingerprint but can also detect finger motion. Enabling high-security transactions, the SmartFinger module removes the need for login codes, pin numbers and passwords for the terminal user and wireless network operator. More than that, however, intuitive Web navigation and personal file management will be possible with pointer capabilities, eliminating the need for a mechanical roller. Figure 1 illustrates the basic principle of the Idex fingerprint capturing technology. A low-level AC current is introduced to the finger via modulation electrodes and is capacitively coupled to the sensor elements, with the degree of coupling varying with the distance between the sensors and the ridges and valleys of the finger surface. The uniqueness of the Idex technology is the combination of the AC-capacitive measuring principle with a “one dimensional” stripe-geometry. The measuring principle is particularly effective with “difficult” fingers e.g. those with dry or worn skin, where alternative technologies struggle and may even fail to extract a reliable fingerprint. About IDEX Based in Heggedal, Asker, Norway, IDEX has a strong cooperation with SINTEF, one of Europe’s leading, independent research centers, and the University of Oslo in the fields of Bioimpedance and Computer science. This enables IDEX to continuously challenge leading edge fingerprint technology. IDEX is an associate member of the Mobile Electronic Transaction Initiative MeT) originally formed by Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola to exploit new standards for mobile E-commerce. More information can be found at the IDEX web site at www.idex.no The advantage of the stripe sensor is that requires fewer sensors/channels and can therefore be realized with much less silicon area. Even if more channels are added in the stripe to increase the resolution, and better signal conditioning is provided, the usage of silicon area, which directly affects volume production cost, remains very efficient. The stripe also allows a simple algorithm for pointer functionality since the number of channels that need to be processed in total is less. Another benefit of the Idex technology is that it enables the costly active silicon area to be separated from the passive sensor area, which has to cover the width of the finger. This opportunity is utilized in the SmartFinger technology by “flip-chipping” the ASIC to the Sensor substrate. The SmartFinger solution offers exciting new opportunities for wireless applications, in terms of security and cost. With this technology, mobile terminals can be built where every kind of transaction can be safely handled because the moving finger will control every stage of the transaction, verifying the user all the time.  Further information about ST’s biometric solution can be found at www.st.com, while more details about idex can be found at www.idex.no. |
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