Rudolf Maarten Bolle

Bio: Rudolf Maarten Bolle is an academic researcher from IBM. The author has contributed to research in topics: Biometrics & Fingerprint (computing). The author has an hindex of 38, co-authored 60 publications receiving 7168 citations.

On-line fingerprint verification

Abstract: Fingerprint verification is one of the most reliable personal identification methods. However, manual fingerprint verification is incapable of meeting today's increasing performance requirements. An automatic fingerprint identification system (AFIS) is needed. This paper describes the design and implementation of an online fingerprint verification system which operates in two stages: minutia extraction and minutia matching. An improved version of the minutia extraction algorithm proposed by Ratha et al. (1995), which is much faster and more reliable, is implemented for extracting features from an input fingerprint image captured with an online inkless scanner. For minutia matching, an alignment-based elastic matching algorithm has been developed. This algorithm is capable of finding the correspondences between minutiae in the input image and the stored template without resorting to exhaustive search and has the ability of adaptively compensating for the nonlinear deformations and inexact pose transformations between fingerprints. The system has been tested on two sets of fingerprint images captured with inkless scanners. The verification accuracy is found to be acceptable. Typically, a complete fingerprint verification procedure takes, on an average, about eight seconds on a SPARC 20 workstation. These experimental results show that our system meets the response time requirements of online verification with high accuracy.

An identity-authentication system using fingerprints

Abstract: Fingerprint verification is an important biometric technique for personal identification. We describe the design and implementation of a prototype automatic identity-authentication system that uses fingerprints to authenticate the identity of an individual. We have developed an improved minutiae-extraction algorithm that is faster and more accurate than our earlier algorithm (1995). An alignment-based minutiae-matching algorithm has been proposed. This algorithm is capable of finding the correspondences between input minutiae and the stored template without resorting to exhaustive search and has the ability to compensate adaptively for the nonlinear deformations and inexact transformations between an input and a template. To establish an objective assessment of our system, both the Michigan State University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST 9 fingerprint data bases have been used to estimate the performance numbers. The experimental results reveal that our system can achieve a good performance on these data bases. We also have demonstrated that our system satisfies the response-time requirement. A complete authentication procedure, on average, takes about 1.4 seconds on a Sun ULTRA I workstation (it is expected to run as fast or faster on a 200 HMz Pentium).

Method for biometric-based authentication in wireless communication for access control

Abstract: Smart cards systems that are utilized in biometric authentication are slow in processing and have the cards themselves have the added disadvantage of being misplaced or lost. Moreover, storing biometric data (on a database) over a network poses security issues that in extreme instances can be compromised. Significant security can be achieved if the biometric templates are stored locally in a portable device. A user can use the portable device to either transmit wirelessly the stored biometric for authentication purposes, or a user can locally measure a biometric using the portable device and match it against a biometric which is also stored locally (in the portable device).

System and method for determining block direction in fingerprint images

Abstract: A reliable estimate of image pixel (fingerprint ridge) orientations, and block orientations for a given block is determined by finding an optimal block size in an area of an image, e.g., a fingerprint image. An initial block size is chosen. Then a block direction is determined, e.g., by analyzing intensity gradients in two directions, preferably two orthogonal directions, at a plurality (preferably all) of the pixels locations in the block. Block directions of blocks in a given area of the images (fingerprint) are compared. If the compared directions are within a tolerance of one another, the determined direction of the block is considered correct. However, if the compared directions are not within a tolerance of one another, the block size is changed and the process is repeated.

Method and apparatus for inducing classifiers for multimedia based on unified representation of features reflecting disparate modalities

Abstract: This invention is a system and method to perform categorization (classification) of multimedia items. These items are comprised of a multitude of disparate information sources, in particular, visual information and textual information. Classifiers are induced based on combining textual and visual feature vectors. Textual features are the traditional ones, such as, word count vectors. Visual features include, but are not limited to, color properties of key intervals and motion properties of key intervals. The visual feature vectors are determined in such a fashion that the vectors are sparse. The vector components are features such as the absence or presence of the color green in spatial regions and the absence or the amount of visual flow in spatial regions of the media items. The text and the visual representation vectors are combined in a systematic and coherent fashion. This vector representation of a media item lends itself to well-established learning techniques. The resulting system, subject of this invention, categorizes (or classifies) media items based both on textual features and visual features.

Handbook of Fingerprint Recognition

Abstract: A major new professional reference work on fingerprint security systems and technology from leading international researchers in the field Handbook provides authoritative and comprehensive coverage of all major topics, concepts, and methods for fingerprint security systems This unique reference work is an absolutely essential resource for all biometric security professionals, researchers, and systems administrators

Fingerprint image enhancement: algorithm and performance evaluation

Abstract: In order to ensure that the performance of an automatic fingerprint identification/verification system will be robust with respect to the quality of input fingerprint images, it is essential to incorporate a fingerprint enhancement algorithm in the minutiae extraction module. We present a fast fingerprint enhancement algorithm, which can adaptively improve the clarity of ridge and valley structures of input fingerprint images based on the estimated local ridge orientation and frequency. We have evaluated the performance of the image enhancement algorithm using the goodness index of the extracted minutiae and the accuracy of an online fingerprint verification system. Experimental results show that incorporating the enhancement algorithm improves both the goodness index and the verification accuracy.

Security Engineering: A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems

Abstract: Gigantically comprehensive and carefully researched, Security Engineering makes it clear just how difficult it is to protect information systems from corruption, eavesdropping, unauthorized use, and general malice. Better, Ross Anderson offers a lot of thoughts on how information can be made more secure (though probably not absolutely secure, at least not forever) with the help of both technologies and management strategies. His work makes fascinating reading and will no doubt inspire considerable doubt--fear is probably a better choice of words--in anyone with information to gather, protect, or make decisions about. Be aware: This is absolutely not a book solely about computers, with yet another explanation of Alice and Bob and how they exchange public keys in order to exchange messages in secret. Anderson explores, for example, the ingenious ways in which European truck drivers defeat their vehicles' speed-logging equipment. In another section, he shows how the end of the cold war brought on a decline in defenses against radio-frequency monitoring (radio frequencies can be used to determine, at a distance, what's going on in systems--bank teller machines, say), and how similar technology can be used to reverse-engineer the calculations that go on inside smart cards. In almost 600 pages of riveting detail, Anderson warns us not to be seduced by the latest defensive technologies, never to underestimate human ingenuity, and always use common sense in defending valuables. A terrific read for security professionals and general readers alike. --David Wall Topics covered: How some people go about protecting valuable things (particularly, but not exclusively, information) and how other people go about getting it anyway. Mostly, this takes the form of essays (about, for example, how the U.S. Air Force keeps its nukes out of the wrong hands) and stories (one of which tells of an art thief who defeated the latest technology by hiding in a closet). Sections deal with technologies, policies, psychology, and legal matters.