Group Access Control via Parallel Authentication and Sensor Counting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing access control systems face challenges in efficiently managing groups of people, particularly in ensuring secure and efficient passage through protected areas while preventing unauthorized entry and minimizing delays, especially in high-throughput scenarios like border control or secure facility access.
Innovation Solution
A device and method for access control that utilizes ID tokens with authentication via PIN or biometric data, coupled with sensors to count individuals and ensure matching authentication signals, allowing controlled unlocking of access points, and includes distributed reading devices and external authentication to enhance security and throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional access control systems check each individual person, then security is maintained, but processing time increases and throughput decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual authentication operations into a single group authentication process. By collecting multiple ID tokens and authenticating them together in one batch operation, the system processes entire groups simultaneously rather than checking each person sequentially, thereby increasing throughput while maintaining security verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary collection of ID tokens from all group members before initiating the authentication process. Tokens are gathered in advance and stored in the authentication device, allowing the actual verification to occur in a single batch operation rather than requiring sequential presentation and verification of each token.
2Productivity
If group authentication is implemented to increase throughput, then processing time decreases, but security risk increases due to potential unauthorized access
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the authentication device provides immediate verification results for each token in the group. The control device receives authentication status information and can issue targeted warnings or alerts for specific unauthorized tokens while allowing authenticated tokens to proceed, maintaining security through real-time feedback control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different authentication outcomes to different individuals within the group based on their specific verification results. Rather than rejecting the entire group, the system identifies and handles unauthorized persons individually while allowing authenticated members to pass, maintaining security at the individual level while preserving group throughput.
3Speed
If multiple reading devices are distributed in the receiving space, then authentication speed increases, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication system is segmented into multiple distributed reading devices placed at different locations within the receiving space. Each reading device independently authenticates tokens presented to it, allowing parallel processing of multiple group members simultaneously. This spatial segmentation increases authentication speed by eliminating sequential bottlenecks.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple reading devices are implemented with identical authentication functionality, allowing any device to handle any token. This universality simplifies the overall system architecture by using replicated standard units rather than requiring complex centralized processing, making the system scalable and easier to maintain.
4Reliability
If biometric authentication is required for each person, then security is enhanced, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
Biometric data from all group members is collected and stored in the authentication device before the actual authentication process begins. This preliminary data collection allows the subsequent verification step to occur rapidly by comparing stored biometric templates against presentation data in a single batch operation, rather than requiring sequential biometric capture and processing for each individual.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables secure, efficient, and high-throughput access control by ensuring only authorized groups can pass through, preventing unauthorized entry, and minimizing wait times through parallel authentication and external biometric data verification, while maintaining data protection and preventing central data collection.
Implementation Method 1
The sensor means can be designed in such a way that the thermal radiation of the people, in particular their facial temperature, their weight and/or another parameter is recorded
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a device for controlling the access of a group of persons (182, 184), comprising locking means (106, 102, 188) for locking and unlocking a receiving room (100) for a group of persons, sensor means (108) for detecting the number of persons in the group of persons received in the receiving room, at least one first reader (110) for signaling successful authentication of a person of a group of persons in the receiving room with respect to an ID token associated with said person, control means (146) for unlocking the locking means under the condition that the detected number of persons is the same as the number of the signaled authentications.