Method and apparatus for authenticating user using vein pattern

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10318832-B2
Application number	US-201514725460-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 29, 2015
Priority date	Oct 23, 2014
Publication date	Jun 11, 2019
Grant date	Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

A method and apparatus for authenticating a user using a vein pattern are provided that project a near infrared (NIR) ray toward a skin of the user using a light emitting diode (LED), where the user is adjacent to a terminal including the LED. An image sensor receives a light reflected by the skin, generates a vein pattern of the skin based on an image generated using the received light, and authenticates the user as a registered user of a pre-stored vein pattern when the generated vein pattern matches the pre-stored vein pattern.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of authenticating a user using a vein pattern, the method comprising:
verifying whether a skin of the user is positioned less than a preset distance from a terminal;
switching an operating mode of the terminal to an authentication mode, dependent on a result of the verifying;
increasing outputs of a light emitting diode (LED) and an image sensor to preset outputs in response to the operating mode being switched to the authentication mode;
projecting a near infrared (NIR) ray toward the skin of the user, using the LED, wherein the user is adjacent to a terminal comprising the LED;
receiving a light reflected by the skin using the image sensor;
verifying whether an image generated using the received light exhibits a vein pattern;
in response to the image generated using the received light exhibiting a vein pattern, generating a vein pattern of the skin based on the image generated using the received light; and
authenticating the user as a registered user corresponding to a pre-stored vein pattern when the generated vein pattern matches the pre-stored vein pattern.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
verifying whether the generated vein pattern matches the pre-stored vein pattern.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the terminal is a wearable device.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
controlling the projecting of the NIR ray by increasing an integration time when an output of the LED is determined to be lower than a preset output.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
unlocking the terminal in response to the user being authenticated as the registered user.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
unlocking a device interoperating with the terminal in response to the user being authenticated as the registered user.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the switching of the operating mode of the terminal to the authentication mode is performed upon the skin being determined to be positioned less than the preset distance from the terminal.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a pulse wave of a vein of the skin using the received light; and
verifying whether the detected pulse wave matches a pre-stored pulse wave,
wherein the authenticating comprises authenticating the user as the registered user in response to the generated vein pattern matching the pre-stored vein pattern and in response to the detected pulse wave matching the pre-stored pulse wave.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the detecting comprises detecting the pulse wave using an image amplifier.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image sensor comprises one of a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor (CIS), a charge coupled device (CCD), a laser speckle sensor, and a sensor using indium-gallium-sulfur (InGaS).

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
registering the registered user at the terminal.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the registering comprises:
projecting an NIR ray toward a skin of the registered user adjacent to the terminal, using the LED;
receiving a light reflected by the skin of the registered user using the image sensor;
generating a vein pattern of the skin of the registered user based on an image generated using the received light; and
registering the registered user at the terminal by storing the vein pattern.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the authenticating comprises correcting the image to verify whether the generated vein pattern matches the pre-stored vein pattern.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the correcting comprises:
grayscaling the image; and
correcting at least one of a scale, a point of view, and an orientation of the grayscaled image.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
verifying whether the terminal is worn by the user when the terminal is a wearable device,
wherein the projecting is performed in response to the terminal being worn by the user.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
verifying whether the terminal is removed; and
switching an operating mode of the terminal to a locking mode in response to the terminal being removed.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting information corresponding to the registered user to a device interoperating with the terminal when the user is authenticated as the registered user.

18. A terminal comprising:
one or more processors configured to:
verify whether a skin of the user is positioned less than a preset distance from a terminal;
switch an operating mode of the terminal to an authentication mode, dependent on a result of the verifying;
increase outputs of a light emitting diode (LED) and an image sensor to preset outputs in response to the operating mode being switched to the authentication mode;
project a near infrared (NIR) ray toward a skin of a user of the terminal using the LED, wherein the user is adjacent to the terminal comprising the LED;
receive a light reflected by the skin using the image sensor;
verify whether an image generated using the received light exhibits a vein pattern;
in response to the image generated using the received light exhibiting a vein pattern, generate a vein pattern of the skin based on the image generated using the received light; and
authenticate the user as a registered user corresponding to a pre-stored vein pattern when the generated vein pattern matches the pre-stored vein pattern.

19. A method of authenticating a user using a vein pattern performed by a terminal, the method comprising:
verifying whether a skin of the user is positioned less than a preset distance from a terminal;
switching an operating mode of the terminal to an authentication mode, dependent on a result of the verifying;
increasing outputs of a light emitting diode (LED) and an image sensor to preset outputs in response to the operating mode being switched to the authentication mode;
projecting a near infrared (NIR) ray toward a touched skin of the user using the LED;
receiving a light reflected by the skin using the image sensor;
verifying whether an image generated using the received light exhibits a vein pattern;
in response to the image generated using the received light exhibiting a vein pattern, generating a vein pattern of the skin based on the image generated using the received light; and
authenticating the user as a registered user corresponding to a pre-stored vein pattern when the generated vein pattern matches the pre-stored vein pattern.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
verifying whether the generated vein pattern matches the pre-stored vein pattern.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the terminal is a wearable device.

22. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
controlling the projecting of the NIR ray by increasing an integration time when an output of the LED is determined to be lower than a preset output.

23. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
unlocking the terminal in response to the user being authenticated as the registered user.

24. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
unlocking a device interoperating with the terminal in response to the user being authenticated as the registered user.

25. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
detecting a pulse wave of a vein of the skin using the received light; and
verifying whether the detected pulse wav

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Shin Jungsoon
• Kim Namjoon
• Park Joonah
• Lim Soochul
• Choi Jaehyuk
• Jung Tae-Sung

Classifications

• G06F21/32 Primary

  using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints · CPC title

• G06K2009/00939

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06K9/00885 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06K2009/00932

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06V40/10 Primary

  Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands · CPC title