Media item validation
View Patent ↗A method of validating a media item, comprising: for each of a plurality of sensors that sense a media item, determining a respective validation score indicating a likelihood that the sensed media item is valid; and determining if the media item is valid responsive to the plurality of validation scores. Apparatus for validating a media item and a document processing module are also provided.
1. A method of validating a media item, comprising:
for each of a plurality of sensors that sense a media item, determining, by a processor of a media validator, a respective validation score F indicating a likelihood that the sensed media item is valid;
determining, by the processor, if the media item is valid responsive to the plurality of validation scores by using a fuzzy logic approach rather than a voting-based approach;
comparing each respective validation score F to at least one predetermined threshold τ to generate a threshold result; and
responsive to said threshold result, determining a modified validation score x for each of said sensors; and
applying a membership function to each respective validation score F to determine said modified validation score x for each of said sensors, wherein the at least one membership function comprises said at least one predetermined threshold τ, wherein said membership function comprises:
{
x
=
1
if
F
≥
τ
x
=
(
1
+
(
F
-
τ
)
+
(
F
-
τ
/
2
)
τ
/
2
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/
2
if
τ
/
2
≤
F
<
τ
x
=
0
if
F
<
τ
/
2
.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
combining the modified validation scores x for each sensor to determine a combined validation score y; and
generating a validation result responsive to said combined validation score y to determine if the media item is valid.
3. The method as claimed in claim 2 , further comprising:
applying a validation rule to said combined validation score y to determine said validation result, wherein said validation result is one of ‘genuine’, ‘suspect’ or ‘counterfeit’.
4. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein said validation rule comprises:
0.75≦y≦1=genuine;
0.5≦y<0.75=suspect; and
0≦y<0.5=counterfeit.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
applying a weighting factor ω to each of the plurality of sensors.
6. The method as claimed in claim 5 , wherein a sum of the weighting factors is 1.
7. The method as claimed in claim 5 , wherein each weighting factor is selectively adjustable and/or optimizable.
8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said plurality of sensors comprises an optical image sensor and at least one of a magnetic sensor and an ultraviolet sensor.
9. A method of validating a media item, comprising:
for each of a plurality of sensors that sense a media item, determining, by a processor of a media validator, a respective validation score F indicating a likelihood that the sensed media item is valid;
determining, by the processor, if the media item is valid responsive to the plurality of validation scores by using a fuzzy logic approach rather than a voting-based approach;
comparing each respective validation score F to at least one predetermined threshold τ to generate a threshold result; and
responsive to said threshold result, determining a modified validation score x for each of said sensors; and
applying a membership function to each respective validation score F to determine said modified validation score x for each of said sensors, wherein the at least one membership function comprises said at least one predetermined threshold τ, wherein said membership function comprises:
{
x
=
1
,
if
F
≤
τ
1
x
=
(
1
+
(
τ
1
-
F
)
+
(
τ
2
-
F
)
τ
2
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τ
1
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/
2
,
if
τ
1
<
F
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τ
2
x
=
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if
F
>
τ
2
,
,said at least one predetermined threshold t comprising threshold limits τ 1 and τ 2 .