19-10-2012, 12:12 PM
FINGERPRINT RECOGNITION
Digital Image Processing.doc (Size: 543.5 KB / Downloads: 65)
ABSTRACT
As the world witnesses a proliferation of web-enabled services and companies,
everybody's collective focus is on how current systems will handle issues like identification, authentication, authorization and other security related issues. As more interactions take place electronically, it becomes increasingly important to have an electronic verification of a person’s identity.
Digital image processing is a rapidly evolving field with growing application in science and engineering. Image processing holds the possibility of developing the ultimate machine that could perform the visual functions of all living beings. Many theoretical as well as technological breakthroughs are required before we could build such a machine. In the mean time there is an abundance of image processing applications that can serve mankind with the available and anticipated technology in the near future.
This paper mainly focuses on the security applications – Authentication in the field of biometrics. One such application is FINGERPRINT RECOGNITION which is given main importance in this paper.
What is Digital image processing?
An image may be defined as a two-dimensional function, f(x, y), where x and y are spatial (plane) co-ordinates, and the amplitude of f at any pair of co-ordinates(x, y) is called the intensity or gray level of the image at that point. When x, y and the amplitude values of f are all finite, discrete quantities, then the image is a digital image.
The field of digital image processing refers to processing digital images by means of a digital computer. The process of acquiring an image of the area containing the text, pre-processing that image, extracting (segmenting) the individual characters, describing the characters in a form suitable for computer processing, and recognizing those individual characters are the scope of digital image processing.
Fingerprint Recognition System:
Fingerprint identification is perhaps the oldest of all the biometric techniques. Fingerprints have a long history of use in police forensic science. Because of this, the authentication by fingerprint is the most convenient biometric element to identify a person. A large variety of solutions are already available and the technology is mature. Fingerprint technology can be used to authenticate a person versus a pin code when entered for an ATM/online debit transaction or a signature for a credit card transaction.
A verification system authenticates a person’s identity by comparing the captured biometric characteristic with her own biometric template(s) pre-stored in the system.
An identification system recognizes an individual by searching the entire template database for a match.
A verification system either rejects or accepts the submitted claim of identity (Am I whom I claim I am?
Conclusion:
While authentication to computer systems usually accomplished through something you have, or something you know, biometrics using image processing technique is, something you are, offers a more secure method of identification. Whether analyzing a physiological trait or behavioral characteristic, biometric data is intrinsically variable, and thus novel means of data analysis, or feature extraction, must be employed. This variability means that biometrics are not reliable enough on their own to act as identifiers, but in conjunction with other, more traditional forms of access control, such as passphrases and PINs, they provide a considerable layer of security. Proper design and implementation of the biometric system can indeed increase the overall security; especially the smartcard based solutions seem to be very promising.