Method for authenticating a finger of a user of an electronic device

1. A method for authenticating a finger of a user of an electronic device comprising a fingerprint sensor for sensing a fingerprint pattern, said method comprising the steps of:

acquiring a candidate fingerprint image;

forming a verification representation based on the candidate fingerprint image;

retrieving an enrollment representation formed from an enrolment fingerprint image;

determining a humidity level indication indicative of the humidity level of said finger based on a comparison between the enrollment representation and the verification representation, wherein said humidity level indication is determined based on a histogram based on the comparison between the enrollment representation and the verification representation;

performing an authentication pre-process based on said humidity level indication;

performing a fingerprint authentication process based on said authentication pre-process to authenticate the user.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the humidity level indication is further based on an imaging acquisition setting for said fingerprint sensor.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the histogram is a hamming distance histogram.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the authentication pre-process comprises:

selecting an authentication model among a plurality of authentication models based on the humidity level indication, whereby said fingerprint authentication process is performed using said selected authentication model.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising:

performing a first fingerprint authentication process based on the candidate fingerprint image and a first authentication model,

when the fingerprint authentication process results in a decision that authentication is not granted, determine, based on said candidate fingerprint image, said humidity level indication indicative of the humidity level of said finger;

selecting said authentication model based on said humidity level indication.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the authentication pre-process comprises:

forming a normalized candidate fingerprint image from said candidate fingerprint image based on said humidity level indication, wherein said fingerprint authentication process is performed on said normalized candidate fingerprint image.

7. A method for authenticating a finger of a user of an electronic device comprising a fingerprint sensor for sensing a fingerprint pattern, said method comprising:

acquiring a candidate fingerprint image;

determining, based on said candidate fingerprint image, a humidity level indication indicative of the humidity level of said finger;

performing an authentication pre-process based on said humidity level indication, the authentication pre-process comprising providing instructions to said user based on said humidity level indication;

acquiring a second candidate fingerprint image;

determining, based on said second candidate fingerprint image, a second humidity level indication indicative of the humidity level of said finger;

performing a second authentication pre-process based on said second humidity level indication; and

performing a fingerprint authentication process based on said second authentication pre-process and said second candidate fingerprint image to authenticate the user.

8. A fingerprint sensing system comprising:

a fingerprint sensor being configured to obtain a fingerprint image of at least a portion of a user's finger; and

a control unit connected to said fingerprint sensor configured to:

control the fingerprint sensor to acquire a candidate fingerprint image;

form a verification representation based on the candidate fingerprint image;

retrieve an enrollment representation formed from an enrolment fingerprint image;

determine a humidity level indication indicative of the humidity level of said finger based on a comparison between the enrollment representation and the verification representation, wherein said humidity level indication is determined based on a histogram based on the comparison between the enrollment representation and the verification representation;

perform an authentication pre-process based on said humidity level indication; and

perform a fingerprint authentication process based on said pre-process to authenticate the user.

9. An electronic device, comprising:

a fingerprint sensing system according to claim 8 , and a device controller for:

providing an authentication request for said finger to the fingerprint sensing system;

receiving said authentication signal from the fingerprint sensing system; and

performing at least one action if said authentication signal indicates authentication success.

10. The electronic device according to claim 9 , wherein the electronic device is a mobile phone.

11. The fingerprint sensing system according to claim 8 , wherein to determine the humidity level indication is further based on an imaging acquisition setting for said fingerprint sensor.

12. The fingerprint sensing system according to claim 8 , wherein the control unit is configured to, for the authentication pre-process:

select an authentication model among a plurality of authentication models based on the humidity level indication, whereby said fingerprint authentication process is performed using said selected authentication model.

13. The fingerprint sensing system according to claim 8 , wherein the control unit is configured to:

form a normalized candidate fingerprint image from said candidate fingerprint image based on said humidity level indication, wherein said fingerprint authentication process is performed on said normalized candidate fingerprint image.

14. The fingerprint sensing system according to claim 8 , wherein the histogram is a hamming distance histogram.

15. The fingerprint sensing system according to claim 8 , wherein said fingerprint sensor is a capacitive fingerprint sensor comprising a two-dimensional array of sensing elements configured to obtain a measure of the capacitive coupling between the finger and each sensing element.

16. A fingerprint sensing system, comprising:

a fingerprint sensor being configured to obtain a fingerprint image of at least a portion of a user's finger; and

a control unit connected to said fingerprint sensor configured to:

control the fingerprint sensor to acquire a candidate fingerprint image;

determine, based on said candidate fingerprint image, a humidity level indication indicative of the humidity level of said finger, wherein said control unit is configured to operate a support vector machine or a neural network for determining said humidity level indication;

perform an authentication pre-process based on said humidity level indication; and

perform a fingerprint authentication process based on said pre-process to authenticate the user.

17. An electronic device, comprising:

a fingerprint sensing system according to claim 9 , and a device controller for:

providing an authentication request for said finger to the fingerprint sensing system;

receiving said authentication signal from the fingerprint sensing system; and

performing at least one action if said authentication signal indicates authentication success.

18. Computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer program means for controlling an electronic device, the electronic device comprising a control unit, and a fingerprint sensor, wherein the computer program product comprises:

code for controlling the fingerprint sensor to acquire a candidate fingerprint image;

code for forming a verification representation based on the candidate fingerprint image;

code for retrieving an enrollment representation formed from an enrolment fingerprint image;

code for determining a humidity level indication indicative of the humidity level of said finger based on a comparison between the enrollment representation and the verification representation, wherein said humidity level indication is determined based on a histogram based on the comparison between the enrollment representation and the verification representation;

code for performing an authentication pre-process based on said humidity level indication; and

code for performing a fingerprint authentication process based on said authentication pre-process to authenticate the user.

19. A fingerprint sensing system comprising:

a fingerprint sensor being configured to obtain a fingerprint image of at least a portion of a user's finger; and

a control unit connected to said fingerprint sensor configured to:

control the fingerprint sensor to acquire a candidate fingerprint image;

determine, based on said candidate fingerprint image, a humidity level indication indicative of the humidity level of said finger;

perform an authentication pre-process based on said humidity level indication, the authentication pre-process comprises providing instructions to said user based on said humidity level indication,

acquire a second candidate fingerprint image;

determine, based on said second candidate fingerprint image, a second humidity level indication indicative of the humidity level of said finger;

perform a second authentication pre-process based on said second humidity level indication,

perform a fingerprint authentication process based on said second authentication pre-process and said second candidate fingerprint image to authenticate the user.

20. An electronic device, comprising:

a fingerprint sensing system according to claim 19 , and a device controller for:

providing an authentication request for said finger to the fingerprint sensing system;

receiving said authentication signal from the fingerprint sensing system; and

performing at least one action if said authentication signal indicates authentication success.

21. Computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer program means for controlling an electronic device, the electronic device comprising a control unit, and a fingerprint sensor, wherein the computer program product comprises:

code for controlling the fingerprint sensor to acquire a candidate fingerprint image;

code for determining, based on said candidate fingerprint image, a humidity level indication indicative of the humidity level of said finger;

code for performing an authentication pre-process based on said humidity level indication, the authentication pre-process comprises providing instructions to said user based on said humidity level indication;

code for controlling the fingerprint sensor to acquire a second candidate fingerprint image;

code for determining, based on said second candidate fingerprint image, a second humidity level indication indicative of the humidity level of said finger;

code for performing a second authentication pre-process based on said second humidity level indication; and

code for performing a fingerprint authentication process based on said second authentication pre-process and said second candidate fingerprint image to authenticate the user.

22. Computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer program means for controlling an electronic device, the electronic device comprising a control unit, and a fingerprint sensor, wherein the computer program product comprises:

code for controlling the fingerprint sensor to acquire a candidate fingerprint image;

code for determining, based on said candidate fingerprint image, a humidity level indication indicative of the humidity level of said finger, and to operate a support vector machine or a neural network for determining said humidity level indication;

code for performing an authentication pre-process based on said humidity level indication; and

code for performing a fingerprint authentication process based on said authentication pre-process to authenticate the user.