CN1560789A - Biometric parameter protected USB interface portable data storage device with USB interface accessible biometric processor - Google Patents

Abstract

A biometric parameter protected USB interface portable data storage device combines a universal USB interface with biometric (fingerprint) technology to ensure that data and information stored in the device is protected by personal biometric information. The biometric processing unit can be securely accessed by the USB host and perform various biometric functions under the control of application software running on the personal computer or the USB portable host. The biological measurement function comprises fingerprint scanning, fingerprint biological data generation and encryption, and fingerprint biological data comparison and storage. The memory is a removable hard drive that can only be accessed by users with authorized fingerprint biometric data, while the USB accessible biometric processing unit of the device provides unlimited application space for application software running on the host computer and the USB portable device.

Description

Bioparameter protected USB interface portable data storage device with USB interface accessible biometric processor

Background technique

(1) Technical field

This patent relates to a USB combination device composed of a USB portable data storage device and a USB biometric data processing unit. In particular, the USB portable data storage device can only be accessed through biometric (fingerprint) technology to ensure that the data and information stored in the device are Personal biometric information is protected. Moreover, the biometric unit can be safely accessed through a personal computer or a USB On-the-Go host, and performs various biometric functions under the control of application software running on the personal computer or the USB On-the-Go host.

(2), description of prior art

Conventional devices use a sensing device to sense biometric characteristics, which is connected to a system via USB (Computer Serial Bus) and requires biometric identification for the system to function. No. 6,125,192 U.S. Patent issued to Vance C Bjorn on September 26, 2000 discloses a fingerprint sensor. This fingerprint sensor is connected to a digital system through USB, and fingerprint identification is performed when entering the digital system. Similarly, U.S. Patent No. 6,353,472 issued to Richard V Bault on March 5, 2002 discloses a device for authenticating a person by his fingerprint before authorizing an operation, which can be controlled by a USB interface and a mode of operation. connect. None of the prior art suggests the use of fingerprinting on a portable hard disk that can be connected by USB to a computer platform such that access to information stored on said disk requires fingerprinting. Moreover, the biological data processing unit of the computer platform can be accessed from the outside through the USB host to perform various functions, including door control authorization, computer access, fingerprint image scanning, electronic banking and other fingerprint identification tools.

U.S. Patent No. 4,210,899 issued to Swonger et al. on July 1, 1980 discloses an optical scanning fingerprint reader coupled with an The central processing station of the terminal) is used together. U.S. Patent No. 4,525,859 issued to Bolwes on June 25, 1985 similarly discloses a camera for capturing images of fingerprints and uses the details of the fingerprint, i.e., the branches and ends of the fingerprint lines, to determine whether they match those in a database. Match the reference fingerprint. Unfortunately, a soiled finger can interfere with light sensing, or the light sensor can be tricked by presenting a photo or print of a fingerprint instead of the real live fingerprint. Light sensors can be bulky and susceptible to shock, vibration, and surface contamination. Therefore, optical fingerprint sensors can be unreliable in use, in addition to being bulky and relatively expensive due to the use of optics and moving parts. Therefore, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a USB interface portable data storage device with biological parameter protection of a USB accessible interface biometric processor, and provide a fingerprint sensor and a related method for accurately sensing fingerprints, And this sensor is small, reliable and relatively cheap. Thus, the present invention overcomes many of the drawbacks and deficiencies of prior art light sensors due to the use of capacitive or electric field sensors.

Singapore Patent No. 96688 to Lidori Electronics Pte Ltd discloses a biometric protected USB portable data storage device. However, in contrast to the present invention, existing devices do not allow direct access to their biological data processing unit via a USB host.

W/O 03/003283 A1 patent discloses a portable device with biometric authentication capability. However, the management software must be installed in the host computer to log in to the device. Furthermore, the non-volatile memory of the portable device can be accessed through passwords rather than biometrics.

Summary of the invention

To this end, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a USB device comprising a biometric processing unit and a biometric parameter protected USB portable data storage device. Information stored within the device is protected by personal fingerprint biometric data by a biometric fingerprint processing unit that is accessible via a USB host device to perform various biometric (fingerprint) functions. Additionally, the communication path between any computer platform (with a USB host) and the device is provided through the USB client/host interface.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable data storage device in which the biometric processing unit is securely accessible via USB fingerprint biometric data, and only individuals with authorized fingerprints can activate the functions of the storage device. Moreover, the device can also be used as a biometric (fingerprint) processing unit of a USB host device including a personal computer host and a USB portable device. Various biometric functions are performed under the control of the application software. The above-mentioned biological measurement functions include fingerprint scanning, fingerprint biological data generation and encryption, fingerprint biological data comparison and storage. The device is a portable hard disk with a biological data processing unit, and the hard disk can be connected with a USB host through a USB interface. Thus, the USB host can access and retrieve data stored in the storage device, or store data in the storage device. The data on the device is also protected by personal data.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable data storage device which is secured by biometric data only, without requiring a password for any authorized access to the non-volatile memory. Moreover, the USB connection to the data processing unit of the device is only possible after the authorized fingerprint has been authenticated.

In one aspect of the present invention, it discloses a portable data storage device comprising:

An embedded fingerprint biometric processing unit and sensor, wherein the sensor can be one of capacitive or electric field sensing devices;

Multiple non-volatile solid-state read and write memories composed of storage modules for storing data;

A processing unit, which is interfaced with an embedded fingerprint processing unit, a storage module, and a computer host system that can be connected to the portable data storage device, and the processing unit can operate independently as a memory, and can be used as a flash memory for protecting biometric information. An entry for storing or retrieving data in flash memory;

A data encryption or data protection system for protecting data and information in non-volatile solid state read and write memory; and

A proprietary login system for biometric fingerprint login.

One of the embodiments of the present invention uses a data encryption system. The present invention adopts 56-bit blowfish encryption technology to encrypt the data in the device. However, any other encryption technique may be used to encrypt data within the device.

Another embodiment of the present invention uses a data protection system. This system prevents the removal of non-volatile solid-state read and write memory entities from the printed circuit board. Any attempt to eliminate non-volatile solid-state read and write memory may cause physical damage to the memory. The invention adopts epoxy resin to encapsulate the memory in the printed circuit board.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a biometric protected USB interface portable data storage device with a USB interface accessible biometric processor, wherein the fingerprint biometric processing is not only used to protect the portable data storage device Data access can also be accessed through the USB host without affecting the security of data in the device. This additional technical measure can generate a variety of biometric-related applications on the basis of the device, these applications include personal computer access security control, access control, Internet banking security, automatic teller machine security access, electronic ticket security etc., but not limited to the above applications. The aforementioned accessible transactions may even be stored within the device itself.

The invention provides a USB interface portable data storage device protected by biological measurement parameters, which is a portable miniature data storage device which is easy to use and has a large storage capacity. The device is small in size and capable of storing large files such as accounting data files, CAD files, large presentation files and multimedia files.

Another embodiment provides a USB interface portable data storage device protected by biological measurement parameters, and the device can perform fingerprint registration, identification and verification without installing management software.

Another embodiment provides a biometric parameter protected USB-interface portable data storage device that can only access data through authorized fingerprints, rather than passwords or tokens.

Another embodiment provides a USB interface portable data storage device protected by biometric parameters, which is easy to use and only needs to be plugged into any computer platform through the USB interface unit, which also provides authorized fingerprints and can be used in Data accessed by computer platforms.

Another embodiment provides a method of quickly accessing data stored in a biometric protected USB-interfaced portable data storage device. This can be seen from its very short sub-second biometric identification and system access times. At the same time, the typical biometric parameter login time per user is less than one second.

Another embodiment provides a biometric parameter protected USB interface portable data storage device designated to no more than 10 users for whom access is granted.

Still another embodiment of the present invention provides a USB interface portable data storage device protected by biological measurement parameters, the device includes a set of master user fingerprint biological data and another set of common user fingerprint biological data. The master user can erase the fingerprint biometric data of the master user and ordinary users, and the ordinary users can only erase their own fingerprint biometric data.

Brief description of the drawings

Now illustrate preferred embodiment of the present invention in conjunction with accompanying drawing, in the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a USB interface portable data storage device protected by biological measurement parameters.

FIG. 2 is a system functional block diagram of the device shown in FIG. 1 .

Detailed description of the invention

FIG. 1 shows a portable data storage device 100 consisting of a USB interface unit 14 , a fingerprint sensor 12 and a housing 10 . 1, housing 10 includes an embedded fingerprint biometric processing unit 20, a USB hub 16, a biometric access switch 38, a fingerprint login switch 36, an access control decision (microcontroller) unit 32, a A data processing unit 34 and a plurality of non-volatile solid-state read and write memories 40 . In this embodiment, the fingerprint sensor 12 is connected to a fingerprint biometric processing unit 20 . The biometric processing unit 20 is connected to an access control decision (microcontroller) unit 32 , which is in turn connected to a data processing unit 34 .

Referring to FIG. 2 again, in practical applications, the user of the device can switch the biometric access switch 38 to the data storage state or the biometric access state before plugging the device into the USB host.

To selectively access data stored in the device 100, the user should place a finger on the sensor 12 (as a reader). The sensor 12 scans the user's fingerprint and sends the fingerprint biometric data to the embedded fingerprint biometric processing unit 20 . The embedded fingerprint biometric processing unit 20 verifies the fingerprint biometric data based on the registered biometric data previously stored in the biometric data storage unit of the microcontroller 32 as an encryption key. If the verification fails, the user will be denied access to the data in the non-volatile solid-state read/write memory 40, or his fingerprint will be scanned again. If the authentication is successful, the microprocessor 32 will instruct the data processing unit 34 to retrieve the information stored in the non-volatile solid-state read and write memory 40, and send the retrieved information to the USB host, or store the information from the USB host to In the non-volatile solid-state read and write memory 40. The information stored in the non-volatile solid-state read/write memory 40 can be encrypted by encryption software running in the USB host.

Users must enroll their fingerprint biometric data into the embedded fingerprint biometric processing unit 20 . When registering for the first time, the fingerprint sensor 12 scans the user's fingerprint, and the biometric processing unit 20 processes the biometric data of the fingerprint, and then stores it in the access control unit 32 . The user must scan the fingerprint three times to ensure that the biological data processing unit 20 can accurately read the fingerprint biological data, and then store the fingerprint biological data in the access control unit 32 . The unit can register up to 10 users.

After the first user has registered, another user needs to register again if he wishes to access the information stored on the device. Before he can register, the first user's fingerprint must be authenticated. If the authentication is successful, other users can register their fingerprint biometric data. The registration process is the same as for the first user.

Registered fingerprints can be divided into two categories—primary fingerprints and ordinary fingerprints. The two fingerprints initially registered are the master fingerprints. The master fingerprinter has the right to completely erase the fingerprint biometric data in the device. The login switch 36 is used to distinguish between master fingerprints, common re-enrollment fingerprints and normal device operation.

According to the invention, the biometric data verification and system access time of the portable data storage device does not exceed one second, the biometric login time per user does not exceed one second, and no more than 10 users are designated with access rights.

If the embedded fingerprint biometric processing unit 20 is allowed to be accessed by the USB host by setting the biometric access switch 38, then the access control decision (microcontroller) unit 32 will realize the communication between the embedded fingerprint biometric processing unit 20 and the USB host. USB connection between. In the present invention, the device also has a set of personal computer access control software. The software includes computer access control and data encryption functions. However, the present invention also provides a platform for further software development, making it applicable not only to computer hosts, but also to USB portable hosts. In addition, the non-volatile solid-state read and write memory 40 is physically protected by epoxy resin to prevent the memory 40 from being dismantled.

According to common sense, with the improvement of semiconductor and firmware technology, the above-mentioned processing units including fingerprint biometric processing unit 20, USB hub 16, access control decision (microcontroller) unit 32, data processing unit 34 can be integrated Combined into one or two all-in-one units.

While the invention has been described by way of example, it should be understood that various changes may be made without departing from the principles of the invention. The scope of the present invention is not limited by the description in the specification, but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (12)

1. A portable data storage device with a USB accessible biometric processor, characterized in that it comprises: An embedded fingerprint biometric processing unit and sensor, wherein the embedded fingerprint biometric processing unit is accessible externally via a USB host or internally via the device; Multiple non-volatile solid-state read and write memories for data and information storage; A processing unit that interfaces with the embedded fingerprint system, USB host, and non-volatile solid-state read and write memory; A system for encryption or data protection of data and information data in non-volatile solid-state read and write memory; An enrollment system for biometric fingerprint enrollment. 2. A portable data storage device as claimed in claim 1, wherein access to the data is only authorized by an authorized fingerprint. 3. The portable data storage device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the device is provided with a microcontroller and an embedded Fingerprint biometric processing unit. 4. The portable data storage device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the device stores biological data for authentication of any unauthorized access to the non-volatile solid-state read and write memory. 5. The portable data storage device of claim 4, wherein the biometric data is accessible via a USB host. 6. The portable data storage device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the user's biometric fingerprint data includes the biometric fingerprint data of the master user and the biometric fingerprint data of the common user, and the biometric data of the master user and the common user can be erased by the master user , while a normal user can only erase his own biometric data. 7. The portable data storage device of claim 1, wherein the login switch is used to distinguish between fingerprint registration and normal authentication operation of the device. 8. A method of using a biometric parameter protected portable data storage device, comprising the steps of: Scan the user's fingerprint through the fingerprint sensor; The scanned fingerprint image is processed by the biometric processing unit, and the biometric processing unit verifies the above image according to the user's fingerprint biodata stored in the biometric data storage unit; If the authentication fails, the user is asked to scan the fingerprint again. 9. The portable data storage device of claim 1, wherein representative biometric verification and system access times do not exceed one second. 10. The portable data storage device of claim 1, wherein the biometric login time for each user is no more than one second and no more than 10 authorized access users are designated. 11. The portable data storage device of claim 1, wherein the memory in the non-volatile solid-state read and write memory comprises flash memory. 12. The portable data storage device according to claim 11, wherein the non-volatile solid-state read and write memory is a magnetic-proof random access memory (MRAM).

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