Two-dimensional printed code for storing biometric information and integrated offline apparatus for reading same

Abstract

A two-dimensional, high-density, damage-tolerant printed code suitable for encoding multiple biometrics and text for positive off-line identity verification comprises a horizontal header section; a vertical header section; a start pattern; a left row address pattern; an encoded data portion; a right two address pattern; and stop pattern. The horizontal header section encodes the number of bit areas in a transverse row of the encoded data portion; and the vertical header section encodes the vertical height of each bit area. The start and stop patterns of the code demarcate the lateral extent of the code (i.e., the beginning and end) from the adjacent quiet zone. Information is encoded into the ended information portion in bit areas that may be printed or blank. The information is encoded sequentially in the information portion from the top of the encoded information portion along each transverse row of bit areas to the next row of bit areas until the end of the encoded information portion. Error correction is applied to subunits of information from the encoded information portion by dividing the user messages and applying error correction to subunits of the user message. The two-dimensional, high-density, damage-tolerant printed code is suitable for printed on a conventionally sized ISO cord or other papers used in verifying identity. An ISO-sized cord or other identity paper bearing a two-dimensional, high-density, damage-tolerant printed code encoding multiple biometrics, e.g., encoded image likeness and multiple finger print templates, maybe used with an off-line integrated positive identity verification apparatus that is capable of decoding the image and fingerprint samples taken from an individual whose identity is sought to be verified.

Description

I. CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 256,754, filed 24 Feb. 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,560,741, the specification and drawings of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireity.II. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to high-density printed codes and, in particular, to high-density printed codes that have improved damage tolerance. In addition, the invention concerns high-density printed codes capable of storing multiple biometrics and text for positive identity identification. Further, the invention concerns off-line positive identity identification apparatus capable of operating in combination with high-density printed codes storing multiple biometrics. III. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Numerous technologies have been developed over the past two decades that are capable of storing significant amounts data (on the order of a kilobyte or more) in a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0023] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a two-dimensional printed code having improved information capacity.

[0024] It is another object of the present invention to provide a two-dimensional printed code having improved damage tolerance.

[0025] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a two-dimensional, high-density, damage-tolerant printed code capable of storing multiple, high-quality biometrics.

Problems solved by technology

“Smart cards” incorporate circuitry and chips that may be damaged should the card be flexed, limiting the suitability of the card for low-cost applications.

One drawback of PDF417 is the fact that it employs a (n, k) bar code encoding methodology based on 929 codewords.

Given the length of the codeword (17 bits), this results in a substantial overhead (redundant portion of the code).

The data strip code disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,221 is capable of storing up to a kilobyte or more of information in a small space but is vulnerable to data loss in the case of large area destruction due to the relatively limited error correction capability of the code.

These codes, while particularly useful in such applications, have not been found to be suitable where large amounts of information are sought to be encoded in a relatively small amount of space.

As a result, real estate on such documents is precious and most be used efficiently, indicating the desirability of even higher density two-dimensional printed codes.

Due to the requirements of known compression techniques for compressing files storing biometric information, known two-dimensional codes have relatively limited capability for providing highly accurate positive identity verification where such identification is dependent on storing multiple biometrics.

This would limit the flexibility of the system, because personnel interested in positively identifying individuals would require a dedicated connection to the database for as long as they were performing identity verification.

In addition, known off-line verification apparatus capable of operating with desired two-dimensional, high-density damage-tolerant printed codes are relatively bulky and depend on separate units for performing various operations necessary to positively verify identity, e.g., fingerprint scanning; fingerprint minutiae extraction; comparison of fingerprint minutiae with fingerprint record stored in printed code; and comparison of photographic images with stored images.

These operations may require multiple, stand-alone units, thereby limiting the flexibility of the system, and they may effectively mandate fixed identity verification stations even in off-line positive identity verification applications.

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