Fingerprint Enrollment Guidance for Under-Display Sensor Coverage

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing fingerprint enrollment processes in computing devices, particularly those with under-display fingerprint sensors, often fail to guide users effectively, leading to incomplete fingerprint captures and high false-acceptance or false-rejection rates due to inadequate instruction on thumb-tapping positions.

Innovation Solution

A method and system that utilizes a user-touch map and centroid analysis to correlate user touches on the display screen with the fingerprint sensor's location, providing guided instructions to ensure complete fingerprint capture with fewer thumb-taps.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Manufacturing precision

If the smartphone instructs the user to tap their thumb multiple times on the fingerprint sensor to capture the full image, then the complete fingerprint area can be captured, but the user experience deteriorates due to the large number of required thumb-taps and lack of effective guidance

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefingerprint capture completenessVSAvoiduser experience during enrollment
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system provides real-time visual feedback by displaying a heatmap on the display screen that shows the collocation between user touch and fingerprint sensor. This feedback mechanism guides the user to adjust their thumb-tap position, enabling complete fingerprint capture with fewer taps and improving user experience

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

A heatmap intermediary is introduced between the user's touch and the fingerprint sensor data. This heatmap visually represents the correlation between touch location and sensor activation, serving as a mediator to guide the user's thumb-tap positioning and improve enrollment efficiency

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Area of stationary object

If the fingerprint sensor area is made smaller to fit under the display screen, then the device design is improved, but the fingerprint capture completeness deteriorates due to the limited sensor area

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvefingerprint sensor areaVSAvoidfingerprint capture completeness
Core Design Contradiction:
Area of stationary objectVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The fingerprint enrollment process is segmented into multiple sequential captures. The system divides the large thumb area into smaller portions that can be captured incrementally through multiple guided thumb-taps, allowing complete coverage despite the small sensor area

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system adds a visual dimension by displaying a heatmap on the display screen that shows the spatial relationship between user touch and sensor activation. This additional visual dimension guides the user to achieve complete coverage in the physical dimension despite the limited sensor area

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Device complexity

If the smartphone provides no guidance on thumb-tap positioning, then the system complexity is reduced, but the enrollment accuracy deteriorates due to incomplete fingerprint capture

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveenrollment system complexityVSAvoidfingerprint capture accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables self-service enrollment by providing intuitive visual guidance through the heatmap display. The user independently adjusts their thumb-tap position based on the visual feedback, eliminating the need for complex external guidance mechanisms while maintaining high capture accuracy

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentEP4222637B1Fingerprint enrollment using collocation of a user's touch and a fingerprint sensor
Publication Date: 2026.03.25 GOOGLE LLC
  • EP4222637B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4222637B1 patent drawingFigure 2-1
  • EP4222637B1 patent drawingFigure 2-2

AI summary

This disclosure describes apparatuses, methods, and techniques for enabling a user to safeguard a computing device (100) with a fingerprint identification system (108) by using biometric data (502, 610). The fingerprint identification system (108) includes a fingerprint sensor (112) used during an enrollment process of the user's biometric data (502, 610). The biometric data (502, 610) may include fingerprint data from the user's thumb, finger, a plurality of fingers, palm, and so forth. The computing device (100) uses a collocation of a user's touch (202), for example, a thumb-tap, and a fingerprint sensor (112)'s location to guide the user to complete the enrollment process of a full fingerprint with ease and with fewer thumb-taps. Consequently, the techniques enable biometric security with an enrollment process having a good user experience.