Fringerprint reader

Fingerprint reader

FRINGERPRINT READER

The present invention relates to a display screen capable of recording a fingerprint placed at any position on the display screen, and a method for recording a fingerprint at any position on the display screen without affecting the display function. The present invention enables a mobile phone to read the fingerprint when the fingerprint is placed at any position on the display screen. Mobile phone manufacturers no longer need to separate the front or back space of the mobile phone due to disconnected fingerprint readers.

Recognition is an important issue in the digital and fast-moving world. The problem is how to safely distinguish other people. Credit cards may be lost or stolen. The image recognition card may be wrong due to the carelessness of the guards at the door. Years ago, some employees of a highly confidential device replaced the image on their identification card with cartoon patterns (Mickey Mouse, Duffy Duck, etc.), and then successfully entered the highly confidential device for several days. This important issue is to ensure that those identification cards or credit cards actually belong to the person who made the purchase or entered.

Fingerprints have been used for identification in recorded history. Its lines have been found on Babylonian clay tablets, on the walls of Egyptian tombs, on Minoan, Greek and Chinese pottery, and on the brick walls of ancient Rome. Many of these fingerprints may be accidentally stored, and some are ornaments, but scholars believe that some of the fingerprints found on the pottery are stamped very hard and deliberately, which means that they deliberately identify the artist or owner.

Although there are many different types and styles of fingerprint readers, they are all for the same goal, which is to accurately record the unique characteristics defined by the rubbing of the ridges (and valleys) of the fingers. The fingerprint system can be distinguished by three types of characteristics. The first type of feature is the texture of the ridge, which is generally classified as arch, loop or whorl. The second type of characteristics depicts the significant changes between the friction ridges, that is, their main divergent ends and ends. These second type features are called minutiae and are the main recognition method in the prior art. The features that exist between these friction ridges are called the third type of features. The third type of features include pores, scars, changes in width, changes in shape, wrinkles and cracks.

The current fingerprint sensor is an electronic device used to obtain a digital fingerprint, that is, a fingerprint image. Some competing technologies exist for collecting fingerprint images, such as pressure sensors, capacitive sensors, optical sensors, and thermal sensors. However, the "raw" acquisition of the fingerprint image will be stored for general pattern matching. Generally, the immature fingerprint image is processed by a digital program, and a more efficient biological system is generated. Recognition template (collection of extracted features), which is stored and used for matching. Regardless of the physical characteristics used to obtain the fingerprint image, it is particularly important to collect high-quality (clear contrast) fingerprint images, because the image quality is highly correlated with the overall fingerprint system performance (refer to American National Standards and Institute of Technology (NIST) 8034 Fingerprint Vendor Technology Evaluation [FpVTE2012]).

If the goal is to detect a fingerprint located anywhere on a display screen, a hidden antenna sensor must exist in the entire display screen, and the price and complexity are high. Currently, the most commonly used sensing technology is capacitive, and when the sensing array is located closest to the surface of the display screen, the performance of charge sensing is the best. This will result in material thickness that cannot be achieved in reality, and placing the array sensor on the front of the light emitting diodes (LEDs) will interfere with the display function.

The axial/optical approach solves the problem of close proximity including the screen, but still requires a large and high-density antenna sensor, micro-lens and increased thickness. The above needs to be able to "pass through" the uniform light-emitting layer of the display, so special materials with unique optical and electronic properties are required to be used in multiple layers that penetrate the display.

Optical fingerprint imaging includes the use of visible light, ultraviolet light, or infrared light to obtain a digital image of the fingerprint. This sensor is essentially a professional digital camera. In most embodiments, the sensor creates a transparent touchpad where the finger presses. Under the touch panel, a light source and a camera sensor are strategically arranged with a variety of optical elements to focus a clear, high-contrast image on the camera sensor.

All fingerprint scanners nowadays use a sensor to allow the finger to slide, roll or touch in the sensing area to obtain the fingerprint. According to the physical principle used (in this case, optical), it is to obtain the ridges and valleys. difference between. In order to achieve a high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N, signal-to-noise ratio) of the optical element of the image acquisition device, it is very important to preserve the fingerprint with a clear, accurate, and high-contrast performance. Total Internal Reflection (TIR) is one of the physical phenomena often used in optical fingerprint readers to improve the contrast and signal-to-noise ratio, as well as Frustrated Total Internal Reflection (FTIR) One of the auxiliary features.

Total internal reflection is an optical phenomenon that occurs when light hits the boundary with an angle greater than a certain critical angle relative to the surface normal. If the refractive index of the boundary on the other side is small and the incident angle is greater than the critical angle, all light will be reflected to the original medium. This only occurs when light travels from a medium with a higher refractive index (n1 is the higher refractive index) to a medium with a lower refractive index (n2 is the lower refractive index). For example, the above situation will happen from glass to air but not from air to glass. The angle of incidence is measured relative to the normal of the refraction boundary.

An important side effect of total internal reflection is the propagation of attenuated waves penetrating the boundary surface. Under TIR conditions, although the entire incident wave is reflected back to the original medium, part of it will penetrate into the second medium at the boundary. This wave in a medium with low optical density is called an evanescent wave.

If a third medium with a higher refractive index than the second medium is placed on the interface between the first medium and the second medium, the attenuated wave will penetrate energy from the second medium to the third medium. This process is called frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR). This FTIR phenomenon only occurs when the distance between the two higher refractive index media is very small (about 10 nanometers). Due to the interaction when FTIR is generated, the size of the ridges and valleys of the fingerprint must be larger than the above interval. Therefore, when the finger approaches and touches the glass plate, the light is absorbed and re-radiated in all directions where the friction ridge touches the glass, but the valley is tens of millimeters above the glass and enters the touch at a critical angle. All light on the surface of the board will be reflected.

When viewing the touched area under the glass of the display screen (or other transparent cover), the areas that touch the ridge of the glass are of one color and density, while the valleys are of another. These ridges can be displayed as brighter or darker than the valleys depending on the direction of the light source and viewing angle. In either case, the image produced by this high contrast is ideal as a typical digital camera-based optical fingerprint reader.

For example, no matter what kind of operation, the common feature of most fingerprint sensors is that the sensing device must be directly touched with a finger. This is an obvious disadvantage for mobile applications, because mobile users like to use fingerprint readers on the same surface they are viewing (referring to the screen side). Users also like a large viewing area. However, all the "screen sides" currently used to solve mobile phone fingerprint readers require a space dedicated to the fingerprint reader on the surface of the mobile phone.

In addition, the preference of most users and manufacturers is to have a uniform glass cover on the entire surface of the mobile phone. In fact, some mobile phone designers try to encapsulate the entire surface of the mobile phone in glass. The strength, scratch resistance and hardness of glass make it a favorable surface material.

However, because all current fingerprint sensors (appropriate sizes for mobile phones) must be directly touched with a finger, the glass cover needs to have a hole for matching the sensor. This hole increases the cost, presents a surrounding area that must be sealed from the surrounding environment, and creates a weak area in the glass. Mobile phone manufacturers are exploring a fingerprint sensing technology that can replace glass covers to avoid such holes.

One alternative method is to scan the illumination and direct the resulting reflected light to the sensor. The power detected by the sensor can then regenerate the image by scanning the display screen and changing the intensity of the display to reflect the power detected by the sensor. This technique is commonly used in the design of scanning electron microscopes and many confocal microscopes, because the image is not distorted by focusing the image, and the point of view of the image comes from the illumination source, and the depth of field is relative It is larger than other imaging technologies. Regarding this method of using fingerprints to generate fingerprint images, it was proposed by Daniel H. Marcus in 1983 and used in US Patent No. 4,553,837 entitled "Rolling Fingerprint Processing Apparatus".

Taiwan Patent Application No. 104208311 has disclosed another optical system for scanning fingerprints. This application discloses a system that illuminates the finger from below the sensor and projects its image onto the camera chip adjacent to the sensor. FTIR is used to strengthen the ridges of the image, so that the ridges are bright and the valleys are dark. If the sensor is optically connected to the glass cover of the mobile phone (such as by bonding to the glass cover using an optically transparent adhesive with a matching refractive index), the glass becomes a part of the sensor. Through the electronic method, the present invention focuses the image on the digital camera, and the sensing pixels on the camera chip are scanned to generate the digital image. The generated image can be processed by the program to remove the distortion and verify its subtle features, which can be used to determine the actual identification of the fingerprint. The viewpoint of the image will be displayed as viewed from the left. The image is naturally compressed along the length of the arrow, but is full size in the third dimension. The optical components must be used carefully to ensure the maximum use of the camera chip. Even so, the image resolution in pixels per inch (inch) may be asymmetric. Image distortion is geometrically related and can be corrected to a certain extent by software, but the generated image cannot be completely corrected, and it does not have a true one-to-one relationship with the original fingerprint. In other words, manufacturing tolerances limit how thin the structure can be made.

Try to solve the problems associated with sensing fingerprints through, for example, the display screens of mobile phones, including substantial changes in core display materials. Many of these materials are expensive and capital intensive. The extra layer will increase the thickness of the device. The direct method requires placing a high-density array of sensors on the screen.

US Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0036065 discloses the use of a sensor layer under the display to allow fingerprints to be read on the entire display without changing the appearance of the user when using the mobile phone. The published application describes adding a sensor layer "underneath" the display to read fingerprints. This is different from the method commonly used by most teams to obtain fingerprints from the screen. Most teams try to find a way to add a sensor layer "above" the display LED/LCD layer so that the sensor can be very close to the finger. The trick is to make the sensor layer completely transparent without damaging the image from the display. However, this is difficult to achieve.

Regarding the early technology of the display for reading to illuminate fingerprints, Apple has tried to use the pixels in the display as "sensing pixels." Refer to US Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0178542, "Finger Biometric Sensor and Related Methods Including Drive Signal Level Update".

US Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0036065, entitled "Fingerprint Sensors in Electronic Devices" discloses the sensing of fingerprints directly on the screen with multiple fingers, and mentions ultrasonic sensing. Although the ultrasound concept is the only one that is slightly close to the present invention, it is not very close, except that it may not require a physical sensor to correspond one-to-one with the desired details in the fingerprint image.

In addition, the size of the fingerprint sensor used in the mobile phone is determined by a trade-off between increasing credibility (which requires a large sensing area) and reducing cost (which increases with the sensing area). The sensors on existing mobile phones are as small as possible, while still providing sufficient credibility required by mobile phone users, which is relatively low. However, in order to provide sufficient security for important financial transactions, the credibility of the mobile phone fingerprint sensor will have to be at least as reliable as the identification chip system introduced in the credit card. This will require a fingerprint sensor with a larger size, which is an area that simply cannot be achieved on a mobile phone. By using the entire screen as the fingerprint sensor, there will be no restrictions on the size of the fingerprint sensor.

Considering the above situation, there is no full-screen fingerprint solution today. All known potential solutions involve adding materials or layers to the display stack, and they include thousands or millions of micro-sensors to measure the details of fingerprints. The present invention greatly reduces the number of sensors required, and can selectively allow sensor elements to be repositioned from the area of the display to the surrounding area, and uses sequential energy pulses and precise timing to create a fingerprint image , To avoid all the problems of the existing technology. The device has the ability to scan the entire screen to detect where the finger touches the screen and measure the complex characteristics of the fingerprint. Through the rest of this application, this system is called a remote sensing fingerprint reader.

Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader, including: a display screen composed of an array of a plurality of energy emitting pixels, the array being covered by a transparent cover; at least A sensor is coupled to the edge of the display screen; a display driver is directed to the array of the energy emitting pixels of the display screen to light up in a predetermined sequence; and a microprocessor is connected to the The display driver communicates with the at least one sensor, wherein the microprocessor knows where the energy emitting pixel is illuminated and the specific time when the illumination occurs. During use and when at least one finger is placed on the transparent cover and the display driver is activated, the energy sequentially illuminated from the energy emitting pixels will be reflected from the fingerprint to the at least one sensor, and the at least one The energy received by the sensor is at different intensity levels depending on the ridges and valleys of the at least one fingerprint. The at least one sensor transmits a signal about the energy intensity level to the microprocessor, when When the energy emitting pixels are sequentially illuminated, the microprocessor generates a fingerprint image from the signal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader, which includes a memory for storing the fingerprint image generated by the microprocessor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader, which includes an analog-to-digital converter between the at least one sensor and the microprocessor, which is used to generate the at least one sensor The analog signal is converted into a digital signal that can be used by the microprocessor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader, wherein the transparent cover is glass.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader, wherein the at least one sensor is a light sensor for measuring the energy intensity level of the array of the energy emitting pixels.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader, wherein the transparent cover is flat.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader, wherein the transparent cover is curved.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader, which includes an energy guiding structure, the light sensor is placed in the energy guiding structure, the energy guiding structure is located on a surface of the transparent cover, and includes An optical element that allows the energy from the display screen to be reflected to the light sensor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader, wherein the at least one sensor includes a plurality of sensors located at the edge of the transparent cover.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader, which includes a touch sensor for positioning at least one finger on the transparent cover.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader that includes a lens or occlusion feature to help optimize the illumination of the at least one finger.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader, wherein the energy received by the at least one sensor is filtered to prevent unnecessary energy from entering the at least one sensor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader in which energy is filtered based on the timing of the light received by the at least one sensor from the illuminated energy emitting pixel.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader in which the array of the energy emitting pixels includes a layer that reflects the frequencies of interest in fingerprint detection.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader in which several adjacent energy emitting pixels are illuminated together as a group.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader, wherein when the fingerprint reader is activated, the energy emitting pixels in the area of the display screen not used for fingerprint reading are turned off.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader in which each energy emitting pixel is illuminated multiple times to generate fingerprint images of equal time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fingerprint reader in which the color of energy received by at least one sensor can be measured and included in the signal sent to the microprocessor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a reader, including: a screen composed of an array of a plurality of energy emitting pixels (energy emitting pixels), the array is covered by a transparent cover; at least one sensor A device is coupled to the edge of the screen; a driver that instructs the array of the energy emitting pixels of the display screen to light up in a sequence; and a microprocessor that is connected to the display driver and the at least one sensor Detector communication, where the microprocessor knows where the energy emitting pixel is illuminated and the specific time when the illumination occurs. When at least one finger is placed on the transparent cover and the display driver is activated, the energy sequentially illuminated from the energy emitting pixels will be reflected from the fingerprint to the at least one sensor, and the at least one sensor is The received energy is at different intensity levels according to the ridges and valleys of the at least one fingerprint, the at least one sensor transmits a signal about the energy intensity level to the microprocessor, and when the energy is emitted When the pixels are sequentially lit, the microprocessor generates a fingerprint image from the signal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a touch position reader, comprising: a screen consisting of an array of a plurality of energy emitting pixels, the array being covered by a transparent cover; at least A sensor is coupled to the edge of the screen; a driver instructs the array of the energy emitting pixels of the display screen to light up in a sequence; and a microprocessor is connected to the display driver and the At least one sensor communicates, where the microprocessor knows where the energy emitting pixels are illuminated and the specific time when the illumination occurs. When at least one finger is placed on the transparent cover and the display driver is activated, the energy sequentially lit from the energy emitting pixels will be reflected from the finger to the at least one sensor, and the at least one sensor is The received energy is at different intensity levels according to the position of the finger on the screen, the at least one sensor transmits a signal about the energy intensity level to the microprocessor, and the microprocessor determines the finger from the signal Position on the screen.

From the following detailed description, other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent when combined with the accompanying drawings illustrating certain embodiments of the present invention.

The present invention discloses detailed embodiments. However, it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples of the present invention, and the present invention may be implemented in different forms. Therefore, the details disclosed herein should not be construed as limiting, but merely as a basis for teaching those skilled in the art how to make and/or use the present invention.

As described above, and with reference to the embodiments disclosed in FIGS. 1-9, the present invention provides a remote sensing fingerprint reader 10, which allows recording and placing on the mobile phone 14 (or smart phone, tablet computer, touch screen note A fingerprint at any position on the display screen 12 of a computer, etc., and a method of recording the fingerprint at any position on the display screen 12 without affecting its display function. Specifically, when the fingerprint 100 is placed anywhere on the display screen 12, the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 enables the mobile phone 14 (or other electronic devices integrated according to the present invention) to read the fingerprint 100. Therefore, mobile phone manufacturers no longer need to allocate space on the front or back of the mobile phone due to disconnected fingerprint readers.

The remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 of the present invention scans the illumination source across the fingerprint 100, and measures the reflected and re-radiated light energy at each scanning position (see FIGS. 3 and 4) to generate a model of the fingerprint 100. According to the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 of the present invention, when the finger 102 is placed on the display screen 12 of the mobile phone 14, it will be illuminated by the display screen 12, and the reflection from the fingerprint 100 will be sensed by the light around the display screen 12.Device16 Record. Thanks to the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10, the fingerprint 100 can be recorded by the display screen 12 without causing any changes to the display screen 12 itself.

Although the present disclosure is about reading a single fingerprint placed on the display screen, it should be understood that the remote sensing fingerprint reader can pseudo simultaneously record multiple fingerprints. In the case that multiple fingerprints need to be read at the same time, the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 uses the well-known touch screen technology to determine the position of the finger based on the display screen 12. Read fingerprints in one or more areas. The use of multiple fingerprints for authentication purposes additionally increases the security level because it adds additional identification elements during the authentication process of mobile phone users (commonly known as "multi-factor authentication") . In addition, combined with the use of multiple fingerprints, the relative position of two fingerprints can also be used in the identification process; that is, if the relative calibration, proximity or angle of the two fingerprints can also be read and recorded, then Security will be stronger. For example, for a bank transaction of 10,000 yuan or higher, the mobile phone may require the user to place two middle fingers at a specific position on the display screen 12. The user may also need to almost touch and point two fingers in the ten o'clock direction and the two o'clock direction. In this way, if someone wants to steal more than 10,000 yuan, they must cut the finger of the mobile phone user and know how to arrange it on the screen.

More specifically, when the finger 102 is placed at any position on the display screen 12, the program processing starts from the light emitting pixel 18 illuminated by the fingerprint. For the purposes of this application, a "light emitting pixel 18 (or "energy emitting pixel") is considered to be any pixel that can emit light, whether the light is generated in a pixel such as an LED or OLED, or the light is as in an LCD display. That passes through the pixels. Some of the light reflected from the fingerprint will be captured in the transparent cover 34 (for example, the glass top layer) of the display screen 12. The light sensor 16 is located at the edge of the transparent cover 34, and the light sensor 16 will be The reflected or re-radiated energy (or the change in energy) is measured at the point of interaction. The reflected energy when the light emitting pixel 18 rubs under the ridge is different from the light emitting pixel 18 under the "valley" between the ridges Measure the reflected energy of each light-emitting pixel 18 by sequentially lighting the light-emitting pixels 18 below the finger 102, paying attention to the difference between the rubbing ridges and valleys, and knowing each light-emitting pixel 18 The location of the fingerprint can be constructed to map or image the fingerprint (see Figure 3 and Figure 4). The remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 does not require a new layer or a large number of sensors. Therefore, its cost is lower, the volume is smaller, and Will not affect the display.

In short, according to the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 of the preferred embodiment, the display screen 12 includes an array 20 of light emitting pixels 18 covered by a transparent cover 34 (usually glass). According to a preferred embodiment, the light emitting pixels 18 used in combination with the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 are the same as the light emitting pixels 18 used by the mobile phone 14 to generate images for viewing by the mobile phone user. Therefore, when the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 is implemented in today's mobile phones and other electronic devices with similar display screens, only minimal modification is required. However, it should be understood that the present invention can be implemented by providing a completely independent display screen 12 or an independent array 20 of light emitting pixels 18. In the case of using independent light emitting pixels, as discussed below with reference to Figure 23, those light emitting pixels used in combination with a remote sensing fingerprint reader (secondary light emitting pixels) can be scattered throughout the normal "visible" The pixel array (primary light emitting pixels), or they can be located at another level below or above the normal "visible" pixel array. For example, independent pixel arrays can generate infrared or ultraviolet frequencies that are invisible to the naked eye.

In addition, it should be understood that the present invention can be implemented as an independent device or module. The array 20 of energy emitting pixels, the transparent cover 34 and other necessary components can be used to construct a device dedicated to fingerprint reading.

At least one light sensor 16 is positioned along the periphery of the display screen 12. For example, the light sensor 16 may finally be similar to the existing cameras of the mobile phone 14 today, because these cameras are actually a light sensor. These cameras are small, relatively inexpensive, and are very sensitive to light in the same spectrum of the light emitting pixel 18. Considering that such a camera for the light sensor 16 is implemented according to the present invention, it does not require several million light collection pixels in the camera array, and only needs one light collection pixel. Therefore, all the details associated with making the light-collecting pixel array can be ignored, and the same chemistry and integrated circuit manufacturing technology can be used to substantially form a large light-collecting pixel.

Although the light sensor 16 is disclosed according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it should be understood that other sensors capable of capturing or measuring "light" such as electromagnetic energy may be used in accordance with the present invention. It will be understood based on the following disclosure that the core of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 is about using the light emitting pixels 18 of the display screen 12 as an energy source, and those emitters are limited to "light". However, and considering the fact that some of the LEDs and LCD panels used in the display screen 12 emit significant ultraviolet or infrared, the light sensor 16 will not have to operate in the "visible" spectrum, but can be in the ultraviolet or infrared region. operate. These elements are used to identify the fingerprint friction ridge 104 and the fingerprint valley 106.

The light emitting pixel array 20 provides adjustable and movable (in discrete steps) illumination sources for illuminating different areas of the fingerprint 100. If the light emitting pixel 18 is under the fingerprint rubbing ridge 104 (see FIG. 4) or the fingerprint valley 106 (see FIG. 3), the light from the light emitting pixel 18 is differently reflected. The transparent cover 34 serves as a medium for transferring energy from reflection to the light sensor 16. The light emitting pixels 18 are sequentially illuminated, and the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 records the resultant energy pulses associated with each light emitting pixel 18 to construct a model or image of the fingerprint 100. The computer program 22 that needs to operate on the microprocessor 24 records the energy pulse from the light sensor 16 and constructs an image or model of the fingerprint 100.

Specifically, the functional elements of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 include an array 20 of light emitting pixels 18 and a display driver 26 for illuminating the light emitting pixels 18 of the display screen 12. The remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 also includes a microprocessor 24 that communicates with the display driver 26 (and other components of the mobile phone 14). By communicating with the display driver 26, the microprocessor 24 "knows" the position of the illuminated light emitting pixel 18 and the specific time when the illumination occurs. As will be fully understood based on the following disclosure, the light emitting pixels 18 may be illuminated individually or in groups according to commands from the display driver 26 and the microprocessor 24. One or more light sensors 16 are installed near the array 20 of light emitting pixels 18. The light sensor 16 is positioned to receive energy reflected or emitted from the interaction between the illumination of the light emitting pixel 18 and the fingerprint ridge 104 of the fingerprint 100 or the fingerprint valley 106 of the fingerprint 100. Based on the reflected energy due to the interaction between the fingerprint and the light emitting pixel 18, the reflected energy is finally detected by the light sensor 16. The light sensor 16 generates a signal sent to the analog-to-digital converter 28, which is used to The analog signal generated by the light sensor 16 is converted into a digital signal. The digital signal is sent to the microprocessor 24. Using the information about the illuminated light emitting pixel 18 and the signal generated by the light sensor 16, the microprocessor 24 sequentially processes and combines the digital position of the light emitting pixel 18 and the digital position from the analog-to-digital converter 28. (And the light sensor 16) intensity data to generate an image 52. Thereafter, the image 52 generated by the microprocessor 24 will be stored in the memory 30 of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10.

According to one embodiment, the recording element of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 may be the microprocessor 24 and the memory 30 of the mobile phone 14 (watch, computer or other device) integrated with the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10. However, it should be understood that a dedicated data microprocessor (or microcontroller) or other dedicated device can be used in combination with a remote sensing fingerprint reader. In other words, the remote sensing fingerprint reader can be packaged as an "embedded module" built in a closed system with a large number of basic program processing capabilities, sold as a "unit", and then integrated into a mobile phone. Such embedded modules are attractive to system builders because they usually save time and complexity when integrating new functions into existing devices.

The following methods are used to realize the program processing and recording of data according to the present invention. Through the action of illuminating each light emitting pixel 18, at least two pieces of information are transmitted to the program processing unit and stored. The first piece of information is the position (index number or xy coordinates (see Figures 3 and 4)) of the light emitting pixel 18 being illuminated. The second piece of information is the amount of energy reaching the light sensor 16. For the positions of the light emitting pixels 18 within a range, the microprocessor 24 collects these two pieces of information, and constructs a digital map with numbers in the array. The array corresponds to the light sensing of each light emitting pixel 18 position The amount of energy received by the device 16. Because when the light emitting pixel 18 is below the "ridge" 104, the energy level that it hits the light sensor 16 will be different from when the light emitting pixel 18 is below the "valley" 106, so the mapping will be Higher values also have lower values. Overall, the array of light emitting pixel data will directly correspond to the image 52 of the fingerprint 100, thus showing the positions of the ridges 104 and valleys 106.

Once the image 52 is generated and stored in the memory 30, it is common to perform some other fingerprint analysis, extraction, and matching. Various known and proprietary methods are used in fingerprint-based "mapping" or "image" to identify individuals. The output of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 will be compatible with all known fingerprint matching and rejection systems.

Specifically, the light sensor 16 will output a voltage to the analog-to-digital converter 28. The analog-to-digital converter 28 will provide a digital data signal to the microprocessor 24 of the unit using the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10. The microprocessor 24 can then further manipulate the information. There are many existing algorithms in the field of "digital image processing" to enhance the digital data including images used to increase sharpness, contrast, or other purposes. Finally, the microprocessor 24 (or microcontroller) or dedicated device will indicate the storage of the image 52 information in the memory 30 so that the information can be recalled for further operations or used for identification.

It should be understood that the basic concept of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can be implemented in various devices, such as the application of the display screen 12, and it requires quick and easy access to fingerprint reading. After understanding this fact, the following article will describe the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 in conjunction with the mobile phone 14. Implementing the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 into the mobile phone 14 will require adding a light sensor 16 around the display screen 12 of the mobile phone 14, and such a light sensor 16 will be better added to the existing transparent mobile phone The edge 32 of the cover 34. Such an implementation will also need to modify the microprocessor 24 of the mobile phone to adapt to the program processing based on the information of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10. When this is taken into account, the output from the light sensor 16 must be recorded and associated with each light emitting pixel 18 to form an image or map. This is a fairly typical analog-to-digital conversion and data manipulation process.

It should be understood that the display screen 12 including the light emitting pixel array 20 covered by the transparent cover 34 and at least one light sensor 16 are required components of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10, but it should also be understood that, Additional components can be added to guide the signal (light) to the light sensor 16. When this is taken into consideration, it is expected that manufacturers of mobile phones 14 that implement remote sensing fingerprint readers 10 will add light sensors 16 around the display screen 12, adding appropriate electronic components to perform well-known analog-to-digital conversion when necessary. , The display driver 26 is programmed to illuminate the light emitting pixels 18 one at a time, and generates a program to assemble the digital information into an image or model. From then on, software, matching algorithms and applications will operate as described above. For example, it is possible to use such as IEEE 85(9) pp.1364-1388, 1997, proposed by Jain AK, Hong L., Pankanti S., and Bolle R. entitled "Identity Authentication System Using Fingerprints". The reference is incorporated herein and can be used in accordance with the present invention. The author Jain describes the subtle features in the image used to identify fingerprints, and uses the subtle feature patterns to specifically identify the source (person) of the fingerprint. Similar algorithms are currently used in smart phones with fingerprint readers that are part of the phone.

More specifically, according to the scanning illumination system used by the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10, an array of light emitting pixels 18 (such as an independent organic light-emitting diode (OLED, organic light- emitting diode)) and is produced. Each light system from the light emitting pixel 18 is sequentially projected onto an area close to the fingerprint 100 of the light emitting pixel 18, and the reflected and re-radiated energy is measured by the light sensor 16 to generate the fingerprint 100 of the finger 102 One of the digitally generated scans. When placed under the transparent glass cover 34 commonly used in conjunction with the mobile phone 14, the directivity of the light emitting pixels 18 of the OLED screen can be used to display the image of the screen 12 by only placing the OLED display screen 12 near the finger 102. The image is projected onto the finger. By using one or more light sensors 16 attached to the periphery (or edge 32) of the transparent cover 34 to detect the light captured by the TIR in the transparent cover 34, the OLED display screen 12 can be used to generate Fingerprint image.

Although the following description discusses the implementation of a remote sensing fingerprint reader using an OLED display screen, it should be understood that any pixel-based screen technology that provides a discontinuous illumination source can be used, such as liquid crystal displays, light emitting diodes, plasma displays Panels (PDP, Plasma Display Panel) and Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT, Cathode Ray Tube), etc., but not limited to these, can be used according to the present invention.

By illuminating the light emitting pixels 18 of the pixel array 20 one at a time, when the finger 102 is placed anywhere on the effective area of the internally illuminated display screen 12, the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 allows the generation of a true one-to-one model or Image of fingerprint 100. Use a common light source to illuminate all fingers and use a digital camera chip to capture a complete image of the fingerprint to replace the background technology discussed above in the present invention. The illumination is scanned with fingerprints, one light emitting pixel at a time, rows and columns, and The reflected and re-radiated energy is measured and stored at each illumination point. From this energy map, a model or image of the fingerprint can be reconstructed.

Referring to FIG. 5, the illumination system from a single light emitting pixel 18 is focused on a small spot on the fingerprint 100 through the lens 55, and all light reflected and re-radiated from the spot will be captured by the light sensor 16. When the illuminated light emitting pixel 18 changes to a different position relative to the finger 102, the intensity of the reflected and re-radiated light will change. The intensity and/or color of the reflected and re-radiated light varies depending on whether the illuminated light emitting pixel 18 is located between the rubbing ridges 104 or the valleys 106 between the ridges 104. The complete model or image of the fingerprint 100 is reconstructed by recording the energy level captured at each xy coordinate corresponding to the light emitting pixel 18. The resulting image can be manipulated similar to any other digital fingerprint scanning, and/or on a computer screen (or phone screen) similar to the US titled "Rolling Fingerprint Processing Apparatus" by Daniel H. Marcus in 1983 It is drawn in the manner described in Patent No. 4553837, which is incorporated herein by reference.

The advantage of generating an image by scanning the illuminated light-emitting pixels 18 on the fingerprint 100 in a low-profile configuration is that the viewpoint of the generated image is taken from the position of the illuminated light-emitting pixels 18 instead of from the position of the illuminated light-emitting pixels 18 The location of the light sensor 16. Therefore, any geometric distortion is only the accuracy of the xy coordinates obtained at each sampling point. If the transparent cover 34 is very thin, the light emitted from the LCD or OLED light emitting pixels 18 only illuminates a small area above the transparent cover 34, so the requirement for focusing of the lens can be minimal, or the lens can be completely removed.

Using a remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 with an LCD or OLED light emitting pixel array 20, a transparent cover 34 and a fixed position light sensor 16 provide the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 with no moving parts, no geometric distortion, and no fingerprints. True one-to-one format. The complexity is reduced, and in a typical modification of the mobile phone 14 it will be minimally necessary to add only one light sensor 16. In addition, there is no sensor-based limitation on the true size of the captured fingerprint image. The limit is the size of the display screen 12 which is usually several times larger than a single fingerprint. Even in a small component screen used in a typical smart watch, the light sensor 16 will be larger than a finger in most cases (the full size of the display inside the watch surface). For larger components such as a mobile phone 14 (or a tablet computer, a tablet phone, a desktop computer, etc.), images of multiple fingers can be captured in a user's action. The overall accuracy of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 is greatly increased not only through more fingerprint data and the use of the geometric relationship between the fingers.

Figures 6 to 9 show the operation of generating a fingerprint image. FIG. 6 shows the illumination of the light emitting pixel 18 when there is no finger in the proper position. Some light from the light emitting pixels 18 will be captured in the transparent cover 34 and can be directly projected to the light sensor 16 shown on the right. The additional light system is transmitted by total internal reflection and reaches the light sensor 16. Some energy is refracted through the top surface 35 of the transparent cover 34 and lost.

When the finger 102 is placed in contact with the transparent cover 34, some light illuminates the ridge 104 of the fingerprint 100, as shown in FIG. The light illuminating the finger ridge 104 causes the ridge 104 to reflect and re-radiate its light, propagating the light into the transparent cover 34 in all directions. The light in FIG. 8 is represented as a combined light of light reflected and re-radiated from the interaction of the illuminated light emitting pixel 18 and the fingerprint ridge 104. Note the higher number of interactions between the light sensors 16 on the right.

Figure 9 shows reflection and re-radiation from a light source that is not located directly below the friction ridge (i.e., valley 106). In this case, the situation of light scattering is different from when the ridge is very close to the source. This results in a difference in the level of energy reaching the light sensor 16. When FIG. 8 is compared with FIG. 8, it can be found that the light incident on the light sensor 16 is relatively small.

In fact, when the illumination is directly below the ridge 104, the energy level received by the light sensor 16 may be higher or lower than the energy transferred when the source is below the valley 106. The increase or decrease depends on the optical characteristics of the glass of the transparent cover 34, the illumination spectrum, the dispersion of the light source, the coating used on the contact surface, and other optical characteristics. These details can be selected to optimize the performance metrics of interest. The important phenomenon is that the total reflected energy obtained will vary depending on whether the source is under the ridge 104 or the valley 106 and whether the activated energy emitting pixel 18 is under the ridge 104 or the valley 106.

In the operation of collecting the image of the fingerprint 100, the entire display screen 12 may be scanned, or the scan may be performed in a limited scanning area 54 (see FIGS. 15 and 16 and discussed in more detail below). The touch sensor 80 in the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can be used to sense the position where the finger touches the display screen 12, and the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can instruct the scan to sequentially activate the energy in the scanning area 54 The scanning area 54 of the emitting pixel 18 is a local contact point. When the touch sensor or the touch screen reports that the finger 102 has touched the display, the device can instruct the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 to start the process.

Although the disclosed embodiment relates to an implementation using a transparent cover made of flat glass, the principle is applicable to flat or curved glass (see FIG. 5). Since the reflected and re-radiated light travels through the glass, it will be reflected internally to a certain extent regardless of the curvature of the glass. If the glass is curved (or significantly like on the edge of the Galaxy S6, or more subtly like on other phones, watches, and devices), most of the light will continue to be captured in the glass through partial reflections and TIR effects, and will Finally, it reaches the light sensor or the light sensor 16 around the display screen 12.

Similarly, with this concept, fingerprints can be directly read on the curved part of the transparent cover 34. In fact, the curved surface may be a better location for capturing fingerprint models or images, because in some modern mobile phone designs, the curved part of the display is close to the edge of the device and therefore closer to the sensor.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to reading a single fingerprint. By scanning the illumination on a larger area or scanning multiple areas under each fingerprint, multiple fingerprints can be read in one operation. The location of each important area can be determined by the touch sensor 80 incorporated in many devices.

The light sensor 16 does not need to be placed at the "edge" of the transparent cover 34. A three-dimensional and transparent energy directing structure 40 can be added to the surface of the glass to allow energy to be redirected to a more convenient location. For example, referring to the embodiments disclosed in FIGS. 10 to 12, which show an example of a wedge-shaped small energy guiding structure 40 that can be placed on the glass top surface 35 of the transparent cover 34 of the mobile phone 14. The energy directing structure 40 includes an optical element 42 that allows the energy from the display screen 12 to be reflected to one or more light sensors 16 attached to the energy directing structure 40 in the form of a wedge. There are at least two such embodiments. One way to achieve this is to build a three-dimensional energy transparent structure, which carries the signal to a better position of the light sensor in the phone or device. All these components are really small, so even if the three-dimensional architecture is only one millimeter or two millimeters, it will allow the light sensor 16 to be doubled or tripled while still being very small, but it may be cheaper or more sensitive. In addition, the three-dimensional transparent structure may be a more complex shape that directs light to one of the existing cameras built into the mobile phone. The camera will then become a dual-use device that can also act as a light sensor 16 and potentially an analog-to-digital converter, thereby completely eliminating the need for these components.

It should be understood that the use of this energy directing structure 40 will require light to pass through the transparent cover 34 and enter the input end 43 of the energy directing structure 40. The use of this energy guiding structure 40 also requires an adhesive to be attached to the top surface 35 of the transparent cover 34 of the display screen 12. Taking this into consideration, the optical adhesive 45 will eliminate the TIR effect under the energy guiding structure 40, and the energy guiding structure 40 is used to fix the input end 43 to the top surface 35 of the transparent cover 34. When physical implementation (for example, retrofitting an existing device) is advantageous, a parasitic device that measures the energy change through the glass surface can be used. The light sensor 16 does not need to be fixed at the "edge" of the transparent cover 34. For example, the device shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 discloses a small energy guiding structure 40 which can be placed on the glass top surface 35 of the transparent cover 34 of the mobile phone 14. The energy directing structure 40 includes an optical element 42 that allows the energy from the display screen 12 to be reflected to one or more light sensors 16 contained in the housing 44 of the energy directing structure 40.

There are two reasons for this embodiment. One is to transform old mobile phones14. In this case, referring to FIG. 12, someone constructs the light sensor 16 into the energy guiding wedge, and attaches the cable inserted into a universal serial bus link 46 to the microprocessor 24. The microprocessor 24 Finally, the processor 24 performs the calculation as described above. The second is to make the energy guiding structure 40 go down into the mobile phone 14, instead of being erected above the top surface, and implemented by an "upside down" built-in energy guiding structure. In addition, it should be understood that the energy directing structure 40 may have a more complicated shape, the shape of which directs light to one of the existing cameras built in the mobile phone. The camera will therefore become a dual-use device, which can also be used as a light sensor for the energy guiding wedge, thereby eliminating all the need for light sensors.

For the OLED screen of a typical mobile phone, the light emitting pixels 18 are illuminated by the display driver 26 to the desired level during the refresh period. The technology of the display driver 26 has gradually developed from a simple sequence and maintaining a uniformly lit backlight plane. During the entire period of a complete refresh cycle of the display, the discontinuous timing of the on/off of each light emitting pixel 18 is extremely precise . This is usually implemented together with the on/off of the illumination plane and the cycle of variable brightness (in display types that use backlighting). The illumination plane is controlled by the entire device, area, or even the pixel level. Variety. In order to achieve better trade-offs, contrast, and consistency in the illuminated screen image, many innovative and effective technologies and strategies have been developed. Many such complex display control and lighting strategies can be used to enhance the embodiments of the present invention.

Previously we have described the method of using the concept of remote sensing fingerprint reader 10, in which each light emitting pixel 18 is activated in a short time, and the energy is recorded in the light sensor 16, and then the light emitting pixel 18 is Turn off to prepare the next light emitting pixel 18 to be sampled. In the most basic configuration, each light emitting pixel 18 is not turned off, but is kept "on" through the overall program processing of the recorded image 52. The other light emitting pixels 18 are successively illuminated. The last light emitting pixel 18 of the screen 12 remains activated for a period of time before the start of the next refresh cycle. This is a cumulative lighting model in which the light sensor 16 can see increased energy as each light emitting pixel 18 is activated. The increase in the energy of the light sensor 16 will vary depending on whether the light emitting pixel 18 is located under the ridge or valley of the fingerprint. Therefore, the differential of the power curve will show which light emitting pixels 18 are on and which are off, and can form an image or model.

<b>Simulation result</b>

Simulation can be performed to estimate the signal profile of a single scan line, which is through a finger with three fingerprint ridges in contact with the glass. Figure 13 shows the configuration with moderate reflections, significant attenuation, and variable ambient light noise.

The light intensity system from the source to the light emitting pixel 18 is assumed to be 100 (normalized to represent 100%). Assume that the average ambient light is 100 times higher at the magnitude of 10,000. Sample 18 of each light emitting pixel (in 2×10^-6Second is the difference time) The change in ambient light is taken as 0.1%. As the light emitting pixel 18 becomes further away from the light sensor 16, the attenuation of the signal is 1% for each light emitting pixel 18 (relative to the next light emitting pixel 18 that is closer).

The data graph generated in FIG. 13A shows the incident energy data graph, which assumes that the light emitting pixels 18 are sequentially illuminated and remain "on" throughout the cycle. It should be noted that the lines are represented by straight lines. The signal seems to be overshadowed by the increased energy and the immense intensity of environmental components.

For each light emitting pixel 18 (n =1 to 36), in order to extract the signal, the energy at the light emitting pixel n-1 is subtracted from the energy of the light emitting pixel n, thus we obtain the curve shown in FIG. 13B picture. This data graph shows that the presence and absence of fingerprint ridges in contact with glass can be easily revealed.

Because each reading is independent of the previous reading, the cumulative rounding error in this method can be minimized. Each value is the product of two direct measurements and an arithmetic operation. The only complication is the dynamic range of the light sensor 16. It may require up to 15db sensitivity. Small sensors with this capability can be purchased on the market. Its capabilities are partly driven by the digital camera market and semiconductor-based sensors that have been developed in charge-coupled devices with high quantum efficiency and Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductors (CMOS, Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor). Many current digital cameras (including cell phone cameras) have millions of sensors of this sensitivity, whose sensitivity is limited by the required resolution and the overall digital sensor size in a small extraction area . For example, France's Verrieres Ie Buisson's "New Imaging Technology" provides a digital sensor with a dynamic range of more than 140db. A single large-area light sensor 16 using these technologies can have a relatively high dynamic range relative to the requirements of the present invention.

FIG. 13C shows the incident energy data graph of the light sensor 16 for a device in which each light emitting pixel 18 at each position of the device is activated and then turned off. The simulated energy data graph is the same as the cumulative adaptability version. In fact, the true signal strength is not different, but the embodiment of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 has the advantage that each energy pulse can be measured from a common baseline. There is no need to extract the signal by subtraction, and the dynamic range requirement of the light sensor 16 is greatly reduced.

It should be noted in all cases that even in the presence of accumulated energy, variable noise, and significant attenuation, significant class changes in incident energy are easily discernible. For light-emitting pixels 18 that are not directly below the ridges or valleys, such light-emitting pixels 18 can be considered to be turned on or off "halfly". The "on" side of the light emitting pixel 18 can be determined by observing the state of the adjacent light emitting pixel 18. This allows the use of interpolation to increase the resolution in the image 52 in a manner similar to the limited number of sensors used in touch-sensitive panels to achieve a relatively high resolution.

<b>feel</b><b>Detector performance enhancement</b>

It should be understood that the practical application of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 faces the problem of improving the image quality of the fingerprint image without causing distortion to the image that may hinder the faithful reproduction of the fingerprint. Fundamentally speaking, this can be attributed to improving the signal-to-noise ratio. As those skilled in the art will understand, the signal-to-noise ratio is used in science and engineering, and is a measurement used to compare the desired signal level with the background noise level. It is defined as the ratio of signal power to noise power, usually expressed in decibels. Although S/N is usually used for electronic signals, it can be applied to any form of signal (for example, the isotope level in the ice core or the biochemical signal generated between cells).

As for the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10, because it is created by pixels one by one, the S/N ratio is a measure of the sharpness of the fingerprint image. The signal intensity compared to the noise recorded by the light sensor 16 can be increased to achieve an improvement in the S/N ratio. In this example, the signal energy source is the light emitting pixels 18 or the array 20 of light emitting pixels 18 constituting the display screen 12. Therefore, it is possible to increase the S/N ratio of the fingerprint image by adding more energy to the initial signal and also by urging more signals to reach the light sensor 16 that reads the signal. The image can be made clear by reducing or eliminating random noise. For example, referring to FIG. 14, the filter 56 can be combined with the light sensor 16 to prevent unwanted energy from environmental noise or other sources from entering the light sensor 16. In the simulation part, the significant environmental random noise is modeled, and several methods to minimize the noise will be discussed below.

It should be understood that all actual measurements will be interfered by noise, including but not limited to electronic noise and external events that affect the measurement (such as wind, vibration, temperature change, humidity change, etc.). The remote sensing fingerprint reading The device 10 will likely be affected by ambient light very easily.

The following describes a signal collection method and a device for improving the transmission of the signal generated by the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 as described above. The transmission is from the light emitting pixel 18 (or the array 20 of light emitting pixels 18), that is, the source, to Improved to a light sensor 16, that is, a detector. This embodiment should be understood as that, in order to improve the signal transmission from the light emitting pixel 18 (or the array 20 of light emitting pixels 18) to the light sensor 16, it should be importantly understood that the light emitting pixel array 20 It provides adjustable and movable (in discrete steps) illumination sources for illuminating different areas of the fingerprint 100. If the light emitting pixel 18 is below the fingerprint rubbing ridge 104 or the fingerprint valley 106, the light system from the light emitting pixel 18 is differently reflected. The transparent cover 34 serves as a medium to transfer energy from reflection to the light sensor 16. The light emitting pixels 18 are sequentially illuminated, and the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 records the resultant energy pulses associated with each light emitting pixel 18 to construct a model or image of the fingerprint 100. The program 22 needs to record the energy pulse from the light sensor 16 and construct the image 52 (or model) of the fingerprint 100. In order to enhance the fingerprint image 52 to allow the identification of subtle features that can be used to identify the person associated with the fingerprint 100, the signal received by the light sensor 16 is improved by reducing part of the signal without causing image distortion The signal is lost as it travels from the light emitting pixel 18 (or the array 20 of light emitting pixels 18) to the light sensor 16.

It can be implemented in various ways. According to one embodiment and referring to FIG. 20, the reflective pixel substrate 81 may serve as a support for the array 20 of light emitting pixels 18. Therefore, in the required frequency, the space between the sub-pixels of the light emitting pixel 18 can be reflected. By reflecting important energy back to the transmission medium instead of absorbing it in the reflective pixel substrate 81, more signal energy can be used to enter the light sensor 16.

According to another embodiment and referring to FIGS. 15 and 16, the light sensor 16 is located near the location for sampling the fingerprint. According to this embodiment, the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can recognize the position where the finger should be placed on the display screen 12, that is, the scanning area 54 and only focus the fingerprint scan on this area. The remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can only focus the scan on a few thousand light emitting pixels 18, instead of scanning the millions of possible pixels on the entire display screen 12 through a positioning-determining scan. The number of effective energy emitting pixels 18 is minimized, and the data transmission requirements of the sensor and the system are minimized. Not only is the S/N ratio increased, the dynamic range required by the sensor is reduced, the power consumption is reduced, the time is reduced, and the calculation requirements are reduced.

The remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 instructs the user to place a finger near the light sensor 16 to improve the fidelity of the signal. When the area of the display screen 12 to be measured is close to the light sensor 16, the signal difference between the ridge 104 and the valley 106 will be the strongest. This may be critical in unpleasantly adverse conditions where environmental noise is high. In this case, the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can instruct the user to preferably place the finger 102 near the light sensor 16 to improve the clarity and intensity of the signal. For example, if the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 is made with only one light sensor 16 located near the right edge of the display screen 12 (see FIG. 16), the light sensor 16 will be able to detect the fingerprint ridge 104 And from the valley 106 of the finger 102 placed anywhere on the display screen 12. However, if the finger 102 is placed near the right edge of the display screen 12, the light sensor 16 will receive a stronger signal. By instructing the user to place the finger 102 near the edge of the display screen 12, or even halfway from the edge of the display screen 12 (directly on the light sensor 16), the light sensor 16 will receive a stronger signal . This will allow the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 to be made of a light sensor 16 with design or market advantages. For example, the sensor can be cheaper or facilitate physical packaging (thinner, lighter, smaller, etc.). If the system instructs the user to place the finger near the edge of the display screen, or even partly leave the edge of the display screen (partly above the sensor), the sensor will receive a stronger signal and the finger will act as a sensor. Shielding of ambient light near the detector.

Considering this point, it should be understood that the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 may be equipped with multiple light sensors to ensure that there is a light sensor close to several different touch positions. For example, light sensors can be installed on both the right and left sides of the display screen to more effectively and appropriately accommodate right-handed and left-handed users. Placing the light sensor on the top or bottom of the display screen can accommodate users with large or small hands, or users who are accustomed to using the "home button" for fingerprint recognition. The light sensors on the top and bottom edges of the display screen are used to provide a suitable sensing position for devices that do not have a dedicated "top" or "bottom". The signal transmission efficiency can be improved by requiring the touch point to be near the corner, where the finger can be placed near the light sensor 16 on two adjacent edges. This can be very useful in situations where the illumination is polarized.

Compared with a single light sensor, multiple unconnected light sensors are used around the transparent glass cover to collect reflected or re-radiated energy at the same time and provide several opportunities for effective energy collection. Multiple light sensors can be used with time domain filters to improve the S/N ratio. If the finger is placed near one light sensor and away from the other light sensor, the light sensor closer to the finger will receive the signal first, and the other light sensor will receive the similar signal after some delay Signal. Because the remote sensing fingerprint reader knows the position of the finger relative to the light sensor, it can accurately predict the time of arrival of the signal from different light sensors. The characteristics of the signal (such as amplitude, frequency, and dwell time) can be measured in each light sensor 16 and compared with the baseline "identification mark" signal, or the two signals can be compared with each other to further amplify the signal. And potentially eliminate or ignore the noise component caused by the location of the finger.

It is also expected to add connected light sensors 16 around the transparent glass cover, such as thin film photovoltaic technology (Thin Film Photovoltaic technology) will be an implementation of this embodiment. The realization of a relatively large area by providing the connected light sensor 16 will collect more signals, and the opportunity to cover the entire surrounding area will ensure that any local strong signal energy leaving the transmission layer will not be missed. Almost all the interaction of the energy from the lighting will be collected.

It is also conceivable that a reflective surface can be selectively generated around the transmission layer to redirect the signal energy back to the transmission medium (ie, light emitting pixels or pixel array) until the energy escapes toward the light sensor. This allows the light sensor 16 to capture signal energy that would otherwise be lost. Many of these commercially available methods for producing mirrors on substrates can penetrate to the desired wavelength. For example, a silver coating with adhesive is applied to help attach to the glass, and a protective layer to resist oxidation and damage.

It is also contemplated that light collectors can be added along the edge of the transparent glass cover to collect all energy to one or several light sensors. This will basically be a "light pipe" around the edge of the transmission plane or even on the surface of the transmission plane. All the energy that reaches the collector on the edge or surface of the transparent glass cover will be inserted into the light pipe (or light collector) and travel to one or more remote light sensors.

It can also be expected to use a full-screen light sensor in or under the display screen. This is different from the previously described remote sensing fingerprint reader because the light sensor is not located around. However, the basic principle of its operation is the same, that is, the sequential illumination of light emitting pixels is used to illuminate a small part of the fingerprint. The light sensor with full area allows the remote sensing fingerprint reader to extract energy from the first reflection of the light emitting pixel.

In addition, similar to the above-mentioned one embodiment, the array 60 of light sensors 16 can be placed under the display screen 12 or integrated into the display screen 12 (see FIGS. 17 and 18). There are other optical light sensors that try to get fingerprints from phones, watches, or other glass covers with display screens. An important challenge is to produce light sensors with a resolution of 500 per inch, and train each light sensor 16 to observe energy only from directly above the light sensor 16, that is, a very narrow view. field. The glass required to bring the light sensor 16 closer to the surface is thinner, and the stability of the device can be compromised. IDEX and other developers often choose to create lenses or channels to control light scattering. This can be achieved with advanced materials (such as transparent substrates or infrared transparent substrates), but these steps will lead to compromises in other aspects of the display. None of the above methods have reached mass production, because the trade-offs caused by their design will make large-scale implementation impossible.

In the method of the present invention, by using the timing of sequential illumination of the display pixels, the light sensor 16 array will preferentially detect the energy re-radiated from the area on the display screen 12 that is close to the "source" Instead of being close to the light sensor 16. This solves several key issues. For example, it is no longer necessary to place the light sensor 16 close to the touch surface. The array of light sensors 16 does not interfere with the visual performance of the display, that is, the light sensors 16 can be in front of the existing display screen, integrated into the display screen, or behind the display screen. The lens can be used to focus the energy from the pixel, but the light sensor does not require a lens or focus, it only needs to detect the energy amplitude and/or frequency instead of the direction. Such an implementation will utilize the microprocessor 24 to perform its necessary calculations.

The array 60 of the light sensor 16 used for the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 across the area of the display screen 12 has the advantage that the detection can be located to isolate noise. That is, the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can only record the energy from the light sensor 16 below or near the light emitting pixel 18 used to illuminate a part of the finger. Similarly, the array of light sensors 16 will increase the signal intensity because the light sensors 16 are relatively close to the illumination source. In addition, there is no need to have a light sensor 16 associated with each pixel. Each light sensor 16 can monitor the activity of tens, hundreds, or thousands of nearby pixels. If the light sensors 16 are placed in or near the light emitting pixel array 20, they must be protected from directly receiving light from the light emitting pixels 18. This is as simple as positioning that the light from the light emitting pixel 18 cannot directly enter the light sensor 16. In other words, a shielding between the light emitting pixel 18 and the light sensor 16 needs to be provided.

<b>Signal fidelity enhancement</b>

The light emitting pixel array 20 of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 provides adjustable and movable (in discrete steps) illumination sources for illuminating different areas of the fingerprint. If the light emitting pixel 18 is under the fingerprint rubbing ridge or fingerprint valley, the light from the light emitting pixel 18 will be reflected differently. The transparent cover 34 serves as a medium to transfer the energy from the reflection to the light sensor 16. The light emitting pixels 18 are sequentially illuminated, and the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 records the resultant energy pulses associated with each light emitting pixel 18 to construct a model or image of the fingerprint. A program is needed to record the energy pulse from the light sensor 16 and construct an image or model of the fingerprint.

In order to enhance the fingerprint image to allow the identification of subtle features that can be used to identify the person associated with the fingerprint, it is possible to increase the signal strength and improve the signal transmission so that the signal received by the light sensor 16 can be displayed in the image. The distortion situation is improved. According to one embodiment, this is achieved by overdriving the light emitting pixels 18. Some display drivers limit the brightness of the light-emitting pixels to avoid damage to the components and materials of the light-emitting pixels. The possibility of damaging the light emitting pixel may be time-dependent for some materials, that is, if it is maintained for a short time, it is not disadvantageous for a higher energy system. Overheating is a common example. However, according to the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10, the pulse of a single light emitting pixel 18 can be much faster than human perception, which is not common for optical displays. The unique use of this display screen 12 opens up the possibility of being able to safely use higher energy (especially if it is turned on/off). Alternatively, within the display pixel array of the mobile phone 14 or other device, as briefly discussed above, the groups of secondary light emitting pixels 70 may be interspersed among the primary light emitting pixels 18, 18a, 18b, and 18c. The secondary light emitting pixels 70 are dedicated to the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10, and are specifically designed to allow higher energy without excessive damage or deterioration, while the primary light emitting pixels are provided by the display screen 12 (see FIG. 23). ) For charging. When considering the foregoing, various methods for enhancing signal fidelity will be kept within the spirit of the present invention. In addition to those embodiments that provide additional graphics, these improvements are achieved using calculations and processing performed by the microprocessor 24 described above.

According to such an embodiment, subdivision is performed on areas of interest (AOI) in order to achieve the goal of the present invention. After the complete fingerprint area has been read and analyzed, AOIs can be discerned. These can be, for example, light emitting pixels 18 expected to be under the ridge, near the edge of the ridge, or close to subtle features. The specific AOI will depend on the method used to identify the features in the fingerprint. Regardless of how they are defined, additional scanning operations or operations can be focused only on the light emitting pixels 18 (or sub-pixels) close to the desired area. For example, in a secondary scan, one option for subdivision would be to illuminate only areas suspected of being near subtle features, and re-analyze the image to increase the sharpness of the features in that specific area.

According to another embodiment, sequential cluster subdivision is performed to achieve the goal of the present invention. According to such a method, a group of light emitting pixels 18 in a cluster or grid (for example, 2x2, 3x3) is illuminated to produce a "rough" image for the first pass to provide a stronger light sensor 16 Signal at the expense of lower resolution. If a finer resolution is required, a smaller cluster (and therefore a higher resolution) can be used for a second pass, and a third pass for further refinement and so on. The second pass can be selectively performed to focus on the desired area.

In addition, the signal fidelity can be enhanced by illuminating each light emitting pixel 18, so that the illumination is focused on the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 of the present invention, and the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 is above the array 20 of light emitting pixels 18 Touch a small area of the plane (that is, the top surface 35 of the transparent cover 34 that is ultimately touched by the user). This will increase the amount of energy delivered to a specific point on the sampled fingerprint (increase the signal energy) and reduce the energy delivered to the area that is not evaluated (reduce the noise energy). The focusing technology makes it diverge quickly after leaving the touch plane or top surface 35, thereby providing a wide viewing angle to the user. Referring to FIG. 21, a simple implementation in today's smart phones includes introducing a microlens 48 in each light emitting pixel 18 or group of light emitting pixels 18, and the focal length of the group of light emitting pixels 18 is approximately from the light emitting pixel 18 to The distance of the touch plane is on the opposite side of the glass transparent cover 34 used to transmit the medium. Referring to FIG. 22, it is also possible to achieve control of light by providing a shielding member 49 near the light emitting pixel 18. In order to achieve a wider field of view in the display screen 12, the focal length may be designed to be slightly smaller than the distance from the touch plane or top surface 35. The non-optimal focus of the illumination can still provide significant benefits to the energy efficiency in the sampled area.

The signal fidelity can also be enhanced by focusing the signal detection on the color change. The color is better reflected by the interaction with the fingerprint. For example, in the three-primary color space, the red of flesh tones is usually higher than that of green and blue. Red is particularly advantageous and can be 40% more than blue or green, but blue and green may differ by 40% or more. Knowing that the signal (and S/N ratio) will be the strongest in red, the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 focuses on the changes in the red part of the spectrum, especially. In order to better improve the fidelity, the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can perform the first scan and record the average reflected color component when the fingerprint is placed on the touch plane or top surface 35 to locally and dynamically To determine the best signal frequency required. This verification pass only needs to determine the average color in the desired area (not every light emitting pixel 18 in the illumination source). To perform this measurement, the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can ensure that all light emitting pixels 18 in the desired area are illuminated, and measure the spectrum of reflected and/or re-radiated energy. It is possible to estimate the proper friction of the light emitting pixels 18 in the scanning area and use it to fine-tune a part of the energy used to construct the fingerprint. The scanning area is the reflection/reradiation ridge and the reflection/reradiation fingerprint valley. Of the fingerprint department.

In addition, the resolution of the sampling area can be increased by using the sub-pixels 18a, 18b, and 18c. Referring to FIG. 17, each light emitting pixel 18 in a typical full-color display includes sub-pixels, such as a red sub-pixel 18a, a green sub-pixel 18b, and a blue sub-pixel 18c. When white light is used as the light source, it can be assumed that the position of the light source is the center of the sub-pixel group. Or the sub-pixels of a single color can be turned on to show a slightly shifted image. In FIG. 17, each complete light emitting pixel 18 is composed of two green sub-pixels 18b (which are illuminated together) and a red sub-pixel 18a and a blue sub-pixel 18c slightly below. The red sub-pixels 18a and the blue sub-pixels 18c alternate left and right. If only the green sub-pixel 18b is used, the xy position of the source and therefore the captured image will move slightly up and to the left from the "white" image. If the red sub-pixel 18a is used, the top row of the source xy position will be slightly left and down, and the next row will be slightly right and down. For the blue sub-pixel 18c, the xy position of the source will be slightly right and down in the top row, and slightly left and down in the second row. The net result of a composite image taken independently in various colors and aligned according to the known sub-pixel positions will be twice the total resolution of the "white" image.

According to another embodiment, the required area can be segmented, and each segment is measured independently to improve the signal quality and potentially reduce the dynamic range requirement of the light sensor 16. Because the scanning rate is very fast relative to human perception (usually 1/60 second for full screen), and the fingerprint recognition rate for humans is high (up to one full second in some devices), the scanning area can be divided into one time Scan a number of segments, these segments are smaller and easier to manage. Multiple smaller scans will reduce the need for the dynamic range of the light sensor 16 and reduce the chance of noise entering the system. For example: if the goal of the device is to collect a fingerprint model or image of 4mm x 9mm (@500ppi), it is approximately 14,000 light emitting pixels 18. Under the accumulated illumination profile (where each light emitting pixel 18 is activated and kept "on" through the sensing process), the light sensor 16 must have the ability to detect at least 14,000 different energy levels. If the system can allow the full scan to take 1/2 second, the device can divide the area to be scanned into 30 segments, and each segment has less than 500 light emitting pixels 18. In this case, the light sensor 16 only needs to recognize 500 different energy levels. This is the accuracy of eight bits, not the fourteen bits required for segmented situations.

As mentioned above, the special light-emitting pixels 70 (ie secondary light-emitting pixels) are built in the display screen 12 for the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10, and are used in addition to the light-emitting pixels 12 of the display screen. In addition to the traditional display operation, the special light emitting pixels 70 can also be more ideally designed to design the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10. Specifically, they can be safely operated with higher energy in order to generate stronger signals. They can be narrowly focused to ensure that only a small part of the finger is illuminated. They can operate at a special wavelength for noise immunity, or they will not destroy other performance goals, or benefit any economic or functional factors. There are many options for realizing such a structure. For example, an array of special light-emitting pixels 70 can coexist with the light-emitting pixels of the display screen 12 as a conventional display operation, which is generated through the same materials and layers, and special The array of light-emitting pixels 70 can be formed above, below, or in a new layer mixed with the light-emitting pixels of the display screen 12 as a conventional display operation, or the array of special light-emitting pixels 70 can be produced completely separate from the display screen ( That is, it is made into a stand-alone device, which can be operated with or without a display). For example, referring to FIG. 24, it discloses a fingerprint reader that is not a display, but only includes an array 20 of energy emitting pixels 18 under the transparent cover 34 of the screen 12.

<b>Time domain enhancement</b><b>(Temporal enhancement)</b>

In order to enhance the fingerprint image to allow the identification of subtle features that can be used to identify the person associated with the fingerprint, it is possible to eliminate noise on the signal without distorting the image by using appropriate filters as disclosed below. In addition to those embodiments of the additional graphics provided, these enhancements are implemented using the calculations and processing performed by the microprocessor 24 described above.

According to one embodiment, it has the precise timing of the light emitting pixels 18 on the display screen 12, and the signal can be filtered based on the timing of the light from the light emitting pixels 18, and it ignores the time sequence that is not based on the source illumination. The other incident energy is used to produce the equivalent of the lock-in amplifier. To some extent, this will resolve all sources of noise, including ambient light.

Filtering can also be achieved through the use of over-sampling techniques. According to such an embodiment, the scanned area of the display screen 12 is scanned multiple times. The light sensor 16 continuously or intermittently monitors the signal during each sampling period. Since the signal is periodic and the noise is random, the S/N ratio can be enhanced by evenly distributing the measurements. This is done by simply taking multiple images and combining them. Or you can increase the turn-on time to allow more signal sampling. In this case, the noise is reduced as the square root of the evenly distributed sample number.

The remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can observe the ambient light that is physically close to the finger (but not under the fingerprint) during the image reading, and when the fingerprint is read or near it, it will filter, cancel or compensate the light incident on the display. The spectrum of the ambient light on the screen 12. One possibility to implement this embodiment is to re-plan the camera generated in the device to monitor the persistent environmental noise, especially the part of the ambient light staying in the narrow band of the three primary color light emitting pixels 18. The ambient light can be evenly distributed or distributed over time to filter out periodic noise, such as ambient light from electrons or electronic sources that operate in 60-cycle pulses.

Because the display screen 12 of many mobile phones is made of three primary color light emitting pixels 18, each of the three primary color light emitting pixels 18 will produce a single color in a narrow bandwidth, so the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can balance and eliminate Or normalize its impact on ambient light: drive the three primary color components of the unused part of the display screen 12 in a complementary manner, thereby effectively suppressing random environmental noise with a background of known three primary color components. Among them, the ambient light that does not match the narrow-band three primary color components introduced into the background can be ignored.

Similarly, the color of the reflected energy of the fingerprint can be monitored over time to detect the lifespan (the difference in blood flow/color). In this case, maliciously forged "fingerprints" will be processed with similar other forms of noise, and eliminated or used to identify "identification marks" or other identification devices other than fingerprints.

The coating can also be applied to the top of the display screen, which will reflect a significant part (if not all) of the ambient light. This can prevent ambient light from entering the glass and reduce noise reaching the light sensor 16. The reflective coating can also improve internal reflection and increase the signal intensity of the light sensor 16. If the reflective coating can be eliminated through physical contact (thus the fingerprint ridges will introduce different reflection/reradiation characteristics), the coating will increase the power ratio between the ridges and valleys of the fingerprint, thereby increasing the signal power. The nature of making it ineffective through physical contact is not irregular for reflective coatings. All in all, this will result in a better S/N ratio. The reflective coating and sensing can operate in the invisible part of the spectrum to minimize their impact on the normal use of the display device.

It should also be understood that reflective coatings have a wider range of applications in this field. In similar fingerprint reading devices, specifically, the infrared reflective coating on the outer surface can reflect light away from the light sensor, which cannot be expected in the image. For example, in a "hybrid" sensor from GingyTech, the infrared coating on the top surface of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 will improve the fidelity of the analog signal to the CMOS sensor. This is true whether it is a transparent glass cover or a glass cover applied to the "bottom glass". If the top surface of the transparent cover is coated (or selectively coated) with an infrared reflective coating, the contrast between the contact position of the rubbing ridge and the non-contact area will be enhanced. The reflective coating will reflect most of the infrared energy in the valley, where the friction ridges are not in contact with the coating. At the contact point between the friction ridge and the reflective coating, the reflective performance of the coating will be destroyed, and the infrared energy will pass to the CMOS sensor.

In addition, considering the various coatings that may be used to enhance the operation of the remote sensing fingerprint reader, a light absorber or shielding layer can be added above the transparent glass cover to prevent ambient light from entering the transparent glass cover and adding noise to the system. Electrochromic glass has the following advantages: it can be closed under the position of the finger to prevent ambient light from entering the glass from anywhere except under the finger without interfering with the fingerprint signal. Electronic ink (microencapsulated electrophoretic display) display)) is another potential option for blocking external light. In order for the occlusion concept to succeed, when the light source is sequentially illuminated under the ridges and valleys, a part of the display screen must allow fingerprints to change the reflection characteristics inside the transmissive glass. Due to the change of physical/optical phenomena at the physical contact point with the shielding plate, the reflectivity will of course change in the shielding layer, but the change may not be enough to generate a powerful signal. For normally continuous occlusion planes (such as electrochromic), it may be necessary to divide the display screen into areas that can be individually turned on or off, or define a specific area in advance to keep it "open" to allow the fingerprint to be only in that position Is read. For panels that are usually reconfigurable, such as electronic ink, the complexity of a fully addressable display screen can be reduced to a few segments or quadrants, or the pre-defined open area can be a single location for fingerprint reading. The shielding characteristics of the electronic ink or other shielding layer can be modified to only prevent the operation of the remote sensing fingerprint reader of undesired frequencies.

Or, a continuous shielding layer (a coating that blocks most of the light) can be applied to the top surface of the display screen to prevent most of the ambient light from penetrating into the display screen and increasing noise. If the shielding layer has a high-pass design for the narrow-band three primary colors of the light-emitting pixels of the screen (in other words, allows the single-frequency red, green, and blue light generated by the light-emitting pixels to pass, but blocks all other light), it will affect the display screen (ie Allowing the wavelength of the three primary colors to pass) has little effect, but will prevent ambient light outside the bandwidth of the three primary colors. The significant component of ambient light is composed of wavelengths outside the bandwidth of the three primary colors.

Backlight modulation can also be used to achieve local enhancement according to the present invention. As those skilled in the art fully understand, LCD technology is widely used in displays. LCD does not really produce light, but relies on a "backlight source" to provide illumination for the display. These backlights can be manufactured in several ways, such as light-emitting diodes, electroluminescent panels (ELP, Electroluminescent panels) or cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL, cold cathode fluorescent lamps) and so on. In a typical implementation, the backlight source provides continuous and evenly distributed illumination on the display panel to help produce a uniform natural image. Some technologies (especially LEDs) are easy to illuminate different parts of the display with different intensities and/or colors. This technology was developed to improve contrast. Because most LCD technologies cannot block 100% of the light in the dark areas of the display, the black areas will be displayed as "gray". In addition, some LCDs emit white light at a non-optimal color temperature, which can limit the reproduction color gamut, and people can perceive colors differently in the presence of different color temperatures of ambient light. Modern LED backlights are composed of disconnected red/green/blue diodes, whose energy can be dynamically modified to match the needs of the display and the surrounding environment. Many of these displays are designed to make different areas of the display brighter or darker to match the content of the image being displayed. For example, if you want to display a dark sky image above a brightly illuminated town, the "town" area of the screen can be illuminated with the brightness of the normal LED backlight, and the "dark sky" behind the image will be backlit The intensity can be significantly reduced to allow that part of the screen to appear very dark or black.

According to the present invention, modulation can be applied to the entire backlight, area or individual light emitting pixels. If the backlight source located in the area where the fingerprint is not sampled can be completely turned off immediately, the S/N ratio can be further improved. It only needs to execute the cycle shutdown when the screen drives the light emitting pixels 18 for fingerprint sampling. The cycle closing time can be very fast (lower than human perception) or slower depending on the required optimization performance.

Another way is to turn off the light emitting pixels 18 after use to provide local enhancement. If the display driver turns off each illumination light emitting pixel 18 after a short time, it allows the light sensor 16 to sample each light emitting pixel 18 from a common and lower baseline energy state instead of accumulating incident light over time Energy, and the energy change as a result of the illumination of the n+1 light emitting pixel 18 is measured. If the individual light emitting pixels 18 cannot be turned off in sequence during the screen refresh period, the method of turning off the light emitting pixel group still has advantages, for example, one scan line at a time. This is similar to the segmentation and clustering concepts described above, but in this case, the clustering system is executed in one refresh cycle.

In addition, an absorption-type light-emitting pixel substrate can be used according to a remote sensing fingerprint reader. The substrate carrying the light-emitting pixels is made to absorb ambient light, or light generated by a remote sensing fingerprint reader that is not important for fingerprint detection, specifically known as the energy in the undesired part of the spectrum . This can be achieved passively in the construction of the substrate, and the characteristics of the substrate can be actively changed during fingerprint reading. The substrate may contain electrochromic, electronic ink, or other materials with variable optical properties.

It is also possible to use the identification mark analysis based on the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10. The specific characteristics of the signal (such as amplitude, frequency, and dwell time) can be relatively constant, and therefore produce a predictable "identification mark" of the true signal. Identification mark analysis is widely used in manufacturing to monitor the consistency of the process and ensure the quality of the finished product. In the presence of noise, the signature or pattern can also be used to identify the real signal data. The information arriving at the light sensor 16 can be analyzed to find the warning characteristics of the driving data of the light emitting pixel 18 generated according to the present invention or compared with the baseline "identification mark". The recording of fingerprint information only occurs when an appropriate identification mark is detected.

According to another alternative embodiment, the microlens array can be placed above the illumination array of the light emitting pixels to direct the light to the proper position on the fingerprint. In this case, through proper lensing, the illumination array can be larger than the fingerprint, so you can use an illumination array with relatively coarse dots per inch (OPI, dots per inch), and focus the illumination into a smaller area, Thereby increasing the OPI of the system.

The main advantage of the present invention over prior art devices for full-screen fingerprint scanning is that the device does not require a sensor array, and the transmitter array is already part of every smart phone. Therefore, only by adding a simple light sensor to the display screen 12, the entire display can be used as a fingerprint sensor.

As mentioned above, many transactions are executed when security is lower than expected. For example, most credit card transactions are implemented under the condition of low security to prevent theft, and the number of times the credit card number needs to be cancelled and reissued proves the frequency of embezzlement. In addition to the security of financial transactions, the right to enter is subject to security breaches. The remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 of the present invention solves the problem caused by the credit card being placed in the mobile phone transaction, because it can take physically larger and more reliable fingerprints to ensure that the device (mobile phone) is recognized and confirmed People turn it on, but it is not just picture recognition or credit card that guarantees that the phone is held by the correct person.

In addition to fingerprint reading, the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can detect/measure the color, contour, and contour of any object in contact with the display screen 12. The remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 is a device capable of detecting surface features and colors in its most basic form. As an authentication device, it can be used with other body parts with unique shapes, textures or colors (toes have toe prints). It can use a custom "seal" or signature. It will detect the pattern features of a flexible substrate, which is like paper.

For example, referring to FIGS. 25 and 26, the scanning system is used as the touch position reader 11 based on the present invention, which detects the position of an object that touches the display screen 12 and locates the display accordingly. Any object (such as a finger) that touches the transparent cover 34 at the position of the screen 12. This is achieved by monitoring the reflected energy received by the light sensor 16 located at the edge 32 of the transparent cover 34 when the entire display screen 12 is scanned. The reflected energy received by the light sensor 16 from the light emitting pixels 18 located under the finger in the array 20 (see FIG. 25) will be different from that received from the light emitting pixels 18 elsewhere in the display screen 12. The reflected energy (see FIG. 26) can be used to identify the position of the light emitting pixel 18 under the finger, and therefore the position of the touch point of the finger. Furthermore, this can be done during the normal operation of the display screen 12 without affecting the visual operation of the display screen 12. In addition, the touch position reader 11 will use functional elements similar to the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 described above, for example, the analog-to-digital converter 28, the microprocessor 24, the memory 30, and the driver 26. Or, if the transmitter is quickly illuminated or if the system uses an invisible light source such as infrared, the operation is essentially invisible to the user, by operating a transmitter that approaches or exceeds the limit of human perception. Infrared rays can be emitted from special light emitting pixels 18 integrated into the display or from another layer in the display stack. If the scan cycle is fast and/or scans in a non-cumulative manner, it is of course realized as a hidden scan in the time domain, that is, the light emitting pixels 18 will be turned off after being used as the source of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 (Or return to the desired display color).

In addition, the scanning system will be able to detect the contours of objects other than fingerprints. These can be other tactile biometric indicators (palmprints, etc.) or deliberately made "keys."

The system can be made to be sensitive to the color of objects touching the screen. This can further extend the application of screen scanning operations to detect colored objects and/or allow additional distinctions in biometric data (such as skin color).

Through the ability to detect color and fast scanning rate, the subtle changes in the color of reflection and re-radiation in the fingerprint of each heartbeat can be used to detect the heartbeat. This can be done during the fingerprint detection process or in an additional color-sensitive scan after the fingerprint has been verified. In a dedicated scan, the heartbeat can be measured through the net reflection and re-radiation over a larger area to enhance the signal strength. This can be used as a "standalone" life detector. For devices such as smart watches or FitEit health devices, the display screen on the device is large enough to be used for the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10, and the pulse of the wearer independent of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 is also measured . Therefore, the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can detect the pulse of the fingerprint and match it in the heartbeat and phase with the pulse of the person wearing the device. In addition, the pulse can be continuously monitored to ensure that the device has not been removed and replaced on another person, thus ensuring that the person identified by the device is indeed the person who previously wore the device. This is better than any other means currently available for the security of finance or access transactions.

The ability to read fingerprints anywhere on the display screen 12 opens up opportunities that cannot currently be used in applications or mobile apps. The operation of the display screen 12 is not currently optimized for fingerprint reading. The operation of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10 can usually be controlled by an independent chip accessed by software. Therefore, the area where the finger touches the screen can be scanned in intensity, color and scanning rate. It is optimized for reading fingerprints and is different. Used from the monitor. Under less than ideal conditions, such as bright ambient light, the application will instruct the user to place the finger in a position optimized for fingerprint reading, so as to improve the function of the remote sensing fingerprint reader 10. In addition, when fingerprint reading is required, a mobile phone program (apps) optimized for lighting to read the area near the fingerprint area can be written, drawing the user's finger on a position optimized for fingerprint reading. After reading the fingerprint, the area can be released for display.

Therefore, the mobile phone program that prepares the screen to read the fingerprint can therefore control the position of the finger on the screen, and can use the remaining screen to perform operations that will use fingerprints for identification. Examples of operations that use fingerprint recognition are financial transactions, such as Apple's e-wallet and similar credit card applications. When reading a fingerprint, the unused screen can be used to display a transaction code, such as a barcode, that is only used for one transaction (valid only for a limited time, such as 30 seconds), which increases the security of the purchase transaction. In order to strengthen the security in transactions that require operator identification, an application for using the device screen as a fingerprint reader is written, which will be covered by the scope of the present invention.

In addition to financial transactions, examples of such applications would be physical security operations such as access control systems (replacement of identification card swiping systems with cell phone 14 readers or Bluetooth enabled systems, or cell phones instead of garage door openers). The mobile phone 14 can be the key to the operator's car, to open the door lock, to start the air conditioner, or to unlock the gun safety lock. When connected to the mobile phone 14, security operations can be performed remotely (from another continent). The Bluetooth activation operation can be performed at a convenient distance, and once the mobile phone 14 recognizes the identity of the person holding it, it can open the door when they approach.

The application that allows the mobile phone 14 to replace the identification card for the safe installation of personal identification, it will need to be able to meet the fingerprint sensor required by the FBI specified in NIST SP800-76 (PIV), which can only use more than the current mobile phone 14 The sensor used on the front has a much larger fingerprint sensing area (12.8mm×16.5mm). Only the back-mounted sensor (which is not popular with users) and the full-screen sensing described in this patent can meet the FBI requirements. Once the identification reliability of the fingerprint sensor on the mobile phone 14 reaches this level, the mobile phone 14 can be used for other security operations, such as an identifier used by a banking institution for financial transactions. Although the preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited by such disclosure, but is intended to incorporate all modifications and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention. structure.

<p>10Remote sensing fingerprint reader</p><p>11Touch position reader</p><p>12Screen</p><p>14Mobile</p><p>16Light Sensor</p><p>18 pixels</p><p>18a, 18b, 18c pixels</p><p>20Array</p><p>22Program</p><p>24Microprocessor</p><p>26Drive</p><p>28Analog to Digital Converter</p><p>30Memory</p><p>32Edge</p><p>34Transparent cover</p><p>35Top surface</p><p>40Energy-oriented structure</p><p>42Optical components</p><p>43Input terminal</p><p>44Shell</p><p>45Optical Adhesive</p><p>46Universal Serial Bus Link</p><p>48Micro lens</p><p>49Blocking component</p><p>52Image</p><p>54Scan area</p><p>55Lens</p><p>56Filter</p><p>60Array</p><p>70Light emitting pixels</p><p>80Touch Sensor</p><p>81Reflective pixel substrate</p><p>100Fingerprint</p><p>102Finger</p><p>104Spine</p><p>106Tanibe</p>

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile phone including the fingerprint reader of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing various functional elements of the fingerprint reader according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the fingerprint valley of the fingerprint reader shown in FIG. 2 being illuminated. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the fingerprint ridge of the fingerprint reader shown in FIG. 2 being illuminated. Fig. 5 is a plan view showing reflection characteristics of light energy projected on a finger. 6-9 are side cross-sectional views showing the operation of the fingerprint reader according to the present invention. Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a fingerprint reader. FIG. 11 is a detailed perspective view of the energy guiding structure shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the fingerprint reader shown in FIG. 10. Figures 13 to 13C are schematic diagrams and graphs showing simulation results related to the fingerprint reader. Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the fingerprint reader. Figures 15-16 are views of a mobile phone including another embodiment of the fingerprint reader. 17-18 are schematic diagrams showing the arrangement of sub-pixels and light sensors according to the present invention. FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing a sub-pixel array according to the present invention. 20 is a schematic diagram showing a light emitting pixel having a reflective surface along its substrate used in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 21 is a schematic diagram showing a light emitting pixel of a lens integrated therewith used in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 22 is a schematic diagram of a light emitting pixel having a shielding member used in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 23 is a schematic diagram of an array of light emitting pixels for display purposes and fingerprint reading purposes according to the present invention. Fig. 24 is a perspective view of a fingerprint reader according to another embodiment. 25 to 26 are schematic diagrams of the touch position reader according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 25 shows the light emitting pixels aligned with the finger, and FIG. 26 shows the light emitting pixels not aligned with the finger.

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