Track-and-Trace Personal History Using Object Digital Fingerprints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for authenticating and tracking objects are prone to duplication and corruption, as counterfeit items can easily enter the supply chain, making it difficult to identify and eliminate them, and traditional tracking systems rely on physical identifiers that can be duplicated or lost.
Innovation Solution
A digital fingerprinting system that captures and analyzes an object's unique natural features, generating a digital signature for each item, which is registered in a database, allowing for tracking and authentication throughout its lifecycle, even in the presence of wear and tear, and enabling detection of counterfeit items.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If physical identifiers such as serial numbers, bar codes, RFID tags, and holographic labels are used to authenticate objects, then object identification and tracking are enabled, but these identifiers can be duplicated, lost, modified, or stolen, reducing authentication reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces physical identifiers with digital fingerprints that are copied from the object's natural features. Instead of attaching vulnerable physical tags, the system creates digital replicas of unique object characteristics (surface patterns, textures, geometries) that serve as immutable identifiers, eliminating the duplication and theft vulnerabilities of physical identifiers
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes mechanical/physical identification systems (bar codes, RFID tags, holographic labels) with an optical/digital system. The authentication process transitions from reading physical markers to analyzing and comparing digital fingerprints derived from the object's inherent physical properties, thereby eliminating the weaknesses of attached identifiers
2Reliability
If traditional physical labeling and tagging strategies are used to track objects, then object identification is possible, but the labels can be easily lost, modified, or stolen, compromising the tracking system's integrity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the identification function with the object itself by using the object's natural features as the identifier. Instead of separating the identifier from the object (as with attached labels), the digital fingerprint is directly derived from the object's surface patterns, textures, and geometries, making the identifier inseparable from the object and immune to loss or tampering
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a digital copy of the object's unique physical characteristics rather than attaching a physical copy (label) to the object. This digital fingerprint captures the essence of the object's identity in a form that cannot be physically lost or stolen, maintaining tracking integrity
3Loss of information
If counterfeiters use diversion strategies to add counterfeit brand identifiers to authentic goods, then counterfeit detection becomes difficult, but the manufacturer needs to identify exactly where and when items enter the supply chain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where digital fingerprints are continuously captured and compared at each supply chain stage. The system provides real-time feedback on whether an object's fingerprint matches its recorded history, enabling immediate detection of tampering or counterfeit insertion and pinpointing the exact location where authenticity was compromised
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary authentication by establishing the object's digital fingerprint profile at the point of manufacture before it enters the supply chain. This preliminary action creates a baseline for comparison that enables detection of any subsequent tampering or counterfeit insertion at any downstream stage
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatuses and methods associated with personal history in a track and trace system are disclosed herein. In embodiments, a method includes acquiring first information corresponding to a physical object; identifying first authentication data based on the first information; storing the first authentication data in a database system; subsequent to storing the first authentication data, acquiring second information corresponding to a target physical object and identifying second authentication data based on the second information; identifying third information corresponding to the target physical object; querying the database system to seek a matching record based on the second authentication data; in the case that a matching record is returned responsive to the querying, updating the matching record with an indication that the second authentication data was matched to it and updating history data of said matching record based on said third information. Other embodiments may be disclosed or claimed.